Your Guardian Angel
Chapter 4:
Time Passing
So where, where will I find you?
I'm so scared to turn and face myself
I know you'll hear me loud
Above all the sound of this world
Hanukkah came and went for Sam; her only means of celebration during that time was a single letter from Danny, a continuation of 'Letters to No one'. It was five pages long, three of them containing the story and two pages of Danny talking to her and asking her questions.
Sam would receive a letter from Danny once or twice every couple weeks since the first letter reached her.
She wrote back to every letter, writing her own stories to amuse him, to help pass the time in his hell with Vlad. And Sam would laugh, whenever Danny would comment on her story about something insane, and take a sentence and make it his own made up story. And then he would say after he'd finish his comment: I wish I could hear your laughter. And every time she would reply, me too.
An odd thing Danny would end his letters with, Sam noticed after a time, is that he would ask, how old are you? She never answered that. He should know after all, the two of them being best friends.
And so the months passed… she was becoming more and more woman…
Every other letter Danny would enclose a picture of himself, to show how much he changed, while Sam had only sent one, the one she sent in response to his first letter.
Danny sat in his bedroom, exhausted after his recent training with Vlad. He was satisfied and at the same time drained. Yes, he had finally defeated Vlad on one on one combat but he had received several painful blows that he knew his cuts and bruises would heal in a few hours. He was looking at a photograph of Sam in her farm outfit, wearing a black hat on her head, frowning at the sun. He smiled to himself, Sam always had a charm. On the back of the photograph was her scribbled handwriting, a photograph of no one, it said, he nearly laughed when he first read it.
Danny wondered how much she changed since the photograph; after all, it had been several months, half a year at the least.
He remembered the comment Sam made to him about his photograph, how he was wearing her choker. He laughed back in response, admitting that he stole it and was wearing it all the time to spite Vlad.
And then, only a few days over a year that Sam disappeared from his life, the letters stopped coming.
The letters stopped coming, from Maddie and Danny. Sam was frantic. Every time she sent a letter it would come right back.
"No, no, no. This can't be happening. They can't stop. I can't stop." Sam's lip trembled, on the floor of her was scatter letters from Danny, a pile of several letters written to Danny that would never be sent. The thought of Danny reading her letters brought her joy and it made her feel safe and now… nothing…
She grabbed a letter, re-reading it, the familiarity of Danny's writing, the warmth Danny poured into it. A letter to no one, it said… she laughed bitterly at that. That's what she was doing now, writing letters to no one, they would never be sent but she would continue writing to Danny, imagining that he'd get them, if only to hope, Danny would send her a letter at least one more time.
"What are you talking about!" Danny shouted at Vlad, slamming his hands down on the long dining table. His eyes were lit with fury.
"My dear boy, we've been searching for the person who's been smuggling letters and supplies to Jews under our noses and we found it, so naturally, the person was exterminated, going against the Furher and all." Vlad didn't look bothered by his words. "Unfortunately, it happened to be your dear sweet mother who was harboring a Jew, a Samantha Manson I believe?"
"No! Sam said she left the country! How could you kill my mother like that? I thought you loved her!" Danny now shook with fury, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. He knew his father would be taken away, he was prepared for that but not for his mother, not for Sam.
"The death of a loved one is only a small price to pay for ruler of the world." Vlad tsked, "I thought I taught you better, what is life with petty emotions anyway?"
"SAM'S NOT DEAD! I know where she is and I swear she's safe!"
"That's not what this says." Vlad slid a blank envelope to Danny, Danny gritted his teeth as he took the letter and stomped off.
The envelope was burnt, like it had been in a fire, no doubt Vlad's army burnt down his home. Danny opened the envelope with a trembling hand the letter was thicker than usual, as if Sam knew this would be the last one she'd be sending.
Danny,
I haven't sent you a picture in a while, so I thought I'd enclose one here. It doesn't seem so bad here now, writing to you. I'm fourteen! Finally, I'm as old you when we last saw each other; you're what, sixteen now, almost seventeen in a few months? I'm jealous.
It's been over a year since I saw you and you know what? You've changed so much, I'm so surprised, Vlad's been giving you no mercy, right? Poor baby, not really but you get the idea.
Did you know, I really miss you? I mean beyond miss, as in if you stopped writing I'd freak out and sneak my way back into Germany, find you and kick your butt just so I can see you again?
And have I told you? I have completely no idea where my parents are. They've been gone for over a year too. I'm beginning to wonder if they just deserted me or Nazi's got them. I don't know which of the two, knowing them…
Anyway, you've asked me, how old am I, I don't how many times, and I've just told you, fourteen, so what's the big deal?
