Of The Dark

Chapter 6

A gruelling month had passed after Mama had died, leaving me and Lola to fend for ourselves. It was difficult, to say the least. We all worked in different stations but it was the regular support and confirmation our mother provided that really kept us going. But that was lost now.

My interactions with Herr Diedrich improved, compared to our first few encounters. I found he was spending more time at home rather than outside, in his study or in his room, tactfully avoiding his father who no one really saw much of.

By improve, I meant he had resorted to ignoring me completely.

I didn't know why. I didn't recall doing anything wrong. Since the incident with the map and the ice cream, he greeted me with a coldness and hostility that was unbearably unlike him. Or maybe it was exactly like him.

It was becoming infuriating. In a day, he would speak to me the bare minimum, ordering me to get him a new pen or to clean up some juice he spilled and then he would completely overlook my presence when I was in the same room as him. Fair enough, that was supposed to be standard of our association, but it seemed too sudden and too rash for it to be meaningless, especially after how compassionate he was following my mother's demise.

Nonetheless, I didn't want his attention. I kept reminding myself he was a horrible person and then all the images of the monstrous things he had done came crashing back.

I did not dwell on it much because I was grateful for the additional food he would occasionally slip me for myself and Lola, relieving me a lot of stress about my sister's wellbeing, my primary concern. Lola didn't know how to take the news of mother's death. She just cried a little and then asked when she was going to wake up again the following day.

As for Matron, nothing changed with her. She thought I was as much of a nuisance as she did from the day she met me.

"Get the phone and try to sound polite, for once." She ordered, walking in the opposite direction of the blaring rings from the home telephone. Disregarding her comment, I head for the rotary dial telephone sitting on its small, circular table. "Diedrich household."

"I want to talk to Oskar." The person on the other side answered slowly, the vowels of his name big in her mouth. My lips curved up into a smile at the adorable little voice.

"May I ask who this is, please?" I replied, rallying the most cordial tone I could in my attempt to 'sound polite, for once'.

"Tell him it's his favourite. He'll know." A little giggle was heard on the receiving end, quickly muted by an older woman scolding the child in the background.

"Alright. One moment, please."

I groaned at the knowledge I would have to speak to him today, something I had learnt to dread since the moment he decided it was fit to cut off all the sympathy he expressed towards me before. Gulping down the lump in my throat, I knocked on his door and entered his room. He looked up and then back down to the book at hand with a scowl when he realised it was me.

"There's someone on the phone for you. She said to tell you that it's your favourite." His eyes beamed up with excitement as he leaped out of his bed and went downstairs, abruptly shoving past me on his way out.

"Elsa, what did I tell you about me not having a favourite?" He laughed, genuine happiness emanating from him as he spoke on the phone for four hours with three other people as well. I gathered it was his family; three sisters and his mother. I waited by his side, ready to serve him, if need be. When he was done, he glowered at me before walking away with another shove.

I kept my cool, knowing there was nothing I could do.

At around ten, when I was expecting to be let off to go back to the camps, Matron called me behind.