Caustic (The Seraphim Network - Everyday Series Book 1)

by Yasmin Hawken

  “Stop fighting or else I’ll break your goddamn arms,” the guy growled in his ear. The sickly warmth across the side of his face just made him angrier.

  “What do you even want from me?” Xander asked between huge desperate breathes.

  “That’s for us to know and maybe you to find out,” the guy said with a dark chuckle. “That’s if you survive.”

  There was another heavy boot to the back of his knees, and with his arms pinned, there was no way to stop himself from hitting the deck. His knees screamed in pain as they hit the solid concrete of the parking lot floor. The guy he’d punched came towards him, and anger blazed in his eyes as blood ran from under his mask, dripping down his dark clothing. Xander's head snapped left as the guy smacked him hard.

  “Think you’re a big man, do you? Fucking prick,” the man snarled.

  “Calm yourself down, and get the fucking ties already,” the guy pinning him said. The snarling man moved past his peripheral vision, fumbling for something in his pockets. The rasp of a plastic zipper was followed by the slick feel of thin cable around his wrists. The plastic tie bit into his skin as the assailant viciously yanked it tight.

  Thousands of questions ran through Xander’s mind as he tried desperately to figure what he had done to get himself in this situation. Was it an attack against the Network? Had he done something? Suddenly, the world blacked out as a bag was pulled over his head.

  “Walk with us. Don’t make me hurt you,” the attacker behind him demanded. The grip on Xander’s arms tightened, and he was pulled to his feet. He’d comply for now, and hopefully, then he would survive this. Fighting had gotten him nowhere, and now he needed to know what he had done.

  With the assailant directing his movement, Xander went slowly, testing the ground before making a step, searching for anything that could potentially trip him. With his hands bound, falling was really going to hurt. Without warning, a second set of arms grappled him and took him off his feet. Obviously, they didn’t approve of his speed. A few seconds later, pain ricocheted around him as he was unceremoniously thrown onto something metal before two heavy doors were slammed. Was he in the back of a vehicle? As if answering the question, an engine started, and the world began to move around him.

  Xander found himself thinking about Keira. He’d left her with Caitlin's sister until Caitlin came home from work. What if he didn't come back from this? Did he say he loved her before he left? One thing he was certain of, he would do everything he could to see his little girl again.

  Chapter Twelve

  Venom was running down a long corridor, ocean gray walls close on either side. Door after door passed her; she didn’t need to look to know that none of them had what she needed. Glancing back over her shoulder, she saw the massive bishop chess piece that was chasing her. Every time she glanced back, it was closer than before; she couldn’t seem to get ahead. Suddenly, a door came into view, and it was different than all the others. As she got close, she reached out and grabbed the handle. A siren started...

  Venom awoke sharply from her restless night sleep by the sound of her comms. With a groan, she rolled over, the rough material of her couch scratching her bare back. Her skin was so sensitive to the feeling of anything that touched it. Sliding on her AR glasses, she saw Caitlyn’s contact and accepted the call.

  “Hey, Cait. You alright?” Venom asked groggily as she closed her eyes against the pain that shot through her head.

  “Sorry if I woke you. I was just wondering if Xander is with you?” Caitlyn asked with a note of concern. Venom’s head was so fuzzy she felt like she was wading through molasses just to concentrate on what Caitlyn was saying.

  “Uh… no. I haven’t see him in a couple of days,” Venom said as she sat up on the sofa. There was a sheen of sweat covering her and a slight tremble through her body. Was she getting sick? ‘FOCUS VENOM’ she mentally snapped. “Why, Cait? Is everything ok?”

  “Xander never came home last night. I thought that maybe he had crashed out with you or Taz… maybe even at the hotel near work. I wasn’t really that worried until Leander told me he never showed for his meeting this morning, and no one can seem to reach him,” Caitlyn explained. Venom felt apprehension stir in her gut. It was unlike Xander to play truant from work.

  “Alright, I can see why you’re worried. Have you checked with Taz?” Venom asked as she rubbed her eyes to try and clear her vision.

