One by One

Chapter 9

MJ was pacing back and forth, displeased about what she had been forced to do. This was certainly not what she had intended, but she had no choice. It was for Justin's own good. If she couldn't have him, no one could.

She stopped pacing and sat down in her large leather chair, surrounded by computer screens and various other gadgets. Each screen had a different view of the virtual world she had created. All she had to do was type in a few coordinates, and she could see what was going on in the forest at all times.

On one screen she was watching Nick, as he walked hopelessly around trying to find a way home. He had been there the longest, and yet he seemed to be the one trying hardest. She had, at first, believed it would be unnecessary to take him. He seemed to be the most logical out of the bunch, and she had hoped he would understand the situation. But instead, he rebelled, and she couldn’t have someone threatening her relationship with Justin.

She looked to her right, on the screen that was displaying Lindsey. She was the most interesting to watch by far, because she seemed fixated more on finding the others then she was on finding a way out. MJ, she was a little sad to admit, was actually excited when it came time to take Lindsey. She too could have been safe if she left the situation alone, but like Nick, she had been nothing more than an annoying fly in MJ’s ear since the moment this started.

Finally, there was Justin, who was lying on the ground, visibly defeated. She hated this. She had tried so hard to keep them together; she built this world to keep them together, only to have it separate them forever. He had been the perfect target, so trusting and easy to manipulate; if it hadn’t been for his intrusive friends they would surely still be together. MJ swiveled her chair to the opposite wall, unable to look at Justin for another moment.

This wall was almost identical to the other, covered in large computer screens and keyboards. Only these computers gave a completely different view. On one screen she was looking at Siobhan’s face through the tiny camera inside her cell phone. She hated Siobhan, more than she had ever hated anyone. She had something very special planned for her, far beyond anything that had happened to the others. They were taken care of swiftly, but Siobhan would suffer, this was certain.

She tore herself away from Siobhan’s face and focused on the plan. She signed on to the email account she had made earlier and started composing a message to Siobhan. Unlike the message she had written to Justin, this was going to be short and sweet.

“Your time will come.”

She typed in Siobhan’s email address and hit send.