Chapter 4

Stupid, Sarah. Why should you be worried about what your wearing, tonight? You are, in fact, still working in a forced labor factory. I used my fingers in a lame attempt to smooth and de-tangle out my hair. I looked down at my clothing. A simple faded yellow dress and black, ugly, work boots. I tried flattening my dress out with my hands when I got a good look at my appearance. Scratches and bruises covered my fingers and palms from working long days at a steel factory. Oh, well I thought to myself. I doubt anyone there is going to be wearing anything different than I am.

Mama and Hannah came closer to me. Hannah hung her head low on her shoulders. She was upset that she was too young to go to the party tonight. I did feel sorry for my little sister. I knew that she longed for a night of games and laughter just as much as I did.

"I'll be back soon, mama." I hugged her tightly for a moment. For the strangest reason, I felt so nervous about tonight. I felt as if something big was going to happen tonight. The feeling frightened me. Mama patted my head.

"You really do look beautiful, Sarah. Stay out as late as you want and have a wonderful time." I could tell that behind her smile were feelings of anxiety and pain.

I bent down on my knees and opened up my arms to Hannah. She crossed her arms over her chest and turned her face away from me, pouting out her lips. My face fell. I hated when she was mad at me, especially at times like these.

"Hannah…I promise that the next party I'm invited too, I'll bring you along with me. And if they say that you can't come because your too young then I won't go either." I dropped my arms to my sides and waited for her reaction. Slowly, curiosity got the better of her and she turned her head towards me. She raised her eye brows and scrunched up her nose in a thinking expression and came closer to me until we were face to face.

"Promise?" She stuck out her tiny hand in front of me. I cleared my throat, straightened up and took her hand in mine, shaking it firmly.

"I promise" I said.

"Hello, Sarah." Elijah waved to me as I walked closer to him. The bitter cold of winter nipped at my body threw my thin coat. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing good, well, better." I felt the nerves spew out from my mouth. Why was I so nervous?

Elijah looked stunning. He was wearing a white button up shirt and brown corduroy pants. On top on his cropped hair sat a brown, woolen cap and a pair of fingerless gloves on his hands.

"If you ever grow tired throughout the evening and want to leave, all you have to do is tell me and I'll bring you back." He smiled over at me and I smiled back. Such a rush of wonderful feelings ran through my body when he said that. He really was the best friend apart from Llana that I had ever had. I could tell that he genuinely cared about me.

He reached over slowly and took my hand in his. I could feel his body heat through the gloves he was wearing warm up my frigid fingers. Both of us laughed quietly as we made our way towards the same steel and pot making factory that we both worked at.

"So where is Lev? I really hope he's coming tonight." Elijah smiled at his name. "You really like him don't you, Elijah?"

"He's going to meet us there." I touched the blush in his cheek with the back of my palm and laughed.

"Elijah" I egged on. He looked sideways at me, smiling.

"I do. It's so weird…" he paused for a moment, blushing, dimples in full effect. "I think I'm in love with him, Sarah." We both stopped. I turned towards him with my jaw dropped. Both of us burst out into uncontrollable giggle fits.

"Oh Elijah, I'm so happy for you." I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him tight. He linked his arms around my back and held me tightly. "Love is the greatest emotion God could've ever given us" I whispered into his ear. He fell silent. I pulled away from him and looked at his face.

"I'm fine. We just have a lot of things to talk about later about myself and religion."

"Don't you believe in God?" We started walking again towards the building. It stopped snowing.

"I don't know anymore. I can't figure out why a…entity with so much power can…" he sighed and looked at me. "Do you think that maybe we can talk about this later?"

"Of course, Elijah." I snatched his hand and swung it in front of the two of us as we walked. "Let's just have fun tonight. We all need this so much."

Soft, dancing music drifted out of the windows of the factory and grew louder and louder. Laughter and teenage voices filled my head and relaxed me, brining back memories of the countless parties I used to attend back before the war started. I remembered the song that was playing from years ago. I breathed in deeply.

As soon as we walked into the building, I knew that this night would be great for me. Dozens of teenagers, all our age, were dancing and talking about all the same topics we used to. Friends, games, music, our favorite actresses…It was perfect. I could see some of the girls flirting with boys and more of them dancing.

