Storymania - The Hacker by Naomi Reid

The Hacker (2)
Naomi Reid

Mike sat at the lunch table, uninterested in his sandwich. Something had happened to Bill and as luck would have it, he felt bad. Genuinely, felt bad, a first for him. He wanted to know why Bill had run away from the table in tears, at the same time he didn’t want to come off as caring too much. Usually any male Mike said he cared about automatically thought Mike was talking about love. Finally, with extreme bitterness he abandoned the ham and cheese and went in search of Bill.
He exited the lunchroom almost in a sprint. Could the kid have ducked into the bathroom? It never hurt to check every available inch. Mike ran inside. ‘Bill, are you in here?’ he called.
His question was met with a sniffled, ‘no.’
Mike grimaced. He was not good at helping people. Usually when they needed his help all he could do was freeze and stare, much like a mime. ‘Bill, where are you?’
‘Right here.’ Bill crawled out of one of the blue stalls. His eyes were bloodshot and his face was pink and puffy. Mike opened his mouth to speak but Bill cut him off, ‘I was not crying.’
Mike shrugged indifferently. ‘You seem pretty torn up about Ashley.’
‘Why do you say that?’
Mike stooped and picked up a picture that was lying on the ground. It was of two smiling children, a boy and a girl. The girl was young and brunette. She wore her hair in pigtails and a party hat. The boy was blonde and wore a light blue shirt. ‘I guess because when you look at this, you cry.’
‘That must have fallen out of my wallet,’ Bill lied. He drew himself to his full height in an attempt to end Mike’s interrogation, failing to realize he was substantially shorter then Mike.
‘Talk to her,’ Mike explained, before he left the bathroom to finish off his sandwich.

Bill heard the door thud as Mike left. Maybe Mike was right. Maybe he was supposed to march up to Ashley and explain how she was making him feel. Explain how everything was just killing him inside. How he couldn’t look at her face without remembering the beautiful person she had been. He wanted to tell her that the make up didn’t make her beautiful, it was the person who was dying inside who did.
He swallowed hard. Could he do it? Could he finally talk to her about anything in school? He figured he wanted to explain the entire NASA thing. It scared him. Now he was paranoid. Everywhere he turned a government car lurked. They were watching him. They wanted to kill him.
The picture Mike had given him was still in his hand. His eyes glanced over the children. That was his goal. The happiness he felt in that picture was what he was going to obtain. He had to have Ashley back.

‘Aren’t you going to eat anything?’ Ashley was asking Kristi when Bill arrived. Kristi had just finished explaining the intricacies of the evils of food. Ashley pondered this for a few seconds. Food wasn’t evil except to those who do not like to eat, which Kristi didn’t. Since Kristi never ate, Ashley assumed she must have been anorexic. A bulimic might enjoy eating the food then purging. Her quiet thoughts of eating disorders were interrupted when Bill approached their table.
A wave of quiet swept over the entire table. The group of girls turned from their food, make-up, but most importantly themselves to look at the awkward boy who stood before him. The boy, who was too skinny to be cute, but if he ever gained weight he would probably be good-looking. Maybe with a haircut…and a new outfit.
Ashley blushed and everyone at the table probably would have noticed had she not worn such a thick coating of makeup. Their eyes locked and he nervously began to bend the picture in his hand. She glared at him, promising death in her eyes. He was ready to slink away when Kristi asked him, ‘And you would want what?’
‘To talk to Ashley,’ he answered meekly, his voice warbling.
‘To talk to Ashley,’ Kristi mocked. ‘How cute. How quaint. How pathetic. We don’t talk to…I don’t even know what you are.’ Her face contorted into a mix of anger and hate. Beginning to cry, Bill squinted at her. He didn’t want her to see the tears that were forming in his eyes. Laced with hate, she spat, ‘What are you going to do now? Cry yourself to sleep?’
Bill started to run away but Ashley followed him. Just as he was to duck into the bathroom, she grabbed his shoulder. ‘I’m sorry. I knew they would never be nice to you. That’s why I asked you to stay away from me in school.’
His face twisted in unspeakable pain, ‘I was never good enough for you. Now that I need you, I mean nothing. I mean nothing. I’m being hunted and I mean nothing!’ Shoving the creased picture into her hand, he ran into the bathroom.
She glanced down at the picture of the two smiling children. For the first time in years she felt actual remorse. She felt bad for the way she had treated Bill for years. She hadn’t felt that way since the last time she wore pigtails, ten years ago.

