Chapter 8: Hidden Evil
The investigation had hit a wall, and seeing my furrowed brow, Jett suggested we take a break. We headed to a nearby bar, where we gossiped about our female boss, Rued, who was on the verge of divorce due to her job. Daily exposure to illegal videos had hardened her personality, making her difficult to communicate with. I felt a chill as I realized this could be my future, increasingly unable to connect with my boyfriend, Ivan. I got drunk.
In the middle of the night, I woke up, my vision blurry. I thought I saw dark shadows behind Michael and Ledger, both emanating a similar eerie presence. The next morning, we used Michael’s fingerprints to unlock his phone and computer. His most frequently visited site was linked to a Pacific Island IP address. When we accessed it, the page was blank. Yet, given the number of visits, it was unlikely he was looking at a blank page.
Jett, who also had some computer skills, offered to try. Through network path analysis, we managed to get inside the website, which seemed to require a key, possibly a USB drive. Jett inserted a USB drive he had found in another room, and to our surprise, it worked!
We discovered a secretive religious group that believed in collecting people’s inner darkness to gain more power. Chat logs revealed that Ledger had incited Michael to kill for the first time, promising a significant boost in status. Michael, a 38-year-old programmer facing the risk of being laid off due to declining efficiency, had found his mental state temporarily enhanced by the dark energy from dating rural girls. However, he became dull and useless by the afternoon. Tempted by Ledger’s promises, Michael, following the instructions of the religious group, made Emily disappear and sent the video to Ledger.
Excited that we had cracked the case, I was handed a glass of water by Jett, just what I needed after a busy day. Without thinking, I drank it down. When I woke up, it felt as though all my happy memories had been drained away.
In the haze of my memories, the echoes of incessant quarrels with my boyfriend Ivan resound, each dispute a testament to the discord that had seeped into our lives. The frustration of my inability to grasp new concepts loomed large, a persistent shadow of failure that seemed to follow me wherever I went. And then there were the work cases, each one a relentless burden that sapped my energy, leaving me weary and drained.
As the dim light of dawn filtered through the curtains, Jett emerged once again from the depths of the sofa, his presence a familiar comfort in the midst of chaos. With a knowing look, he approached, his voice a gentle balm to the turmoil within. “You’re just overwhelmed lately,” he murmured, his words a soft echo in the quiet room. His understanding gaze seemed to pierce through the fog of fatigue, offering a semblance of clarity amidst the swirling uncertainties.
