Dark Explorations

I had found out that Alan’s next door neighbor worked a nightshift, always had frozen meals, and no cameras in her home. It made it the perfect place for me to hop in and quickly eat without having anyone see me. I crawled out of the television and immediately felt the wave of nausea and the loud moans of my stomach. My hair was nearly long enough to fall past my waist and my nails looked goblinoid. The first thing I did was smell my armpits. See! Still no smell. I didn’t need a shower. I wandered over to the freezer and found a microwave meal of chicken and rice. There were more exotic options, but my palette couldn’t handle anything strong and I might throw up if I did. I popped it into the microwave as the instructions stated until it was warm enough to eat.

Despite my overwhelming hunger, I was still an IPad kid and touched the living room TV and made it pull up YouTube for me to watch while I ate. I decided to rewatch for the nth time my recent favorite video. It was posted four months ago with the simple title ‘The American Girl Hacker: Die for Entertainment’ by Dark Explorations. The video opened with body cam footage and a voice over from Alan. His calm and stoic voice played as he described the events unfolding to the viewer.

“On March 7th 2023, police in Fairfax County, Virginia were alerted to the sound of multiple gunshots and screams from a closed off construction site. They arrived within a minute and discovered quite the odd sight. Two individuals dressed in clown costumes were clinging to each other. One of them was laying on the ground after being shot in the chest while the other tried to stop the bleeding.”

The video showed a blurred out scene which covered the graphic wounds while police officers attempted to help the victim while radioing for an ambulance. Both of them were in the stupidest costumes you’ll ever see. White face paint, big red lips, polka dot overalls, the one on the ground even had a red afro wig.

“On the ground was Alayna Norris, a freshman attending Georgetown. The other clown who attempted to apply first aid was Michael Buren, a freshman also attending Georgetown on a Basketball scholarship. Alayna would be taken by an ambulance to a nearby hospital as Michael would yell out “I’m Sorry”. He would be taken into a police officer’s cruiser in handcuffs as he tried to explain that he was tricked. Alayna and Michael were boyfriend and girlfriend for nearly three years, yet neither knew the other would be there. Michael claimed it was the fault of an unknown blackmailer who used the pseudonym ‘American Girl’.”

Alan went from the beginning of the case to explain how the two lovebirds ended up at such a sorry place. Both of them had received an anonymous text in January from someone claiming to have incriminating material. Michael had evidence of using PEDs which could get his scholarship revoked and banned from the NCAA. Alayna had a secret Onlyfans account which Michael and her family didn’t know about. The American Girl didn’t ask for money. They instead asked both of them for embarrassing material. Over months, they would be forced to do more and more. Every new task would be used to further blackmail the victim into new and more twisted acts. They were forced to send Nude pictures, dress in odd and embarrassing outfits in public, carry suspicious packages and drop them off at the homes of unknown people, even call a bomb threat on an elementary school from a pay phone.

The two began to crack and began to push back against the American Girl. Every time the hacker would leak a little information that could threaten each other. Alayna began to appear on small porn websites without her consent. Michael found himself in a cheating investigation by the university and narrowly avoided having to do a drug test. After two months though, the American Girl’s grip was breaking and both had refused to do any more things as she began to ask for more and more illegal schemes. The two were asked to enter the construction site from separate entrances and at exactly midnight use a gun left at the scene for them to make the site seem shot up in the morning. Neither knew of the other and when midnight struck, Alayna shot at the air first and Michael shot at her thinking he was being attacked.

After Alayna died in the hospital, Michael was charged with accidental manslaughter and the police began to investigate the American Girl. Others came out with their own testimonies of being blackmailed by a hacker known as the American Girl as the news spread. Soon there were six more known victims and a commonality was found between them. They had all attended the same high school. They also were frequently reported as bullies, but were never punished by the administration. The police began looking for anyone with a reason to hate these people. The search led them to who Alan suspected was the perpetrator. He showed her junior year high school picture as that was the best one that could be found. The girl was a petite and pale half-white half-Asian girl with braces, messy long hair, and huge glasses. She had been expelled her senior year after sneaking into Michael’s house to watch Alayna and him fuck as she filmed it. Her name was Alice Hsu.

That was me! All I wanted was to stop them from harassing me. I hated them and I would have killed them if I could. Yet I never planned to. Not at first at least. I wanted to make the video of them fucking into revenge porn, but I was caught, arrested, and expelled. So I had to resort to becoming the ‘American Girl’. I needed them to pay. They represented everything in the world which forced me into the corner. Which told me to be quiet and that I wasn’t good enough for your society. When I was in elementary, I had a chinese accent like my mom and our rich white neighborhood kids called me a Chink. By the time I could speak like the perfect American, I was already deemed a weird girl and forced to sit alone at lunch and play by myself at recess. It’s not my fault your dads didn't like foreign kids in your schools. I didn’t choose where I would attend. I didn’t choose to have a mother born in Taiwan and a dad in the Navy from Virginia. I didn’t ask for dad to always be deployed, leaving my mother who barely knew english in a city where all the white people were rich and called my mom a gold digger behind her back.