  “Not yet, no. Maybe they went for a boys’ night out. They’ve been talking about it for ages,” Caitlyn said with a weakness in her voice that was unlike her. Caitlyn was one of the strongest women that Venom knew, a martial arts specialist with a tough demeanor; her only weakness was her husband and daughter.

  “You know what they’re like for spontaneous drinking.” Venom grimaced as she put all her energy into getting to her feet.

  “Yeah… true. I got a call from the office last week, and they have a job for me. Xander arranged so he could babysit but is now AWOL,” Caitlyn said with a sad sigh. “I was really hoping I could actually get back to business”.

  “Well, I can babysit if you like. It’s been ages since Keira had time with her Godmother,” Venom said, excitement growing in her voice. Even feeling as shit as she did, the prospect of seeing the kid always cheered her up.

  “Ven, you know I love you. But until you kick this drug habit that you’ve acquired, then I can’t leave Keira with you,” Caitlyn said sternly.

  Venom’s excitement plummeted just like her stomach did. Was Caitlyn refusing her access to her goddaughter? She swallowed hard as she tried to find some words, something, anything, but nothing came. Instead, she sat there, mouth opening and closing.

  “Xander told me what’s going on with you. I hope you understand,” Caitlyn said, her voice softer this time.

  “But Taz is always high, and you let him look after her,” Venom said, sudden anger rolling in her voice.

  “Difference is, Taz controls his high. He’s not a comatose-vomit-everywhere-blood-coming-out-his-ears high like you. I’m sorry, Ven, it just has to be that way,” Caitlyn said matter-of-factly. Venom’s emotions flatlined; she was right.

  “Yeah… uh… yeah...I totally get it,” Venom stuttered out as she rolled her head back to try and prevent the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. “Let me know when you find Xander, alright?”

  Venom didn’t wait for any reply from Caitlyn. Instead, she ended the call and stared at the wall. Caitlyn didn’t trust her. That's when the tears started flowing down over her cheeks. She had really fucked things up. All she had wanted was to fix the mistake she’d made, and then things could have returned to normal. She even messed that up.

  Once the tears had ceased, she wiped her eyes. She could sit in her ball of self-pity, or she could get up and try to deal with her issues. She needed to fight the quickly growing fear of leaving the house before it spiraled out of control. If they were going to get her, they would find her anywhere. Using all her energy, she forced herself to her feet; even the simplest of movements was difficult right now. Her limbs ached in a way she’d never felt before, but she had to push onwards. In hindsight, offering to look after Keira was another mistake. She wouldn’t be safe with her right now.

  Heading to the kitchen, she flipped on the coffee machine and watched as it dispensed the thick tar she so sorely craved. Her shaking hand reached for the cup, the tremor strong enough that it took all her concentration to grasp hold of the mug and bring it to her lips. She didn’t understand what was causing her body's extreme reaction to her recent Nexus usage. The coffee didn’t last long, and soon she was diving in the shower then dressing herself; her personal hygiene had been sorely forgotten this week. With fresh clothes came a fresh perspective. After failing in her attempts, she had to admit defeat. She needed help, and there was one place she could find it. The TechPit.

  With how she felt, she really didn’t fancy meeting face to face, but with the importance of the information, the risk of messaging was too
high. If the SUN had managed to track her down, it meant they had competent hackers, and she couldn’t risk that they might be monitoring her. She was playing with fire here, and she needed to protect others from her mistake. What the SUN had taken was still a mystery, and they could be holding other cards.

  As Venom climbed into the car, she took a moment to check herself out in the mirror. Now she saw what Jacques had meant. Her face was gaunt, her bloodshot eyes ringed dark from the lack of sleep, and her lips were dry and cracked. She looked as ill as she felt. Venom could recite every hack she had performed in the last week in detail but couldn’t even guess how much sleep she’d had or if she’d eaten or drunk. No wonder she looked like she was dying.

