I look up from my phone with a perplexed look on my face. "What the hell? Why won't it send?"

Jonni's phone suddenly lights up and he spins around in the chair. "Look! I did it okay. I beat you both to texting the number." He holds his phone up in his hand, a large smile on his face as he displays his action for Spencer and I to see.

"Dammit, Jonni!"

Spencer heaves a sigh. "You're gonna be extra obnoxious, Kokkonen. You seem to think this is still a fun game to you. I don't know why I even dared to come in here with you two dickbags. The. dark. web. is. not. a. joke."

"Of course it's not a joke, Finnikins, but it has a fun game vibe and I'm gonna help Radimiekins to solve it! So what all have you done so far with this intricate 'game'?"

I put my hands on my hips and face him. "Well..."

"Well, what...? Feed it to me, Raddysh," Jonni remarks, folding his arms across his chest and looking at me dead in the eyes. "You know..." he begins to add on, staring at me, unblinking. "If I were gay, I must admit that your eyes would be one of the most beautiful pairs of blue eyes I've ever seen. But I'm not Fabien LeBeau-Boulet."

Fabien scoffs and rolls his eyes. "Don't make fun of my lifestyle, Jonni."

I ignore him with a heavy sigh and begin with, "Apparently, in order to understand how hard Cicada puzzles are, one only needs to look at the complexity of each clue that leads to successive parts of the main puzzle -- all of which need to be completed in order to solve the mystery. Colty told me, I'd need to understand a few items doing this, something called steganography..."

"What's steganography, sounds like the study of a type of newly discovered dinosaur or the study of someone that should be named Stefan...or Stegan?"

Tyler stands up straight and proclaims, in a scholarly tone, "I believe the word you are looking for is stegosaurus for the dinosaur, Jonni. Your Finnish-born ignorance clouds your mind from understanding the English again, I see."

Spencer slaps his forehead. "Oh boy..."

"Steganography is the practice of concealing a file, message, image, or video within another file, message, image, or video. The word steganography combines the Greek words steganos, meaning "covered, concealed, or protected", and graphein meaning "writing". Definitely NOT a dinosaur or anything to do with the name of a person, Jonni."

Jonni looks down. "Awww, dinosaurs are cool though."

"And irrelevant with this," I chuckle. "Anyway, Colty also spoke about needing to know about cryptography, have an understanding of ancient Mayan numerology and a familiarity with cyberpunk speculative fiction."

"What's cryptography? Something to do with Bigfoot, right?" Tyler questions.

Spencer shakes his head. "No...that's...cryptozoology I believe, this is something that I'm guessing has to do with the art of writing or solving codes."

"Correct," I remark. "So codes and hidden messages basically. From that, he showed me the picture of that thing I had up on the computer earlier. So, taking Colty's advice, I used a steganography software to extract a message encoded with a shift cipher--"

"What is a shift cipher, Raddy?" Fabien asks, his wide eyes sparkling in the dim light of the room.

"I was getting to that, Fabs. It's -- from what I gathered via Google, it's where each letter of the text actually corresponds to another letter. Like how scientists can decode tablet writings from the past or how we now come to understand hieroglyphics, by translating to English. So, once I decoded this, it revealed a URL where another image of a duck was posted..." I trail off as I use my phone to show them all the picture:

Tyler, Fabien, Spencer and Jonni all lean toward me to see an image of a duck.

"So, anyway, I used the steganography tools again to reveal a hidden book code of a list of two numbers separated by a colon," I continue on as they all sit or stand back up once more.

"You're speaking gibberish now," Jonni remarks. "And yes, Katzykins, I DO know that English slang word." He looks proud of himself.

Tyler rolls his eyes with a groan. "Whatever, Jonni."

"The book code led to a Reddit URL with Mayan numerals on the top of the page. Hence why I spoke about the need to understand that...or at least just have a cheat sheet, cause ain't nobody got the time to actually learn-learn that shit. When else am I gonna ever need to use that again, right?"

"Right, I suppose," Spencer grumbles.

"So, on that, I noticed that several posts by this one mysterious user seemed to consist of encoded text. This text was actually the 'book' I mentioned earlier that this book code could be used to decode. I gleaned the key from translating the Mayan numerals."

"I still don't understand, can someone translate all this to Finnish, maybe?" Jonni sighs, tapping his fingers on the desk to the side of the laptop.

The now decoded text of the anonymous Reddit user's postings revealed two images, both of which I once again used those handy steganography tools on to find hidden messages with riddles inside them."

