The Meeting Was Scheduled for Five People. I Made Sure There Were Only Four.

Exactly at 9 a.m. the meeting started. Four faces flickered into view. It was a mix… forced smiles and caffeine-fueled exhaustion.

Someone was missing.

“Has anyone heard from Jared?” Lorna, our project manager, asked, glancing at the empty fifth slot on the grid.

I stayed quiet, watching them shift uncomfortably. The last time they’d seen Jared was the last time they ever would. I made sure of that.

“Maybe he overslept?” Ben suggested, sipping his coffee, completely unaware that Jared wouldn’t be waking up at all.

“Should we start without him?” Lorna hesitated, eyes darting between the silent black square where his video should have been and the rest of us.

The chat window popped open.

Jared has joined the meeting.

The air in my lungs went still.

The fifth window flickered, dark at first. Then movement — grainy, distorted, a shadow shifting against dim light. A shape that could have been a person, but the camera never focused enough to tell.

“Jared?” Lorna asked, her voice uncertain.

A sound crackled through his mic — wet, uneven breathing.

Ben chuckled nervously. “Dude, what’s with the creepy lighting?”

The screen sharpened for just a moment. Just enough to see the bruising around Jared’s throat, the slumped way he sat against the chair, like something was holding him there.

My stomach twisted. That wasn’t supposed to happen.

Jared had been scheduled for removal.

I reached toward my keyboard, hand trembling slightly as I moved to end the meeting.

Then the chat box popped again.

Jared is typing…