Bill was busily typing away on his keyboard in the beginning stages for the right prospects in the next hunt. The only lights on in the house was the ever-present computer screen. He still found it hilarious the authorities were nowhere near being able to figure out just what he was doing. And with his nearly nonexistent failure rate during his hunts, the police offered no challenge.

The biggest challenge was finding the appropriate prey, not challenging but more time-consuming. The thrill of the hunt was not in the apprehension but rather the gathering of information. When it was time to gather his toys, he had already won the game, and the only question left to answer would be, “How long before they finally succumb to their base needs?”

Bill did initial research online. In today’s over-sharing of personal information times, social media was the perfect way to find the ideal matches. People who join these websites tend to freely give insane amounts of their personal information and leave it available to anyone. Bill used these sources and more clandestine works to find the perfect pairings for his unique unions.

Jenna Rome was enjoying a weekday lunch with her best friend since high school, Caroline Morris. The two were meeting to help Jenna get over the ending of yet another relationship. The asshole broke up with Jenna just before her favorite holiday, Halloween. This year it fell on a Saturday. Jenna lived for these opportunities, two different Halloween parties on two different nights! But he said he didn’t feel like dressing up for Halloween or going to any dumb parties. He just used Halloween as an excuse. They were drifting apart and neither wanted to pull the trigger. If Jenna was honest with herself, she wanted to break up with him.

Jenna and Caroline met at the Iron Cactus Mexican Restaurant and Margarita Bar. The two were thoroughly enjoying the atmosphere of the tourist trap restaurant in the heart of the San Antonio River’s tourist trap area. Or it could have been the vast selection of tequila featured prominently in each of the margaritas the two enjoyed over their pro-longed lunch date. The loss of sunlight shining off the San Antonio River’s murky water convinced the two to reset the location of their celebration to Jenna’s closer apartment. But only after the two enjoyed an early dinner in hopes of lowering their reactions to their alcohol intake.

“I’m telling you, he said he needed some space and that he still couldn’t grasp my rejection of his suggestion to invite other people into our relationship,” the blonde-haired and athletic Jenna explained. “He wanted me,” she said while pointing to the table in front of her. “To find other girls for him to sleep with.” She emphasized her predicament by pointing again to the same spot on the table. In her mind, it was an obvious debate winner.

“What,” Caroline, the Rubenesque brunette with full arm sleeved tattoos featuring Tolkien iconography covering both of her arms, asked? “Did he just come straight out and ask you to find him other girls or did he try to steer you towards coming up with the idea yourself.”

“Shit,” the nubile blonde had a sudden realization. “That son-of-a-bitch! He HAS been trying to guide me toward that idea for months! How have I not seen it?!” Caroline reached around to her life-long friend and embraced her to give her the emotional support she was desperately craving at that moment. “And you’ve been trying to get me to see it forever!” Jenna succumbed to a momentary bout of self-loathing and welcomed her best friends’ adept skills of rebuilding her fragile emotional state. A few minutes of crying and bawling later had Jenna feeling much better. It was the realization that she never really had any strong feelings for this guy in the first place. If she was honest with herself, she wasn’t too upset at the thought of adding a third person creating a throuple. But Ted was an asshole and not worth it. Once she figured that out for herself, she began feeling better almost immediately.

“You just figured out that you never really had any strong feelings for him didn’t you,” Caroline asked with her all-knowing grin seeming to always come at the end of one of Jenna’s bouts of despair over her crumbling love life?

“Yes,” Jenna answered meekly. She used a couple of napkins to clear her face as best as she could. Jenna instantly began feeling better and even realized her recent outpouring of emotions might have also helped sober her up for the drive back to her apartment. Of course, Caroline was two steps ahead of Jenna and was gathering up their things to leave.

Bill saw the two women enjoying margaritas and each other’s company. He knew he had time for the next part of the plan.

Breaking into Jenna’s older car was not difficult. It was a classic car built for economy and not flash. The two-door Toyota was as bland as any of the other thousands you passed by on the road earlier in the day. The standard security system was a joke and mainly there to ward off amateurs from going after the everyday driver. From the driver’s seat, he could see the two women laughing and enjoying themselves. He knew he still had plenty of time. After all, this was the third time the two friends had met for drinks to discuss the latest crashing relationship since Bill had been observing the two women.

