"I'm out for the day Judy!" Johanna called out as she pulled on her coat.
"Okay sweetheart I'll see you tomorrow!" Judy replied as she began shutting down the computer. Johanna grabbed her purse from behind the receptionist's desk and headed out the door to the parking garage of the large medical building. Johanna was a dental hygienist for a family dentistry in New York City. She loved her job and had studied so hard in college that it paid off even more knowing that she had gotten through the hard work on her own.
"Keys, keys, keys..." She said out loud as she ruffled through her purse on the way to her car. The lights were dim in the garage and she had trouble finding her keys in the dark. She walked quickly to the car knowing that New York wasn't the safest place to be taking a stroll through a parking garage. She reached her car still looking through her purse for the seemingly missing keys. "Now this is strange, where could they be?" She said standing in front of the driver's side. "Ugh, this is not what I need right now!"
"They always said you were a smart one." The person said, clearly in a male voice. His grasp was tight around Johanna's mouth and he had his other arm around her waist squeezing the life out of her. Johanna tried screaming but all that came out was mumbled gibberish. "What was that darlin'? You tryin' to say something?" Johanna tried once again to scream but was muffled by the man's hand. With each squirm Johanna put out, the man's grip got violently tighter. Finally Johanna managed to open her mouth far enough to clamp down on the man's hand. She bit him so hard that he loosened his grip just enough for her to run out of his grasp. She screamed trying to get anyone's attention and ran straight ahead.
"Not so fast!" The man yelled just as something clicked in his hand. Johanna stopped and turned slowly to be faced with her attacker. He had on a long trench coat and a scarf wrapped up to his nose. It was all complemented with a Yankees baseball cap on his head making it impossible to identify who it was. He had a loaded gun in his hand pointed right at Johanna's head.
"What do you want from me?" Johanna asked meekly as she put her arms up in surrender.
"Well, you see, the key to a good kidnapping is careful planning." He said not moving from his position with the gun in his hand. "Know, your victim's every move and know their every possible move. And, most importantly, be ready for em'." He said walking slowly to Johanna who was frozen in fear.
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, I guess you could say I've done my research." The man said turning Johanna around again. "Walk!" He ordered with the gun sticking in her back. She walked at his pace as they exited the garage. "I know your every move and I knew what to expect so anything you did or would've done was of no surprise to me." The sun had by now set from the sky and the streets were slightly emptied.
"Where are you taking me?" Johanna whispered so as not to aggravate the man.
"Well, telling you would take the fun outta the surprise wouldn't it?"
"I hate surprises!" Johanna shot back. The man immediately jabbed the gun in her back sending a searing pain up her spinal chord.
"Not only did they tell me you were smart, but they also mentioned you had a mouth on ya!"
"They, who's they?" Johanna asked tears forming in the corners of her eyes.
"Something else you'll have to wait to find out. Curiosity got the cat ya know?" He said just as they rounded into an empty ally. They cold air caused steam to rise from the potholes giving the ally a eerie feel. The perfect setting for a kidnapping in a movie. Johanna looked around to notice a truck parked at the end of the ally. "Honey we're home!" The man said as they reached the truck.
He let Johanna go just, keeping the gun pointed at her as the back door to the truck opened. Out stepped a man in similar attire with another gun in his hand. "Well make yourself right at home." The first man said as the second one basically threw Johanna in the back of the truck. There were others in the truck. She couldn't tell how many or even make out a face but she sensed the presence of other people with her. "Oh and by the way," the man said as the doors closed on her, "I hope you know how to take care of babies. We could use a nanny!" And with that, the door slammed shut and the engine started up. There was a sudden cry from a baby as the truck began moving. The silence was deafening and the darkness was blinding. The faint cries from the baby were difficult to detect where they came from.
"Hush, baby…" Johanna called out soothingly into the darkness. "Johanna's here… she'll find you…"
CH. 2
"You've got mail!!!" Jessie's computer sounded as the Internet connected. "How is it that you always have mail???" Michelle asked from the bed of the dorm.
"Uh… I'm popular?" she replied with a grin.
"No…" Michelle said getting up and running to where Jessie sat at the laptop. "You're just subscribed to every damn newsletter on the Internet.
"Smart Ass!" Jessie retorted pushing Michelle back to the bed. She then turned back to the computer, deleting every e-mail with "forward" in front of it. She scrolled down noting only three messages left. The first one's return address was "DeNTaLGaL316". It was her sister. She opened the e-mail and read to herself 'Hey sis, Don't forget dinner tonight. Villa Mosconi at eight! See ya there, JoJo'. Jessie sighed.
"I don't understand why she insists on reminding me of dinner every week when we've been doing the same dinner at Villa Mosconi on Fridays routine for two years now!"
"She worries about you. What do you expect?" Michelle replied flipping through her Business Management Book.
"Yea, I know, it's just that the six years of worry has me just a little choked." Jessie said deleting the e-mail.
"Jessie, she was basically your mother for those six years. You should expect her to worry and nag. It's instinct."
