Page 6 of Unlocking Ruin

Please call me.

Rylan:

I’m gonna be okay. I fixed it.

The problem is that the founding families don’t accept apologies.

Bre8kMe:

I thought you said you fucked it up?

Rylan:

I did. It was the only way to fix what Frank had broken.

Bre8kMe:

Your stepdad?

I nod, then type it out. I’ve never told anyone who Frank made me into, but I’m not harboring this ghost in my new life.

Rylan:

I’ve been hacking for him for years. I got tired of it.

He starts typing, but I send one last text message.

Rylan:

Thanks for always listening.

I pull out the SIM card and snap it in half. Dropping my phone, I stomp on it. Walking to campus, I toss the pieces of the SIM card into the bushes.

“It’s almost done,” I mutter. “I’m almost free.”

The campus is dead, just like Rylan Eckelson is now. Every student is out partying. The only sound is of the whispering cool breeze sifting through the massive oak trees that line the sidewalk to the library. Glancing up, I look ahead, tracing my eyes up to the branch where I know the camera is.

This is my only fault. I should have hacked the school’s camera system and shut it down. Erased me. But I couldn’t expend more of myself. Hacking BANKS Corp was hard enough, so I focused on the biggest threat, not campus security.

You could have asked Bre8kMe to help you.

And get him involved? No.

I weave off the sidewalk, trying to escape every watchful eye. The fabric of my hoodie wraps around my ears as I try to cover myself.

I should be drunk, with streamers in my hair, a hot body grinding behind me as I dance the last night of freedom away.

Did I mention it was college graduation tonight? What a parting gift from Frank and my mom.

Welcome to the real world, Rylan.

How did I decide to enter this next phase of my life? Committing multiple crimes.

Kind of.

Guilty by association—and my own actions.

Seriously, never let me defend myself in court.