"Geez, you've done a lot with this, Radim," Tyler remarks.

I nod. "I'm serious about challenges, Katz. And it's about time I applied my college skills. I mean, after all, my backup plan was centered around IT and computer programming. You know, if hockey didn't work out."

"So I can see..."

"The answer to these riddles were strings of digits that was a phone number in Texas. Calling the phone number led to a voicemail that I actually recorded and I still have..." I trail off as I get my cell phone out and pull up the voicemail I'd received from the number. I press the play button on the screen of my phone to play the audio.

"Very good. You have done well. There are three prime numbers associated with the original cicada image. 3301 is one of them. You will have to find the other two. Multiply all three of these numbers together and add a .com to find the next step. Good luck. Goodbye."

I put my phone back away, looking at my team's captain.

"Geez, Radim." Spencer blinks in shock.

Tyler puts his hands on his hips, looking amazed. "A technological hockey wiz you are, bud. If the Jumbotron fails during a game, we know who to call on to fix it!"

Jonni shoves himself away from the desk, spinning around in a circle. After two full 360 degree spins, he anchors his foot into the ground, halting himself and throws his hand up into the air. He rolls his head around in a sarcastic thrill as he swivels his wrist around as well. "Whoop-dee-doo."

"Carry on, please," Spencer urges.

"Looking at the metadata of the image that started it all, I thought its height and width dimensions could be the other two numbers. So I did the math and landed at a URL which had another image of a cicada. But this one had a countdown that told me when to return to the site."

"Ew, who has time and energy...or even WANTS to do the 'math'. You even human, bro?" Jonni remarks, slyly. "Hated math in Finnish, and I'm sure that I'd hate it just as much in English!"

"Jonni, shut up and let him explain. Just let him get out all the tech-excitement he has over this!" Spencer scolds, gesturing to me to continue on.

Really? You guys don't seem to even care, why should I continue on...oh, it's just so thrilling though!!

I ignore the negative thoughts that pop into my mind and continue on with, "When the countdown was over, the cicada image was replaced with strings of digits that looked like GPS coordinates. The coordinates actually led to telephone poles in countries around the world, including in Spain, Russia, America, France, Japan, and Poland. Due to geographic limitations, you know, I had to rely on other people, who were also on the Cicada 3301 trail from those parts of the world. What the locals found were physical posters with images of a cicada and a QR code."

"What's a QR code?" Tyler asks, cocking his head to one side.

"It's that two-dimensional barcode...the one the machine reads that contains information about..." I begin to explain to him, my eyes landing on the Finnish forward, who is tinkering with a pen he found on my desk. He is twirling it around in his fingers, studying it intently.

By this point, I can tell from Jonni, that he isn't paying attention anymore and is bored. "This is sounding too complex for me. All I am hearing from you is 'blah, blah, cicada, blah.' I'm getting a headache, Radim," Jonni whine, leaning back into the chair.

I roll my eyes and continue on with, "I scanned the QR code, which led to another two images, inside of which was...more hidden text, including text from the William Gibson poem Agrippa. Actually this work referenced prime numbers, so I surmised that perhaps the book code I had used on the Reddit text might reveal where to go next if I used it on the Gibson poem. It worked. And from this, I was directed to an address on the anonymous Tor network. And voila, here we are."

"And you didn't stop to think that you were getting into the dangers of the so called dark web?" Spencer inquires, half scolding me.

I shoot Spencer a sly look. "We won't get into anything super bad, but come on, not like we can back out...!" I throw a glance at the locked door just beyond where Fabien and Tyler are standing. "And I can't break down the door..."

Spencer folds his arms. "I don't like this..."

"And, not like the idiots in the computer can hold us hostage in this room forever," Jonni remarks, throwing his thumb back over his shoulder.

The webcam light flashes and white text appears on the screen, 'Who are you calling idiots, Jonni Kokkonen? We can show up at any point to your house and have fun of our own. Besides, we've already been there. Just remember, we can see and hear you, so watch what comes out of those lips. Capiche, little boy?'

Spencer shakes his head. "Quit pissing the hacker guy off, Jonni!"

Jonni chuckles. "Anyway, the text message says, 'Hi there Jonni Kokkonen, Finnish fourth line center brat! You got a lot of nerve for such a smaller than normal average hockey player, don't ya? Since you were the first fool to text this number, you're the only one who can communicate with this line. I've locked the line for only one of you to be able to text or call this number. No one else will be able to. So congrats.'"

Jonni then screws up his face and texts back, 'Who are you and what do you want with us?'