"Whatever." Jessie said as she thought about her life. What most would call tragic, Jessie looked at as the experience that only made her stronger. Jessie and Johanna were typical sisters in a typical family, until their parents were killed. Jessie was thirteen years old and Johanna had just turned eighteen. If it wasn't for Johanna being a legal adult, they would have been shipped off to a foster home, for the two now had no family but each other. Johanna took on the great responsibility of raising Jessie and with what she had, she did a great job. She put her schooling off just long enough to establish a stable life for her and Jessie. With no money set for college, Jessie excelled in her high schoolwork to win the scholarship to NYU. Working together, Johanna and Jessie had succeeded in life and made themselves happy and helping each other through the many hard times.
Jessie went on to the next e-mail. The return address was sorobrat17. "Uh oh! Another e-mail from Carrie!" Jessie said with a giggle as she opened the mail.
"Okay, let me guess, BIG party at the Phi Delta Beta house? Right?" Michelle asked knowing the answer. Jessie skimmed the e-mail.
"You know it! And the whole campus is invited. What a surprise eh?"
"I know. Wanna go?" Michelle asked.
"Might as well. I mean what else could we do." Jessie answered as she deleted the mail. "Besides, I've been meaning to borrow Lizzy's black halter dress."
"Oh, good reason!" Jessie finally got to the last e-mail. The return address wasn't familiar to her. All it said was "nameless". The subject was blank and naturally the curiosity got to her. She clicked to open it and waited for it to come up. It instantly downloaded and there was only one sentence to read. "How far would you go to save the most important person in your life?" was all it said. There was no signature and no reply address. When she tried to press reply to see who this was from, the address was blocked. There was no way to find out where this had come from.
"Damn prank mail!" Jessie said as she deleted it.
"What? Was that?" Michelle asked not lifting her head from her book.
"Nothing. Just mumbling to myself." She signed out of AOL and stood from her chair. "I think I'll go next door to Lizzy's room. Might as well see about that dress."
"Yeah well, while your at it, I think I'll check my mail and see whose online. I mean, I've crammed all the Business work in my head that I can." Michelle said as she jumped off the bed.
"Whatever, I'll be right back." Jessie made her way to the door that connected her and Michelle's dorm to Lizzy and Kristin's. Without knocking, Jessie barged in. "Hey Lizzy, I need to borrow your black…" She looked around and found the place to be empty. "Lizzy… ya here?" No answer. "Kristin?" There was definitely no one in. "Lizzy must still be at rehearsal." Jessie said out loud as she picked up some papers scattered on the floor. "Hmmm…" She said, "Scapino, Prelude to a Kiss, The Rainmaker and a grocery list." Jessie chuckled. "What a slob!" She said looking at all the scripts, papers and clothes lying on Lizzy's side of the dorm. Kristin's was no better, but her circumstances were just a little different.
Jessie dropped the scripts in a neat pile on Lizzy's bed and headed to Lizzy's closet figuring Lizzy wouldn't mind if she borrowed the dress. She opened the closet and sifted through her clothes. "Jeans… coats… dresses perfect!" She said as she looked at all the dresses. "Blue… printed… long… short… very short… geez Lizzy, how many dresses do you have?!" Jessie finally found the dress. "A ha! Finally!" She took the dress out and saw a post-it note on the dress. She took it of and read it aloud. "Jessie, don't even think about stealing my dress! I already claimed it for the Phi party! Love ya tons! Lizzy!" She laughed. "What a bitch."
Jessie threw the post it on the floor, ignoring Lizzy's request completely. "She can buy a new dress and deal with it!" She smiled and walked out of the closet.
CH. 3
Jessie got back to her dorm with Lizzy's dress in hand. "Lizzy is really too much, I mean she left a post-it on her dress saying…" She stopped noticing Michelle just staring at the computer screen blankly. "What is it? You look like you just saw a ghost!"
"No. I just got IM'ed with the weirdest message." Michelle said as she got up from the chair letting Jessie see.
"Well, what does it…" Jessie stopped, catching a glimpse of what the message said. It was from a screename "nameless". Jessie read it out loud in a low whisper. "How far would you go to save the most important person in your life?"
"Yea, I know what it says, but who is it?" Before Michelle could get an answer, Jessie was responding to the message. 'Who are you???' She typed and pressed send. "Ok, I guess you're gonna find out." Michelle said sitting on the floor.
"Genius, you should have done that from the beginning!" Jessie said as something came up on screen.
"Well, sorry I_" They both looked to the screen and all it said was 'user nameless has signed offline' Michelle looked at Jessie and vise versa.
"Dammit!" Jessie said as she went to "find a buddy".
"What? What's up with you?" Michelle asked as she noticed Jessie's determination.
"It's just that I got a an e-mail from the same name asking me the same question."
"Well, did you reply to it?"
"No, the address was blocked. I couldn't!" She said as she typed something in.
"Weird." Michelle added.