  Reaching the Network's headquarters, she slid out of the car and raised the hood of her jacket. She felt the need to hide from prying eyes that may question her appearance. The usually familiar route to the TechPit felt strange today; it felt like an age since she had been here. It was crazy the difference that seven days had made. In a week, she had gone from a somewhat respected hacker who took recreational drugs to a desperate junkie. Fenric may have been the instigator, but this was all her fault. If she had put her pride to one side for a moment and asked for help, then this would have been sorted.

  Venom looked shiftily from side to side as she crossed the room to her and Vara’s desks. She needed to attract as little attention as possible while she was here. Luckily, everyone’s heads were down and focused on their own screens. Venom quietly slipped into Vara’s booth and crouched beside her, the desk hiding her body mostly from view. Vara jumped at the sudden intrusion, her brow furrowing, and questions filled her eyes.

  “Venom… is that you?” Vara said as she leaned forward, trying to push the hood off her face. Venom pulled away before Vara could expose her.

  “Yeah, it’s me. Look, I need your help. Can you get Fenric and meet me in meeting room two? Don’t tell him who asked for him,” Venom instructed. When she received a confused nod, Venom pushed herself up, and as quickly as she could, made for the meeting room. With how she left things with Fenric, she doubted he was going to willingly do her a favor. She was going to need to grovel and there was no way that was happening with an audience.

  Stepping inside the brightest room on the floor, she was forced to squint at the artificial light; god, that really hurt her eyes. She reached out and dialed the lights down, sighing in relief as the room was plunged into low light. As the tremor started to reappear in her legs, she quickly maneuvered herself into one of the chairs. Her body felt so weak, like she had a bout of the flu, but it wasn’t that. She was missing all the rest of the symptoms that came with it. The door to the office opened, and Vara walked in followed by Fenric.

  “What kinda meeting are we having here, little mouse?” Fenric asked with a slight chuckle, an air of flirtation in his voice. There was a grin on his pretty face until his eyes fell on Venom’s hooded form. “What's going on?”

  “I really need your help,” Venom said quietly, a sudden quiver in her voice. Fenric’s head cocked and his brows furrowed.

  “Ve… Venom is that you?” he asked harshly as he crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Yeah. Please sit down, I need your help,” Venom said again. All her diplomatic ability was quickly evaporating as a heavy thudding started in the back of her head.

  “Sorry, Venom, I only help out my friends. So let's re-approach the conversation we had last week,” Fenric said sternly. She wondered how many times he was going to use that statement against her. With a sigh, she removed her hood and looked directly at him. The cocky arrogance drained from his face in a second, being replaced by disbelief. Vara looked horrified.

  “Fenric, I’m sorry. What I said was horrible, and I wish I could take it back,” she said meekly. All strife appeared forgotten as Fenric quickly moved to Venom’s side and dropped himself in a chair.

  “What the hell? What have you done?” he asked as he looked over her. Concern was welling in his amber eyes. There appeared to be a moment of realization as seriousness overtook him, “Honestly now, how many of the Neep did you take this week?”

  “Eight. Nine if you include the one you gave me,” she replied honestly. If Xander and Jacques hadn’t taken the others she would have likely had all fifteen. Fenric gave a sharp intake of breath.

  “V, those things are fucking dangerous. You should only be taking like one, maybe two, a week. I thought you were dealing them to friends, else I wouldn’t have sold you so many,” Fenric said with serious concern in his voice. His thumbs rubbed her cheeks gently as his worried amber eyes stared into hers.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t be dealing them then,” Vara whispered.

  “You weren’t complaining when you needed that Sense,” Fenric responded cockily before he placed his hand on Venom’s forehead. “Well, V, you’re going to have a couple of hellish days. You’re going to have to detox from the Neep. That’s going to be a bitch. I have a couple pills that should help counteract the effects if you want them.”

  How had she not realized? When Jacques had taken the last of the pills, she had already been craving her next dose. The ill effects that she was feeling now weren’t because she was hungover or because of the lack of sleep. It was her body starting to tear itself apart in desperate need of the NeuroPep. How could she have been so stupid?

