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Seong chuckled, a smirk forming on his lips that should have sent Thomas’s hairs on end. There was no innocence in that smile. “Overly simplified but yes. I find people. I find people who are connected to other people. Using little more than a face on a video or picture, I can find out everything and anything I want about that person and unearth all those nasty little secrets they try to keep hidden. I know who all of you are. I know how you ended up in that penthouse together. I know what all of your parents and guardians have done. I even know who you asked out for the eighth grade dance. Kevin and Mark, you live with an only recently re-active Clover who had been named by each of your parents as godfather. He stopped for a while because he had the two of you to focus on but he’s starting to come back now that you are older. Sean is an active Clover but he acts more as an assistant to O’Hare than anything else. Both of them keep the three of you busy with a lot of sports and you all have scholarships to the schools of your choice.”
“This is terrifying,” someone on the other end of the line said, too softly for Thomas to figure out who. “Why is this terrifying?”
Seong chuckled again. “Because you are good, honest boys. You should be scared when someone you don’t know has so many intimate details about your lives.” He paused. “But not as scared as Little Andy should be. He has been very naughty. So has Jerry and Jerry’s friends. And not because they made the fatal mistake of poaching in the Italian Ring at one of our clubs—”
“Oh, fuck,” a different person choked.
“—but because they have been breaking the Innocence Laws for years now. It’s not all Little Andy’s fault he’s done this. He’s a product of the law being broken. Much like Thomas-”
“Don’t compare me to him,” Andy spat. “We’re nothing alike! He’s just a parasite who latched onto the Clover and Finnegan like all the others, and now that the Cat killed Finnegan, he’s latching onto you! He-”
“The Cat didn’t kill Finnegan,” Thomas snarled, his knuckles going white on the bowl as rage replaced the numbness. “You fucking prick! You think I wanted to be around Finnegan? I didn’t have a choice! They used me! They hurt me! They tore me down so they could sweep the pieces of me into something they liked better! I’m a parasite? What the fuck does that make you who would have sold someone who considered you their friend for fake ID’s and an open tab? What was going to happen to me if he hadn’t been grabbed? To Mark or Kevin if I hadn’t come? Using a date rate drug paints a pretty clear picture. Were you going to keep pretending to be innocent when whoever got taken came back? Or were they going to make me disappear? Were you going to act like nothing happened when my aunts started looking for me? Were you going to console Kevin or Mark when the other disappeared and lie to Marcus’s face? Did Jerry show you where they hide people they don’t want found? Jake and Finnegan showed me! I had to help move the bodies and put them away!”
Seong was reaching for him but Thomas jerked back, his breathing coming out in short bursts between his teeth as he continued.
“Have you ever seen a dead body, Andrew,” he demanded. “Have you ever seen what happens to a man when the life leaves him? I have. More times than I ever wanted to see. I know the real meaning of dead weight. You don’t know me, Andrew McDonald, but I sure as fuck know manipulative little rats like you. I smelled it on you when you decided to play nice in front of the others. You are nothing but a backstabbing piece of shit who would have fit right in with Finnegan’s lot and I mean that in the most insulting way possible.”
“Fuck you,” Andy screeched. “You think you are a tough guy but you gave yourself away! I know the Cat killed Finnegan—”
“I killed Finn—” Thomas growled.
Seong’s hand was around his mouth before Thomas could finish the name, pressing him back into the couch and squeezing his face to keep him quiet. “Listen to me, boys,” he said, staring into Thomas’s eyes and shaking his head very slowly as Thomas’s breath shuddered and his vision blurred. “We already know what Jerry was planning. We know how Andy helped him do it. O’Hare has already been informed of the situation and I’m sure someone is on their way to collect all of you. I suggest you make Andy very easy to find. Don’t take matters into your own hands. A closet with a sturdy chair will do just fine. Then sit tight and wait. Understand?”
“Yeah,” Mark said softly. “We understand.”
“Is Thomas okay?” Danny asked, his voice surprisingly small in the phone.
