Gahhhh sorry this took so long1 I'm a slacker! But this is a pretty long chapter to make up for it, so please don't hate me. :'( And yeah, I know Hugo's a bit out of character in this one and stuff, but I'll try and put him back to the way he was in the next one. xD
She had to keep to the shadows and back streets until she got to the forest. That's if she didn't want to get caught. And trust me, she didn't. She had a job to do. Even if it meant she had to decapitate hundreds of those fuckers, she would do it.
Being a Monday, a lot of the residents in Paris were working. But that didn't stop the Nazis from patrolling the main streets, and even some of the alleys that she was hurriedly walking down. She would have to corner cover most of the way.
Hiding around the corners of some of the buildings that shaped the alleys, Marianna made sure to not be seen. But that was pretty hard, considering the parasites were everywhere. But whilst she concentrated on the ones that were just around the corner, she neglected to notice the pair walking up to her. Right. Fucking. In front of her. They looked at her petite form, shrouded in a hood, peeking around corners at their brothers and their eyebrows narrowed. She was up to something.
Marianna made her move but nearly died of a stroke when she was confronted by two enormous figures in front of her.
"Entschuldigen Sie uns, Mädchen, aber so können wir fragen, warum Sie herumschleichen sehen?" Excuse us, Miss, but may we ask as to why you're sneaking about?
The taller one of the two folded his arms behind his back and gave her the coldest stare somebody physically could. Biting her lip and gulping down her nerves, she forced her lips to stretch into a smile. There it was again. The language she hated so much. Just be calm…
"Je suis désolé, mais je comprends très peu l'allemand. "I'm sorry, but I understand very little German.
The two officers looked at each other for a moment before discussing quietly amongst themselves until the little one with the young face spoke up in her native tongue.
"Parlez-vous Anglais?" Do you speak English?
Marianna clutched the sleeves of her jacket. She was bringing attention to herself.
"Non, monsieur. Je suis désolé. "No, Mister. I'm sorry.
His brows furrowed as his partner advanced towards her. She began to panic.
"C'est un peu étrange qu'une femme Française ne sais pas l'allemand ou anglais."It's a bit strange that a French woman doesn't know German or English.
This was bad. Very bad. She couldn't go through with this. She should have made a more fool-proof plan. Mentally cursing herself, she did the only thing she could in this situation. She showed a bit of skin. Letting out a forced but angelic laugh, she let her shoulders shuffle and her hood dropped, showing her hair and neck, maybe a bit of her shoulders too. Now giggling quietly, she caused the soldiers to each raise a brow.
"Je m'excuse pour cela. C'est un peu embarrassant vraiment. Mais mon père a toujours été un homme très dur dirigé et a été tellement obsédé par la culture française qu'il a refusé de m'entendre parler d'autres langues, et seraient ceinture de moi si jamais il m'a attrapé le faire, l'était un fou, en tout honnêteté." I apologize for this. It's a bit embarrassing really. But my father was always a very hard headed man and was so obsessed with the French culture that he refused to hear me speak other languages and would belt me if he ever caught me doing so. He was a fool, in all honesty.
The soldiers seemed to be even more confused but found themselves slowly nodding their heads at her. The smaller one seemed a bit more gullible than the taller one and heat began to rise to his face. He was only a young man, so he was most likely finding himself smitten with her Aryan looks and charismatic giggles. He itched the back of his neck and grinned lopsidedly. Marianna had to literally force back a smirk. The idiot was falling for it.
"Qu'est-ce un père atroce ... Eh bien, je pourrais toujours vous apprendre un peu d'allemand, c'est si vous voulez-" What an atrocious father… Well, I could always teach you a bit of German, that's if you'd like-
The young boy was instantly shoved by his superior, the taller and more stern looking one. He gave her an unsteady and suspicious look.
"Cela n'explique toujours pas pourquoi vous avez été furtivement sur . " That still doesn't explain why you were sneaking about.
Marianna twirled a blonde lock around her index finger and grinned. She was even surprised at herself at how good she was at this.
"J'ai été faire une promenade dans la forêt. Il semble fou, mais je ne voudrais sortir de tout ce discours sur la guerre chaotique et ce n'est pas ici et là. Je suis juste une femme et il peut devenir très stressant parfois. " I was going for a walk in the forest. It sounds foolish, but I do like to get away from all of this chaotic talk about wars and what not now and again. I am just a woman and it can get quite stressful sometimes.
The hard faced man looked her up and down before smirking whilst the other smiled at her, wringing his hat in his hands. The tall one shook his head before offering up a small grin.
