six

Anne was sitting in the middle of Peter and Adi on the couch. She opened her YouTube channel on her laptop.

'So this is my YouTube channel' said Anne

'Yes, we can see that…but why are you showing this to us?' asked Peter

'Just wait' she scrolled a little down then started to speak 'so a few months ago, I was invited to an award show, it was my first ever award show. I was sure that I was not gonna win the award but I was happy just to be there. Dan went there with me as my assistant and cameraman because I wanted pics and to vlog it.'

'Man, he went to an award show and didn't even tell us' sighed Peter

'He was not allowed to. I was chill but my manager didn't want him to tell anyone…I don't know why' said Anne 'so, in that award show, I was nervous because I knew that I wasn't gonna win BUT…Dan was keep telling me to have faith, whenever I was freaking out, he kept telling…" you can do this". I was in nominations…as they were about to reveal the winner, Dan said "I BELIEVE IN YOU".

I won that award…I don't what happened it was like white light white light duldudludlu! whoops!' Anne was making weird faces along with moving her hands trying to indicate a mixture of joy and shock 'But that's not important…I think the password is the date of that award show'

'Well, we can try that…it might be it' said Adi

'Yeah' added Peter

'So, when was this award show? Let me search when you got your first award' Adi moved toward Dan's laptop 

'Bro– I know the internet knows more about me than I know…but this is my first acting award' Anne gave Adi a sharp look '24 August 2022'

Adi held Dan's laptop in his hand and slowly typed

Password - _2_ _4_ _0_ _8_ _2_ _0_ _2_ _2_

He slowly looked up at Peter and Anne, both of them gave him a positive nod and focused their eyes on the screen.

Adi slowly pressed the enter button

Incorrect password

'OH COME ON' shouted Anne loudly

'Now, I am doubting…is it even a date?' asked Peter

'I don't know man' said Adi

Then he randomly started to type digits -

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4

1 0 2 9 3 8 4 7

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

'I don't think, we'll be able to find it' sighed Peter and dropped out on the couch

'Anne, can we get some water?' said Adi

'Yeah, wait a sec' said Anne and walked away

'Do you think it is about her?' asked Peter as soon as Anne left

'What do you mean?' 

'Bro, this password can be about Dan, about you, about me…my name is on the other file'

'I have no idea man' said Adi

Anne returned with two glasses of water, handing one to Adi and the other to Peter. As she sat down, she let out a sigh.

'We need a new approach' she said, staring at the laptop screen.

Adi took a sip of water. 'Or we need a hacker.'

Peter raised an eyebrow. 'Yeah, let me just call my friend from the FBI real quick.'

Anne shot him a look. 'Be serious'

'I am serious,' Peter said, grinning. 'You think Dan made this easy for us? This is the same guy who once locked his phone for two weeks because he forgot it's PIN!'

Adi chuckled. 'Those were two whole fun weeks'

'Guys, we need to focus' said Anne

Adi sighed and leaned back, his fingers hovering over the laptop keyboard. His mind was running through different possibilities—birthdays, special dates, inside jokes Dan might've used, then he slowly lifted his gaze.

It was a little dark outside and bright inside, he was looking through a window, first, he thought it was a reflection of something in the window's glass.

His brain tried to rationalize it. Maybe it's a tree? A misplaced shadow? But no—trees don't stand still like that. And shadows don't have the outline of a person. – NO.

It was not a reflection or a shadow.

Someone was standing out there. In the dark. Watching them.