The Truth Always lies

written by:

ok!o

Author: Joude Humaidan

Editor and Co-Author : Lakshya Balaraman

“The truth can hurt for a while but a lie will hurt
forever.”

1
 Contents:

Chapter 1: The Arrival

Chapter 2: Secrets

Chapter 3: Disappearance

Chapter 4: A new beginning

Chapter 5: Big News

Chapter 6: A Rocky Road

Chapter 7: Going Undercover

Chapter 8: The Anonymous Author

Chapter 9: Sleepover Secrets part 1

Chapter 10- Sleepover Secrets part 2

2
 Chapter 11- Company Conundrum

Chapter 12: Cautious But Cells

Chapter 13: Escaped!

Chapter 14: The Truth Always Lies

-Credits-

Preview of The Truth Always Lies- Book 2

3
Thanks to Lakshya Balaraman, Mingrui Cai, Fatima Fawad and
Yasmeen Mian, and to you, if you have stuck with the story until the
very end.

Chapter 1 : The arrival

4
This Story Begins with 2 children. Amara and Liam.

They lived in a very wealthy Family! Until one day , everything

changed!

Their Parents decided to adopt a teenager , Charlotte but she was

VERY different.

Amara wore a fashionista- worthy dress everyday. She had a great

sense of style. Today she was wearing a black top with a pattern of
faint white lines here and there. She wore some black shorts to
match and her hair stayed tied back.She had blue shimmering eyes
and her hair stylist tied back her soft and silky brown hair with a
hair tie made of soft glittering blue satin.

Liam was Casual and nice; he wore a comfy outfit every day. He also
had blue eyes and he never combed his Hair.

5
Charlotte had long black hair that rippled in the sunlight, she was
tall and wore ripped jeans and a blue plain top.

Amara and Liam’s parents were very welcoming and nice.They greeted
Charlotte very nicely and had no problem with her, unlike Amara.

Amara stared at the strange girl.“ Umm… who are you? And Why did
you just barge into my house?” she blurted out.

Mom beamed around and replied to Amara. “Amara , this is your step
- sister Charlotte!”

Charlotte smiled slightly and said,“ Hi!”

Amara stared at the new girl and said ,“ So you just adopted her
without my permission?”

Dad looked confused . “ We thought you would be fine with it.”

Amara rolled her eyes.“ Whatever , you can go sleep in the Basement.”

Charlotte felt that there was a misunderstanding so she said,“ I was

told that i was sleeping with you, Amara.”

6
Amara roared in anger. “NO YOU'RE NOT!!! Go sleep in the basement
Chara or whatever your name is!”

Mom yelled at her in exasperation. “AMARA!! Be nice to your new

Sister!”

“Ugh, i’ll have a pass!” Amara grumbled.

After hours of convincing, Charlotte had to sleep in Liam’s Room.

First, she got to meet him.

Dad introduced Charlotte to Liam. “Liam , this is Charlotte. We just

adopted her!”

Liam politely answered,”Oh , cool! I think you’ll love Amara’s room!”

Mom cleared her throat and said, “Actually , Amara wanted her to
sleep with you.”

Liam glared at his Mom and said, “Ok , sure! Hey , Charlotte you can
sleep over here , it's a couch that turns into a sofa!”

7
Charlotte wondered, ‘Aren’t a couch and sofa the same thing? But
she answered, “Thanks! I guess you’re not like Amara.”

Liam shrugged and replied,”Yeah , sorry about her….she can be a

bit… Moody..”

Mom listened to the whole conversation then concluded by saying,

“Your Dad and I will leave you to it!”

So, Charlotte settled in with Liam. Even though she was very
different to him , Liam didn’t mind.

But then, in the moonlight, at the midnight hour,

Charlotte heard a strange sound. She crept out of bed and went
downstairs.

She heard her new parents talking .

8
Her mom whispered hurriedly,“We can’t keep secrets from them! We
have to tell them!”

But Dad hesitated. ”But think of the dangers of doing that!”

Then Mom retorted with,“ They have to know!! We need to tell them
now! Or else… we will all be in complete danger!”

Dad still didn’t agree. “No! “ he shouted. “I say we wait until Liam
and Amara are old enough , but i think we need to wait until we gain
Charlotte’s trust!”

But Mom fought back. “They are old enough! Liam is 14 , Amara is
11, and Charlotte is 13!”

Charlotte was too focused on what they were talking about that she
tipped over a vase.

Mom asked, “What was that?”

Dad replied, “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

9
Charlotte went back to her room with Liam but she woke him up.

Liam opened his eyes and said sleepily, “Charlotte? Is that you?

Charlotte replied and said, “Yeah! It is. I need to tell you something..”

So she told him everything she heard and at the end Liam said, “But
DON'T tell Amara! she will freak out and go completely crazy!”

Charlotte gulped and headed back to sleep. Her head was swimming
with thoughts. What will cause her family danger? What would
happen? She shifted uneasily and went to sleep, trying to clear her mind

Chapter 2 : Secrets
It was 7:00 a.m and Charlotte was wide awake. She had a habit of
waking up early. She noticed that Liam was asleep. She whispered
softly, “Liam , are you awake?”

“Yes? But why are you awake SO early?”He asked

10
“For school! You don’t want to be late!” she answered

“Charlotte, we’re homeschooled!” he explained.

Charlotte questioned him unbelievingly. “Really? So you don’t go to a

public or private school?”

Liam sleepily responded,“No! Now get back to bed!”

Then it was another hour slipping by and everyone was awake.

Amara walked down the stairs to breakfast, and spotting Liam with
Charlotte, she rolled her eyes and said , “Ugh it’s you, with her,
Whats-her-name, Chara?”

Liam took one glance at Charlotte to see if she was hurt by Amara’s
tactics then he turned back to Amara. “Her name is Charlotte,
Amara! And you are lucky to have a sister like her!”

11
Amara laughed and said scornfully, “Lucky? Aha! I would never want
a sister like her, she's just so weird! And she’s not my sister, she’s my
‘adopted sister’. She isn’t related to me at all!”

Hearing Amara's scornful tone, Dad yelled at her. “Amara!! Use your
manners! she is now a part of your life and family whether you like it
or not!”

Amara rolled her eyes and snickered.

Mom asked politely, “Charlotte, how did you sleep last night?”

Charlotte humbly answered, “Fine , Thanks”

Amara imitated her and said , “Fine , Thanks” in an awfully cold and
high-pitched voice.

Charlotte waited until midnight and slipped off to see if her Parents
were there again.

12
She saw her Mom and Dad looking through papers and sighing as
they went through them.

Mom started the conversation by saying, “It isn’t that hard , just
tell them!”

“I'm thinking about it,” Dad explained, “but don't forget 3:00 p.m
tommorrow.”

“I won't , I won't!” Mom said as she signed papers. “But we won’t be

long , I'll get their Aunt to take care of them!”

Chapter 3 : Disappearance

13
Again , Charlotte told Liam all about what she heard that night.

It was 8:00 a.m and all of them were having breakfast.

Charlotte wanted to know where they were going at 3:00 so she tried
to make them say it.

Charlotte asked , “Hey, is everyone free today at 3:00? I was

suggesting we go see a movie!’

Amara rolled her eyes and said, “No way! Not with you!”

Mom and Dad shared a look, then Mom quickly said, “Oh, I’m sorry,
dear, but we have to go out, your Dad and I.”

Charlotte hesitated, but then nonchalantly said , “Oh , where are you
going out to?”

Dad thought of a comeback line and quickly said , “Umm.. uhh we

have umm… work to do”

14
Liam said in a curious way, “Oh umm okay?” It sounded like more of a
question than an answer.

Charlotte and Liam didn’t believe that it was work but they decided
to take their minds off that and play a game instead.

Hours Later the doorbell rang and it was Aunt Gina.

“Oh! Hello, there are Amara and Liam!” she said happily “And you
must be Charlotte! Well,my name is Gina. You can call me Aunt Gina
if you like!”

“Hello there Aunt Gina and yes, I am Charlotte!” Charlotte

animatedly chorused.

15
Amara said in a bratty way , “Ok , whatever Aunt Gina anyways i am
going to MY room just DON'T come in and my hairstylist is here!”

Aunt Gina nodded her head as she sat down in the living room.
Charlotte and Liam went to their room and wanted to figure out
what was going on.

Liam asked , “Did you see the look on Dad’s face when he said that
they were going to work?”

Charlotte responded , “Yeah! I did !It was SO weird! there has to be

something they are not telling us…”

“What if we look in their room? There could be clues!” Liam

suggested.

Charlotte retorted back with, “Don't you think that sounds like an
invasion of privacy?”

16
Liam said ,“Yes…. You’re right! but maybe Aunt Gina knows
something?”

Charlotte agreed so they both went to Aunt Gina and asked , “Hi ,
Aunt Gina! do you know where our parents are going?”

Aunt Gina explained , “They told me that they just wanted me to keep
an eye on you , why?”

Charlotte exclaimed , “No reason... just curious.”

Then Amara barged into their room and questioned them, still
behaving like a brat. “What are you guys up to? And what is that??
Something’s up! TELL ME!!”

Charlotte exclaimed , “Amara , don’t you ever find it rude to stick your
nose into other people’s business?”

17
Amara yelled , “Well don't you find it rude to just walk into my family
and pretend like you're such a nice girl when you are actually a devil??
And anyways i was better off without you , Liam and i were a perfect
team before you smashed everything!! No wonder why you other
Parents didn’t want you!!”

Liam shouted , “AMARA, ENOUGH!”

Amara hissed, “WHATEVER! now tell me what's going on!!”

Liam and Charlotte noded to each other and told Amara everything!

Amara accused them in an annoying tone and said,“ You guys are
such BAD liars! You actually tried to fool me!!!”

Liam snapped , “WE ARE NOT FOOLING YOU!! JUST STAY OUT OF
MY WAY!” ok! I saw a bit of spelling mistakes (that was my
mistakes) No

Amara rolled her eyes and left the room.

18
Aunt Gina came back running with a worried expression. “Is
everything alright? What happened? I heard a loud noise that
sounded like a screeching bird!” she questioned them.

Charlotte murmured , “That was probably Amara you're referring to,

Aunt Gina!

Aunt Gina calmly said , “Oh thank god it was only her!”

Hours had passed and it had been a very eventful and long time. But
soon, it was 10:00 and they’re parents still hadn't returned.

Charlotte hurriedly said, “I'm getting worried, try calling them

please!”

Liam answered , “Don't worry, i’ll call them.”

The phone rang for 3 minutes until …

THEY ANSWERED! “Liam?? I need you to know that -”

The voice cut. Liam tried calling again but there was no reply.

19
Aunt Gina said in a voice of calm and anxiety, “I’m sure it's nothing ,
but don’t worry. I am here! But it’s time for you to go to sleep now!”

Chapter 4 : A new Beginning

After staying with Aunt Gina for a few hours, all the kids started to
grow restless. Charlotte stared unsteadily into a picture of both her
new parents when they adopted her. She was worried about them.
Would they be alright? And what was it that Mom had said? ‘If we
don’t tell them, we will be in complete trouble!’

What was that trouble? What were they hiding?

“Yes, oh, i’m very sorry to hear that….oh, yes i’ll put my name in for

20
the parent.” murmured Aunt Gina from the living room.

Amara heard her. She crept silently towards the living room and
pressed her ear to the wall . She could hear everything Aunt Gina
said. She suddenly flung herself out and confronted Aunt Gina.

“What were you doing?” she said, losing her temper slowly.

“Nothing!” said Aunt Gina briskly, trying to hide her true emotions.

“I know you’re up to something!” accused Amara, now on the verge of

tears.

“Ok, alright.” sighed Aunt Gina with a frown.“Your parents

disappeared, and apparently, there’s been a police case about it….the
adoption center where Charlotte came from just phoned me. They
asked if I would put my name as a temporary guardian...and I said
yes. I had no other choice.”

Amara took this all in and sped off to Liam’s room.

21
“LIAM!LIAM! CHARLOTTE! OPEN THE DOOR! I DEMAND YOU
NOW!I HAVE REALLY BAD NEWS!!! Yelled Amara, her fists
pounding on the door.

‘What happened?” asked Charlotte, her eyes wide with fear and
curiosity.

Amara forgot all about her dislike for Charlotte. She suddenly felt
grateful she had another sister. She hugged Charlotte hard and
then began to say her news, in a trembling voice.

“Y-you guys, o-our parents disappeared today! There’s been a police

case and….” Amara burst into tears and was comforted by
Charlotte. Amara tried to talk through the tears but no words came
out; they hugged each other tighter and longer then they ever had.

Aunt Gina suddenly showed up in the doorway. She finished Amara’s

words for her. “And Charlotte, your adoption center called me and
asked who would be your parent now. Don’t worry, i’ve put my name
as a temporary guardian to all of you.”

22
Charlotte ,Liam and Amara all had one thought. Would Aunt Gina
become their permanent guardian, and their parents go missing
forever? Could their parents ever be found, would their parents be
okay? Thoughts went through their mind like a rocket to space and
their worries infiltrated inside their head like rain splattering on
window panes.

Aunt Gina suddenly said, “Also, i’ve enrolled you in the nearest town
school, come on, up you get, let’s go get all your supplies and needs.”
They were all in tears by now and they couldn't find anything good to
think about. That is, everyone except Charlotte. Charlotte was
happy, as she was used to public schools, but Amara and Liam were
reliving each happy memory of homeschool in their heads.

But they all grudgingly bore it and went off to the shops, to get their
school items.

23
Finally the day had come … It was 7:00 a.m and it was time to go to
school.

Charlotte,surprisingly, woke up first. She got ready and looked super

cute in a button-down yellow dress with a brown cardigan and
combed her hair to fall in soft waves on her shoulder. She grabbed a
muted green headband and slipped it on. She gave a quick smile to
herself in the mirror and went off to breakfast.

But Liam and Amara were still in a deep sleep , and wouldn’t wake up
yet.

Charlotte got to the dining table and saw that there were already
three plates on it, filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and orange
juice on the side .

24
Charlotte sat down and wolfed it all. By the time she was eating her
toast, Amara bounded down the stairs, in a cute short light pink top
with pearls all around it and she was wearing a light blue bleached
skirt that was paired with cute and casual flats. She ate her
breakfast slowly seeing that she didn't enjoy it. She washed it down
with her orange juice. It was sour, there wasn't any sugar and she
ended up leaving most of it.

Liam, on the other hand, was wearing a long grey shirt with blue
stripes and some jeans, paired off with classic white sneakers.

He munched his breakfast and shoved a few pieces into his mouth
and quickly went to grab his backpack.

