Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Hacker Zi ❯ Part Four ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

DISCLAIMER: While Hacker Zi and its characters were created by me, some of the screen names were taken from actual people. Please DO NOT TRY TO CONTACT THEM. The story is purely fictional

When Nick entered homeroom, Zeke was alone in the back. The others were no where in sight. She took her usual seat, then looked over at Zeke. He smiled at her, but she remained expressionless. This seemed to make him uneasy, so he broke the silence.
“Something wrong?”
“We need to talk.”
“Uh….sure, mind if I ask what this is about?”
“Virgil.”
For a brief moment Nick noticed that her words had caught him off guard, but he quickly recovered. At first she thought Zeke was going to ignore what she had said, but then he spoke up.
“So you found it. Listen, you’re about to get mixed up with the wrong people. Knowing this, are you sure you want to get involved any deeper than what you already are?”
“I don’t care. What the hell is going on? And why – “
“Stop. I can’t give you the answers to the questions you’re about to ask.”
“Why can’t you?!?”
“Because I don’t know. I did as David asked me to.”
Nick seemed even more confused. So many questions were flooding her mind right now. She wanted to know why, what, and who caused David to want to pull the stunt he did. She began to feel a headache coming on. As she was trying to sort out the mess in her mind, Zeke spoke again.
“The only way to contact him now is through his handle.”
“Shadow…Wolf…Chaos.”
“ Right. He’s kept the same handle for over six years.”
“What happened four years ago?”
Zeke thought back to that time. He remembered everything clearly, as did David. Moments like those never really left you, no matter how much your mind tried to suppress them. In the end, they always resurfaced.
“You were there. You heard us talk about it.”
“No. I heard you talk about Dante Alighieri’s Virgil. I want to know about your Virgil, and the conflict between the Gods and Chaos.”
“Its basically the same thing. Our Virgil was an informant, one who double crossed the Gods to satisfy his own needs. Virgil led us to each of the nine members. And that’s basically it.”
Before the conversation could get any deeper, they were interrupted by Jesse. He had finally arrived, halfway through homeroom. Nick and Zeke both stopped talking about Virgil, almost as if it had never happened. Instead, they talked about the previous night.
“When are you going to tell your parents about you and Tiff?”
“….I’d like to say never, but I’m going to talk to her today.”
“Are you finally breaking up?”
“You mean officially? Yeah. I wanna get this over with.”

For the rest of homeroom the group talked about random things. When the bell finally rang, they headed to class. Zeke passed Nick a note as they spilt up in the hallway. She didn’t read the note until after arriving in class.

Right now, we’re the only ones that know David is alive. I’d rather we kept it that way for as long as possible. I know you probably want to find him, but it will probably be difficult. Look for the name Defiance.

Defiance….was that a screen name….David’s new handle? Her mind seemed even more riddled with unanswerable questions. It seemed like every time she came closer to an answer, the farther away it became. If only she knew where to find him.
Classes seemed to pass rather quickly. During lunch, Jesse finally spoke with Tiffany. Neither one of them showed any tears or anger, but Nick could sense that Jesse was hurting inside. She couldn’t really blame him. Tiffany had cheated on him with another guy, their trust and respect for each other had been destroyed in that one moment. Tiffany, however, was like a brick wall. Over the past few days it seemed like nothing could faze her. Nick had tried to remain neutral, but it was becoming increasingly difficult.
During Nick’s sixth period class was interrupted by the secretary. Nick was called out of class, with no explanation other than someone was here to pick her up. After stopping at her locker to get her backpack, she was surprised to see her brother’s partner, Rob Cormeir waiting for her. Then concern began to set in.
“Hey Nicki, mind taking a ride with me?”
“….has something happened to my brother?”
“Kinda. He’s at the hospital, that’s where we’re headed.”
Had her brother been hurt? Was it serious? Nick couldn’t take any more questions. Her headache became intensified as they made their way to the hospital. When they entered the hospital, Cormeir asked the front desk for the room number. Afterwards, the two of them took the elevator to the fourth floor. Cormeir waited outside of room 419 so that Nick and her brother could have some privacy.
Marc was lying in a hospital bed, staring at the ceiling. When he heard the door open his eyes shifted to Nick. He gave a weak smile as she sat down in a chair next to the bed. A nurse was also in the room, checking Marc’s vitals.
“….hey. Rob brought you here? I told him everything was fine….Sorry for dragging you out of school.”
“….what happened?”
“Funny thing….I don’t remember. I was looking through some things at the Bell house, and then I woke up here…..You don’t look so well yourself. Are you alright?”
“Its just a headache.”
The nurse looked over at Nick. The girl seemed somewhat pale, and very tired. She removed a thermometer from a draw and approached Nick. Nick looked up at her as she knelt down beside the chair.
“Mind if I take your temperature? You look a little ill.”
Nick opened her mouth and allowed the nurse to take her temperature. A few seconds later the nurse told her the results. Nick had a slight fever, but nothing too serious. She left the room and returned a few minutes later with some aspirin and a bottle of water.
“For your headache. It might be best if you went home and slept. Your brother’s being discharged. The two of you should take it easy for a while.”

