Sinister Tales

Joe

Joe

2015 © All Rights Reserved

It started as a joke online, but remember, there's still a person, evil and awaiting behind the screen.

It was Friday, the sun had just set and Anastasia just got home from her day at work, serving as a cashier at a popular fast food restaurant. She could feel the first week of her senior year of high school and second day on the job start to hit her, but through all of the weariness, she couldn't help but feel awake enough to open her computer.

She logged into a chat room called The Chat, one she recently started to frequent ever since she came across a few people with similar interests as her online. After a few days, they made their own private room so they could focus on the conversations with each other and no strangers. It was password protected so no curious people could join in if they wanted.

Anastasia went online under the pseudo of Ana, while the three other friends went under the usernames of Riles whose real name is Riley, the only girl in the group besides herself. The two others were Kyle and Demetri. They would spend their nights playing games or having conversation among themselves. Never had there been a dull moment or an awkward silence between the close four friends. Though they had only known each other a month, they felt as if they'd been friends for much longer.

Ana logged on. Something caught her eyes and struck her as odd when she noticed someone in the private room they created, a person who she didn't recognize. Their name was Joe.

Could it be someone one of my friends invited? She thought to herself. Not wanting to let the questions flood her mind, she decided to go get some answers for herself.

She joined the channel, expecting the person to speak, but silent they stayed. "Hello?" She spoke in a questioning manner. She waited for a few seconds. They didn't respond. Not letting the non-responsiveness from them get to her, she tried again, "Joe?" She called out his name, hoping to get his attention. But with little she could do, she gave up. As one of the admins of her channel, she right clicked on his username, looking at the options it gave her until she scrolled down to the one that seemed appealing. Kick user from channel. With that, he was kicked out of the channel she occupied.

She patiently waited for her friends to log on so they could talk and play games together as they typically did. A pinging noise filled her headphones, signaling her someone joined the channel, Ana looked at her channel, expecting to see one of her friends, but Joe appeared back in her room.

"Joe?" She called out, having very little hope that the strangely mysterious person would acknowledge her. A beeping noise echoed through her ears indicating she received a message.

Joe: Hello.

Anastasia ran her fingers across the keyboard, typing at a rapid speed, needing and wanting answers of who he was.

Ana: Who are you?

She asked the simple question, gnawing on her fingernails waiting for a reply. And a minute later, she received one.

Joe: :)

She sat there, staring at the screen not sure what to say to respond to the person. A pinging noise interrupted the silence and made Ana's heart skip. Her furiously beating heart settled once she seen the name Riles joined.

"Hey Riley!" Ana exclaimed, relieved to see someone she knew.

Riles: Hello.

"Riley, is your mic broke or something?" Ana crooked her head at her friend's message. Never once had Riley not spoken so it was strange for Ana to see her typing.