Doubt Read Online Free PDF

no longer shaking. Her books were strewn on the floor, evidence that the event happened. Had her father not called out to her, who knows what damage she could have done?
    After that night, she was convinced that her father would return.
    When the police closed the missing person’s file a year later, her mother became ghost-like—floating around the house, wordless; an empty vessel.
    Cristal had no choice but to fend for both of them. She knew that ’s what her father would have wanted. She made sure her mom made it to her psychiatric appointments and her Help Group at the local church. She learned how to buy the groceries and cook. All the while, she never gave up the hope of seeing her father again. Even if she had wanted to forget, her dreams wouldn’t let her.
    Her father is standing at a distance, surrounded by a light mist, waving and calling out her name. She runs towards him, screaming, “Dad, I’m coming to you!” but her voice has no sound. The faster she runs, the farther he seems to be. Still, she runs faster, harder. Clouds of white merciless mist block her from reaching him. “Dad, don’t go!” she cries out in her head. But now, his image is fading, melting into the blanket of whiteness and silence.
    Two years after her father’s disappearance, her mother started dating a dentist from her Help Group. Short, bald with a terrible case of bad breath, he was the complete opposite of her father. It wasn’t long before Dr. Halitosis married her mom and moved into their home.
    “ Cristal, get off the computer. You have school tomorrow,” her mother called out from the living room.
    “ Mom, fifteen more minutes!”
    Fifteen minutes usually meant an hour.
    “ You know how your dad hates you playing those online games. He’s going to be home soon.”
    “ He’s not my dad,” she grumbled under her breath. Why does Mom put up with that creep?
    Instead of hanging out at the malls like most thirteen -year-old girls, she spent her spare time battling against evil. It was about the time when she received a full scholarship to study at MIT, the summer before her fifteenth birthday, when she first met Harry.
    She had gained ten million points, the most any player had ever reached. Everyone was talking about it in the discussion forums. That same day, she received a private message, which invited her to join the Elite team. It was sent by Harry, or more accurately by his online alias Zero Doubt , creator of the Truth Seekers. All gamers knew that Zero only invited the best of the best.
    Zero: Inviting you to be a member of the Elite Team. You have twenty-four hours to accept the invitation.
    No one would even dream of receiving a private message from the infamous Zero Doubt . Other gamers could only hope of having Zero comment on their discussion posts. When Harry posted a message, gamers would rush to reply to his post in hopes that he would respond. What a bunch of losers. Who the heck was this Zero Doubt anyway ?
    But the challenge to be in the top team was hard to resist. So she responded to his invitation.
    Mist: Mission accepted. Awaiting further instructions.
    After the first successful mission as an elite Truth Seeker, Harry began messaging her regularly. They started to spend hours online brainstorming strategic maneuvers to conquer other players in the game.
    Many times while video chatting with Harry, her stepfather would bang on her door yelling, “If you don’t stop playing on the computer, I’m going to shut off the Internet!”
    “ Is everything okay?” Harry would ask her.
    “ Yeah,” she answered, in a tone that was a bit sharper than she intended.
    She always pretended that things were fine. “Never show anyone your weaknesses,” her father always told her. “Especially your closest allies .”

Chapter 6
Joanna Chan (alias Onyx)
    “IS HE SERIOUS?” Joanna asked herself, running her hand through her long, straight, black hair. This was the fourth quality assurance project assigned