Stalker

Chapter Forty-Eight

Sixty miles away, Jackson Clark sat in his bedroom in his mother’s flat, bored and disaffected. Fed up with the homework he was supposed to be doing and fed up with life in general. His only interest, indeed his passion, was in computer programming. He loved working with HTML, Javascript, Linux and all the other languages of the world of programming and the Internet. One day he’d make a name for himself like the founders of Facebook and Twitter. He could picture himself as the next Zuckerberg.

Jackson would be the first to admit he didn’t have friends in the real world. He’d never found the key to instigating and maintaining friendship and had more or less given up. Other fifteen-year-olds wanted to talk about girls, football and fast cars, of which he knew little and cared even less. Similarly, they failed to share his passion for coding and referred to him as the geek or the nerd. His online friends were very different. Although he’d never met them, they understood and shared his devotion and excitement in the power of coding.

With them he could be himself.

Jackson picked up his pen, wrote one more sentence in his English essay, then, closing the book, pushed it to one side. Seven-thirty; his mother wouldn’t be back for at least another hour. She always came up to check on the progress of his homework when she returned from work. She wanted him to do well, for her life had been a struggle, and was probably even duller than his. As a single parent, she had two jobs to make ends meet, serving in a shop during the day and cleaning offices at night. She knew he wanted a career in programming and had saved up to buy him a decent laptop for which he should have been grateful. But the knowledge that she’d slaved away serving disrespectful customers and cleaning up other people’s mess had taken the edge off it. He’d make it up to her one day for sure.

Seated at the small desk she’d bought for him as a child, he opened his laptop and logged in. Immediately he felt his spirits lift and the angst and tedium of the day fall away.

This was his world, where the online community he was part of were all computer geeks or nerds like himself. They talked online not only about coding – sharing their stories, tips, experiences and achievements – but also a little about their personal lives. They were a brotherhood, although some of them were female, a secret online community united in their desire to take coding to its limits. So competent were they at breaking code that they popped in and out of most secure websites as if visiting a neighbour. Yet even this was starting to bore Jackson. He knew so much that it was rare to find any new challenges or surprises.

His best pal Lee initiated a pop-up chat box and they exchanged a few messages about their days. Lee’s mother had remarried and the new baby demanded an unreasonable amount of attention so wanting to make it up to Lee (read: ingratiate himself) his stepfather had upgraded Lee’s computer and then left him alone. Their community was full of TBIAs: teenagers bribed into absence.

Having chatted with Lee, Jackson said hi to a few others he knew and then another message from Lee appeared. We’ve just lost a member, you interested? Attached was a piece of code that Jackson recognized as coming from the dark web.

Yes! he returned straightaway.

I’ll tell the group to expect you. Go in the main gates and you’ll be shown to The Charter of Secrecy where you need to sign. See you on the other side!

Thanks, man. On my way!

Jackson felt his pulse quicken as he copied and pasted the code into the browser, working on a specially adapted external drive to get around the security controls on the laptop itself. He knew such organizations existed, buried deep in the dark web; he also knew they were by invitation only, and you didn’t speak about them to anyone outside. He felt very privileged. This was where cyberspace met the real world and fantasy and reality collided. Once you were in, there was no going back and he was more than ready for the challenge.

Suddenly his computer screen filled with an interactive image of a massive iron gate, beyond which lay a Transylvanian type castle. The sound was on and he heard the gate creak open. An avatar appeared with his name on it. Cool. His excitement and anticipation increased. He began moving the avatar up the path towards the castle, flanked by barren and desolate graveyards. Dead rats, snakes and other half-gorged animals littered his path. Nothing lived here but ghouls and ghosts – the avatars of other members. Their faces matched their names: Devil, Demon, Vampire. They appeared suddenly out of nowhere from his left and right, trying to scare him into turning back. They snarled, bared their teeth and tried to halt his progress up to the huge wooden doors of the castle but he persevered. This was the test, a chance too good to miss. He might not be invited again.

Finally making it to the castle door, he pulled the bell cord and the doors creaked open. He shuddered as two poltergeists appeared: the transparent souls of dead children. Screeching, they flew in his face and he instinctively ducked out of their way. Then an arrow appeared, pointing to a crimson velvet curtain like the one surrounding, a coffin in a crematorium. As he approached, the curtains parted and he entered a small chamber. In front on the lectern, a large book lay open titled The Charter of Secrecy. He had to sign it by typing in his name. He heard applause.

‘You are now ready to complete your first challenge,’ a disembodied voice said. ‘Once complete you will be awarded your new undead identity. The price of failure is your demise. Do you understand?’

‘Yes, I understand,’ Jackson said, his voice faltering.

The room vanished and the screen filled with a scroll.

Jackson smiled to himself as his fingers flew over the keyboard and his spirits soared at the thought of what lay ahead. He’d meet the challenges head on, quickly prove himself and move up the levels to the ultimate real-life event. He could picture the praise and adoration of the other members when he met them for the first time after he’d set new records for completing the tasks. Yes, he’d impress them all right. This was his ‘calling’, his vocation. Here he was valued, in charge and his life had meaning and purpose. Without it he’d be nothing – a nobody – but in this he would excel.

Five minutes later he was in, looking through the CCTV cameras of Rumans, the biggest store in town. He watched and waited, and at closing time he saw Susie, the cashier, collect the day’s takings from the tills and take them to the safe in the back room. He zoomed in as she entered the code to the safe and took a snapshot of the screen.

All that remained now was for him to choose a day and time to break in. He’d steal a lot more than the minimum of £5000. In the meantime he’d get to know Susie. She was really pretty, sexy, and not much older than him. As she left the store he launched the software that allowed him to look through the lens of her phone, and followed her home.