Undercover

Chapter 30 - Something is Off

"In each of your rooms, there'll be some tapes that we need each of you to watch," Sir. March paced around each one of them. "The tapes contain training exercises that we need each of you to follow."

Commander Matthew tried giving a sympathetic smile. Cutting kids off from the outside world is the one thing he tried to avoid doing. Maddison nodded compliantly with the new instructions.

"We'll send some agents in to try and rescue the president discretely. We believe that Miles has an army somewhere. Squads would be sent to targeted areas to try and disarm them. We'll try to perform the seal on as many of them as possible as I'm sure you know, performing the seal takes a lot of energy and it's a skill that not many have."

Sir. March nodded in agreement. "It is a very difficult time right now. With the young prince still missing and the escape of Miles. We cannot afford to make any more mistakes."

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"Our next segment, a fire had just broken loose causing fifty residents were safely evacuated from the vicinity. Our specialists are still trying to find its source."

Mrs Morrison paused the television, "Tessa?"

"Yes?" Tessa came out of her room curiously. Tessa's eyes went wide when she read the headlines.

"Isn't that Maddie's house?"

Tessa immediately rummaged around for her phone. She tried speed dialling Maddison but to no avail. Her phone has been burnt along with the fire. She began to panic and tried calling Ron but he too did not pick up. She decided to go to school in hopes of finding out more. She cycled as fast as she could to school.

She dashed to the classroom asking everyone she knew. She asked, John and she even went as far as going to another year's classroom just to ask Beth. She was frustrated because no one had heard from her best friend. The school bell rang, forcing Tessa to go back to her seat for attendance.

As everyone began to file into their classrooms, Tessa noticed that Gabe and Trevor's seats were empty as well.

Mrs Tary entered," Class, I have important news to tell you all. Maddison's house had, unfortunately, got burnt down in last night's fire. Due to that, she has moved to stay with her uncle across the state for the time being. Gabe and Trevor would also not be returning to school. They are currently facing family issues back in their home country."

The whole class made noises of disappointment but Tessa felt like something was off. She felt disappointed that Maddison never tried to phone her but she had managed to inform the school. That was not like her at all. Maddie was not the type to leave unannounced. Tessa tried thinking back to the last moments that she had with her.

Last Tuesday, she did come over to Maddison's house for their weekly study sessions. "Come to think of it, she did behave oddly that day. It felt like she was hiding something." Tessa rubbed her chin trying to think. "I do remember hearing a male's voice. Maybe that's Ron though?" she pondered then she shook her head. "Can't be, he was out jogging with his friends and that voice was much higher pitched than Ron's."

Tessa took out her notebook that had her latest theories of the 'Aussie Boys'. Somethings definitely off about the both of them. Maddie has been acting weird ever since they arrived. She began jotting down her theories. Ever since Trevor and Gabe arrived, so many things had changed. So many unusual articles had surfaced about vigilantes in the news. Could they be? Tessa was about to find out.

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Throughout the school day, Wayne has been inviting people to a party he's hosting left, right and centre. "Party at Wayne Manor!" he hollered. "Tessa! You're invited to Wayne Manor!"

"Why do you call your house that?"

"You know the whole Batman and Bruce Wayne?" When Wayne noticed that Tessa still didn't get it, "It's a DC thing. Anyway, party at my place later tonight? We're celebrating our school's swim meet victory."

Tessa just shrugged, "We'll see."

The whole school seemed unfazed by Maddison, Gabe and Trevor's sudden leave. "They can't just completely uproot themselves and leave nothing behind," she pondered. Tessa's mind could not focus on school for the entire day. "I got it!" As soon as the bell rang, Tessa bolted towards the admin's office. No one in the office suspected her due to her position in the school. All the teachers that passed by thought that she was just submitting her patrol reports for the day. Tessa waited patiently for the school's admin to go for her lunch break.

As soon as the admin left, she sprinted into the school's archives. "Come on," she said to herself as she dug through countless files of various students. It didn't take long before she found Gabe, Trevor and Maddison's files. Tessa hated that she had to doubt her best friend but something was fishy and the feeling of guilt could not afford to get in her way. She took out her phone and snapped a photo of every page of their files before leaving.

At home, Tessa spent the majority of her time locked up in her room looking through the photos she had just taken. As Tessa looked through Maddison's files, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary except that, Maddison had never in her 5 years of friendship ever mention anything about having any other relative. She rubbed her temples and decided to review Gabe and Trevor's files instead.

She found the old school that the boys transferred from. Unfortunately, she couldn't confirm if that information was true. To be able to verify that information, she must either be attending the school there or hack into the school's database. She decided to try and look through the school's photos instead but to no avail. Gabe and Trevor were nowhere to be seen but she didn't give up there. She did a little more digging and found a student's social media. The student's name was Desmond Gray. Tessa decided to DM asking him if he knew Gabe or Trevor. Unfortunately, he denied knowing any such person. Tessa was about to give up when her eyes landed on the address of the boys' home.

She cycled as fast as she could to the address. "House number 9," she mumbled to herself. When she found the house, she noticed a 'For Rent' sign with a telephone number at the bottom. She stared at the house for a while.

"Like the house?"

Tessa swivelled herself around to see a middle-aged man. "Who are you?" she stammered.

The man laughed. "I usually make regular rounds around this vicinity. I'm Robert, owner of this estate. Nice to meet you," he outstretched his hand. When she didn't take it, he decided to pull out a hanger chief from his shirt pocket instead. "Isn't this house such a beauty?" The man continued before Tessa could respond. "So many urbanized, modern buildings nowadays but none of them could ever hold up to this house over here. It's an antique."

Tessa took this opportunity to ask the man if she could see the inside. He happily agreed to her request and fumbled in his pocket for the keys. He unlocked the door and motioned for Tessa to follow him.

"Has anyone ever stayed here?" she asked.

"Many people have. An old couple lived here once. They moved out a couple of years later to live with their grandchildren."

Tessa scanned the area as the man guided Tessa through the place. "Has anyone by the name Waltson ever lived here?"

"Not that I can remember."

"May I ask, when is the last time someone has lived here?"

The man pondered for a bit before answering, "A little over two years ago."

As Tessa continued her tour throughout the house, she tried straining her eyes to find a single trace of Gabe and Trevor. Her tour ended fifteen minutes later. She thanked the man and left feeling as disappointed as ever but more determined to figure out the truth.