Liam hopped into the car, which was already filled with snackboxes,
to have after school. Amara and Charlotte both followed, smiling at
each other. Charlotte was starting 8th grade, Amara was going to
6th grade, and Liam was joining 9th grade.

25
They climbed the steps to the entrance, once they reached the
school. A kind-looking lady welcomed them and took them off to their
classes. Charlotte was the one who actually made a lot of friends.
Her nice personality and good style made her a very popular person.
Amara found it hard though. She had never gone to public schools or
‘normal schools’ and didn’t talk to anyone. Liam was in his way,
normal and made a few friends. Even though he made friends, he
didn’t really talk to them. After a hard and stressful day they all
went back home.

The three children were sharing a room and even though Amara
didn’t like that, all her tantrums and demands washed away. She
was somehow never fully herself in a way and Charlotte suffered the
same thing.

26
Ever since her new parents had adopted her, she felt so thankful to
them and developed a close connection she would have liked to
continue, but not if they had disappeared and would be lost
somewhere, in grave danger. Her head felt oddly light and warm. She
kept on having headaches that day and couldn't focus on anything.

The only good thing they were happy about was that they ended up
going to school only one day before the half-term break, which usually
was a very long holiday, for about 2 months and a half.

Chapter 5 : Big news

The three kids had been through so much already and couldn’t handle
more big news.

27
People were still trying to solve the case on how their parents
disappeared and everyday more and more people came to their house
looking for clues desperately, with the result of more people losing
hope.

There were many people who tried to solve the case but everyone was
clueless. Nobody knew where they went or who they saw but it was
devastating. Though Amara and Charlotte were fine with each other
now but there wasn’t exactly a sibling-bond friendship between them.
Aunt Gina was on the phone with the investigator and kept on
saying, “Yes , yes …. Ok … Sure! Not really ….. Ok! In 5 minutes? Ok!”

28
The investigators were going to interview Amara , Liam and
Charlotte. Charlotte knew that it was the right to tell them about
what she had overheard that day at midnight. So she did, and the
investigators found her information interesting but didn’t find any
papers in their house.

After a few weeks of investigating , they had realized that there was
no more hope. All of the investigators decided that they should accept
the fact that their Parents had died. Charlotte didn’t believe them
at all and sensed they were hiding something from her.

Charlotte said , “Liam , Amara don’t you think that the investigator
sounded - well… like he was lying?”

29
Liam answered with, “Charlotte don’t jump to conclusions, they’re
looking for information, not building up fake lies!”

Amara responded by saying, “I don’t really think so. I thought he felt

sorry for us.”

Charlotte sat and thought for half an hour until she decided that
she wanted to go and snoop in the office where the parents had
worked, because she thought there was a chance that the papers
they had rifled through would be there. Liam and Amara thought she
was CRAZY and going there was dangerous!

30
Just as Charlotte was about to leave, the doorbell rang. So she
answered. There was a strange man at the door who wore a neat
suit and carried a briefcase with him.

He said, “Hello there, I am looking for Charlotte Robinson”.

Charlotte replied with a confused tone and said, “Oh , that’s me ,

why are you asking?”

The man said , “Perfect! Well… I have this note for you from your
biological parents.”

Charlotte blurted out, “What? My birth Parents?That’s impossible!”

31
He handed her what looked like a printed note and it said :

Dear Charlotte ,

We hope you are alright now and we are glad to say that we finally found you!!
When you were small, you escaped from our house and then you were sent to
the Adoption Center. We are coming to pick you up in 1 hour! I am so glad that
we found you , And we hope that you love staying in our home with us. We
know that you were sent to another Family and you are now living with this
Gina Person.. I can’t believe that you are 13 years old now. You now have 1 other
sibling , a younger brother. His name is Charlie and I can't wait for you to meet
him!

- Love, Mom and Dad XOXO

Charlotte stared at the letter in amazement and was shocked to

hear that she ran away! She straight away went to Liam and
Amara then showed them the letter.

Liam and Amara asked in unison, “Are you going to leave?”

32
Charlotte answered , “Well … i’m not sure yet. They are coming in 1
hour and I can't wait to see them. I also have a younger brother!!”

Amara said, “Well then good for you , but Liam and I are still
orphans. So are we no longer a family?”

Charlotte said camly, “Well i don't think i have a choice , and i can
still talk to you guys online!”

In the last hour of Charlotte being with them , they played fun
games and started to have loads of fun! But time flew past and her
time was up.

33
Charlotte’s Parents looked nice and welcoming which was the first
thing that Charlotte noticed.

“Hello, Charlotte! You’ve grown so much! I can hardly believe we found

you after 13 years! You look lovely!” said her mother, a tall, kind
figure with black hair that was styled in a bun and a face that
looked much like Charlotte’s.

When they arrived home , Charlotte got to meet her brother.

He was not how she expected him to be, and he was annoying to her.

“Hi who are you? What are you doing here? Wait are you my sister?”
he questioned repeatedly.

“Yes , my name is Charlotte.” she answered.

34
Charlie always wanted to play with Charlotte but she was never in
the mood. Her parents thought that she was always happy but
Charlotte missed being around someone her age. Her brother only
wanted to play on his game console with her.

She went to her bed at 10:00 and 2 hours later heard a strange
sound …

Her parents were talking about the same 3:00 outing and Charlotte
was puzzled. She didn’t want her real parents to die so she went
down and said , “NO!! You can’t go out at 3:00 or something terrible
will happen to you!!”

Mom seemed shocked and very hastily replied, “Charlotte? Why are
you awake at this time? And were you spying on us?”

35
Charlotte hesitated and confessed. “Umm… yes, sorry, but it’s for
your own good! I heard a strange noise , and my other parents
dissapeared when they went out at 3:00! Please stay home!”

Dad was puzzled and simply said, “Charlotte , we have work and you
really need to go back to bed!”

Charlotte talked back and the prospect of the feeling swelling up in

her chest came out. “NO! I CANT! Having the thought of you
disappearing is terrible!”

Mom replied in a tone of forced calm and said , “Well , then we’ll give
you a call if something goes wrong.”

36
Charlotte agreed and went back to bed. She was feeling nervous and
hesitant not to mention extremely worried.

The time had come , it was 3:00 and her parents had left.

Charlotte was on her phone while her brother was BEGGING her to
play games with him. Charlotte would always say she was busy
because she never felt like playing. Hours slipped by and her Parents
still weren’t back, the clock showed it was 7:00 and they had been
gone for 4 hours! Charlotte tried calling them but they left their
phones on the dining room table. She went to sleep and the next day
they weren’t there.

She was stuck with her brother. The adoption center sent her and
her brother back. And as soon as Aunt Gina found out that she was
up for adoption, she drove all the way there to go and pick her up.
But it was too late. Charlotte and Charlie were already being taken
care of by a lady named Sara.

37
Chapter 6 : A rocky road
Sara looked VERY wealthy; she wore dark red lipstick and a long
stylish dress. She seemed bossy and mean.

“That’s NOT fair! Why don’t you let them choose who they want to
be adopted by!” protested Liam.

38
“I’m sorry , young Man, but it says on my list that this Lady is their
Mom’s-Cousin’s step sister so she is actually related to them! Sorry,
but if we have the option of family members to adopt them, it is the
option we can apply. If the current adopter drops them back here,
unrelated people or people of their wish can adopt them.” gabbled the
Receptionist at the Adoption Center, sounding like she had swallowed
the adoption center’s rulebook.

“But my Dad told me that we are Charlotte’s family whether you like
it or NOT!” backed up Amara to Liam.

“Sorry, Liam and Amara but i think this lady is right.” said Aunt
Gina with one exasperated glance as they left.

39
Liam and Amara were so sad but they had to accept the fact that
they already had a new Guardian.

Meanwhile, things with Sara-

“Now get in the car you two!” Sara ordered Charlotte and Charlie.

One they arrived home Sara sat down and demanded, “Now you kids
have to do chores, I don't want lazy people in my house! Also you kids
sleep in that room , no one comes in my room!! And I don't want you
two snooping around in my house!”

“Umm… Ok but why haven’t we seen you before , Sara?” asked

Charlotte.

40
“How am i supposed to know? But get to work you two!” said Sara.

Charlie and Charlotte didn’t like Sara at all and they completely
preferred their old parents. Sara didn’t pay attention to them, she
just ordered them around and sat on her phone ALL day. She wasn’t
really mean but she was dreadfully bossy. That day, Charlotte was
chatting with Amara as she was bored.

Amara

Amara : Hey! How’s it going?

Charlotte:Uhh… not that great

41
Amara : Why??

Charlotte: Well , Sara isn’t that nice

Amara : But it’s not fair! We wanted to adopt

you

Charlotte: I know but Sara’s so bossy!

Amara : How is she even related to you??

Charlotte: No Idea!!!

Amara : So what do you do there?

42
 Charlotte : CHORES!!

Amara : OMG i feel bad

Charlotte : So how are you doing?

Amara : it's a little boring but i'm good. Liam’s

not.

Charlotte : Why??

Amara : Because Liam misses you!

Charlotte : Ok im gonna go talk to him now bye!!

Amara : Bye!!!

43
So she then went to text Liam :

Liam

Charlotte: Hey , Liam!

Liam: Charlotte!! Hi!!

Charlotte : So how are you?

Liam : Ok , i guess how ‘bout you?

Charlotte : well.. Not so good i have to do a

LOT of chores

Liam : Oh , is Sara mean?

44
 Charlotte: Kinda but she tells us NEVER to

go into her room and not to snoop around

Liam: That’s so suspicious!

Charlotte : It is but the investigators say

that my parents’ case has nothing to do with

yours!

Liam : Interesting but i think it does

Charlotte : SAME!!

Liam : They might be lying

Charlotte : Told ya!

Liam : ok, u were right!

45
 Charlotte : Well i gotta go wash the dishes

now bye!

Liam : Ok , Bye!! Best of luck and text me

back later!

Charlotte wasn’t having that much fun in her ‘new house’ but
Amara and Liam weren’t doing so well either. After all they
missed Charlotte. While Charlotte was washing the dishes , she
noticed a weird letter in the path from the mailbox and decided
to open it :

46
Dear ______

You must know that we are coming for you! You're not

going to get away with this and we will get to the bottom

of this! You are one who is causing trouble and you must

know that in the end - you will be the one telling the

truth. You framed me SO many times and you betrayed

me!

47
 - Anonymous

Chapter 7: Going Undercover

48
Charlotte couldn’t tell who it was for or who wrote it , but she told
Amara and Liam ALL about it. As soon as she was hurriedly putting
the letter down on the same place where she had found it, Sara saw
her.

“PUT THAT NOTE DOWN NOW!” she barked.

“Sara, what is it? I know there’s something going on around

here and you know answers!” said Charlotte

“CHARLOTTE WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT SNOOPING

AROUND? THIS IS NOT SOMETHING YOU SHOULD BE
LOOKING AT!” Sara yelled.

49
“Sara, I didn't snoop. I found it right here and who is it for?
Who wrote it?” Charlotte questioned her back, ignoring her
angry expression.

“It’s an old letter and I don't know now go back to your room!”
Sara hastily said, trying to grasp her firm manner from before.

“Sara -” Charlotte further asked, only to close her mouth

promptly again after Sara’s outburst.

“CHARLOTTE,” Sara interrupted as she pointed to her room

“ENOUGH!”

Charlotte went back to her room and Charlie was there on his
bed staring at the ceiling.

50
“Charlotte, why are we put with her?” he asked her.

“I don't know but for now just play along with me. As soon as
we get those words about giving us back to the adoption center
out of her mouth we can escape.” Charlotte replied.

Charlie nodded but was still upset. He turned over on his bed
and closed his eyes. Charlotte sat down next to him and hugged
him tight.

She wondered what more would be in suit for her? And what
was that letter about? It all sounded so mysterious and
strange!

51
The next day, Sara was more bossy and rude than ever. After
Charlotte found the note, she was behaving very carefully around her
and tried not to mention it.

Sara, however, was acting strange and mysterious. She had just
gotten 3 emails, all sent at 7:00 am in the morning, with the subject,
‘Your Outing At Three Pm’. Charlotte saw them but did not ask
anything about them. She wanted to know where people were going
at 3:00 and why they were disappearing. She wanted to follow Sara.

Charlotte was ever so curious , but she couldn’t leave Charlie alone so
she took him with her. Sara left the house at 3:00 not caring about
telling Charlotte and Charlie but they followed her. Sara was in her
car so they took a Taxi and told the driver to follow her.

52
Even though the driver was curious, they said that Sara knew she
was being followed. Time passed and it had been 2 hours since they
were in the car. She then pulled up at a black building with
THOUSANDS of Guards there. Sara was easily let in and all she had
to do was scan a card into the machine. Charlotte had an idea and
went up to the entrance. Before she had left the house, she bought
disguises with her.so what r we supposed to do now?

In Charlotte’s disguise she bought some lipstick and a pair of high

heels (all nicked from Sara’s closet!) to make her look like a grown up.
She put on sunglasses so she didn’t get recognized.

In Charlie’s disguise he wore a costume like the guards situated at

the door (Suspiciously, In sara’s closet, there were suits for the
guards with the label ‘extra clothes for the guards.’) They turned
towards the guards.

53
Charlotte said , “Hi there , I’m going in with Sara.”

The Guard merely grunted and said, “Let me see your key card first!”

Charlotte coughed loudly as a signal for Charlie to come in.

With a disguise as a guard, Charlie said, “Hey, hey watch it! This
Lady is going with Sara. She came to me saying that there will be
someone coming for her.”

The Guard answered , “But we can’t have family members visit , this
is for work ONLY.”

54
Charlotte quickly muttered back with, “I know that’s why I AM here
for work! I came in for my post left at the company level. She told me
to come at this time.”

The Guard asked her, “Oh, are you the new H.Q.R (Highly Qualified
Researcher) agent?”

Charlotte confirmed, “Yes , Yes that’s me! Sara told me about this
job but never gave me a keycard!”

The Guard said , “Alright , then I'll call her just to confirm that she
brought you here. Security measures are strict these days, Selia’s
tightened it up.”

55
As soon as the guard looked away , Charlie and Charlotte ran into
the building and snuck into a room.

The guard glimpsed them as they left and shouted , “FULL

LOCKDOWN! INTRUDERS ENTER!”

The second guard yelled, “Everyone, go look for those intruders, and
activate all cameras!”

By the time Charlotte and Charlie were inside the building , there
were HUNDREDS of guards looking for them and there were
cameras in EVERY ROOM!

There was a door that had a fingerprint scan on it to enter.

Charlotte knew that there were her answers. Sara still didn’t know
what was going on so she continued with her ‘work’.

