March 4, 2010
7:00 p.m.
Evalynne’s House

I sat on my bed, the journal set out in front of me. For some reason, I was afraid to open it. Afraid of what I might find inside. But I knew I had to open it up. I knew I had to read what it said. This journal could’ve been exactly what I needed to get Michael sent off to jail. I had to find out what it said inside.
So taking a deep breath, I opened it up.
The first page was blank so I flipped to the next one. On it was a picture of a preppy looking blonde girl. The picture was taped to the page of the journal and below it was the a name written in black marker. The handwriting was neat and precise…and the name was Jennifer.
I sucked in a deep breath and flipped to the next page. This one had a picture of Valerie taped onto it, with her name written beneath it. The page after that had a picture of an unfamiliar girl taped to it.
The girl had light blonde hair with chunky purple streaks in it. Her eye make-up was thick, with lots of dark eye shadow and heavy eyeliner. Her lips were a deep red and from I could see a vintage-looking concert t-shirt. But I couldn’t tell which band it was for because the picture was only a headshot.
Below this photo was the name ‘Lacey’. My eyes went wide when I read it and I felt my blood curdle with envy. She was beautiful in that funky punk-rocker way. Her and Will probably looked perfect together. No wonder he was going out with her. They were practically designed for each other. I could never compare to Lacey. She was much prettier than me and I couldn’t change that.
Sighing longingly, I flipped to the next page, surprised to find my picture looking back at me.
“No,” I whispered under my breath. This couldn’t be. How the hell did he get this? I felt my heart pounding in my chest, the blood drain from my face, my skin prickle with goose bumps. I read my name, my eyes blurring with tears.
This was real. I was in his journal. I was one of Michael’s victims. I’d known this before, but actually seeing my picture there made it so much more believable.
With shaking hands, I moved onto the next page, taking deep breaths to calm myself. On this page was a list of names written in the same exact handwriting as the names below each of the pictures. Biting my lip, I read them.

1.
Jennifer
2.
Valerie *
3.
Lacey
4.
Evalynne

I couldn’t help but notice that Jennifer’s name was crossed off and Valerie’s name had a star next to it. I knew very well why Jennifer’s name was crossed off. It meant that he’d killed her already. She was gone. But I wasn’t positive about why Valerie’s name was starred.
It could’ve been because she was his current victim. But it also could’ve been because he decided not to kill her. It could’ve been for a completely different reason too. Honestly, I wasn’t quite sure. I couldn’t exactly decipher what Michael was thinking when he made this list. His mind was much to psychotic and complicated for me to try and figure out.
After reading through the list of names, I turned to the next page in the journal. This one was filled with descriptions on each girl.

Jennifer – Fond of Will, very friendly with him. She deserves to be punished for this. Will isn’t worthy of her acceptance. Therefore, I must take it away from him. I must kill her.
Valerie – Dated Will for quite some time. Broke up with him after she figured out that he’d been cheating on her. I should kill her just because she was ignorant enough to go out with Will in the first place. But since he still loves her, I could also use her against him. And so I will… But after I’ve had my fun in using her, I’ll slit her throat. Better yet, I’ll force Will to do it himself.
Lacey – Will’s current girlfriend. Just some punk-rocker, misfit stoner chick. Almost like a female version of Will. That’s reason enough to kill her. Once I’m done with Valerie, I’ll make sure Lacey receives her punishment.

I took a deep breath, tasting bile in the back of my throat. All of this was so horrid. It was so difficult for me to read. I wasn’t sure if I could handle reading my summary. Not after everything I’d already read about the other three girls. But I knew I had to.
So I braced myself for the worst and read it.

Evalynne – Will’s latest best friend. She’s an interesting one too. She’s independent, confident, smart, clever… I like her. And it would be such a shame to have to murder her. But if she’s as intelligent as I’m sensing she is, then she’s sure to help me. And unlike Valerie, she’ll do it willingly. At least that’s what I’m anticipating. But if she doesn’t, then I’ll do what must be done. I’ll kill her.

Hot, angry tears trickled down my cheeks and my body began to tremble. I clenched the journal tightly in my hands, staring at my summary, rereading it again and again. Feeling more disgusted each time. I shook my head in fury and chucked the small journal across my bedroom, watching as it landed on the floor with a thwack.
“Ugh!” I shouted, letting my tears flow freely. I couldn’t take it anymore. How dare Michael think that I would be willing to help him! How dare he like me! The thought of that creepy psycho liking me made me want to vomit.
He couldn’t just expect everyone to live up to his standards either. If people weren’t exactly the way he wanted them to be he thought he could just murder them? That was so messed up in so many ways. This guy needed a major reality check. The world didn’t revolve around him. People shouldn’t feel threatened to stay away from Will just because Michael was a selfish maniac.
Will didn’t do anything wrong. If Michael couldn’t handle having a sibling then maybe he should emancipate himself and go find a different family to live in where he could be an only child. He shouldn’t try to make Will as miserable as possible in order to “punish” him though.
He shouldn’t try to keep Will isolated just because he didn’t think he deserved any friends. Michael wasn’t always going to be the center of attention. He needed to learn how to accept that rather than going on crazy killing rampages in order to deal with his anger.
Did he ever once stop to think about how Will was feeling? Of course not, because to Michael, it didn’t matter. The only person he was concerned with was himself. And if he wasn’t happy, he made sure that no one was else was either. And it was wrong.
That wasn’t how things worked. He wasn’t the only person in the world that mattered. There were other people besides him. People with feelings, feelings that were being hurt by him. Including mine.
Because according to Michael, if I didn’t do what he wanted me to do, that made me a bad person. Which meant that I deserved to be punished. And that meant that it was up to him to punish me.
This was what Michael believed at least. Yes, it was completely crazy and egotistic. But that was just the kind of person Michael was. And that was why Will and I had to put a stop to his madness.
Once I’d taken a moment to relax myself, I stood up, walked over to the journal, picked it up, brought it back over to my bed, and opened back up to the page I’d left off on. The summary page.
I blinked a few times to clear my vision and flipped to the next page. It was blank. As was the rest of the journal. That was it. Just the pictures, the list of names, and the summaries. But it was still good enough evidence to turn into the police. Once they read the summary page, they’d realize what Michael was up to. It stated clearly what his plans were for each girl.
He’d planned to kill Jennifer, Valerie, Lacey, and possibly me. And it was all there, written down on paper. The perfect proof that would put Michael in jail for the rest of his life. But I didn’t want to go to the cops until I’d shown the journal to Will. So I’d just have to wait until tomorrow.
I smiled, thinking about it. In less than twenty-four hours, Michael would be caught. He’d be arrested. He’d be punished.