Jayvion
The silence after my entrance was too thick, enough to choke on. My gaze swept the room-- From her friend's shocked face to Aurelia's devastated one. My heart clenched at the sight of her vulnerable state and my gaze hardened into something cold.
"My Little Writer" Three words. Three messages. They contain:
You are mine: a possession.
I am here now: a promise.
Who do I need to destroy?: a question.
I ended the call from my phone and pocketed it.
"Trevor" I called, my voice not a velvety rumble but a dark cold steel.
"Take Ms Vale to the kitchen and explain nothing"
Trevor moved like a shadow "ma'am" he said to Freya. Aurelia gave her a nod and she followed Trevor to the kitchen. We were now alone. I closed the distance in three long strides and took the old phone from the couch.
I read the chats briefly and began typing, my thumbs dancing across the keyboard with brutal efficiency. Aurelia watched, her sobs quieting into hiccups of terror.
"Wh--what are you saying to him?"
"I'm telling him that your new boyfriend is desperate and impatient. $200k in cash if he brings every copy of your pictures to a place of my choosing tonight" a muscle ticked on my jaw as I tapped the 'send' button. it was a game. I knew how to play this one perfectly. He's a petty blackmailer in desperate need of money. $200k will make him salivate and come out of his hiding place. Unless...he works for someone. The Obsidians.
I finally looked at her.
"Now tell me about the man who thinks he still owns pieces of you" my blood roared violently on my ears.
"When did he contact you exactly? Date and time" I asked, my voice cold and calculating.
"Last night. I saw the message on our way home. 1:52pm"
Last night. Immediately after the track.
"Think. Does the message feel like he was the one saying it or does it feel like he was reading a script?" I asked again, gathering my analysis.
She was silent for a long moment, thinking.
"Felix doesn't have the courage to threaten someone like that. It sounds...forced" she answered. Right, he's working for someone.
"Tell me everything. Social media handles, routines, what he loves and what he would beg to keep" my voice dropped to a whisper.
"But you will tell me, knowing I'll use the details to break him. To destroy him" I held her gaze.
Aurelia gulped and nodded. It wasn't an interrogation. It was a command.
For the next hour, I dissected her past. Not with sweet memories but the faults-- Felix's pride in his petty job, his terror of his father, his unconditional love for his family, his attachment to games, his fucking pathetic life.
With each answer, my face grew colder. My mind was already constructing a blueprint of ruining him.
"One more question" I shifted my weight.
"For the past week, have you noticed anything strange? Maybe a car following you, a stranger asking for directions or a wrong number call but you brushed it off?" I asked. That will tell me everything I need to know.
She was quiet for a while but when she gasped in realization, I knew the answer already.
"I saw a strange car in the neighborhood last week but I thought maybe it was a visitor" the Obsidians. They're stalking her, scouting her life and now they found her ex and used him to get me. Fucking smart. But not smart enough.
I stood up abruptly.
"Trevor has what he needs. We'll leave now. You will trust me. You will sleep. When you wake, it will be over" it was a command. She has to obey. I turned to leave.
"Jayv.. will he...will the pictures..?" She trailed.
I looked over my shoulder, the coldness melting for a fraction of seconds.
"No Little Writer. The pages are about to be burned"
Trevor walked out of the kitchen with a glaring Freya behind him. That friend of hers was ferociously overprotective. I could see the fire in her eyes as she glared at Trevor who walked towards me with a stern expression. He looked irritated than usual.
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I took it out to see a notification from a bunch of symbols and numbers.
"Proceed with the extraction of the disturbance. Taking care of the digital assets" Vincent. Of course. Helping without being asked. Typical.
Vincent
In a dark room, I sipped coffee my eyes darting from the three monitors in front of me.
One showed encrypted traffic logs. Another, a real time feed of an alley where a nervous man in a brown jacket checked his watch-- Felix.
The third screen was the prize: the Obsidian internal server flagged: Asset: Blackwood- leverage.
I'd been given the access code by a panicked member I'd caught skimming.
I'm waiting for Jayvion's reply. His permission to erase the assets. He needs a helping hand but his pride and ego wouldn't let him admit. Typical Jayvion Carell. I drummed my fingers on the table counting to ten. I'd delete it with or without his permission.
"Liquidate the assets" three words. Cold. Professional.
My fingers danced across the keyboard in a blur. I initiated a remote wipe protocol on the server, planting a data-scrambling virus that would make the files unrecoverable even after backups.
My eyes flew to the second monitor where Trevor knocked Felix and made him unconscious before hauling him to a black van. Done.
Then back to the third screen. The progress bar hit 100%. Asset: Blackwood- leverage flashed once then disappeared from the server directory.
Erasure complete.
I picked up a secure line and dialed the Obsidian leader.
"Sir.." my voice laced with fake confusion, enough to convince him.
"We have a problem. Felix never check in. The tracker on his phone went dead three blocks away. It looks like he took the cash and ran"
I allowed myself a moment to savor the furious curses he threw on the line. A thin, bloodless smile appeared on my lips.
"Do we chase, sir?" I have no intention to.
"Forget him. We'll find another angle on Carell" he snarled.
Aurelia
I couldn't sleep. I sat on the couch with Freya cuddling me. She didn't ask any more questions and just dwelled in the suffocating silence with me. The wait was a void. Time stretched and slowed down to a crawl.
Then at 2:27am, the encrypted phone buzzed and we both jerked away, sitting upright. Freya gave me an expectant look as I opened the message.
"Erased"one word and relief washed through me in a heavy current I almost drowned.
I looked at Freya and let a sob of disbelieving relief escaped from my throat. It was done. I don't know how but it was done. The pictures are gone forever.
Freya gasped in relief and pulled me into a hug.