With their roles assighe group split into two teams. Harty and Michigo would head to Jess’ house to ensure her safety and gather any information about Alex or Sarah, while Angie and Roselle would make their way to the abandoned warehouse oskirts of town in search of Tina.

  Harty, taking charge, spoke to his team. “Michigo, let’s get to Jess’ pce quickly. We o find out if she’s in any danger, and if she knows anything about Alex or Sarah’s involvement. Time is of the essence.”

  Michigo nodded. “Right, let’s go.”

  Meanwhile, Angie and Roselle prepared to leave for the warehouse. Auro Roselle and said, “We’ll find Tina, Roselle. I’ve got your back, and together, we get to the bottom of this.”

  Roselle nodded. “Thank you, Angie. Let’s do this.”

  Harty and Michigo arrived at Jess’s house. The house was quiet. There was no usual sign of any activity. After giving a few knocks on the door, Harty g Michigo and said, “It seems like we’re early. This gives us a ce to set up and be prepared. I’ll o plug in my ptop to gather informatio’s see if we find an outlet.”

  They looked around, and Harty spotted Jess’s neighbor entering her house. Michignized her as one of Roselle’s friends from the other day. “Hey…it’s Chloe!”

  Harty approached Chloe’s door and knocked. Chloe answered the door in just a panties and bra. Her eyes lowered. She spoke without looking up, “Jess, I’m really not in the mht now for any of your shenanigans, okay?”

  However, when Chloe realized it wasn’t Jess but rather twers at her doorstep, her face turned a bright shade of red. She quickly closed the door. “Oh! I’m so sorry! Please, give me a moment.”

  Chloe returned, now dressed in a more presentable outfit—a stylish blouse and jeans. She opehe door with a more posed demeanor and a graceful smile. “May I inquire what brings you here today?”

  Chloe’s eyes widened in reition seeing who was at the door. She excimed, “Wait a minute! Michigo of the karate club and her new boyfriend?”

  Her assumption took Michigo and Harty by surprise, and both of them were left flustered.

  Chloe’s eyes sparkled with reition. “Oh, I see why you’re here! Michigo, you’re here to funt your new boyfriend, aren’t you? How delightful!”

  Michigo blinked. Her cheeks turned a shade of pink. “No, Chloe, it’s not like that at all—”

  Chloe waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, don’t be shy! I’ve heard about you two. The karate club’s rising stars and all. Quite the power couple, I must say.”

  Michigo waved her hands infront of her. “No, no, no, it’s not like that at all! You shouldn’t assume things so casually.”

  Harty chimed in. “Yes, there’s been a misuanding… A-anyways. I just need a pce to plug in my ptop to do some work.”

  Chloe nodded. “I see. My apologies for the mix-up. You’re wele to use the outlet in my living room. Please, make yourselves fortable.”

  Harty settled down with his ptop. Meanwhile, Michigo seized the opportunity to address the burning question that had been on her mind. She stared directly at Chloe and said, “I’m just going to e out and ask. Why did you and the other six friends surround Roselle the other day like she was your enemy?”

  Chloe hesitated for a moment and struggled to find the right words. After taking a deep breath, she began to speak, “It’s... It’s not just about that day, Michigo. I’ve been friends with Roselle for a long time, but things have ged. You know, she’s... she’s different now. She’s beore distant, more secretive. We used to be so close, and now it feels like she’s hiding something from us.”

  Michigo was surprised by Chloe’s response. She decided to press further. “But Hashta told us it was like something came over her that day. What made you join in too? It seems strahat you’d all react the same way.”

  Chloe’s facade began to crack as Michigo probed further. “I... I had already made up my mind about Roselle, Michigo. I believed the rumors and the stories about her, and when I saw her that day, I couldn’t stop myself from fronting her. I thought it was the right thing to do.”

  Michigo’s eyes narrowed. “If you felt that way, Chloe, why didn’t you just talk to Roselle one on one?! fronting her like that with mob mentality only made things worse! Friends should support each other and unicate when things get tough.”

  Chloe she shouted out, “What was I supposed to do, Michigo?! It’s not like I could have ged anything! Roselle’s the one who didn’t want to talk or be our friend anymore, and it hurt, but I had to move on.”

  Michigo reached out and grabbed Chloe’s cheeks firmly. She gave Chloe a serious look and shouted, “Chloe, you’re wrong! You should have talked to her, tried to uand what was going on with her. Friends don’t just give up on each other like that. Just who do you think Roselle is?”

  Chloe’s eyes widened in shock as Michigo grabbed her cheeks. She pushed Michigo back slightly aone sharp. “Watch how you’re toug me, Michigo. I don’t appreciate being manhandled.”

  Michigo raised her hands in a calmiure. “Sorry, Chloe. I just wao make sure you uood how serious this is. Roselle needs uanding, not hostility from her friends.”

  Harty, who had been silently the exge while w on his ptop, looked up with a hint of . “Let’s all take a step back. Chloe, we’re not here to accuse you. We just o uand what happened and why things went s.”

  “You know what happeo Tina?” Michigo asked.

  Chloe shifted her tone from frustration to casual. She nontly replied, “Oh, big time, Michigo. Tina’s got some real talent. I know what she’s up to these days, and I’m a big fan. I buy all of her films and I’m subscribed to her tent page.”

