From The Dark | Peter Parker x OC ✔️

Chapter Thirty-Three

A/N: MERRYYY CHRISTMASSS YOU GUYSSS! A special chapter on Christmas, just because ya'll are awesome :) (sorry its a bit short)

I unfortunately don't have time for an author's note because my phone is glitching big time :(

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"Breathe."
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Adelaide stared at the message, wondering if she was seeing things. When it didn't go away, she began to fully panic. The air in her lungs was the first to go as she scrambled away from the laptop as quickly as she could.

Her hands flew up to cover her mouth as she tried to breathe. She unconsciously began pacing the room, her eyes never leaving the laptop. She was worrying that the laptop would explode somehow. Slowly, her mind began working again.

What if it was just a glitch?

She shook her head. No, there was no way this was a glitch. Those words...she had seen them before. This wasn't a mistake. It was a threat, a warning. Her last chance to step away from all of this.

She suddenly stopped pacing and her eyes wandered over to her phone laying on her bed. In a flash, she had crossed the distance in the room and turned on her phone. With her heart thumping quickly in her chest, she dialed Ned's number and held the phone up to her ear. She listened to her uneven breathing as she anxiously waited for him to pick up.

"Adelaide I –"

"Ned, listen to me," she said, her voice shaking, "Are you on your laptop right now?"

"Yeah, but –"

"Log out, shut it down, clear the hard drive, oh God, I don't know," she breathed, swallowing painfully, "Just do what you need to do to get your laptop off the grid right now."

She was scared. Not for herself, but for Ned. The Stark Tower had cutting-edge maximum security but Ned was completely out in the open right now. She needed to know that he was safe.

"Hey, hey, Adelaide – breathe," he said.

"No, you don't understand –"

"Breathe."

She took in a shaky breath. A knot formed in her throat and her eyes began to sting. No, no, no. She was not going to cry. She had this under control.

"Okay now tell me what your screen says."

"It says...stop looking," she said. The words had burned themselves into her brain. She knew them well. Too well.

"Yeah, my screen says that too," he said. Adelaide could hear him typing something into the computer. "Hold on a second..."

Adelaide began pacing the room again, folding her arms around herself. The last time she had seen that message was during a murder investigation. And now it was on her laptop and Ned's. Could that mean...?

"Shit," muttered Ned suddenly. Adelaide's grip on her phone tightened and she stopped pacing, almost too scared to move.

"What is it?" she whispered, her heartbeat speeding up once again, "What is it, Ned?"

"Adelaide..."

"Spit it out!"

"...all the files are gone."

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"Adelaide? Adelaide, hey."

The teenager tore her eyes away from the blank wall, realizing that Pepper was standing next to her, worry etched onto her face.