Siren's POV:
"I'm here!," I unlocked the door and was hit by three little teddy bears. Liam, Mason and Aaron, my three brothers stood in front of me, giving me their puppy dog eyes.
"Where's my chocolate?" Liam smiled at me, showing his adorable dimples.
"And mine," The twins Aaron and Mason said at the same time. These two love creeping me out for fun. I get twin telepathy but speaking the same exact words everytime is a bit creepy.
Here, I gave them their chocolates and they bolted away. Greedy little brats. I smiled as I walked further in and plopped down on the makeshift dinner table.
"Did you all eat?" I asked them as I looked at the clock, it was currently 10.30 in the night.
"No, we were waiting for you," Aria told me as she kept her phone away.
I sighed before hitting her head," How many times do I have to tell you to eat. You can't wait so late to have your dinner."
"Oh yeah? When was the last meal you had?" She raised her eyes, waiting expectantly.
"It doesn't matter. You have to take care of your siblings too. You're older but they need to eat and you all need to be asleep right now," I scolded her as I walked to the kitchen.
"Ari made us supper. Cup ramen," Aaron chipped in, his face half covered in chocolate.
"What happened Mason, why aren't you talking?" I asked him as he sat quietly.
"Just tired," He mumbled as he rubbed his eyes.
"It's fine. We have our last doctor's appointment day after tomorrow. Then we can have your surgery and you'll be fine," I promised.
"So soon?" Aria asked me.
"It's been a month already," I sighed as the kids set the dinner table while I reheated the food.
She snatched my hand, pulling me aside.
"Where'd you get the money, unnie?" She looked at me skeptically.
"I got a job," I stared straight right at her.
I've never been a convincing enough liar, but as long as you keep close to the truth, it's easier to lie. So that's what I do.
"What kind of job pays you half a million dollars?" Her brown eyes were filled with worry as she looked lost," And don't lie to me, you promised you'd never lie."
With how much burden I've put on her, it's easy to forget that she's not even eighteen yet.
"I'll tell you, one day. Just know that I like it," I gave her my most reassuring smile I could muster.
I tucked the boys in after dinner and tip toed to my room to see Aria knocked out cold before walking to the door. I gave one last look to the shabby two room appartment that had to be smaller than my former closet.
My eyes flicked to the clock, it read 11.15. I had to rush. I ran down the stairs and out the building before running a mile to the location I was supposed to meet the mexican.
A few seconds later, a car stopped in front of me and I got in the backseat after checking the scratch, exactly 5 cm away from the door.
I snatched the laptop from the bald-headed buff, Roman, before I turned it up. He pulled out a bag of pop corn from his bag and started munching on it.
"You sure you can do this, shawtie?" Max asked from the drivers seat as I put on the blonde wig and the black contacts, hiding my blue eyes. I did my makeup to the point, I was unrecognisable. People underestimate the power of this shit way too much. It can make you like a whole new person, if done correctly.
I hid all my visible moles and birthmarks with concealer before putting fake ones. One below my belly botton, another on my shoulder, one more behind my ear.
Why? Because moles and birthmarks can be huge giveaways to someone's identity in this...field of work? Business? Ugh, what have I gotten myself into? I chided myself.
Even if we are not going to be showing our faces, our birthmarks are still visible, if you replace your real ones with fake, even the video footages won't help you find our real identities.
"Don't panic, you just have to go in there, crack the passcodes, transfer the data and come back." Max told me, all business.
"Oh please, I could have done that," Roman scoffed, sneering at me. I get the impression that this man doesn't like me, but I can't be sure.
"Please, bitch, you couldn't tell morse code from binary code," I rolled my eyes at him.
He chucks a few popcorn at me and I raised a brow at him before popping one in my mouth.
As we stopped in front of the office building, my heart thudded as I realised what I was about to do. I was about to hack into a system illegally. Why? For money. And that's all I knew. That's all I wanted to know. The only information I had was someone was going to pay me more than half a million dollars to hack into someone else's database and steal some documents.
I'm a computer science major with a knack for coding. I've been coding since I was eleven, started hacking after watching Avengers. The first organisation I hacked was the Pentagon, at seventeen. My inspiration- Tony Stark. You could say that Tony Stark was my role model until I discovered the Marvel's Universe didn't exist in real life. I have successfully hacked into the Pentagon, the CIA, the NIS before discovering the dark side of web- syndicates, websites recruiting assassins and what not- but never in my life did I think, I'd ever be actually earning money doing this.
Max was a classmate at my college, a tall blonde with a cute smile. He seemed like your average boy next door. When he offered me this job, the first thought that came to my mind was how? How did he know? His answer- He could always tell the rookies from the prodigies. When I asked him about who he was working for, he told me the less I knew, the better. I knew something was off about this man.
After hearing the price, I knew what I was about to do was shady as hell, as in, it could cost me my life. But desperate times call for desperate measures. All I needed to know was my family would not be involved in this. One time, I promised myself. One time and I won't be seeing these people again.
I shook my head, hacking into the security system to turn the cameras on loop.