  Michigo was bewildered by Chloe’s response. “How…could you? How could you? Do you support what they are making her do, Chloe?”

  Chloe shrugged. “It’s just business, Michigo. Tina’s doing well, and her work is in high demand. I’m just one of her many fans. You ’t bme me for that.”

  Michigo’s eyes narrowed with frustration. “Tina was a quiet girl. She was shy and kind, and she became friends with Roselle for the same reasons. Even back then, she was the same sweet person. I was friends with her too, and I ’t believe this is what she would want for herself.”

  Chloe’s gaze shifted. “Are you sure you really kina, Michigo? People ge, and sometimes we don’t see the whole picture. Maybe Tina chose this path for herself.”

  Michigo shook her head. “No, I refuse to believe that! Tina was he type to willingly do something like this. Something must have happeo her.”

  Michigo then turo Chloe, demanding, “When was the st time you saw Tina?”

  Chloe hesitated for a moment before responding. “The st time I saw her was on the day she left school. Well, I saw her one more time after that, but I ’t remember the exact day. She came by and asked for skimpy clothes. She wao be someone else, Michigo. All I did was help her out.”

  Michigo, struggling to tain her anger. She stared at Chloe and began to speak, “Chloe, you could have stopped this! You could have tried to uand what Tina was going through!”

  Chloe gasped. Then, she replied, “I had no idea what was going on at the time, Michigo. I thought she was just experimenting out hings. I didn’t know it would go this far.”

  Michigo’s eyes bzed with frustration. “You’re telling me you just thought Tina was experimenting? You knew how she acted—how shy she was. You should have knower!”

  Chloe’s face reddened. “Look, I didn’t know things would escate like this. Tina was always so private. I didn’t think asking for new clothes was a sign of something more serious.”

  Michigo’s fists ched at her sides. “I don’t buy that. You saw her ging, you saw her asking for things that were out of character! What else do you know, Huh?! Tell me!”

  Chloe began to shiver from Michigo’s fury. Harty soon saw this and stepped in. “Michigo, we o focus on the bigger picture right now. We deal with this ter.”

  But Michigo’s her frustration mounted. “No, Harty, I ’t let this go! Tina is our friend, and she’s in trouble because of people like Chloe who just stood by a happen. This is uable!”

  Michigo seethed with anger. Chloe, oher hand, ut into a state of sadness and was filled with guilt from Michigo’s outburst.

  Michigo opehe door to exit the house and said, “I’ll see myself out...”

  Harty acted quickly. He grabbed Michigo by the shoulders and he spoke calmly.“Michigo, please, we ’t afford to let there be division among us. Let’s focus on our mission, and front the bigger problems at hand. We’ll address what we do for Tina ter. Let Roselle’s team worry about Tina for now.”

  Michigo, still fuming with anger, relutly Harty’s words. Deep down, she knew he was right Michigo turned back to face Harty and said, “You’re right, Harty. Let’s focus on Jess and dealing with Shadowcroft. We’ll figure out the rest ter.”

  Chloe stuttered while making an effort to speak. “I... I’ll be right back.” With that, she turned and headed upstairs in her home.

  Harty breathed a sigh of relief and turo Michigo. “I’m gd things dide further. Now, I think my puter’s booted up. Let me show you something.”

  He logged into a chatroom and began to expin. “This chatroom was created using the private server of Epic Quest: Realm of Shadows. It’s the perfect pce for us to unicate without anyone else knowing our business. When you get home, make sure to log in here. We o stay ected and vigint.”

  Michigo nodded. “Got it, Harty.”

  Harty leaned in and whispered to Michigo, “I know nobody’s hht now, but I took precautions and logged us all in for the time being. We need an active chat to keep Jess’s attention when she arrives.”

  Michigo raised an eyebrow. “Why do that?”

  Harty expined, “If Jess sees us all online, she’ll be less likely to just leave the chat immediately. It’ll buy us some time and make her less cautious. We use that to our advantage. We will know she is home, and we will know if she ends up being attacked. We’ll be able to respond immediately.”

  Michigo nodded in agreement. “That makes sense. Let’s keep her occupied and monitor the situation closely. If anything goes wrong, we’ll be ready to act.”

  Harty g his ptop s, the chatroom ready for their use. “Exactly. We’ll do our best to both protect Jess and uhe truth behind all of this. Noait.”

  Harty, sitting in front of his ptop, began the process of logging everyoo the chatroom. His fingers danced across the keyboard as he quickly switched between usernames and sighem on:

  “StarlightSeeker27, logged in,”

  “EclipseDreamer14, logged in”

  “MysticChaos21, logged in.”

  “CipherMystery08, logged in.”

  “EnigmaGamer19, logged in.”

  “PixelChaos03, logged in”

  “KarateSpirit23, logged in.”

  The chatroom noeared active, with all the usernames showing as online. Harty quickly started typing versation to make it look like a genuine discussion.

  “Hey, everyone! I had the weirdest dream st night,” he typed as StarlightSeeker27.

  Michigo was left using a phoo ect to the chatroom. In her role as KarateSpirit23, chimed in, “Hey team! Dreams be as wild as a sparring match! Let’s break them down and see what hidden moves they might be hiding!”