A Peek into the Past

Alisia sat at her desk, her hands trembling slightly as she stared at David's old laptop. It had been sitting in the corner of her room for months, untouched, collecting dust, just like the memories of her brother that she had tried so hard to bury. But now, with everything that had happened—the email, the encrypted file, the chilling message—she couldn't ignore the nagging feeling that David had left her something important.

Something hidden.

With a deep breath, she reached out and opened the laptop, the hinges creaking softly as the screen lit up. It had been years since she'd used this. David had always been secretive about his work, and back then, she hadn't thought much of it. But now… now she needed answers.

The familiar login screen appeared, and Alisia hesitated. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard, but she already knew what to type. David had always been predictable when it came to his passwords. She entered the phrase, Remember the stars, and the system unlocked with a soft chime.

The desktop was cluttered with files, folders, and icons—David's digital life laid bare in front of her. She clicked through a few folders, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Photos, old documents, some coding projects… It was all normal, just fragments of the brother she had lost. For a moment, she wondered if she had been wrong to expect more.

But then her eyes caught a folder at the very bottom of the screen, labeled simply "X-Files". It wasn't something David would have left out in the open by accident. Her heart raced as she clicked on it, her fingers tapping nervously on the edge of the laptop. Inside, she found a series of encrypted files—each one requiring a password to open.

Her mind flashed back to the email. The encryption had been the same as this. If the file sent to her had used David's usual password, then maybe…

She typed Remember the stars again, and the folder opened.

What lay inside made her blood run cold.

There were dozens of documents, all meticulously organized into categories. Victims. Operations. Financial Records. Alisia's hands shook as she scrolled through the list, her mind struggling to comprehend the sheer volume of information David had compiled. This wasn't just any gang—it was a powerful, far-reaching criminal organization with ties to everything: drug trafficking, human trafficking, political corruption, assassinations.

She opened the first document, her eyes scanning the screen quickly, barely able to keep up with the flow of horror that poured from the text.

Victim 23B: Male, 34, found dead after witnessing the killing of political candidate R. Devereux. Witness was placed under protection but was found two days later, his body mutilated and discarded.

Victim 12C: Female, 19, survived an attack during a raid by the gang but was silenced before testimony could be given. Incident ruled as an "accident" in police reports.

Alisia's hands flew to her mouth, her breath catching in her throat. Each file told a similar story—witnesses who had seen too much, innocents who had been caught in the gang's crossfire, all silenced before they could bring the criminals to justice. The gang had infiltrated every level of authority—police, courts, even government.

No one had been able to stop them.

Her fingers scrolled faster, each new file more damning than the last. There were spreadsheets detailing bribes to high-ranking officials, transactions moving millions through offshore accounts, and names of people who had mysteriously disappeared, never to be seen again. Each one tied back to the same organization. David had found all of this, had dug deep into the rot that lay at the heart of the city, and somehow, no one had known.

Or maybe they had.

The thought struck her like a punch to the gut. David had been investigating this gang for who knows how long. Was it possible that they had found out? Had his death been connected to this?

She clenched her fists, her knuckles turning white as her mind raced. The more she read, the more certain she became that David's death had not been an accident. The gang had killed him. They had to have. It all made too much sense—David had uncovered something they couldn't let the world see, and they had silenced him the same way they had silenced everyone else.

But there was no proof.

Alisia's eyes darted across the screen, her heart pounding louder with every second. David's files were filled with horrifying details—names, dates, locations—but nowhere could she find a direct link, anything that would definitively prove that the gang had killed him. It was as if every piece of evidence had been wiped clean, leaving behind only the wreckage of what had once been.

The victims' names blurred together as Alisia kept scrolling. Each story, each horrific incident, gnawed at her mind. Some were listed as suicides. Others as freak accidents. But there were patterns. Patterns she couldn't ignore.

She stumbled upon another file, larger than the others, and hesitated before opening it.

Inside was a map—a sprawling web of connections between politicians, law enforcement officials, and the gang. Alisia's blood ran cold. The gang had infiltrated so much of the system. Higher-ups in the courts were on their payroll. Police chiefs had been bribed or threatened into silence. Judges had been bought off to dismiss cases that got too close to the truth. There was no way to fight back.

And worse, the few survivors who had come forward, the ones brave enough to speak, had all been eliminated before their voices could make a difference.

Her mind raced. If David had been on their radar, it wouldn't have taken long for them to silence him too. She swallowed hard, trying to steady her breath. The weight of what she was uncovering pressed down on her like a suffocating fog. How had David carried this burden alone? How had he been brave enough to face this?

Her stomach twisted with fear. The gang was powerful. They had resources beyond anything she could imagine, and now, they knew who she was. The email wasn't a warning—it was a promise. They were watching. They were always watching.

But why send her the file? Why now?

She closed the laptop, her hands trembling. This was bigger than her. Bigger than anything she could handle alone. Alisia sat back in her chair, her heart racing. She had found the truth—or at least part of it. But now that she knew, what could she possibly do with it? How could she fight against something so massive, so deeply embedded in the system?

The room felt colder, the silence more oppressive. Alisia leaned forward, resting her head in her hands. David had left her a trail to follow, but it was a trail lined with danger, corruption, and blood.

As she sat there in the dim light, one thing became clear.

Her brother hadn't died by accident.

And now, it was her turn to finish what he had started.