CHAPTER SIX18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw5YOHNeKoa
Seline18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7CdQjkWA7G
I’ve spent the whole afternoon combing through my notes, trying to make sense of the furniture thefts. Every missing chair, every vanishing desk, every rumor of a shadow in the corridors after lights out-I’ve logged it all.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcERhErFYV0
I’ve even mapped out the times and places, hoping a pattern would jump out at me. But the only thing that jumps is my own frustration.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhiEC07YtHO
I’ve talked to the cleaning staff, the prefects, and even a few of the quieter students who notice things others miss. I’ve checked the storage rooms and peeked at the sign-out sheets. I even managed to get a look at the maintenance log, thanks to a friendly librarian who thinks I’m researching for the school magazine. Still, nothing obvious. No fingerprints, no confessions, not even a suspicious footprint.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7oog3bqMZW
But there’s one clue I can’t get out of my head. It’s a scrap of paper I found wedged behind the old trophy cabinet, half-buried in dust. On it, someone has scribbled a single word:18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp6BTohdOtI
“Starlight.”
It doesn’t fit. It isn’t a name I recognize, or a club, or a code I’ve seen the Order use before. I’ve tried every angle-anagramming it, checking if it’s a password, asking around if there’s a new club or event by that name. Nothing. It just hangs there, taunting me, a puzzle piece with no edges.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0DlVe8MIZW
I know it means something. I can feel it-like the answer is right in front of me, just out of reach. Maybe it’s a place, or a time, or a person. Maybe it’s the key to the whole thing. But for now, “Starlight” is just a word, and I’m stuck.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmV0eEdoxAy
**********18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3AqAQipOv5
Kim is pacing the hallway when the word “Starlight” finally clicks in her mind. She remembers Seline showing her the scrap of paper with that single, mysterious word, both of them frustrated by its lack of context. 18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzdD9j73bB7
But now, as Kim retraces the investigation in her head, something stands out: “Starlight” isn’t a person or a club-it’s the old storeroom behind the auditorium, nicknamed “Starlight” years ago because of the way the broken skylight lets in specks of night sky.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVVvUzjvR5E
She rushes to find Seline. “I know what ‘Starlight’ means,” Kim whispers urgently.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL77vkbDD2p
“It’s that storage room with the broken skylight. That’s where the missing furniture could be hidden-or where the thief is stashing things before moving them.”18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ7AfAv1S5A
Together, they realize that the clue was never about a name or a code, but a place-a forgotten corner of the school, hiding in plain sight. With this breakthrough, they’re one step closer to exposing the thief and unraveling the Order’s secrets18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBndq34ZelG
Seline18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSa0a1M1yIx
The hallway is empty as Kim and I slip toward the auditorium, adrenaline sharpening every sound. The old storeroom-Starlight-waits at the end of a narrow passage, its door warped and paint peeling. For a moment, we hesitate, listening for footsteps or voices, but the only noise is the distant hum of the building settling for the night.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYADMvW5cRZ
Kim nudges the door open. The hinges groan, echoing in the silence. Inside, the air is thick with dust and the faint scent of old varnish. Moonlight spills through the shattered skylight, scattering a constellation of silvery dots across the floor. For a heartbeat, it’s almost beautiful.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdsoZHks4Vs
We start searching, hearts pounding. There are scuff marks on the floor, and a trail of dust that looks recently disturbed. My hopes soar: maybe the thief really has been using this place. Kim pulls aside a stack of battered theater props, and I peer behind a row of rusted lockers. We find a few broken chairs-ancient, their upholstery torn, the wood warped with age-but nothing that matches the missing furniture from my list.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL8wKidhmst
We search harder. Kim climbs onto a crate to check the upper shelves, while I run my hands along the back wall, hoping for a hidden compartment. Every shadow seems to promise a secret, but every shadow disappoints. There’s no sign of recent activity, no footprints in the dust, no fingerprints on the windowsill. The only things here are relics: a moth-eaten curtain, a cracked music stand, a forgotten trophy with a nameplate so tarnished it’s unreadable.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7yOPL8YlQu
We regroup in the center of the room, frustration gnawing at us both.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhx3YvQUgG0
“I was so sure,” Kim mutters, kicking at a splintered desk leg. “The clue made so much sense.”18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡicRgliuXZE
“It did,” I say quietly, trying to mask my disappointment. “But maybe we’re missing something. Maybe ‘Starlight’ was just a meeting point. Or maybe the thief already moved everything.”18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgLtt3IXiey
We check the door for scratches or marks-nothing. We scan the floor for drag marks-just the old scuffs, nothing fresh. Even the dust is undisturbed in most places, except where we’ve just trampled it.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfdQzlSOhAP
For a while, we just stand there, defeated. The silence feels heavier now, as if the room itself is mocking us. I pull out my notebook, flipping through the pages of careful notes and maps, trying to spot something we overlooked. Kim paces, chewing her lip.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6xuv5yaOMZ
“Maybe the clue was planted,” she says suddenly. “What if someone wanted us to waste time here?”18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSNbKI7AbBu
The thought chills me. If that’s true, then someone is always one step ahead-watching, anticipating, setting traps instead of leaving trails.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlqUnfS7D80
We leave Starlight behind, closing the door quietly. Our lead has fizzled out, but we’re not ready to give up. If anything, the dead end only makes us more determined. The thief is still out there, and the Order’s secrets remain just out of reach. But now we know: the answers won’t come easy, and every clue could be a misdirection.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6A8KPnisOQ
As we walk back down the empty corridor, I promise myself I’ll keep looking. The mystery isn’t solved yet-but neither are we finished searching.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsajqkVT4IO
Kim18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMi7jpEC5sj
After the letdown of our first search, I refuse to let Starlight become just another dead end. There’s something about that room-its dust, its silence, the way the moonlight scatters across the floor-that won’t let me go. I know there’s more to uncover. We put our heads together and come up with a new plan, determined to squeeze every secret out of that forgotten storeroom.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyIIo3fejTO
First, I decide to start with the people who know this school better than anyone: the staff who’ve been here forever. I corner Mr. Patel, the head custodian, by the supply closet and ask, as innocently as I can, if he remembers anything strange about the storeroom behind the auditorium. He squints at me, then shrugs-just old junk, he says, but he does remember a time when the skylight used to leak during storms.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjjeSvY0VkI
I try the librarian next, since she’s already helped me once. She promises to dig up some old yearbooks and tells me that, back in the day, the drama club used to stash props in there. I make a note to follow up.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSr5kc0RBXZ
Seline and I split up. She heads to the office, asking to see maintenance logs under the pretense of a “school history project.” Scanning for anything about repairs to the storeroom or the skylight-maybe there’s a pattern. She also checks event sign-out sheets, looking for clubs or groups that might have used the room recently.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX10TrVDWJk
Meanwhile, I try my luck with the security office. I’ve got a knack for charming people, and if anyone can get a peek at the hallway camera footage, it’s definitely me. Nothing interesting comes up either.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIEVGhRJm6R
I start up stories during tea break with people I know from last year’s student council. “Hey, do you remember anything weird about the ‘Starlight’ room?” I ask. Some reply with vague stories about late-night rehearsals and dares, but nothing concrete.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNL0nTEsnCe
At lunch, I casually bring it up with a couple of seniors. One of them laughs and says he once hid in there to skip gym, but he never saw anything out of the ordinary.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUoUEQf1lkZ
Seline and I take turns keeping an eye on the storeroom during odd hours-early mornings, late nights, and whenever there’s a school event. I sit on the bench across from the hallway, pretending to read, but really, I’m watching for anyone who slips in or out.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJhTophOLOR
We check for signs of recent activity: footprints in the dust, the door left ajar, even the faintest whiff of cleaning chemicals. So far, nothing.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs3YAlV17pF
Determined not to miss anything, we go back to the room with flashlights and fresh eyes. I run my hands along the walls, tapping for hollow spots. Seline checks the ceiling for loose tiles. We look for new screws, patches of paint, or anything that might suggest a hidden compartment.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuUiwO4MNBU
I even dust the windowsill for fingerprints, just in case.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYubpKghM2L
Seline18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTCC1F1OOoS
Back in my dorm room, I spread out my notes and start cross-referencing. I compare the dates of the thefts with every mention of the storeroom in the logs. Is there a pattern? Does someone always access the room before something goes missing?18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzxZp6vJNdW
Kim helps me with the names, looking for anyone who keeps popping up in both lists.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRcpWh3vVgi
Finally, I keep my ears open in the cafeteria and library. Sometimes, the best clues come from gossip and offhand remarks. I even consider setting up an anonymous tip box-maybe someone knows something but is too scared to come forward.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz1ljNXwXk5
I won’t let “Starlight” slip away as just another mystery. The more I dig, the more convinced I am that the answer is close-maybe closer than I think. All I need is one more clue, one more slip, and I’ll have it. I’m not giving up. Not yet.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYTvORACgVO
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