Ellie’s teeth were chattering so loudly she worried her dad would hear them in the next room. She was hyperventilating, breathing so fast she was becoming dizzy. But it was time to open the messages from Shadow Man. Staring at her computer screen, she shoved an entire large bag of Doritos in her mouth and gulped down a Pepsi before she was ready. Wiping her mouth and hands and swallowing the sour taste in her mouth, she logged onto the black and green screen and clicked on the messages.
To: ePrincess14
From: Shadow Man
Re: Your task
“It is long past time. You will have another chance to prove yourself. But you are running out of time.”
Ellie clicked on the second message with trembling hands.
To: ePrincess14
From: Shadow Man
Re: Your task
“Your silence makes me concerned. You do know I’m always watching. I see how you sit at your desk with your Taylor Swift poster behind you and log onto my website and yet you don’t answer my messages. I have given you another chance, but my patience is growing thin.”
Ellie’s gaze slowly lifted to the small dot at the top of her laptop where the camera was. She felt queasy. He was watching her. He’d seen inside her room. Every time she had her laptop open he had been watching her. What about when she had gotten undressed at night? Had he been watching her the entire time. She felt dizzy, but swallowed. He had never come off like a pervert. He had even said something once when a girl had questioned him. He said that he liked grown women and that men who liked little girls should die a horrible death. She breathed in and tried not to look at the camera. She had to remain calm. He could be watching her right now.
She clicked on the third message.
The third message, dated today, had only two words. “Last chance.”
She looked right at the small camera hole and nodded.
“You can count on me.”