Disclaimer: I don't own any part of the Twilight Saga/Series. :*( Stephenie Meyer does cuz she's awesome.

A/N: I just had a little idea about what would happen if Bella and Edward were Jews during World War II. So, here it is. Enjoy. By the way, when you see, "WHIP!" imagine a whipping noise.

Preface

I would never know how I was so unlucky to end up here.

My best friend and I ran across the dark night hoping in vain not to be caught.

If we were ever caught, the punishments would be unbearable. Possibly 5,000 whips, no food for a week, cooler until the war that seamed to rage on forever would end. I could only hope that they wouldn't put me in the gas chamber…

But, at the moment, I couldn't care about what awaited me if we were ever caught. I was with my best friend, who also happened to be my true love. But would I ever get to know if Edward loved me back?

Chapter One

WHIP!

No matter how many times you get whipped, you don't react any differently to the excruciating pain.

WHIP!

Imagine putting a razor at the end of a rope.

WHIP!

Imagine moving that rope with blinding speed across your back.

WHIP!

Imagine that being repeated a thousand times, and you can't do anything to stop it.

WHIP!

Not only that, imagine going through that at least once a day, everyday.

WHIP!

That's how life is for me, Isabella Swan. The Jew who was trying to live a regular life until I was discovered.

I lived in Germany for practically my whole life. My grandmother and I had never dropped hints that we were Jews. I didn't even look Jewish.

My dad was Jewish, and he almost looked it. But not quite. My mom wasn't Jewish though. She was German and they met long ago and fell in love. My grandmother spoke German flawlessly and taught me how to speak it. I had the accent of a German aristocrat, as a matter of fact.

So there was no reason for anyone to assume I was Jewish. I had blonde hair, blue eyes, no long nose, but somehow I was discovered.

I wasn't sure if I had made a slip at school at one point, or if someone just found out I was a Jew and reported me. Either way, I was now in Auschwitz.

I couldn't stand this. I don't know how I've managed to keep living for the past two years. Seeing trains full of fellow Jews arrive each day, watching them get their numbers tattooed on their arms, seeing what numbers have poor meanings- my number, 134212, added up to 13, "Ahava" meaning love- and then watching as friends I've made get taken to the gas chamber, never to be seen again.

WHIP!

I received the last of my whips and was sent away.

Just then, another train-full of Jews arrived at Auschwitz. I watched from the corner of the camp as they filed in one by one.

Then, I saw him.

He was the most handsome man I had ever seen. He was tall, but not lanky. No, he looked very fit. He had bronze hair that had the perfect messy look to it along with perfectly chiseled features.

And his eyes!

I felt like I could stare into them forever. They were perfect green orbs that were literally the windows to his soul.

I watched as he and the other Jews were lined up to get their number. So many people screamed in pain, but he did not. He merely locked his teeth together and closed his eyes. It looked like he held his breath the whole time.

The man who went up after him tried to follow his example, and he failed entirely.

My eyes went back to the bronze-haired young man. He walked over to where they were giving out uniforms. One of the Nazis gestured toward one of the quartering buildings.

My heart nearly stopped.

It appeared that he was assigned to the same building I was. I quickly walked over to our now shared building. One of the Nazis stopped me.

"Where are you going?" he asked in a thick German accent.

I sighed and spoke to him in German, knowing he would be more comfortable with that. "Ich gehe zu meinem Viertel." Translation: "I'm going to my quarters."

"Warum?" Why?

I sighed internally. "Ich habe etwas zu bekommen." I forgot to get something. Lie.

"Machen Sie es schnell." Make it fast.

"I will." I muttered.

Before entering, I peeked into the small window of the building, making sure it was okay to go in. He was already changed into his uniform. Good.

I walked into the room and he turned around.

"Hi." I murmured.

He smiled a dazzling smile. "Hello." His voice was like velvet; soft and gentle.

I walked over to my bed. "I'm sorry to disturb you, I just forgot something." I explained.

"Don't worry about it." he told me.

I rummaged in my bed and pretended to grab something. I put "it" in the pocket of my dress. Then I turned around.

He was looking at me. Then he suddenly stuck out his hand. "Edward Masen." he said with a smile.

I put out my hand as well. "Isabella Swan," I said while he shook my hand. His touch sent an electric jolt through my arm. I ignored it and continued with, "but you can call me Bella."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Bella." he said, he sounded like he really meant it.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, too, Edward." And it most definitely was.

We walked out of the building into the blazing heat. Most of the other newcomers were out here as well. My heart sank as I saw a group being led to the chamber room.

Edward noticed my expression. "What's wrong?" he asked, concern in his voice.

"Those poor people." I nodded with my head to the group that was about to be slaughtered in an awful way.

"Where are they going?" he wondered, looking at the unfortunate souls.

"You've never heard of the Auschwitz gas chambers?" I demanded in disbelief.

His eyes widened. "Gas chambers?"

