The Alien Agenda (#Wattys2018)

[Chapter 7: Take Action]

My footsteps echoed in the hallway as my distance from the chattering increased. My classroom was located at the far end of the corridor on the second floor. After somehow, managing my way up the stairs- through the huge crowd of people- I walked through the mostly empty corridors, silently.

I left Lin behind in the crowd, because I knew she was really busy fawning along with girls. There was no stopping her. I suddenly wondered what her reaction would be if she found out he was Uncle Elias's nephew, as I would probably get to see him a hell lot more often. She knew I visited the research office very often.

I invited her over once. She regretted it though, and said she preferred shopping than reading dusty books. I chuckled to myself. Lin might not believe me if I told her Axel was most likely a creep like me as well. Not that I knew he was, but he seeme to have shared a common interest with me. He definitely knew a lot about history, as Mr. Rosen was his grandfather.

My normal teenage girl thoughts immediately disappeared when I thought about the journal and the agenda and Uncle Elias. I gritted my teeth. I had to forget about it.

I stepped into my classroom. The simple classroom with beige tiles and tables felt more cold than it had ever been. There were not many students yet, so I just took my seat, next to the window, and rested my chin gently on my palms with my elbow propped on the table.

I stared out of the window drifting in my thought again, that I did not realize students filling the class and the teacher entering, till Lin squealed next to me. I jerked up and saw our class teacher Mrs. Linda introduce the new student, Axel Dieter to the class.

I saw Axel glance at the whole class, and when his eyes locked on mine I smiled softly, but he returned the glance with a look that sort of said, things are getting a lot worse than you think. No time to smile about.

That was what I thought it meant, because I retracted my smile almost immediately.

Class began, when everyone settled down, but it finished in a blink of an eye to me. I was too distracted to even pay attention. As soon as the teacher left, chatters began to arise once again and my classmates started to swarm around Axel again.

What the heck were they so curious about, it was not like he was an alien or something. Pun intended. I smirked to myself.

It was Second Language class. I was not taking any, so I just sat down in my empty classroom, quietly staring at my notebook. The symbols were still scrawled on the pages, intriguing me for an unknown reason. I uncapped my pen and noted at the side of the first symbol,

Mr. Rosen's Journal, Alien Agenda.

My hand trembled slightly when I wrote alien agenda. The strange agitation began building up within me. It was definitely not ending just like this.

Somehow I simply could not leave the situation. I still did not know why.

I thought for a moment. If I found the first symbol, maybe, just maybe, if I find the rest, something might turn up. What if they were books too? Books that contained secret messages, revelations or clues could be hidden within them.

I sighed a long sigh, for like the hundredth time.

I heard a chair drag on the floor and situate near my desk. I looked up from my notebook to see Axel looking at me with those piercing green eyes. I looked around the class to see most of the students leaving for their respective language classes. Although I caught some glancing at me and Axel and whispering things.

"Hey... Whats up...?" I said slowly, avoiding eye contact. Axel was drumming his fingers on the table anxiously.

"You and I both know what's up," he said bluntly. He stopped drumming his fingers and sighed softly.

"Laila," he said.

I felt my hairs on my neck stand when he said my name. I immediately blushed as I turned to face him and caught myself in his stare.

"3336669," he suddenly said. I looked at him puzzled.

"Its a code, of the date of...," he trailed off looking at my notebook.

I widened my eyes, "No, you don't mean..."

"I... Think so. I did not get the time to read anymore than that. I don't think it's a sort of war, or massive alien invasion. That's not their agenda. Its... Something else. Something much more complicated..." he explained.

After a pause, he continued, "They call it AHM333."

A sudden buzzing sensation overwhelmed my senses. The agitation returned. I was strangely scared. My heart was pounding, my head was throbbing. I felt goose bumps run up my spine. I was feeling incredibly uncomfortable and my breathing was shallow. I was terrified at my body's sudden reaction. Was I having a panic attack?

"Laila... Are you-" Axel began.

"No... No, no way!" I said, standing up. I slammed my hands on my table.

"This is... Ridiculous! How do we even know for sure something this insane is going to happen? I don't believe it... No I don't," I exclaimed.

My eyes were wide, my thoughts were in havoc. I was disagreeing with this. I didn't want to believe it. But why... Was I terrified then? My answers were the complete opposite of what I was actually thinking.

The minute he said AHM333 I felt my mind go blank. My body started shaking, I was breathing heavily. I was beyond terrified. But why? It did not make any sense, yet I couldn't stop trembling. I felt as if something within me had been triggered.

I felt a hand gently rub my back, calming me down.

"Laila, calm down. Why are you trembling?" He asked concerned.

I shook my head over and over again.
"I d-don't believe it.... It can't happen... No...," I mumbled to myself.

I did not understand why I was reacting like that, but after a few minutes I sort of calmed down and Axel brought me down to sit.

"Laila, are you feeling better?" He asked.

I took a deep, shaky breath and nodded.

"I...don't want to believe it. But something in me is telling me...it's real. I sound insane, I know. Yet...I'm... terrified," I stopped and looked at him with wide eyes.

"But I don't know why," I said.

He stared at me silently as if choosing the right words to say.

"Laila... Should we do something about this...?" He finally asked.

I stared hard at the symbols. Yes... We should do something about it. A voice told me from inside my head, it echoed repeatedly. Ever since I saw these symbols appear before my eyes, something changed within me. I was not going to rest until I found out what.

"Yes, Axel...We have to take action with or without help."