Access Denied

Reset your password…

Those are the first words Matthew saw when he tried to login in to his profile on the dating website known as Date Slate. “Um, why is it asking me to change my password?” he thought to himself. “I’ve been using this app for a year and haven’t had a problem yet. Oh well, gotta do what I gotta do, Paris is waitin’. After thinking about it for a minute Matthew finally came up with a name he thought was suitable: B0n7our95. He put the password in and was and granted access to his dating profile. When the profile came up on the screen of his laptop he saw he had a message from a young woman named Paris Moore. “Can’t wait to finally meet you in person.” the message read. “Can’t wait to meet you too.” Matthew responded. I’ll see you in 30 mins, gonna get ready.”

Matthew rose from his desk and quickly started getting dressed in excitement with a thick smile on his face that he could net get rid of even when he tried. After getting dressed Matthew left his apartment and made his way to his car. As he reached in his pocket for his keys so he could unlock the door he felt a force of pressure hit him over the head and fell across the hood of his car. Before he could get up and collect hisself he then felt a force of pressure hit him in his back and stomach repeatedly. As Michael fell to the ground he welped in pain and quickly realized that he was being assaulted by multiple figures. He counted two people at the site of four feet in front of his eyes, repeatedly kicking him in the stomach and groin, but he knew it had to be three people at the least when he became conscious of the hits that were impacting his back.

As the hits suddenly came to a pause Matthew rolled over on his back in searing agony. He looked up and saw three people wearing ski masks hovering over him and giggling at his misery. “So this is him huh?” one of the masked men asked. “Yep!” one of the others responded. “This is the million dollar man that’s gonna make us rich in sixty seconds.” As Matthew’s pain slightly began to subside he tried to muscle up the strength to speak. “Who-who…who are you?” Matthew asked in pain. “We’re you’re newest clients.” one of the masked men responded sarcastically. One of the men then pulled a gun out of his pocket and pointed it towards Matthew. At the site of the gun Matthew’s eyes widened while he breathed heavy. He was almost numb to the pain and agony he had just endured as the site of the gun being pointed at him sent thoughts of imminent death taking shape before his eyes. “Oh god, oh no, man please!” Matthew pleaded while panting heavily. “Don’t kill me, please. I’ll give you whatever you want, what is it you want, money?”

“Oh we know.” one of the masked men responded. “We’re definitely gonna get our money’s worth on this, pick ‘em up boys. Two of the men forcefully picked Matthew up while he grunted and staggered. As the men dragged him back towards his apartment Matthew’s heart raced with the fear of death. He looked around to see if he could spot anyone he could scream to for help, but there was no one around on this warm clear night. He thought about whether or not he could fight his way out, but realized he was out manned, out-gunned and physically did not have the strength to over power his captors. As the three men made it to Matthew’s door one of them reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys and forced their way inside.

When the four men enter the apartment they force Matthew down in the seat at his desk. “Aite little man.” starts the man with the gun. “We want you to login in to your bank account and wire 50,000 dollars to the account written on the note card I’m holding.” Matthew’s curiousity grew as he stared at the card that the gunman laid in front of him. “How?” he asked the gunman. “How do you know who I am and how did you know about my money?” “Well.” one of the other masked men began. “You’re the reason we know about you. See you should never go lookin’ for love on a dating website Matty boy. It surprises me how many idiots will bare their souls to random strangers on these sites.”

For a brief moment Matthew’s heavy breathing came to a halt as he realized he had been tricked. “Paris Moore.” Matthew started. “She never existed did she? You all created that fake profile to get to me, didn’t you?” As Matthew scolded them with anger the men smirked at him before the gunman finally responded. “Well my boy, she does exist. She just ain’t who you think she is. She’s a little friend of ours who we use to scout rich dummies like yourself.”

