It came back again tonight.  I did my best to forget the memory of that day, but it wouldn’t go away.  It completely erases from my thoughts during my usual day.  When I go to school, it’s as if they never existed, but I know it happened.  I know who did it.  I remember every detail of that night: the weather, the people, the ones who died…  They’ll make me tell them someday, and one day I will , but for now they don’t know that I know and I hope they don’t find out.  This is my nightmare, but it’ll end someday.

I sat up, feeling scared as hell.  I thought about it while I changed and got ready for school.  This is how it always goes, every morning it’s the same.  I’m the girl everybody calls perfect because they think I’m so “smart” and “pretty,” but they can’t see inside my brain.  They don’t know my thoughts throughout the day, and they’re lucky because they don’t have to feel my pain.  I try to forget what happened, but I can’t. So, I’ll be the perfect girl that I pretend to be everyday and until I get to share my story, my nightmare will stay the same.
I left my room and quickly put on the same fake smile that I wear everyday.  They don’t know the story and as far as they know neither do I.  I walked down the stairs; I saw my mom, walked over to her, and gave her a hug. “Hey mom!” I said cheerfully.
“Hey sunshine!” she said happily.  See, to everybody I’m a happy, peppy person, but when they find out the truth, they’ll know just how hard it is to be such a bright light.  “What’s for breakfast?” I asked.
“Well, that depends on what you want Jen,” my mom replied.
“Oh right,” I said, chuckling. She made me a sandwich, and as I ate, my brother entered the room.
“You ready?” he asked.
“Um, yeah. Let me just grab my phone really quick,” I replied.  I ran up the stairs and grabbed my phone off of the desk in my room.  “Okay, let’s go,” I said.
“I’m taking Jen!” My brother yelled as he walked out the front door.
“Bye guys! Be safe!” My mom yelled back to the both of us.
“Bye mom!” I shouted in response.  I followed my brother out the door and to the car.  He drove me to school, as he had been doing since he got his liscense.  We arrived at my school and I said, “Bye.”
“Pick you up at 3?” He asked. He stared at me while I thought if I had any after school activities to do.
“Yeah,” I said finally.
“Okay, bye Jen.” He said as I walked away waving goodbye.  I walked to the gate in front of the school and silenced my phone as my best friend, Lexi, ran up to me and gave me a hug.
“Hey,” I said contently.
“Hi Jen,” she said happily. We walked to the building our classes were in and went to our separate classrooms.
“Jennifer,” my teacher Ms.Myers said to me as I walked in. “How are you doing today?”
“I’m great, thanks for asking,” I said sincerely.  “How are you?”
“For now I’m good,” she said, “but the day isn’t over just yet.” I chuckled and walked over to my seat, greeting my friends as I walked past them.
“I hate that everybody loves you,” my friend Amanda whispered in my ear as I hugged her. I laughed and took out my supplies for class.  I did my work quickly and easily. I finished and turned in my work, then started working on the homework.
The next three classes were basically the same as the first.  Then lunch came, and I sat with my friends at our usual table.  We talked about random things and people. The bell rang and I walked to my next class with my friend Simone.  Usually fifth period was the same as any other class, but this time he came.  He was tall, with long, brown, shaggy hair, and his eyes were glazed over like newly cut glass.  His name was Jake Logan… and he scares me to death.  He is the only one that knows that I was there that night.  He’s one of the people that killed them.  He wants me dead too because I’m the only one who knows that it was him, and I hate him for what he did… for what he did to her.
Jake hasn’t been coming to school ever since the beginning of the school year. He came the first day and never came back. When he came into the room, my heart was beating just as fast as it was that night.  He looked at me, then sat in the empty seat in the back of the class silently.  “Nice of you to join us Mr.Logan,” said our teacher Mr.Hamilton.  Jake grunted.  I was freaking out inside, and all I wanted was to get away from him.  I felt like I was drowning; I couldn’t breath.  I raised my hand and asked to be excused.
