text: Solome Hailemariam The Hackers Anonymous Leader By Solome.H 
   
   
   1. 
    "Honey," mom (Sydney) called, "You don't want to be late on your first day of school,  let's go. Get out of the bed."                   I jumped out of my bed and got dressed as she disappeared from my room and down the stairs. I went downstairs and I noticed breakfast was ready. I sat next to my sister 'Lilly' on the dining table. Mom and dad 'Cody' have already eaten. My brother 'Mieczyslaw' was still upstairs and my cousin 'Scott' was packing up his bag. Scott is the same age as I am, so it's his first day of high school too. Scott has been living with us since he was 4. His parents got divorced when he was 3. His dad left Scott and his mother, so Scott was with his mom before she had a heart attack and passed away. Scott was very miserable for years, but eventually, he got over it.  No one knew where his dad was because he never reached out after he left. It's been 10 years now and he says that mom and dad are his parents. He doesn't like talking about the messed-up life he had before he started living with us, so he says he is our sibling.  
                  We finished up our breakfast and went out to wait for our bus. Everything was different. Scott and I went to the same schools since we were babies, so we're pretty much always together. Scott and I like each other, we never fight, we protect each other. We do our homework together, watch movies, hang out with friends, we practically do everything together. 
          "Carlos High" I said and Scott smiled. Scott and I stuck together for the whole day. We had all of our classes together. We had Civics and careers first, then Math, then History, then  Visual Arts. "Scott, Lydia!" Bella, (a friend from elementary school) called.  "Hey, Bella?", Scott said questioning her appearance in the same school as us. "We didn't know you registered in this school," I said, "Ugh, it's a long story. I obviously didn't want to register here, but my parents think it's safer than Eastwood high because it's a private school. You know, public school problems," Bella said "oh yeah, public schools can sometimes be a problem," Scott said "C'mon let's go around the school before the bell rings," I said and we started walking.                       We had 2 of our classes with Bella, Art, and Civics & Careers.  The day was pretty much a disaster, mostly because it was our first day and we were surrounded by strangers. While we were walking down the hallway, I heard a voice a little familiar,  "hey, Lydia", it was Thomas. Thomas, our classmate since grade 4. Thomas has a three years older brother in Carlos High. He sometimes annoys me by asking me out, even though I said no, more than three times. I only see Thomas as a friend, but apparently, he thinks he has a chance with me one day. "Tom, nice to see you again. Are you on the same bus?" I asked "Nah, I have a ride. Just saying hello" he said walking closer, "Oh, cool, well, I have to run, I am going to miss my bus. I guess I will see you tomorrow, Thomas" I tried to slip out of this conversation, mostly because I am not in the mood of talking to him right now.  "Sure, tomorrow Lydia ". I waved my hand as I ran to the school bus. When Scott and I got home, Mike was watching Netflix, and Lilly was in her room. Because they have their own car, they got home earlier than me and Scott. Dad wasn't home. He had a late shift. Scott and I had homework to do so I grabbed cereal and Scott grabbed a granola bar. We sat on the table with our books and Chromebooks. Scott and I spent an hour and a half on our homework, so we needed a break. Dad got home while we were watching Netflix. "Bedtime, enough Netflix," Dad said "We just started watching, we were doing our homework," I said "You will only be watching for one more hour, then go to bed." He said "got it!" said Scott. 
     
   
   
   
   2. 
     I woke up in the morning seeing the sun shining for the first time in about a week. The second day of school. It went well just like yesterday. A regular school day. every day went well until the 31st of September, and the 31st day of school. The day was Thursday. It went normal until I got out of the bus after school. Scott didn't go to school today, he needed time off. I was walking down the hill when I saw these 4 creepy guys staring at me. I wasn't sure what they were talking about, but I was sure they were whispering something about me, but I decided to ignore them and just walk past them. They stood up as soon as I was right beside them and I froze where I was, but I thought maybe I should just walk past them, so I did. About two seconds later one of them called  "We have seen you around here a couple of times"      I stopped walking and turned around.  " I don't think I've seen you anywhere here before" I said and started walking again.  "oh, haven't you noticed us before?" the taller one joked, and they all laughed like it was the funniest thing ever said.  "no!" I was scared, but at the same time I wanted to punch his face so bad, "You help us with something, and we leave you alone," they said. I said yes hoping they would leave me alone.  "You're in a rush. Where are you up to?" I was surprised by how friendly they were being,  "Home" I said and walked away without looking back at them.                As soon as I got home, I just grabbed the first snack I saw on the table and went to my room. I hoped not to find them the next morning again because Scott is going to be with me and he would get in a fight with anyone that messes with me. I don't want him to get in a fight, so I stayed up until midnight on my bed thinking of a plan. I fall asleep while thinking of a scheme. 
     
