Jessica pulled up the police station, the brakes in her Jeep screeching in protest. She swung into a parking space, barely making it between the two white lines, and hopped out of the car. The soles of her shoes barely touched the pavement as she hurried up the steps at lightning speed - well, as lightning as she could while tottering in her espadrille wedges.

She threw open the door and scanned the reception area of the station. No Elizabeth. She was about to approach the desk when Liz came through the doors adjacent to the desk, swiping at her eyes with a tissue.

"Liz!" Jessica shrieked. "Are you okay? What is going on?"

Sam came up behind her and put his hand on Elizabeth's shoulder, squeezing gently. "You didn't need to come down here, Jess," he said wearily. "I called Bugsy. He's gonna get my car from your campus and drive here."

"Like hell I didn't," Jessica said coldly. "My sister isn't going anywhere with you or your stupid friend. She's coming home with me."

"We live in the same house, guys," Elizabeth interjected. "Jess is here now, Sam. She can take us both home. Call Bugsy and let him know he doesn't have to come."

Sam dropped his hand from her shoulder. "Don't worry about it," he said. "I'll wait for Bugsy. You two can go together."

He sat himself down in one of the chairs and folded his legs. He jammed the beanie he had on his head down further to cover his eyes, and leant back. Elizabeth hovered uncertainly, looking down at him with - was that affection? - but Jessica grabbed her hand and hauled her out the doors. They were halfway down the steps when Elizabeth started to sniffle again. Jessica stopped mid-step and whirled around to her hug her twin.

"Don't cry," Jessica said, patting her Elizabeth's silky blond hair as she whimpered into her shoulder. "It's all going to be okay."

"You knew him, Jess," Elizabeth cried. "We both did. Someone we knew who was walking around, living and breathing, is now dead."

"Shhh," Jessica said absently, giving the parking lot a cursory scan for hidden assailants before propelling Elizabeth forward. "Let's keep walking. I'm parked just here. We can talk in the car."

They linked arms as they walked towards the car, the only sound the occasional hiccup and sniffle from Elizabeth. As soon as they were in the car and buckled in, she turned towards Jessica. "How did you know I was down here?"

Jessica started the car and eased out of the parking lot. "Neil called me. Tom left a message on the answering machine asking for you to call him when you're finished at the police station so he could get you on air for his emergency broadcast. Neil played the message and thought it was bizarre, so he rang Tom and got the story. Gave him a piece of his mind, too. Didn't stop Tom with going ahead and running a story anyway. That can't be legal, can it? Can he just report on something straight away like that?"

Elizabeth ran her hands through her hair, and tossed the crumpled tissue into the cup holder in the Jeep. "It's news, Jess. He probably thinks he has a right to tell the people, and I guess he does."

"I'll tell you what he has a right to do," Jessica ranted, and she rattled off a list of profanities and areas where Tom could shove his news story. Elizabeth listened for a minute or two before finally interrupting her tirade.

"What else has he said?" she asked. "Did he name Sam and I?"

"No, but it wasn't hard to figure it out," Jessica said dryly. "Neil said he blabbed about "an ex-WSVU reporter and active participant in 'The Murder Game' and her acquaintance finding the body of a student on campus." Sam might be anonymous for now, but I give it three hours into classes tomorrow before the rest of campus figures it out."

Elizabeth sat up straighter and clutched onto the side of the door as Jessica took a corner at top speed. "What has he gone and mentioned the Murder Game for? Cameron dying had nothing to do with that stupid game!"

"Cameron?" Jessica said. "Cameron Haze? Is that who died?"

"Oh, Jess," Elizabeth said. "I'm sorry. I didn't even tell you."

"You did say it was someone I knew," Jessica said, her voice breaking slightly. "Wow. Cameron Haze. I feel so ... " her voice trailed off.

"I'm sorry," Elizabeth repeated. "You dated him. You must feel even worse than I do."

It was just like Elizabeth to put someone else's feelings before her own. "Liz, you found him," Jessica pointed out. "And no. I don't really. I mean, I feel awful that he's died, and of course I'm sad for his family and friends - but we weren't serious. He was a little weird, you know? He kept calling, and texting, and leaving messages on the duplex answering machine. I'm pretty sure I even told Lila I wished he would drop dead. I feel bad that I don't feel worse. Does that make sense?"

