Demons Grasp

Chapter 7

I jolt up, realizing that I must have dozed off. It was a nightmare. I get up and walk to a mini fridge Tess showed me before, to get a bottle of water. As I turn around I see her in a heated argument with one of the guys. That does not look good.

Minutes later she comes over to me in a huff. "We are on our own. Max does not want anyone getting involved in this." She sighs. "Max is the one you just talked to?" I ask. "Yes". "What now?" "Well, we get started. Girlpower it is, then. It will be just like the old times."

Back at her laptop, Tess immediately gets to work. I decide to take out Jake's computer and check out the sites she mentioned earlier. Maybe I will find someone he has been in contact with before after all. Other than that, I feel pretty useless.

Suddenly my screen starts to flicker, turning black a few seconds later. Did I run out of battery? "What the fuck?" I hear Tess cursing next to me. "Looks like we already managed to poke into the hornet's nest."

I look over and see that her screen is black as well. In fact, the reactions of the people around us indicates that it is happening not just to us. When my screen comes back to life, I find myself eye to eye with two figures sitting at a table. They are wearing ski masks just like the last time I was hacked. "Shit, not again."

This time, one of them speaks up.

"Getting involved with the fugitive hacker, who calls himself Nym-0s, was a bad idea. This poor attempt at coming after us now was a deadly decision. If you are really set on facing the same fate as him, then we should let you see what your future holds for you."

I sense motion around me. Some of the others have come over and look at our screens over our shoulders. Others are typing away frantically on their computers.

One of the masked men on my screen reaches forward and the camera angle changes. We look now into a dimly lit room. In its center stands a chair. Jake sits on it, tied up and slightly hunched over. One of the men comes back into view as he walks over to Jake. Taking position behind him, he grabs Jake by the hair and forces his head up to face the camera. He is badly beaten up. His eyes are bruised and swollen shut. Traces of blood run from the corner of his mouth and from a cut on his cheek. Jake struggles against the grip. He is conscious. He is alive!

"When we are done with you, you will wish that we had ended you then and there, in that little love nest of yours."

The screen cuts back to black and then to normal. I keep staring at it in shock. My hands are shaking. The feeling of a heavy hand landing on my shoulder shakes me out of my rigor. "We will get these motherfuckers. They have messed with the wrong crowd." I look up. It was Max who spoke.

Seems like Tess and I are not in this alone after all.