Walking in with Max, I realised that this place was an art gallery. Warm colours painted the walls with the high ceilings covered in chandeliers. People dressed in their finest clothing were spread across the room. Pieces of art that looked like they were drawn by four year olds lined up the wall. Some of them straight up looked like canvases covered in puke. Did I mention I have no taste in art? We walked towards a secluded area, I took a step back when I saw a dead end but Max kept walking.
Wow, I'm really committing a felony, stealing someone else's data.
Though it's nothing to be proud of, I felt a strange rush of adrenaline run through my views, making me feel a thrill I've never felt before.
"Ooh, is it one of those doors that open when you press a specific spot in the wall?" I asked, curious donning my gloves as did Max.
"Kind of," he said as he made no move to touch the wall but pulled out a measuring tape,"Except if you push even a millimeter away from the exact spot, you get an electric shock that will have you grinding on the devil's lap harder than Lil Nas cause let's be honest, I'm not going to heaven."
"I won't exactly mind that," I winked at him before holding one side of the tape.
He raised his brows, a smirk taking over his face before pressing the spot, revealing a panel.
I carefully connected my laptop to the passcode panel. The code appeared on my screen, it was a playfair cipher, followed by a hill cipher. I cracked through it until the codes became increasingly difficult with the last one resembling the Pentagon's firewall.
"Come on, quick. We don't have time. Fifteen minutes is all we have," Max reminded me.
After two minute and twelve seconds, we were granted access to the room. The room resembled an office with a I walked in first and moved to the computer, hacking into it before copying the data to my laptop.
"Get out of there, now," Roman shouted into the earpiece as the data was being transferred.
The print read 95℅. Not now, it's way too close. Please, just a bit more. I was sweating profusely.
"Quick, quick," Max commanded as he stood by the open entrance.
"Just a second, just a second," I mumbled as I watched it turn to 98℅. My heartbeat fastened, threatening to burst out. Sweat dripped down my back as each second felt like an hour. Every second we spent here was taking us one step closer to danger. An unknown monster I didn't know.
"I don't have a second, Siren." Max glared at me.
"It's done," I pulled my cord and laptop, shooting one last glace to the room, making sure we didn't leave any evidence.
We quietly walked out of the room and into the art exhibit, removing our gloves just a second before security burst in. I turned the camera off loop on Max's phone as they entered the area.
We quickly walked out of the establishment, Max behind me. I bumped head first into someone as I was hurrying out. I took a step back before looking up to see a pair of green eyes, black hair slicked back. He was staring at me, making my breath hitch. He gave me a once over, making me shiver.
Man, he's hot.
"Careful," He told me as he walked around me and into the building, glancing at Max.
We shot each other a look before walking to the car.
"That man was-" Max started.
"I don't need to know," I told him.
"Okay, just turn left," He guided me, his hand on my back.
"But the car-" he cut me off.
"Just keep moving and laugh," he gave me a sweet smile and I laughed as he instructed, not bothering to ask questions.
Cold wind whipped through my hair, the chilly night making me shiver. The street lights were throwing minimal light as very few pedestrians walked down the sidewalk. I noticed three shadows following us as we walked on the sidewalk. We were moving to a secluded area. The three men were closing in, until one flushed his gun. I looked at Max, panicked but he gave me a reassuring squeeze as we turned to an ally.
Max turned around and pushed me behind him before he uttered, "Anything wrong, gentlemen?"
"A lot," The men charged at him as he got ready to fight.
Three against one, kind of unfair.
One of the men backed me into the dead end and grabbed my hair. I scoffed before grabbing his hand and twisting it. His shock was clear. Using it, I kicked the back of his knee before elbowing his neck to render him unconscious but he grabbed it last minute, pulling me in front of him. He threw a punch but I ducked at the right time. He was a lot stronger than me but a lot slower.
In my quest to be badass bitch, I'd learnt how to fight and it was coming in handy today.
But before I could attack him, Max pointed a gun at his head. I looked behind him to see the other two man unconscious. Fuck, this man is shady as hell. At the opening was the car we came in.
"Get in the car," Max ordered me and I rushed in. But not fast enough cause I could hear a gunshot, I flinched but didn't turn around as my heartbeat skyrocketed, threading to jump out of my rib cage. For me, the bullet might as well have hit the wall.
Don't think. Don't think.
He walked in and I unconsciously moved away from him. He raised a brow but didn't comment.
"When will I get the money?" I asked him as I removed the makeup.
"As soon as this," he pointed to the flash drive, "reaches it's owner."
"Okay, I can work with that."
°°°°°°°°°°
Dec 19, 2021
"Tomorrow is your last class of the semester, you'll have your last chance to clear all doubts and ask your queries. I'm pretty sure I don't have to remind you again, your exams start two weeks later. So focus on your studies. I wish you all the best," Ms. Cathy announced before dismissing the class.
This is it. One more exam and I'll have my degree. While it wasn't my dream to be a cyber security analyst, it would bring some good money. A salary of 80-90,000 dollars is no joke. Especially in a family of five.
My biggest worry now was to figure out a way to pay for Aria's college tuition. Even though I knew she wanted to pursue a career in art, she always tried to convince me that she wanted to go to a community college like I did and get a job, so she can help me. But she's pretty great at what she does, getting acceptances from the different colleges I sent her portfolio and transcripts to, including universities like UCLA, Rhode and Yale. However, even after getting financial aid, we would still be short on money.