     
   
   
   
   3. 
     
   The next day Scott went to school as I expected. While I was talking to Thomas at school during break, he asked me a very unpredicted question. "So, why don't you tell me about those losers that you met last night?" he seemed mad. "What do you mean?" I wasn't confused, I just wanted to seem like I was. "You know what I mean Lydia, and you know exactly who I am talking about."  "Were you following me?" I didn't know what else to say.  "You can't do this," he said, "do what?"  "Don't turn the question to me, what were you doing with them?" He yelled a little, " You have never even met them! You don't know if they could be dangerous or not!" He yelled louder 'till everybody turned to us. I pulled him outside and said " I know, but I am trying to get to know them." " And tell me, were you following me?" I said narrowing my eyes at him, "No, of course not. I appeared to be there for some reason, but that's not the point right now," "Don't try to change the conversation! you know I won't answer any of your questions if you don't tell me the truth" I yelled at him "Fine, yeah," he said "I knew it," I said walking away, "But I didn't mean to, I had a friend and we were just hanging when I saw you there, I couldn't just leave you there hanging with some randos." He said "Look, I really appreciate you trying to be nice, but you don't need to do this I can take care of myself " I assured him, "Hey, listen to me you will end up regretting it later on," he said "I don't get it" I was literally confused this time,  "You can't trust someone you just met. They could be bad guys. I am just trying to tell you to be careful. How can you be so sure of someone's personality when you just met them?" He said clasping my shoulders with his hand. "They don't seem like one," I said "Lydia, just please listen to me,"  "Thomas, just let me live my life. Leave me alone. You're just too apprehensive that I am going to other guys but you." I said trying to hurt him so that he would leave me alone. "I don't get it. What the problem with us?" he said pointing at me and him. "Me and you?" I said pointing at me and him, trying to taunt him. "Yes!" he said, "Tom, I only see you as a friend. I am sorry, but there's never going to be a 'me and you'" I said making it as uncomplicated as I could.  "Fine, but I still don't want you hanging with those people." He said also making it clear. "I will find out more about them today and if they really are as bad as you say then fine I won't see them again." I told him, "Now I have to go to my locker before the bell rings." "Right, okay," he said walking away, then I stopped him,x "Please don't follow me today?" I asked him "I won't," He said "Thanks!"           I told Scott that I was going to stay at the school late so that I don't have to deal with explaining what is going on. I never kept a secret from Scott, but this time I had to. I used the late bus home. When I got there I was rather terrified to talk to them, but I held it, and went down the hill to where they were sitting. I saw Thomas was spying on me again.  "Hey guys," I said. They stood up in a respectful way. "Hey, Lydia," one of them said,  "How did you know my name?" I was confused "He's been internet stalking you" they all laughed, and I thought it was pretty funny so I laughed too. "I am Liam," said the internet stalker. He looked younger than the others. "I am Jack" this was the one that told me Liam has been stalking me "My name is Aurum" said the one looking oldest of all. His name was very nice. "Hi, I am Aiden" this one was blond just like Liam. "So, where do y'all live?" I asked them "We live around downtown, but we like hanging around here because it's noiseless," Aiden said "Oh, do you guys live together?" "No, we don't, but we used to. It's pretty complicated." Aurum said "Then do you guys live on your own?" I said "Yeah," said Aurum "So, what's the complicated story? I wanna know" I said. "We were...." Aiden started but Aurum poked him and he stopped. "It's very complicated," Aurum said       I didn't like how they were acting so I asked "Is there anything you're hiding? because Aiden started but you stopped him." I said eagerly. " No, why would we? it's just that...." Jack started and Aurum finished it for him " we've got to go, right boys?" Aurum said and they all started standing up. "Wait but you only told me your names," I said "Yeah, we have really got to go," Aurum said, and they left without even saying goodbye "Wow!" I whispered to myself. "Thomas, I know you're out there. I have to talk to you, come out." I called out, "Hey, what happened?" He walked out from where he was hiding. "AHA!" I yelled at him, "I knew you were out there! I told you not to follow me and you said you wouldn't!"  "What?! oh C'mon, that's not fair," said Thomas "Anyway, I am a little suspicious, what are they up to?" I said to Thomas "I told you not to trust them," He said  "I don't need 'I told you's right now," I rolled my eyes at him "Okay fine, now that you know, you won't see them again, will you?" He seemed scared of them which made me laugh. "Why are you laughing?" He said  "Are you afraid of them?" I asked him still smiling, "No, what the hell?!" He said "Okay fine but I still have to find out what they are doing," I told him and we started walking down the hill, " What? No, that's not what's happening," He said "You said you're not afraid of them right so let me do this," I told him  "Fine, maybe I am, a little" He made a bashful face. "Don't worry. I will figure out more about them," I decided to tell Scott everything so that Scott, Thomas, and I could work together.   
              I didn't need to beg him into this. He was totally into it already. "So what's the plan?" Scott said, "We can't make the plan without Thomas," I grabbed my phone to invite Thomas over, "We can plan it on ourselves and tell Thomas the plan tomorrow,"  that might be a good idea, but what if there's something Thomas doesn't agree on? "There might be something that Thomas doesn't agree on. Why waste our times when we can just invite him over?" I unlocked my phone to call him                                       We talked over it until we agreed on a scheme. "This is good," Thomas said. The next morning we pretended like nothing happened last night so that no one finds out what we have been up to and what we would be up to the next couple of days. The whole day we stayed together going over and over our plans.  "Okay, we got it," said Thomas              Late that afternoon, Thomas and I hid behind the barrier wall and Scott walked down the hill, behind them, to hear what they were talking about. He had a recorder in his hand. He walked as slow as he could behind them. I was terrified something would happen to him but hey didn't see him.                Thomas and I walked down the hill, pretending like we didn't see a thing.  "Aye, Lydia," Aurum called out "Hi," I said "You blowin' us off?" He said "No. How are you guys?" I gave Thomas a sign to leave. "We're good, how are you?" Aiden asked "fine" I froze when I saw their tattoo on their forearm. It said "THAL" and a thunder symbol. "What does 'THAL' mean?" If they try to hide it then it might mean something. "Oh it's nothing. It's what we call our friend group," Aurum seems to be the leader of the gang or the group, whatever they call themselves. "Yeah?" I asked them "Of course," Aurum is the one answering all the questions. "Well, I've got to go, I have lots of things to do," including your gang's mess.                          Scott and Thomas were waiting for me at the end of the hill. We ran back to Thomas's house and up to his room. We closed the door so that his detective father won't hear us. "Did you get anything?" Thomas said "Yes, but let's listen to the recording first," Scott started the recording "10738629, that's the code for the bank security camera," Thomas wrote the number on his hand  "Liam, you're gonna hit the gas station quick. Find out the code, you have 48 hours. Aiden, your mission for the next 72 hours is to find out the password for the code I've found of the bank's security camera. Jack, you will have 72 hours to get the password for the code that Liam..."               We could hear them no more. "I stopped recording. I was too far away. I couldn't hear them." Scott shut the recorder and put it in his pocket.  "It's fine, it's not hard to find out what he said after that," I said, "So what did you find?" said Thomas, " There's this tattoo on all of their forearms. It says 'THAL'. I asked them what it meant but Aurum said it was their friendship tattoo, but I don't think it's just that. I am sure it's more than that..."  I told them. "Well, that's something we need to find out," Scott said "Okay, but should we be doing this by ourselves?" I wasn't sure if we should, "I mean, the case is pretty big. We can't do it by ourselves. Shouldn't we tell someone that is more mature than us?"  "Well, let's try. If we can't do it, then we will tell my dad," His dad suddenly walked in, "Tell me what?" He said "Oh, hello Mr. Newtson," I said trying to hide what we were talking about, "Hello, Lydia, Scott, and Thomas," He said, "Now is there anything you would like to tell me?" He asked. I gave Thomas and Scott a yes sign. "Yes," Scott said  We told Detective Newtson everything. "You kids should not be involved in these things. You need to focus on your education from now on, don't worry about this. We will be investigating the case. Now promise me you won't go behind my back and try to find out about it. It's not safe." Detective Newtson said "Yes," We said.                Scott and I went home that night and went straight to our rooms and decided to talk about it the next day. 
     