Seong’s eyes seemed to search Thomas, his mouth twisting. “He’s a lot tougher than anyone thinks he is,” he said finally. “You’ll see him later. Drink water and eat carbs, it’ll help the hangovers. Good bye for now.”
Thomas shook as Seong took his hand away, feeling the shiver continue all the way to his toes. “Is that what people think?” He stared at Seong, a floating sensation starting to take hold on him. “That I wanted to be there? That I wanted Finnegan’s attention?”
There was something harsh in the way Seong sighed through his nose, setting Thomas’s phone on the table next to the couch. “Only people who are convinced that leaving is easy or the abuse isn’t happening,” he said, not looking at Thomas. “They are the worst sorts for people like us. They have no idea how one comment can send you spiraling back, even years later.”
Another chill crept into Thomas as he stared at Seong, his eyes widening. “Us?”
The color drained out of Seong’s face, everything about him going so still that Thomas was sure he had stopped breathing.
Thomas tried to keep his mouth shut. Seong obviously didn’t want to talk about it. It had been a slip. He didn’t want to talk about it. “You… too?” Fuck.
“Yeah,” he whispered, glancing at Thomas and there was something in his eyes. Pain maybe. “Yeah, me too. Mine was a bit different from yours but… the toll it takes… the effects of being groomed… the scars they leave behind, not on your skin but in your mind, on your soul… They present similarly if you know what to look for.”
Thomas swallowed thickly. “Will- you tell me about it,” he asked, his voice so small he hoped Seong didn’t hear him.
For a moment, they just looked at each other. Then Seong reached up, brushing Thomas’s bangs from his face. “Yes,” he said finally, still quiet. “I will. But first, I want you to go take a shower and change out of that ridiculous outfit. I left some sweats in the bathroom last night in case you woke up and wanted to get out of those pants. You can wear that until you get home. Once you are out, we’ll have breakfast and- and I’ll tell you about it. Okay?”
Slowly, Thomas nodded.
My Story
Seong sat opposite of Thomas at his small dining table, small dishes set between them and a bowl of soup in front of Thomas. Seong dragged starting the conversation out for as long as possible but as Thomas tentatively started to eat, he ran out of excuses.
“I was fifteen when I met Peacock. Ugh, just his name is like poison. Sarkis Peacock. Self proclaimed master of all hackers. People sometimes call me King of the Tech Nerds as a joke, but if he heard that he’d claim to be the Emperor or God or something. On some level, he does deserve his ego. He can do things most people can only dream of with a basic internet connection, a smart phone, and a little bit of time. But it’s his manipulation and charm that makes him dangerous.
“There… is something that you’ll probably come across eventually as you learn coding. It’s just called The Game. It’s a hacking challenge. Two people battle against each other to keep the other person from finding a specific file while simultaneously trying to get their file first. It requires a lot of know-how and practice to even try to play it. I was… I was addicted to The Game. I was a lonely kid who didn’t feel like I belonged anywhere and The Game and the praise I received from strangers when I won or pulled off a particularly interesting move was a… high I chased constantly. I didn’t have a computer of my own back then so I would use a cyber cafe to play. Back then I went by the username xxxPopi69 so when I was paired with someone who called themselves BigPeacock I didn’t think anything of it. Making a dick or sex joke was pretty normal back then, still is to some extent.
“That match… It wasn’t like anything I’d ever seen before. I knew he was playing with me. I could feel it as he blocked me, giving me false paths and praising me in the chat that was required for the Game when I started catching on but always crushing my attacks. He didn’t go after my file until the match was almost over and completely crushed me. It was a high I’d never had before.
“When I- I went to leave, there were men who approached me. They told me their boss wanted to talk to me. Heh, yeah, that is a face I should have made too. But this wasn’t in the Three Rings. I was completely unprepared for any sort of organized crime. I thought they worked there. I thought I was in trouble. Instead, I was taken into the alley out back and there was a man waiting for me. He called me Popi— ugh. I hate that fucking name.
