The Hacker ( Malum )

Chapter 1 : Edited

Your life can change with a push of a button, or mutable buttons. For Calum his life revolved around buttons; with each keystroke, something changed. He was well aware of the extent of his abilities and what they could do for him, but he used his skills for the "greater good."

Calum's father was a hacker and taught everything he knew to his son. His father stumbled upon his skills in high school, and he continued down that path. Being a hacker has many pros and cons; the pros being the money and power, and the cons being against yourself or your family. That's why Calum's dad tried to get out, but that turned bad quickly.

His father was involved with the wrong people, leading to the death of himself, his wife, and the near death of his son. Calum lives with the memory of that day and he won't ever forget it. That's why he works alone, and doesn't get involved with people. He refuses to risk the lives of others. He would gladly give his life in place of another.

With that in mind Calum was extremely careful with his activities, but being human makes you prone to making mistakes. One mistake lead to another and Calum is now under house arrest for the next 3 months. Lucky, he shares the house with someone he would like to call his friend, but doesn't for Ashton's safety. Ashton works for a security company—Techo Works—that, ironically, focuses on preventing companies from being hacked. That company was owned and ran by a man named Michael Clifford.

Michael's POV

"What the hell do you mean we were hacked!" I screamed "And you didn't notify me earlier, you're fired!"

I slammed the phone down on the receiver and ran a hand angrily through my hair. I groaned why can't people just do their job right. I rolled my eyes.

I picked up the phone again and called my assistant,

"Hello."

"Hello Amanda, I need you to get a list together of the best tech savvy people here and I need you to call them; have them come in and figure this shit out." I stated as calmly as possible

"Ok I'll do that right away sir, and what exactly are they going to be doing?"

"Fine out how we were hacked, what was hacked and/or copied and leaked, and how to prevent it."

I hung up, I was tired and just wanted to sleep. I guess my plan to go home wasn't happening.

Calum's POV

A small clinking sound woke me up. I rolled over, sending whatever was in my lap onto the floor with a loud THUD.

"Shit." I groaned

Looks like I fell asleep during CSI: Cyber—again. I slowly blinked and propped myself on my elbows. I looked over the couch into the kitchen.

"Ash," I asked wrinkling my forehead "what are you doing up; it's still pitch black out?"

He sighed "I got called in, we got hacked or something like that."

Interesting.

"Oh, good luck then, text me when you're on your way home I'll make food." I assured him trying to relieve some stress that was evident on his face

He smiled and gave me a nod as he walked out the door. I watched him start his rustic truck next to my black beat-up Bug.

Well now I'm up. This sucks it's like 1:57, no sleep for me. I pouted and got up, hot peppermint cocoa always made me fall back asleep. I put water in Ash's special red tea kettle, and sat on the counter listing to the water slowly heat up.

It was good practice for me, listening for small sounds. You can never be too cautious. The whistle of the kettle brought me back from my cloud of peace. I poured the water into my navy-blue mug, and scooped 3 spoonful's of power into the steaming water.But my creation wasn't done yet; after adding whipping cream for creaminess and mini marshmallows for fun I could drink it.

I slowly felt myself regain my sleepiness and made my way to what I called my room. Ashton called it my cave.

I maneuvered around in the dark and set my mug on my nightstand. I pulled off my pj bottoms leaving me in plaid boxers. I crawled under the covers and slowly fell into the pit of sleep.

Chapter one done. Hope you liked it.
-M