The Mutant World [UNFINISHED]

13

My heart is beating out of my chest. I can't believe they took her. Why did they take her? I can't believe they took her. And Hugo disappeared right when the event occurred. I don't know what to think. I hope Alice got the signal I gave her before she left. The entire classroom explodes into conversation. I have to tell the group what has happened.

"Everyone please sit and be quiet," the teacher instructs above everyone's voices. Everyone is already sitting and they begin to quiet down.

"Where is she going?" I ask above everyone's voices. The room instantly breaks into a dead silence, waiting. The teacher opens his mouth to answer but Emily beats him to it.

"Yeah, I didn't call them" Emily begins, "What's really going on?"

"Look," Mr. Payne begins before taking a deep breath, "I'm really sorry but I can't talk about it. It's about the recent Shadow sightings so it's really for all of our safety that we don't know much."

I huff and my body is tense with anxiety. The room buzzes softly with murmurs as I quickly whip out my phone to text my friends.

Bathroom. Urgent.

"Can I go to the bathroom?" I ask the teacher. He nods with exhaustion and I quickly walk out the classroom door. I walk to the doors to the bathroom and wait. A few seconds later, Tara is walking fast towards me with Juno behind her.

"What's so urgent, Nathan?" Tara asks as she reaches me.

"Alice was taken," I announce to them, shaking slightly.

"Taken? What do you mean taken?" Juno asks, instantly becoming concerned.

"Elite guards came in and stared at her for a few seconds and then freaked out and just took her," I explain, running out of breath.

"Who took what?" Liz joins us.

"Alice was taken by some elite soldiers," Tara explains to Liz.

"I warned you guys about the elite counselor," Liz growls, shaking her head.

"Alice was taken away by elite soldiers?" Milo asks as he joins us.

"Yes," I answer. I'm trembling more and more.

"But why?" Juno asks, demanding an answer.

"I don't know," I answer truthfully.

"What do we do?" Liz asks, causing a moment of silence.

"Well, I gave Alice the signal-"

"The communication signal?" Tara interrupts.

"Yes," I continue, nodding, "so I know she will try to contact us."

"Oh, poor Alice," Milo states. I nod in agreement.

"Well, she might have company," I add, remembering how Hugo disappeared.

"What do you mean?" Juno asks.

"There's this guy Hugo," I begin once more, "he is a shapeshifter and he disappeared right after the incident."

I look at Juno and he's not sure whether to be happy, angry or sad.

"What do we do?" Milo asks. We all look at the ground by our feet, I try to breathe and close my eyes as I do.

"I really don't think we can do anything," I sigh, hanging my head, "The teacher said she's a part of an ongoing case about the Shadow reports."

"I guess we could try to keep up to date on the reports?" Tara suggests shrugging.

"There really isn't anything we can do?" Juno asks in a harsh tone.

"What would you suggest Juno?" Milo barks in response, "Break into the elite court?"

A short pause falls over the group and we all look at each other.

"No no no," I state, realizing what everyone is considering, "That is a death sentence."

"We could become servants and work at the elite court," Liz suggests.

"That actually might work because there is a visitor center. Maybe we could some information from there," Tara states as she begins to plan, "We could tell our parents that we are at each other's houses for the weekend?"

"But what if we don't come home after the weekend?" Juno questions our plan.

"Then why don't we tell them that there's some week-long break this next week?" Liz suggests.

"I know my mom wouldn't believe it and would most likely call the school," Tara admits.

"Why don't we just tell them the truth?" I suggest, not wanting to cause any more drama. Everyone gives me the evil eye.

"That is such a bad idea. What are we going to say? 'Hey mom, Alice was taken by soldiers and we need to sneak into the elite court as servants to get information'," Juno says sarcastically, waving his arms in the air for dramatic effect.

"What if we say we are going on a field trip with our class for, say a week, and that way we can pack and everything without trying to hide it. Plus we would have a whole week to get there, get information, and get back home," Milo suggests.

"Okay, maybe," Tara replies slowly, nodding her head.

"What if our parents call the school wanting to know how we are?" I question, frowning.

"Give them one of our numbers and when we answer them, we can tell them what we want them to know. Like, we'll pretend to be school faculty," Liz suggests. Everyone nods their heads in the silence. The news of Alice being taken still hasn't settled with anyone of us yet as we look at each other.

"Alright guys," I begin, "I think we have ourselves a plan."

We all smile as the bell rings.

"Pack tonight, we leave tomorrow," Juno instructs. We all nod and run off to our next class. I try to breathe again as I realize that this actually might work. I whip out my phone and attempt to text Alice.

Alice, we are sneaking into the elite court visiting center. We will be dressed as servants. Watch for us. I hope you're alright. Is Hugo somehow with you? I hope so. See you soon.

I push my phone back in my pocket. My gut both agrees and disagrees with what we are about to attempt. But you're supposed to do things like this for your friends, right?