"What did you just text back to that number, Jonni?" Spencer growls. "Tell me NOW."

Jonni sends the message and glances back up, smirking at his captain. He can't stop what has been done, Jonni, you idiot. "Just asking who the bitch is?"

"Koks...you're really asking for it, aren't you?" Tyler remarks.

"I really don't like this..." Fabien mutters. "I wanna go back to my room!"

"Maybe, Katzykins..." Truth was, I just thought it was all a creepy horror game with threats. Nothing to worry about.

Jonni's phone lights up again with another text from the mysterious one-line number. He proceeds to read out the new text to us, "They call me many names, but the one I most commonly use is, 'HH'. For now, you know me as 'HH'. As for what I want, well...I shall direct you to visit the website: bythewingoftheraven2.0.onion for further directions."

I glance toward the door to see Fabien rubbing his arm nervously and muttering to himself, "I could really care less about this stuff. I don't even know why I left the comforts of my room for this madness. I'm by no means into this crazy creepy shit. I'll stick with my Disney and romantic comedies. I guess, my reasoning for coming is more-so based around seeing the handsome face of Tyler Katalin..."

Yeah, I heard that. All of that. I cock my head to one side and glance at Tyler, who is completely oblivious to Fabien's muttering. How could he NOT hear that?

"I'm gonna go to the site, Spence," Jonni comments.

"I'd stop you, but you don't listen. Do whatever you want, within reason of course!" Spencer snaps at him.

I turn away from Fabien and Tyler to look back at what Jonni is doing.

"Absolutely Finnikins!" Jonni spins around the chair and flexes his hands over the keyboard. He then proceeds to type in the website address: 'bythewingoftheraven.onion' sent to him from the phone. "Let's see here..."

At once, the screen shows a bright red screen with black text in the center in a creepy horror font that reads 'By the wing of the Raven, you shall fly or fail.' Underneath it is a medium sized picture of the black bird, standing on its two feet staring at the screen, like it is staring right into their souls.

"This is some weird ass Edgar Allan Poe shit, right here!" I remark, pointing at the screen.

Spencer shakes his head. "How would YOU know who that is?"

"Hey, believe it or not, Spence, I read," I retort back. "In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore: Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he...Quoth the Raven 'Nevermore.'"

Spencer's eyes fly wide open in shock. "Alright, touche, Radim."

I smirk at him. "I think just about anyone and everyone touches upon the poem of the 'Raven' by Edgar Allan Poe."

"That's a true statement for those of us born in the Americas, I can't speak for Jonni," Tyler remarks, gesturing to Jonni, who is scrolling down the page, finding just a blank red screen instead.

Jonni, with his eyes still glued to the screen, mumbles back, "Us Finns don't meddle with poetry. We dabble in Sauna-olgy, the important stuff."

"Good to know. I shoulda been born a Finn. My skin complexion could really use a sauna or spa or something nice and relaxing right now..." Fabien grumbles, pulling at his hair.

Jonni scrolls back up to the text and picture on my laptop. "What the hell do we do now? There's nothing else here...just this..." He folds his arms sharply across his chest with a 'hmph' noise.

I step forward and look at the page.

Behind me, I can sense and hear Fabien move to reach out and grab Tyler's hand. He murmurs a dreamy, happy sound like a warmth floods through him. And then I hear him whisper to Tyler, "You're the only one who makes me feel comfortable and calm in the worst of situations."

I spin around to look at him. He spots me and releases Tyler's hand and steps away. He then mutters to himself, "But how can I ask him out? I'd be better off asking Radim Raddysh out..."

Fabien...not interested, bro.

Tyler spins around, looking at Fabien with concern. "Everything okay, Fabs?"

Oh, thank God, Tyler's alive and able to move and feel things. But he still can't for some reason hear certain things...

Fabien nods his head. "I'm good. Now."

Tyler turns back and Fabien sighs heavily. Just ask him already, you...

I spin back around to the computer and then suddenly shout out, "Ah ha!" I guide the mouse to the picture, hovering over the creepy image of the raven. Then I click on it and instantly a black mist, similar to the kind that had come out of the computer screen earlier fogs the page, producing a white text that lasts for only a few seconds, before it is replaced by another page in the black misty background. On the page in the center, is a large map of Syracuse, New York.

"Ohhhh..." Fabien manages to squeak out, jumping up to Tyler's side, just in case.

Tyler squeezes his hand, making him gasp.

Princess... I think to myself and roll my eyes.