“Yes, of course Jen,” Mr.Hamilton replied with a smile on his face.  I ran out and went to the nearest women’s restroom.  I looked at myself in the mirror, and for the first time in two years, I saw her.  My identical twin sister.  He killed her that night.  I had started doing my makeup completely different after she died so that I wouldn’t be reminded of her every time I looked at myself… we used to do it exactly the same.  I never saw her in me when I looked in the mirror because I buried the memory of her deep inside my nightmare.  I now realized that it was impossible not to look like her.  Nobody at my school even knew she ever existed; we went to different schools because we’re literally exactly the same. We we’re put in the same classes at first and the teachers said they couldn’t switch just for two people out of the entire student body. My mom didn’t want us in the exact same classes so she had my sister go to a different school.  I never mentioned her to my friends because we agreed not to tell our friends about each other.  Her and I thought it would be fun to keep it a secret; I don’t know why.  Now I felt broken, empty.
Jake went to my school the first day, then switched to her school and found out about us.  He didn’t care much at first… until camp.  I always thought about calling the police, but something always held me back.  I had tried before until I realized I was just so afraid.  She and the others were gone now, and he is getting away with murder.  Now that I saw him again I decided that I couldn’t keep any of this a secret anymore.  I wanted the truth to finally come out.  At first I never wanted the truth to come out, but being afraid isn’t an option anymore.  As all these thoughts swirled around in my head, questions had suddenly come to me.  Why is he back?  Does he want to kill me too? Am I supposed to lay down and die or call the cops?  Should I even tell the truth? Should I just keep lying?  What would she want me to do?
I walked back to class with all these questions still unanswered.  I entered the room and Mr.Hamilton glanced at me then continued lecturing to the class.  He was sitting in the seat next to mine and I screamed inside.  The class went by more slowly than it ever had before.  Class finally ended and I ran to sixth period.  Thankfully, he wasn’t there, and I felt so relieved.  I decided to call the police right after school.  School ended, and I walked to the front; I was about to start dialing when I saw him.  He was walking over to me quickly.  I fought the urge scream.  He was right in front of me in a flash, and looked at my phone before speaking.  “Who are you planning on calling?” he asked in his deep voice.  “If you plan on calling the police I’ll just tell them what you did and I don’t think you want anybody to find out what perfect little Jen did.” He said.
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” I said with a little more fright in my voice than I would've wanted.
“Oh really, because last time I checked killing somebody is a crime.” he said.
“It was self-defense, Jake, and you know it.  You're the one that should be in jail for what you did…. for the ones you killed,” I said shakily.
“Yeah I probably should, but I know how to get away with murder, and I already have.  You’ve let yourself believe that it was self-defense for way too long,” he said sharply.  “It wasn’t self-defense from what I saw.” He gave me back my phone and walked away.  I was breathing heavily, and I just stood on the sidewalk with my phone in my hand, feeling shocked.  I was afraid, and so many thoughts, questions, and memories were stuck in my head.  I was brought back to reality when I saw my brother waiting for me to get in the car.  I sat down and looked out at the other cars passing by as we drove, thinking about what had just happened.
When we arrived at the house I opened the door, sprinted up the steps into my room, and locked the door behind me.  “It was self-defense, it was self-defense, it was self-defense,” was all that I could keep telling myself. I kneeled down and grabbed my head that was throbbing with pain.  I know it was self-defense. He was just trying to get in your head Jen I told myself.  He had gotten to me.  My thoughts were disturbed by my mother, who knocked on the door and said, “Jen, you okay?”
“Um, yeah, mom, I’m okay.  Just on the phone with Lexi.” I said lying through my teeth.
