Are You There?

The man chuckled softly to himself. His stubby fingers ran across his keyboard, the buttons were victims as he slammed each one down. He gulped in a heavy breath, the sound rasping in the darkness of his cluttered room. His scraggly beard shone with grease, lit up solely by his computer monitor. 

He shoved his hand in a bag of Cheetos and pulled out a handful. His entire fist was covered in unnatural orange powder. He switched tabs. A few sticks fell on his keyboard but he didn't notice. With a ding, the profile he had watched all day finally came online.

His fat tongue licked over his lips. He shoved his fistful of Cheetos into his mouth and with his free hand he opened the chat box. The sound of open mouthed crunching filled the room, joined by the low hum of his computer. 

His fingers abused the keys with wet plops. The coagulated Cheeto powder left prints across the keyboard, binding to the crust that had built up for years. Without a second thought, he sent the message.

'Are you there Jane?' 

Within seconds, she answered.

'Just got out of class

Was hoping you'd be online

🙂', she was eager. She wanted him.

That little minx... He swallowed, the clump of pulverized chemical stretched his throat as it went down. A smirk pulled at his lips as he replied,

'Should we vid?????

pleeeeeeeez'.

It was eager. He was aware of how desperate he sounded. He'd asked multiple times already, but this was the one. This time, she'd say yes. He could show off his programming skills.

'I think you'll be disappointed', she said, exactly like he had every other damn time he'd brought up the subject. This time though, she followed up with, 'I look better in my FB pics than IRL'.

With no one to see him, he flung his head from side to side. "You're wrong!" He shouted and a laugh quickly filled the quiet night. He had to play it cool though. 

'I have a good feeling 

You're wrong about that', he typed instead. 

'Flattery will get you nowhere...' She tried to refute, but his flattery would work. He needed this.

'I doubt that 🙂

I'm going to hook up my web cam'. This would work. It worked on so many girls before her.

'ok', was all she answered, and that was all it took. He licked his already damp lips and shifted in his seat to prepare. 

He inserted smile emoji after smile emoji after smile emoji into his chat box — he had to make sure she knew how excited she'd made him. There was at least fifteen emojis carefully typed out before he'd finally sent the message.

'kk

I'm going to make a coffee', she messaged. That gave him a small pause and a frown spread on his lips.

"Now? She couldn't just fucking wait?" He growled and clenched his fist around his mouse, enough to make it creak in retaliation. He took a deep breath before he let the mouse go with a clack. 

He waited a moment. Just a moment, then impatience got to him and he clicked on the call button. It took three rings before she finally picked up. He was ready.

Within seconds, he had her webcam hacked. He played back the last few seconds of her feed with a black and white filter over it. He laughed as her eyes widened. She jerked away from the computer and he ended the playback.

'Sorry 😟 web cam isn't working', he sent but he had a grin on his face. She looked scared. He liked that. It excited him.

'Jane?'

Then she slammed her laptop shut. The live feed went dark, just for a moment. His breath caught. 

"No, no," he grumbled beneath his breath. He shifted in his chair with an ominous creak. His knees hit the underside of the desk and everything trembled, a few Cheetos bounced out of the bag. 

As he examined the digital remnants of her presence, he noticed another camera he could access. It was a PS3 webcam, which took him by surprise. He hadn't thought she was interested in games, her profile mentioned a deep interest in music and a mild enjoyment of anime. 

The PS3 camera had no built in microphone, but the laptop's still worked while it was in sleep mode. From the comfort of his room, he was able to change the input and output devices for her laptop. He gained access to a sliver of her life in just one simple click. The screen flashed to life again.

Normally, women would get nervous for an hour and then completely forget about his innocent prank. Jane, however, spiraled. She was in the bathroom for a long time. Something rattled before she finally left. Her eyes seemed... Empty, dazed, like there was nothing left to them. 

He knew she was weird, but this was on a different level. Out of nowhere, she collapsed into a ball, just barely in his line of sight. She buried her face in her hands and mumbled to herself. Then she rocked back and forth with a loud thud.

"What the fuck...?" He frowned, jumping back in his seat as she suddenly snapped her head to look into the camera and screamed. He reached out to the landline on his desk, fingers wrapped around the base. He hesitated. 

After a moment left in still contemplation, he let go of the phone. He moved the hand to his thinning hair, grabbed it at the root and tugged at it. Strands snapped away from his scalp and balled together in his fist. He shook his head violently, the wheeze of his breath being replaced with a loud pants. Finally, he slammed his heavy hand back onto the desk. 

"Fuck!" He bellowed, red in the face and dampened from sweat. He swallowed thickly. His eyes darted around the room erratically before they landed on the mess of wires coddling an extension cord. He snatched it up and pulled at it. After he tugged at it two times, it finally ripped at the base. 

The room was plunged into darkness. The only sound was his labored, gasping breath.