Syd Moore - Witch Hunt

Unusually, it had no name attached. There was still the regular green dot in the top left-hand corner and the other function symbols across the toolbar. But no name. I looked down at the message.

‘Are you there?’ It read.

Of course I bloody am, I thought. But I simply wrote, ‘Yes.’ Then I waited, curious to see who it was.

Nothing happened for a few seconds then the words ‘Where are you?’ appeared.

What did that mean? Most of my Facebook friends knew I had moved out of the Smoke eighteen months ago.

A little irritated by the stupidity of the question, I chucked it back at the unknown messenger. ‘Where are you ?’ and sat back to see the response.

There was a bit of a time delay. I glanced at my watch. I couldn’t spend long on this joker as I should be getting my stuff together to leave fairly soon.

Then the words popped up on the screen, ‘I can hear you but I can’t see you.’

Mmm. Weird. I regarded the screen for a moment then retyped: ‘Where are you?’

A breeze outside nudged the oak leaves against the window. They sounded like little metallic fingertips on the panes.

The reply came up: ‘I do not know. Everything is dark here.’

Okay, this was getting creepy. What to do? Coming up with no good reply, I sat still and contemplated the screen.

My correspondent was typing. ‘There is only blackness,’ they wrote.

Then underneath that, ‘I am scared.’

That stopped me.

Was this a joke? An inappropriate friend trying to freak me out? Some random viral marketing ploy? I tried to think of a way to respond without looking stupid if it was a prank. Though, at the back of my mind, I was wondering about what to do if it wasn’t.

‘Who are you?’ I tapped out on the keys and hit enter.

‘I’m sorry,’ they replied.

I stopped and looked at it. Then I swallowed. The words had been on my lips just an hour ago.

Then another line of text: ‘Hush.’

Hush? That was an odd choice of word.

Quickly, more text appeared. ‘He may come back.’

Now cynicism was overruled by a more concerning impulse.

‘Who might?’ I wrote. ‘Who might be coming back?’

The screen was still for a moment, then the words ‘Oh God’ tapped out on the screen.

Without letting my head intervene in my now more emotional response, I wrote ‘Where are you? Are you okay?’ But when I hit enter this time my screen died and turned to black.

I cursed and looked down at the on button. My battery had run out.

I hastily reached for the power cable and plugged it in. The computer took several frustrating seconds to reboot and when I returned to the site there was nothing there. No box. No evidence of our conversation. I scrolled down my list of online friends. There was no one I didn’t recognise.

I could have left it alone, but a part of me felt responsible. After all, this hadn’t been a chat room – it had been a dialogue with one other person. A private communication sent only to me. I was troubled but not yet scared. Just worried that I hadn’t stepped up to my civic duty if indeed, this was a genuine message. Crap. This had to be the last thing I needed right now – more guilt.

I bit my lip then made a decision, pulled out my mobile and dialled the one person who I could possibly pass this on to. I was in no fit state to get involved with anyone else’s business right now.

He answered pretty quickly. ‘Hello, Sadie. How are you feeling?’

So thoughtful, always concerned about others. You could see why he’d entered the police force. He was a nice bloke. And he’d been a good friend. In fact, before I met Christopher, he’d been more than just a friend. I’d met Joe six years ago, whilst covering some high-ranking officer’s retirement. It was lucky I had taken the job. I’d hooked it on impulse as Mum was on a bit of a low and I wanted to spend more time with her. As soon as I met him, there was an instant connection: we ended up drunkenly eating chips on the seafront and watching the moon set over Canvey Island. He had a really lovely smile (those dimples were just gorgeous) and a kooky sense of humour that chimed with mine. One thing had led to another and another. We were both due some time off so I didn’t leave his flat for two days and nights. We followed it up with the usual sort of thing – trips to the cinema, dinner, a fabulous weekend break in the country. It was great. But I knew I had to go back to London, and somehow, despite the fact it wasn’t that far away, I think I had it in my mind that it was only a holiday romance, something casual. Not that we ever discussed it, but he was four years younger than me. It doesn’t seem much now, but at the time I was twenty-seven, and twenty-three seemed way too young to be serious. When he went off to Carlisle for training and Mum felt better I returned to my life in the metropolis. We texted each other a few times, but he backed off completely when I started seeing Christopher. Yet he still had a physical effect on me. I’d bumped into him a couple of times since I’d moved back and could never stop myself stealing furtive glances at his sinewy frame. Even now I had to do my best to sound together and competent, instead of breathy and slightly chaotic.

‘Hi Joe, I’m okay.’

‘Glad to hear it,’ he said. ‘You must have had a bad hangover after the other night.’ I could tell he was smiling as he spoke. Voices sound more distinct when mouths are pulled wide. Then, remembering the specific occasion of my last major bender, he took his voice down a note and hastily added, ‘Understandable of course.’

I took it in my stride. ‘I’m okay, honestly. Thanks for, er, helping out. I’m sorry if I, er, embarrassed you …’ Oh God, there was that image – me catching his lapel, pulling him down, slobbering all over him. I pushed the mortifying grope from my mind and concentrated on the present issue.

Joe was generous. ‘Think nothing of it.’ It was a full stop on the matter.

Gallant too. You absolute gem, I thought.

‘Listen,’ I said, changing the subject super quick. ‘I’ve just had a weird thing happen.’ And I explained about the messaging.

I hadn’t expected him to laugh, but that’s what he did. It left me feeling stupid and gauche.

‘Someone’s having you on, Sadie,’ was his conclusion. ‘You wouldn’t believe the number of calls we get about this sort of stuff. Texts, emails. It’s all part of new generation cyber-crime.’

Now I was cross, bordering on outraged. Not at him. At the unknown idiot who had virtually freaked me. ‘Well, who would do that to me? Especially now. When, you know, I’m a little more fragile than …’

Joe’s voice piped up, the perfect example of good victim support training, ‘Don’t take it personally. You’re probably a random selection. There’s some bored teenager chuckling away in his bedroom right now. In future, don’t respond. If you don’t engage them, they’ll get bored and move on to something else.’

It seemed like sensible advice, so I agreed not to.

‘Is there anything else I can do you for, Ms Asquith?’ Was it me or was there a teensy bit of hope in his voice?

The question was open-ended, leaving it up to me to pick up the ball and run. I told him, ‘Right this minute, no, just the dodgy internet business. But I’ll call you soon. For a drink maybe?’ He said that would be nice and I thanked him for his advice.

‘Glad to be of service to the public, madam.’ He was very jovial. ‘Now take care of yourself and feel free to phone me if this sort of thing happens again.’

I told him I definitely would and hung up, a little thrill rippling through me.

Now I was fifteen minutes behind schedule.