down at Arwen’s watch as the minutes ticked by. When we had only five minutes left, I clenched my fists. I was so tempted to voice the question playing over and over in my mind, aloud— Will he come? —but I spared Arwen my nervous discourse. She already seemed tense enough. Her breathing was uneven.
Then, with barely two minutes left, we saw him. Jude Webb stumbled across the sand toward us. He wore the same clothes as when he’d left us, though he was looking far more disheveled. Tufts of hair had come loose from his ponytail and spiked out at odd angles. He looked pale and exhausted.
Arwen stepped out of the bushes and transported herself to him quickly before vanishing them both back. We each grabbed one of his arms and pulled him further into the shrubbery.
In spite of my nerves, I couldn’t help but smirk as Jude looked from me to Arwen. He had wanted a date. Well, he had gotten a double date. Just not quite the type he would have expected.
“So, were you successful?” Arwen asked.
He nodded tiredly. He held out the thumb drive. I reached out and took it from him. Pulling out Arwen’s laptop, I switched it on and inserted the thumb drive. I hurriedly navigated to the files, barely breathing as I clicked on the first one. This time something different happened. A window popped up, but the message it flashed at me was certainly not what I had been expecting.
“Forced entry. File annulled.”
“What does that mean?” Arwen murmured behind me as she looked over my shoulder.
I quickly moved to the next file and tried it. Exactly the same window and message popped up. I worked my way down and tried to open five more. The same thing happened with each.
We both whirled on Jude.
“I thought you said that you were successful?” Arwen accused him.
“Let him speak,” I said.
As Arwen removed her spell, Jude gasped, “I did open them!” He clutched his throat, rubbing his Adam’s apple. “As you can see from the message, it was forced entry. I made them open, but they were encrypted with such a method that there was no way to do it without the files being destroyed. I did a batch operation and didn’t realize they would self-destruct until they already had… except one,” he added. “Go through them. It’s a file near the bottom of the list. That was the only one that wasn’t corrupted and that I managed to successfully crack open. Seems that whoever encrypted these forgot to apply the same fatal setting to that one.”
My eyes returned to the screen. I scrolled to the bottom of the file list and began frantically clicking on one after the other.
I kept receiving more “annulled” messages, until finally one of the files—about seven from the bottom—opened up in my browser.
My eyes widened as I found myself staring at a stream of black text.
“Um, Grace,” Arwen said, as Jude moved to scamper away again. She stunned him, causing him to fall to the ground with a yelp. “We need to decide what to do with this guy. Should I let him go?”
“I swear that I did my best,” Jude growled through gritted teeth. “I had no way of knowing that they were encrypted to self-destruct. There is no more that I could have done, or anyone could have done.” He let out a low groan. “Ugh. I’ve been up all night, dammit. Just let me go!”
I supposed that it was possible that Jude had corrupted the files on purpose and taken whatever information they might’ve contained for his own purposes. I sensed truth in Jude’s voice, but we had no way of knowing. He could simply be a good actor. At least we had one file.
I nodded toward Arwen. “Yeah, let him go.”
She relinquished her charm over his limbs. He raced away with barely a backward glance. Arwen moved to me and gripped my shoulder. The bushes surrounding us disappeared.
* * *
T he witch made us reappear in her living room. We sank down on a sofa next to each other where, finally, I could start reading without disturbance.
“October
Then, with barely two minutes left, we saw him. Jude Webb stumbled across the sand toward us. He wore the same clothes as when he’d left us, though he was looking far more disheveled. Tufts of hair had come loose from his ponytail and spiked out at odd angles. He looked pale and exhausted.
Arwen stepped out of the bushes and transported herself to him quickly before vanishing them both back. We each grabbed one of his arms and pulled him further into the shrubbery.
In spite of my nerves, I couldn’t help but smirk as Jude looked from me to Arwen. He had wanted a date. Well, he had gotten a double date. Just not quite the type he would have expected.
“So, were you successful?” Arwen asked.
He nodded tiredly. He held out the thumb drive. I reached out and took it from him. Pulling out Arwen’s laptop, I switched it on and inserted the thumb drive. I hurriedly navigated to the files, barely breathing as I clicked on the first one. This time something different happened. A window popped up, but the message it flashed at me was certainly not what I had been expecting.
“Forced entry. File annulled.”
“What does that mean?” Arwen murmured behind me as she looked over my shoulder.
I quickly moved to the next file and tried it. Exactly the same window and message popped up. I worked my way down and tried to open five more. The same thing happened with each.
We both whirled on Jude.
“I thought you said that you were successful?” Arwen accused him.
“Let him speak,” I said.
As Arwen removed her spell, Jude gasped, “I did open them!” He clutched his throat, rubbing his Adam’s apple. “As you can see from the message, it was forced entry. I made them open, but they were encrypted with such a method that there was no way to do it without the files being destroyed. I did a batch operation and didn’t realize they would self-destruct until they already had… except one,” he added. “Go through them. It’s a file near the bottom of the list. That was the only one that wasn’t corrupted and that I managed to successfully crack open. Seems that whoever encrypted these forgot to apply the same fatal setting to that one.”
My eyes returned to the screen. I scrolled to the bottom of the file list and began frantically clicking on one after the other.
I kept receiving more “annulled” messages, until finally one of the files—about seven from the bottom—opened up in my browser.
My eyes widened as I found myself staring at a stream of black text.
“Um, Grace,” Arwen said, as Jude moved to scamper away again. She stunned him, causing him to fall to the ground with a yelp. “We need to decide what to do with this guy. Should I let him go?”
“I swear that I did my best,” Jude growled through gritted teeth. “I had no way of knowing that they were encrypted to self-destruct. There is no more that I could have done, or anyone could have done.” He let out a low groan. “Ugh. I’ve been up all night, dammit. Just let me go!”
I supposed that it was possible that Jude had corrupted the files on purpose and taken whatever information they might’ve contained for his own purposes. I sensed truth in Jude’s voice, but we had no way of knowing. He could simply be a good actor. At least we had one file.
I nodded toward Arwen. “Yeah, let him go.”
She relinquished her charm over his limbs. He raced away with barely a backward glance. Arwen moved to me and gripped my shoulder. The bushes surrounding us disappeared.
* * *
T he witch made us reappear in her living room. We sank down on a sofa next to each other where, finally, I could start reading without disturbance.
“October