The library called

“zzzzzzzzzz”

“zzzzzzzzzz”

He’s woken up by the sudden vibrations of his phone under the pillow. He feels drugged in his sleep; he was up all night catching up on the last season of Game of Thrones – he missed all episodes as they premiered.

His eyelids were shut, he tried to fight them up while he searched for his phone under the pillow – his hand hovered for a few seconds until he located it. He managed to get one eye opened. At first, he thought it was the phone’s alarm waking him up but he vividly remembered switching it off last night because he doesn’t have class for the next two weeks.

“Fuck” He said to himself as he opened his other eye and slowly sitting upright on the bed. “Who’s calling me so early in the morning?” He adds – with a whispering voice as if he was afraid to wake people up.

With both his eyes open, Kenneth proceeded to inquire on his phone with curiosity.

“Oh shit, it’s the library” Kenneth had just remembered that the ‘Moby Dick’ book he borrowed at the library was overdue; he was supposed to have returned it on Friday, three days back. He swiftly jumped out of his bed and landed face-down on the floor. His phone flew from his hand and landed on the other side of the bed.

“I have to return the book” He said to himself. With heavy breathing, he quickly got up and jumped to the other side of the bed – he picked his phone up and ran to the bathroom just across his bedroom.

***

Outside! The sky was crystal clear, with the sun shining brightly. It was colder than he had anticipated but he was almost always one step forward; he always had a hard time coping with cold weather, so he always had an extra jacket with him.

He left the house without having breakfast, which was unusual of him.

Kenneth grew up in a warm household – his mother would always prepare breakfast for the family before she would leave for work. 19-year old Kenneth lived with his parents till the age of 18 – his parents reportedly died in a plane crash in Kenya. The crash had no survivors and every single passenger, including the pilots and flight attendants burned to ashes – there was no way to identify any of them.

Ever since then Kenneth has been living alone and has always been living a decent life – financially, it was like they never left. His parents left him over R500 million in a trust fund registered under his name. Kenneth put almost half of that money into financial stocks; he made at least double what they left him; he was always smart and filled with curiosity – he used to wake up early in the morning and watch CNBC with his dad. He understood stocks at very tender age and always dreamed of owning some.

Growing up in the township of Mamelodi was particularly difficult for him; he always felt like the odd one among his so-called friends around the neighborhood. A nerd, they would call him – because he preferred board games over hide and seek.

He grew up as a fat kid and they used to mock him about his weight, but he lost most of it as he got older – now he’s just a black chubby young man who finds reading more important than having a social media account.

The library is just a few streets away from his house – for him, it’s just a 15-minute walk.

He was moving at a very fast pace; he could almost feel sweat building up on his forehead. He slowed down a bit, and suddenly, he stopped – hands on his knees accompanied by some heavy breathing; he figured he was going to get there either way. It’s not like they were going to close anytime soon. He reached out for his AirPods in his backpack, tugged them in his ears and jammed to some Eminem as he continued with his walk.

The streets of Mamelodi were busy as always. In this township, almost every old car could be a local taxi – the most popular ones are the Volkswagen Citi Golf and the Toyota Tazz among many others. The street was fairly quiet; a few people here and there. He passed a primary school along the way; a few school kids were playing outside but it didn’t seem like casual play – an adult female was directing their activity. He covered his nose as he passed a dump area just adjacent the school yard.

A black sedan stopped right in front of Kenneth; his breathing suddenly got heavier – two men swiftly got off the car and went straight towards him. Terrified as he was, he stood there, still, shacking. He didn’t even notice one of the men pulling out a gun from his jacket. Before he could even utter a word, he felt a hard knock on the head. The men in black were well-built and strong; they duck taped Kenneth’s mouth and threw him in the trunk with ease. Everything went fast, everything went movie style and no one on the street dared to intervene.