56
Sara was on a computer and beside her were big piles of documents.
Charlotte occupied an empty computer cubicle then hacked into the
system so the Cameras changed to monitor somewhere else.
Charlotte and Charlie quickly crouched down and were hiding beside
a wall right next to Sara’s room. Then there was a Lady who looked
EXACTLY like Sara who came up to her; She led her into the ‘private
only’ room.Sara went in but Charlotte and Charlie couldn’t see
anything because that door looked like it was made out of Titanium.
No one could see what was inside but Charlotte wanted to know
where her parents were. The lady who brought Sara into the room
was a look alike of Sara, and Charlie thought they might be twins.

57
Suddenly, There were Guards coming in EVERY direction and there
was no escape. Charlotte quickly ran into a room and locked in
herself. But Charlie was still outside! He knew there was no way he
would get into Charlotte’s room but he ran like lightning.

It had been 20 minutes and Guards were still chasing Charlie, but he
had been caught eventually.

The Guard shouted, “WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING

HERE?!”

Charlie replied , “We know you’ve taken our parents!”

58
The Guard demanded he listen and said, “Listen i don't know who
your parents are but you NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE ….
BEFORE Selia comes in!”

Charlotte saw that Charlie was caught so she went out of her room
and yelled , “LEAVE HIM ALONE!!”

But the Guard said , “You just need to go before Selia sees you, i don't
have enough time to explain!”

Charlotte asked for the sake of information, “What’s her last name?”

The guard responded with, “Woondensburth , Selia Woodensburth.”

59
They soon went out of the building without being seen by anyone else.
So when they were at home, Charlotte researched Selia
Woodersburth and it said that she worked for a Company named
“H.D.S.A” (Higher developed Secret Agency) And that she had a twin
called Sara! Charlotte was amazed ; Sara was Selia’s twin! And it
said that there is a website called “Selia Woodensburth’s true
identity!” But when Charlotte clicked on it everything was blurred
out! The website had been closed down!

Soon it was a surprise that Sara came back home! It was 5:00 and
she hadn’t gone missing! It was shocking! Charlotte guessed that
Selia had let her off lightly.

Charlotte asked ,”Sara , do you have any twins or siblings?”

60
Sara replied , “No , umm… why?”

Charlotte responded , “No reason just curious..”

But then Charlotte asked , “What’s your last name?”

Sara answered , “Woodensburth , Charlotte, but why are you

asking?”

Charlotte quickly shot back with , “I just wanted to get to know you
better!”

So Charlotte knew that they were twins but why wouldn’t Sara
admit it?

61
I think we’ve got to be detectives for a while, Charlotte thought,
laying on her bed. She pulled out her phone and texted Amara and
Liam. It was the first time in days that she had texted them again.

Amara

Charlotte: hey Amara! I got some

news to tell u!
Amara: Hi! What news do u have?

Charlotte: Listen, so Sara went off

At 3:00, just like ur parents.
Amara: Oh, no! Did she come back?

Charlotte: Yes. But me and Charlie,

followed her. She went into this
Fancy building and she has a twin
Who is the boss of a secret Company!
Which also probably has our parents!
Amara: OMG! Im gonna go tell Liam. Bye

62
 Liam

Charlotte: Hey, liam! Got something

To tell u…
Liam: Amara already told me...it’s
Very suspicious…
Charlotte: ok, cool...but i had an
Idea. Do u guys want to make a
Detective agency with me?
Liam: Sure! That sounds cool! I’ll
Ask Aunt Gina if we can visit you
Tomorrow.
Charlotte:
Charlotte Okay,
heaved a sighgreat!
of relief. Both Amara and Liam were visiting
tomorrow and they would help her figure it all out.

She suddenly remembered something. “I’ve got to go and ask Sara if

they can come!” she blurted out.

She rushed off to find Sara and asked her. Surprisingly, she said yes.

Charlotte informed Amara and Liam and they also said Aunt Gina
gave them permission. Charlotte smiled happily and went to get a
notebook. She wrote in it, The Secret Higher Detectives.

63
No, too revealing, she thought. She wrote something else. Mission
S.H.D.

Charlotte liked that. She wrote more and more clues in the book.

Mission S.H.D
Sara and Charlotte’s real
Parents, and her adopted ones all
Went out at 3:00.
Only Sara came back; the
Others all disappeared.
The owner of the company is
Sara’s twin, ‘Selia Woodensburth’

Clues:
There was a secret letter unamed
Mailed to sara.
There were emails for Sara to go
Out at 3:00.
My adopted parents were doing
Something with papers before going
Out the next day.
What to work out:
Where are the parents?
Who is Selia?
What is this company?

64
Charlotte glanced at the paper the next day. She stuck it in a black
folder she found laying around. Amara and Liam came at around 4:30
pm.

Chapter 8 : The Anonymous

Author

65
That day, when Amara and Liam came at 4:30pm , they still needed
to unblur the Website, because that was their first clue. Amara said
that she needed Charlotte to hack into the Website and Amara
would do the rest. Liam and Charlie looked at the note for any
missing clues. Charlotte wasn’t having trouble hacking in and in just
over a minute she managed to hack into it. Amara made the website
private so nobody could see it.Then she edited it and within seconds ,
they could see everything.The text in the website said :

Selia Woodernsburth is the boss of a secret Agency ; She made it

when Sara betrayed her and she had no choice but to do something
terrible to her. Sara already had her own company and was taking
over hers.

They had already made notes and a checklist, where Amara crossed

out ‘fix the website.’

66
Charlotte was in deep thought. She pointed to the screen and said,
“What are those spaces for? Who betrayed her? Who’s company took
over?”

Amara shrugged her shoulders and tried to think more about it.

Liam suddenly cried out, “It’s covered! In white!”

Amara and Charlotte were very confused. Then in a moment they

turned back to the website and had Amara do some editing so that
they could highlight, underline and type more things. They highlighted
the gaps.

67
Selia Woodernsburth is the boss of a secret Agency ; She made it
whenSara betrayed her and she had no choice but to do something
terrible to her. Sara already had her own company and was taking
over her’s.

The gaps both said Sara. Charlotte and Amara and Liam looked at
each other in delight. They solved their first clue! But then their
smiles turned to confused expressions when they realized they still
had to know what was happening at 3 o’clock. Charlotte vividly
described the huge titanium door where Selia took Sara inside. They
researched more about the agency.

They soon found one website that actually said,

‘TheLifeOfSeliaandSaraWoodensburth.com’ they grinned at each
other and opened it. It was a short biography with main points
noted down.

68
-Sara and Selia woodensburth were born on 21st May, 1995.

- After their school years, Sara went off to a business workshop

where she learnt how to run a successful company.

- Selia was deciding what college to go to and she was looking at

pamphlets and advertisements of different ones. Suddenly, Selia saw
some papers which were plans for Sara’s big company.

- Sara promised that Selia could also have a choice to run the
company with her if she liked.

- Sara started up the company which grew into a blooming success!

- Sara, unfortunately didn't allow Selia to run it with her, which

made Selia angry.

- She made her own company and went to the same business
workshop and rivaled against Sara’s company. It was better than
Sara’s.

69
- Sara left her company and went back home, earning money by
creating an online business website and starting business
opportunities.

- Selia started doing something different with her company. But I

know what she did. She made people go out at 3 pm and….

Charlotte glanced at all this and sighed. They had gotten very good
answers to this mystery but they still hadn't figured out what was
happening behind the titanium door!

Charlotte still wanted to look at other websites related to the subject

of selia and her company.

70
So she kept on surfing the web until she found a website called :
‘ExposingSeliaWoodensburth/Stories.com’ So she clicked on it. It
contained mostly stories about people who disappeared and a lot
about Selia’s company.

One short article stuck out to Charlotte.

Selia Woodernsburth Captured Smith Jones And Madeline

Jones (Liam and Amara’s Parents)

Selia’s trickery to one pair of her captured people was when she had told them
that they were coming to a Gallery at 3:00 then told them that the Gallery was
behind the door. But they never came back from the so called ‘Gallery’

We’re still investigating and we will track Selia woodensburth down! Find More
Information at : ‘SeliaWoddensburth’sTRUEstory.com’

71
Charlotte was amazed that there were so many websites about Selia.
She started to think about that, before half-heartedly clicking the
link of the website mentioned.

Error ⚠️

This Website has been blocked due to its Content.

The creator has been disabled and not currently allowed to display the contents.

But before Charlotte could log off , Sara came into the room.

“Charlotte, I’m looking for my computer. Have you seen it?” she asked.

72
“No, not at all,” Charlotte replied as she was slamming the Computer
shut. “I was wondering, could I have a sleepover at Amara and Liam’s
tonight?”

“No , Charlotte! What makes you think that? These dishes aren’t
going to clean themselves! Get to work and call your Brother!”

Suddenly Sara got a phone call and immediately told Charlotte the
opposite of whatever she had just ordered her to do.

“Charlotte , go grab your Brother! I have some work to do and you’ll

be staying at Aunt Gina’s for 3 days. I have a guest coming over and
you two troublemakers need to stay out of my way!” she said, hastily
changing her orders.

73
“What kind of work?” Charlotte questioned.

“Charlotte, don't be so nosey and go pack your bags!” replied Sara,

who’s bossy expression changed into a look of fear as she kept on
listening to the call.

74
Chapter 9 : Sleepover Secrets
Part 1
Charlotte rolled her eyes and left the room. Then she grabbed her
phone. She had made a group with amara and liam, instead of texting
them individually.

Amara & Liam

Charlotte : Hey guys!

Liam : Hi! So what did Sara say about a

sleepover?

Charlotte : She first

said no but then got this call about work and

75
said yes!And i can stay for 3 days!!

Amara : That’s awesome Charlotte! C u then! Bye!

Charlotte : Bye!!

Charlotte stuffed her computer into her bag when she remembered
she didn’t turn it off properly. She opened it and was shocked to see
that it said,

ERROR!

YOUR COMPUTER IS UNABLE TO RECOVER FROM UNEXPECTED

SHUTDOWN

76
Charlotte switched off her Computer immediately.

As soon as she arrived at Aunt Gina’s, she took out her computer and
ran to Liam’s room.

“Liam! Come Quick! Now!! I need your help!” she screamed.

“Come now!!”

So Liam ran to her and she turned on her computer.

She explained , “Look , I can't log off! And my computer says it can't
recover from this error!”

77
“How did this happen?” asked Liam, staring at the computer screen
and frowning.

“It all started when i tried to go onto this website about Selia and
now i can’t log off or do anything!” she whispered to Liam, looking
around so that nobody heard her.

“Leave it to me to sort this out. Go and have fun! Amara’s waiting for
you! She got some new board games, actually!” He said while typing
keys on the computer.

Aunt Gina stepped into the doorway of Liam’s room. “Hello, Charlotte!
It’s good to see you!”

“Hi Aunt Gina!” said Charlotte politely while hugging her.

78
She then went to Amara’s room and sat on her bed.

“Anything new?” Amara asked her first thing.

“Not really , but Liam’s helping me fix my Computer. I think it’s

frozen or something.” Charlotte replied

Then Liam rushed into the room, screaming.

“Charlotte!! Someone’s trying to hack into your computer! And I

can’t unfreeze the screen, the person froze your screen and is
hacking into your computer! The person’s name is : Unknown_0503!”

79
“What?! Well , can’t you stop it?! Come on, do it quickly!” said
Charlotte as she stood up and panicked.

“I can't! The frozen screen will only go when he or she finishes

hacking into your computer! The only thing I can do now is disable all
the websites you’ve been on so I can try and unfreeze the screen.
Amara, then you can put it on Safety Mode!” Liam yelled while
vigorously typing on the computer, his expression full of fear.

Soon they hurried so fast in their protection of the computer that

they stopped the hacker but he or she didn’t give up there.

80
Unkown_0503

Unkown_0503 : Hello Charlotte , Liam and

Amara.

Charlotte: How do you know our names?

Unkown_0503 : I'm sure you know who i am by

now

Charlotte : No , we don’t and anyways leave us

alone!

Unkown_0503 : I thought you were smarter than

that

81
Charlotte : What?!

Unkown_0503 : Hacking into websites , making

an investigation. Surely you should know who I

am.

Charlotte : Just leave us alone or i’ll block you

for good

Unkown_0503 : I think there’s something you

should know before you block me

Charlotte : What is it?

Unkown_0503 : Your Parents are still Alive.

Charlotte : WHO EVEN ARE YOU?!

Unkown_0503 : Robert Jones

Charlotte : Wait , you’re Smith’s Brother?!

82
You’re amara and liam’s uncle?

Unkown_0503 : Yes , I am.

Charlotte : So why did you hack into my

computer?!

Unkown_0503 : Because the Website is

dangerous , be aware

Charlotte : Ok , But can we meet up somewhere?

You have the clues we need!!

{System} This User Has Gone Offline.

Charlotte : Text me back when you're online.

⚠️Error!: Message not Sent. You Have been Blocked

Charlotte: Please! Don't block me! Tell me some

clues, please! What’s happened to my parents?

83
⚠️Message Not Delivered

Then Charlie rushed into the room and said, “Hey guys! Sorry, I was
just snacking on some chips.”

Charlotte glared at him and said, “ We're not supposed to be here to

eat chips, we're solving clues here and I think I just found out
something. She then showed him the text.

“What evidence do we have that he’s actually your uncle?” asked

Charlie to Liam.

Liam replied , “We don't have evidence but I can track him down and
we can go there tomorrow.”

84
Charlotte asked him quite curiously, “Why do we need to track him
down? He’s your uncle! You should know where he lives!”

Liam said, “He just moved a few days back, for his job, just before the
first day you came here! And after that they were busy with work, so
we really didn’t visit him that much.”

Amara shook her head and said, “No, this is a basic internet rule!
You can’t meet up with strangers! Even if we track our uncle down,
and it really is him, there’s something off. And my uncle would have at
least used his username. Look, here he is on my messenger app!”
Amara took out her phone and showed her uncle’s name and profile
picture.

“He always has a profile picture, and his username on the app is
Robert_Jones3432!”

85
Charlotte calmly said , “I know this seems so fishy and weird, but it
is but it’s for Mom and Dad.”

Amara sighed and nodded.

Soon, they found his location .

Liam said , “Ok he lives on Block 254, In Woodgreen Estate, House

Number 31.”

Charlotte wrote it all down. To relieve some stress, they watched a

movie and went to bed at around 11:30 at night.

86
Charlotte woke up in the early morning to go get some water from the
kitchen and saw Aunt Gina’s laptop open.

It was open to the same chat Charlotte had with Unknown_0503.