   
   
   
   4. 
     
   The next day Scott and I went to school saying nothing about last night at home.  "Hey, Thomas," Scott and I said "Hey, guys, so my dad told me last night that maybe we might need to get involved because he is a detective but we're just some kids, so the gang won't suspect us if we try to find out more about them and plus Lydia is starting to be friends with them, so they might want us to implicate," Thomas said "I think that's a good idea," it was a nice idea.  "But he said 'do not get involved  unless  we tell you to'," said Thomas.          When Scott and I got home, I told him I had something to do in my room and went straight to my bedroom. I opened my computer and searched.             'THAL' As I scrolled through the results, I found a tattoo that looked exactly theirs. When I clicked on it, mom brast through the door.  "Lydia! How many times have I told you to vacuum your room and put your garbage outside?!"  I slammed my computer shut and said. "Sorry mom, I will do it now." she looked calmer, "Okay sweetheart, when you finish, get changed. We will be having dinner at Anne and Henry's today." Anne is my mom's best friend. Mom respects her too much. Sometimes I wonder why. "Mom, can I stay home for today? I am not feeling well."   "You will be okay honey, it would be disrespect if we don't bring you with us." I don't even know why I asked her, I knew she would say that. 
                        I opened my closet, but all I saw was what a mess my closet has been since school started. I dug through the pile of clothes to find my pink casual short dress which was open-back. I hated getting invited to dinners, but I had to go anyway because apparently it would be "disrespectful" not to go.                         Later that night, I went outside while everybody was inside having dessert. I needed some air. I was in a jam, but all that thought disappeared from my mind when I saw someone walking toward me. When I started to get up to go back inside, I noticed it was just Lucas so I sat back down on the porch. Lucas is Anne's only son but not Henry's. Henry had 2 twins from another woman, whom he does not know. I hated Lucas, but for mom's sake I have to pretend as I like him. He sometimes vanishes at night and would be found in a nightclub drunk or beaten up or in a fight. He never showed up to dinners with us or his family. Sometimes I wonder why Anne and Henry won't do something about him. As he got closer I noticed something very strange, something I have never seen before, 'THAL' was tattooed on one of his forearms. I decided to tell Scott and Thomas when we got home, but I never did because He had 5 guys with him. They had the biggest muscles I have ever seen. Right when I saw those 5 guys, I got up to go inside when someone gripped me in an unyielding hold behind me. When I tried to scream, they put something on my mouth which suddenly made me dizzy. A couple of minutes later I felt someone carrying me and taking me somewhere. I've lost my balance. I wanted to yell, I wanted to smack his face, I wanted to talk but I couldn't move my lips or any body part. All of a sudden I was totally unconscious.  
     
     
     
     
   
   
   
   5. 
     
