Those Emotionless Eyes

Jessica's point of view:

They say life is like a book, and this is probably my story.

My phone rang as I was walking back from work. Because it is the closest job to my house, I work in a small coffee shop nearby. I couldn't risk taking a job that would require me to walk alone at night for fear of being kidnapped, robbed, or even killed. We have been living in hell since the mafias took control of our society. Only those who agreed to be associated with them were given the opportunity to live normally.

Many of us were offered jobs with gangs and mobs, but we declined. My parents taught me to do good even if it means sacrificing everything. However, many people did not want to fight corruption, and some could not even if they tried. The mafias abandoned their covert operations and chose to overthrow the government.

They almost succeeded, but they were offered control alongside, if not more than, the governments of the world. Countries with more powerful mafias, such as the United States, Italy, Spain, Mexico, and Russia, were completely under their control.

Anyone who refused to work for the mafia was placed in a lower social class, while the mafias and their families were placed in the highest social class. We couldn't do anything because if we did, our income would be cut off and we would be killed.

All of this happened when I was 15 years old, about 6 years ago. I was living with my family at the time, which included my older brother, my parents, and myself. My parents were asked to join a mafia in NYC two years after the world was turned upside down because of their skills in computer science engineering, which I learned from them.

They refused, however, because their morals would not allow them to harm people or participate in illegal and inhumane events. Both of them were pursued for about a year, forcing us to relocate across the country, until they were killed when I was 18. That left my 20-year-old brother, now 23, and me alone and vulnerable.

We got through it, and our lives were returning to normal until my brother abruptly vanished from my life. I awoke one morning to find him not at home. He was 21 years old at the time, and I was 19. He was the primary source of income for both of us, so I needed to find work. I returned to New York City, where I lived in my old family home, earned a small wage at a coffee shop one block away, and began a new life.

I've been making friends with people in my neighborhood for the past two years. They all lost most of their jobs after the revolution, and the neighborhood became a 'poor' neighborhood. Despite our difficulties, we learned to support one another, and now we are like a family; we go over to each other's houses if someone cannot afford a meal that night, we help each other if bills are not paid, and we support one another as if our lives depended on it.

We were attacked most of the time by smaller gangs looking for money and power, but we had nothing to lose so we protected each other and nursed anyone who had been injured. But, to be honest, not all gangs are evil. Some of them are like Robin Hood in that they steal from the rich and give to the poor. Some of them even become our friends.

Which brings me back to where I am now; I became distracted far too easily. But, hey, you got a history lesson and backstory.

I was on my way back from my morning shift when my best friend, Sophia, called; I pulled my phone from my pocket and answered.

"hello, Jessie"

"Hello there," I said.

"Are you now free?"

"I just finished my shift; do you want me to come over?" she hummed.

"On my way," I said as I hung up the phone and got into my car. My brother's car was the last thing I saw of him before he vanished, and I never found out what happened to him. I looked everywhere but couldn't find anything.

Because I despise silence, I drove while listening to the radio. I arrived at her house and parked my car. When I knocked on the door, I was greeted by Joaqin, Sophia's boyfriend. They began dating three years ago, and she was aware that he was a member of a gang. He's like a brother to me, and he'd protect us no matter what, not that he needed to protect Sophia, because being connected to a gang member gets you off the hook.

"Hey there, kid," he said as he engulfed me in a bear hug.

"You're only a year older than me," I said as I hugged him back.

"JESSIE!" yelled Sophia from behind Joaqin as she ran towards me.

"Hey Lee," she said as she hugged me so tightly that my soul probably left my body.

"Please come in, I made pasta."

We were sitting on her couch after dinner, playing Uno, when Joaqin's phone rang. He stood up to answer the phone.

"Hello," he said as his voice faded.

I noticed his open laptop on the couch he was sitting on. I laughed, stood up, and placed the laptop on my lap.

"What are you up to?" Sophia inquired, perplexed.

"I'm just checking out this website Joaqin set up; he didn't sign in, so I'm going to get in."

"How are you going to do that without a username or password?"

"That's why I have these," I said, waving my hands and pointing to my head. "I can connect to the last time he signed in here using his IP address, or I can find a way into their system so I can browse it without an account, it's like I'm invisible," I explained to her.

"How do you know all of this? What would you use it for?"

"My father taught me what he knew, and I learned the rest; I can use it to stalk someone or to ruin someone's feed."

After a few minutes of coding and cracking into multiple systems, I realized that this was a heavily guarded website. But what can I say? It intrigued me more since it didn't even have a name on its link, hell I couldn't even copy the link, which was a first.

Suddenly I got the link to the command code that acted as a key portal to the website.

"YES!" I entered the website as an incognito device.

"don't get yourself in trouble Jessie" Sophia warned me looking up from her phone

"don't worry about me I'm invincible" she rolled her eyes at me while smiling

I began to look around the website I had just hacked into and realized there was some drama going on.

Who exactly is the imperium empire...? They ship things; do they have a relationship with Amazon or something? "

"They could be like an online store for wealthy people," Sophia joked.

"But, if they're an online store, why do they study chemicals?" Scopolamine, foxy methoxide, benzoyl fury, krokodil, and dragonfly, to name a few. They could be a medical online store," I said as I read the names of the ostensibly shipped products.

"I'm not sure, Jessie, just leave it and come eat some chips with me," she said as she tossed me a bag of chips.

I ignored her and started reading about their conflict with another online shipping company called ultores, the imperium empire seems to want some information so they can stop the ultores from stealing their shipments .so I chose to dig even deeper than I already am and find out about the other online store.

I cracked into the other store's website and started checking out their products. I found out all the information that seemed to relate to the other store.

Here's what I understood: the I.E ( imperium empire) has shipments for their customers that the ultores stole to decrease their sales and income, which to me sounds like jealous bitch behavior.

The I.E wants to learn more about the ultores in order to find a way to eliminate them. Coordinates, data frames, and IP addresses were all required. I've got you, Mr. Imperium Empire.

While Joaqin was on a critical call, he was arguing as if the person was in the room. I continued doing what I was doing for the next three minutes, and because they appear to have the same base as the I.E's website, it was easier for me.

"Holy shit...I GOT IT SOPHIA!"

"Do you have what?"

"some information about a website called Ultores that was stealing items from another website called the Imperium Empire."

"YOU DID WHAT?!" I exclaimed, turning around to see Joaqin frozen in shock.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have touched your laptop, but I promise it's fine."

"Tell me what you did, tell me everything from the beginning," he said, terrified.

I told him about the difference in tea between the two online stores. His mouth was gaping the entire time.

"you. idiot. consider yourself dead at this point," he said, burying his face in his hands.

"why..?"

"The online stores you're referring to are true mafias."

And that, my friends, is how I ended up having a heart attack.

"They are rival gangs, the imperium empire is run by the mafia king. he controls everything and anyone he wants. he is even stronger than most powerful nations combined. he doesn't care if it was an accident. he will not hesitate to kill you," he explained slowly.

"You mean..." Sophia inquired.

"Yes, you messed with Christian Gambino's Mafia empire," he admitted after those words had left his mouth.

I couldn't say anything. as if my tongue didn't exist. I made a huge mistake.

"We'll find a way out of this," Sophia tried to reassure me. It never worked.

I trespassed on his property and will pay with my life, says the most ruthless and powerful man to ever exist.

"I'm so dead," I managed to say quietly.