Golden Arrow

Aim

Instantly, I drop to the floor, knocking my keyboard along with me, and I start withering and moaning in pain. A couple people look over and shake their heads with pity and disgust before returning their attention to their screens. As I squeeze my stomach, hands grip me under my arms and lift me up.

"Woah, princess. Can't handle the pressure of the competition, eh?" My response is a moan and Wilson starts dragging me over to the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" A guard stands in front of our exit.

"This girl looks like a steamroller ran over her. Dropped to the floor right near me. Probably sick from the stress of the competition. " Wilson's voice drips with annoyance.

The guard is silent and I know he is inspecting me, determing what he should do.

"Seriously, dude. I did my due diligence by bringing her over. I just wanna get back to my hacking. Gotta get that dough, you know?" Just like we planned, Wilson drops me to the floor in front of the guard and walks away whistling.

"Um, mam. Can you stand?" The guard hovers awkwardly over me. I moan louder and I can sense his uneasiness.

"I'll walk the lady to the bathroom, sir." Tucker's polite and sugary voice breaks the tension.

"Do you know this woman?" The guard asks cautiously.

"No, sir, I do not. I was planning to take a restroom break and noticed the lady was in distress. I can take her to the restroom if you would like." Tucker's voice exudes trustworthiness and I can feel the guard start to relent.

Squirming and wiggling on the floor, I gag and start to dry heave. That does the trick.

"Fine. Just get her out of here."

"No problem, sir. I'll be back shortly." Tucker wraps an arm around me and the glass door thuds behind us.

As soon as we reach the bathroom, Tucker unwinds his arm and looks at me. No words pass between us, we already know what needs to happen. He gives me a nod of confidence and ducks into the bathroom. Pulling my green hat down low, I take off down the hallway, heading deep into the center of Sherwood Innovations.

Time for phase three.

Almost all of Sherwood's security is looking over the Hackathon, so I'm able to reach the main server room no problem. The blueprints of the building we'd snagged a few weeks earlier came in handy. Using Arrow to bypass the touchpad alarm on the door, I step into the room that feels like a sauna.

I tuck my phone into my bag and pull out the flash drive with my pride and joy - Golden Arrow. Engineered similarly to Arrow on my phone, Golden Arrow is next level. It is going to send a shockwave through Sherwood's entire security system, and open a gateway for LJ's virus. All of our hardwork is riding on me. If I don't connect Golden Arrow in time, Sherwood's security systems will send an alert when LJ's virus tries to get into the servers.

No pressure.

I find the main server and take a deep breath as I quickly scan all the ports. I find the one I need and reach up to plug in my drive.

"You don't belong here," A cold voice sends goosebumps along my flesh and before I have a chance to connect my Golden Arrow, my arms are yanked behind me and I feel balmy breath on my neck. My flash drive is ripped out of my grasp.

"Robin the Hood, in the flesh." Mason sneers. "Now where are your merry men? I'm sure they can't be far away."

I try to flail out of his grasp, but he pulls back on my arms tighter and my eyes water as it feels like my shoulders are going to pop out of their sockets. My next attempt is kicking backwards with my feet, but he steps back in anticipation and knees me hard in the back. I wheeze and slump forward.

"It's just The Hood," I mutter.

"As if that matters."

"Apparently it does."

Mason yanks my arms at my snarky comment and proceeds to drag me away from the control room and down the hallway. He pulls me into an office and closes the door quietly. I soon find myself with one of my arms handcuffed behind me to the leg of the office's desk. The entire wall behind me is made of glass with a perfect view of the Hackathon below. I look up to where Mason stands before me, arms crossed and lips pursed. His eyes are narrowed, analyzing me from head to toe.

I decide to speak first. "How do you know who I am?"

The response I get is a smirk. "It really wasn't that hard." I glower and Mason continues. "You didn't really think that you could steal from my father's offices without somebody noticing?"

I shrug. "I did actually."

Mason clucks his tongue. "Plus, even though your hood disguised your face, that red hair of yours is very distinctive. Coupled with the fact you used your real faces and fake names on your Hackathon tickets, it became very easy for me to do a search on you and your friends."

My face falls. I thought we'd be careful. Of course the spawn of the devil himself had to be smart.

"There is one thing I'm unsure of, though. What do you want?"

I tilt my head nonchalantly. "To win, just like everyone else here."

"Try again."

"I need the cash."

Mason chuckles. "I have no doubt about that. But I don't think that's why you are here."

"None of your business."

Mason tilts his head back and laughs giddily. "Of course it is. This is my business. This company will be mine."

"This company doesn't belong to you. It belongs to everyone your father has ever stolen from."

"I don't have time for your ridiculous accusations. If you won't tell me what I want to know, I'm sure one of your friends will."

My heart drops, but I don't let it show on my face. "Leave them out of this. They don't know anything. I'm just using them."

Mason shakes his head at me the way a disappointed parent does at a child. "More lies, Robin. What a shame it had to come to this."

The door hinges squeak shut and I'm alone with only the sound of my heavy breathing. I'm frozen for a second, my brain still trying to process what just happened. But, I shake my head like an etch a sketch, erasing everything and starting anew. I scramble around the desk as far as I can with my arm still attached by the handcuffs to the desk and look out the expansive window down at the hackathon.

I watch behind the glass in horror as bodyguards walk up to my unsuspecting friends, all who are probably full of hope right now, their minds worrying about my well-being rather than their own.

Banging on the glass, I scream in vain, trying to catch their attention.

Of course, that doesn't happen.

Instead, Nottingham walks behind oblivious LJ, grabbing his arm and jerking him up from the chair.

Wilson is next. He kicks his legs frantically, but the guard throws him over his shoulder like a kid throwing a tantrum.

Tucker is last, and having witnessed the capture of the other two, he calmly bows his head and follows the bodyguard away from the computer.

And then they're out of my sightline. Gone. Most likely forever.

What have I done?