1 The Message 01
The phone wailed in protest as Lucy flung it mercilessly across her room, hitting the stiff bedroom wall. She clasped her trembling hands over her mouth to conceal her silent screaming. Her face was pale and drained of blood, her eyes wide in shock and terror- or something in between. Still staring at the dim glow of the phone's now-cracked surface, she shambled backwards, her legs kicking desperately against the mattress in attempt to propel herself back to the comfort of the inhospitable wall. What might have caused all this, you ask? A message, and a simple one at that.
Lucy blinked hard, stretching across her teddy-bear patterned mattress like a cat, and creased out the wrinkles in her plum-pink pyjamas. They say even the strongest men can't lift their eyelids in the morning. She patted around the mattress for her phone which, unlike the warm and fluffy blanket, was hard and icy-cold to the touch. She grabbed it, flopping back on her pillow and started replying to the piles of text messages she left unread the night before, the brightness stung her eyes. Suddenly, she had the urge to check her emails. Now she would never check her emails, not for updates on her social media, not for special offers on her favorite websites, and especially not for messaging anyone.
She wasn't sure what to expect, but sure enough, she received a message. At first glance it seemed as though it would be another 'get rich quick' scam that should've gone in her spam inbox, but after Lucy opened the email for a clearer look, her eyes grew wider than that of an owl's at night. The message read, 'tgfv211' which appears to be random gibberish- but she knew better than that. It was an encrypted word with her birth day and month, a secret code that she shared with her father; who burned in an arson three years ago. Her heart pounded furiously in her chest, "How could this be?" she almost swore under her breath. Underneath the word was a link, which she clicked with no hesitation. The light from the phone that previously stung her eyes dulled, and her screen was invaded by a black void. Letters printed in white typed itself out in a small corner of the screen, they were a set of numbers that Lucy realized were location coordinates.
Sitting with her back pressed against the wall, and the phone still patiently waiting to be picked up from the floor she threw it on, she dug her nails in her skin, painfully reminding herself this wasn't all a big nightmare. The screen was now pure white and although the coordinates were gone and collapsed-as if it never occurred, yet they were drilled in her aching head, as if beckoning her to go. She picked up her phone, limping to the bathroom to throw up.
Lucy got ready as usual, casually stating she would hang out with her friends with her slightly shaky voice; as she didn't want to drag others in this mess. She had to find out for herself if her father somehow survived, because the authorities never found his body. With the remaining of her allowance, she hailed taxis from all directions, trying to get even close to her destination.
