I know I have a temper. I know sometimes I itch to fight, to let my rage out, to show other people I’m not weak. I know I’ve done some stupid shit in my past—but to actually kill someone? And not just someone, but three people I’m starting to think of as…friends?

No, never. I refuse to believe it. And I’d never kill myself either. Not in a million years. It must be a setup. Aether Corp or whoever is behind our deaths did this to us and then placed the blame on me to tie it all up with a nice string.

But I’m the only one with a gun, and I would bet money the gun in my backpack is the same one that’s going to shoot the others. I even turned it on Chris less than an hour ago. And despite what I told him, I would have pulled the trigger.

Oh my God, it is me. I really am the killer. I’m going to become the one thing I swore I’d never turn into: a murderer like my father.

I guess it’s inevitable. It’s in my blood.

My nails dig into the desk, sending sharp, shooting pains up my fingers. I can’t look away from the image with my fate written on it. But if I am the killer, why would I do this to them? I can’t think of any reason I’d want to kill them. Maybe I snap at some point between now and then…and afterward my grief drives me to shoot myself. But if that’s the case, why do I spare Adam?

I need to know more. Maybe I can find some hint of a motive, or learn when and where the others were killed so I can stop it from happening.

I won’t become a killer. I won’t.

I close the genealogy program and open a new search for old news articles. I input my name plus suicide, and half a dozen articles show up from various local news sites. I click on the first one, with the headline: Four Teens Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide.

SANTA MONICA, Calif. – Four teens, all in the foster care system, have been found dead in an apparent murder-suicide.

Three of the teens suffered fatal gunshot wounds yesterday in different locations across Los Angeles County. Coroner’s assistant Edith Moore said the victims were shot multiple times. The names of the victims have been withheld.

Police suspect the final teen, Elena Martinez, 17, killed the others before taking her own life. A lifeguard discovered her body early this morning near the Santa Monica Pier, with what police believe to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. No suicide note was found. The investigation is ongoing.

Any lingering doubt I had is gone. This is going to happen.