Chasing Down Secrets (2 page)

“So, what are we gonna do with you, gorgeous?” He spat leaning over her. “My, my, you sure are a pretty girl aren’t you? But then again you aren’t really a girl. You’re not even human.” He leaned in forward, his lips about to come down on hers, when a hand pulled him back.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Emmett’s strong voice came.

“Teaching
that
a lesson.” He grumbled and thrust his arm out and smacking Maria across the face blood trickled down from her lip. Emmett’s muscles tensed up when the man’s hand made a connection with her smooth skin.

“I’ll take it from here. No one needs to know what you almost did.” The man gave a curt nod and took off. “Oh, Maria,” was all Emmett said before pulling her into a hug and let her cry.

I slip back into my uncomfortable bed running a hand over my cheek as tears slipped out from the corners of my eyes. Morning came quickly; my eyes had been crusted from crying in my sleep. I can here people already outside working. I am late. I quickly run towards the door when somebody steps in front of me.

“I saw you.” An old man whispers in a raspy voice, raising a frail finger and pointing at me.

“I don’t know what you mean.” I hesitantly reply.

“I saw you with
him
in the wee hours of the night.” Fear runs through my body. Had he told someone?

“Please, listen,” I begin but am cut off by the man.

“You know, if someone were to find out about this he’d be dead. And, so would you.” A lump had forms in my throat as the words are spoken.

“You can’t tell anyone, please. I love him.” The last part comes out in almost a whisper.

“Love? He’s one of them! He can’t be trusted! Neither can you.” He cries out angrily.

“Of course, you can trust me and him. He’s different.”

“They’re all the same. They deserve to die.” How could an old man hold so much hatred?

“W-what did they do to you?” I stutter, hesitant of the reply.

“They killed my wife. I’ve heard talk about you. You’re not supposed to be here. He’s different, huh? How?” His voice changed and a smile spread across his wrinkly face.

“He doesn’t want this, any of this. He’s only doing it for his father; he died when the war first began. He is kind and considerate and warm.” I gush, wrapping my arms around my stomach feeling my cheeks grow hot just thinking about him.

“Well, I’d like to help.”

“Help what?” I ask, confused.

“I want to help you two break free of this place.”

Chapter Two:

I stand in the dusty room, completely blown away. Why would this man want to help Emmett and me run away? He hates Nazi’s. That’s what Emmett is.

“What do you mean, you’ll help us escape? Who said I wanted to?” I question the ancient man.

“Well do you really want to be here? In this place where everyone has labels? I would have thought you’d want to get away from all that. But I guess not.” He sighs, turning around. He’s about to open the door.

“Wait, I do want to leave. Let me talk to Emmett first.” All he does is nod before he swings open the door.

Heat and sunlight pour down from the sky. I look back to the man but he had gone. I hadn’t even caught his name. As I step out into the sunny afternoon, I see little children, no more than five, running around and laughing. They have no idea what is going on. To them this is another place, another game. I am assigned to be in the fields today, gathering vegetables. I grab a basket and am about to walk over when a hand grabs my wrist sharply.

“You’re in the house today. Their missus is sick, you need to prepare supper.” A harsh voice says. My stomach is fluttering. Emmett will be there. He is a guest in the Captain’s house. He stays there with him because he is from a different city.

“Yes, sir,” I say stiffly, turning around to follow him to the house.

It’s big. I have never been in a place this big before. The soldier leads me to the kitchen then leaves me alone. I wash the vegetables on the table and then find a knife. Quickly, I begin chopping them. I don’t know how long I have been at it but soon the sun begins to fall and footsteps begin approaching. I can tell it is a man by the heavy sound of his footfall.

“I heard you were here.” A strong voice speaks from behind me.

“It’s dangerous for you to be here. What if they catch you talking to me?” I reply while getting out plates.

‘Then, I suppose I’ll be in big trouble. Careful!” He runs over to grab the plate that slipped from my grasp. “Here,” he whispers handing over the plate. His eyes are searching for something. But I don’t know what. “What’s wrong, Maria?” His voice is drenched in concern.

“I’m fine! Never better, actually. I have to go set the table. Excuse me.” I am completely flustered as I place a delicate looking plate with matching silverware at each seat.

“I can
tell
there’s something bothering you. I know you too well.” I freeze, should I tell him about the man’s offer? He deserves to know, but what if he rejects leaving? What if he is perfectly fine with hiding in the shadows? Of course he would be. His life here is perfect. It’s me whose isn’t. Why would he want to change that?

“It’s just, an opportunity has arisen for us to, um, leave.” I mumble nervously.

“What do you mean, for us to leave?”

“A man saw us last night. Before you get angry, he said he could help us break free, well mostly me. You aren’t really trapped.” He can hear the sorrow in my voice, it is so clear.

“What did you say, to the man,” curiosity shows all over his face though he tries to hide it.

“I said I had to talk to you first.” I suddenly become very shy, afraid almost of his answer.

“I think it’s a great idea.” His smile grows large, taking up the lower half of his face.

“Really? That’s fantastic! I’m done, so I’ll go tell him!” My face mirrors his. As I am about to run out the door his hand catches my waist spinning me around so I am facing him.

“I love you, Maria.” He whispers before pulling me into a kiss. It doesn’t last long but it holds so much meaning. We pull apart reluctantly and he lets me go.

“I love you, too, Emmett.” I say to myself as I walk back to the camp in the quiet.

I see the man from earlier on a bench by himself. Walking over I noticed how he seems distant, sad, in a way.

“Excuse me, sir? Is it alright if I sit with you?” Not waiting for a reply I sit down beside the withered man.

“I’m dying.” His voice is tainted by a sadness much greater than I’ve ever seen before.