                  When I woke up I saw nothing but a dark empty room. My hands and legs were tied to a chair with big chain links. I couldn't get up or move at all. A thin light came through the small black wall. I was locked in a room with only a piece of paper in front of me, with a note that said                
                "We realized you could not keep quiet about 'THAL'. You will be staying here until you decide to keep what you know to yourself. Did you really think some low-life detectives could take down 'THAL' so easily?"           
               I screamed as loud as I can, thinking maybe someone might hear me, but it was no use. The room was extremely hot, which made my sweat immensely. I was in the worst pain. My back was sore and so was my neck. I could feel neither my hands nor my feet.                "Hellooo!!" I screamed wildly. I scarcely saw the door handle move.  "Hello, anyone, please let me out of here.." I caught a glimpse of one of the 5 men that were with Lucas earlier. I noticed he had the same napkin that made me unconscious earlier with something on it, which was probably what made me unconscious.       "Please, please I will keep quiet! Please let me out!" He got closer and closer, "Please don't do this again. Please, I promise..." He put his sizeable hand on my mouth with the napkin and I was insensible again before I could finish the sentence.                                                                    ........................................                    I woke up again in the same room. The backache had gotten worse. Every time I tried to move my head, my neck hurt very badly. I could barely open my eyes. I tried to look around, but the room was spinning. I was exceedingly drowsy. I wanted to call someone. I wanted to get up and run. I wanted lots of things but none of it was possible at that very moment. I put my head down and flaked out.                     As I woke up for the third time, I noticed 6 guys in front of me. Lucas and his 5 other men. They looked at me, up and down. I looked back at Lucas. The room was very bright this time. When I looked down, I noticed blood sweeping down my feet and hands from how tight the chain links were, which made me throw up on my thighs.  "You might wanna control that," Lucas said with a disgusted face pointing up and down at me. "What do you want from me?" tears rolled down my chick from pain as I talked, "We need you to keep your mouth shut," Lucas said narrowing his eyes at me, "I will, just please let me out. I promise I won't say anything," it was harder and harder to breathe every time I talked.  "Not so easily," he pushed the corners of his lips up to show me his ugly grin, "You will be going around with this microphone and a camera everywhere. He will stick it on your chest," he pointed at one of the men, "Everything you say, we hear it. We can see every single action. You can not wear anything that covers the camera or the microphone. If you do, we can see it here. Unless you want to be back in this room, you do not whisper or cover the microphone and camera. You can never take it off. If you do, the punishment will be  worse . Got it?" Lucas said, "Please don't," I brast out of tears,  "Oh, and one more thing, you can only take them off with surgery once it's been stuck to your skin," one of the men got up holding the microphone and camera, " Wait!.. please Lucas, I know you are not this cruel. Lucas, please. I know you. Lucas I know you please..." I tried to move, which again made the pain worse, "Now," Lucas said, "No! Please! No!" 2 of the men held me tight as the other one stuck the camera and the Microphone on my chest.  "I am sorry, Lydia," He said. Later then, they gave me water and I drunk it because I was too thirsty, but they poisoned it which knocked me out.  
   
   
   
   6. 
     