When Nick and Marc exited the room they found Cormeir sitting in a chair outside. He was holding Nicks backpack and a cup of coffee. When the two of them stepped into the hallway, Cormeir was both glad and shocked to see them. He had assumed Marc would be staying at the hospital for the night.
“Is it alright for you to leave?”
“Yeah, it was nothing serious.”
“….you passed out!”
“We just have to take it easy for a little bit.”
“We?”
“Nick’s not feeling too well either. Must be something going around.”
“Well, I’ll take you home then.”
“I feel fine; you don’t have to do that.”
“Better safe than sorry, my wife’s going to meet me at your place anyway.”
“That’s right; you had to drive my car here. Well, are you ready to go Nick?”
Nick nodded. The three of them made their way to Tiburon. Cormier and Marc sat in the front, while Nick began to doze off in the back. When they arrived at the house, Katelyn was waiting in the drive way. She drove a blue Dodge Neon; it appeared to be brand new. Nick was fast asleep in the back. After assuring his partner that he could manage to carry her inside by himself, Rob and Katelyn left.
Nick felt fairly light, so Marc easily made his way inside while carrying her. He laid her on the couch, and brought a blanket and pillow for her. Then he made his way up to his room, where he collapsed on the bed, drifting into a deep sleep as well.

When Nick awoke the next morning, Marc was making breakfast. He glanced at her as she entered the kitchen and sat down. She looked worse than the day before.
“Are you hungry?”
“…not really.”
Marc finished placing eggs and toast on a plate, then sat it on the table. He then grabbed two glasses and filled them with orange juice. After setting a glass in front of Nick, he sat down across from her.
“You know you can stay home today, if you’re not feeling well you should rest.”
“….I’ll be fine. I’m just a little tired.”
“Then that settles it, you’re staying home. Remember the other day, you said I should stay home, but I didn’t and wound up in a hospital bed. I’ll call the school on my way to work. Just take it easy today.”
Before Nick could object, her brother left the kitchen. He said goodbye to her in the doorway, then made his way to the car. As he pulled out of the driveway, he called the school. One of the secretaries answered. After informing her that Nick would not be attending school, he asked if one of her friends could bring her homework to her after school.

As Marc entered the precinct, he was greeted by Cormier, who was carrying a napkin full of doughnuts. When he sat down at his desk, Rob held out a piece of paper. Marc took it, with a puzzled face.
“Whats this?”
“A message from some nurse. She called here about half an hour ago, asking for you. I think she has the hots for you.”
“….right.”
“You’re not going to be passing out again are you?”
“Nah, I’m better today. No need to worry.”
“Good, because we’ve got a case. I’ll fill you in on the details on the way.”
The two of them left the precinct after Marc grabbed a cup of coffee. He drove to the crime scene while Rob filled him in. Apparently an electronics store had been robbed. Five Gateway laptops had been stolen, along with a few other devices.
When they arrived on the scene, there were already a few squad cars parked out front. A few officers were canvassing the area, asking the locals for any information that could move the investigation further. Marc and Rob entered the shop to question the manager. He was a fairly frail man, probably in his late sixties, early seventies. He was still somewhat shaken up by what had happened.
“Excuse me sir, do you mind if we ask you a few questions?”
“Please…call me Lucas.”
“Alright, Lucas, can you describe what happened?”
“Th….there were three…maybe four…of them…..came in….started lookin around…..then one of em’ pulled a g-gun out…..H-h-he pointed it at m..me and says….t-to ge…get down on de…flo..or….It all happened so fast. My grandson is gonna be upset with me.”
“You’re grandson?”
“Y…yes. He owns this shop, along with another one across town. He asked me to manage this one for him, after his father passed away.”
“Sir, we may need to get in touch with your son, can you give us the address or phone number to the other shop?”
Marc handed the man a pen and notepad. After thinking for a moment, the man began to write something on the pad. He handed it back to Marc, and then asked if there were any other questions.
Marc and Rob left soon after that. They headed back to the precinct, and planned to go to the other shop in the afternoon. For the remaining hours, they read the files on Lucas and his grandson.
“So, any plans for tonight?”
“You mean besides sleeping?”
“Or something similar, like a date with a certain nurse?”
“Its not really a – how do you know about that?”
Rob laughed at the face his partner was making. The truth was, he had noticed the woman giving Marc her phone number before they left the hospital. That and the fact that he had kept his cell phone on his person, and as far as Rob knew, had not switched the phone to vibrate, led him to conclude something was going on.
“We solve crimes for a living. This was a walk in the park.”
“Good point…..Hey, did we ever find that ipod?”
Rob had forgotten about it. With everything that had happened, it had slipped his mind.
“Never really got the chance to search for it, you passed out after asking about it.”
“Lets hold off on the electronics robbery and search the Bell house some more.”
The two detectives called the shop and informed them that they would be coming by tomorrow afternoon. The shop owner was somewhat glad, he could close the shop tomorrow so that they wouldn’t be bothered by any customers. After insisting that he wasn’t going to pass out again, Marc and Rob headed back to the Bell house.
When they arrived, the two of them split up, Marc searching the upstairs, and Rob searching the downstairs. Marc didn’t bother going through the things in David’s room a second time. Instead, he felt around for any hidden compartments, or any place that he could have hid something.