"Yes," I murmured. "The Nazis take some of the people here to chambers that get filled with gas. They all die very quickly… and the poor children." A lump filled my throat and I couldn't finish.

Edward stroked my cheek. "What is it?"

I looked down. "They get thrown into burning pits." I whispered. "It saves the filthy Nazis money on the gas they use to kill the others." I said even more quietly than a whisper.

He looked disgusted. "How can they do that?"

"I don't know, I don't think any of them have any hearts."

He nodded in agreement.

"Oh, hey." I said, changing the subject. "What's your number?" I asked.

He looked puzzled. "Why?"

"I want to see what it means." I showed him my number. "It adds up to 13, it means 'Ahava'"

"Oh!" He quickly added up the numbers tattooed on his arm. "Well, look at that." he murmured. "Mine add up to 13, too."

I smiled.

"Hey!" I heard someone yell from behind us.

We turned to see one of the officers coming up to us. "What are you doing?" You could barely tell what he was saying, his accent was so thick.

I sighed. "Wir waren nur immer wieder an die Arbeit." We were just getting back to work.

"Beeil Dich, dann." Hurry up then.

We started walking to where they other Jews were working.

"You just said all that perfectly." Edward said, looking amazed.

I blushed. "My grandmother was German." I explained. "She taught me how to speak it and I was a 'natural.'" I shrugged. "Do you speak German?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Not like that. I have the accent of a Berlin butcher."

I laughed.

Throughout the rest of the day, I explained to Edward the rules of Auschwitz.

"And if you ever unfortunate enough to meet Josef Mengele, don't get on his bad side." I warned him.

He chuckled. "I actually wasn't planning on getting on anyone's bad side."

"Well, you especially don't want to get on his bad side." I told him. "And that bad side is his left."

He looked confused.

"If he wants you to die, he puts you on his left side. Then you either go to the gas chambers or get killed some other way. If he thinks you could be useful, he puts you on his right and you end up doing some form of work." I explained.

"That's disgusting." he said.

I just nodded because one of the officers came up to us.

"Es ist an der Zeit gateilt werden." It's time to be divided.

Edward and I both nodded and went to stand in line with the other Jews.

There stood the Josef Mengele, himself. I watched as one by one, people were waved casually to his left hand side with the flick of a cane grasped in a gloved hand.

I stepped up in front of the devil himself, praying I wouldn't be forced to go left.

He flicked his cane to his right, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Edward was up right after me. I held my breath as I waited for his fate. Surely Mengele could see potential in him. He was a strong teenager.

Mengele hesitated for a moment. This was natural, but it still drove me insane. Edward was new, he didn't know what to make of him yet.

Mengele flicked his cane to the right.

Edward came over and stood next to me. "I see what you mean about his bad side." he muttered.

I smiled.

Over the next few months, Edward and I became very close friends. We knew everything about each other, even our horrible pasts.

"My parents were both Jewish." he began one night while we were sitting in our room.

I laughed a little. "You don't look very Jewish." I told him.

He smiled. "I know. A long way back in my history, I had a German grandparent. I looked the most German out of my family. I had two brothers. Emmett and Jasper. People used to say we looked so much alike.

"But then," his voice grew dark. "some of the Nazis came to our house. They took both my brothers to go work for them somewhere. I never saw them again. Then they murdered my parents in front of my eyes." His tone was seethed with hate. "They burned my house to the ground and brought me to a different concentration camp long ago. I eventually ended up here."

We sat in silence for a moment.

"My story is kind of like yours. My dad is Jewish," I began. "but my mom is German. They met a long time ago before Hitler was born. I have four older brothers, they all got captured before I was. When I was five. They made me swear to keep myself hidden for as long as possible. That was easy." I said with a grim smile. "I lived with my grandmother after the rest of my family got captured. No one suspected anything.

"My grandmother looked the most German out of us all. I take after her in looks in many ways. Our eyes are the same crystal blue. Our hair the same shade of blonde. We would worship in the comforts of our home. I would go to school and pretend to be just another German girl. My natural accent was a huge help." I smiled more naturally this time.

"But, eventually, I think someone saw through me. One day, while at school, some of the Nazis that patrolled the school came into my class and took me away." I remembered that day grimly. "Everyone knew I was Jewish then.

"I came here two years ago. When I got my number," I held out my arm for him to see my number permanently stuck on my skin forever. "I was actually a little happy. Love had always been the most important thing in our family. Not money, or land, or anything. It was love."

We sat in silence again. Tears were flowing silently down my cheeks.

He stood up and came to sit on my bed, cradling me in his arms. I cried all night long, but he didn't complain at all. He held me like that until we had to get up the next morning.

I was slowly falling in love with him, but I didn't know if he felt at all the same way.

A/N: So, there ya go. And now I have writers block…it's evil! If you have any idea how I should continue, I'm open to suggestions. Please review. Thanks. :D