Charlotte looked into one of the tabs that was open and it was the
website that Charlotte couldn’t log into. But Aunt Gina had got in.
She then copied the information and sent it to herself then removed
the evidence.

She suddenly saw Aunt Gina in the Kitchen with LOTS of papers in
her hand.

Charlotte asked, “What are you up to, Aunt Gina?!”

87
Aunt Gina got startled and said , “So you’ve been snooping around
just like how you did in the Secret Agency of Mine.”

Charlotte questioned her and said, “How do you even know about that
and why did you say it's YOUR agency?”

Aunt Gina let out a chuckle of mirthless laughter and said, “It’s my
agency of work as I've been hired to work there.”

Charlotte still asked her, “And how do you know what happened
between me and Smith Jones?”

Aunt Gina responded back with, “You're supposed to be in bed now

Charlotte!”

88
Charlotte fought back and said , “And you’re not supposed to be
looking into my conversations!”

Aunt Gina hesitated and yelled , “I had to! It was my only choice.”

Charlotte yelled, “For what? For who? Why? I need information! The
company’s bad, not good!”

89
Aunt Gina said softly , “I’ve been hired to work at the new office and
the payment is HUGE! I haven’t been able to find a job recently and
I have to pay off the school fees for Liam and Amara. But I didn't
have enough money to do that. So once I got the job I had to agree
to it. Until I figured out that Selia Woodensburth owns the place ,
and she knows who you are, Charlotte! She knows about you
sneaking into the place and she is Unkown_0503! It’s NOT Smith
Jones , it’s Selia. So i’ve been hired to see what you four are up to.
And if i don’t then i will have to go through the titanium door and i
don't know what’s behind it.”

Charlotte cried , “Then call the Authorities on her, it’s not too late,
Aunt Gina!!”

90
Aunt Gina explained , “I can’t because the Authorities won’t believe
me. Selia has all the fake proof she needs to make the authorities
believe her.”

But then Charlotte went back up the stairs and told the rest
EVERYTHING in the morning.

Charlotte brought her phone out and started texting Sara :

Sara 😠

91
Charlotte : Sara I need to tell you something

now!

Sara : Charlotte , I’m working right now! Stop

disturbing me!

Charlotte : It’s about Selia Woodensburth

Sara : HOW DO YOU EVEN KNOW HER?!

Charlotte : I thought you were working , Sara!

Sara : TELL ME NOW

Charlotte : We hacked into a website…

Sara : YOU DID WHAT?!

Charlotte : And we know what happened between

you two

Sara : WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!

92
CHARLOTTE YOU AND CHARLIE ARE IN HUGE

TROUBLE

Charlotte : Oh , Yeah? Well i have proof that

you’re not related to me

Sara : WHAT PROOF?!

Charlotte:Thelifeofseliaandsarawoodensburth.co

Sara : WHERE DID YOU FIND THAT

WEBSITE?! YOU HACKED INTO IT TOO?!

Charlotte : I did , and if you DON'T Confront

Selia then you can go to jail

Sara : UGH WHY ARE YOU BEING SO

93
DIFFICULT HERE?!

Charlotte : So will you do it or not?!

Sara : Fine , but then you forget this EVER

happened

Charlotte : Deal

{System} This user has gone offline.

Charlotte: Why did Selia take my parents and

what is Selia doing to them?

94
So Sara had told the Adoption Center that she didn’t want to take
care of them anymore, so Liam and Amara told Aunt Gina to hurry
to the Adoption Center to take Charlotte and Charlie. But Aunt Gina
said that she can’t handle having 4 kids and she didn’t have enough
money for them. So someone else offered to take care of them. But
they weren’t related to Charlotte and Charlie as they couldn’t find
anyone who was.

The adopters were welcoming at first impression, but Charlotte and

Charlie couldn’t really feel they were safe or happy with their new
family.

A lady called Aubrey, who had adopted them, wore a plain white shirt
and some Jeans to match with it. She looked very nice and sweet. Her
hair was auburn and her eyes were hazel brown. Her hair was short
and wavy.

95
Then, standing next to her was a man called Leo, who looked like her
husband and had brown hair and deep chestnut-colored eyes. He
wore a black shirt and some Jeans as well. He also looked nice.

Then they had a daughter called Luna. She was 16 years old with
black hair that was cut short which reached her shoulders and was
neatly tied in a ponytail, and she was wearing a shimmery-orange
jumpsuit with baby pink colored-sneakers and she had dark brown
eyes. Her smile was nice and welcoming. She seemed trustful and kind
enough.

But before they went home, Aubrey agreed to let Charlotte and
Charlie stay for another day with Aunt Gina.

96
Sleepover Secrets Part 2
Charlotte and Liam didn’t want to go with Aubrey , Leo and Luna
but they had no choice.

From when Sara had given up taking care of Charlotte and Charlie,
no one heard from her ever since. Charlotte started thinking that
Sara had lied to her so she pulled out her phone.

Sara 😠

Charlotte : Did you confront her yet??

Sara : Uhh.. Not yet.

97
Charlotte : WE HAD AN AGREEMENT!

Sara : But she’s my Sister

Charlotte : And she betrayed you!!

Sara : And you hacked into a website to find

that out!

Charlotte : I want her confronted by the end of

the day.

Sara : Ok…

Charlotte : Confront her by 5:30 and report it to

the Local news

Sara : How much evidence do you need?!

Charlotte : I’ll believe it when i see it!

Sara : Ugh fine. Why are you so against her

98
anyways?!

Charlotte : SHE KIDNAPPED MY PARENTS!

Sara : Wait - You think she did it?!?!?!

Charlotte : I KNOW SHE DID IT!

Sara : No , She didn’t!!

Charlotte : Ok then tell me what happened

behind that door.

Sara : I can’t tell you

Charlotte : Would you rather be in Jail?!

Sara : HOW LONG ARE YOU GOING TO

BLACKMAIL ME FOR?!

Charlotte : Give me evidence and tell me what

happened behind the door then I'll stop.

99
Sara : Why don’t you hear it from Selia herself?!

Charlotte : I’d love to.

Sara : I’ll mail you her address.

Charlotte : Good , now I got to go. Bye

Sara : Bye

Charlotte and Charlie were super worried to go home with Aubrey ,

Leo and Luna. Liam and Amara tried to calm them down.

100
Aunt Gina was always out of the house now that she worked for
Selia. Her next ‘Mission’ was to block ALL of the websites about Selia
but before she blocked them all, Aunt Gina sent them to Charlotte.

Aunt Gina wasn’t necessarily an enemy to Charlotte, Amara and

Liam, including Charlie, but she still had to do her job, which she did,
only for the payment and with reluctant nods to do extreme
measures against the kids.

There were so many websites to block that Aunt Gina couldn’t do it

by herself. There were 4 other people working with her: Tom , Emma
Olivia and Lucas. They were all in the same situation as Aunt Gina ,
they had to pay off so much stuff that at this point, they would do
ANYTHING to get a raise.

101
It was Charlotte and Charlie’s last day until they had to go home
with Aubrey , Leo and Luna. Charlotte and Charlie didn’t have a good
experience with Sara so they had no idea what they were like. They
seemed nice and friendly but Charlotte was still nervous to go and
meet them.

Amara and Liam were so disappointed that Aunt Gina couldn’t take
care of Charlotte and Charlie but they had to go through with it.

Liam occupied himself and built a small, simple device, which was like
a walkie talkie but with more buttons on it. It was actually a device
that could see through metals, and also, titanium! It also could be
used to communicate with one and other.

102
So all Charlotte and Charlie had to do was sneak into the Agency
(Again!) and point the device at the titanium door. Then they could
either call Amara and Liam or they could text them. Liam said that
Aunt Gina told them that in the Agency there are secret concealed
cameras and Liam thought it would be a risk to use phones.

It was coming to the last few hours that Charlotte and Charlie then
had to move in with Aubrey , Leo and Luna. Charlotte couldn’t stop
thinking about what it would be like with them.

103
The time had come that Aubrey , Leo and Luna came to pick them up.
Aubrey was really nice about it and as they were in the Car , Aubrey
started conversations with them. Charlie and Charlotte just smiled
as they didn’t feel comfortable trusting them so quickly. Charlie was
being nice and started talking to them. But Charlotte on the other
hand , didn’t say a single word. She just nodded her head and smiled.
Her head was filled with Questions that she wanted answers to. It
was only 20 minutes they had to spend in the car driving to their
house but for Charlotte it felt like AGES.

Surprisingly, They knew about Selia and their parents going missing.

“Oh, were your parents also captured by that Selia Woodensburth?”

asked Leo casually.

Charlotte was surprised and said, “Yes.”

104
Aubrey and Leo tried to get Charlotte talking about her detective
agency, her clues and many other things. Charlotte didn’t really
notice anything weird so she poured it out to them. Suddenly, when
she saw Aubrey and Liam exchange a small smirk, she started getting
a funny feeling. She realized what she had done. OH NO! I’VE
LITERALLY SAID EVERYTHING, ALL OUR CLUES, WHAT WE’RE
GONNA DO, AND ABOUT THE COMPUTER AND WEBSITE!
NOOOOO! she thought.

She hurriedly pulled out her phone and started texting Amara and
Liam.

She also found out that someone had hacked into her message app
and disabled her group chat with amara and liam. She downloaded
another message app, and texted them.

105
Amara & Liam (the new group)

Charlotte: guys! U here? My message app is

hacked! I had to do this instead!

Liam: Yeah, us too! What’s going on?

Charlotte: I’ve literally said everything to Aubrey

and Leo about Selia and the company and our

clues!

Amara: Oh NO! I don't want to be angry with you,

but have you told them about the device?

106
Charlotte: thankfully, no. But i think Aubrey and

Leo are spies for Selia….Their daughter Luna isn't

the same..maybe we should talk to her and let her

join this agency?

Liam : First try and see if she’s up to something

like we think her Parents are. We can’t trust her

too soon.

Amara: Let’s also change some of our plans. Come

over sometime!

Charlotte: Ok! And i’ll also bring Luna, If that’s

okay?

107
Liam: Sure! Please remember not to slip anything

else about our plans and the agency to Aubrey

and Leo!

Charlotte: I'm soooo sorry about that! But I

promise I won't!

Then Charlotte went to Luna and Started asking her some questions.

108
“Hi Luna! Do you mind if I asked you a few questions? I’m writing a
report about my new family!” said Charlotte

Luna responded and said, “Oh , Sure!!”

“Ok , so what would you do if someone VERY close to you was evil and
wanted you to join in with them so they can get paid more?”
Charlotte asked her.

“Umm… Well it depends on what they’re doing but I don't think I

would join in with them.” answered Luna truthfully.

So Charlotte started writing this down. She then tried to ask

unrelated questions to the company and Selia so Luna wouldn’t get
suspicious.

109
Charlotte asked , “And if you could go anywhere in the world where
would you go?”

“Ok , I would go…. Anywhere else that’s NOT here.” responded Luna.

“Why?” asked Charlotte .

“I think this place is a little much for me. There’s too many things
going on here and because of my Parents job we can’t move. And I
have to wait until I’m 18 to move away.” said Luna, showing a knack
to go along with honesty and truth.

“And what’s your parents job?” Charlotte questioned

110
“Uhh... Well they work for a factory.” she said, and charlotte
couldn’t help noticing her face grew uncomfortable at this question.

“What factory?” Charlotte prompted.

“Ok, Fine. They work for Selia Woodensburth.” she confessed and
continued. “And she wants them to bring you and Charlie to her.”

Charlotte was in shock and asked Luna if she wanted to join their
detective Agency. Luna agreed to it but she told her Parents that she
was ‘spying’ on them. That was the only reason why her Parents
agreed to it.

111
So they invited Luna to the Group chat.

Spy Agency Group Chat!

Luna : Hello everyone!

Amara : Luna??

Charlotte : I invited her , we can trust her.

Amara : Oh , ok!

Charlie : Cool!! A Group Chat!

112
Liam : So what’s up?

Charlotte : Aubrey and Leo work for Selia and

they are supposed to ‘spy’ on us to bring us to

Selia!!

Amara : WHAT?!

Charlie : Luna , do you have any chips in the

Kitchen?

113
Charlotte: snacks don't matter now, why are u

thinking about chips?

Amara: haha

Liam: Charlotte’s right...we gotta do

something...so Luna, umm, we basically have this

device that i made that can see through metal

and communicate with people.

114
Amara: Charlie and Charlotte are gonna sneak

around the company and use the device in front

of the titanium door and then she’s going to talk

to us.

Charlotte: well that looks like our plan for now

Luna : We’ll need more than that. You need a

disguise and something that makes sure that

people don’t notice you. You can say that you’re

signing up for the Teen role job and you can take

my Card with you. That way they’ll believe you.

115
Charlotte: We have disguises, but i don't know

about the second bit u said…

Amara: How bout we do a video call now? Let’s

discuss items, and Charlotte, u left your notebook

of clues and stuff here, so we can show that to

Luna as well!

Luna: Ok!

Charlotte: I’ll call u guys!

116
So they had a video meeting and talked about many things. Liam
showed the lots of clues they had to Luna and they agreed to mix
things up for Aubrey’s parents.

“So, what we’ll do is, Luna, you can tell your parents that Charlotte
and Charlie are going to break in at the company on...let’s say
....Wednesday! But, we’re actually gonna go earlier than that,
probably on tuesday, and first of all, we need to discuss the one thing
to get in. How will we disguise ourselves so that nobody notices us?”
said Liam, rounding up the meeting and talking about the final things
they had to do.

117
118
Chapter 10 : Titanium Truthbook

They had it ALL planned out. Everything was in order and they were
going to break in. Luna was with Charlotte and Charlie and she had
stolen a map of the place from her Parents so they knew where to go.
Leo barged into the room and said that he wanted to talk with Luna
privately.

“Luna, Selia said she wants to know what Charlotte and Charlie are
up to. I already told her what Charlotte told me and she wants all
evidence that it's true and if you find out what they’re up to then
Selia is giving up a raise.” explained Leo.

119
“Ok ,well they told me that they’re breaking into the Agency on
Wednesday. And that's the day after tomorrow so be prepared to
capture them!” lied Luna.

Everything was in order and they thought that Charlotte and

Charlie were breaking in on Wednesday. They had outsmarted them
successfully. Charlotte and Charlie were actually breaking in on
Tuesday!

It was the final day that they were planning. Luna , Charlotte and
Charlie were going to Aunt Gina’s. They went through the plan one
more time. Aunt Gina was not in the house because she had work to
do so they could be as loud as they wanted to be. Charlotte was so
excited and scared to do it. Charlie was so happy because he always
wanted to be a spy.