Chapter 3 –

As Mike breathed the air came out of his mouth in tiny ice crystals which faded quickly in the late November air. He was dressed in a countless number of jackets, scarves and gloves in futile attempts to keep out all of the chilled air. As luck would have it, today was the coldest day of the decade, not only the year. At five in the afternoon, the temperature was nowhere near thirty and he knew once the sun set it would only get colder. Glancing over at Bill, he noticed how violently the boy was shivering in the cold. Bill, in the height of stupidity, had convinced himself he would not need a jacket and left it in Mike’s car. Of course, he was halfway, or three blocks, to the coffeehouse, Mocha Momma’s, standing in a vacant lot. ‘Do you want one of my jackets?’ Mike asked apprehensively.
Bill shot him a sideways glance. ‘No, thanks. I’m fine.’ A shiver drove itself through his body and it spasmed. ‘Damn, why the hell is it so cold out tonight?’ The thin sweater he sported could not cut out the biting Pennsylvania winter.
‘Here, take my jacket.’ Mike removed the first of his four, a black peacoat and meekly offered it to Bill, who simply turned his head. ‘I’m not making any advances towards you. I just don’t want you to freeze your ass off!’
‘I happen to like the cold,’ Bill lied as he shoved his hands into his armpits for warmth. Sighing, Mike replaced his jacket on his shoulders and silently figured Bill would freeze to death before arriving at Mocha Momma’s.
An awkward silence set between the two as they continued to traverse through the empty parking lot save one car. Suddenly Mike stopped dead in his tracks. ‘Why the hell are you acting so weird towards me? Do you think I’m hitting on you or something? It’s like you’ve been in this funk this week and now you’re not even acting normal. Hell, you cry at school and you don’t think that’s weird?’
With the mention of the last action, Bill flinched violently. ‘It’s not you. Certainly its not you. It’s just…I feel guilty. I did something I shouldn’t have…’
Mike shot him a quizzical look. They continued to walk and eventually passed a tan car with a government license plate. Evidently Bill didn’t seem to notice the car that sat there or that it had its window partially opened because he sighed the words, ‘I hacked into NASA…but worse, I was at Ashley’s one day and I took her father’s identification card. I’ve had it in my wallet all day but she shot me down when I tried to give it back.’ His eyes rolled towards the sky. ‘Now I think they’re after me. They know who I am and where I am. Just this morning I was at the bus stop a black car came over. These men tried to make me get in, but the bus came…and they left me alone. I’m scared, I really think someone is trying to hurt me.’
No wonder Bill had been acting strangely, Mike thought, he was insane. Here Bill was babbling about how the government was after him, but were they really? There was no evidence, no notes, no e-mails, and no leads. Was Bill loosing his sanity or was he really in trouble? Mike decided he wasn’t in the position to decide, he shoved his hands into his pockets as the two neared the edge of the parking lot.
The car seemed to come alive and in the fading light it seemed to be coming towards them. Mike shook his head, the car wouldn’t be coming at them, and it was leaving the lot. Right, leaving the dull and vacant lot. But something made him tense up as he walked a shade faster. Bill followed and continued to fall in step with him. “What’s wrong?” he asked, noticeable tension in his voice.
“Nothing, it’s just…I could have sworn…that car,” he pointed at the tan car that pulled onto the main road, Gay Street. “It’s following us. Or so I thought.”
In that instant, Bill’s face twisted into panic and he exploded. “We need to get out of here. It’s them. It’s the government,” Bill screamed, grabbing Mike’s arm and pulling him towards the nearest side street. He started to run up Avon Street. “We need to get to the car.”
Mike could do nothing but stare at Bill. “Why? There’s nothing behind us.” Suddenly, he heard an engine behind him. “Shit.” Could the car actually be following them? Was Bill telling the truth? Taking all of the courage inside of him, he forced himself to turn his head and look behind him. The car followed them in the dim light as his heart leapt to his throat.
“Run faster,” Bill yelled since Mike was obviously hampering his speed. He let go of Mike’s arm and dropped himself into a sprint.
Mike’s body screamed as he ran. His legs were beginning to tire and his lungs were burning. Surely he would die soon and he had sprinted less then a half a block. He needed to catch up to Bill. If he could not do that, those people might get to him first. As the car passed him, he pushed his body harder praying for a surge of energy. None was found.
Bill was a few yards in front of Mike as the car pulled past him. It jackknifed itself across the street to prevent Bill from making it any further up the street. He ducked into a side street as two men leapt out of the backseat of the car and followed in hot pursuit. With a sudden burst of energy and adrenaline, Mike made his way to the side street and followed down the dark alley. The sun had not set yet, but the alley was too narrow to take in any light.
He gasped when he came upon what he saw. The alley had no exit; there was only a brick wall at its end. Bill had pushed himself up against it and in the light emitted from the single street lamp, he appeared to be trembling. One of the men had a gun aimed at Bill’s head. “Leave him alone!” Mike shouted.
The man with the gun’s head snapped around. His eyes had a sickeningly dead look mixed with anger and hatred. “Who the hell are you?” he barked.
Gulping, Mike glanced back towards Bill. “I know him and I’m not going to let you hurt him.” He snapped his head in the direction of the man as a suggestion to Bill who nodded and lunged at him. Yet, their plans were unraveled by the second who simply placed his arm out and caught Bill mid-flight.
He began to howl as the man drug him towards the car. “Let’s get out of here,” he said to the one with the gun.
Bill was continuously screaming the phrase, ‘someone please help me!’ Yet, on the quiet darkened side street there was no one to hear him. His body was writhing as the man drug him towards the car. ‘I told you! Let’s get out of here,’ he snapped to his partner.
The man with the gun pointed it towards Mike. “And what do we do with this one?”
“I don’t know,” the first said over Bill’s now muffled cries. “Kill him, get it over with. Let’s just get out of here!” He had finally managed to subdue Bill into the backseat of the car even though he was still screaming. Only now, it was not as loud because of the car’s ability to block out inside noises. The man laid on top of Bill’s squirming body and ripped a syringe out of his coat pocket. After biting the top off, he drove it deep into Bill’s arm. Almost instantaneously Bill’s cries become quieter and he passed out on the seat.
“What the hell did you give him? What the hell is going on? Who are you? Why are you doing this?” Mike began to ask these questions in rapid succession as the man with the gun approached him. Finding no escape, Mike pressed himself deeper into the wall. He prayed death wouldn’t hurt as much as he thought. The man continued to approach until he was face to face with Mike, who could not take the anticipation anymore and dropped to his knees. The man drew his gun up and hit Mike squarely in the head. A sigh escaped his body as he slumped to the ground.

