CHAPTER TWO! Hope you guys like it... only one chapter was up and already three alerts. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Sry I couldnt upload earlier. I'm crazy overbooked, but because THe Decent is such a terrifying movie, I couldnt sleep. SO HERE YOU GO! ENJOY!
Hanschen's POV
I loved August in Priapia. It was warm, no wind, and no changes. I opened my eyes to the inside of Ernst's and my tent. It still looked basically the same as when we had moved in almost a little over eleven years ago when we had first come to this place. The singular room was simple. Large rugs covered the dirt floor to keep the heat in; off to one side there was a fire pit for the winter when it got cold. Near one other side of the tent was our bed, Ernst's and mine. On the other side near the door was a piano that Padinsky managed to salvage for me. It was simple, but to Ernst and me it was home.
I heard movement coming from the pallet next to our bed. I peered over Ernst, who was still sleeping, to see what I saw every morning; a mass of white blankets over the richly colored pallet. One foot would appear from under the blankets cautiously then would disappear once again after testing the morning temperature.
"Ngggg," said the blankets. I laughed a little bit; it was the same every morning. I got out of bed quietly so as not to wake Ernst and started a fire. The faint smell of the camp fire began to permeate the room. But since we had come here it was a smell that we had grown used to, it meant home. As soon as I got the fire up I heard movement coming from the pallet again. I turned around to see Adam sitting up in his bed. He rubbed his eyes and looked around for a minute before diving back under the covers.
"You know, you're not going to be able to get back to sleep," I said stoking the fire a bit more. The only response that Adam managed to offer was a tired groan. Adam was ten years old, due to be eleven in December. He had grown up so much. He had blue eyes like Celeste that will always remind me of her, but he had Melchior's hair and facial structure. He was a good kid… most of the time… other times he was a complete pain in the ass. But Ernst and I loved him anyways. He was extremely headstrong, like Melchior, and would not budge on anything once his mind had been made up; he had always been like that. When he was little, around 18 months, he spent three full days trying to walk and he did not stop until he got it. Ernst and I had to take shifts sleeping because he would not sleep that entire time. This had been the same when he learned how to talk, how to read music, how to write, everything. He never stopped; an admirable quality in such a young kid. Soon I felt the shift of blanket next to me as Adam sat down next to me, the blanket wrapped tightly around his body, "Told you," I said when he sat down.
"What's for breakfast?" He asked in a groggy voice. I put a small thin cloth bag of spices into a pot of now boiling water. The smell of cinnamon and nutmeg filled the room as the tea brewed.
"Well I was actually hoping that you would go get something from Frau Ilse's tent, considering I haven't been into town since last week." By town I did not mean my former home. Since we came to Priapia we had to get food somehow. I usually played piano in a bar in the next town over. Sometimes Ernst would do sermons. We did whatever we had to do to get money. But at the mention of Ilse's tent Adam shook his head rapidly. Ilse had given birth do a little girl a few years ago named Eva and since she could walk she would follow Adam around like a puppy. It annoyed him, but it also kept him busy.
"Can't you get Father to do it?" He groaned in annoyance. At that mention Ernst rolled over in our bed and sat up very quickly.
"Huh? Whu? What's going on?" He said frantically letting his eyes adjust to the morning light.
"Morning," I said walking over to him and kissing him quickly.
"Father," Adam whined, "Papa was going to make me go over to Frau Ilse's tent! Do I have to?" Ernst gave me an accusing look of sarcasm. Every time I told Adam he had to do something that he didn't want to do, Ernst was the one who got the whining end of the argument. I shrugged and smiled at him. Ernst got out of bed and walked over to the fire, grabbing a shirt from a nearby open suitcase and pulling it over his head.
"No, I'll go," he said kissing Adam's head. Ernst, for that matter, had grown up a lot too. He was still that young boy I fell in love with, but he had finally grown into his personality and was willing to share it with the world. But there were nights, there always were, when we would both have to leave the tent and talk. Ernst still had moral qualms about our situation and I think he always would, but we wanted Adam to grow up as "normally" as possible. He was a stubborn kid, we knew this, and if he knew what the world outside of Priapia thought about us…. Well we just didn't want to explain it to him, not yet, when he was still so young and full of wonder of the world. Ernst knelt down beside me, "Padinsky and the others are came back late last night," he said in a quiet voice, "Ilse said that she wants us at the meeting today." I nodded and looked at him.