120
Charlotte was pretending to be Sara. She had the lipstick from her
that she had stolen from before and wore a red dress from Luna
that looked like the one Sara had. Amara printed a fake card for
Charlotte so it looked like she was Sara. Charlotte knew that Sara
didn’t confront Selia yet.

They had already checked that the real Sara was home, by video
calling her in the morning with a fake username and pretending they
had called the wrong number. (courtesy of Liam) She didn’t know
Liam, so she really thought he was some stranger and it was a
mistake he had called her.

And Charlie was pretending to be signing up for the teen’s role. He

also had a fake card. Charlotte and Charlie had put some cordless
earphone’s (courtesy of Amara) in their ears where they could hear
what Luna and Liam told them to say.

121
Everything was in order, and all they had to do next was tell Leo and
Aubrey that they were going to ‘watch a movie’. They had practiced
telling them this many times and Aubrey and Leo were also at work
24/7 because they had to be prepared when they thought that
Charlotte and Charlie were coming in on Wednesday.

The day had come and Charlotte and Charlie were all prepared.
When they arrived at the Agency , Charlotte had a map in her
pocket , from Aubrey and Leo’s room, to see where she would go next.

Charlotte put on an accent like Sara’s and said , “Hello there I’m
here for the early register on the C level , here’s my Card.”

“Sure thing Sara. Are you here for the preparation for Wednesday?”
asked the Guard

122
Luna then told Charlotte to say , “No , I’m here for the titanium
Event, I heard it was my shift today.”

So the Guard let her in. Next up was Charlie, and Liam told him to
say, “I’m Harry Anderson , Tom Anderson’s Son. I’m here for the
Teen’s Role today. Here’s my Card.”

“Ok , let me check your name on my list.” The guard responded as he

scrolled down through his list “There it is! Here, come through to B
level.”

So they were both in. But Charlotte ran into Selia as she was trying
to find the door.

123
“Oh! Hey Sara, I wanted to ask you a question. Andy told me that it’s
his turn to do the Titanium event but I think Andy looks better as
an HQR so I might let him be the deputy HQR (high qualified
researcher) and then I think Mike should be the Leader HQR so
then you can do the Titanium Event.”

Charlotte didn’t understand a word she said but she replied , “Sure ,
i think that’s a great idea! But what are you gonna do with the Kids
once you get them?”

“Oh well since that Charlotte girl wants you to turn me in which
you’re obviously NOT going to do, Then i’ll just send them to Mara.
She'll be fine with them but that Charlotte girl thinks she can get
away with black-mailing you!

124
It’s a good thing you told me because i have ALL the proof i need
that i didn’t do anything wrong and i have all the fake proof you need
that you’re actually related to her!!” Selia responded without feeling
a trace of the real fact that she was doing wrong things by giving
people fake proof and etc.

“Awesome!! Just give me the proof right now and i’ll show it to them
when i need to.” Charlotte lied.

So Selia gave her some fake official papers with the proof and said ,
“Take these to the B floor, we have a new kid doing the teen’s role!
He’s Tom’s Son but keep him in that room and explain to him rule 5
and 6. Also he’s doing Mission 905.”

Then Charlotte agreed to what she said.

125
The guards seemed to be on a lookout. Charlotte grabbed Charlie
hurriedly and rushed to the titanium door. Before she actually opened
it, she put her ear to the door to listen for anybody. No sound came.
She opened the door, and Charlie followed her as they went in.
Behind the huge titanium material, was a cozy lounge room that
looked normal. There were small white pouffes everywhere, and there
was a red armchair next to a big window with enough space before it
for someone to read in the reflected sunlight. The room was bright
and welcoming, but Charlotte knew there was going to be something
fishy around here. She saw a bookshelf a few feet from the door and
went to look at it. There were no books there except one small
leathery brown book and a few objects like watches and fake plants
and pencils, etc.

126
Charlotte grabbed the book. This was no time for a comfortable
reading period next to the window. She stuffed the book into her
handbag, which she carried as part of her disguise. She remembered
when she had downloaded a book to read about detective techniques
and related things. She read something about secret entries and one
example was a door behind a bookshelf. She thought maybe this also
worked in this room. She called to Charlie and they both pushed the
bookshelf with all their might and saw a small wooden door concealed.
They tried to push open the door, but it didn’t work. She thought she
heard footsteps so she quickly pushed the book she found more tightly
into the handbag and hurried out of there. Because of her disguise as
Sara, no one really did anything when they saw her come out. She
handed in the grey card that Luna gave her. She swiped the card,
and left with Charlie. Amara and Liam and Luna were online,
waiting for details.

127
 Detective group chat!

Charlotte: we did it! We snooped in!

Amara: Details, please!

Luna: Did my idea work? Did they think you were

Sara and Charlie as Harry anderson and let you

in?

Charlotte: Yes, that was so clever, Luna! But

anyways, this is what happened. So we went in

through the titanium door and we found this nice

cozy-looking room. There were sofas and things

everywhere. So i first saw this bookshelf and

there was this small brown book there, which i

took and have right now..i think it's gonna be

some evidence.

128
Liam: hey sorry i'm late i had to go to the

bathroom..

Charlotte: that's fine..just read my last message

and i’ll continue here.

So I took the book and um Anyways, an entrance

was behind a bookshelf. We pushed the bookshelf

away and we found a door! But we couldn't do

anything because we heard Selia coming and

slipped out before she saw us. I saw what she

looked like and talked to her. She looks exactly

like my ex-adopter Sara, her twin.

129
Liam: wow thats a lot of details

Luna: this is great! We have so much evidence.

Now, my parents know about the agency, so we

cant come over to your house, Amara and Liam,

but we can have video meetings, because that's

our best option.

Amara: ok

Liam: yeah that's good

130
Charlotte: that was so much to type my fingers

are hurting but yeah

Charlie: Did Charlotte tell you what we did? Good,

cause luna, we’re at the back door, let us in, and

can i have those cookies you had after lunch?

Amara: haha Classic Charlie

Luna: sure! The cookies are in my room, first

drawer. I was having a snack.

131
Liam: ok! We should have a video meeting

tomorrow!

Amara: Sure!

Luna: ok! I got them in, and they r gonna get some

sleep, so bye guys!

Liam: bye!

Amara: bye! :)

132
After Charlotte’s and Charlie’s Naps, they started reading the book
with luna. They were super surprised when they found out about this:

Tuesday, 19th of April

So today Charlotte went to snoop in the company and I already warned

Selia, so when she got in, she would be arrested and turned in. Wait,
Ok, I've got to keep up the pretense and text in the group chat.

Ok, I'm back! Urgghh somehow Charlotte got in by disguising herself as

Sara and I told Selia that when she discovered someone broke in and
agreed with me we’re gonna turn them in somehow. No one’s ever gonna
find out about what's behind the door behind the bookshelf in the room.
I'm so smart! So now i'm gonna trap everyone. They think they can save
the day and destroy my plan, do they? But they’re wrong! I'm powerful
and I'm going to turn them in somehow!

133
 - Liam

Liam? Amara’s brother Liam was doing this? No, this couldn’t be
right. Thought Charlotte, feeling very scared.

Luna didn't say anything. She and Charlie knew that Liam was a
true friend and was super nice and helpful. But they still took a
picture of the page and sent it to Amara.

Amara

Charlotte : Look at the image!

134
Amara : No way that's not liam! He doesn't even

know Selia! I'm sure!

Charlotte : So you think he’s been Framed?

Amara: yes! But how does the real person

framing him know him at all?He doesn’t know any

dangerous people related to Selia or her

company!

Charlotte : That's so true!! But i still feel like we

should be careful around Liam

135
Amara: It's not Liam, but how do we get to know

the real writer of that weird book?

Charlotte : But if it’s not Liam then who else

knows that we snuck in??

Amara: Well our members of the agency know

and umm lets see, Luna’s parents and um Selia,

but she doesn't know the exact day when you

got in.

Charlotte : But Luna knows too and Today Leo

wanted to talk with her in Private!!

Amara: I feel like I can trust luna. I know she

136
 lied about the real information. She already did

it once for us!

Charlotte : But I asked Luna where she would

want to go and she said that because of her

parents job she can’t go anywhere so what if she

wanted to make money to travel?

Amara: I'm confused now, but it isn't Luna. You

can suspect her, but we need more suspects and

other people who are fully capable of being this

person.

137
Charlotte : Well we haven’t told anyone else so i

don't have any more Suspects.But just in Case i’ll

ignore Liam

Amara: hold up. When you saw a door behind the

bookshelf, you heard footsteps and left quickly.

What if those footsteps came from inside?

What if some dangerous person’s locked up

there along with our parents and other captured

people?!

Charlotte : Then , I’m going back there! If my

Parents are there i’m going to find them!

138
 Amara: tomorrow is Wednesday! Selia’s

expecting your arrival! You can't!

Charlotte : I’ll dress up as Sara again

Amara: the real sara’s gonna be there. U can't

dress up as her again.

Charlotte : Then i’m going on Thursday!And I'm

NOT changing my Mind.

139
 Amara: look, i agree, but not this thursday. And

also, we need to find out more from this diary.

If someone finds out about the agency and our

real plans, we need to do something and be super

secret!

Charlotte : Ok , fine but I’m going to snoop

around in Leo and Aubrey’s room. I’ll see what

they’re up to.

Amara: ok, but I'm super tired...lets work on our

plans for protection later.

:) bye!

140
Charlotte : Bye.

Charlotte felt like her trust with Liam fell apart , even though Amara
said he didn’t write it. She felt like he was framed but at the same
time she thought he did it. She decided to ignore Liam’s texts in the
morning. But Amara and her decided NOT to tell Liam about the
book because he would just deny it. In the morning Charlotte had
received MANY texts from Liam but she didn’t answer them.

Liam

Liam : Hey Charlotte!!

● 10 Minutes ago {Charlotte2315 is online}

141
Liam : So anything interesting yet?

● 25 Minutes ago

Liam : Charlotte?? Hello??

● 5 Minutes ago

Liam : Amara said you were texting her earlier.

● 15 Minutes ago

Liam : Charlotte? Why are you ignoring me??

● 10 Minutes ago

{Charlotte2315 is typing..}

Liam: hello? It says your typing but why are you

not answering me?

● 1 minute ago

142
 { Charlotte2315 has left}

Liam : Hello?? It says you’ve read all of my

messages and you left. Why aren’t you answering

me??

Liam knew that something was going on but Charlotte didn’t reply to
ANY of his Messages.

“Luna, should i tell Liam the truth?” Charlotte asked, staring at

her phone while she was lying on her bed “I feel kind of bad.”

143
“Well , it’s up to you. Even though he’s going to deny it, I think you
should just tell him you got the messages late and you’ve found out
what’s really going on.” responded Luna

“Ok , fine but I’ve agreed to snoop into your parents room later today.
Just distract them until i’m done.” said Charlotte.

“Sure thing. I can’t believe my parents are doing this.” agreed Luna

So Charlotte had it all planned out. Luna even told her about this
drawer that NO ONE was able to look into, which had lots of
information and they could do it quicker.

144
Charlotte carried on with her plan to snoop in Aubrey and Leo’s
room. They were out at the moment, so she asked Luna to stand
guard and warn her if they returned. Charlotte opened the door and
went in. It was a normal room except for the fact that there was a
weird looking black box with papers everywhere. She looked through
these papers, and made sure to put them back super messily to carry
out with her plan. Her plan was to ask Luna to tell her parents that
she was looking for the pages of the diary and that she still
suspected Liam so that they would slip the real name of the person
behind it. She gathered a few pages of the diary and just in time, as

Luna hissed, “They’re coming! They’re driving up the lane! Go! I’ll open
the door for them!”

Charlotte quickly went to her room and shut the door. Luna’s closet
was big and an ideal hiding spot so she crawled into it and started
looking through the pages. Meanwhile, she heard Luna’s voice.

145
“Yeah, Charlotte was snooping around, she told me she wanted more
pages of the diary and told me not to tell you but she would never
guess that I'm doing this.” lied Luna

Aubrey looked excited and said, “Hah! That west-end bandit’s doing a
good job fooling her and framing that weird boy Liam something.” she
laughed.

Luna nodded at Charlotte as she got out of the closet and peered
from a crack in the door.

“Who’s the west-end bandit?” asked Luna, staring hopefully at her

dad.

146
“Oh, we don't know! But he must be Selia’s boss or something. He’s
the real deal.” replied Leo, looking a little scared. “Of course, he’s also
behind ordering us to do things, so he’s a little scary.”

Luna rushed back to Charlotte, who nodded with a determined glint

in her eye. The west end bandit was going to be exposed.

They first searched the web for someone called the west end bandit
and found out that it was the nickname of a leader of a fighters
group in the first world war.

They immediately knew that this person wasn’t related to the

company at all as they found out that the company only started in
around 1980.

“Urghh!” cried out Charlotte in frustration.

147
“Who is this person? I think he’s hiding behind a code name,so that's
another reason why it's so hard to know who he is!” said Charlie,
snacking on cookies and thinking out loud.

“We know that he’s still a boss right now and he wrote this diary to
frame liam. It seems so weird. I'm so confused!” muttered Charlotte,
feeling muddled up and anxious.

Luna didn’t say anything but focusing on the phone with somewhat
of her brain clunking and clicking for answers.

“First thing we need is a short term goal. We can’t manage to sort

out a whole mystery on this day. Lets see, lets build from the small
things. I’ll say we try to figure out his real name first.” said Luna
wisely.

148
“How- do- we - do - that?” asked Charlie, now jumping on the bed in
rhythm of each word he said.

“We read the diary.” said Luna in an almost matter-of-fact voice.

They looked through a few more entries in the diary. Charlotte

remembered something quickly but hastened to reveal it later.

Thursday, 15th May

So today Charlotte is still not answering my messages. I suspect

she thinks i'm the one behind this book but im oh no wait i am!
Ugh can't erase this! Why did I write with a pen! Anyways she’s
suspecting me so i should stop writing for now and i’m going to
hatch a new plan. When she gets locked up….i rule again! That
meddlesome stupid girl like her won’t ever come in my way
again! I’ll be so powerful, everyone will bow to my feet! I’ll make
my army and punish those others captured good and hard!

149
 - Liam, about to become everyone’s powerful enemy!

Charlotte revealed what she had thought of.

“How is the person framing Liam writing these entries at all?” asked
Luna, her head tipped back, wondering.

“I think I know the answer to that.” said Charlotte, now trying to

understand all her clues, answers and everything she needed.