Matthew’s fear and pain had now fully been replaced by immense anger. He could but believe how foolish he had been to have trusted someone over the internet who he had never even met. His mind was now racing with questions of what could he do to save himself. He knew that his captors were probably going to kill him after he made the money transfer for them and he had no way of calling for help before he could be killed. “Oh God, what am I gonna do?” “Open your account and make the transfer, Matthew.” said the gunman while holding the gun to Matthew’s head. With his mind running in a thousand directions Matthew looked out of his apartment window in front of him and realized that one of his neighbors in the complex across the way could see him in distress and was dialing the police. Matthew also realized that his captors were unaware of the neighbor that was calling the police as they were standing behind Matthew focused on each other and joking in conversation. The only thing that Matthew could think to do in the moment was to type in the wrong password to buy himself some time before the police arrived.

As the three assailants talk among themselves behind him Matthew typed in the words “Access Denied” in his login, which then sent an audio restriction alert letting him know that his access to his account was denied. At this sound his three captors turned their attention back towards Matthew curious as to what was holding them up. “What’s the problem, Matthew?” the gunman asked. “I haven’t logged into my account by internet in a while.” Matthew responded. I can’t remember the password off the top of my head. I’m gonna have to reset it.” “Well get to it.” One of the masked men responded. Matthew then hit the “Reset your password” icon under the login to his account.

When he was connected to the make a new password section he clicked on the “new password” box and began typing the sequence of letters: I-d-i-o-+-$-g-a-l-o-r-3. With his heart beating fast he slowly moved the mouse to the complete new password icon, hesitatant to hit the button because he was sure that he would be shot after pressing the icon. Just as he was getting ready to hit the icon he heard the sound of police sirens in the distance slowly getting louder. His captors too became aware of the sirens. “What the heck is that?” the gunman asked. “It’s the cops.” one of the other masked assailants responded.”They’re closing in on us. WE GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE.” the third assailant yelled out.

With his captors distracted by the sounds of the sirens quickly closing in, Matthew quickly rose to his feet and grabbed the lamp on his desk. Before his captors we’re fully aware of his movements he swung around and hit the gunman in the head, knocking him to the floor as he dropped the gun. As the other two captors tried to get ahold of him Matthew kicked one of them in the stomach as the other grabbed him and forced him to the desk. With his hand around Matthew’s neck the captor tried to choke him out. Over powered by the masked captor’s strength, Matthew looked to his left and saw a silver pen next to his laptop. Matthew quickly grabbed the pen and with all of his strength jammed the pen into his captor stomach, just barely cutting his flesh. The captor then released him as he fell to the floor screaming in pain.

As Matthew made it to his feet the gunman had also rose to his feet with the gun in his hand. He pointed the gun at Matthew and fired at his hip, knocking him to the ground. The gunman then stood over Matthew as he quietly fell to the ground in pain. “It didn’t have to go this way Matthew.” the gunman started. “You could’ve just gave us our money and we would’ve been Audi five thousand, but a hard head makes a soft-”before the gunman could finish Matthew’s front door was forced open by a police officer who fired two shots at the chest of the gunman, killing him instantly. Three more officers followed suit holding the other two captors at gunpoint. The officers then arrested the two men and took them away.

“Access denied.” Matthew uttered with relief as the police officer who shot the gunman came to his aid. “Are you alright, son?” the officer asked. “I am now, thanks to you fellas.” “Paramedics are on the way kid.” the officer started. “We’ve been lookin for this crew for a minute. We tracked their movements to this zip code and once we got the call from your neighbor we knew it had to be them.” “My stupidity of looking for love in the digital works is what led them to me.” Matthew said humorously. “Don’t be hard on yourself, kid.” the officer replied. “Just be more careful, we’re gonna get you to a hospital.” As the paramedics arrived they loaded Matthew on a stretcher and carried him outside to the ambulance. As the ambulance began to depart from his apartment complex Matthew reflected back on his ordeal with a hint of laughter. “I guess next time a gorgeous face threatens me with a good time on the internet, I’ll say access denied.”