. Chapter

The username was DaveAtkunne, Fae didn't recognise the name. But it didn't matter, she was in the comfort of her own room, the place she spent most time in. She could sure text back if needed.

The message read:

'Hi, is everything alright?'

Fae had to read it over a few times, making sure she understood what exactly the message said. How odd. Thinking back at what she'd written to the quote she'd posted seconds ago, it made better sense.

She had gone pretty deep into her thoughts, when she'd written about how hurt she was. How she just wanted to disappear from the face of the earth, because nobody cared for her, NOBODY.

'Yeah, I'm fine.'

She replied to the message.

She felt like she had to look into this stranger who'd just confronted her, so she went to the profile.

It was private, annoyed Fae pressed the "follow" button. The profile picture was just that of a grey figure. She felt a rush of regret running through her mind. She knew that, what was done couldn't be undone. Because of the regret she turned off her phone and put it in the back pocket of her old worn jeans, she had gotten for her twelfth birthday, three years ago.

Back then she was happy, she had friends who enjoyed hanging around her. They didn't judge her.

Fae got up and shifted her seat to the office chair by her writing desk. She was working on learning Latin, because she had a big passion for botany. She really wanted to make sense of plant names, she knew Latin would be a great place to start.

She often tried shifting her view on things by telling herself that she should just do what she felt made her happy and it would lead her onto good paths.

As she put down the pen onto the paper, her phone vibrated in her back pocket. Fae's back stiffened and she quickly let go of the pen, to get her phone up. On the screen a notification was shown; DaveAtkunne has accepted your follow request.

Her jaw tightened, she really just wanted to forget about the request she'd sent.

She pressed the notification icon which lead her to the profile, there wasn't any posts.

"Pling.."

Fae got another message. She opened the chat up:

'You seem to be upset, it has been going on for a while. I know how it feels, I've been there as well. I'm here if you need help.'

Fae felt better, someone seemed to genuinely care about her mental state.

'Yeah, you're right. You're the only one who has noticed, it's frustrating to be left out. Who are you btw?'

Fae felt like she could throw in a question, she felt more comfortable knowing who she was talking with. Even though that was the case, she would probably still chat with him either way. She felt way better.

A smile formed on her face, as she put down the phone and went back to her work.

"Pling..."

Another message came in.

'I'm Dave. Have you ever conflicted self harm on yourself?'

Confused Fae read the message again. The answer to her question wasn't what she'd expected to get. She wanted to know who Dave was, not what his name was. Also why did he want to know whether she had conflicted any harm on herself?

'What do you mean? Why would you ask about something like that?'

Fae looked out the window and took a deep breath, trying not to start crying. This was odd.

"Pling..."

'My name is Dave, I'm 22 years old and come from South Dakota. I could help you. Have you had any suicidal thoughts? - except the ones you share online.'

Fae felt a shiver running through her whole body, leaving her with goosebumps. She hadn't expected that. He wanted to help her, so why not get the help? But at the same time she felt confused.

'Okay, how can I trust you? I'd love to get some help, I really just wanna get out of the cruel cycle I'm in. Why do you want to know those kind of things? I mostly wish for better times, right now I'm just following what I'm passionate about.'

Fae wondered what would come up if she searched for him on the internet. She went on safari and searched up the username, the only thing showing up was the profile that had contacted her. Maybe she should ask for a last name? Fae sat for a minute just not sure, at last finding it too weird to ask for.

She hadn't left the chat room and when she looked down, she noticed that she'd gotten a reply.

'Whether you trust me, or not, is your choice.

I just need to know how bad it is, so that I can build a program to you. You wish for better times, I can assure you that they won't come. I know that for a fact. There's one way out, it might be hard to actually do, which is why I'm helping you to get there. It's not the first time I've been included in things like this and trust me, I've only ended up with successes.'

Fae didn't understand what he was talking about. She didn't fully believe what he was saying. Did he want her to commit suicide? That was straight up stupid, what did he think she was? Dumb? It still unsettled her to know that he'd been doing this before. Had people died because of some stranger messaging them?

'What are you talking about? I'm sure it will get better! I've got my mind to talk with, either way. Can't you help me in the other direction instead?'

Fae wanted to laugh to herself, but still had the creeps in the back of her mind. Though it did sound intriguing that he had a method to get her to want to commit suicide. For some reason she wanted to see if she could resist what he had in store for her. If so, she knew how strong she actually was mentally.

'You have no idea. It won't get better than what I have to offer. You lost your friends. Nobody wants to talk with you. Why do you think that would get any different?'

She felt her throat get stuffed. He was from South Dakota, that was far away from Georgia, where she lived. How did he know that she didn't have any friends? - that they had left her. Nowhere had she ever posted that. Literally nowhere.

'Where do you know that from? You said you were from Dakota. You shouldn't know stuff like that!'

She tried to swallow, but found it hard to do. This was getting real, was she dreaming? The question made it clear that she wasn't, never had she dreamed a weird dream and asked herself that question.

'I know a lot about you, though I can't read thoughts. I am from Dakota, don't worry. But I can move places if I want to. Now give me a few days and I will build you a program to follow. Before beginning though, you have to agree on some special terms.'

Dave's answers would always come back very quickly after Fae would write. She could clearly see that he was invested in this. She was curious and scared at the same time. She did want to join, nobody could stop her anyway. As if anyone even cared for her death, if it ever came. They wouldn't even notice, sure, someone would find her and that would be it.

'Okay, you're scaring me. Where are you right now? Tell me the terms, I will think about it.'

Fae went out to the window and looked out to see if anyone was spying. After not spotting anyone, she closed down the curtains. Darkness filling the room, making her having to stumble for the light switch. Before she could, a notification stopping her dead in the middle of the room.

"Pling..."

'Am I? Well yeah, I should be scary to you.

Right now I'm actually heading through Georgia, on a little field trip, you could say. Here's the link to the terms, you must agree and send your answers to me. After that you can't change your opinion.'

Fae fell to the ground, a sharp pain going up her spine. Georgia. He knew where she lived. Terror stopping her from clear thoughts. She lay there hyperventilating unable to stand from the pain in her back. She pressed the link. It lead to a page with three different agreements. The first being "I understand that this is only my business and I can't share it with ANYONE." Followed by a yes and a circle to check off. The second term being "I follow the requests without cheating or using untrue proof." The third "I agree to follow all the way to the end, no quitting before the last task." Fae tried scrolling down, with no avail. She pressed the three circles a checkmark appearing in each of them.

A blue button appeared under the agreements, it was formed like a whale and on it was written, "send." She pressed the blue button and as she got up, the text was exchanged with one last sentence; "Not following the terms will have consequences." After that, the page closed down by itself and left the chat log on the screen. It had a new message.

'Not following the terms in the link will lead to serious consequences.'