150
“Amara told me Liam sometimes journals on an app on his phone
everyday. Someone could have hacked into it to make part of these
diary entries and then he could frame him like the fact that he
warned Selia i was coming and the other things Liam was framed
for. I remember someone hacked into our message chat once. They
also took information from there. This isn't evidence, it’s bait!
They’re trying to get us to blame Liam and believe he’s betraying us!”

Luna and Charlie stared around looking dumbstruck.

Charlotte pulled out her phone and furiously texted amara and also
replied to Liam and confessed to him.

Amara :)

Charlotte: hey? Are you there?

Amara: Yes...what's going on?

151
Charlotte: So now I got proof that Liam didn't

write that diary.

Amara: thank goodness!

Charlotte: sorry about that but here’s what i

actually found out:

Amara: what proof?

Charlotte: here, this is the first thing i found

out, look im gonna type what he said in this entry:

152
So today Charlotte is still not answering my messages. I

suspect she thinks i'm the one behind this book but im oh no

wait i am! Ugh can't erase this! Why did I write with a pen!

Anyways she’s suspecting me so i should stop writing for now

and i’m going to hatch a new plan. When she gets locked up….i

rule again! That meddlesome stupid girl like her won’t ever

come in my way again! I’ll be so powerful, everyone will bow to

my feet! I’ll make my army and punish those others captured

good and hard!

- Liam, about to become everyone’s powerful enemy!

Amara: That's not that much

proof!

Charlotte: look closely at this sentence: ‘she

thinks i'm the one behind the book but im- oh no i

am’

153
 Amara: Wait, I

remember reading half of that, about the fact

that you suspect Liam of something and you

haven’t responded to his messages….YES I

REMEMBER! It's in his journal app! I read his

entries sometimes for fun

Charlotte: You told me Liam sometimes journals

on an app on his phone everyday. Someone could

have hacked into it to make part of these diary

entries and then he could add his lies like the

other things Liam was framed for. I remember

someone hacked into our message chat once. They

also took information from there.

154
 Amara: OMG wait i gotta

go but we need a protection check! And we need

to clean up all our info. Sneak over to my house at

11:30 am tmrw with luna and charlie. We can

discuss and have a meeting till about 1:30 pm

which is when Aunt Gina gets back. Let Luna ask

her parents when they’ll be at work and back!

Charlotte: perfect! Bye, though! :)

{AmaraAwesomeL1 has left)

155
 Liam

Charlotte: Liam? Liam? I'm really sorry for

ignoring you….i'm going to confess why i did that.

{LiamLevon is online}

Charlotte: I’m really really sorry..plz reply!

Liam: ok fine. Why were

u so mean last time?

156
Charlotte: So remember when i announced in the

group chat when i was breaking in and pushed a

bookshelf to find a door then i took a book and

left?

Liam: yes, but what’s your

point?

Charlotte: So basically the book was written by

you saying that you’re gonna be powerful or

whatever and break out and something, but let me

send you a picture of a diary entry in the book.

157
 Liam: That's not me, but

half those things were some of the things I wrote

in my phone notes. Now i think about it, someone

actually hacked in there last time i was on my

phone!

Charlotte: This proves my theory is right!

Someone is doing this! By the way we, me n luna

are going to come to your house or ‘sneak’ over to

your house tmrw...

Liam: yeah amara told me..so

umm fine i forgive you please don't keep things

like this from me…

158
Charlotte: I promise I will. Ok, so um bye! I got

to go!

Charlotte left her message chats and breathed a sigh of relief. They
could do this!

159
Chapter 11 - Company
Conundrum

160
The agency wanted to get things done and cover their mission
properly. So on Friday, Luna and Charlotte were supposed to sneak
over to Amara and Liam’s house at around 11:30 in the morning.
Amara had already told them that everyone had to go to work at
8:30am and the latest they could make it was 11:30, so every
employee at the company would be gone by the time Charlotte came to
their house. Luna and Charlotte hid beside an alcove in the living
room and watched Aubrey and Leo drive off to work. Amara also
texted them with the message that it was all clear, and aunt Gina
had left. Charlotte seized the diary and left 10 minutes after Aubrey
and Leo. Amara and Liam only lived on Block 234 and Luna and her
parents lived in the neighbourhood block, so it wasn't that far away.
They kept a lookout for house number 34. At last, they came face to
face with the door. Amara had left it open for them, so they seized
the handle gently and went in. Amara was waiting for them in her
room, sitting on her bed and reviewing all the files and papers and
every other thing they had ever known about this mystery. They

161
started by discussing their clues. They also decided not to reveal
anything in their group chat, so if someone hacked in there they
wouldn't get any more information. They also talked about everything,
and cleared up most of their information they had. One thing kept
puzzling them.

‘Who is this west-end bandit?’ asked Liam, who was feeling

frustrated that they had no clues to answer this question.

Amara’s quick-witted mind began sizing up all the facts they had ever
known about the west-end bandit and the company. She suddenly
paused, an idea sliding into her mind, giving her a hazy and dreamy
look.

“That's it!” she cried out, jumping up from the floor. “If the west-end
bandit is the boss of the company, then he must have started the
company, not Selia, and if we go through the company history, we
can actually pick up a few more things!”

162
She had struck gold. Everyone was suddenly patting her on the back
and looking happy.

“Hold up. If we search the web again, for information, and if the
website we find is hacked like we experienced before and maybe
someone’s gonna hack in again?” wondered Charlotte, now feeling a
little reluctant to continue doing this.

Liam, however, cleared her doubts. “It’s okay. We’ll open any website
or search the internet on my phone.” he announced, only for everyone
to remember and tell him that he was already hacked twice, to get
information from his phone notes and information from their group
chat.

Luna looked around serenely and then said, “I’ll do it.”

163
They all hastily agreed and were soon searching up about the
company’s history. They found one article called:

Company Development: William ‘Bill’ Braxton, has achieved

his Higher Agency Company to reach for amazing economy
population and development!

William, or ‘Bill’ Braxton, has received an award for the most successful
company ever seen in the last 5 years! His company, The Higher Agency
Company has made a huge jump in economy, with the number of careers
offered, including the running of things, which is going very smoothly.

Here’s Braxton for comment on how his company is doing at the

moment:

164
“We never knew all this could happen, see. So my best friend here, Tom
Woodensburth, loved building things, so he got me roped into it, and by
the time we were doing wood-working classes, where he was always the
top of the class for his ‘fine building skills and lament of leaving woodwork
later on.’ We decided to go around that same way, and built our company
to make objects and items, not necessarily out of wood, like we started,
but growing on. As the LEGO company who we have met with to discuss
tactics and business opportunities, have firmly applauded us for making
such magnificent, top-quality items. We believe in giving our customers
the right type of things they need.”

Braxton speaks true words, and his company is a living amazing business
booming with all the right types of things. His friend Tom, (mentioned in
what Braxton said) was sadly not available for comment that day but we
have had a separate interview with him, please check it out at:

https://interviewwithwoodensburth/d/1K0paoxqQ1WWLg7K6kfsv3qzjJ
RkWTNI2BvOJyaG1OM

165
Charlie, Charlotte, Luna, Amara and Liam were all staring at the
article breathlessly.

“So HE started the company? But they started by just building items
to sell but that’s not what the company’s doing now! They turned
evil!” said Liam, looking surprised.

“Tom woodensburth,.....Tom Woodensburth……I’ve heard that name

before!” wondered Charlotte, pacing here and there.

Luna seemed to be thinking about something with great interest.

“If this was the start of the company, and if they’re making wooden
objects or whatever to sell, there’s a point where it turned evil, don’t
you think? We need to investigate that point.” she said, her eyes
looking narrowed with interest.

166
They had sneaked into the company many times before, and Selia
knew they had sneaked in and would as a common tactic, so they
were a bit stumped when they tried to figure out how they would
learn about the history of the company. They were all silent as their
brains slowly started to develop an answer.

“Diversion.” Charlotte voiced out.

Their heads turned towards her, everyone’s faces wearing an

expression of confusion.

“We cause a diversion at the company, and try to grab as many

papers or any important secrets about the company that we need.
But we need to still figure out what’s going to be our diversion tactic.”
she explained.

167
They had smiles slowly forming on their faces. All except for Liam.

“Brilliant.” said Liam sarcastically.“ Just absolutely brilliant. I

thought we had everything done, now we have to plan this whole
diversion thing and it’s not even fool-proof!” he said, taking everyone
by surprise. He touched his wrist agitatedly and kept on trying to
scratch off something.

Charlotte noted this, nonetheless his behaviour at the moment.

Charlotte stared at Liam in complete surprise. He was always so

good-tempered and nice. She had never seen this side of him.

Everyone looked at him. Amara, being Liam’s sister, backed him up

but with an answer to Charlotte saying that,

168
“ Liam’s points are right and the plan isn’t fool-proof and it can't be
quickly done. We still have to plan it and it might take us days, and
also, i think you just want to be the heroine or the brave and bold
member of this club again,” she continued, now losing her temper
and turning more and more into the bratty girl who first had hated
Charlotte when she came from the adoption center.

“If you didn’t notice, we have 1-2,3,.....5 members in this agency! But
you still went on with Charlie because you felt a little big-headed and
chose him to prove you're not just going to take the spotlight!” she
finished angrily.

169
“Don't start on my brother!” Charlotte replied, now fully showing the
anger of a 13 year old compared to Amara. “I’M NOT BIGHEADED
OR THE HEROINE! YOU CAN ASSUME EVERYTHING THAT'S
WRONG ABOUT ME! I WOULD HAVE LET YOU ALL GO INSTEAD
OF ME, and you also don't care about breaking up our agency like
this!” she yelled, finishing off calmly to stop herself from yelling and
getting into the stride.

Luna and Charlie stood off to the side, looking completely frightened,
their eyes wide.

Amara and Liam were glaring at Charlotte with unmistakable anger.

Luna stood next to Charlotte and preferring not to take sides, looked
uncomfortably around the room. Charlie was seething at Amara for
speaking about Charlotte like that and talking about him in such an
angry tone.

170
The clock beside them ticked, showing the time as 1: 10 pm

and they all turned away from each other, Charlotte, Luna and
Charlie going back to Luna’s house, and Amara and Liam going back
into their rooms.

They reached the house well before 1:30pm and rushed up to Luna’s
room, with Charlie and Luna comforting Charlotte. She felt
powerless, and as though all the energy was sucked out of the world,
and she felt a cold shiver around her body, even though it was spring
season at the moment. Tears threatened to obscure her vision, but
she pushed them back, going to the bathroom and washing her face.

171
As she splashed water onto her face, she pushed away all bad
thoughts about Amara and Liam. While they were very rude, her
mind didn’t need to be infiltrated with angry thoughts. She instead
focused on something she found odd and discussed with Luna and
Charlie.

“So i noticed a mark on Liam’s shoulder that looked like a company

logo. I’m sure it was the same company we know about. The mark was
in black, and everytime he got angry, he kept on touching the mark.
Amara grabbed his wrist and suddenly she also became angry. I
don’t know what it is but it’s bad.”

Amara

Charlotte: plz answer

Amara: what do you

want, Bighead? Or Heroine?

172
Charlotte: I’m sorry…

Amara: I’ll Think about

forgiving you...

Charlotte: Did you see something black on Liam’s

arm?

Amara: yeah but

it must have been from a pen or something.

Charlotte: it was a company logo. ‘The company.’

173
You know which company i’m talking about!

Amara: so?

Charlotte: Liam kept touching the sign there and

then he became rude to me. You touched Liam's

wrist and then started screaming at me.

Amara : Hold up , but that’s just a logo.

Charlotte: it's the dangerous company logo! Our

parents went missing at the hands of it!

174
 Amara : Yeah , I can totally believe that a logo

is controlling me! Charlotte , its a LOGO

Charlotte: Go have a temper tantrum like

before. You can’t even hold your anger!

Amara: don’t have a go at

me! Liam is my brother and your stupid clues and

things about the mystery got us nowhere but

stumped. Carry on with your theory. I'm going.

Whatever. Bye!

175
Charlotte knew she wasn’t going to patch things up with Amara
easily. Liam, on the other hand, may listen to her. It was worth a
shot.

The next morning, Charlotte was surprised to see Luna waking her
up.

“Charlotte! Wake up! School! Half-term holiday ended!” Luna

repeated.

176
Charlotte got out of bed, washed her face then got ready. She threw
on a simple top with some shorts and tied her hair back into a long
ponytail. She went down the stairs for breakfast and Aubrey was
sitting at the dining table pouring some water into her glass to drink.
Charlotte noticed there were three extra plates sitting laden with
some food.

There were pancakes, toast, and chocolate syrup as well! Charlotte

happily wolfed it down and saw Charlie waiting next to the door,
evidently standing there for a long time with Charlotte's bags and
supplies, which were all on the small table next to the front door as
decor.

177
Charlotte finished eating, washed her plate, heaved her backpack on
and left to walk to school. Luna also went to the same school as her,
but in a different grade. She promised to talk to Amara if she saw
her because 7th graders and 10th graders all had Music class
together. Charlotte and Charlie departed at the juniors gate, saying
goodbye to Luna and then entering. The school was the same as
when they had found it on their first day. Amara was nowhere in
sight, so she counted on Luna to talk to her. Liam suddenly came
bounding around the corner. His friends were waiting in a line beside
a classroom door, when Liam noticed Charlotte standing in the
corridor. He walked up to her, took a deep breath, and apologized.

178
“I’m really sorry for shouting at you the other day. Amara’s still being
a bit bratty, but i’m really sorry. She told me about a theory you had
about a mark of a company logo or something on my arm and I didn’t
really understand all of it, so can you text me later about it?” Liam
said, glancing around for any eavesdroppers.

Charlotte readily nodded. She was happy Liam apologized and half of
their fight was fixed, but she still had to fix the problem between
herself and Amara. She sighed and hurried off to class. Charlie said
bye to Charlotte and went to join the 4th grade classrooms. Her
lessons were satisfactory and nice, but she kept on thinking about
two things. The diversion, and Amara. Atleast Liam would be able to
convince her a little bit that she was right. Suddenly- ‘tringggggggg’

179
A sound issued from somewhere. Charlotte looked around, bewildered.
A girl called Emily, who sat next to her, nudged her gently and
explained, “That’s the end of the school bell. It means we’re dismissed!
Much better than letting the teachers dismiss us!” she laughed.
Charlotte thanked her and left. The school had a nice and big
courtyard where Luna was waiting for her.

“Hi!” said Charlotte, “I just have to go and pick Charlie up, then we
can walk home!”

Luna said, “Oh that’s fine. I’ll tell you what happened with Amara
later.”

So Charlotte went off to the other side of the courtyard, where lots
of children were all huddled in groups with one teacher, situated next
to signs with the class number.