He opened a new bottle of Krazy Glue and its brush-on applicator and treated the area of the dash all around the ignition key. Using an eyedropper, Bill carefully coats the point and shaft thoroughly with an odorless but powerful incapacitating agent. Once he covered the area around the ignition was covered with adhesive, Bill used a hemostatic clamp to attach the thumbtack, point out, on the just treated area near the ignition. Another look towards the restaurant and Bill saw the two women hugging with Jenna visibly crying, and Caroline consoling her. Bill secretly admired the way Caroline could so quickly and easily fix Jenna. The two had a healthy relationship.

Bill gathered up his tools, exited the driver’s side, and got into his car a couple of rows behind where Jenna had parked. He put away his tools and waited for the two women to retrieve their vehicles.

“What did I do to deserve you as such a good friend,” Jenna asked her tattooed friend as he hugged again in the parking lot across the street from the restaurant?

“I dunno. But it must have been something big to get me.” The two laughed and separated. “I’ll be at your place in about a hour or so. I gotta feed Spot or he’ll try to eat my couch again.”

“Okay, see you in about an hour. I’ll get the snacks together, and it is a John Hughes marathon until we both feel better,” Jenna vowed. Caroline smiled and pulled out of the parking lot on her motorcycle. Jenna was already feeling a thousand percent better and decided it would be best just to have a great night with a great friend. She could start looking for a new romantic interest tomorrow. Jenna unlocked her car door and sat down in the drivers’ seat. She placed her purse on the passenger seat and went to push the ignition button. She immediately pulled back from the pinprick she felt on her thumb. “Ouch! What the fuck,” she exclaimed? A few small drops of blood seeped out of the tiny wound on her thumb, and Jenna checked the damage’s severity. Jenna began to notice her vision becoming cloudy. That’s when she started feeling lightheaded. Next, Jenna finally noticed the thumbtack glued onto the ignition button was the culprit. But while she wondered who could have put it there, the world began spinning, and she was suddenly sleepy. Jenna flopped forward onto the steering wheel and slid down sideways, becoming wedged between the steering wheel and the car door. The last thing she remembered was feeling the driver’s side door open and someone catching her before she fell out of the car.

Michael Benning worked for a small marketing company specializing in electronic graphic design. He was a wiz at designing websites and had parlayed this into a growing career. Unlike most of his friends, Michael did not like hooking up with a different girl every weekend. Mike wanted a genuine relationship. He wanted someone to spend the rest of his life with, just like his parents. Growing up, he had heard the story of how his parents met at a high school dance, and it was love at first sight. After graduation, they both went to college and stayed together throughout the time there. When they graduated, Michael’s father proposed to his mother on the stage while she was receiving her diploma. Michael’s father asked before they handed her the certificate since they marched on stage alphabetically. He stood right behind the University president, and before he could give her the diploma, Michael’s father got on one knee and proposed. When she came down off the stage and returned to her seat, she had her diploma in one hand, an engagement ring on the other, and the congratulations of all the graduates in the immediate vicinity.

Michael wanted that exact fairy tale. But he was already behind his parent’s schedule. So he was on the hunt for the perfect girl. Denise was a possible contender, but she was ultimately afraid of commitment. Diana was another. But they discovered they were incompatible. Each girl Michael dated had some kind of hang-up disqualifying her. Alexandra was not ready for marriage. Brooke did not want to become attached to someone, not from her family’s same financial situation. Carrie was simply not happy. Emily doubted everything in her life. Heather could not help wondering who else was out there. Jessica’s friends openly discouraged her from choosing Michael. Lucy quickly trended toward deceitfulness and dishonesty – the writing was on the wall. The list goes on from there.

On this day, Michael had decided to cut out from work a little early, pick up something to eat and just Netflix and chill for the night. Just like every night for the last month or so.

Michael pulled out of the drive-thru, and with his dinner in the passenger’s seat, he aimed his Honda Fit toward his apartment. A few minutes from home and the car suddenly lurched like it hopped over a curb and began slowing down. Michael pulled over onto the side of the road. The car sounded like Willy Wonka’s “ginger ale, ginger pop, ginger beer, beer bubbles, bubble-ade, bubble cola, double cola, double bubble, burp-a-cola, and all the crazy carbonated stuff that tickles your nose,” powered Wonkamobile. Only Michael’s all popped, bubbled, burped, and then stopped all at once.

