Concentration

Chapter nine

Eden's POV:

I lay next to Stella in a bunk that is far too small to accommodate both of our bodies comfortably. We decided to discard of the hay that cushioned the wood in hopes to keep clean of lice and other paracites that resided in it. I'd rather lay on bare wood than get infected with bugs. I may not be the nicest smelling person here, but at least I don't have lice, which is a lot more than most of the prisoners here can say.

"I wonder where the guards are?" Stella questions, rolling over so she is flat on her back, staring at the wooden bunk that is directly on top of ours.

I shrug.

"You never told me about yourself, besides your name is Eden." I shift slightly, uncomfortable with the thought of having to share any information about my prior self. The girl I left outside of Natzweiler-Strutoff.

"So. You haven't been very informative about yourself either." I point out. What does my past matter anyhow, that's exactly what it is - the past. I'm never going to see my home, family, or friends again. This is my -our- life now.

"You have a point."

I nod.

"If I tell you my story will you tell me yours?" She bargains. I sigh, not wanting to reveal any details of my prior life. Thinking about what use to be only makes our current situation harder. I open my mouth to speak but as soon as I do so I hear the metal door being pulled open.

"No time," I say. Rolling out of our shared bunk and slipping my feet into my worn shoes.

I am caught in a hoard of bodies all shuffling to the exit like a heard of cattle. My sense of smell is instantly assault by the pungent odor of un-bathed human. Once I am freed into the morning air I instantly break away from the compact group of prisoners, trotting to the side and resting my hands on my knees while my lungs gasp for fresh air.

"Ma'am, are you okay?" A deep voice sounds behind me and I know it's a solider. My body instinctively stiffens at the sound.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I felt like I was going to--" I am rendered speechless when I turn around and face the solider behind me, "faint." I finally finish my sentence, once I collected my jaw of the ground - metaphorically speaking.

He's deep green eyes flash with worry and a hard crease divides his brows. His jaw is clenched shut, making his jawline look even shaper and more sculpted. The small indentation of his dimples contradicts his whole features by making him appear softer. His curls are long and thick, with a bandana tying them back from his forehead. Harry.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He probes, stepping towards me earnestly. His eyes search mine to validate my words - looking at me as if I'm a house of card and under the slightest breeze I would collapse.

His alluring aroma instantly invades my senses and I instinctively breath him in. It had been the first time in weeks that I had been rewarded with a scent other than that of dirty or burning flesh. My eyes lazily shut as I happily welcome Harry's therapeutic cologne.

"Eden?" His tone is hurried, solicitous about my health.

"I'm fine," I say opening my eyes, "honestly." I give him a half-smile and he nods, seeming not to believe me but not pushing the issue further.

"You get the front and I get the back," Harry yells over my shoulder, talking to another French soldier I have never seen before but seems to be about the same age as Harry.

I stay in the back of the line with Harry and sneak quick glances at him out of my periphral vision as we walk in silence. His gun seems to be weighing him down, amongst other things, and with every few steps he secures the strap that had slid down his shoulder.

"How old are you?" I break the silence and Harry turns his head to stare down at me, a slight smile tugging at his features.

"Well.. How old do I look?" He answers my question with a question.

"Hmm.." I chew on my to appear to be lost in thought. "Erm, I'd say you look a healthy 40."

"40?!" He shouts a little too loudly, startling a prisoner in front of us. "Sorry," he mumbles to them and I have to refrain a laugh. "40?" He repeats in a hushed whisper.

"40." I nod.

"Well I'm only 20, so." He pouts with a frown on his face.

"Harry, I was merely kidding." I chuckle lightly to not draw attention to ourselves. I'm sure it would be frowned upon a soldier and prisoner laughing together and I don't want to fathom what the consequences would be for the crime. "There is no way you could look 40 even if you were 40 with those boyish looks."

"Boyish looks?" He raises his brow in a curious fashion.

"Yeah, your dimples, they're lovely." I compliment him and his smile grows drastically before he turns he head away from me. If I'm not mistaken, a nice shade of red settled over his cheeks before he shielded himself from me.

"No breakfast today?" I ask when our group walks pass the canteen without stopping.

Harry looks at me with sympathetic eyes before slowly shaking his head no.

"Bummer," I admit, "I was looking forward to that gourmet buffet they offer." I half-smile, trying to make the situation as light-hearted as possible to conceal my hunger pains that I have came accustomed to. Harry doesn't say anything, instead we walk in silence until we get to the factory doors.

The other soldier that escorted us here with Harry opens up the metal door and holds it while we all shuffle in. Harry stands beside Liam, a frown hardens his features and he stares at the ground in what appears to be deep thought. Just as I'm about to disappear behind another door that will separate the two of us he gently grabs my wrist, holding me in place, before whispering in my ear, "Be careful, Eden." Harry let's go of my arm, leaving me stunned, just in time for the door to latch, locking me in.

Harry's POV:

I mindlessly chew on my lunch, while Liam sits across from me at the small table we occupy everyday. We leave the big tables in the center of the canteen for all of the Nazis to congregate at and chose the two seater in the corner. Liam hasn't said much sent we dropped off our new group this morning at the factory, which is unheard of because he is usually always on my ass about something.

"Who pissed in your Cheerios? Did you get a ham sandwich when you fancied a turkey one?" I smirk at Liam and he rolls his eyes in a amused fashion.

"Yes, that's exactly it." His shoulders bounce slightly from his soft laughter. "No, but what I was thinking was.." Liam eyes the soldier who are to caught up in their own conversations to overhear our quite whispers. His eyes return to me before he starts again, "that was her, wasn't it? This morning, the girl in the back of the line. That was--"

"Eden." I finish for him. "Yes, that would be her." I take a swig of my water and Liam nods while breathing a sigh.

"She's really pretty." He gives me a worrisome look.

I nod. "I know. Too pretty for this place and these disgusting cows' wandering eyes." The thought of a soldier touching her against her will makes my skin crawl. My fist involuntarily clenches from the possibility and my breathing heightens. "But I won't allow that to happen, not to her, or any girl under my watch. But especially not to her." I stare down at my empty tray, positively boiling with anger. How could someone even do that, force themselves onto a woman. I swear if I ever saw a nazi raping a prisoner he would be my first kill and I'd perform it with my bare hands.

"Harry," Liam pulls me from my morbid thoughts. "That's not going to happen because we're her guards, remember? She's one of the lucky ones here. We'll keep her safe." I nod, letting Liam's comforting words extinguish some of the fire that raged inside of me.

I hope he is right.

A/N: Sorry that I went two weeks without updating. I just started a new job and my aunt has been in the hospital and just lost her battle to pancreatic cancer yesterday, so I've been pretty stressed. I have to be at the funeral home for the next couple of days so I'll be writing sporadically there, I'll have it up by Friday at the latest. Votes/shares are appreciated. xx