There is a secret world that anyone may enter, but few do. Every day, it passes people by, leaving them none the wiser. It was in this world, in the night, that Jane was in her element.

Once again, the only light in her room came from her computer screen. Once again, an extensively long manifest of people's personal information filled it.

Many assumed hacking involved rapidly pressing buttons on a keyboard while wearing a balaclava. This supposed hacker would, after typing sufficiently long enough, mutter a single "I'm in", before scurrying off to do hacker things in their secret hacker lair.

In truth, it was far more guessing people's password recovery security questions and combing through databases for personal information.

The latter was Jane's least favorite part. And yet, she had once again found herself doing that very thing.

While utilizing a search function would save her plenty of time, she had no idea what it was that she was looking for. She would need to do this by hand.

"Who puts down a pizza restaurant as their emergency number?" Jane wondered to nobody in particular.

Her toy bear, ever the partner in crime, reflected her screen from its plastic eyes.

Much like the bear, Jane's eyes were glazed over from utter boredom.

She stretched her arms overhead, sighing. It had been hours, but she still hadn't found anything. A fruitless search where she wasn't even sure if the fruit existed at all.

She pressed her thumbnail against her teeth, deep in thought.

If Beatrice had ever put someone down as an emergency contact, it would have shown on the list. There was only one emergency contact file in the Alexander High system, and it was kept secure, with only a handful of people that could access it.

Even a technologically-backwards little town like Alexander understood that personal information must be kept private.

The emergency contacts were just that, for emergencies.

In fact, all students were required to list someone down. It was school policy. A precautionary measure to absolve the school of any liability if something happened to the students.

So where was Beatrice's?

Jane double-checked the records she had already cleared, scanning for anything even vaguely pertaining to the Ruth family.

Nothing. Any personal information relating to Beatrice Ruth was missing.

More than missing, it was like a bubble of absolute nothingness surrounded her family. No social media presence. No mentions of her family anywhere in the school records. Beatrice Ruth was the only Ruth in the entire database.

Had this somehow escaped notice of the school administrators? Did they not realize that there were no records of a seventeen year old girl's family, or even her address? Was a teenage girl living on her own even legal?

Or had Beatrice somehow, miraculously, erased it all?

Jane opened the file properties of the manifest, eyes darting across the screen as she scanned it for information. Somewhere in the middle of all that data, Jane found what she had been looking for.

For the second time that night, she smiled.

The file had been modified. Not recently, not even in the past few months, but it had been altered.

A few more clicks and the file's permissions log appeared on her screen.

Asides from the principal's secretary and Jane's own hidden super-user account, there was only one other user that could or would modify the manifest. The school board's joint admin account.

This information, while a much-needed breakthrough, only further confused Jane.

The board consisted of only four members, each of which was a prominent figure in Alexander township's community. The idea that any of them even had the time to snoop through the school's files seemed absurd.

She held the bear at arms length, as if she were shaking it down for information.

"What do you think, punk?" she growled in her best imitation of Dirty Harry.

The stuffed toy exercised its constitutional right to remain silent.

Jane was only familiar with one of the members of the board, namely the school principal. She doubted he had been the one to delete Beatrice's records, since it would have been far easier to order his secretary to do it. Especially if it had been for legitimate school reasons.

All this thinking was getting her nowhere.

It was nearly morning. She had been working all night, if you could even call it working.

Through the thick fabric of her black-out curtains, she could just barely see the morning sun poke above the horizon.

Another sigh. Another stretch. The bruising on her legs was now in full bloom, deep purple splotches ringed by slightly scraped skin. It reminded her of her dream.

The image of Ryder's face, so close to hers, flashed through her mind. Her stomach twitched.

She put her head in her hands, hiding her reddened face from nobody in particular.

Even without a mirror, she knew there would be dark circles ringing her eyes. An all too common occurrence in her life recently.

Victoria would most probably make a joke about her looking like a zombie.

Jane lowered the bear, placing it gently on the keyboard. Its fluffy ears partially blocked the screen, dimming the room even further.

She should really apologize to Victoria.

Her friend deserved to know the truth about who Jane was, and what she had been doing since she had moved to Alexander township. She hoped Victoria would understand.

Head between her hands, she could see the morning sunlight through the spaces between her curtains. The beginning sounds of early commuters had already begun.

There was no more waiting. She had to confess.

Jane opened her front door with a mission.

Brow set, laptop safely tucked away, she planted one foot ahead of the other.

"Boo!" Victoria whispered from her spot next to the door.

Jane jumped, nearly missing a step. "Vicky, don't do that!"

Victoria only laughed, stepping away from the wall. Today, she wore yet another crop-top, several inches over the hem of high-waisted jeans. Her tattoo remained hidden beneath the worn fabric of her pants.

Jane wondered how she got away with violating the school dress-code so often. Maybe the teachers were as intimidated by Victoria as the students were.

"Up all night again, Frankenstein?" she asked.

Jane knew she would say that. She poked her between the ribs in a playful manner. "Yeah, lots of movies."

"Are you feeling better?"

Jane's blinked, confused. "What?"

"You know- you were sick yesterday?" Victoria raised an eyebrow.

"Oh..." Jane said, frantically trying to think of a lie to cover her tracks.