Padinsky and a few others had gone into town a couple of nights ago, to find out what was happening in the other world where humans weren't as forgiving. Just as I started to think about things, the Bohemian Queen herself paraded through the door like an overgrown peacock with her small daughter in tow. Isle had married Padinsky not long after Ernst and me and with that marriage she transformed from the runaway princess of Priapia into the equivalent of its queen.
"Good morning boys!" She said in an all too cheery voice considering how early in the morning it was. Eva rushed over to Adam and basically tackled him to the ground with a hug. She was four and a half years old, her black hair was pulled back into a messy braid that reached down to her waist and her warm brown eyes were filled with joy at the sight of Adam.
"Hello Adam!" She said to him practically sitting on his lap. Adam tried to get up off of the ground as the force of Eva's hug knocked him clear onto his back.
"Eva, get off of me," Eva obediently obliged and got off of his lap for a split second before sitting right next to him. Adam rolled his eyes and gave me a pleading look, I laughed.
"We were just on our way over to see you, Ilse," Ernst said politely. Ilse plopped herself down in front of the fire next to Adam and Eva, she pulled Eva into her lap and set a basket down.
"Well I thought I would come over here this morning," She opened the basket and pulled a bundle of cloth out; as she opened it Eva went to make a quick swipe for one of the sweet rolls. Ilse grabbed her hand before she could get to them though, "Eva, manners," she said calmly. Eva slowly retracted her hand, but just as Ilse let her guard down she grabbed one and got off of Ilse's lap, "Eva!" She said in a half scolding, half amused manner. Eva looked at her mother then walked over to Adam where she quietly placed the roll onto his lap before running back to Ilse.
"Adam, what do you say?" Ernst said in a warning tone. Adam looked at me and rolled his eyes.
"Thank you, Eva" he said. Ilse offered me and Ernst rolls. We both took them and ate them as slowly as we could; it was not very often that we had such indulgent food.
"Ilse, where did you get these?" I said warily, she gave me a trickster smile.
"I liberated them," She said with a smug attitude.
"Ilse, liberated them?" Ernst said not taking a bite of his yet. I didn't much care where the rolls came from; it was good food that we did not get often.
"Ok, I took them," She said smiling as she broke up the one that Eva was trying to eat into smaller pieces.
"Stole them," Ernst said softly rolling his eyes.
"Who cares? They're warm, they're sweet, they're free, shut up and eat," I said calmly taking another bite. Ernst rolled his eyes at me but took a bite regardless. They tasted light, sweet, the way a good roll should taste. It was so much better than the crude bread that we often had to make to stay alive. Adam licked the butter from his fingers as I poured the tea from the pot into the cups. I watched the group in our tent eat breakfast together and I smiled. It was times like this when I was glad that I had left my old home, it told me that this was my home now, and it was meant to be.
After we finished our breakfast Ernst, Ilse, and I all had to go back to Ilse's tent, where all of the meetings were held. It was the biggest tent and still looked the same as when Ernst and I had come here, when we first met Padinsky. It was lined with brightly colored rugs across the dirt floor, pillows with the same bright pallet, a tarp hung in the same corner to mark off a bed room area. The only addition was the small pallet on the floor where I knew that Eva slept.
Although today the tent looked very different. Instead of the colorful open space that it usually was each nook and cranny of the tent was filled to the brim with the colony leaders. Men and women sat on the floor, on cushions, on the bed, or just simply stood. Whatever news the party had brought, it must be big. It was not common, even in Priapia, that women, aside from Ilse of course, even attended meetings. For the first time that day, fear settled into my heart. A fear that hadn't hit me since the day I left home, and that was more than ten years ago.