"Oui, je suppose que vous avez un point-là. Cette guerre est assez mouvementée. Mais ne vous inquiétez pas, mon cher. Nous les hommes forts seront là pour vous protéger. "Yes, I suppose you have a point there. This war is quite hectic. But do not worry, my dear. We strong men will be here to protect you.
Marianna let out another sickeningly sweet giggle before nodding eagerly and rocking back and forth on the heels of her feet.
"Je n'ai jamais douté que vous seriez capable de me protéger, messieurs. Vous avez tous deux font un travail merveilleux pour la cause, S'il vous plaît ne vous arrêtez pas. "I never once doubted that you would be capable of protecting me, sirs. You both do a marvellous job towards the cause. Please don't stop.
With that, they exchanged a small 'Hail Hitler' and went their separate ways.
Walking those few more metres towards the upcoming woods, Marianna grinned. She didn't mean to blow her own horn, but she was amazing back there.
Ooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Hey, Stiglitz!"
Hugo, who was sharpening his knife, stared up at the Lieutenant with cold blue eyes of steel. He didn't like it when people interrupted his thoughts. But it was his Lieutenant after all. So wringing his neck was out of the question. Aldo took Stiglitz's eye contact and slight growl as an approval to carry on.
"You an' Donny 're on patrol tonight, and I'd wrap up if I were you. I can feel a storm a brewin'."
Hugo grunted in reply and continued running the whetstone up the knife. Why did he have to spend time with other people? He was perfectly capable of patrolling the surrounding woods by himself. If anything, Sgt. Donny Donnowitz was a burden.
Running his large hand through his short hair, he stared up at the sky. The day had dragged by quite slowly. But the evening was creeping closer and Hugo sighed. Getting up from his spot, he sheathed his Bowie knife and walked back towards the rest of the soldiers.
Oooooooooooooooo
His heavy boot came stomping down on the decapitated head. The birds that had previously been enjoying tearing the jelly-like substance out of the eye sockets cried in fright and got the hell out of there. Donny's eyes searched the small clearing around him, but found nothing. That was until Hugo came into the scene, dragging a lifeless body behind him. Resting in between his lips was a sloppily rolled cigarette. The Bear Jew's brows furrowed once he caught sight of the dead body before shifting his gaze back up to Hugo.
"Where'd you find it?"
Hugo gave a grunt and heaved the body over to the head. They didn't match. There were probably more mutilated bodies around the woods somewhere. By the uniform, Hugo and Donny could both tell that the body belonged to a Nazi.
"Near the stream. Must be a few days old. The flesh around the rim of the neck's yellowing."
Donny winced and stared down at the corpse.
"Hey, they don't match!"
Hugo rolled his eyes.
The sky boomed and he instantly tensed. Before either of them could blink, it began pouring down. Donny threw his bare arms down at his side and growled.
"Fuckin' perfect!"
Hugo sighed, the Lieutenant was right.
"Did Aldo not warn you?"
Hugo noticed Donny's lack of jacked and threw his cigarette to the floor. It was no use now. The rain had put it out. Donny narrowed his eyes at Hugo's covered body in irritation.
"No! I'm guessin' he warned you though!"
Oooooooooooooooo
Marianna's head shot up when she heard unfamiliar voices and accents coming her way. Her eyes widened and she quickly wiped her bloodied hands on her jacket and standing up. Giving one last kick and a glare to the body below her, she took off towards the thicker parts of the forest, heart pounding in apprehension of being caught.
Hugo put a wary hand out in front of The Bear Jew who instantly stopped what he was saying and looked from Hugo's face to where he was looking.
"What the hell?"
Hugo carefully observed the area before hesitantly stepping over to the bloody mess that lay on the floor. Leaning over to it, he pressed his finger to what, he guessed, would have been the throat and let out a low grumble. Same as the others, but the blood and flesh were warm.
"This is recent."
Donny stared sceptically and wrung his bat, looking around the place.
"That means they're still close, eh?"
Hugo didn't bother looking at Donny and shrugged his shoulders as he continued analysing the body. It was another Nazi soldier.
"Most likely."
Donny looked even more anxious because of Hugo's lack of comfort and stepped closer to him.
"Should we tell the Lieutenant?"
Hugo stood and took a drag from his half burned cigarette.
"Or we could find whoever did it."
Donny jumped slightly at the proposal and his eyes widened. It was out of character for Hugo to be that adventurous and reckless.
"Wait, what?! Man, that's stupid! We could get killed! We should just go back to camp and report-"
He was immobilised by a noise in the trees to the far left and his eyes snapped to the location. At first, he thought it was just his imagination, but seeing as Hugo immediately positioned his gun at them, he guessed not.