“Okay,” my mom replied.  I waited a couple seconds until I heard my mother’s footsteps fade away then I got up and sat on my bed.  I remembered the night more clearly than I ever had in my nightmare.  It all came back to me vividly.  So much blood… too much pain.  I wasn’t sure if I still wanted to call the police.  I lay down, leaving my phone right beside me.  After about three hours laying in bed, thinking, I went downstairs to eat dinner.  My parents had gone out and my brother was also out with his friends, so I sat in the dining room trying to eat the dinner that my mom left me, but the lump in my throat got in the way.  I went back to my room and tried to fall asleep.  I couldn’t.  I felt stuck, like there was nothing I could do.  I seriously considered suicide; it seemed like the only way out.  However, I felt like I owed it to my sister to make all of this right, so I decided that I had to call the police.  I tried to call them, but I was frozen, afraid of what the outcome might be.  I tried to walk to the police station, but my legs felt like they were stuck in cement.  I decided to walk somewhere else.  I put on my boots and left the house to go to the place that my sister and I used to go before it happened. 
Only she and I had known about it, until I showed Lexi, but I never told her that I used to go there with Allie, my sister.  When I arrived to the spot, my heart dropped.  Lexi was there… with Jake, and he had a knife next to her neck.  “We’ve been waiting for you Jen,” he said in a tone that I never thought I would hear again. 
“How’d you know I would come?” I asked him. I was shaking.
“I followed you and Allie here the last time you two came here together,” he said.  “I figured that I freaked you out enough today that you would come back here tonight… You know ‘to be in your safe place’...”
My eyes widened.  I knew he wasn’t lying because last time that I was here with Allie, I told her that this spot was my safe place.  I tried to talk, but the words wouldn’t come out, so I stayed silent. 
“SO IS THIS WHAT IT’S GONNA TAKE JEN?!” he shouted at me.  I was about three feet away from them and his voice rang in my ears.  “ANOTHER DEAD BODY FOR YOU TO KEEP THAT NIGHT A DAMN SECRET!” he screeched at me.  Lexi screamed with wild, confused eyes and Jake put his free hand around her mouth.  She tried to squirm free of his hold, but it was no use; he didn’t plan on releasing her until I agreed. 
“Jake please, please just let her go!” I yelled, scared to death of losing her.
“Jen, you can keep it a secret or she dies. It’s your choice.” he told me, his tone of voice calming down, but still just as frightening.  Tears were running down Lexi’s face.  I couldn’t imagine how afraid she must have felt.  I thought about continuing to keep it a secret, but it ate me up inside.  I realized that he would probably kill Lexi no matter what I did.  I couldn’t keep it a secret anymore.  People have to know the truth… I can’t do it anymore.
“Please,” I said crying. I didn’t want to lose my best friend; the thought of losing her killed me.  I took out my phone and saw that I had no signal.  I was miserable.  I had to make a choice.  Jake still had a knife right next to Lexi’s neck.
“Make a choice Jen, I won’t kill you, but she knows too much now.” he said.
“What and I don’t?” I asked confused. “I know a lot more than she does. Why don’t you just kill me and let her go?”
“I’m not gonna kill you Jen.  I already killed one member of your family, that’s my style.  One member then I leave that family alone, but I always keep on giving them pain.  Now it’s your turn to feel it.” He said.  I was disgusted.  As if, I didn’t already feel pain.  He knew I did; killing people just makes him feel in power.    
“Lexi,” I said sobbing, “ I can’t let him keep murdering people and getting away with it.  I just can’t.  Lexi I.. I’m so sorry” I didn’t know what else to say to her.  I was going to say more, but Jake knew I wasn’t going to keep it a secret.  He slit her neck.  I shrieked as she fell to the ground.  I think he was just as dumbstruck as I was because his jaw dropped, and he ran away.  I dropped to my knees and was heartbroken.  I stared at her limp, dead body.  I was dead inside.  He took the two people I loved most away from me.  All I wanted now was to feel nothing… to be dead.  In my mind I already was.  My mind was spinning.  I was still on my knees and felt so weak.  I slowly got up and started walking back home.  Somebody must’ve heard the screams and called the police because as I walked home, about five police cars and an ambulance passed. They were heading toward the spot. 
