In another part of the town, Willa guided Schaffel through the streets, where everything was eerily quiet.

Willa could hear no thoughts, no words, not even a whisper, meaning they were alone.

"Where are we going anyway?" Schaffel asked while looking around at the broken down buildings.

"To visit someone I know."

She continued down into a dark alley, and Schaffel gulped loudly. He barely knew her, why should he trust her? She could read his thoughts, and was clearly very powerful. Willa could hurt Schaffel. And after seeing the capability of the Nazis, Schaffel was debating whether or not to trust this girl. Could she be working with the Nazis?

"I have no connection to the Nazis." Willa said dryly. "Not anymore at least."

"Anymore?" Schaffel asked. 

Willa sighed in frustration. 

She didn't want to talk about this, even thinking about it made her teeth grind. "I was a patient at a facility up North." Will said, holding back her anger. "I was used by the Nazis, to do their dirty work." She bit her lip. "So––I ran away." Willa continued. "I want nothing to do with them."

Schaffel looked down, and played with his fingers. After seeing the pain filling her eyes, and face, he felt bad for even bringing up the question. 

Finally, Willa stopped at a random door. "Be quiet," she whispered. "Don't want to attract attention." 

She knocked, but there was no reply.

"otwórz drzwi!" Willa said, knocking louder. Open the door!

Finally the door opened and a man with black hair, dark eyes and a black curly beard opened the door.

"kto to?" He asked. Who is this?

She turned to look at Schaffel then turned back to face the man. "Obcy." she said. Alien.

The man opened the door widely, and guided us in.

He scrambled to his desk, and shuffled his papers. Sketches of brainwaves, data, and research lay across the desk and floor.

"Sorry for the mess," the man said, with a heavy Polish accent.

Schaffel sat on the sofa which seemed to have not been cleaned in years, while Willa stood to the side with her arms crossed.

The man then approached them, after cleaning the mess that was his desk. "It has been a very long time." He looked to Willa, standing in the corner. 

"You've grown a lot." He smiled awkwardly.

Willa rolled her eyes. "I'm not here for a friendly reunion." She said firmly.

Jan laughed awkwardly. "Do you guys want food?" He asked, "clothes are also in the back if you need them."

Willa glared at him, and Jan looked back at her. Finally, she groaned.

"Come on," Willa turned to Schaffel, and walked into the back room.

Willa changed into dark pants, and a brown jacket. Schaffel wore a plaid sweater, and dark jeans. 

After they changed, Schaffel sat on the couch again. His face lit up at the pile of food in front of him, and began to eat it.

"Who's the obcy?" Jan turned to Willa.

"Him," Willa pointed at Schaffel. "I'm not really sure who or what he is, it's nothing like I've ever seen before, myśli, że jest z innej planety..." He thinks he's from another planet.

"Hmm, I see. I might have to do some blood samples, check for brain waves, but I need a lab for that." He said.

"Can you still access the lab?" Willa's eyes furrowed in confusion.

"I'm not sure, haven't entered building in years."

"Could you try?"

The man gazed in disappointment. Then his dark eyes met Willa's.

"I guess I can try."

Laboratoire d'Français

Once they approached the lab, Willa and Jan gulped, noticing the fences surrounding the premises with signs showing red x's through the word Jews.  

They were pasted everywhere, along with soldiers holding their guns at the ready.

Schaffel rested his face on the ledge beside the window, noticing a large purple bird sitting on the fence. 

He sat up straighter, and turned to Willa, "Willa, look!" But as Schaffel turned back to the bird, it was already gone.

She raised an eyebrow, and shook her head in irritation. She turned her attention back to the front. She glanced at Jan, who drove weirdly slow. He swallowed hard, and his eyes widened. "We can't go in."

Willa turned to him, determination lacing her eyes. 

"They'll kill you, and me—like they have everyone else who's Jewish." The scientist concluded, looking into her eyes cautiously.

"I'll go then." Willa said confidently.

"You know nothing of the place!"

Suddenly, the car swerved, throwing Jan and Willa forward in their seats. After Willa recollected, she realized they were heading toward the fence at a rapid pace. 

"Jan!" She cried.

Just before the anticipation of a violent crash, everything stopped. 

Willa opened her eyes, releasing her painfully tight grip on the door handle. She looked ahead,  seeing only sky and hills ahead. She immediately turned to look out the window, and the ground was far beneath them. 

