M. William Phelps

It was a little unusual and difficult to grasp.

While it's nerve-wracking being compelled to answer questions from police, both Mike and Katie still seemed able and willing to talk and, so far, had not asked to have an attorney present.

Of course, the main question became, who was the guy who spoke to the neighbors?

They were all friends.

None of them went to college or worked.

So they kind of hung around all day and indulged in games such as Dungeons & Dragons and Magic.

Dungeons & Dragons is a romantic, fantasy-filled, medieval world type of game.

Players have to evade monsters, fight dragons, and rescue damsels in distress.

It's a form of fantasy escapism that appeals to the kinds of kids who love Lord of the Rings and Conan the Barbarian.

Often it's played with pieces on a board and driven by the roll of dice.

As Mike and Katie talked, however, they mentioned how their group of friends dressed up and played Dungeons & Dragons in real life sometimes.

At the beginning of the 2000s, online gaming was in its infancy.

But Mike, Katie, Clara, and this other young man, Kyle Hulbert, were wrapped up completely in that fantasy world.

You might even say it was their chosen lifestyle.

Dungeons & Dragons wasn't the only role-playing game the group liked.

They played a game called Underworld.

That game, The Underworld, was created and scripted by Clara Schwartz.

Instead of studying hard at James Madison University, Clara had spent her time making up characters and scripting storylines for her and her friends to act out.

Clara was struggling at university with schoolwork and the pressure to succeed.

Some people turned to drugs and alcohol, food, sex.