“You fuckin’ piece of shit,” Michael yelled at his car as he tried in vain to restart the engine. “You do realize I don’t have the cash to fix you if it’s something serious, right!” The car did not have the decency to answer back.

Michael sat with his head in his hands while he leaned on his steering wheel and wondered what he was going to do. The smell of the food got his attention, and he decided to at least not be hungry and began eating his dinner. He finished when a pickup truck pulled up behind him and gave a friendly honk for attention. Michael looked in the rearview mirror and almost cheered allowed since it was a tow truck that had just pulled up behind him. He threw the remaining pieces of his lunch into the bag it came from and left it back on the passenger seat again, then hopped out of the car.

“Hey, did you run out of gas or somethin’?” The gargantuan hulk of a man asked as he made his way around the truck toward Michael. They shook hands.

“No, it’s got plenty of gas. I just filled her up this morning before work. It just started making all kinds of weird noises and then the piece of shit just died. I was lucky to get it to off the road before then,” Michael explained.

“Well then let’s open up the hood and take a looksie.”

Michael’s thoughts of committing hari-kari subsided by the unbelievable luck he had just had in a decent car mechanic pulling up to help in his hour of need. Michael opened the driver’s door and reached in to pop the hood. He walked back in front of his Honda Fit and popped open the hood with its support rod.

The two men took a moment staring at the engine. While Michael was an intelligent man, he knew next to nothing about car repairs. If it was a computer, he could tear it down and rebuild the thing blindfolded. But a car, Michael, always joked he was lucky to be able to drive the thing with just enough proficiency for society to allow.

“Oh hell, well there you go. That wire done come lose right there by you. You can push it back in and you should be on your way,” the friendly tow truck driver promised.

Michael could not identify the wire the tow truck driver was pointing out. “Which one is it? I don’t see it.”

The two men reached further under the hood, and the tow truck driver grabbed Michael’s nearest hand and poked him with what appeared to be a hypodermic needle of some kind. Michael pulled back his hand in confusion. “What the fuck?” The world began spinning, and Michael found himself rotating in the opposite direction of everything else. “What the fuck was that?” Michael mumbled while stumbling a few steps, and his eyesight was becoming blurry. He had trouble differentiating between objects. He felt pulled toward what seemed like the large tow truck, but he was not entirely sure.

“Don’t you worry. I’ll take care of everything. Believe me, you’ll thank me later.” Michael guessed that was what he heard before blacking out completely.

Bill was a little bit surprised at how heavy Michael weighed. He did not look too heavy, but apparently, he was much thicker than he looked. But with just a little bit of effort, Bill got the man stuffed into the backseat of the tow truck. He spun the tow truck around and hooked up the little Honda to the towing apparatus. It took very little time. Just a few minutes after the tiny booby trap in the small cars’ engine went off, the vehicle stalled as designed.

Luckily, Bill knew of Michael’s preference for using back roads to navigate through the city. Bill was able to have the device go off someplace, where he would easily have a few minutes to move Michael’s body and collect his car.

Everything worked like a dream.

The plan was once again working like a dream. Well, a vision for Bill and a nightmare for Michael and Jenna.

The bathroom tiles were beige, rising from the floor up to the halfway mark of the wall. It then turned into a typical white wall to complete what Michael believed to be a bathroom of some kind. He was on the floor, and something propped his head up. The fogginess cleared from Michael’s eyesight while sitting up straight from his drugged consciousness. Michael quickly realized a toilet propped his head up while he was lying on the floor. Luckily, it was clean and empty.

A couple of feet away and also strewn on the floor appeared to be a wonderfully put together looking blonde-haired girl. She was also just beginning to wake up. She sat up and was holding her palms to her temples. “What the hell is going on?,” she asked. “Where am I?”

Michael answered. “I’m not sure.” Jenna jumped at the closeness of the voice, answering her.

“Who are you? What am I doing here?”

“Well, I’m Michael and I was just about to ask you the same questions.”

