Of The Dark

Chapter 8

"Wash the plates again!"

"Fix your uniform!"

"Clean the portico!"

Matron's string of commands echoed across the basement, setting off an assembly of servants and on-roll prisoners to ready the house for the arrival of a very important guest.

You would think that by the 25th of December, someone as poorly clothed as me would be trapped in a cube of ice by now. In fact, it was quite the opposite.

I was sweating, running around in the kitchens like a madwoman who had just lost seventeen of her nineteen kittens. The kitchens were hot; steam from the ovens and the lack of ventilation creating a large boiling pot of frantic women and half empty sacks of fresh potatoes.

"Amsel, upstairs." I exhaled with happiness when Matron dismissed me from the kitchen to go up to Herr Di– Oskar's room. Two months later and I was still getting that wrong.

I took my apron off and ran upstairs, desperate to get out of that underground Amazonian climate. I was panting with great relief when I was hit with the fresh, Christmassy air of ground level.

When I entered Oskar's room, he was fresh out of a shower, shirtless, whilst drying his hair with a towel.

I couldn't help but keep my eyes off how unbelievably well built he was. For a person whose daily timetable consisted of drinking, sleeping and periodically killing, he was incredibly toned and muscular. His arms, his abdominal muscles, his chest. Everything about him seemed moulded by the hands of perfection itself.

He may not be a particularly good person, but he was definitely very handsome. The kind of guy girls fell for at first glance.

"Stop staring. You're making me feel self conscious."

"I wasn't staring." I claimed, sure that my cheeks were crimson. He smirked, whilst slipping on a formal shirt before throwing me a set of cufflinks. I walked over and put them on for him as he did up his buttons. "They're little Christmas trees!"

"My grandfather gave it to me." A small smile lit up on his face. The sound of a car approaching the front of the house filled the room. "See you later, then. Merry Christmas, Hana."

"Merry Christmas." I replied as he left the room. I went forth and tidied up after him, picking up the wet towel on his chair and then fixing his bed.

The last two months went by quite nicely. Oskar and I would talk about normal things, like the weather or how grumpy Matron looked that day on a scale of one to thirteen. He would usually let me go early so I could spend time talking with Lola and making sure she wasn't afraid when falling asleep in the stench of the cabins. It never got easier, dealing with mother's death, but I learnt how bury the pain deep inside so it wouldn't hurt as much and so I could still be there to coddle Lola.

With the slightest bit of curiosity, I leaned over the window frame to view the commotion outside.

One incredibly well dressed woman and her three girls stepped out of the car, the smallest of whom ran up to Oskar to enclose him in a tight hug. The second youngest followed suit but the oldest child just patted his shoulder. They were the three girls from the picture; his sisters!

The two oldest girls also went to greet Reichsführer but the smallest stayed in Oskar's arms as his supposed mother came to kiss his cheek. He was smiling like a child who had just been given a bag of sweets, surrounded by his family.

His mother was the definition of beautiful. Locks of her golden hair cascaded down the side of her face, falling effortlessly by her shoulders. Imperfection was nonexistent on her face, which shone with brightness whenever she smiled. She definitely did not look like a woman who have given birth to four children.