I finally arrived and nobody was home.  I went inside and fell to the ground bawling.  I cried for a long time, until all I felt was anger.  I couldn’t let him win.  He doesn’t get to kill the people I love and get away with it.  I wasn’t afraid anymore.  I didn’t even care about the fact that if I told the police they would find out that I also killed someone, but it was self-defense, and I would make sure they understood that.  I walked to the police station that same night, I couldn’t wait until morning.  I was going to tell them every detail… no matter what. “Hi,” I told the officer at the front desk, “I’m Jennifer Levington, and I know what happened the night of December 17th, 2013, and it has to do with why Lexi McCloud died tonight.” I could hardly get the last part out.  My sister’s case was left open because it was an important case to the police.  They wanted to find out what happened that night.  Nobody knew what happened besides me and the people who killed them.  The police only knew what they could see at the crime scene, and by the time they got there, not much was left.
“Okay, please go to the room down the hall and to the right Miss. Levington,” he told me.  I nodded and walked down the hall and into the room.  I entered it and sat in the chair that was there.  The same officer came in, and through the glass I could see that a different, younger, officer had taken his place at the front desk.  “Okay, Miss. Levington, please tell me what you know in as much detail as you possibly can.” I swallowed and began to tell him my memory of that night… my nightmare.
“ It started the night that we went to the camp.  It was My sister, Allie, my sister’s friends Chelsea Perez, Scarlett Webster, Tiffany McCullers, Erica Cruz, and me.  We were going to do a scavenger hunt until they showed up.” I took a long breath.  I was starting to regret my decision of coming here.  I didn’t realize how difficult this would be.  The officer looked at me.
“Take your time,” he said staring at me intently.
“Okay, they showed up and I just stared at them.  Nobody else was supposed to be there because my parents had reserved the campsite for just us that nigh--”
“I’m sorry who exactly are you referring to Miss. Levington?” he interrupted me.
“Oh, um it was four guys from my sister’s school that I had never met  before besides one… it was Jake Logan, Mason Smith, James Wyatt, and Aiden Harrison.” I started tapping my fingers on the table unconsciously while I uncovered my buried thoughts. “They came and my sister just started yelling while her friends followed suite.” I shivered. “I wasn’t sure what to do so I just ran to a tree that was far enough for the guys not to see me, but close enough for me to see them.  I just watched as they screamed and screamed.  I was so confused, I didn’t know what was going on nor why they were so mad at each other.  I turned away for a second to catch my breath and the moment I turned back I was terrified of what I saw.” I stopped speaking to the officer.  I needed a second. “Can I get a drink of water?” I asked him.
“Yes, of course,” he said, leaning back in his chair.  I walked out of the room and leaned on the wall and took a deep breath.  I didn’t need water; I just needed a minute alone.  I walked back into the room and sat back down.  I didn’t wait for his permission to continue; I just wanted to get this over with.
“I turned back around and I saw each of the boys with one of the girls’ heads in the water.  I screamed and crouched back down behind the tree.  Before I knew it one of the boys was in front of me.  He started pulling me by the hair and I screeched in pain,” I trembled in my seat. “Um… I, I kicked him in the shin and he let go of my hair.  I grabbed a branch that was next to me and I didn’t intend to hit him so hard I just needed enough time to run away, but I hit him in the head and I heard his head crack,” I swallowed before I continued, “I stared at him in shock and I turned around to find Jake looking at me from afar.  I looked at the lake to see bodies floating around.  I screamed again at the sight of my sister.  The other two boys were picking up branches and slowly walking towards me.” I paused and shut my eyes.  “I started running and I tripped over a fallen branch.  I quickly got up, but I was in pain I looked down and noticed that there was a deep gash on my leg.  I just kept running until I saw the gate.  They guys weren’t far behind, but I reached the gate before them and closed it behind me.  They just stopped trying after that, they didn’t even try to jump the fence they just quit.  I never understood why… So, I covered up my leg with my sweater and walked back home slowly.” I rubbed my leg under the desk, feeling my scar from that night.
“What does this have to do with tonight’s murder?” he asked me.
“Jake Logan also killed Lexi.”I swallowed and turned my head as the door opened with a creek.
“Hi, I’m Jake Logan and I’d like to turn myself in,” the man said, but it wasn’t Jake…