1968

Chapter Twenty-Two: July 13th, 1968

Mihn's point of view:

It posed as a normal night when we waited for the arrival of Lorelei. She had left around eight and it was nearly ten thirty. We expected her back quite soon, so none of us were worrying. Hilda explained to us that she tended to take at least a couple of hours when she was working with Trúc. So I didn't really react to it being so late. If she wasn't back by midnight then I would suspect something to be wrong. It was a long while before that though.

"When do you think it's going to rain next?" Hilda asked all of us. Jacob, Jack and I were all sitting in the chairs and she was placed on the bed, flipping through the pages of a book.

"Not sure," Jack replied. It seemed like the night would be filled with small talk until the door busted open a few seconds later. Lorelei appeared within it, looking like she had seen a ghost.

"Lorelei?! What's wrong?" Jacob asked frantically as he stood from his chair. I followed and both of us went over to her side.

"It's nothing like we expected. Nothing at all," she went on like she was going insane the more she talked about it. I brought her slowly to the bed and sat her down on it, holding her hand and squeezing it to try and assure her she was in a safe place.

"What isn't? Honey, you have to tell us or we'll never know," Hilda said to her, a look of motherly concern on her face.

"Trúc took me to where he worked, well, only a small part of it. That's what is so disturbing about it. We went in and there were hundreds, hundreds, of guerrilla soldiers illegally buying these weapons. Trúc said it was completely legal because he was legitimate, but I know that isn't. This is bigger than any of us thought, and it's going to be even harder to stop. This is why we've been fighting for so long, or part of it. If we take this down it could help end it," she explained. This was all unreal. Even I, who used to be a soldier for the south, didn't know how much the selling of illegal weaponry happened.

"Is it really that much?" Jacob asked, he was clearly amazed by the reaction his sister supplied for them. She nodded her head, her eyes still wide with worry.

"It's horrible how much there is. I don't even know what to think. As soon as we got in there I was scared and amazed," she replied. It was truly a scary thing to think that more and more people were in this than we thought.

"So, what do we do?" Jacob asked.

"Well, we will have to call Komer in the morning. I don't know if he will come here to help us but at least he can give us another initiative," Hilda replied, "until then, Lorelei, maybe don't see Trúc for a little. Tell him you're sick or something."

"Lord, I can do that," she replied. I was glad she didn't want to be with him. I had so many fears of her magically falling for this horrible man because of his money and charm. I was relieved to know that wasn't the case.

"I'll get straight to calling Komer. Just hold tight for a while," Hilda said to all of us. We agreed and went back to our business. I still held Lorelei's hand as we sat together at the foot of the bed. I couldn't believe how worried she looked, how her expression showed the fear of what was to come if there was that many fighting against us.

"We're going to be fine, Lorelei. Really, I promise. We have too many people on our side that know what they're doing. You're one of those people. Look what you found! You singlehandedly helped us make such a movement that it could potentially begin the ending of the war. Nothing will happen to us, or you. Not when you have me and your family and Komer," I explained. This wasn't just to make her feel better. I genuinely felt this was the way it was. I was certain that even if the army didn't want to we would still have protection from her parents and Komer. I remembered speaking with him, he told me he had full trust in Lorelei and if she needed anything he'd be waiting at the finish line.