9 Preemptive Strike Part 1

Phoebe let out a huge sigh of frustration

"How can I be confident when I gotta text talk?"

Phoebe sunk in to her chair and rubbed the side of her temples. It was hard for her to dumb down her words at times especially when it came to text talk. She was good at being an asshole but she wrote like a scholar.

When she was 10 years old she would suffer multiple slaps for presenting anything under a 12th grader reading level .

"I need to dumb myself down.. Uneducated...confident... teenager got it" She repeated as she thought about what she could do to do so.

She would finish her characters customization as she contemplated on her approach on temporarily breaking her formalities.

Phoebe navigated around on the game equipping herself with some of the hottest in game fashion as Rhea had tipped her. It was a great step indeed it would make her stand out Among the others of the full server. "Damn $400 dollars on a video game"

Phoebe would conjure up some things to say like

"Yo wuz up", "O gawd ur hawt" and the one that made her skin crawl "uz luk lik a ugly turd"

Phoebe felt as if she was creating a crime. But she tried keeping her cool in front of William.

William ran his fingers through his hair while a heavy sigh escaped his lips. He needed to smoke. He hasn't smoke today yet.

William stood to his feet and told Phoebe he was going out for a bit to smoke before leaving the apartment.

"Aww Willy...don't stray too far I could find this guy at any minute thanks to Rhea."

She didn't want to lecture Willy on his smoking habits. Everyone needed an outlet she kept in mind.

His arms rested on the metal railing with his hand hanging over the edge. A cigarette was held loosely between his fingers, looking as if it was going to fall and hit pavement three stories below at any given moment. Wisps of grey smoke surrounded William, giving off a distinct scent anyone would recognize as tobacco smoke. He brought the cigarette to his lips and inhaled its cancerous toxins before exhaling a plume of smoke. He wanted to quit; he needed to quit, but he was weak to his cravings. He couldn't go a day without two cigarettes. It was an annoyance to take smoke breaks. He could use that time doing other things besides slowly killing himself.

Phoebe now started to do the stupid things teenagers Did while gaming.

She would join random parties and chat rooms

Becoming quite sociable with everyone she made contact with.

Tossing around phrases like "u guys r lame", "ur borin" and "ur totes killin meh"

This got her a bunch of invites and private messages positive and negative.

"Great I'm getting a lot of attention...gosh these kids are stupid." She sighed and got up from the computer for a moment having had been reading to much on the bright screen.

So she went into the kitchen to brew a pot of coffee. The coffee maker had a sticky note on top of it that read "I know how you guys love coffee at night-Rhea" Phoebe would chuckle as she imagined her say it aloud and peeked into the coffee filter to make sure it was full. Pressing the button made the machine spring into action soon producing an alluring aroma that any caffeine addict would swoon for.

Phoebe wasted no time in grabbing two coffee mugs from her cabinet and pouring a cup after it was finished. She thought about taking a cup to Willy but then thought "Willy's definitely no stranger he can get his own coffee for now" she placed his mug face down on the counter. Then she started to add cream to her coffee before heading back to the computer.

The screen reflected off of her eyes as she read her notifications "87 messages and counting" she shook her head and sighed "being stupid makes you popular." After scroll down the growing list came across the username they've been looking for "Hex" .She immediately accepted his offer

"Willy! Get in here! Willy!" She would call out to him while taking sips of her coffee

Although he hated to acknowledge it, William enjoyed his smoke break. The nicotine satisfied his cravings and relieved some of his stress. However, it was a temporary solution for a permanent and ever growing problem. If he wasn't able to smoke, he would become extremely irritable, causing whoever is within his field of vision to suffer as well. Phoebe was the only person he's met who could handle his abrasive and temperamental tendencies. She was the only person who was able to prevent William's violent outbursts several times by stepping in herself. William wouldn't deny that he was happier and less stressed overall ever since they were assigned to be each other's partners.

Grey smoke escaped through the small opening between his lips as he exhaled, forming a small loose cloud before dispersing in the air. He's been trying to quit for years, but they all end up the same way: him giving in to his cravings after a few days of mental torture and agony. Maybe he should have Phoebe's aid in this seemingly impossible goal of his. He hated getting other people involved with his personal affairs or problems, but he was desperate and she was the only person he could turn to. She's the only person he could truly rely on. He was closer to her than he is with own family. He will even trust her with his life if he had to. "Willy!" He heard her yell. He pressed the end of the already short cigarette bud against the metal railing in haste to put it out. He made sure that the end was completely extinguished before he went back inside and disposed of it. The pungent scent of smoke lingered on his body and clothes. As he leaned over to look at the computer monitor, there's no doubt that Phoebe could smell the tobacco smoke that clung onto his clothes. He saw that Phoebe accepted the invite from and was currently messaging him.

"Hello. You're a new member, aren't you? You're pretty popular for someone who just joined today. As you can see, I'm Hex. Cool name, huh?" Hex sent. In a matter of seconds, he sent another message. "I saw on your profile that you live in the same city as me. Unless your lying, you want to meet up sometime? There's this nice coffee shop on the corner of 7th and 8th Avenue." He was a fast typer, an extremely fast typer. William frowned at this. Something was wrong. With the other victims, he spent hours talking to them, bringing up their meet up only later in their conversation. With Phoebe, he wasted no second in stating what he wanted and got straight to the point.

Phoebe watched Hex's flow of messages pop up on the screen. This made her freak out mentally 'how the fuck do I keep up with his typing speed and still be illiterate?' Phoebe was no actor, she would rather bluntly handle everything."Look Willy I have 137 messages, looks like I'm super popular" she rolled her eyes feeling she was losing a few IQ points.

Phoebe slowly typed her reply making sure to keep character.

"Lol I'm totes news! I knows! I'm lik sum supa ☆. An ur name pretti cools, lik witchcraft cools.

I only use meh real name Sheryl ^_^. " Phoebe felt that she was finally getting good at this improper way of typing. "Ooooo I kno dat koffee shop it's not far from heres. So of course we can meat I lik meating up wit nuw ppls."

But why? Was it because he's deteriorating? Is it because Phoebe's online manner annoyed him? William's eyes glanced up from the screen and became fixed on the computer's built-in camera. Oh, he hoped the killer isn't that smart. If he is, the case just became incredibly more dangerous. In a fraction of a second, William grabbed a sticky note from the dining table and placed it over the camera, covering it. He just hopes the killer doesn't know who they are and what they do. William rubbed his temples, remembering Velma Huston and her conversation with Hex. She refused to meet him and was found dead in her house the following week. He knew Phoebe wasn't dumb enough to put her real address in, but so was Velma. The only explanation could be that Hex tracked down their location using their I.P. "I want you to stay at my house until we catch him," William whispered into Phoebe's ear. He wasn't being flirtatious or sensual. His tone was flat and completely serious. He was concerned for Phoebe's well being. The reason why he whispered was because he didn't want the mic to pick up what he's saying. You can never be too cautious and William didn't want to underestimate Hex's abilities for that could be his and Phoebe's down fall.