***

“Fuck” Kenneth groaned as he tried to lift his head up from the metal table he was cuffed to. The room had a table, two metal chairs, a TV at one corner, and a fluorescent light hanging from the ceiling. The walls were padded and had blood stains on them.

A woman, in a her late 40s sat opposite Kenneth; she was going through her phone as Kenneth was regaining consciousness.

“You’re up. It’s about time” She said, putting her phone on the table. “Do you want something to drink?” she asked, with a small grin escaping her face.  

“Who are you? Why am I here?” Kenneth was terrified and furious all at once. He couldn’t understand what was going on, he couldn’t understand what had happened to him; one moment he was walking down the street, and the next moment he is cuffed to a metal table.

“I like that, straight to the point” She chuckled, leaned back on the chair and folded her arms. “My name is Sizakele Sigxashe, Director-General of The National Intelligence Agency of South Africa” She leaned forward, hands on the table. “You’re here because we need your help” She reached for a key in her jacket; she uncuffed him and pushed forward a brown file that lay on the table. “It may not look like it but we need your help”

“No Mam, you must have mistaken me with someone else, please let me go” Kenneth’s voice screeched terror. He kept tapping his right leg with his hand – he uses that as a coping mechanism when he’s under intense stress.

“Play the tape” Sizakele shouted. Kenneth was confused. He turned his eyes to the TV when it switched on, something started to play; it was a video of his parents walking down a street, holding hands. At this point, Kenneth was out of words, nothing made sense – he just gazed at the TV screen with absolute shock.

“Look kid, your parents are alive and it’s in your hands to keep it that way. That footage was taken a week ago, in Madagascar.” She stood up and moved towards the corner opposite the TV. “Over the couple of years since 1914, a number of citizens claimed to have identified flying objects that they associated with aliens. The problem is that there hasn’t been any evidence to support those claims. However, we recently had somewhat of a breakthrough, and that’s where you come in” She moved towards him, sat on the table and opened the file before him.    

“What? Why? What the fuck is this?” Kenneth was getting more confused; he felt like he was peeing himself. The photo showed a creature like being often classified as an alien. It was placed in a giant glass tube filled with some liquid.

“We received a tip along with this photo from an unknown source. It is believed that the Mamelodi East library is hiding aliens in their building. We need you to be our eyes and ears. You’re the only user they trust. You’re the only user who has access to rooms that are only accessible to the staff. We just need you to confirm these claims before something bad happens” She sat down and spread the pictures in the file across the table. Kenneth’s eyes were still glued to the TV screen – “This must be an old video” he thought to himself. 

“I don’t believe you. My parents wouldn’t just leave me like that. You’re lying, leave me alone. Let me go now!” He shouted, he stood up and went for the door – locked! Kenneth was generally a calm kid; his anger was never outrageous.

“Look kid, you don’t want to leave this place without agreeing to help us.” Her face was covered with pity. She stood up and slowly put the pictures back in the file. “We don’t have time for this right now. I would love to explain why and how your parents are still alive, I would love to explain why their lives depend on you but I can’t, at least not now. However, I can promise you that you will get all the answers you are looking for sooner than you expect. Besides, it’s already late, you have to return that ‘Moby Dick’ book”   

“I’ll do it” He spoke with fear; he was still staring at the TV screen. “I’ll help you but first I want to talk to my parents” He took a seat and went through the pictures in the file. He felt in control because they needed him.

“Sorry kiddo, not today. Next time, I promise” She said with a grin on her face. She took her phone and softly patted Kenneth on the shoulder. “Let’s get to work” She moved towards the shut door.

“What do I do now? What happens now?” He shouted.

“You’ll know” The door opened as she approached it, leaving Kenneth puzzled – his eyes scanning through the pictures.

***

“Out!” The driver said. The black sedan stopped at the Mamelodi East library.

“What? What the fuck is wrong with you people? It’s closed” His voice was filled with rage but he was more annoyed than angry.

“I said out!” The driver shouted.