180
Charlotte tried to remember which class Charlie was in. What was
it? Oh, yes, 4.06! (u know why i used 4.06)

She made her way to that group and informed the teacher that she
was picking up Charlie. He tagged along behind her as they made
their way towards where Luna was. At last, they found her and they
set off together to walk home. Charlie was chattering all about his
day at school.

“So for art, Mrs. Davison handed us the colors and Brian did a
really cool sketch-”

Meanwhile, Luna was also talking to Charlotte.

181
“So i saw Amara during Music and she didn’t really talk to me, but
she also was a little less angry at you, she said something about Liam
saying you were right and then she didn’t talk too much after that,
then she said she was sending you an apology text and she agreed
with your theory and probably-”

Charlotte interrupted her and said, “Does this mean she’s also gonna
help me in the diversion? Because I really need to plan that bit out.”

Luna shrugged her shoulders and they walked in silence after that.

182
When they got home , Amara and Liam were there as Luna told them
to come over. They had all agreed that they were going to make fake
articles exposing the company, make a fake website to post it on,
print it and slip them into Aunt Gina’s bag so once they found the
Articles, the diversion would start and that would give Charlotte and
Luna time to explore. Charlie decided that he would stay with Liam
and Amara since Luna knew the way around the company better.

All four of them were alone in the house so Amara went on Luna’s
computer and printed out fake articles saying :

The Secret Higher Agency

We just received information about a secret agency that’s not so

secret anymore. Rumor has it that Selia Woodensburth, the
supposed ‘boss’ of the company isn’t the person who started the
company and it's actually evil. There are different Events of the
Company every month. This Month’s event was the Titanium door
, only people who were chosen got to see what was behind it.

183
The Titanium door has secrets that were NEVER revealed inside
it. And It has been said that the West End Bandit owns the
company , we are still looking for more clues about this West End
Bandit. Selia Woodensburth might have answers too. It has not
been proved yet but people might have gone missing when they
went into that Titanium door.

And that’s it for Today’s news , we’ll be reporting back tomorrow

to see if there is any new information.

Liam also quickly put an defence system on the website if Selia broke
in and tried to shut it down herself.

“Perfect!” Charlotte said, looking very pleased.

184
Now all they had to do was slip it into Aunt Gina’s bag. Since
Charlotte and Luna were both sneaking into the company to find any
more clues about the West End Bandit , they had a plan.

Charlotte and Luna would both pretend that they were waiting for
their parents who worked there.

Luna’s parents actually worked there so she had a card proving that
they did.

Liam took a reference from the Card and printed out a look alike but
with Charlotte’s name on it. Family Members, including children, who
came to visit people who worked there had to go to Floor C.
(thankfully, Luna had known lots about the company since her
parents worked there for about 3 years)

185
First, they had to sneak down onto floor B to start the diversion in
Aunt Gina’s office. Normally there would be security guards but with
the whole diversion going on , everyone would want to see what was
happening.

They took a taxi to the company and carried out their plan. First,
Charlotte and Luna pretended to go to Floor C, but looking at their
map, went to Level B and stopped outside Aunt Gina’s office. They
pushed open the door and pretended to be lost. “Um..excuse me, Oh,
Aunt Gina! You’re here! We’re lost. We need to go to Floor C, as we’re
waiting for our parents.” said Charlotte, in a convincing tone of
bewilderment.

186
Meanwhile, Luna walked around, staring at the employees. She
nudged Aunt Gina’s bag ‘accidentally’ and apologized. The fake articles
had fallen out and Charlotte and Luna took this cue to leave. Rushing
over to an empty office cubicle with a computer, They stood in front
of a computer and opened the camera monitor and tried to see what
happened. They could see Aunt Gina pick the papers up, then her eyes
grew wide as she read it. She mumbled something to the other
employees and they immediately tried to locate the article on the
internet. They discovered the detective agency’s fake website that
was put up and they tried to close it down, which alerted Liam and
Amara at once. They blocked the attempts to close it down and
quickly copied the information to expose the articles and post them
on the internet, for the whole world to see.

187
Someone had left the office, and was running around, yelling
‘EXPOSED ON A WEBSITE! WE’VE BEEN EXPOSED!”

Selia came inside, looking furious. She turned pale as she read the
article.

“How- who-.......” she started softly, only to cry out, “That Charlotte
girl! And her pesky friends!”

She turned to her workers. “Trap them.” she voiced.

Charlotte turned to Luna and nodded. They turned off the computer
quickly and rushed down to the ground level. Charlotte snuck off while
Luna pretended to look for her parents.

Charlotte went behind the titanium door.

188
She came into contact with the cozy room again, but she was
determined to do something more.

She went to the bookshelf again and pushed it to the side. She saw
the wooden door. She tried to open it, but it was locked. Instead,
Charlotte focused on the bookshelf for any clues. It was a normal
bookshelf littered with everyday items, but one thing stood out to
charlotte. It was a small metal machine and the computer figures
gleaming on a small square screen said, ‘SYSTEM CODE LOCK’

She also grabbed a few papers and what looked like a timeline
diagram from the bookshelf to find out more about the history of the
company.

This was it. But how could she get her hands on the code to enter in?

189
As if Amara and Liam had read her mind, they sent her a code of
four numbers.

Her phone pinged and she jumped. How had they known that she
needed a code at the moment? She ignored that thought. She would
ask them that later, provided she got out safely.

She punched the numbers in.

2-7-3-4. (this is actually the number code for the word evil)

The door unlocked itself. It was swinging open. Charlotte got in and
looked around. There were cells everywhere. Cells with people locked
up. She suddenly saw faces that were so unmistakably familiar.
Was it really them?

190
Her parents' faces suddenly flashed out in front of her. They moaned
and mumbled something.

She was overcome with shock and the only other thing she could
remember was a pair of hands supporting her on their shoulders and
being taken inside a taxi. Charlotte woke up in a daze and stared
around. She was at Amara and Liam’s house. Aunt Gina wasn’t
there. Luna and Charlie were bent over her face and were observing
her.

“What’s going on? Why aren’t we at the company? Have we been

caught and forced to stay locked up?” she said, slowly panicking.

“No, no, it’s alright.” said a soothing voice. She turned around to face
Luna.

191
“What happened?” Charlotte asked, determined to hear each detail
properly.

192
“After you left to go behind the titanium door, all the employees were
following Selia’s instructions. They were on the lookout for you and
us, but obviously, since half of us stayed here, they couldn’t find
anyone, so they targeted you instead. They ignored me because they
still thought I was spying on you for information and then, Selia got
up and was about to go behind the titanium door, but then Sara
came out and Selia and her moved somewhere else, so i sneaked in
behind to grab you and i managed to shut that wooden door, but the
bookshelf was still pushed to the side. Never mind. At Least we got
what we were looking for. I grabbed those papers you had. They must
have information about the company and its history.” explained Luna,
now striding over to ask Amara and Liam about what happened in
the fake website they set up.

193
“Well, nothing too extreme happened, but they did try to break in and
somehow shut it down,” started Liam, “Our defence system worked,
so we were alerted, and then, when they tried to shut it down, we
copied the information and posted it on the internet, in some social
media sites. I bet they freaked out! But now we deleted the website
before them and now, their secret is fully exposed!”

Charlotte asked Liam and Amara something she had been pondering
about. “How did you send that code to me?”

“What code?” asked Liam, looking bewildered.

Charlotte was now positively freaked out. “If you didn’t give me the
code, then WHO DID?”

194
She kept muttering here and there and then she turned to face the
others.

“Someone saved us. Someone allowed us to open the wooden door.

They sent a text to me, in Amara and Liam’s text groups with me. I
think….i think we were helped by the west end bandit.”

195
Chapter 12: Cautious But
Cells
Charlotte’s theory was greeted with a cold silence.

“The west-end-bandit? Help us?” said Amara weakly.

Charlotte’s answer to her doubts came promptly as if she had known

it all along.

“The west end bandit is william. The William Braxton we read

about.” Charlotte announced.

196
Everyone looked astonished. Then they began to solve the identity of
Tom Woodensburth.

“Selia and Sara's dad!” cried out Liam, after noticing a picture of him
with two girls who looked exactly like a younger Selia and Sara.

“So, if the west-end bandit was the person framing Liam, and he
was the boss of the company, then what role did Tom play?” asked
Luna.

Charlotte evidently ignored this question. She only wanted to capture

the west end bandit, and NOW!

“Let’s just start by looking through those papers Charlotte took.”

suggested Liam.

197
They opened a short typed paper and looked at it with surprise.

One thing they noticed was that the word secret was scribbled in
between the company name recently.

History of The ‘Secret’ Higher Agency

- July 24th, 1980- This is Bill Braxton. The first

achievement of my brand new company was to
receive a huge economic development. It’s going
very smoothly. Tom isn’t up for interviews, but he is
agreeing with me that it’s going well.

The next thing mentioned on the list looked like it was hastily
scribbled in a hurry.

198
 - February 12th, 1982- Tom and I have had an

argument, and he’s gone! He left the company and

there’s no way to find him. Even the authorities are

perplexed.

- March 1st, 1984 - TOM DECIDED TO

CAPTURE AND GROW AN ARMY TO MAKE
THINGS FOR HIM AND HE’S GONNA GET
THE CREDIT AND MONEY FROM THE
HEADLINERS AND THERE’S PEOPLE LOCKED
UP!

They were shocked when they read this message, their mouths
actually hung open, and yet still went on to read the whole paper.

199
Next, Charlotte recognised the handwriting on the paper. It was
Sara’s.

November 10th, 2002- i was so happy when dad decided to let me make my

own company after i went to the business workshop, I was so happy!today

was my first day, and the manufacturers are doing well...the company is

going well and we have many statistics that it will succeed. This business is

booming!

Amara and Charlie had trouble reading the handwriting properly,

because they didn’t understand cursive, so Luna read it out to them.

200
“November 10th, 2002,” she read out. “ I was happy when dad
decided to let me make my company after I went to the business
workshop. I was so happy! Today was my first day and the
manufacturers are doing well.. The company is going well and I have
many statistics that it will succeed. This business is booming!”

They went on to read the next part and Luna read it out again to
Amara and Charlie.

January 2003 - Selia found out about the company and isn’t happy. I’m

trying to fix things, but it’s not going well. She’s decided to rival.

201
“January 2003,” Luna’s voice read, “Selia found out about the
company and isn’t happy. I’m trying to fix things but it’s not going
well. She’s decided to rival.”

“So if Selia betrayed Sara in 2003, and slowly started making the
company secret and how it is now, that means she turned it evil, or,
that’s my theory for now...I also think that tom making an army has
something to do with it too..But i don’t know what yet..” said Liam,
rounding it up as usual.

“Let’s just read the message again and find out the best rescue
mission or save-the-day mission plan.” suggested Amara.

They all read the message again with fear evolving in their faces.

202
 - March 1st, 1984 - TOM DECIDED TO
CAPTURE AND GROW AN ARMY TO MAKE
THINGS FOR HIM AND HE’S GONNA GET
THE CREDIT AND MONEY FROM THE
HEADLINERS AND THERE’S PEOPLE
LOCKED UP!

“Tom woodensburth. Selia and Sara’s dad. Who made the company
evil. Sara and Selia are following his orders.” said Charlotte, looking
white in the face.

She had a feeling they were being watched and her instincts kicked
in.

“We need to get out of here. Now!” she said to the others. They tried
to scramble up and go, but-

203
“Too Late…” said a voice “So you found out. Not bad.”

“Selia! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?” yelled Charlotte.

“Oh it’s not just me. I bought a guest. A guest who you just found out
about.” said Selia, and a shadowy figure stepped out. He looked
exactly how in the picture where he posed with the younger Selia and
Sara.

“Tom?” said Charlotte, shocked.

He didn’t reply. Everything was pitch black, and they were being
taken somewhere.

204
They woke up and rubbed their eyes. Charlotte stared at her
surroundings. She was in the same room she had discovered was
behind the cells. She also remembered one more thing.

Amara, Liam, Luna, Charlie and herself were all locked up!

205
Someone made their way and opened their gate. They stared into a
man’s face. He looked anxious, he was wearing a black suit and he
pretended to lock them in each time Selia or her dad peered in.

“Stop. You need to escape. This lock is only simple. Just an ordinary
one. Anyone have something pointy and sharp?” called the voice
again.

“Are you William? ‘THE’ william who started the company?” asked
Liam.

“Yes. Call me Bill, though,” William replied.

Amara ran her hands through her hair and pulled out a hairpin.

206
William used it to pick away at the lock and then he swung open the
gate.

“Why are you helping us?” questioned Charlotte to Bill.

He looked around at the other prisoners. “I have to free an entire

army for evil here. Tom grew evil and that’s no change in him. That’s
completely what he chose. I’m not handing over my services to my
‘great’ and ‘faithful’ (he made quotation marks to indicate this)
Friend.” Bill replied.

They broke out and ran to the wooden door. Amara pressed her ear
on to the wooden door. “Nobody’s there.” she informed them. “Let’s
go!”

207
They ran into the cozy little room and spotted Tom, sitting at the
office desk and smiling an evil smile at them.

“Well, well, well, i can’t have this, so-”

His speech was disrupted when Liam impatiently seized a heavy-

looking book and hit it on his head.

He fell to the floor. Fortunately for him, he landed on the soft carpet.

“Oh no, what’ve i done? I knocked someone unconscious!” Liam kept

muttering.

“That was great!” said Amara “Now let’s go and escape! The clock
right here says it’s 1:42 pm, so if we go now, Aunt gina will be on the
way home and not at home yet, so the same for your parents, Luna.”

208
They quickly nodded and ran like lightning. They found the front
door, but it was still blocked by guards.

Luna and Amara grinned. They were the experienced rollerbladers of

the group. They ran towards a big storage closet somewhere near an
office, and pulled out something green. Amara pulled out some normal
shoes, except that they had wheels under them.

Luna hopped onto her skateboard and Amara grinded on her roller
skates. They each grabbed a person, Amara grabbed Liam, and Luna
grabbed Charlie. They made their way across the entrance and
swerved right, where the guards followed them. They changed
directions quickly and came back to get Charlotte.

209
They were all walking towards their house blocks. Luna pulled out her
phone and started editing something white.

“What’s that?” asked Charlotte, now feeling as if, ‘where do roller

skates and skateboards and experienced riders suddenly come to
rescue you?’

Luna replied, “Oh that’s a movie ticket. I’m editing it to create one
for each of you guys so nobody will know what we did.”

Liam asked Amara the most curious question the ones who had been
rescued were thinking.

“How did you know there were going to be roller skates and a
skateboard there?” asked Liam.

