I step into the room, knife raised, steadying my breath. I look around the room, it’s dark and I wait for my eyes to adjust. I start to make out a chair with someone seated in it, a stand with what I'd assume was the camera from Sarah’s description, and a figure standing opposite to me. A female figure, I couldn't quite see her face yet, my eyes were taking forever to adjust. I turn to face this figure whilst glancing at Sarah.
“Sarah are you ok?”, I ask sternly. I need to make sure she's fine before whatever whatever is about to go down does.
“Yeah, I'm starting to feel my legs again, but I still can't move. There's another girl here, red hair. But she's passed out.” She sounds relieved, I guess she thinks I'm a fit detective with dashing hair and stunning eyes. Oh I do not envy her for the disappointment she's in for. The red haired girl was probably Liz. So this is the ‘grand battle’ then? At least it’s almost over. Just as I'm about to address the figure who I could only assume was James, I hear a familiar voice coming from her.
“Hey Danni.”
I freeze. That voice… it can't be… no, it’s impossible. But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense, but also terrified me. Who was the one person I kept no secrets with, who was the one person that knew everything I'd ever done, who was the one person that had access to my address, PC, apartment, phone, everything I ever owned? Who was the one person I shared my heart with? My one true love;
“Angela”, I whisper softly. The thought that my girlfriend, my heart and soul, had done this, crushed me. I felt tears rolling down my face, of course, it all made sense. This “supreme hacker” never did any hacking at all. She had installed cameras in my apartment, because she was always there, she knew I didn’t have any of my own. She had her address spoofed as my own because, she knew what it was. She added “James” to my facebook account because, she had my login details for facebook. I shared everything with her, and the thought of her doing this never crossed my mind.
“W...Why? Why are you doing this? What are you doing? I don’t understand… what did I ever do to you?”, I’m speaking through tears and can barely string together the sentence. My eyes start to adjust and I see her. Angela. Is she crying as well? Or am I hallucinating? No, those are definitely tears. Is she really James? Or did James threaten her to do this?
“Tadaaa” she sings through tears. “Are you proud of me yet Danni? Did you enjoy our little game?”
At this point I’m angry, confused and tired.
“WHY?” I scream, the tears don’t stop, instead they increase in intensity. “Why are you doing this? Why are you hurting innocent people? Why are you hurting me? I’ve only ever loved you and cared for you! Why???”
She laughs. Her laugh is fake I can tell, but she still laughs.
“Why?” She says in a mocking tone, “don’t you know why Danni? Don’t you know why your lovely girlfriend is doing this? Danni, did you not find it odd that I didn’t introduce you to my parents? Ever?”
I did find that odd, she was always reluctant on telling me who her parents where. But I didn’t mind, I loved her for her, not for her parents.... What has this got to do with anything? As I’m searching for answers, it hits me. Her dad must have been a victim of one of my attacks. And I confessed it all to her. But still, if he was a victim to an attack from me, he must have been a criminal. Why is she doing this?
“Oh, it seems like you understand” she says, still in her mocking tone. “My dad was David Jessington, you know, the drug dealer you put behind bars. I loved you Danni, I still do. But when my dad was arrested, he made me swear to make whoever did this to him pay. I tried and looked for whoever did it, but after a year I gave up. Then I met you and fell in love, I thought we could live our lives forever together. Then you had to tell me that you wanted there to be no secrets between us. You had to tell me everything you’ve ever done. Including getting my dad arrested.”
She takes a breath and wipes away her tears, then continues.
“I spent weeks fighting with myself internally, I tried to forget that I was in love with the man responsible for me not being able to see my father. I tried, but I couldn’t. Eventually I went and visited my dad. I asked him if I still had to make the one who did this to him pay, even if it was someone I loved deeply. I pleaded with him to forgive me, but he looked at me and told me that if I had the power to avenge him and didn’t, he’d disown me as a daughter and never forgive me.”
Her tears had returned and she started to stutter as she spoke.
“Danni I love you, I always will. But I swore to my dad. And if he ever finds out I let you go, he’ll kill me. At least, if I make it look like I made you pay, he’ll let you go. I don’t care if I’m arrested, I don’t care if you hate me forever. I love you Danni, and that’s why I’m doing this.”
My heart ached, I felt her pain, I felt her struggle. I wanted more than anything to just go to her and hug her, to tell her it’ll all be ok. I dropped my knife and started walking towards her. I didn’t care if she killed me, I didn’t care if the whole world was against me. I loved her and I wanted to fight for her. With every step I took towards her, my heart began to flutter. It was like I was falling in love with her again. But she kept crying, and raised her knife toward me.
“Danni stop, please stop. I don’t want to do this, I can’t let you get close to me again. Please Danni, stop.” She pleaded, but I didn’t care. I kept walking. She realised I didn’t care if I died, so she raised the knife to her neck. I stopped and stared at her eyes, her beautiful hurting eyes.
“Please Danni, I don’t want to hurt you anymore, I can’t do this anymore. Please stop.”
I run to her and as she is about to drive the knife into her neck, I hold the blade with my bare hand. Blood starts dripping from the fresh wounds, but I don’t care. I stare into her eyes and softly whisper, “I love you Angela. I always have and always will. I don’t care who your dad is, I don’t care if the whole world is on his side. I will fight for you, I would die for you. Stop this madness, let’s face the world together.”
She continues to cry and drops the knife as I lean in to kiss her. I hear sirens in the background, someone must have seen me breaking into the building and alerted the police. But I didn’t care, I was in my own world, with the other half of my heart.
What happened next was a blur, first it was the police, then it was an ambulance. Angela and I were arrested, but thanks to the witness reports by Liz and Sarah, I was released immediately. I attended Angela’s hearing and she looked happy to see me there. Her sentence wasn’t too long, less than her father’s. But I didn’t care, I promised her I’d fight with her until the end, and I meant every word.
I keep visiting her, every time I get the chance. Each visit with a new gift. Each visit with more stories to tell each other. She will be out one day, and I will always be there for her. Once she comes out, we will move away. I’m working hard, taking every shift I can, earning every penny I can.
I won’t ever hack again, I won’t ever take justice into my own hands again. Because even though I may have helped someone, I have also hurt another. And maybe they deserve it, maybe what I did was right. But I am not justice, I have no right to claim to be. I have made some mistakes in the past, and maybe James was my justice. For now though, I know what I must do, and I have my heart set on the path I have chosen.
Maybe I made the wrong decision, maybe I should have let her die and continued my vigilante run, maybe there is no place far enough for us to run where her father can’t find us. But I don’t care. My fight isn’t over, it has only just begun.