Padinsky entered the tent; he had not aged very much and still held that terrifying presence in the camp. Well to any outsider he would have been akin to Death himself. We frequently told new comers that when he was a kid he knocked a man's head clean off his shoulders with one punch. Although it usually scares the crap out of the new ones, I don't think they ever stop believing it. Do I believe it? You bet I do. I had known Padinsky for years, but there were still aspects of his personality that were still frightening, even to me.
"Listen up!" He said in that booming voice of his, "Everybody, quiet! Quiet down now!" A hush fell over the crown. I studied Padinsky's face, he seemed worried, almost distraught, and I was frightened all the more because of it, "Now I'm sure you're all wondering why I've asked you all here." Another murmur of words came from the crowd of people, "many of you may know that recently a few of the other men and myself went on a large scouting trip to Berlin, but many of you do not know why. " He took a deep breath and looked at his people, at us. He took a deep breath and looked at our confused and mesmerized faces, "The main reason that we went to Berlin was to get information on all those rumors we have been hearing in over in the town. You know that there has been talk about the German Army sending soldiers into small towns and the countryside to 'clean up'." He paused again; I could see the tears brimming in his eyes. I held my breath, "Unfortunately, these rumors, as we have found, are true."
"Hanschen, what is he saying," Ernst said looking at me with a puzzled face as his hand found mine.
"I'm not sure," I said gripping his hand tightly.
"People! People, please! I know that this is your home, and I know that we are all family. But we have to face facts, the longer we stay here, the more we are all put at risk." The crowd was silent and on edge. Padinsky scratched his chin, "I have talked with other members of our scouting trip and we all agree. The best course of action would be to leave Priapia." Suddenly cries of outrage erupted from the crowd. Ernst squeezed my hand even tighter.
"You want us to run?" one man shouted.
"I'm not leaving!" said another.
"I am not a coward!" said a woman
"LISTEN!" he said bringing the tent once more to silence, "I know that you're scared. We all are, but we must think not of ourselves, but for each other. If the guards find Priapia, they find all of us, and our chance for survival is extremely low for that. But if we must split up so that we may live to see another day, than we will. If we must hide, we will hide. Not because we're are cowards, but because we are brave. We may be afraid . . . but we are not cowards." He said. People sat in silence mulling over what Padinsky had said, "We will stay for one last meal, then go our separate ways until we can meet again. This is not the end of Priapia," he said pulling Ilse close, "it is only the beginning of a more inspired future."
Later that day, Ernst and I had begun loading things into our old leather suitcases. I ran my hands over the piano in our tent and sat down. Adam sat on his pallet in silence. This was the only life he had ever known. He was more afraid than us, I think. Ernst was packing Adams clothing into an old leather bag we had. We had been in silence since that morning. Even only a few hours had passed, it seemed like ages ago that we were smiling and laughing over rolls by the fire.
"Where are we going to go?" Adam asked not looking at either of us. I looked at Ernst.
"Where can we go?" Ernst asked me with pleading blue eyes. I sat in silent thought. I wished that there was someone, anyone, who could help us. I wish I still had- and then it hit me. Celeste. We had not seen her in years, but I knew that if there was one place where we could go and be safe it would be with her.
"Celeste," I said quietly, "Celeste!" I said walking over to Ernst, "we could go to her."
"Hanschen, what if she doesn't remember us? What if she isn't even there?" Ernst said calmly with a hint of sadness.
"She'll be there. I know it." I said confidently, "If we can find Celeste we can be safe."
"Who's Celeste?" Adam asked with questioning eyes. I froze. Adam did not know that he was not our son. He did not know how children came into this world or how un-normal our life really was in Priapia. Despite what my guts told me to do, I did not tell him who Celeste was compared to him.
"She is one of our old friends, and she will help us." I looked into Ernst's sad eyes, "I know she will help us."
The fire that night danced with an intensity I would not soon forget. We ate in sad silence and as the meal came to a close we said tearful goodbyes to friends and these people who had become our true family. Eva ran up to Adam and hugged him tightly, tears in her big green eyes. Ilse ran frantically through the crowd calling her name before she spied us. I saw her silently breathe a sigh of relief as she and Padinsky approached us. We looked at eachother for a brief moment before she flung her arms around Ernst and started crying. I patted her shoulder.