  “Using pills to quit pills? Seems a little counterproductive. I’ll just push through,” Venom said. It was going to be a tough week ahead. She had never been through it herself, but she’d seen Taz get off AngelsWake. That had been a nightmare. “Anyway, this isn’t why I called you here. I need your help, I need my friends.”

  “You know I’m always here to help… well, if I can,” Vara stuttered out quietly as a shy smile appeared on her face.

  “If it pays enough… ouch,” Fenric started before Vara stomped hard on his foot. There was a pause as the two narrowed eyes at each other. He sighed. “Sure… I’ll help. What’s the issue?”

  Venom went silent for a moment as she tried to figure out how exactly to word everything. She had always hated asking for help. Her foster family only had her for the payment they received each month and were reluctant to help in any way. That meant if she wanted something done, she had to do it herself, and that was something she carried into her adult life.

  “So, the week before last I participated in a hack competition at OwnPlace, and I broke into the SUN network. A couple days later, I had a guy turn up at Neon and put a gun to me, threatening me if I didn’t give back the information I stole,” Venom explained, wrapping her jacket tighter around herself as a cold shiver ran through her.

  “So why didn’t you give it to him?” Fenric asked. The cocky swagger had disappeared. Instead, he looked serious and ready to work. Venom could see the guilt that was swimming around his dark eyes.

  “I didn’t have it. I transferred it over, and then the rest of the night kind of became a blur when the NeuroPep kicked in.” Venom glanced at Fenric, and he completely avoided eye contact.

  “So what have you tried?” Vara asked as she summoned her gauntlet’s AR interface and started typing away. Suddenly, Venom’s comms gave a little bleep and the message icon appeared. She opened it and went silent as terror filled her.

  ::We warned you that we would take something of yours. You have two days before you’ll regret it::

  Attached to the message was a picture. The image was of Xander tied to a chair with a blindfold. Her mouth went dry, and her stomach churned just a little more than it already was. When they said they would take something of hers, she never thought it could be a person. This was her fault, all her fucking fault.

  “Venom…. Venom….. Earth to Venom.” Vara’s voice penetrated the wall of terror that paralyzed her. She snapped back to attention to find Vara at her side, the woman’s hand shaking her leg a little.

  “You alright? You kind of phased out on us,” Fenric said, still watching her with concerned eyes.

&n
bsp; “They took Xander,” Venom said in a monotone voice.

  “Who did?” Vara asked, sitting in the chair next to Venom and resting a hand on her shoulder.

  “The SUN… they said they’d take something of mine. I thought they meant data or something… but Xander… what… no.” Venom felt the tremors increasing, her hands forming fists. Anger and sadness completely absorbed her.

  “Alright. Now tell us everything that you’ve done so far so we don’t end up wasting our time,” Fenric said as he brought up the gauntlet’s interface ready to take notes. Now this was serious business.

  *****

  Xander came awake to an intense throbbing through his jaw, which was quickly joined by a whole host of other aches and pains. When he tried to move, panic surged through him. Both his hands were bound, harsh rope digging in at his wrists. When he tried to move again, he found his legs were also restrained. He was tied to a chair. Using all his willpower, he forced the panic down; he needed to stay calm and focused. Why was he here? What had he done? Working with the Network, you did many things that could cause strife with people. The question was, who was behind this? Thinking back, he remembered the jobs over the last couple of weeks, but there was nothing worthy of this.

  “Are you incapable of rational thought? Why has this man come to harm?” shouted the voice of an obviously angry man. Xander went stock still, trying to garner as much information as he could about his current predicament. With his eyes blindfolded, his ears were his only method of gathering intel.

  “Sorry sir… I… we… It was the first time we have done something like this,” stuttered another voice, much more timid than the one before. That explained why his captors had almost botched the job. Sending an inexperienced crew after a Network third tier was not a great idea. It had been a fluke and a well-placed hit to the back of the head that had been his downfall. That was his story, and he was sticking to it.