Stay Silent

Chapter 7 - Nate Disappears

Matt clicked on the last remaining dot. A URL appeared at the bottom of the screen. "Finally! That took way too long. Why does the deep web even HAVE puzzles?" He yelled.

"To make our lives harder. Stop the stopwatch, Nate." Said Stephanie. But Nate didn't say anything. "Nate?" Nothing. Steph rolled her eyes. "Nate, wake up."

Nate woke up with a start, hitting the stop button on his phone. "How long did that puzzle take Matt?" Asked Steph.

Nate checked his phone. "3 hours, 42 minutes." He said proudly. Stephanie giggled.

"Can you really blame me?" Asked Matt, almost sarcastically.

"Give him some credit. I didn't have the willpower to keep going." Nate said. "I see the URL. Follow the link."

Matt clicked on the link, but it went nowhere. "It's not working."

"Here, I'll check out from my side." Nate offered. He carefully copied the link into his own A.N.N browser. Matt and Steph couldn't see Nate's screen, but they could see him looking at his screen intently.

"Okay, so it seems to be page two of the deep Web wiki." Nate said. "There are a few more sites than page one, but..." Nate trailed off. His eyes went wide with panic. Nate jumped up off his chair, and shut off the lights.

"What's going on?" Asked Matt, worried.

"It's the tracking arrow. Stay silent." He said. The only light on Nate's side, coming from he computer screen, was suddenly shut off. Matt and Steph stayed silent for as long as possible, but it was taking a longer time than expected. The muffled voice just went on and on, never seeming to stop. After what seemed like an eternity, they all heard footsteps across the grass starting to fade away.

(Authors note: Im 90% sure that Nate lives in an apartment building, so just imagine that he's on the bottom floor.)

Matt sighed with relief. "You okay?" He asked.

Nate's eyes went wide in the darkness. "Oh no." He said.

"What's wrong?" Asked Matt.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up." Nate whispered angrily. Matt instantly realized that Nate could hear what was going on over there better, and that the footsteps hadn't gone away quite yet. Matt had just doomed Nate by talking.

Matt tried to shut up, but it was too late. Nate, seeing the kidnapper through the window, saw that the kidnapper was staring straight at him. Nate knew that the kidnapper was going to get him, so with the little time he had left, he turned his computer screen back on, letting a tiny light illuminate the area just in front of the computer. Even if it was too late for him, he would show Matt and Steph what to watch out for.

Matt and Steph watched in horror as the kidnapper crashed through the window. Nate tried to get away, but the kidnapper got him pinned to the wall, unable to escape. "bonum vesperam." He said.

The kidnapper attempted to drag Nate away, but Nate's thrashing arms caused the computer to get knocked over. Matt and Steph heard the door slam, but after that, there was nothing.