Reborn Heart of Steel

The message from The Raven followed us throughout the night as if it was from the dead. The night was restless and full of shadows that made me think that some unidentified people were standing outside my window. When morning finally came, it was as if I had not slept at all. Chase came in early, looking very ashen and haggard. “Let us discuss,” and here the man did not raise his voice, he spoke in just a normal whisper. We went to my bedroom. The door was shut down as we whispered throughout the time. Chase’s eyes had the same look of fear in them that I was feeling. “My parents,” he started, struggling to say the words and his throat was a little tight. “I believe they are also being watched too: there has been a car parked outside our house all night; this morning my dad went to work, and the car followed him. ”

My heart raced. “Are you saying that we only got the results because something else happened?” Chase shook his head. “Alright, No. It doesn’t feel like those hasty decisions; it feels more formally or intentionally made. ” Instead, the weight of our situation finally hit us. We had been jeopardizing not only our lives but our families as well, without actually realizing what we were doing. It became suddenly as if the game that we were playing was not a game anymore suddenly became a reality. “What do we do?” I asked myself, feeling inept. Another low growl rumbled from Chase as he raked his hand through his hair in evident anger. “We can’t go to the police. We have no proof and, as far as we know, The Raven could have moles there as well. ” I simply nodded my head listening to what she had to say, aware of the bad things that Agent Harris had told me about her. “We cannot continue investigating directly anymore. This is what led us to this situation. ” For a moment, we just sat there quietly, realizing what had just happened to us. Then gradually, the idea started developing. “What if,” I asked, emphasizing each of the words, “collect information without getting there yourselves?” Realizing I was staring at the floor, Chase leaned in and looked at me quizzesically. “What do you mean?” “We have friends who like dealing with computers, right? Others work in different part-time jobs all over the city, right? What if we casually asked them to look into something, without really telling them what exactly?” Chase humphed and suddenly a flicker of hope could be seen in his eyes. “As an intelligence news service, for instance?” I agreed, getting into the whole concept of it. “That is right,” they agreed, “We had all the information required to put together, yet we never had to leave our homes. ” So our new plan was conceived. I asked my closest friends for help appealing to their sense of confidentiality by creating a cover story that we were working on a school assignment on businesses in our area. We instructed them to observe anything suspicious that they encountered, including spots and places around the warehouse region and other areas believed to host The Raven. To the technology-oriented peers, we presented it as a competition: how much data could they gather on some firms without violating the law? We provided them with businesses that we felt were owned by The Raven without the fullness of our real interest. We combined the information that came in slowly day by day and week by week. We drew a city map for it where we pointed out important locations and related seemingly unrelated incidents. Little by little, it was possible to outline some sort of pattern. “Look at this,” Chase said one afternoon, indicating on the map which was fast becoming a canvas of pins. “All these businesses have experienced ‘electrical problems’ in the past one-month though all of them are served by different companies. ” I bent down to take a closer look at the pattern. “And here,” I continued, pointing at another zone. “Three different such traffic accidents, all with delivery vehicles belonging to companies which we believe are affiliated with The Raven. ” “I think he is shifting something”, Chase spoke quietly to himself. “But what?” We had stumbled on something. I could sense this. But we realized that we couldn’t go on like this, so we had to be a bit more cautious. One wrong step meant we were in even deeper with our enemies and our loved ones. Gradually, the more we got engaged in our undercover work, the growing certainty came into my mind of close surveillance. Occasionally, I saw some unnoticeable black car or some man with some mysterious face following me. But each time I tried to turn and look directly at the source, they were no longer there. Chase noticed it too. “It’s a very delicate balancing act,” he told me one evening as we cracked our heads over fresh information . “What if The Raven notices what we are trying to do?” He didn’t have to go any further into it. We both understood what was on the line on the table. Though we were afraid, we continued to go on with the exercise. We still had our ragtag network of spies and the map that we possessed only got increasingly convoluted by day. This meant keeping the process analog to reduce the risk of individuals hacking or tracing the information provided. We still have not been able to make any significant progress for almost a whole month until one day. A friend of ours who has recently been employed at a coffee shop said that she overheard two, what she called, ‘suspicious gentlemen. ‘ ‘There was a discussion about a large reception which was coming in,” she said this vividly. “You know that phrase What goes around comes around” or “the chickens are coming home to roost.” Does that resonate with you at all? With this in place, we put more work into the process. It’s important to ensure that the schedules for ships, the control of tides and flow that we have seen, and the patterns were in harmony. Last night we slept really badly again, knowing we’d have to crack The Raven soon, and we did it we’ve got the date and probably the place of their next big attack. I stared at the map incredulously, then turned to him. “We did it.” “We actually did it. ” Chase nodded and there was a rich combination of pride and nervousness in the boy’s expression. “That’s the million-dollar question,” said Mark. “Now that we have collected this information, how do we use it?” We debated for hours. We couldn’t go to the police directly we had no idea who The Raven had on his payroll at that point. Agent Harris was still freshly shaken, and, to Reeves’ consternation, not available on the radio. But we can’t sit idle on this information also. Lives could be at stake, it was a war situation and anything could happen at any time. Thus, the plan was made and that was the final choice. To the police and a favored local reporter, we would make coded phone calls giving them enough leads to act but no more information of our interference. Just the night before Chase and I were to post our anonymous tips, we reviewed every part of the report in the comfort of my bedroom. It was nerve-wracking as we both realized that once we sent this information it cannot be retrieved back. Then, Chase asked, “Are we sure about this?” As his question, he said it in a whispering tone.

Standing there for several seconds trying to find the next words, I let a long breath out. “No,” I admitted. “But really we have no other option. We cannot afford to allow The Raven to have its way. ” Chase nodded, and put my hand in his and gave it a comforting squeeze. “Together, then?” “Together,” I agreed. My heart was beating fast as I put my fingers on the ‘Send’ button of my encrypted email. This was it, a week’s worth of covert planning. Today was the day to actually get the work done. I shut my eyes and injected the button. For a long time there was no movement. Then, the lights in my house went out, causing everyone to get out of their seats in the dark. The monitor on my computer went blank. “What the -” Chase said, and he never finished his words because suddenly a loud sound of a broken ceramic echoed in the house. From the sound of the footsteps which rang loud like thunder up the steps, it was not long before the door opened. The events told on my face and silence overwhelmed me; it was the moment I understood that all that planning was in vain. In some way or another, The Raven had a clue. He had been a step ahead of everything all the time. As my bedroom door burst open, flooding the room with harsh flashlight beams, a chillingly familiar voice cut through the chaos: As my bedroom door burst open, flooding the room with harsh flashlight beams, a chillingly familiar voice cut through the chaos: “You really thought you could defeat me ‘little bird’? Now, it is time for you to be grounded. ” The last thing I could make out before everything went blank for me was a playing card that fell on the floor the Raven looking at me with his dead, black and merciless gaze.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .