To say that Kate was shocked would’ve been the understatement of the world.

“Hmom?” Kate asked under the duct tape.

“Yeah, sorry, Kate,” Amanda answered. Kate saw a brief moment of something cross over Amanda’s face -- sympathy? Regret? Kate didn’t know. But as soon as it was there, the expression was gone and her face returned to being expressionless, emotionless, and seemingly uncaring. Kate just stared at her with disbelieving eyes.

“So, Kate,” Alan said, looking from Amanda --Erin-- back to her. Kate drew her eyes away from Erin and back to him. “I guess you’re quite shocked now, at the sight of your friend being involved in our little scheme. The truth is, Erin is incredibly vital to us. I mean, she kind of ‘seeks out,’ if you will, our new friends, and well, befriends them. Of course we know who the person is, but once they go on the tour, that’s when Erin comes in. It’s her job to befriend the person, and get to know as much about them as soon as possible. She gave us your phone number right away, along with lots of other details, like things about your family and friends back home. How endearing they sound, really,” he finished.

“Oh, look at the time!” Michelle exclaimed, dramatically clasping the side of her face with one hand, and pointing at the alarm clock with the other. All heads turned in the direction in which she pointed. It was 5:54am. Time sure was flying by now, it seemed.

“You know, Dad,” Amanda started, “the halls and that are going to start filling up soon with people going to classes and stuff. The halls won’t settle back down until later tonight sometime.”

“Yeah, true,” Alan remarked, still eyeballing the clock. Then he shifted his gaze to Amanda, and then Kate. “Well, might as well get started.” Kate’s eyes widened in horror. Get started with what, exactly? Her mind was racing with horrific possibilities. She didn’t want to think about any of them, but their was no stopping her imagination.

“Is the door locked?” Alan asked suddenly.

Walking over to the door and double checking the locks, Steve confirmed, “Yes.”

“Good. Well, Kate, I really hate to do this, but I really have no choice. Like I said, you’re a smart girl, and probably would’ve made a fantastic doctor, but what needs to be done, has to be done. We can’t get caught, you know,” Alan explained. He reached behind him and pulled a black hand gun out. It was almost like magic, in a way. Kate had never noticed it before. Kate’s eyes were frozen wide. Her mind screamed with terror. She started sweating profusely. Her body began trembling uncontrollably.

Alan pointed the gun directly at Kate’s forehead.