The Forbidden Six

June 13th, 1944

What does normal look like when someone you love has died?

For Liese, she just went back to the way that it was before Otto, Augustine, and Werner had taken leave. That life was boring but at least it had structure. She craved structure. She craved the monotony of her old life. She wanted school. She wanted mean math teachers who you could make fun of behind their back. She wanted normalcy. Alas, she couldn't get any. She could never get any.

Liese knew she had to tell Pieter about what had happened. Four days had passed. She had been leaving him in the dark. It was just so hard to talk about it. It was easier to pretend that it never happened. It was easier to pretend that he wasn't dead and instead, he had never existed.

She had been pacing in front of the stairs to the basement for ten minutes, gathering the courage to go talk to Pieter. With a decided breath, she walked down the stairs, her hands slightly shaking. Hopefully he wouldn't be too mad that she hadn't told him anything.

He was mad.

"You didn't tell me anything. All you say is 'something happened' while bringing me food and then you leave without another word." Pieter's voice was quiet but it seemed to carry across the entire basement. Liese wished he had been yelling. It would have made it easier. "You told me nothing. I had to sit down here and wonder what was happening. I didn't know what was going on because you didn't tell me. It's like I'm a dog. You bring me food and then forget about me. Why is that? Am I nothing more than a dog?"

"Pieter, nein. I was so preoccupied. I'm sorry."

"With what? What was so important? Why haven't I seen anybody? Where's Otto, Mena, and Werner?"

"Werner's six feet under," she spat. "He's pulling up flowers. He... said his kiss off. He... kicked the bucket." She paused, thinking of more synonyms for "to die". "He expired." She couldn't bring herself to say 'he died'. She had to have some other way to say it.

Pieter looked at her for a moment. His mouth turned down in a frown and his eyebrows knit together. It dawned on him and he gasped. Liese pressed her lips into a tight line. She nodded.

"When did it happen?" Pieter asked in the smallest voice she had ever heard.

"A few days ago."

He shut his eyes and put a hand on his forehead. "What were you doing the last few days? You forgot to bring me food one day, Liese!"

"Otto drowned himself three days ago," she snapped. "I've been dealing with that on top of the Werner thing and skipping meals so you and Augustine can eat."

He paled, all traces of his anger gone.

"He—he drowned...himself? Why?"

Liese bit the inside of her lip and looked down at her nails. She picked at a bit of skin next to one of her nails. "He was...sad. Werner had just died and Odette died and...it was all too much, I guess."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I was handling important matters."

"Am I not an 'important matter'?" Pieter crossed his arms, his voice tainted with anger.

"If you weren't important then why haven't I turned you in?" Liese countered. "I could easily turn into a singer if I wanted to."

He fell silent. Her mouth twitched. She turned to go up the stairs.

"You might have to leave. Werner turned in Leyna and he might have told the Gestapo that you're hiding here."

She climbed the stairs and shut the door. Pieter was left alone once again with his thoughts and the spider in the corner that he named Albie. He had taken to talking to the spider because he had nobody else.