Chapter 4 –

Mike’s body jumped as he regained consciousness. Where the hell was he? Quickly he pulled himself to a standing position. “Ugh…” he moaned, as the pounding in his head began. The headache was a result of something…he couldn’t quite place what had happened earlier. There was something missing…he just didn’t know what.
Bathed in the light of the single street lamp, he looked around wondering where he was. Finally he decided he was in West Chester and went to search for his car. He checked his watch, which read well after midnight. Shit, his mom was surely going to kill him. But what could he tell her? That he remembered nothing of the night because he was lost? Or that he just remembered nothing? She’s think he was out with a guy or getting high or something.
Sighing, he placed his hand to his temple and began to move out of the alley. Suddenly, he tripped over something that sent him sprawling facedown in the alley. He rolled over, frightened and discombobulated while searching frantically for his assailant. Then he noticed the small leather attacker that sat by him on the ground. Reaching over his feet, he retrieved the wallet and peered inside of it. The contents yielded about twenty dollars and a YMCA membership card for a Bill Schweiker.
All of a sudden, everything came flying back to him. Unknown assailants in government car abducted Bill. Mike threw himself to his feet and sprinted off in the direction that he thought was his car.

What was the point of it all? Anthony Parsons would work endless hours to only return home to a fussy baby and an even fussier wife. Just tonight he had gotten home around ten. The long hours were what had cost him his wife and the relationship with his daughter. He had never been there because of work. Everything from potty training to t-ball had been missed so that he could fill out some paperwork from a corporate master.
Tonight had been no different. He had missed dinner with his wife and son, Ashley was at cheerleading all night so she was never missed. Glancing at the clock, he noticed the time to be 12:45, time for sleep. The clock would ring at 7 for another day so that he could start over and do everything all over again.
He climbed into bed beside his wife, who had been dozing but rolled over so her back was facing him. “Good night love. I love you,” he said almost inaudibly. The reply came as his wife’s mock snore, which he knew she was feigning. All he wanted was to return to the times when she would have done anything to hear those words. Now he said them and they meant nothing nor were they ever responded to.
Just before putting his head to the pillow, he switched off the light and attempted to drift off to sleep. He was lightly dozing when he heard a loud knocking coming from the front door. He glanced at the clock, 1:07. What the hell would someone want this morning?
Oh, shit. It could be someone from his work, calling him in for an “early job” which really was code for interrogating a hacking prisoner. He touched his hand to his forehead trying to remember where he had placed his bag. Chances are if he was getting called away on “business”, he would need to take it. There were many long weekends spent in New York.
His feet shivered as they touched the wooden floor. Stumbling down the stairs, he made his way to the front door. Maybe he should have put his glasses on, then he would have been able to see well. He fumbled with the switch in the hall and finally illuminated the porch. Opening the door, he made out the shape of a heavy-set teenage boy. “What the hell do you want?” he grumbled.
“Mister-uh…Mister Parsons, right?” The boy asked, his voice resounding with nervousness.
“Yes,” Anthony gave him no leeway. “What the hell do you want?”
“Ashley? Is she home? I need to speak to her…it’s imperative…”
“You come to my house at one o’clock in the morning to ask for my daughter. How the hell tactless are you? You bastard. Get the hell away from house and if I see you anywhere near here or my daughter again, I’ll have you killed.”
The boy’s face went white as he spun on his heel and ran for his car. Anthony sighed, too bad he was his vision was too poor to see the boy clearly. Maybe he would ask Ashley the next morning if she knew him. With a sigh, he climbed the stairs and returned to bed.

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