"I know! I… ok… wait a minute…" Jessie said as the "find a buddy" located the buddy info on "nameless". "Awe man!" She said as the screen blinked the window that said "no information provided."
"Someone's stressing over something stupid." Michelle said as she got up on her way to the bed to lay down.
"Yeah, well I wanna know whose playing such a stupid prank on us." Jessie said typing away at the keyboard trying all she knew to get some information on whoever this was.
"Well, ten to one it was Chris! I mean, prank equals Chris around these dorms!" Michelle said with a smile on her face from the thought of the prankster.
"Yeah! The little leech! He loves to suck the life outta any prank!" Jessie said turning to Michelle.
"So, this has to be him trying to get us. Who else would it be?"
"I don't know. Whatever. But that's not a funny prank!"
"Yea it was." Michelle said giggling. "You shoulda seen the look on your face!"
"Yea well, you were the one who froze at the IM. I mean, you'd swear you just saw a dead body." Jessie said beginning to sign off the Internet.
"Hey shut up!" She said throwing Jessie's bear at Jessie's head.
"Owe!" Jessie whined rubbing her head.
"Ok, the bear doesn't hurt that much Jessica." Michelle said just as Jessie threw it back.
"Bite me!"
"Don't tempt me!" Someone said as the door to the dorm flew open. In stepped Chris followed by Justin and Lance.
"Cute." Jessie said getting off the chair and walking to him. "But YOU!" She said getting up in his face. "You got a lot of nerve!" Justin and Lance stepped off to the side a little scared of Jessie at this point.
"Jessie I swear! I didn't use your bra as a sling shot! It was Lance!!!" Chris said putting his hands up as Jessie backed him up to the wall.
"That's not what I… hey wait a minute you used my bra as a sling shot?!?!" She asked turning to Lance.
"Hey! I did no such thing! That was all Chris! He was slugging the freshman in the student union with water balloons!" Lance said as he sat on the bed next to Michelle.
"With my bra???"
"Yeah! But don't worry, It's in the washer of the laundry room. It'll be good as new!" Chris said.
"You put a bra in your laundry?" Michelle asked with a weird look.
"Naw! Do I look stupid…" They all looked at him. "I put it with Justin's"
"You what?!?!" Justin yelled as Michelle and Lance laughed. "You are such a terd Chris!" He said as he made his way to Chris.
"Save me Jessie!" Chris said as he put Jessie in front of him to block Justin.
"Wait a minute Justin. I want some answers from him, then you can kill him." Jessie said turning back to Chris as Justin stepped off to the side, awaiting his revenge.
"And what is that? I already cleaned the jello outta your aloe-vera gel!" Chris said thinking that was the case. Jessie stared at him with an evil eye.
"You know what, I don't even wanna know." Jessie replied a little grossed out. Chris snickered as Jessie pushed him up against the wall again.
"Owe! Jess. That hurts!" He said with a smile.
"Then stop smiling and joking around and listen to me!" He stopped and looked at her. "Okay. Did you send me an e-mail and IM Michelle with something today just to freak us out?" She asked.
"Huh?" Chris asked in confusion.
"Don't play dumb with me, did you?"
"Uh, no! What the hell are you talking about." He asked seriously.
"You really don't know what I'm talking?" She asked as she let him go. He shook his head.
"Nope, no clue."
"Well then, who could it be from?"
"What could what be from?" Lance asked.
"Well," Michelle began. "Jessie got and e-mail asking her how far she'd go to save the most important person in her life. And I got an IM asking me the same thing."
"Yea, and I thought it was Chris pranking again." Jessie said.
"Oh, thanks for the trust!" Chris said.
"That's weird." Justin said.
"You swear it wasn't you?" Jessie asked Chris as she leaned against the wall.
"It couldn't have been me for the reason that I got the same e-mail." He blurted out.
"You what?" Michelle asked.
"I got the same question e-mailed to me. From a someone named nameless right?" He asked the girls. They nodded a little shocked. "I got the same thing."
"Okay, this is strange and I don't like it." Michelle said.
"Oh please you guys! What could it possibly be?!" Justin asked as went to Jessie.
"Yea I mean, nothing bad's gonna happen. This is all one big joke!" Lance added.
"Well, you could be right." Jessie said as eased up a bit. "It's probably just…" But before she could finish her thought there was a door slam heard from Lizzy and Kristin's dorm.
"What the?" Chris asked standing from the chair.
"Lizzy?!?! Lizzy where are you?!" They heard someone frantically yell next door.
"That's Kristin!" Jessie said standing up straight and rushing to the connecting door.
"What could be wrong." Justin asked.
"I don't…" Jessie opened the door when a crazed Kristin ran to her.
"Jessie! Oh my god Jessie!" She cried as she sunk to the floor grabbing onto Jessie's legs.
"Kristin what is it what happened?!" She asked as everyone stood around with wide eyes.
"My baby!" She yelled in a sob as she clung to Jessie. "She's gone! My baby's gone!