Hugo's steely blue eyes glowered at the patch of green and he listened carefully.
Oooooooooooooooo
Marianna watched them from her crouching position in the under layers of the forest. The one who was examining the body had a rough tongue. She scowled. Probably a German. She was slightly confused though… he was wearing a Nazi uniform and yet the other seemed like he wasn't. Maybe he was a farmer or something like that? The other she couldn't really tell where he was from. She'd never actually heard that accent before. But she knew that they were both speaking in English, that was for sure. As they continued talking, she noticed the taller one at the back with dark eyes was holding some sort of club. It was a strange shape. It looked almost like an elongated bottle of some sort but wooden. Strange…
Deciding to leave before she was noticed, the blonde haired woman moved slightly to get up but beneath her boot, a twig must have snapped, causing the men to become instantly aloof. Her brow furrowed and she stood deadly still. Shit! This wasn't good. Her teeth captured her bottom lip and pulled. She could hear their footsteps coming closer to her. This was bad. Oh god… This wasn't supposed to happen… She has to escape! She has to find him.
It was so silent that it felt like she was suffocating. Well, she WAS holding her breath. Her ears twitched when she felt a large calloused hand grabbing her wrist and she let out the breath that was being held in her lungs. If she thought it would go way if she stood still, she was mistaken. The big hand tugged her savagely from her hiding place and a sharp pain ran up her back when it met with the ground, a few small stones and twigs digging into her back painfully. As she winced at the feeling, she never noticed the gun that was pointing directly at her face.
"Who are you?"
Distracted from her stinging back, she blinked up at him obliviously. She really couldn't tell what he was saying. She knew he was asking her a question, but she just didn't understand. She really should have taken up on her father's offers for English lessons instead of the flute.
Hugo jabbed her harshly on the forehead with the end of his gun and glared at her as she rubbed her forehead.
"Je ne sais pas ce que tu dis, imbécile. "I don't know what you're saying, idiot.
Hugo relaxed slightly and lowered his guard. She probably didn't understand English. He never broke his gaze with her. They didn't have anything to worry about. Whoever she was, she didn't seem very threatening. But as she rubbed her forehead, his eyes hardened again and the gun was once again pointed at her, making her let out a squeak of shock. She had blood all over her hands and up her arms and even some rubbed off on her jacket.
"Hey, Stiglitz, she's just a woman. Let up, would ya?"
Hugo's expressions never changed.
"She has blood all over her, Sergeant."
The girl slowly held up her arms and stared at him incredulously. What were they on about? She looked at where he was looking and suddenly had an epiphany. Oh. Maybe they were Nazis… Well, in that case…
Hugo's hard muscles tensed when she reached into her pocket and whipped out a Walther, pointing it at him.
The Bear Jew stared in between the two but his gaze eventually settled on the girl and his lips jerked into a small smirk. His hands clenched impatiently around his bat and he stepped forwards.
Marianna noticed this and she hesitated for a moment. They couldn't have been Nazi's. She didn't want to go with stereotypes or anything, but weren't a lot of Nazi soldiers blue eyes blonde hair? This man looked Italian and yet he seemed so westernized…
Gulping, she found her found.
"Nazi..?"
Hugo lowered his gun again and stopped for a moment, searching her eyes for anything suspicious before shaking his head.
"No."
The blonde girl eased up and tucked the small gun back into her jacket pocket, never taking her eyes off of him. Donny's eyes never left her. She seemed so sincere. But something about her made him uneasy. He leaned on his other foot and swayed his bat back and forth by his side before letting out a quiet laugh. I she was an enemy, he'd enjoy breaking her.
Hugo looked at her and thought to himself. Something about her seemed familiar… She didn't look like a French woman. She looked sort of German. As both he and Donny observed her, Marianna became uncomfortable. Why were they both just staring at her? But she shouldn't try to get rid of them. No. It was two against one which would leave her chances of escaping very thin. And she needed to survive to find him. Besides, they might possibly be able to help her. She nervously coughed and thought about how she could phrase what she wanted to say. Of course, she knew traces of English, but it wasn't very strong.
"Hum… I yem good. No hurt."
Hugo's eye brows rose slightly. She had a German tongue.
Donny cocked his head with a scowl on his face. What the hell was she trying to say? That she wasn't hurt?
"What?"
Marianna's face scrunched up in thought as she struggled to find words.
"Können Sie sprechen Deutsch, Mädchen? "Can you speak German, miss?