210
Amara grinned. “Once, Aunt Gina came and said that the company
was having a donation and we should give something, so I gave my
roller skates. After that, I hacked into a conversation Aunt Gina had
with the company on gmail, and it said that they were not going to
take items for donation, but to sell, to get money. I remembered the
date they were ‘donating’, or selling was tomorrow. So I knew the
skates would be somewhere.”

Everyone patted her and Luna on the back and congratulated them.

They went back home, Amara and Liam saying bye at the east block,
and Luna, Charlotte and Charlie making their way to the
neighbourhood block.

211
They went home and sighed as they pulled open the front door. They
mumbled a quick hello to Aubrey and Leo and showed them the fake
theater tickets to convince them they were at a movie. After that,
they sat down and sighed. They had solved so much of the mystery!
But there was something worrying them. Tom and Selia, and maybe
Sara helped, but they had managed to lock them up once.

How would they escape from their grasp?

There was also the mystery of the logo Liam touched, not to mention
what were Tom’s plans?

And the diary, who wrote it? Charlotte had a feeling that the diary
was important, even though the mystery of it was still unsolved now.

212
The agency took it slow and first, they chatted about the logo and
tried to summon a concept for a lot of questions about it.

Detective Agency Group Chat

Charlotte: anyone online? I know u guys must be

tired, but we need to discuss what is that weird

mind controller logo that Liam had on his wrist.

213
Liam: stop being annoying and plotting against the

company. I will tell Selia and Tom about this. They

are the true masters of the world, and you can’t

stop them!

Charlotte: Let me guess, is he touching the logo

mark?

Amara: once he touches it he keeps on doing it. I

don’t know how to remove it either.

Luna: is it like a tattoo? because there are ways

of removing them..

214
Amara: yeah, kind of and it started when aunt

gina left this machine covered in cloth or

something and he touched it and the mark came.

It only controls his mind for like 2 minutes so it’s

not very permanent.

Luna: what if we take him to a tattoo remover

place or something?

Charlotte: Nah it wont work. I think tom made

these so it's like a secret to how to get ri of it

and it's not gonna be easy.

Luna: didn’t you guys say that we needed a video

meeting today?

215
Amara: I can’t do it..Aunt Gina decided to work in

the living room..

Charlotte: Well, i have to go to the

bathroom...umm i think we’ll have a video meeting

tomorrow..

Luna: ok..bye amara!

Amara: that’s fine...bye! :)

216
Charlotte didn’t really need to go to the bathroom. They finished
texting, and then Charlotte pondered things.

“Influencer...influencer...influencer” rang a voice in her head. Of

course! The device was a mind influencer! But how could Liam get rid
of the mark? In a brainwave she clambered up, her face glowing.

It didn’t matter if he had the mark, it mattered if he still had the

influencer. It was a simple but evil machine. She thought of ways to
destroy it, when-

217
Chapter 13: Escaped!

Beep! Beep! Beep!

218
Charlotte thought it was an alarm but still went to look. She saw
nothing unusual but a neighbour burning a fire in his yard, using it
to burn off leaves after sweeping over his backyard. She was about to
step away from the window, but she caught sight of blond locks of
hair. It was Sara. She was crouching low over the walking path in
the neighbourhood block and putting a gruel-like substance on the
floor, from cans that said ‘Diesel’ and ‘Oil’ and then she slipped out a
matchstick box and lighted it.

The street evolved in small flames. The heat increased. Sara ran off
in her car, into completely dry parts of the city instead of the fire
there. Charlotte gritted her teeth then went to call 911 or the fire
truck. They replied.

“Hello, this is 911, how may we help you?”

219
“Someone came and spilled some diesel and oil onto a path leading
from our apartment block to the neighbourhood block and lighted it.
A fire started. The flames are low, but there’s already a small fire to
burn off leaves in one neighbour’s yard. Before they mix and flames
become bigger, could you please help me?” charlotte replied

“Yes, we’re sending a fire truck there. Please remain calm and get as
many people out of the apartments. Please go inform your
maintenance as well.”

Charlotte gulped and nodded. She rushed over to Aubrey and Leo’s
room. They were both doing work at that time.

220
“THERE’S GOING TO BE A FIRE ON THE OTHER BLOCK! IT’S
HEADING TO OUR APARTMENT BLOCK AS WELL! SARA LIT
THE FIRE AND SHE WAS WITH TOM! I called 911 and they’re
sending a fire truck here. We need to get everyone out of the
buildings!”

Charlotte yelled.

Aubrey and Leo looked white in the face. They got up and simply
asked her for details. “What did 911 say, other than people should
evacuate the building?” Aubrey asked as they ushered more and more
people out of the building.

“They said to inform the maintenance of our apartment.” said

Charlotte hurriedly as they knocked on more doors and rushed down
to the next street with some people.

221
Leo went off to the maintenance to inform them and Luna and
Charlie also hurried behind Charlotte, making more and more people
evacuate. Because the maintenance could inform the few left behind,
they rushed to the neighbourhood block. Someone tossed Aubrey a
megaphone and she passed that over to Charlotte.

“Everybody, please evacuate your house quickly! We have a fire that

destroyed half our apartment block. The fire trucks are coming, 911
has been informed, and we need to get out to the next block, away
from here!” she shouted into the megaphone.

222
People heard her and there was a stampede of residents running
down to the ground floor, all of them taking the stairs. Amara and
Liam spotted Luna, Charlie and Charlotte and ran over to them.
Amara was clutching a parcel that was wrapped in a cloth, in her
hand. She ran close to the fire on the other side of the street which
was not yet big and she chucked the parcel into the fire from a safe
distance and ran back.

“I’ll tell you later.” she said breathlessly as Charlotte’s mouth fell
open.

They walked along with the other residents as the flames spiked
higher. The fire truck had arrived just now.

223
They were hosing down the fire with water, but it didn’t work. The
flames kept reforming again and again. A policeman stepped in as the
last of people were left. He simply shouted, ‘IT’S A CHEMICAL FIRE!
DON’T WORRY, IT’S SUPPOSED TO RAIN LATER TODAY! WE
ONLY NEED TO GET THE PEOPLE OUT!”

Everyone had gone from the scene of the fire, either walking as fast
as they could, to a few blocks away from the fire, or they simply went
to the next street, which was a few kilometres away from the fire.

Aubrey, Leo, Luna, Charlie, Charlotte, Amara and Liam all were
huddled in a group of people sitting on various benches, in the next
street.

224
First of all, everyone applauded Charlotte soundly. With her warning,
people averted the danger and the apartment wasn’t destroyed too
soon as-

Little droplets of rain fell from the sky. Charlotte and her friends
smiled. Even though this was the work of Sara and her evil dad Tom,
thankfully everyone had escaped their nasty work.

They stared at someone they weren’t hoping to see.

William was there, standing right next to them, talking to Luna’s

parents.

He smiled when he saw them. “Yes, i know it was Sara and Tom who
started the fire!” he said.

225
They gaped at him.

Aubrey and Leo bristled over and said sorry that they had ever
worked in the company and they were resigning.

William explained that he had been keeping tabs on them ever since
they were locked up in the cells for the first time and he hoped it
wouldn’t happen again.

They hatched a plan. They requested Aubrey and Leo to still go and
work there so they could have a spy inside the company, and as for
William, they made a message chat with him and asked him to send
them clues. Amara and Liam had done their expert hacking again so
nobody could invade their message chat and read the messages.

226
Everyone had forgotten about the rain, except for the other
residents who clutched umbrellas or stayed under shelter from the
rain. When someone came shouting that the fire was extinguished,
every resident went to have a look to see how much damage had been
done. Luckily, only half the apartment block was lightly ruined, which
meant it chipped off paint and made it look ugly and that a tree had
tripped over, and because of insurance, they could rebuild it again.
People had gathered their dear belongings and only the third floor
was completely destroyed, and Fortunately the third floor consisted
of no apartments and only had a swimming pool and gym.

Charlotte asked Amara what was inside the parcel she was holding
and Amara replied, “It was that mind-controller thingy. I thought
that if we couldn’t remove the mark, we could focus on the machine
and-”

227
“You decided to get rid of it instead of the mark!” finished Charlotte
for her. “I was thinking the same thing!”

Liam’s mark had gone and he said thanks to Amara.

Charlotte turned to William. “You sent me the code, right?”

He nodded. “I knew what it was. Tom had already told me his number
code before he left and I knew he wouldn’t change it.”

They ventured a new mission. Learn more about the company,

and..GET THEIR PARENTS!

228
Chapter 14: The Truth
Always Lies
Charlotte, Amara, Liam, Charlie and Luna were all huddled in Luna’s
house, chatting in the message chat with william. He told them more
clues and after learning more clues, they could get their parents.

Bill.b32, AmaraAwesomeL1, LiamLevon +....

Amara: Hello? Mr. William? You there?

Charlotte: Could you tell us more clues about the

company?

Bill: Hello, kids. Yes, alright.

Liam: So why did Tom turn evil?

229
Bill: So basically when we started the company to

build things, he started thinking more and more

about ideas to benefit us and get our building

done in a short time.

Charlie: So what did he do?

Bill: he locked people up to make an army and he

made them make the products of our company and

then he would give ‘em to the headliners and

simply earn money without doing anything.

Amara: OMG

Liam: That’s so evil and wrong! But how do we

conquer him or simply defeat him?

230
Bill: Look, I'm on board with your idea to save

your parents, but defeating him has to wait. We

can’t reveal him because he has methods of

persuasion better than yours. The police can

believe his word more than yours.

Charlotte: ok but how do we get our parents?

Bill: your diversion tactic wasn’t bad. (the agency had

told him all about their attempts to sneak in the company) But we

need to plan more. We need more than a

diversion. We need to plant their weakness.

Amara: ??

231
Bill: look, we’ll just gather all the evidence we

have and post it on the internet. That’s phase 1.

Then I reveal myself and because the workers of

the company still think I'm the boss, they won’t

question me if I lead you to the titanium door.

We’ll get your parents after that. Agreed?

Amara: i agree

Liam: agreed

Charlotte: yes agreed

Charlie: ok sure

232
So they went on with their plan to sneak in for the final time. Even
though they wouldn’t evade Tom or Selia or Sara, they could at least
get their parents back. So they carried it out. Amara, Luna and
Charlie all typed out an article like before, leaking all the company’s
evidence and secrets, and this article had to do with the fire.

News Fire Leak!

233
This company, who call themselves The Secret Higher Agency (the
higher agency a company set up by Bill Braxton, who is the supposed
boss of the company.) Now going back in time, we see that the higher
agency was set up with William’s best friend, Tom Woodensburth,
father of Company owners Sara and Selia woodensburth. He, as
evidence shows, did not disappear back in 1984 but instead remained
in the shadows. His plans are not going to be revealed just yet as fake
evidence and persuasion to believe the other side can be also put into
action. Our main news is that Tom and one of his daughters had
caused the chemical fire that was known to have started in the
apartment block of greenwood estate. Witness, Charlotte Robinson,
says, “I saw someone bending over and pouring something from cans
labeled Diesel and Oil, and then they lit a fire on top of it and then it
started. The moment I saw Sara’s blond hair, I knew. And then, Tom
saw me looking and I peered into his eyes for a moment till he ran off
to avoid capture.”

As you know, lighting fire on substances like diesel and oil is the sure-
fire way to create a fire and not a tame one. We are still investigating
more about what is happening inside this company and will return with
a newsletter next time. Sign up at
‘exposingwrongdoings.nQruh4fhwtt0ojf23/sign up.com’

234
So they posted it on the internet. Aubrey and Leo knew of their plan
and could be trusted now, so they offered to give Charlotte a ride to
the company. They stopped off at one street before their destination
so that nobody could see Charlotte getting out. This time, she didn’t
disguise herself. She walked up to the guards and said that the west
end bandit ordered her to come and they let her in. William had rode
over on his car to the company one hour before and was lounging
around in the entrance and pretending to wait to capture charlotte.
Charlotte walked in and the west end bandit had someone stay guard
beside her till they came to the titanium door and then he told them
to go. She walked in behind, saw the cozy room again and saw Tom
sitting at the desk. He scowled and then smiled evilly when he saw
charlotte was there. He walked up and led her to the cell and locked
her in halfway, when,

235
“- Tom, you went evil, and I didn't so you are gone for good!” yelled
Bill and he threw tom into the cell where charlotte was and she
quickly slipped through the door that was still open. Bill locked him in
and tom still grinned his awful evil smile. He didn’t object but said,
“Don’t i know the best?”

They moved away from his cell and walked about trying to rescue
prisoners. They reached Amara and Liam’s parents, and Charlotte’s
parents who smiled when they saw her and hugged her and thanked
Bill when he opened the door. They all escaped and ran off through a
secret way to the back exit that bill used to get in and then they left.

Amara and Liam were so happy that their parents were back that
they couldn’t stop hugging them and crying. Meanwhile, Charlotte
was also having a tearful reunion with her parents.

“What happened when you were locked up, Mom?” asked Amara.

236
Her mom responded, “The truth always lies, my dear, remember that.
We were locked up only.”

“Why were you locked up?” asked Charlotte to all the parents.

They didn’t tell her. Amara’s Mom repeated, “The truth always lies
and in this case it does.”

They were puzzled but all this would wait another time. They had
finished their mission!

Or they thought so…

237
All the lights turned dark and the phone sitting in Amara's pocket
buzzed. There was a video. All eyes widened in shock as they watched
it. Tom’s cold tone and evil glare full of revenge said it. They had
another mission left.

-Credits-
238
Thank you so much for reading this book! Me and my co-author
Lakshya have worked hard on it and hope you loved it! Don’t worry
we still have book 2, but you just have to wait a little more….

Thank you to so many people who made this a reality. I’ve already
said thanks to some of these people but they deserve it again.

Thank you so much to my Faithful and supporting friends, who are

always kind and help me a lot.

Thank you- Cai, Yasmeen, Fatima, Lakshya, Mia, Aaya, Ana, Zahraa
and many other amazing friends.

Thank you to my co-author and editor Lakshya who has helped me so

much in the making of this book.

Thanks to my parents, who have been highly supportive of this book

and believe in me all the time.

239
And last of all, thank you to my laptop, which is still a non-living
thing but I anyway thank it for letting me write this book and make
it.

240
Do you want to continue this adventure with
Charlotte, Charlie, Amara, Liam and Luna?

Then read this short preview of book 2…!

241
242
In Chapter 1, the student army, Sara is a manager of a leadership
community company, which comes to Charlotte, Amara, Liam, Charlie
and Luna’s school! They get suspicious when she starts a ‘leadership
club.’ But is it a leadership club? When Sara leads students out to a
secret place, a new mission begins!

243