An intercom in the next room squawked to life and beckoned the two guests. “Ah, good. You’re both awake. I won’t need to repeat myself. I hate repeating myself. If you two could come into the bedroom, I’ll explain your current situation to you. And maybe even answer a couple of questions for you.”

“Who the fuck are you? Why am I in here? Are you the guy from the tow truck?” Michael spit out staccato. Jenna was right behind him with similar questions.

“Ah, great, a couple of Mensa members I got here,” the intercom voice exhaled profoundly and, in an annoyed voice, asked again for the two to enter the bedroom. Michael and Jenna continued shouting questions and ordering their release in the empty room. They also pounded on the door, and Michael reached the small window above the standing shower and tried to manipulate the window but soon found it did not open or close. He quickly realized that even if he tried to break the glass, neither could make their way out through the small opening.

Michael climbed down off the closed toilet seat and reconsidered their options. Jenna stood in the bathroom doorway and watched as their situation showed no options. They both decided about the same time. “We might as well do what he says and go to the bedroom,” Michael confessed, and Jenna soon agreed. The two slowly made their way into the bedroom. Jenna sat on the bed, and Michael took the desk chair.

“Good. At least you now have a basic understanding that neither of you are in charge here. I, am in charge here,” the voice announced proudly. Both Michael and Jenna rolled their eyes and silently promised their continued bad attitudes. “If you cooperate, you’ll be back home in no time.”

A few moments later, the large screen TV mounted in the corner turned on, and a video began to play. A chipmunk-like cartoon character introduced itself. “Hi there! I’m Bucky. I’m here to welcome you to your nightmare!” Neither Michael nor Jenna were able to keep from a surprised gasp. “But if you listen to instructions, you may find the experience to be the greatest moment of your life!” The cartoon chipmunk hopped around a field of grass atop a small hill. “Have a great day! And don’t forget, though the beginning is a little rough, this could be the greatest moment of your life!” Bucky, for the next few minutes, extolled the virtues of being truthful to yourself as well as others. Always admit your weaknesses and prepare to make them strengths. But he did it all with a ten-minute long song and dance featuring many other members of forest creatures. When looking straight at the viewer, the different forest creatures had their cartoonish features morph into demonic ones. Their sharp fangs, dripping with blood or crazed-hyper realistic close-ups of high-resolution eyeballs rather than their previously comically drawn versions. But these transformations only lasted a few frames of the video. If you blinked, you missed it.

The chipmunk grabbed both a top hat and walking cane out of mid-air and started walking down a path toward a sunset. He twirled the cane around like a marching band leader and danced down the way to a tune only he could hear. When he cleared the hill, the cartoon changed to a computer screen. “I find it is nicer to begin with Bucky, he is a little disarming, but best to pay attention here for the rest of this,” the intercom voice declared.

The computer screen showed several of Jenna’s current social media accounts, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Also included were several different dating applications such as Tinder, Match, and eHarmony. Those screens shrunk and dissolved to the left. Next came several of Michael’s social media accounts. All the same as Jenna’s, including the dating apps.

“Do you two know each other?” The two looked at each other, and both nodded negatively. “You guys don’t even realize it, but you have friended each other at least three times on different social media. I mean you two basically have the same interests but for some reason, don’t know each other. Even though you go to several of the same places and follow the same general things on social media.” While the speaker asked his question, the video showed several examples of a person or a place that Jenna was following and often frequented, and Michael seems to visit and befriend many of the same people.

“You guys don’t find it odd that you follow each other not on one or two but actually three different social media sites?”

The two captives gave convincing imitations of fish out of the water with their mouths opening and closing, but no words were coming out. Michael, however, was the first to come to his senses. “I don’t understand! What are we doing here?”

“You two, believe it or not, are a perfect match. According to my algorithms, you two are soulmates and just need a quick kick in the pants to find true love. You can thank me later,” the voice over the intercom sounded magnanimous.

“What?,” Jenna asked, genuinely confused.

“Had you two stopped worrying so much about how many followers you had and paid attention, maybe even tried to make an actual connection, you’d find out that you both like the same things,” the intercom voice answered. “You both hate the same things. And amazingly enough, you both have goals that would pair perfectly for an excellent, supportive, and long-lasting relationship.