Torture on the Net

Chapter 1

Mrs. Zaitling came home from her accounting job and put her purse and coat away. She had just gotten off the phone with her husband, who was on a business trip, and decided to see if her fourteen year old daughter Jordan wanted to go anywhere for dinner.

"Jordan!" Mrs. Zaitling called. She received no response. After calling Jordan a few more times, Mrs. Zaitling decided to look for her daughter. When she got to the bathroom, her jaw dropped in shock.

Jordan was lying motionless on the floor with a small pain medication bottle near her right hand. Mrs. Zaitling picked up the bottle, shook it, and found that it was empty. Then she checked Jordan for a pulse and gently shook her when she found a faint one. When Jordan didn"t respond, Mrs. Zaitling raced downstairs, got her cell phone out of her purse, and dialed 911.

"911, what is your emergency?" the operator greeted.

"I found my daughter on the floor in the bathroom with a small empty pain medication bottle and a weak pulse," Mrs. Zaitling stated, trying to stay calm even though her voice was breaking.

"What"s your daughter"s name and age?"

"Jordan Leslie Zaitling and she"s fourteen."

The operator requested the address which Mrs. Zaitling gave. The operator agreed to send an ambulance right away and Mrs. Zaitling thanked her, hung up, and dialed another number.

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At the state university, Jordan"s eighteen year old brother Brett entered the dean"s office. He had just gotten a call from his mother about his sister and hoped that the dean would give him some time off to be with his family.

"How may I help you?" the dean asked.

"I got a call from my mother asking me to come home as soon as possible," Brett replied, trying to stay calm.

"What about?"

"My sister overdosed on some pain medication. She was possibly trying to kill herself."

"In that case you"d better go home. I"ll take care of talking with your professors."

"Glad you understand," Brett said in relief.

"Come back when you"re ready," the dean invited. Brett nodded and left the office.

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Brett ran to his car and got in. He buried his face on the steering wheel and all of the floodgates he"d been holding back suddenly broke open.

He wondered what possessed his sister to try and end her own life. He decided to check out her Lacerock page.

"Dear everyone," Brett read in shock. "I can"t take the cyber bullying anymore. Lots of people have been leaving mean comments on my page and I"ve had enough. I bought a small bottle of pain medication and plan to take the whole bottle after this message. Mom, Dad, and Brett, please donate all of my belongings and don"t forget about me. The three of you are the only people that were nice to me and I love you very much. Please understand that I"m doing this to end my pain. Jordan Leslie Zaitling."

Brett closed the page and broke down completely realizing that Jordan intended to kill herself. After he felt calm enough, he started the engine and drove off hoping that his sister would pull through.