On the map, there is a red location marker right to the side of where the building outline for the War Memorial Arena is located. And above the map, in eerie white letters, the phrase 'Go here ASAP for further instructions' dissolve appears for a few seconds, long enough for them to read and get the memo.

Jonni spins around in the chair, doing a complete 360 degree turn. He catches himself on the edge of the desk and stares at the webcam on the top middle part of the laptop, where the circle is illuminated by the bright white light. "So you jerks want us to go to Syracuse now? How exactly do we do that?! Huh? Not like you--"

Spencer clamps a hand over his mouth, cutting him off. "And your anger is getting the best of you, Koks!"

"He's got a point though," I remark, leaning on the table toward my Mac. "How exactly are we getting out of here to there, since they 'trapped us in here with the doorlock controlling thing...' you know...?"

Spencer sighs. "True."

Jonni shouts into Spencer's hand, pointing at the screen.

A new form of words appears on the screen with the instructions: 'You can leave. But you cannot escape. You'll understand soon enough, dear boys.'

Spencer removes his hand, dropping it back down to his side.

Tyler unloops his hand from Fabien's fingers and turns around towards the door behind him. He tests out the door handle. Sure enough, it twists and the door creaks open. "I guess we're good!"

"I wonder if they have a remote control device that they are using like a key-fob for a car...but who and when did 'they' come and mess around with my door?" I speak aloud to myself. 

"Oh thank God," Fabien mutters out, "Now I can grab my skin lotion from my room. All this terror was eating into my skin." He begins to head for the door, noticing an eerie darkness just outside, in the hallway.

"Fabien, hold it," Spencer remarks. "You're not going out alone. Take Katz with you, since you and him seem to be the best of friends lately..."

"I suppose so..." Tyler mumbles. "Someone's gotta watch the skilled Frenchy."

"I'll go as well, just in case," I pipe up. "Just wanna see if there's anything odd..."

Spencer puts his hands on his hips and then states, "Fine. Grab the lotion and meet us at the front door, so we can just head to the arena and get this scavenger hunt done and over with. Capiche?"

"You got it, Spenceyyyyy," Fabien sing-songs out as he shoves the door open wider with Tyler and then snatches a hold of his hand.

I follow after them, heading into the super dark hallway. We head to the right in the direction where Fabien's room should be. Ignoring the creepiness, we turn the corner. We pass by Jonne's room and begin to head up the far side of our house.

I take notice of how spunky and unafraid Fabien is. This kind of creepy darkness should bother him. But it is not and I am guessing it is because the comforting presence of Tyler is with him. To which I roll my eyes at.

Just earlier, Spencer and Fabien had been standing in this part of the house.

We soon pass by the second entrance to the main living room and come to the end of the hallway, where his room is located in the middle, right between Spencer and Tyler's.

"You know where the lotion is?" Tyler mutters to Fabien.

"Of course I do, Katzy," Fabien replies to him. "Just wait right here. I promise I'll be okay in my room." He flutters his eyelashes at him and walk up to his door. Again, Tyler misses this flirtatious move.

Tyler just lifts his hand up to his face and combs his fingers through his hair. "I'll be right here. Just scream if you need me. Just like on the ice."

Fabien frowns slightly.

Geez, he sure shows concern and care an odd way.

"I'll-I'll be here as well!" I stammer out, throwing my hand out at Fabien. "Two strong men to come to your rescue should you need it. What a treat, eh?"

Fabien pushes open the already ajar door and slips inside, sending us both a quick wink. Then he slowly walks across the room toward his mirror, where a bunch of pictures of Tyler are pasted around the frame, including a few of him shirtless.

A real treat. And again, Tyler's oblivious to this. He HAS to be an idiot towards the emotion of love...

Sitting on the top of the desk, before the mirror sits a clear bottle with a black lid and some thick peach colored liquid. Fabien snatches it up and heads back to the door. He finds Tyler still waiting outside for him, but he is engrossed in his phone.

"Ty...what's so interesting on your phone, bud?" I ask, noticing his different facial expressions as he taps into the messenger keyboard.

"Alright, I got it!" Fabien chimes out, pulling the door closed behind him.

Tyler looks up at him, his eyes sparkling with bewilderment.

"What is it, Katzy?"

"I was wondering why it was so dark in here..." Tyler remarks.

Yeah, so was I, genius...

"Yeah...cause the sun's setting for the evening and we didn't turn lights on yet?!" Fabien chuckles, joining him once more.

Tyler shakes his head. "No...there's more. Spence says we need to check out something like right now..."