   I woke up for the fourth time. This time I was outside. A familiar outside. I was at the top of the hill, where Scott and I always walked by, after school. I could not get up or walk. I laid on the ground on my back. I tried moving a little when I saw someone coming up the hill to ask for help. I told him where I lived and he carried me down the hill and to my house. While we were on our way to my house I asked him what day it was. He told me it was October 7th. I realized I've been kidnapped for days.  "What happened to you?" he asked me halfway to my house, "I can't say," I looked down and saw the camera and the microphone on my chest. It was too tiny for anyone to see it.          When he knocked at the door, the whole family ran to the door and opened it. "Oh my god honey, what happened to you, where were you?!" mom cried. Everyone followed dad as he carried me to the couch. He laid me on the couch and they all settled down in front of me. "Tell us what happened." dad said, "I don't know!" I yelled and started crying straight away.  "Oh, honey," mom tried to embrace me but I cried out "Ouch!" and she let go quickly. My back still hurt.                    Mom took dad by the hands and started whispering something in his ears at the corner of the room. It was just me, Scott and Thomas now.  "Where were you?" Thomas said. I wanted to give them a sign that 'THAL's kidnapped me, but Lucas would see their reaction through the camera and suspect that I've told them so instead I said, "I don't know". "C'mon, if it's the 'THAL's, you know you can tell us," Scott said "No! I said I don't know! Just leave me alone please! Just go! Now!" I yelled at them, "Honey, what's going on?" mom and dad strode toward us. "Just please, let me rest. Help me to my room mom," I said and started getting up, "Here, take my hand," she stretched her hand to help me. I put my arms around her and she supported me up the stairs to my room. She helped me to my bed and tucked me under my cover. I fall asleep rapidly because I was exceedingly exhausted.                                                                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~                         This time when I woke up I was on my bed, comfortable. I felt relieved. The pain had disappeared completely. I could move, I could get up, and walk. I wanted to open my computer and read what I'd found earlier before my mom brast into my room to tell me to clean my room, but I couldn't. Not with the camera and the microphone stuck on my chest. I wanted to tell Scott or Thomas to check out the website but again, I couldn't, not with the camera and the microphone stuck on my chest, so I decided to just go downstairs and eat my breakfast. I went down the stairs and saw Detective Newtson and 2 other men in police uniforms. I went back upstairs without making any noise so that they won't hear the noise and call me back down. I locked my room and sat at my computer. I had nothing to do. My mind felt completely vacant so I went back to my bed and began gazing at the ceiling. I rose back up, opened my laptop, clicked on Netflix, and started watching, 'The Crown'. About 20 minutes later I heard a knock on my door. I stayed quiet so they would think I was asleep. 
   "Honey, you up?"Mom asked, but I took no notice of her.  
   'God save the Queen. In days of disillusion, However low we've been...' I went on with the show. 
                         Later that day, I heard the front door shut, so I decided to take a peek. When I opened my door, I saw Scott right in front of me. I panicked and bang the door in front of me and locked it.  
   "Lydia, open the door!" he started knocking on my door. 
   "Scott! She's asleep. Stop interrupting her," mom yelled from downstairs.   "I just saw her get out. She slammed the door and locked it when she saw me," Scott yelled back. I heard mom's footsteps coming up the stairs.  