For the first time in my life, I heard every grievance I had spoken. Not by myself, but by someone on my behalf. I was afraid when I first watched this video when it came out that he would label me a psychopath and a voyeur like every other news story about me. Instead, he explained my actions. He showed other minority student’s history of receiving racial abuse from those schools. He found statements by victims of Alayna’s harassment and bullying. He showed that I wasn’t insane. Yes, I got Michael to kill her. Alayna deserves it and I hope Michael enjoyed the five years in prison he got for involuntary manslaughter. I had a reason for revenge and he showed that from the beginning until the end.

“When police three days after Alayna’s death visited the Hsu household to question Alice, her parents could only show them a letter left by Alice the night before. In the letter, she explained that she was done living. She hated how people treated her. She hated how every sensory experience left her sick. She would throw herself from the 14th Street Bridges according to the letter. Her body was never found and her devices and accounts had been wiped completely, preventing any evidence that she was responsible for the American Girl Hacking.”

I was listed as dead by everyone. My parents gave up searching for me, but maintained my innocence. They’re still alive probably. I don’t want to see them though. When I first met Alan ninety-six hours ago, I hoped he might have recognized me. He could meet his own video subject. Hell, after seeing the video I learned how to manipulate the algorithm just for that video. It was a thank you of sorts. He didn’t recognize me though. I had changed a lot in two years; my hair was longer, I was skinnier, the braces were gone. He shuddered when he saw me, but he was still as kind as I imagined. I wish I could tell him. Maybe he would be as fascinated with me as he was with Sofia. He could ask me questions about my life and my crimes. I’m scared though, he doesn’t seem to think of Sofia as a friend. I don’t want him to think of me as just a criminal or a subject to study. I want to be friends.

When the video finished, I managed to eat most of the chicken and rice. I tossed the trash and reentered through the television into the digital realm. The first thing I noticed was a single missed message. I opened it and found Morgan again.

Morgan: did you eat

Alice: Yes.

I had my mandatory hour of physical existence time and I was already so happy to be back into my electronic file.

Morgan: good

Morgan: do you think alan is a flight risk

I had to do a double take as I saw Morgan send the second message. She wasn’t a frequent texter and the question confused me for a moment. Once I realized she was asking if he might run away, I felt I had the confidence to answer.

Alice: I don’t think so. He’s adjusted well to Sofia and I being there

Morgan: remain vigilant

This confused me. Did she mean Roxane and Victoria? I wasn’t aware of them being active recently and usually I’m the first to hear the report.

Alice: What ',:-|

Morgan: hes smart

Morgan: make sure hes not tricking or seducing you

I couldn’t physically recoil in digital space, but I did my best to try when reading that message.

Alice: Okay but he's not like that

I was beginning to type that I wouldn’t be seduced by him but caught myself. I haven’t been thinking of my fascination with him as a crush. I’ve learned it's best not to make up those fantasies which couldn’t possibly exist. The thought of Alan sweeping me into his arms and with his soft and stoic voice asking if I would join him for the night alone, crossed my mind. I wasn’t above watching him while he was naked or while he masturbated. I had to admit I had taken the time to pleasure myself on occasions at the sight. I was still a woman even if only electronically. Suddenly I wasn’t so confident that I could survive being seduced. This was assuming he could look at me in the first place. Morgan responded before I could text any more reassurances.

Morgan: hes still a guy and will act like one

Morgan: stay on your guard

I decided to not respond. She knew I saw it and maybe that was enough. I found myself lingering on the thought though. The gentlemen Alan showing up to save me from all those bullies. He was bigger than me and could do what I couldn’t. He could shield me. Fight for me. Kill for me. Dig the graves so the bodies could never be found. The idea of Alan strangling Alayna would have been so hot that I felt my electricity sparking in heat. She would scratch at him and cry, but Alan was strong enough to press on as the oxygen left her body. He could maybe even force his thick dick into her panicking pussy. She would cry and beg for forgiveness as I stood over her and smiled as she knew I let this happen. This is what bitches like her deserved and her slutty body was Alan’s reward for finally seeing me while none of them could. I’m sure Alayna wouldn’t mind with how ready she was to point that camera at her naked body for the internet, my domain.