Interior by KLeenaGirl (list of e readers .TXT) 📖

he wasn’t at school anymore, I headed towards his home. I was running as thoughts flew through my mind. What had happened? And why? Was it irresponsible of me not to state his name at ISO? And was it okay for me to lie to David and my comrades? I felt so guilty and yet, didn’t I have the right of my personal space, either? I hadn’t chosen this life in the first place, I hadn’t wanted to become a spy and a famous target for criminals. All I wanted was an ordinary life, in an ordinary school, with ordinary friends and an ordinary family.
How selfish I was! I disgusted myself. It was my fault that Bastian’s parents had been kidnapped. If I hadn’t been so careless, it would never have happened. How was I going to comfort him, when I knew the painful truth? And if he ever found out, would Sebastian hate me then?


Chapter 6


Rain was pouring down in streams now. I had forgotten my jacket at ISO, so I was shivering, as the cool droplets ran over my bare arms, soaking my t-shirt all wet. My necklace swayed softly. Grimly, I headed right into the next station to fetch the tube.
As I entered the wagon, I felt like every pair of eyes was staring at me. My fantasy was completely insane by now. I tried to collect my thoughts and sat down next to the window.
When the rail began to move, I watched every light passing me by in the darkness of the tunnels. When the speaker announced my destination, I stood up. Suddenly, my sight became all wary and unclear. Was that my mind’s or my body’s work?
I felt weak as the rail left me behind at the station. Exhausted and feverish. I had probably caught a cold from walking through the rain all the time.
The chain of my necklace bit into my neck, while my clothes all clung to my body.
When I saw a bench, my body was screaming at me to give myself a break. I refused it. I knew I had to meet with Sebastian as soon as possible. So I continued to walk two blocks from the station to stand in front of his door, finally.
He opened soon after I had rung the bell. His eyes were still lifeless and his whole figure appeared to be smaller than usually.
He let me in and I took a seat on the couch right next to him. For a few minutes, we just sat there and were silent. Then he turned to me. ‘Are you alright, Alex?’ he asked and eyed me. ‘You seem to have a fever.’ I gently laid his hand on my forehead to feel my temperature.
I wanted to laugh – in a sick, strange way. His parents were kidnapped and he felt miserable, but he was still asking me how I was. I pushed his hand aside. ‘I’m sorry, Bastian’, I whispered.
‘It’s okay’, he replied.
‘No! I mean, it’s not okay I left you in school today without even hearing you out.’ I moved towards him.
‘I’m sure you had your reasons.’ He leaned into me close. So close, I could smell his lovely, yet manly scent. I felt my mind slipping again. My head was spinning. It all felt like I was getting sick, but at the same time not. There was something deep inside me that was trying to reach the surface. Sebastian’s hands were on mine, caressing me. The embrace gave me safety and I forgot the reason I actually came here for. I wanted to stop time and just live this moment. It had been so long since I was emotionally close to another person.
A sharp pull tugged at my consciousness. It didn’t feel bad, just strange. I simply gave into it. The world backed off of my field of vision and the sounds became quieter till I didn’t hear them anymore. It was like I was drifting into sleep, but it came over me so much more heavier and faster than usual.
‘Alex?’ A voice suddenly said.
‘Hmmm’, I answered sleepily.
‘You’re awake?’ I nodded and yawned. What had happened? Had I fallen asleep? ‘Sorry’, I murmured.
Sebastian threw his arms around me and pulled me close. ‘You don’t have to apologize for sleeping, dummy’, he almost smiled.
I grabbed his shirt and set my voice in a very low tone. ‘I’m sorry for what happened to your parents.’
He tensed up and didn’t return the embrace anymore. I couldn’t hear his steady breathing anymore, so I looked up.
Sebastian immediately pushed me away. His eyes were roaming over my body as if he was searching for something. ‘How do you know?’ he barked at me. ‘I didn’t even tell you. What do you know?’
I gasped. I had been so inconsiderate that I told him right away I knew about the incident? Oh, damn, what was wrong with me today? First these sick feelings, a cosy heavy sleep all of sudden and now I slipped my tongue to blurt out an ISO secret.
So much for being a spy, Alex.
‘I…I just guessed, Bastian’, I said, though I could see in his eyes he wasn’t going to believe a word from me. Instead of saying something, he grabbed my arms holding them tight and pinned me against the wall.
‘How do you know?’ He shouted a few times, before he let me go. His face changed from angry to sad and I could see tears forming in his eyes. It was truly breaking me apart. ‘I…I don’t know where they are, since three days I haven’t heard from them…I…’ he was sobbing now. He looked so broken, like a lost child searching for his mother. And in some way he was. My instinct told me to comfort him, but I couldn’t. I had betrayed him and I knew that.
I straightened my clothes and muttered an ‘excuse me’ before running out of the house. I paused for a second after I had walked through the front door.
Should I stay? Or should I go? Unease was filling my mind and I was drowning in desperation. Having made up my mind, I continued on hurrying away. Walking around the corner of the block I let out a short, loud scream. Why was the world turning all against me? The black clouds hung over London still and the feeling of nausea was coming back to me slowly. Must be the stress.
I strolled down the pathway, heading for ISO. I had to solve the issue right away, even when my power was leaving me.
After some time I sensed a person following me, but it was hard to recognize who it was because of the rain and the loss of energy. Every time I looked around, I couldn’t see anybody. Was I becoming paranoid? I wondered and decided not to bother about it right now. My body was to busy to fight against the cold and the discomfort at the moment.


Chapter 7


I was finally nearing to HQ. I still felt bad, but was determined to reach my destination. The rain poured down on me, leaving me shuddering and shivering. My knees were weak and my muscles hurt. Were these the symptoms of a cold, or was there anything more behind it? Funny thing was that I didn’t remember the last time I had been ill. I usually had a really good immune system, so I brushed off many kinds of diseases. Thinking of that, this situation became crazier as each minute passed by. I reminded myself to ask Eileen for some medicine soon. This horrible feeling had to stop.
I walked up the stairs to an inconspicuous house, after I had turned into a little side street. It was brown and looked dirty and old. Every person walking by would think it was some battered and empty building, supposed to be ripped down in the forthcoming time.
When I sensed that nobody was watching, I quickly slipped through the front door. ISO’s headquarters were situated in a way you could reach it from many places by using an underground elevator. It was a really special kind of lift which not only moved vertically, but horizontally, too. Around the city there were several ‘access points’. All of them had their own enter code, so if one code was overridden, the other doors’ ones weren’t.
I made my way down two floors and halted in front of a grey wall.
Quickly I rubbed my hands dry and pushed the right one into a little field of electronic sensors. My identity was recognized immediately and the wall opened to reveal the elevator’s entrance. I took a big step forward and turned to push the button for moving.
‘What’s this all about?’, a firm voice asked me and I looked up to see Sebastian standing right in front of me. He was here? How? And why hadn’t I noticed that he had followed me?
‘How…?’, I began, my voice trembling.
He gripped my shoulders and pushed me against the wall. I was already too tired to object. ‘That doesn’t matter now.’ He gulped. ‘All I want is you to tell me what you know about my parents’ abduction.’ He shook me a little as if trying to wake up my mind. ‘Dammit, Alex! I have a right to know. What has happened? Why won’t you tell me?’
He loosened his grip and stared at me so desperate. I slumped down a little and sighed.
‘Alright’, I whispered. ‘I’ll show you.’
Sebastian looked at me, now even more confused.
‘Alexandra Thompson, Authorization Code #08J92PBG’, I said clearly while I was regaining some strength again. Apparently, the new situation concerned my brain and my body badly.
The lift started to move and we stood in silence. I guess Sebastian didn’t understand much of what happened and he was quite overwhelmed by it.
The doors opened and we stepped out. We were alone in the Arrival Hall, but not for long. David came along. ‘Hey Alex’, he said without even having approached us, ‘who is that you brought with you?’
Oh, no. What was I going to say? That’s just my best friend, whose parents suppose to happen to be hostages of our enemy?
Though, before I even opened my mouth, Sebastian introduced himself. ‘My name’s Sebastian Be-‘
‘Beerbohm.’ I piped in. ‘This is Sebastian Beerbohm.’ I tried so hard to sound honest, yet it must have sounded like I was explaining that the earth was a plate. Bastian gave me a strange look, but didn’t protest. So I continued. ‘He’s my classmate.’ Well, at least, that was not a lie. ‘And he knew of ISO already, so I just wanted to…to show him our place and…you know all the stuff here…’ Oh my.
David was suspicious, I could feel it. Fortunately, he let it pass. ‘You don’t look good, Alex. Are you sick?’
I gulped. ‘I’m okay. I’ll let Eileen take a look at me.’ David didn’t push the topic anymore, so I mentally sighed in relief.
‘Well then, Sebastian’, he said, ‘How about showing you around a bit?’
‘Y-Yeah…sure, Sir.’ Bastian stuttered and Dave laughed quietly at being addressed as a ‘Sir’.
We walked along the Entrance Path. ‘So, you know about ISO? Quite interesting, isn’t it? I guess, you know the secrecy rules then.’ Without waiting for an answer, ISO’s coordinator went on. ‘This is our gym, in the right the changing rooms. Offices are one floor down. And here we come into the Great Hall. It’s practically the place where everything ends up. Information, maps, data files – you’ll all find it here.’
David stopped and watched us. Sebastian hadn’t said