Disclaimer: I do own own the characters from Inglourious Basterds, they are property of Quentin Tarantino (I had to say that but I'm sure you already knew. I just don't want to get sued!)
The room is dark, hiding within its cloak its beauty. The office is spacious, almost threatening in its large size and was decorated in an equally rigid fashion. All four walls were plastered with mahogany bookcases filled to the brim with aging volumes. On the far side of the room in front of a large window overlooking a park was a broad, dark chestnut writing desk. It was covered in papers, each in a stack, nicely organized. A golden eagle poised in a fashion that let its audience sense it was mid-attack, was perched in front. Beside the fierce bird was a name plate with Colonel Hans Landa etched into with bold letters.
The Colonel of the SS himself was sitting in the over-sized leather chair behind the desk, overlooking the park, the Eiffel tower visible in the background. He was dressed in his usual impeccable clean uniform, his trench coat and hat lay on the rack beside him. The sun was just beginning to set and it cast a golden glow on the whole scene. How much he wished he was out there, strolling through the trees and watching the squirrels gather their dinner. Instead, he was confined to his study reading over his new assignment.
This new assignment made him wish he was still out in the French countryside hunting Jews. It was dirty work, sure, but at least he was able to stretch his legs and the work was interesting but easy. However, he knew his new assignment was going to be anything but easy. They called themselves the Basterds, they were a group of American soldiers hiding somewhere is he French forests, killing off any German soldiers they came across. It seemed pretty simple, but there was one catch. They always left one private alive, but as a calling card the carved a swastika onto their forehead. So far two soldiers had returned with this mark, and the Fuhrer himself saw it necessary to enlist Landa's help to prevent the news from spreading.
Simply reading the file made him tired, and truthfully he didn't want anything to do with the case. In the beginning he had loved his work, even when he decided to join the Nazi party. He didn't mind hunting down Jews for the Fuhrer, he didn't have any personal connection with them so it was cut and dry work. But lately, he had been getting tired and bored with his job. There was no pleasure in it, maybe it was the war or maybe it was his fading beliefs in the Nazi ideals, but he found himself more and more daydreaming of being somewhere else. Usually, outside, maybe in the mountains in a cottage or simply walking in a park…but in these dreams he was never alone.
Recently, he had begun to notice an impending feeling of loneliness, even when he was around other people. It surprised him, his whole life he had never minded being alone. As a matter of fact he preferred it. He didn't have to worry about ever truly being alone anyway, he held a high position and everyone with any interest in the Nazi party wanted to be friends with him. He always had a group of people around him at work events and parties, almost to a point where it became overwhelming. He loved the attention though, where it was appropriate. And he was always able to charm a woman whenever he felt the need of an intimate touch. But his whole disinterest with his detective work, his party, and even his rather exciting personal life was finally catching up with him.
He wanted to leave everything behind and never have to look back, he knew that wasn't possible. His rank was too high and important to leave at such a crucial time of the war. He wouldn't be able to free himself of this prison until the war was over. How ironic, he thought to himself, that such an important member of the socialist party could care less about winning the war, the Allies could win for all he cared as long the war was over. The year was 1944 and the end was closer than Colonel Hans Landa could imagine.
Author Note:
That's chapter one, I hope you like it! Please leave me a review, and let me know what you think. I should be uploading the next chapter in a couple of days ;)