Her face lost all expression and grew cold. She hesitated for a moment.
"Ja. " Yes.
Hugo nodded slowly but was slightly confused. Surely she could tell he was German? Why did she not speak it in the first place? And why did she hesitate in doing so afterwards?
"Werbist du? Und was machst du hier?" Who are you? And what are you doing here?
The girl once again hesitated and Donny just let out a grumble before taking a seat on a nearby stump, resting his chin on palm. He had no clue what they were saying.
"Marianna Müller. Und ich habe nur einen Spaziergang, wenn ich diese Stelle gefunden drüben,"Marianna Müller. I was going for a walk through the forest when I found that body over there; she let out a small chuckle "Nun, stolperteichübereswirklich ..." well, I tripped over it actually…
Hugo scowled. Her story was a bit suspicious.
"Und warum haben Sie einen Spaziergang in einer gefährlichen Wald bei Nacht, gnädige Frau?" And why were you taking a stroll in a dangerous forest at night, madam?
Marianna panicked. She had to think of something. She scowled at him.
"Wenn Sie wissen müssen, wurde ich für meinen Hund gesucht. Er lief hier, als ich ging versehentlich meine Gartentür offen, und ich habe ihn nicht mehr gesehen." If you must know, I was looking for my dog. He ran out here when I accidentally left my garden gate open.
Hugo's scowl remained. He wasn't buying it. He knew what she did.
"Sie können nicht länger verstellen. Ich weiß, ein Mörder, wenn ich einen sehe." You can stop pretending. I know a murderer when I see one.
Marianna growled.
"Ich gab Vergeltung. Es ist nicht Mord, wenn die Bastarde es verdient." I was giving retribution. It isn't murder if the bastards deserved it.
Hugo let out a dry puff of a laugh and crossed his arms.
"So gibt es mehr als eine?" So there is more than one?
Marianna fumed and grumbled. That cocky bastard…
Donny sighed and had taken upon himself to carve a sick into a very awkward looking spear with his bowie knife as the other two rambled on in German. He didn't understand what the fuss was about. She was just a woman. And who cares if she knows how to speak German. Waste of time, if you asked him. She was quite cute though… No. He shook his head and glared at the dodgy spear. She wasn't cute. She was sexy. He snarled and cussed at his inner voice. Well, it HAD been a while since he'd fucked a broad. And the closest thing to masturbating material they had was the motivational poster they found with a pin up girl encouraging men to join the French army. And Aldo was the one who got that. He sighed once again and looked over to them. His ears perked up once he heard the woman shouting.
"Warum willst du sowieso egal?!" Why do you care anyway?!
By now, Marianna was shoving him as he was smirking and blocking her in a very narcissistic way. Donny smirked as well and stood, picking up his bat and walking over.
"She causing trouble, Sergeant?"
Hugo ignored him and as soon as her hands came to shove him again, he grabbed her and held her still.
"Weil Ihre Arbeit ist chaotisch und Sie werden sicherlich irgendwann gefangen werden." Because your work is messy and you'll surely be caught eventually.
Marianna thrashed and struggled in his grip with a glower on her face. Who did the guy think he was?!
"Lass mich gehen!" Let me go!
Donny grinned at her. She had fire. He liked that. Marianna continued to try and wriggle out of the big German's grip before voices were heard.
"Oi, Donny, Hugo! Where you guys been?! Your shift's over! Huh?"
Marianna's angry blue eyes trailed to the new voices and raised a curious brow.
Donny looked over whilst swinging his bat around.
"It is? Already?"
Hugo didn't ease up on his harsh hold on the raging blonde haired woman, in fact, it probably got worse.
Utivich and Omar stared at the woman in silent curiosity before Hugo read their thoughts.
"We found her out here. She's the one who's been littering corpses around these parts of the forest.
Utivich, at first, just stared at Hugo in shock. He'd never heard him speak a full sentence before. Then he caught notice of the mangled body lying a few feet away and gagged. Flies buzzed around it and the smell began to grow ripe. Omar thought for a second. What corpses? Oh, those corpses.
Donny let out a laugh.
"I know right? Gross."
Hugo rolled his eyes. Trust The Bear Jew to find that funny. Marianna finally managed to free herself after using the push and pull method and collected herself.
"Maintenant, si vous voulez bien m'excuser. "Now, if you'll excuse me. She said, switching back to French and fixing her jacket. Just as she was about to walk off, Hugo pulled her back and began to tug her in a new direction.
"Siekommenmit uns. "You're coming with us.
Marianna attempted to protest, it was no good. He had a grip like a hawk.
