Killer Sister

By Katlin Stack

 

After her mother's untimely death, Kylie believes that she has no one left in the world. That is, until her mother's final letter to her daughter reveals that Kylie was born a twin. Kylie's twin has been locked away in a mental institute since they were young, and Kylie has no memory of it at all. Not of her twin or why she was sent away.

But her sister, Kara, remembers everything.

With Kara being all she has left, Kylie takes her out of the institution to be a family again.

But now that Kara is out, there will be killer consequences.  

• Language: English
• Publisher: Katlin Stack
• Release date: Feb 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393664536

Book preview

Chapter 1

For most people, sitting at the reading of their mother’s last will and testament would feel like a nightmare.

But my nightmares had always been far more gruesome than that.

Kylie?

I heard my name and blinked, trying to erase the thoughts that were circulating in my mind.

Sorry...did you say something? I asked. One of my chronic headaches was pressing against the backs of my eyes making it harder to focus than it already was.

Mr. O’Neal, my mother’s lawyer, cleared his throat. Yes, I asked if your Aunt Cheryl was going to be joining us? Or if I should proceed without her.

His expensive gold watch glinted as he turned his chubby arm to purposefully check the time.  Everything about him seemed to be too much. From his overstuffed leather chairs in his office, the stack of books with uncracked spines used only to impress people, to his tailored suit on his bulging body. He was clean and crisp, and overindulgent.

I haven’t heard from her. She got my message about Mom but she’s halfway around the world photographing a shoot for some magazine, so I don’t think she’ll be making it here. They weren’t...close.

Mr. O’Neal nodded. Then maybe we should just get started, he said, his voice full of pity.

My eyes dropped to my lap. I didn’t want his pity. I didn’t want him to feel sorry for me. But what else could he think? I was just about to turn nineteen years old, technically an adult for a whole year, and I had no one. The only family I had left had just been buried. I was alone.

I guessed I would have felt bad for me too.

Mr. O’Neal began to read my mother’s last will to the room.

Both her alma mater and her favorite charities were left a great deal of money, a few of her friends were left little remembrances, Aunt Cheryl was left some of the heirlooms from their family, and I was left everything else.  

I may have been alone, but I was suddenly rich. Somehow, that didn’t quite make up for it.

Your mother wanted me to play this recording for you, Mr. O’Neal said. Turning on a flat screen that was mounted on the wall, my mother’s face sat frozen and distraught on the screen.

He pressed play.

To my daughter, I leave my home and the possessions not already given, the rest of the money I possessed, and a lifetime full of regret. I wish I could have been brave enough to tell you the truth while I was alive, to be better for you, to give you the love you deserved. Instead, I doubt I even told you the one thing I always wanted to say. To tell you that I’m sorry. I hope that this box will, at the very least, help you understand why life was the way it was for us. And why I failed you as a mother.

Mr. O’Neal paused the recording and handed me a locked wooden box with paint chips flaking from it. At one time there might have been flowers on the lid, but there was barely anything left. The lock’s color was nearly rubbed away, having been opened too many times. My thumb rubbed the lock, where I was sure my mother’s thumb had done the same.

What’s inside? I asked.

She didn’t tell me. But...she did have the key. He handed me a necklace, one that I had seen every day for my entire life. On the chain sat a matching gold key which,