“How do you know?” He can’t die, not now.

“I can feel it in my bones. Did you talk to him yet?”

“He’s in. But, if you’re dying how can you help us?” I know it seems selfish maybe because it is; this place is his home now. Hell, he’s going to die here; I refuse to let that happen to me.

“I would rather die for a cause than live for nothing.”

“What are we going to do?” I ask.

“Leave that to me. Just wait until I give you the signal.”

“What signal? When’s it going to happen?” All these questions swirl around my mind. I need answers.

“Soon, you will know it when you see it.” That is all he says before getting up and walking towards the hut. I follow him. I need to sleep well, I didn’t know when, but I knew that when it was time, I was going to have to run as fast as I could.

I keep waking in cold sweats with this feeling something bad had happened, like a nightmare but I couldn’t remember dreaming at all. I glance over at him every so often to make sure I can still see the rise and fall of the old man’s frail chest.

Rain pours on the metal roof, I lay listening, hoping I will drift into a blissful sleep. But, the longer I listen the harder sleep becomes. The noise that had once been something of a melody to me is now similar to that of bees buzzing around me head. Thunder claps loudly outside the window by my bed. It is probably going to be like this all tomorrow. I can’t even estimate the time with the gray clouds acting as a curtain for the sky. I lay there for hours. The night keeps growing colder.

People’s voices can be heard around the whole camp, they are the only noise for miles other than the soft pattering of the rain, which has now become a dull roar. My feet swing over the bed so that they are hovering over the cool wood; they glide quietly across the room to the window on the opposite wall.

“It’s time again; we’ve just become too crowded.” A stern voice is saying by the door of my hut.

“That Maria girl’s been here quite a while, think we should do off with her?” Another asks.

“She’s still young and a hard worker, what do you think, Emmett?” I go rigid as I lean closer while staying in the shadows.

“She’s been here five years. She is an adult. Who knows how much more she’ll work for us. This is the age they start to rebel.” Emmett’s voice cracks at the end, my eyes swell with tears. He is going to send me off, just like that. Not even trying to convince them otherwise. A lump forms in my throat and I fear any moment now I will lose control. I want to curl up under my blankets and never get up again.

“So, it is decided. She will be going tomorrow.” The captain says with a serious tone. I stumble backwards into another bed, tears fogging my vision.

“What was that?” One of the men question; I hurriedly climb into my lumpy bed and shut my eyes as the door burst open, the smell of rain filling up my nose. The men circle the room confirming everyone is where they should be. As they are about to pull my covers off, Emmett speaks.

“I can finish up; you all go get some sleep.” They must have agreed because soon it is just him. He lifts the blankets off of my face and sits down next to me. “I know you were eavesdropping. I only said that so they wouldn’t suspect anything. Please believe me. I didn’t mean a word of it, I swear.” His voice is comforting.

“It’s just been a long night. I know you wouldn’t ever say anything like that if it weren’t necessary.” I inhale; I love the scent of rain, the moist air made me feel safe. It always had. The air seems to get fresher, like all the bad stuff that was there before washes away and we have a whole new place to start over.

“Go back to sleep, it’s going to be a big day tomorrow. We’re going to have to leave.” He is right, they are going to kill me, and we
have
to leave before that happened. I let my eyes slide shut as Emmett whispers a goodbye.

Morning comes much too quickly for me. I sit up slowly; my cheeks puffy from sleep crying. The old man comes over and sits on my bed with me. There is a stiff silence, each of us trying to see which will break it.

“I heard you two last night. So it’s going to have to happen today, you need to be ready. When you hear the gun shot run. I already filled Emmett in. He’s in charge of taking you guys to the place.” This is it, I am actually scared to leave, and this has been the only home I’ve known for five years. We walk outside; the moment I step foot on the sand Emmett grabs my upper arm. I glance up into his steel blue eyes.

“I’m taking you and some others for a shower.” He says roughly.

Everything happens so fast. People are yelling, I cannot see who though because Emmett pulls me behind a hut by the gate and runs out to see what is going on. I peer around the corner and see the old man shouting at a guard. He tries to run but they shoot him. Everybody is crowding around them. This is my chance. Emmett looks over me and towards the gate. I turn to follow his gaze. It is open. We know where we will meet. So, I sprint out of the camp and towards the woods.

Once in the comfort of the trees I run between them making sure to stay hidden. I can’t think straight. My heart is beating to loud. I pause for breath. They will know I’m gone by now. The sun is going to be setting soon I have to get there quickly.

My feet pound the soft earth as I will my legs to go faster, so I can go farther; farther away from the injustice I had been forced to witness. They shot him. It seemed so easy for them. Lift the gun, pull the trigger and then bang, the earsplitting sound of the bullet puncturing the innocent skin. It is my fault. The voice in the back of my mind taunts. He’s dead because of me. If he hadn’t been helping me escape he would still be alive.

My steps slow as I see the familiar clearing where we are supposed to meet after I broke free. Making sure to keep in the shadows I search for his familiar face. Had it all been for nothing? I can’t see him and I am too scared to leave my hiding place behind the bushes. He said he’d be here. Maybe we got our locations confused. That must be it. He wouldn’t do this to me. But he might, the little voice says, he is one of them, after all, a Nazi. The fact I had been avoiding finally surfaced. This could all be a trap, some kind of plan to get me killed.

Then I see him emerge from the dark. He is standing there; he seems to be alone. Now it is my turn to show myself. I have nothing to go on, but trust. He could easily murder me right here and now and no one would miss me. Not now at least, now that everybody thinks I am one of
them
. As I step out of my dark hiding space he turns and meets my eyes. It’s as if I’m floating when his blue eyes meet my green ones.