"It's going to be okay Ilse," I said, she looked at me with teary eyes, "I promise you." She nodded and hugged me as well. Padinsky looked at us both.
"You best be off boys," He touched Ilse's shoulder tenderly, "We all best be off. We'll find you again once it's safe to send out word." I nodded bravely. Ilse had to practically pry Eva off of Adam before we parted ways one final time. As they disappeared into the forest, my last glimpse of them was Eva's green eyes reflecting with fire light as part of our lives disappeared into the uncertain and unknowing darkness.
That was the last time I saw or heard of Padinsky, Eva, and… Ilse. They never sent word and I have not seen them since that night. I never knew what became of them. But in my mind I still wonder if they are out there looking for us. I know part of my heart will always be looking for them.
Not too long after, Ernst and I were crouched down behind a bush. It was the first time that I had seen my old town in over ten years. I saw a young woman walking down the street, holding the hand of a small child while a basket hung loosely on her arm. Then suddenly, up the road came two young men. Ernst, Adam and I sat in complete silence as we listened to their conversation.
"Good evening, Celeste," The tall one offered. I stared in awe, this young woman with a child hiding behind her skirt, was Celeste. Our Celeste.
"Good evening Georg, Otto," she said with a curt nod. I couldn't believe that these two soldiers, our new enemies, had once been my classmates. Otto was the first of the two to see the small child hiding behind her skirt; he knelt down to her level so she could see him better.
"Is that Miss Wendla hiding back there?" the small child called Wendla poked her head out from behind the skirt and looked shyly at Otto. After realizing who he was she ran out and gave him a big hug. He picked her up, "My, you're getting big." He said. She smiled.
"How was the trip to Berlin?" Celeste asked politely.
"Fantastic , the army just initiated some new initiatives a few weeks ago so it was very good to finally learn about what they've been doing." Georg answered.
"After they're done we won't have to worry about those faggots anymore." Otto said half to me and half to Wendla. I gritted my teeth together at the mention of that word
"Language," Georg warned Otto.
"It's not like she's gonna remember it. Will you?" Wendla shook her head.
"Wait, what exactly are these initiatives?" Celeste asked a bit concerned.
"Nothing to worry about, Celeste; the army is just cleaning up some of the social trash around Germany."
"Such as?"
"Gypsies, rouges, homosexuals, you know, the criminal type." Otto said paying more attention to Wendla than the actual conversation.
"Germany will be better for it in the end." Georg said, "We'll be rid of those kind of people."
"You mean people like Ilse?" she said as calmly as she could. A part of my heart ached at the sound of that name.
"Ilse chose to leave a perfectly good life here to become a criminal," Otto said finally looking at Celeste. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I wanted to jump out of those bushes and kill Otto and Georg right then and there. But I didn't.
"Well, I'm sure you boys will do a fine job of cleaning up Germany," Celeste said, I could tell something was bothering her. She was never very good at keeping her emotions hidden. She bid my two classmates goodnight and began walking back down the street. Ernst, Adam and I followed her from the bushes as quietly as we could.
I saw her go into Gabor's house and then I knew who the father of that child was. Adam was the first to run out from the bushes to knock on the door. Nobody in the town knew him, so it was safe enough. Celeste opened the door.
"Are you Celeste Chanson?" he asked. She looked at him surprised.
"Formerly, yes. Why do you ask?"
"My name is Adam, my father said that you could help us."
"Us?" She asked in a confused tone. Adam motioned to us from the porch. Ernst and I quickly and quietly ran to the doorway. As we came closer to the light I saw my friend's face for the first time in over ten years. I paused and looked at her straight in those blue eyes of hers and smiled.
"Hello, Celeste," I said.
"Hanschen?" She said slightly stunned. I enveloped her in a tight hug she hugged me back and began crying. We both did. I knew now that we would be safe. She was the only person in the world I could trust.
My only question is... WHAT WILL MELCHIOR THINK ABOUT THIS! HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM? Well we'll save that for next time. But in the mean time REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!