   "Honey, are you up?" she asked, I wanted to ignore her but I thought if I ignored them, we would be arguing forever about it, so I decided to make up a story and tell them. I stayed in my room until I came up with an idea. I got out of my room 30 minutes of thinking later. I wend my way to the bathroom and I poured cold water on my face, which relaxed me a little. I walked out of the bathroom and down the stairs. Everyone was at home because it was Sunday. 'THIL' the word came to my mind repeatedly. I couldn't stop visualizing Lucas's ugly grin. I walked to the kitchen and grabbed a bowl of cereal. Mom came behind me and hugged me tightly, which made me panic. All of a sudden, the whole scene where a guy held me tightly behind me came to my mind.  "Are you okay, sweetheart?" mom asked  "Yeah," I hugged her back and started crying abruptly. "Oh, baby," she said, I let go of her quickly and took my cereal to the dining table and started eating. The entire family including Thomas surrounded me by the dining table. "Do you feel ready to talk now?" Dad asked, "What do you want to know?" I kept my eyes on my food, "What happened to you? Where have you been?" they looked into my eyes just as I looked up, "I wanted to take a walk because I was too bored that night. While I walked down the road, I noticed a bar, so I wanted to check it out. When I went inside, these 2 boys offered to buy me a drink. I said no but they convinced me to one then..." mom stopped me "Honey! You are not in the legal age to drink yet!" She yelled and dad said "Let her finish hun," "They convinced me one shot. I took the shot hoping they would leave me alone. Then they convinced me more and more shots. Then I don't know what happened, but when I woke up I found myself in a dark room. Then they did something to me which made me unconscious again. Then when I woke up for the second time I found myself outside on top of the hill. I asked this guy for help and he carried me here," I continued eating my cereal. "Honey, do not do anything unsafe. It was wrong for you to get in that bar in the first place anyway. Now if you remember what they looked like, we will go to the bar and find them. If not, we tell the police where this happened and they will do their investigation." Dad said, but I panicked because that wasn't exactly what happened or where I went. "No! I can't go back there. I don't want to." I said, "Well, we will all be with you and Detective Newtson and his police will be there with us too. You will be absolutely safe." I couldn't go there, first because there were no bars there and second because I was too scared to see Lucas again.  "Okay now, go get changed and we will wait here for you." mom said, "but..." I began, but dad stopped me "No buts,"                       I went downstairs with my jeans and t-shirt making sure the microphone or the camera is not covered. We got in the car and I started shaking. Thomas grabbed my hand and held it with both of his.  "You'll be okay," he said, and I smiled. When we got there, we got off the car and walked down the road. I gasped suddenly when I saw Lucas sitting on his porch right where I was sitting before he kidnapped me. I estimated he heard us talking about going there, through the microphone, so that was why he was out there. To scare me.  "What's wrong?" mom said and everyone turned to me. "Nothing, nothing is wrong," I told her looking down to the ground. When I looked up Thomas and Scott were staring at Lucas. That's when I saw mom and dad walking toward Lucas. "Hey Lucas, How are you?" mom said and hugged him. Everyone hugged him and I was the last one to hug him. "Good work," He whispered in my ear, which made me more intimidated.  "Lucas, do you know if there are any bars around here?" dad asked "Yes, you can find one bar that is usually open at night, when you go down that way, then that way" he pointed down the road and to the left. I realized then that he said that to cover his own mess.  "Hey, what happened Lydia? Where were you?" Lucas said. I narrowed my eyes at him when he started acting too innocent.  "Oh, I was kidnapped with these low-lives," I said to make him furious. "We'll wait in the car honey," mom said and they walked back to the car. "Better keep your mouth shut. Don't you dare give them any signs." He tried to threaten me, "You won't last long!" I walked back to the car. "We will go tomorrow, it's getting late now." mom said, "Yeah," I looked out the window the whole ride home. I went straight to my bedroom and went to sleep right away when we got home. I couldn't fall asleep so I opened my computer. I thought of Lucas and his words but I decided to be brave and do it anyway.                'THAL'  I scrolled through the results and opened the same website I opened days ago.           'THE HACKERS ANONYMOUS LEADER'  "'THAL' is the leader of the gang. While the leader of the gang is anonymous, the members are identified with their tattoo on their forearm. The first thing when joining the gang is getting the tattoo 'THAL' on their forearms." I stopped reading it and shut my computer. I didn't want to be reminded of the whole scene so I jumped in my bed and went right to sleep. 
   
