CHAPTER FIVE24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡok6hphyWYm
Kim24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnMOceuy9Tn
I should have known the Order wouldn’t just let me walk away with their secrets. But I never expected them to go this far. It starts on a Thursday, just before morning assembly. 24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZKymNAD05K
I’m heading to class when two prefects stop me in the corridor, faces grim. They tell me the Deputy Principal wants to see me immediately. My stomach drops. I can feel eyes on me as I walk to the office, whispers already starting to swirl.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9KB6InKCQP
On the Deputy’s desk is a small, battered envelope-my name scrawled across it. Next to it sits a confiscated phone and a stack of exam papers. The Deputy looks at me like I’m something he scraped off his shoe.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMfWU1tLJPz
“Kimberly Diana Otieno, do you know why you’re here?” he asks.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa0eX2P64Ma
I shake my head, but my voice is stuck somewhere in my chest.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTcIKDtcBsB
He slides the envelope toward me. 24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4SH4ZC217L
“We received an anonymous tip. These were found in your locker.” 24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk8E2kmwGDs
He opens the envelope and pulls out a cheat sheet-answers to last term’s math exam, written in my own handwriting. Except I never wrote them. I never even saw them before.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6i3PfWp1fQ
My mind races. I realize, with a cold, sinking certainty, that this is the Order’s work. They must have forged the notes, planted them in my locker, and tipped off the teachers. The phone, too-it’s not mine, but it’s loaded with messages that make it look like I’ve been selling exam answers. The evidence is overwhelming, and I know exactly who’s behind it.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF6R26dhku5
I try to explain, but the Deputy doesn’t believe me. “This is a serious offense, miss Kimberly. You could be suspended-or worse.”24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnZelYZokdn
As I sit there, numb and furious, I remember the blue thread I found tied to my locker that morning, the silent warning I didn’t understand. The Order has made their move. They’ve turned the school against me, and unless I can prove my innocence, I might lose everything.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Y5b2oN4Ax
Now I know just how far the Order will go to protect their secrets-and how alone I really am.
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**********24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrBQrk5gW02
Seline24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsVqICcFMYl
I see it all unfold like a bad play I’ve watched too many times: Kim, pale and shaking, being led down the corridor by two prefects; the whispers that follow her like a shadow; the Deputy Principal’s office door closing with a heavy, final sound. 24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPUTsHk0DMC
I know that look on her face-the look of someone who’s been cornered by something bigger and meaner than she ever expected.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwPBaSH3kni
I’ve been tracking the Order of Hermes for weeks now, mapping their movements, decoding their signals, watching their messengers slip between the cracks of school life. I saw Kim meet one of them by the chipped stone, her posture tense, her eyes darting. I saw the blue thread tied to her locker this morning. I know what it means: a warning, a threat, a mark.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0XJFtZBiai
When word spreads that Kim’s been caught with exam answers and a strange phone, I know instantly it’s a setup. The Order has done this before-anyone who gets too close, anyone who threatens their secrets, ends up isolated, disgraced, or worse. It’s their way of keeping the rest of us in line.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvJultU9l7l
But not this time.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr8BRd5fLz3
I scribble a note planning to slip it into Kim’s bag during lunch:24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTuLVhU3sO8
Meet me behind the chapel after prep. We need to talk. 24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGDuEiAyc2p
When she shows up, her eyes are red but her jaw is set. I tell her everything: the coded notes, the way the Order moves like a shadow through the school. I tell her I saw her with the messenger, that I know she’s not guilty.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwzRfDKKyMN
“We have to work together,” I say, voice low but fierce.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgAPA9QrGWA
“They want to make an example out of you, but if we move fast, we can turn the tables. I’m sure the Order is tied to the missing furniture-and if we catch them at it, we can clear your name and finally write the story this school has been hiding for years.”24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ24ikFiUUQl
We make a plan. I’ll keep watching the usual suspects; Kim will gather any notes or signals she receives. We’ll talk to the students who’ve been burned by the Order before, and we’ll set a trap for the real thief. 24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡssLF2lna5g
For the first time, I feel like I’m not just chasing rumors-I’m hunting the truth, and I’m not alone.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbPNzvXVMWO
This is my chance to finish what others started, to shine a light on the Order of Hermes, and to finally tell the story that’s been buried under secrets and fear. 24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDnsbr3pcLF
And with Kim by my side, I know we might just have a fighting chance even though I still don’t trust her fully.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEfRnATpmJj
**********24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU09CUi9JtM
Juma sat on the cracked edge of the abandoned pool, his mind only half on the heated discussion swirling around him. The Order’s meeting was more tense than usual. Papers rustled as a senior girl from the girls’ school stood, holding up a folded slip.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡylf4bVMHG3
“This is how we did it,” she announced. 24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwck4ds2czV
“The anonymous tip came from our side. I made sure the prefects found the cheat sheets and the phone in Kim’s locker. The Deputy Principal was told first thing this morning.”
Juma’s heart thudded. He realized how deep the Order’s influence ran, how easily they crossed school boundaries when it suited them. The web of secrets and schemes didn’t care about uniforms or which side of the field you were from.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNS6vaeoDjv
He listened as the girl described how she’d used the prefects as unwitting pawns, how the tip had been slipped to the Deputy in a way that left no trail back to the Order. The plan was airtight. Kim didn’t stand a chance.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Yq6bYevMa
Juma’s stomach twisted with guilt. He thought of the letter he’d sent Kim, the one that might have drawn the Order’s attention to her in the first place. He hadn’t meant for any of this to happen.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSaV9myLHnv
He knew he couldn’t help Kim openly-the schools were separate worlds, and he’d risk exposing himself as a traitor to the Order. But there were still ways. He could use the Order’s own network: coded notes left in the library; messages slipped behind the chapel.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDirM7ooUxJ
Juma’s resolve hardened. The Order might have set Kim up, but he still had a chance to help her. He would use everything he knew-every secret passage, every code, every drop spot. Even if the Order had eyes everywhere, he wouldn’t let Kim face this alone.
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