When I first wrote this, Lucas got the barebones version. The facts and all. But now, looking back, I want to write more.

This is my diary. I'll go in as much detail as Lucas does.

Put it together with Lucas' diary, don't care.

People have a right to learn how it started.

It all started in a students dorm. We sat in the community room. There were food leftovers, plastic bags and noisy students.

I sat on a couch, textbook open and ear-plugs on.

Layla sat next to me.

I occupied myself with anatomy.

Some Dutch dude asked me to play some stupid games with the others.

I told him off.

Once he was gone, Layla turned to me. She put her fingers in her ears and pulled them out. I removed my earplugs.

"I think he has a point," Layla said.

I blinked.

"I'm referring to my conversation with the walking Dutchman I just had. He thought you took this whole studying thing too seriously."

I didn't reply. I plugged my ears and continued my work.

Layla couldn't understand me. She didn't share my background.

When they came to America, they did so with goals in mind. They wanted me and my brother to become rich. They considered everything less than straight-A's as a failure.

Layla interrupted my train of thought by tapping on my shoulder.

I took out my earplugs.

"You can't focus at all, can you?" she asked. "Not even with perfect silence."

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, you told me you were reading a text, not drawing doodles."

My eyes darted back to my notebook. Indeed. It was a really funny drawing.

"Do you live to work or work to live?" Layla asked.

"I've heard this often enough," I answered. "Clichéd phrase."

"Just say 'clichéd sentence'. No need to sound pretentious."

I sighed.

I grabbed my pencil and looked at my textbook. Then, I closed it.

"You're right, Layla," I said. "I'm taking this too seriously. I think I'll skip the lecture tomorrow."

"I wasn't suggesting that, but if you say so. What do you want to do now? Won't kill you to get some sleep. Or you could get out. Moving can help you with studying later."

"Good ideas. Let me think for a while."

My phone buzzed.

"Who's that?" Layla asked. "One of these guys?"

"Let's hope not."

It was a message by Bianca, a friend of mine, who went hiking near the Leimfeld River. Something awkward flew across the water. She sent me a photo of it.

It was hard to see details. A vague, dumbbell-shaped outline, as shown by the sticky leaves and droplets at its edges, floated above the water. It trusted Bianca not to have made anything up.

Layla peeked over my shoulder. "What's so interesting? What are you gawking at?"

I wondered if I should show her, but I just did. "Wanna look at it? I can ask Bianca where she saw it?"

Layla frowned. "I mean, it's not like I don't enjoy a good hike, but here? Ernstburgh is dangerous for such a small town."

"Come on, you don't seriously believe in these UFO myths?"

"UFO? That's something you just said, not me." Layla sounded like I asked her if she believed in Santa. "No, what I mean is, going out alone at night isn't something sane people do. You'd know if you weren't such a spoiled yuppie kid."

I laughed. It took us a while to get moving.

"You said sane people don't walk at night alone," I said. "But what if you come with me?"

Layla spread her hands. "Sure, why not?"

We got up from the couch. I hurried into my room, getting rid of the skirt and switching to more practical attire, including jeans and a green jacket. Then, I put a tube of pepper spray into my jacket pocket. I asked Bianca about the image she took and where she took it. She said it was a bit out of town, but heading towards Ernstburgh.

I had to hurry. I caught up with Layla who already stood at the door outside.

Only the lanterns guided us. Our dorm was located near Ernstburgh's borders, so we had brick houses framing the road's borders, their windows black and blind. The narrow street was as quiet as a library.

We reached the town's borders. A road sign warned us of potholes while willows bent over the street, touching it with the tips of their autumn branches. Trash lay at the sides of the roads.

Fallen leaves cracked under our feet as we reached the entrance to the woods. Treetops that grew into one another gated a trail wider than a car.

Layla thought of bringing a flashlight with her. That way, we avoided muddy puddles.

We heard crickets, owls, cracking twigs, and flowing water.

We arrived at the bridge. Layla's flashlight illuminating what waited for us behind it.

Two trails bracketed the river. The trail on mine and Layla's side of the river was silent. Twigs rustled on the other side of the aisle. Branches moved even though no wind blew. I thought it was a large bird.

I nudged Layla's shoulder and pointed at the trail beyond the bridge.

"What's supposed to be there?" she asked.

"Something's moving," I whispered. "Come, but with lights out!"

"You sure you aren't imagining-"

I shushed her.

The object moved from the right to the left. Therefore, I also moved from the right to the left. Layla didn't bother to argue.

I rummaged for my phone. I activated its camera function. I chose thermal footage. The forest appeared as a mixture of red trees and blue surroundings.

One object stuck out.

Near the rustling trees moved an aircraft so wide, it barely fit inside its chosen trail. It had to turn so that its longest axis moved parallel to the path. The aircraft was no airplane nor a helicopter. More like a double-decke plane, only that its upper wing carried two half-spheres on either of its ends.

I realized this was the dumbbell-like object Bianca told me about. It was invisible.

I used the "record" function to take a video of the apparent UFO. Two seconds were enough for me. I wanted to upload it onto social media as quickly as possible. I posted 'invisible ufo near ernstburgh' .

The UFO slowed down. We tiptoed to make sure we didn't accidentally hit an autumn-leaf and alerted the UFO of our presence. Since Layla had greater difficulties than me, I gestured her to stay behind. Without light, she ran into me before she realized I said "stop."