We were doing fine without our parents until a month back with me working as a waitress and house cleaner. Aria helped me. Even though we were struggling to make ends meet, we weren't broke. We had a shabby appartment, food on the table everyday and clothes on our back. I figured we'd get by until I got a degree and a real job. Everything would've been fine once I got a job and Aria moved to college.
That changed when we learnt that Mason had severe Aortic Valve Stenosis, a heart complication. The surgery cost was around 200,000 but he'd be put on a wait list for 6 months which could cause his symptoms to worsen. The easiest way around? Pay half a million dollars instead.
I knew Selena was an escort in a high end club and I asked her if I could get a job. I liked singing and dancing anyway. What difference did it make if I wore a little less and then danced.
The money was good but not enough. So when the opportunity provided itself, I took the shadiest job I could think of. An illegal hacker.
I don't regret any of it. I'm even starting to enjoy my job as an exotic dancer. It's not half as bad as people claim it is.
As I pulled up to the curb of the primary school, I saw Liam sitting quietly, the twins chatting around him.
Liam was autistic and I always worried about him being bullied but the twins were always there to cheer him up.
I walked to the kids, ignoring the judgemental looks from the other moms.
According to them, I was a single teen mom lying about my kids because I was too ashamed to admit that I was a whore.
"Siren!" The kids came running and I picked Mason in my arms. He was so small and fragile, I was always worried about him hurting himself. Even as a baby, he always got sick easily.
I held Liam's hand, smiling at him before turning to Aaron.
"How was your day?," I asked the three of them as we all settled in the car. It was a beat up second hand car but it worked. The kids chatted happily about how they'd spend their holiday. I smiled at their conversation, joining in.
I dropped Liam and Aaron home with Aria before taking Mason to the hospital.
The surgery would take about 3-4 hours and Mason would have to stay in the hospital for about two to three weeks before he could go home. A month or two before full recovery.
I sat outside the operating theater, my hands clasped, my heart threatening to escape my throat. As Mason was being moved to the ICU, the doctor gave me an all clear, telling me the surgery was a success and I can see him.
Mason was lying in the bed, looking so tiny with all the equipment hooked up to him. My heart ached for him.
"Saranghae, gwiyomi. God joh-ajilkkeoya. (I love you, cutie. Get well soon)" I stroked his hair away from his face, squeezing his hand.
After staying overnight in the ICU, he was moved to a hospital room.
Dec 20, 2022
I decided to skip classes for the day. It's the last class anyway. Who cares? The following day, Aria walked into the hospital room at 2 p.m. I returned home, having lunch with the boys before getting ready to work.
I had two cleaning gigs before my shift at the club. I stopped for a second at the door, taking a deep breath in.
Everything will be fine. I reassured myself before I could break down.
As I was on my way to Ava's house, the woman I worked for, a car blocked my way, a man with glasses and a beanie walking out, his hands by his side as he walked out.
My heart rate spiked as I processed that it was Max. He slipped a piece of paper in my car before walking back.
I swerved around his car, driving straight to Ava's, all the while looking around to see if I was being followed. As I parked in the garage, I opened the piece of paper.
'Get out of this state, country if you can, asap.'
Oh fuck, fuck fuck fuck. I closed my eyes before hitting my head against the steering wheel.
What else did you think would happen, you bitch? I didn't need to get involved with this. I knew better. I already had a lot on plate. But right now, I need to get out of the city.
My brain processed the information. They had no way of knowing me. I had used someone else's laptop to hack. I don't look a smidgen like i did with all of that makeup. I never made any transactions with my bank account. It was all cash. I didn't know who employed me. But I knew better to ignore this warning. I need to get out.
How bitch? How can I leave this city without my siblings? What would they do without me? I can't leave without them and we didn't have enough money to move to another state or country. And Mason's surgery, he would need to stay in the hospital for at least 10 days. I can't move before that.
Fuck. I need money too. A lot of it.
I scoffed at the thought. Never in my life did I think I'd have to worry about money. I always saw it as an endless resource.
After Mason's surgery, I had a bank balance of a total 4,580 dollars. I'd planned to get a job and earn more but that is out of the question now. I can't share any of my information, not that I did it before. All of my information was private, no body knew my phone number, my real name or me. With the incidents of last time, I knew better. I had absolutely no friends and acquaintances. The only person who had my phone number beside Aria was Selena and the other women whose houses I cleaned.
With five people in my family, I needed at least 60-70 thousand dollars to move to another country. The visa costs, travel expenses, new utilities and so much more.
Where'd I get that obscene amount of money?
A light bulb turned on in my head as I pressed on the accelerator, gunning towards Selena's house.
"I want to be an escort," I told her as soon she opened the door. I took a step back as I noticed her boobs were bigger.
I whistled at her before staring right at her boobs," Fuck, you look hot.''
"Breast augmentation," She explained as we moved to her living room.
"You have great timing, girl. I was just about to cancel my appointment," She told me she pulled me to sit on the couch.