   
   
   7. 
     
     I jumped out of my bed the next morning when my bedroom window crashed. I noticed a brick on my floor with a note that says,            "Stay out of this, or YOU WILL REGRET IT!"  I realized it was from the 'THAL's I decided to tell everyone the truth. When I went downstairs with the brick, the house was empty. I looked around, I called out names, but no one seemed to hear me. They were out somewhere without me, so I ran to the kitchen to get my breakfast. That's when I saw Lucas and his 5 men walking towards the front door. The door was locked, so I ran upstairs and to my room. I shut the door and locked it. I thought they could never get in because the door was locked but they broke through it and sprinted upstairs. I ran to my bed and slid under it. I covered myself with boxes. One of the men pushed the door with one of his legs and the door broke and collapsed on the ground. I closed my eyes hoping they wouldn't find me.  "WHERE ARE YOU!" Lucas yelled, and the 5 men begun throwing everything around. They dashed my computer to the ground, which absolutely shattered. They looked for me everywhere in the closet, under my desk. They tossed everything in my closet out everywhere the floor. They broke my closet door and threw it to the wall. 2 of the men grabbed my desk and broke into two, which was very unnecessary. At last, all 5 of the men picked my bed up and dashed it to the corner of the room. I squeezed my eyes shut and put my head down.  "There you are. Finally, I found you. What a relief right? Why didn't you go out with your family? Oh, don't you worry. We are going somewhere no one knows. Somewhere different. We will go to the dark valley, only 30 minutes away," tears rolled down my cheeks when he started making fun of me. Mostly because I was scared. One of the men picked me up and carried me. I started screaming until someone heard me, but apparently no one did. The man held my mouth very tightly so I won't scream. They took me outside and in their horrifying black car. The windows were full black which made them opaque. They blindfolded me and threw me in the back of the car. They drove for longer than 30 minutes. They pulled me out of the car and dragged me somewhere I couldn't imagine. Tossed me to the ground and took my blindfold off. I was in a dark room just like last time but somewhere different. They grabbed the big chains and chained my hands to the wall. They chained my feet together as well and locked the door. They walked out and bang the door behind them, locked it, and walked away. The room was a little dark but it was yet better than the first one. It was brighter, cooler, and wider. I looked around the room but there was nothing to see. The room was totally and completely empty. I put my head down for a second, and fall asleep swiftly.                                              I woke up quickly when Lucas slammed the door shut. He walked toward me and sat right in front of my face. "You're on my face! Move!" I frowned, "Oh, how many times I've told you to keep quiet. It's so nice to see you here again. I am so glad to be spending some more quality time with my mom's best friend's beloved daughter." he wiped the sweat off my forehead with a napkin.  "So tell me something about yourself, something I don't know," he grinned at me, but I said nothing and kept looking on the ground. He pushed my chin up with two fingers.  "Okay, I'll start. My name is Lucas. I am your mom's best friend's only son," I knew he was trying to torture me so I ignored him.  "Okay, no talking, I guess we're done here," he got up and called his men in. Then he walked out and pointed one finger to them. The men came in with a hammer and hit my knees once. "OW!" I yelled, and he gave them a sign to get out of there. They walked out, shut the door, and locked it. I was chained in that room for almost a week, the same action over and over again. Talk, call in his men, torture me, and leave. Several days later, it was too painful to get up or lookup. My eyes were completely shut. My eyelids were swollen from crying excessively. The door banged open, but I kept my head down. I believed they were coming back to torture me. They started taking the chains off my wrists, then my feet. I was covered with blood from my knees, feet, and wrists. They helped me up, but my whole body was sore. I could not move at all like I was paralyzed. They carried me out and I heard an ambulance siren. I tried to look at who was carrying me but I couldn't. My eyes were utterly swollen. They laid me on a stretcher and the ambulance rushed me to the hospital. I heard the nurses hurry me to an emergency room. They injected Neuromuscular Blocking Agents to paralyze me temporarily.                   I woke up feeling a little better. I could open my eyes, move my body, and/or talk. I saw my whole family including Thomas and Detective Newtson in front of me.  "Oh honey, are you feeling better?" my mom held my hand tightly  "I feel a little better. How did you find me? Who found me and carried me out?" I asked, "It was Detective Newtson, honey," I looked at Detective Newtson, " How did you find me? How did you know where they took me or where I was?" I asked Detective Newtson, "We installed security cameras all around the house, including your room. That's when we heard him say Dark Valley," he said, "But what took you days to find me?" I looked at mom and dad. "The security cameras were shattered to the ground, and so were the computers that kept track of the security cameras," mom said,                I put my head back on my pillow and fall asleep. Hours later I woke up and saw that everybody was gone except for Thomas and Scott.  "Where did they all go?" I asked them "Lilly and Mike went to get sleep accessories from home. Since the house is being renewed, we can't stay there. Mom and dad went to buy food for the family, and Detective Newtson went to investigate them." Scott said, "Investigate who?" I asked, "Investigate 'THAL's. 10 of them have been caught," Thomas got up and started walking around the room, "Who are they?" I asked them, "Lucas including his 5 men, and Liam, Aurum, Aiden, and Jack," Scott said. Thomas looked at me and said, "Why didn't you tell us when we asked you if it was the 'THAL's that kidnapped you?"  "Come here," I said, and they walked toward me. "You see this?" I pointed at the camera and microphone, "This is why I've been hiding it from you," they looked pretty shocked.  "Oh my god. I've never seen that before, what is it?" Scott asked, "This is a camera and a microphone," I said, "What?" their confused face made me laugh, "Well, this is what happened..." I told them the whole story when they put the camera and the microphone on me and how I couldn't take it off without surgery and I told them when Lucas told me to keep quiet, and when I ignored what Lucas told me and went to search more about 'THAL'. I also told them how there was a brick thrown through my window with a note that read, "Stay out of this, or YOU WILL REGRET IT!"  "Oh my god, I don't even know how to believe that!" they were supposedly appalled.  "Yeah, I don't know how I am supposed to tell mom and dad that I am supposed to have surgery," I said, "We can do it for you if you don't want to," Thomas said as mom and dad walked in. "Do what?" dad said, and they told them everything I've told them. "Oh my gosh honey, you didn't tell us that," mom and dad walked toward me to see the camera and the microphone. "Let me see?" I opened my shirt and showed them.                            Later that day, they told me I was not supposed to be alone until everything cleared up. It was not even safe to go to school.                  I was transferred to a different hospital for the surgery when I felt a lot better. As they told me the surgery didn't take long. It took me days to recover and when I did, I got out of the hospital with my family surrounding me. Our house was renewed. Nice and clean.  My family including Thomas, Detective Newtson, and two other police remained with me until things were clear, safe, and back to normal again.                  2 months later, Detective Newtson called and said,  "The leader of 'THAL' has been found," we screamed in happiness.  "Who is it?" dad said, "It was a bot created by a guy called 'Mason Wyatt'," Detective Newtson said, "So is Mason Wyatt caught," I put my hand on my mouth from shock "Certainly," he said,                  We hopped and screamed in joy. We ran back and forth, we hugged, we kissed, but it was different for me and Thomas. I kissed him and he was absolutely into it.                              "I love you" I said and smiled, "I love you, too." He said.   
   
   
   Text: Solome Asfaw Hailemariam Images: Solome Hailemariam Cover: Solome Asfaw Hailemariam Layout: Solome Asfaw Hailemariam Translation: Solome Hailemariam All rights reserved. Publication Date: May 25th 2020 https://www.bookrix.com/-qh97382e1e2cce5