I followed the decelerating unidentified flying object.

Bushes grew around a young pine tree, providing me with cover. On the other side, the UFO had come to a stillstand. Unfortunately, it was hard to make out what happened around it.

I pushed a bush aside and approached the muddy river, hoping for better footage.

The UFO hovered in space until a man-shaped figure jumped out. A second figure waited for him which I guessed to be female, based on the heigh difference.

Footsteps cracked behind me. It was just Layla who disobeyed my plea. Her face shimmered in my phone's light as she bent over to see my film. Her eyes widened at the sight of the man who had jumped out of the UFO.

Layla tapped on my shoulder and pointed at the path we came from, implicitly asking to go back.

I shook my head.

The two humanoids talked about things I couldn't hear.

At first, I thought they were allies until the presumed man handed the woman something. It made her cringe in pain. She let out a wail so loud that I heard it over the river.

My pulse quickened a notch.

"We've gotta save her," I said.

"Are you mad?" Layla whispered. "Call the cops!"

I thought she should, but I wanted to avoid a loud and pointless argument. I needed a better picture. If the victim was identifiable, maybe people could help her.

Layla rummaged for her phone.

I crept closer to the two, pushing aside a bush as gently as a baby.

From my new vantage point, I made out human anatomy, including facial features and fingers, on my phone's screen.

The woman screamed again. Whatever happened transformed her, changed her body shape, making her longer and thinner than before. In a moment of distraction, I brushed past a bush too violently.

The woman swirled her head to look at me.

She shot in my direction. I flung myself sideways onto the ground. The woman hit my legs with the force of a car running over them.

Bones cracked audibly and maimed my muscles with their fragments like thousands of little knives. I screamed atop my lungs.

Layla spoke to her phone. "Police here? I'm in a forest right now and there's a-"

The shadowy figure of my attacker loomed over me. With no idea what else to do, I drew my pepper spray and shot it at her. She flinched for several long seconds.

Under Layla's flashlight, I saw the face of my assailant. She was blonde and about my age, her face contorted in rage like that of a predator ready to kill. A green glint shone from the corner of her plaid jacket, as did a dark one from under her sleeve.

The other figure jumped across the river and the lights went out.

My assailant grabbed me by my arm. She threw me against a young pine tree with enough force to uproot and snap it.

I screamed once more. The figure descended onto me, squeezing my mouth shut with her hand. My shoulder shattered after this single throw. Any residual vitality had been burned out of my useless, hanging arm.

My memory was better than most and with my brain awakened by adrenaline, I remembered where the woman had her jacket. I remembered the green glow. I grabbed into her pouch.

She hadn't anticipated this move, seeing how frozen she was. Everything was frozen around me. I forgot all pain in my broken body. A pleasant buzz of electricity crawled up my arm and filled my entire body. The green orb I touched glowed through her jacket and illuminated the surrounding plants, river, and the trail, including the man who held Layla by the throat.

The woman dropped me. Even though I had let go of that orb, it still changed my body. I fell in slow motion, feeling no pain as I impacted. My body remained hyperfocused.

I used my intact arm to drag myself closer to the river - my only escape route. 

The blonde woman lifted me by the neck, squishing my throat with supernatural strength. Contrary to what she hoped, I neither coughed nor suffocated. My senses heightened, breaking through the darkness and turning the moon into a permanent flashlight. I became aware of everyone's breath as well as the water splashing below our feet.

"This fight ends now," the man announced in a voice louder than I had ever heard a man speak.

He was dark-haired, in his twenties, and towered over all of us. In his hand, Layla wore a facial expression as if she was drugged or asleep.

Inexplicable events happened around us. My mobile dissolved in my pouch, as did the grass beneath our feet or the very soil we stood on.

"Don't worry," the man spoke, "we do not wish to kill. My colleague's attack was nothing I had ordered or foreseen. We will delete the footage and then go."

The woman took out my phone. It hadn't dissolved, it only lost its protective hull. She cracked my code after the third try, beginning the search for social media posts to delete.

I didn't want to let them get away.

With strength I hadn't realized I possessed, I broke free from her grip and punched away the phone.

The woman snatched my hair and pulled me into the river. My scalp felt like it exploded.

We plunged into the water where our fight continued. I slowed subjective time again, realizing I could make myself think faster in crucial moments.

All our previous interactions replayed like flashbacks. I realized the powers bestowed to me by the green orb. I became stronger, my senses sharpened, my memory improved, and I could heal. Those orbs were important to them. If I destroyed them, maybe I could also thwart their plans.

I ripped the green orb out of her pouch and threw it down the river with all my newfound strength. The woman turned her head in shock. I grabbed her by the scalp and slammed her face against a rock on the riverbank.

A hand grabbed me by the neck. The man had arrived at the scene, holding me in one hand and Layla in the other.

The feeling when he touched me reminded me of grabbing the orb. Only that it felt less electric and more as if a warm feeling spread inside my body. As if my mind had been wiped from all thought and all worries had gone from the world.

He spoke in a voice that soothed me further. "Well, that didn't go as planned. I must apologize sincerely for my colleague's unprovoked attack, it was more than rude. Unfortunately, now that you've witnessed us, I fear I cannot let you go."

His warm touch sent me to sleep.