He heard a soft tapping on his front door that December night. Feliciano lowered the volume of his radio, listening for the sound, but as it did not repeat itself within a minute, he turned the volume back up. Those few moments with the radio down had actually been bliss, since the only thing on there to listen to was global news, and he was hearing melancholic information. More deaths, more fighting, more feelings of powerlessness. His boss wasn't making it any easier for him, as he did not agree with the man's horrid practices, but he had no choice; as a nation, he had to obey every whim of his boss, regardless of what would happen to the people of his country. Though he hated doing so, his boss had forced him to listen to these horrible radio stations to keep up with news of the ongoing war.

The tapping was heard again, so he repeated the process of turning down the volume, listening, and then turning the radio back on if he heard nothing. This time, a feeling of foreboding over took him, distracting him from the fast talking Italian news reporter. Calm down, you're just hearing things, it's gonna be alright, he thought to himself, sinking back in his couch. The plush velvet was rare to find during wartime, so he cherished the feeling even more.

Feliciano heard the tapping once more, but refused to acknowledge its existence. Maybe I should call Ludwig, he can come to comfort me, he thought. He could feel the cold air prickling at his skin like little needles. I must have forgotten to close that window, he thought, who knew it would be so chilly. He could feel his heart pounding harder in his chest as the tapping continued; he walked over to the window to shut it.

All too suddenly, the tapping had stopped. Feliciano let out a sigh of relief, feeling that whatever was bothering him was simply an act of nature, nothing too bad.

That is, until two hands grabbed the collar of his shirt through the window. Feliciano screamed and instinctively bit one of the hands of the aggressor outside his window, whom he did not see, and ran quickly into his room.

His heart beat resounded in his eardrums as he shut the door and locked it, but soon a feeling of dread shook him when he had come to remember that he had not closed the window downstairs. The attacker could be inside of his home, lurking anywhere. He grabbed the rotary dial phone from off his desk and called Ludwig, panic raising in his throat. Ring, ring, the phone echoed throughout the room ring, ring. The ringing tone seemed to be mocking him, as if saying "The more you hear us the louder we become." He gripped the cold phone tight, his knuckles turning white. A tiny cry came out when the ringing had stopped and a clicking noise was made; soon he heard Ludwig's voice, asking him what he needed.

"Germany, Germany, I'm scared," Feliciano said quickly, unable to keep his voice steady due to all the apprehension.

"What are talking about, Italy. If you're calling me because you're bored, then call your brother and leave me out of it," Ludwig said sternly, a bit annoyed by his friend's calls coming in so late.

"No," Italy shrieked loudly, " Ludwig, I don't know what to do! Don't hang up, I beg you, I'm scared and I'm alone!" Tears were falling quickly know, fear of what was approaching filling every bitter tear.

"Italy, calm down. Wha-" the connection was lost between him and Feliciano, horrifying the young man to no end.

"No! Germany come back! Don't leave me here alone!" Italy cried out. His eyes widened as he saw that the phone wire has been cut. But I'm the only one in here, Feliciano thought.

He felt the cold metallic blade on his neck, pressing into him, not hard enough to stab him, but hard enough to cause the trickling of some blood. His breathing picked up as he felt a hand grab pull him down, hard.

He fell to the floor and scurried to a corner, gasping as tears flowed out from his eyes. A man held a knife in his hand, violet eyes shimmering as he licked the blood off of the blade.

"Hello, Feliciano,I'm Luciano," he said with a grin , twirling the blade on his finger, "I have been sent by our boss to exterminate you."