And your story, so amazing, I don't know where to begin. I've kept the pages; you should publish it, except I want to know, who is the girl? Who's the girl he loves so much? I mean it can't be me because I put the address to your home and your mother forwards it to the place you're staying.
But it is you Sam, Danny thought. The tear fell down his face.
I'll enclose a story, just for you. It took me a while to think about, Tucker got mad when he found I spent so much time writing instead of doing my chores. You'd laugh if I told you what Tucker did after that. So I'm not going to. Time to toughen up, be a man! Ha ha, no, I'm just kidding.
If I do get captured by the Nazi's, promise to save me? If I do go to Germany, promise that you'll find me, like you did a year ago. And if I get sent to a concentration camp, promise me, Danny, please promise me, save me before I die.
But do reply soon or else I will sneak in like I told you.
You know, if you stop writing to me, I'll go mad? It's really lonely Danny, this place, although it's my home now, it's nowhere close to our home, it doesn't feel like home, it just doesn't feel safe but what place in Europe does feel safe with Vlad's planning?
Instead of you telling me this, I'll tell you this instead, I miss your laughter. I miss staying up late and sitting on top of the roofs. I miss playing tricks on the policeman, I miss staying up late 'studying' when really we're playing board games and listening to the radio. I miss you nodding off in class, I miss going to school, but most of all, and I miss being your best friend. I know that we still are but we're so far…
So until you reply,
Sam
Along with the photograph was a drawing she did, it looked like Danny, every detail, down to the last strand of hair and in that drawing was Sam. Both of them were sleeping, Sam, cradled in Danny's arms, settled on a couch. Danny flipped the drawing to examine the back; this is an imaginary photograph of us, taken in the far future or non-existent.
Danny set the drawing down, along with the rest of the letter, consisting of the story and photograph. It was then he began to cry. There were so many clues in the letter that made Vlad words seem true. Had he not replied soon enough? Did Sam really miss him so much that she had to see him?
Vlad cracked the door to Danny's room a bit, to see Danny lying on his bed, crying to a framed photograph on his bedside table. Inside Danny's heart a hole was forming, a hole so large and dark, meeting Sam face to face would be the only way to heal it.
Vlad grinned with malice at his plan, having read the letter before Danny, he had made his story revolve around the letter to make his words believable. And soon, with the hole in Danny's heart, he could tear away Danny's emotions, brainwash him and make him into a killing machine.
Tucker watched as the weeks passed by, Sam's enthusiasm growing much less. He knew it was because there were no more letters to send and that there was discussion of France being overrun by Germany and surrendering the Jews but he tried to keep a cheerful expression around her. He himself was only sixteen but thought Sam was too young for war, in fact, everyone was too young for war but he wouldn't admit it.
Sam still had a child mind, a fragile mind; a sudden disruption in familiarity could traumatize a child forever, like a loving family suddenly separated. Tucker knew, it was this that would leave a scar in her heart. At night, he could hear her cry sometimes. This place wasn't her home; she never really belonged here in France with him. It would have been fine for a visit for a few days like a real pen pal would but not this long… she was home sick, worse, she was friend sick. He could only suffice for so long.
" Today ladies and gentlemen, we have taken over France! We will expel all the unlawful Jews from there and purify our united countries! And with the increasing war against Britain and Italy, I give you our secret weapon, my son, Daniel Masters!" The crowd cheered as a curtain opened behind the Furher revealing Danny Fenton, his blue eyes colder than ice, months had passed to dull the pain in his heart.
Danny did not smile to his people of Germany below, he stared blankly at the sky, hating the world, most of all the Jews, it was the Jews fault after all, they took Sam away, they made Sam run because she was one of them, it was the Jews that killed his mother, not Vlad. He could no longer protect Sam, so instead he would fight. "Show them my boy, show them what you can do." Vlad urged. Danny nodded blankly, transforming into his ghostly half, his Nazi uniform disappearing to a black and white HAZMAT suit, a white D on his chest. On his left arm was a Nazi armband Vlad had given Danny a week ago to wear with his ghostly uniform.
Danny heard the people gasp as he launched out into the air, speeding past the overwhelmed heads. Vlad didn't need to know he would be gone for a few hours, he would play face and Vlad would cover for him. Circling around the crowd a few times he sped off, past the buildings, past the city, and into the fields.
Not a lot of history in this one, next chapter should be getting to the interesting parts. Writing about this is fun, especially when you're learning about WWI. I'm about to start learning (again) about WWII and the holocaust, what a wonderful way to end the school year! (half sarcasm)
At anycase, please review!
AdieuNightwing