How do you explain to your only friend that you were digging through secretive, confidential files? Moreover, how do you explain to your friend that you've been lying to her since you first met?

Jane's stomach tightened with trepidation. This was her chance. She had to tell Victoria the truth.

"I-" She stopped mid-sentence as she caught sight of a burly figure in a leather jacket, staring at them from across the street. There was something unnerving in his eyes.

Victoria, curiously, followed her gaze.

"Hey, we should go," she said, noting the air of general menace surrounding the man.

Jane's gut told her something was off. "Who's that?"

The man was large in a bulky, ungraceful way, leather jacket stretched over a pair of hulking shoulders. A tattoo, too small for Jane to make out at that distance, ringed the front of his neck.

The man continued his glare, arms crossed over one-another. A passing transport-van momentarily blocked him from view of the pair.

Victoria seemed to notice something was wrong, even before Jane had fully registered it in her mind.

"Come on," Victoria said, voice low.

Jane had never heard her friend sound like that. With a voice so tight and serious, it seemed like Victoria had been replaced by someone else entirely.

She pulled Jane by the hand, leading her in the direction of the bus station. Jane had to jog to keep up with the taller girl's hurried pace.

Looking back, she saw the same man with the same glare, this time on their side of the street. He had crossed the traffic in the few seconds it took for Victoria and Jane to move further down the block.

He stood on the sidewalk, watching them as they retreated to the bus stop. With slow, menacing movements, he waved at Jane.

Something in her gut spasmed like an eel. Her heart seemed to sink in her chest.

His hand lowered to his side. An unnatural, rectangular bulge jutted out awkwardly from his jacket pocket. Jane could only imagine what it contained.

Victoria had evidently looked back as well, and she quickened her pace. The two were nearly running now, each footfall harder than the last.

A few meters to the bus stop.

The man broke his sinister calm and began striding briskly, his eyes firmly fixed on Jane.

Just a few more meters. Just a few more.

"Ah!" Victoria shouted.

Jane turned to ask her what was wrong, before realizing she had stopped walking entirely.

Victoria crouched, gripping her ankle. Her face was flushed, an expression of pain contorting her features. Behind, the man continued to approach ever closer.

Something in Jane was screaming at her, telling her to run. To leave her friend behind. She was in danger. She had to leave, immediately.

Out of the corner of her vision, a tall figure strode out from behind the bus stop, his path directly intercepting that of the approaching man.

Victoria didn't seen to pay any attention, her breathing like that of a trapped animal. Her hands were white on her knees as they squeezed as hard as they could.

"What is it?" Jane asked worriedly.

"Just my ankle," Victoria muttered under her breath.

The tall figure and the burly man seemed to be having a heated conversation. His red jacket stood in contrast to the man's darker one.

Even with the adrenaline coursing through her veins, Jane would recognize Ryder's back anywhere.

Victoria's breathing was slower now, no longer hissing between clenched teeth.

Though the man in the leather jacket was large, Ryder was larger. He looked down into the man's eyes, hands balled tightly into fists. Jane worried that a fight was about to break out.

They held that stance for a single, tense second. The stream of morning traffic provided an almost surreal backdrop to the electrically-charged air.

Much to her relief, it seemed that violence was not necessary. The man turned around, taking deliberate but unhurried steps away from Ryder and the pair of teenage girls.

Feverishly, Victoria wiped the sweat from her brow. Jane tore her eyes from the retreating man's back and loosened her grip on her friend.

"Are you okay, Vic?" she asked.

Ryder spun on his heel, and began to approach them from behind.

"Did he hurt you two?" Ryder asked once he had reached them.

His eyes glanced around Victoria's sweaty, pale appearance. One hand brushed over his hair as he scanned the both of them for any signs of injury.

The adrenaline had started to fade from Jane, and with it, any remaining energy she had left. "Somethings wrong with Vicky."

In spite of what he had just done for them, Jane's mind continued to hold Ryder with suspicion.

Why had he saved them? And moreover, what was he even doing here? His family lived on their outrageous property in the richer side of town, far from the graffiti and empty lots of Jane's neighborhood. He could not have ended up here by accident.

Ryder, gently, prodded a spot on Victoria's calf. He nodded to himself, as if confirming something.

"What- what's that? What are you doing?" Jane asked, watching him carefully.

"Sprained ankle," Ryder muttered, quietly enough that he could have been simply talking to himself.

Victoria cleared her throat several times before she was able to speak.

"Guys, I'm okay," she said hoarsely. "I'm okay!"

Ryder withdrew his hand, eyes still concerned. Jane shared his sentiment, still worried about her friend.

"You should sit down for a bit," Ryder said. "We all should."

It was only then that Jane noticed Ryder's hands had been shaking as well. He had been just as afraid of the imposing man as they were.

Victoria waved him off, faking a laugh. It sounded more like the bark of a Hyena, short and far too high-pitched.

The bus, unnoticed by the three of them, beeped loudly further up the road. Jane could see the mustached driver's face reflected in the rear-view mirror. His eyebrows were raised in impatience.

Victoria straightened, a semblance of her usual fierceness returning to her posture.

"There's seats on the bus. Come on," she said.

Ryder, however, nodded. "Yeah, lets get you to the school nurse."

Victoria didn't seem to agree with his idea, but said nothing.

Together, the three of them rushed to meet their ride.