They were floating.

Willa gasped and looked over at Schaffel. 

His eyes were closed, focused.

Then, Willa's stomach tightened as the car dropped back to the ground.

They all sat in silence for what felt like forever, trying to catch their breaths. 

"Jan, next time—pay attention where you're driving." Willa said with irritation, then opened the car door, got out and shut it behind her.

"What happened to her?" Jan mumbled to himself. "She was such a sweet little thing last I saw her." He sighed in disappointment, then opened the door.

Schaffel stayed in the car for a moment, and looked down at his hands, thinking about what just happened.

She can't be this cold-hearted can she? She protected me.

Then he got out of the car, and closed the door behind him.

"I think we're in..." Said Jan gazing shockingly at the building and so did Willa.

Schaffel stood in amazement, confused about what just happened. One moment he thought they were going to die, and in another he was on a blank patch of grass in front of a laboratory, unscathed.

How did we get in?

"Let's go." Willa led, as the other two followed behind her.

✯✯✯

As they walked through the building, people at first recognized they weren't supposed to be there, until a thought that wasn't theirs washed over them. 

Jan swallowed loudly, as they all continued through the hallway.

Until the name Dr. White was on a door. 

Willa called Schaffel and Jan, as they all ran over to it. Black covered the small window, and the door handle was rusted. 

It seemed abandoned, like it hadn't been used in years.

Jan stood in front of the door and sighed. He pulled out his old keys, which Willa hadn't seen since she was little. It even still had the charm she made for him. 

Although she missed Jan dearly, as he was a second father to her, she knew that she couldn't show it. What if the Nazis found out? They would definitely kill him, or worse. Then, they would use him to get her to do whatever they wanted. So, she acted as if this wasn't a reunion but rather a mission.

He unlocked the door to the abandoned office. Everything was left the exact same—like walking back in time.

Jan guided Schaffel over to a station while Willa stood off to the side watching. Jan picked up a headset from the counter and blew the dust off of it. He then placed it on Schaffel's head gently, "there we go," he looked into Schaffel's eyes, "I want you to stay still and calm alright?"

Schaffel nodded reluctantly, gripping the armrests on the chair.

Jan turned on the machine and began studying his brainwaves, and thoughts. Meanwhile, Willa paced around the room. 

She gazed at the university degree, and awards that Jan received for his newfound brain discoveries, which sat behind dusty glass. Willa continued walking in the room until she found a random desk, which she hadn't seen before, with papers scattered everywhere.

He was never the cleanest...Willa thought. 

She sifted through the dozens of sketches, admiring the interesting shape and forms of the human brain. 

Willa stopped, when she found a buried brown file with the name WILLA printed on the front. In the top left corner, a stamp said TOP SECRET along with the symbol of Nazi Germany.

"Willa! Come here!" Jan said in excitement.

Willa slowly walked over to Jan as coloured lines scribbled across the page. "I've never seen anything like this! He has abnormal brain patterns, and a strange brain shape, definitely an obcy."

Willa looked at the picture, her eyes widened with surprise. Though she was unable to see what Jan could see, she understood him. He wasn't lying.

"I would have to do further research and tests, to find more information, but wow! A new species on Earth!"

Suddenly Willa heard a distant noise. She stopped, then gazed around Jan's office. "We need to go—now." Willa said bluntly. Loud knocks and shouts of a German soldier followed. 

She attempted to control his mind, but the metal door blocked her.

Crap.

Willa began to hear her heartbeat through her hands, and her breathing grew heavy. What should I do?  She thought, tapping her thumb and middle finger against each other.

Suddenly, a faint choke came from outside the door.

Willa immediately turned her head to Schaffel, who sat in the chair, eyes closed and with a look of sheer involvement and determination. He then moved his fingers to a position where it appeared he was holding something.

A neck.

The choking then stopped, and the door flung open, to the terrifying sight of the soldier on the ground dead.

Willa didn't realize her mouth was open, and her eyebrows halfway up her forehead until Jan spoke, "c'mon, before another one comes." He said, stepping past the soldier. Jan walked down the hallway carrying the small, tired Schaffel on his shoulders.

Willa closed her mouth, then carefully folded the file, eventually shoving it into her jacket. She couldn't stop thinking how Schaffel had no idea what he was doing, or how he could do it. 

How does he not know?