Demons Grasp

Chapter 2

We spend the next few days in absolute bliss, barely ever feeling the urge to leave our little cottage. We fill our days lazily with good food, some wine and old movies. Or we just stay in bed alltogether. The unspoken agreement between us is to lock out the reality of our lives for as long as we can, and just enjoy ourselves.

This is, of course, possible only to a certain degree. Jake spends quite some time at his laptop tracking the activities of his pursuers to make sure they are not catching up with him while he is not looking. I usually fill these idle hours by reading or cooking. It has become obvious that home cooked meals are not part of Jake's usual routine. And he is now taking full advantage of it. Occasionally, I sneak to the back of the house for another attempt at having a conversation with our only neighbors, the cows. They remind me of that silly conversation I had with Jessy during our virtual 'date'.

After some convincing from my side, Jake has also started to show me a few of his tricks, building on what I have learned while hacking into Hannah's cloud. Right now I am sitting in front of his laptop squinting at the little challenge he has come up with for me. The screen shows a timer, counting down mercilessly. I have less than a minute left to remember a sequence of code and type it onto the console in the correct order. I certainly wish I had not bailed on the typewriting classes back in school. It would make all of this a lot easier if I were a bit faster.

I hit Enter one last time as the timer reached 0:03. For a moment, the cursor blinks at me defiantly. Then a message pops up saying: Access granted. "Yes!" I call out raising my arms in victory. Jake, who had been standing at the fireplace poking around the burning logs, turns around with a smile. "Well done, MC. You have just hacked into a server. A hypothetical one, that is." "That means I won our bet." I get up to join him at the fireplace. "You have certainly earned the right to choose the movie tonight." "Hey, if I keep improving, I can soon join you in whatever you are doing all day. We'll be the modern Bonnie and Clyde" I joke.

Jake's face falls immediately. He puts the poker down on the mantle and takes my face between his hands. "This is nothing I want to be even joking about. I'll not allow you to risk your safety by getting involved in this mess even more than you already are."

Even though I hadn't been serious about this, his reaction hurts. I take a step back and look into the flames. We both know that at some point we'll have to talk about what our future will look like. But right now I do not want to spoil our evening more than I already have. So I put a smile on my face and say: "Well, I better get us some snacks ready. We have a long movie night ahead of us." As I walk past him towards the kitchen, I see a frown form on Jake's face. But he also does not push the topic any further.

I grab a large bowl out of one of the cabinets and put it on the table. But then, I just stand there looking out of the window. In the waning light I can see the cows enclosure and the dark forest in the distance. I hear steps behind me and suddenly Jake hugs me from behind. "I'm sorry MC. I did not mean to go off on you like that." The tension in my body, that I was not even aware I was holding, dissipates.

He starts to peck feather light kisses on my neck and I lean back against him, resting my head on his shoulder. Jake's hands start to wander and are about to sneak beneath the elastic band of my shorts, when we both suddenly freeze in motion. We both heard it...

Squeeeeaaaaak