"I guess," Elizabeth said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her iPhone. "I'm going to the WSVU Facebook to see if Tom has posted a link to his broadcast so I can watch it."

"He has," Jessica answered her, swerving to overtake an idling Miata. "It'll probably come up in your newsfeed. I already commented on it to tell him how terrible his hair looks."

"I'm sure that cut deep, Jess," Elizabeth replied, rolling her eyes. Jessica looked at her sideways as settled back into her lane, and was happy to notice that her nose had stopped running and the streaky tears on her cheeks were drying.

"What time is it?" Jessica asked, indicating right and turning into the street their duplex was located on. Even though she could clearly see that the time was almost eleven by the little illuminated clock on the dashboard, she felt the need to keep the conversation going. Elizabeth mumbled something back, her mind obviously elsewhere. Jessica drummed her fingers on the wheel as she swung in, scowling when she had to reverse and correct her over-swing.

"Thanks for coming to get me, Jess," Elizabeth said wearily as Jessica cut the engine. They climbed out of the car and headed towards their front door. Jessica jingled her key ring in her palm, sorting through the ring until she got to the house key. They entered the duplex arm in arm.

As they crossed the threshold, Elizabeth glanced down, and Jessica knew she was looking for Sam's beat up sneakers, which he often kicked off in the doorway and left where they landed. Of course, he was too inconsiderate to bring his shoes up to his room and put them in his closet, like a normal human being. Jessica rolled her eyes as she recalled the many nights she had almost face planted onto the shiny floor after tripping over his faded black Vans at 2am.

Their arms still linked, Jessica felt her sister's shoulders deflate. She broke contact and turned to Elizabeth. "We left before they did, remember, Liz? And if I know Sam's type of friends, which I unfortunately think I do, he's detoured on the way to the station for nachos or something."

Elizabeth managed a chuckle. "You're right, Jess. Thanks."

Jessica headed for the fridge. "You want anything? I never managed to make dinner. After you left with Sam, Nina went up to her room and I went out for sushi with Lila."

"No, thanks," Elizabeth replied. She plucked an apple from the fruit bowl on the kitchen bench. "I'll just take this. I'd better go up and see Nina."

Jessica watched her sister ascending the stairs, biting her lip.

As Elizabeth made her way up the stairs, she met Neil on the landing. He froze when he caught sight of her, but only for a second. "Oh, Liz," he said. "I'm so sorry. That must have been rough."

Elizabeth swallowed the lump growing in her throat. "I'm fine. I'll be fine. I just feel... exhausted."

Neil nodded vigorously. "You need sleep. Don't let me keep you."

"Actually, I'll pop in to see Nina first," Elizabeth replied. "She must be worried sick after hearing what happened."

"I don't think she even knows, Liz," Neil answered. "She was asleep fairly quickly. You know how hard she's been studying. She just zonked out straight away."

"Oh," Elizabeth said. "Oh. Well. I guess I'll just go to sleep, then."

Neil was already halfway down the stairs, heading towards the kitchen. Elizabeth paused for a moment, listening to Neil and Jessica chatting, before crossing to the window overlooking their street. She willed Sam's car to appear on the street, for him to tumble out of the driver seat, a carton of nachos balanced in one hand and a bottle of Mountain Dew in the other. The street stayed silent.

Elizabeth passed Nina's room on the way to hers. She turned the doorknob slowly, and pushed open the door as quietly as possible. Glancing in, she could see the outline of Nina in the darkness, the sheets twisted around her legs. Elizabeth thought about waking her up, about accidentally knocking something over and startling her, just so she would have someone to talk to about tonight. She needed to talk.

But that wouldn't be fair on Nina. Sighing, she closed the door and padded to her room. If only she'd asked Jess to come upstairs with her, or stayed downstairs, but she didn't want to intrude on her and Neil's time together. If only Sam had come home.

Elizabeth crawled into bed, jeans and all, and burrowed under the covers. She put her iPhone on charge, and contemplated bringing up Tom's broadcast, but decided that it would just have to wait until morning. Maybe Sam would watch it with her.

Within minutes she was fast asleep.