"SARAH!" I spun around and laughed as I saw Omah run towards me. I opened my arms wide and caught her as she jumped onto me. Both of us giggled and shrieked with laughter during our happy reunion. It wasn't until a few minutes passed by until I noticed the young man awkwardly standing beside her.

"Who's this?" I gestured towards the young man with sandy, blonde hair and grey eyes. He looked only to be around fifteen but was pretty tall for his age.

"Oh, sorry." Omah beamed with excitement as she grabbed him gently by the arm and brought him closer towards Elijah and I. "This is my little brother, Gabriel."

"Hello, Gabriel." I shook his hand and smiled. He was a quiet, shy boy but had such a sweet smile.

"Hi" was all he said to me before looking back at his sister and wondering what to do next. I turned back to Elijah as he stepped forward and offered a hand to Gabriel. He shook it carefully, eyes still to the ground. Omah smiled widely, and linked her arm around Gabriel's.

"Well, I have to introduce Gabriel here to some more people." As the two of them left, Elijah laughed to himself.

"I like her, Sarah." I turned towards him so that our faces were close. I could see the smile creep across his face. "She's very…energetic I guess." I nodded my head in agreement and turned back, looking at Omah introducing her shy brother to a group of flirty girls in the corner. One of the girls leaned in closer to Gabriel and pinched his cheek, playfully. He went as red as a tomato when she did this. He let out a nervous laugh until he connected eyes with one of the more shy girls behind all the other ones, swarming around him. She had her hands folded in front of her and her eyes were glued to Gabriel's. Her hair was very short, probably just shaven. She must have came from one of the death camps, I guessed, feeling instant sympathy for her. I continued to watch as Gabriel left the safety of his sister's side, leaving all the other girls and make his way towards the shy girl. She looked to be his age and had a beautiful, sweet, kind face. He extended out his hand and shook hers gently. I sighed, happily, to myself and turned back to Elijah who was slowly swaying and moving his hands to the sounds the music around us.

Tables were aligned along the walls of the factory with small bottle of wines and water. Some were already opened bottles and some looked brand new. An area was cleared in the middle of the factory for dancing where a few couples had already started doing.

Elijah looked around anxiously for Lev. After assuring him that he would be able to find him a lot faster without me, Elijah left me by the dance space to look for Lev. I watched carefully as the girls swayed their arms and twirled around the men to the rhythm of the music. How much I wished I could dance like they could, calmly and smoothly. Knowing myself, I would probably be sprawled out on the floor by now. I wrapped my arms around my chest and waited for Elijah to get back with Lev right beside him.

"Would you like to dance?" My body went cold. I felt my pulse shoot up from my feet to my ears in panic. I knew that voice. I closed my eyes and soon, all the music and laughter surrounding me drifted away and all I could hear is this person's voice. Afraid of what I would see when I turned around was the only reason why I didn't. I listened as I heard and sensed the person walked out from behind me and stand in front of me. "Sarah…it's me." I opened my eyes and stared at him.

"Andreas?" If I hadn't heard his voice, I wouldn't have recognized him. His appearance had changed drastically. His short, golden, hair was now thick, curly, and long. It reached down to his ears. His skin was smudged with dirt and he was defiantly more tanned. His usual clean, shaven face was now a long beard. He was dressed in similar clothing as Elijah. The only thing that hadn't changed were his eyes. Those beautiful hazel, glossy eyes that I knew so well gazed back at me. His facial expression was so peaceful that it made my entire body relax.

"Dance with me, Sarah." He took my trembling hand in his and pulled me towards the dance floor. It felt as if I were floating and not walking as Andreas turned, and pulled me close to him in the middle of the dance floor. No longer was I embarrassed about dancing or being in the center of something. The only I could think of was him. The music slowed down to a soft, calm song. Andreas lifted my hand in his and placed my other motionless hand on his shoulder. I was in such shock that I forgot how to move my feet. I waited until he took the first steps until I started regaining some feelings in my body.

"How…what…?" My mouth went dry as tears welled up in my eyes, frustrating me from the blurred vision it was causing me to have. Andreas pulled me even closer to him. I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes as the two of us slowly danced across the floor.

"No questions yet. Let's just dance." I could feel his heart beating against my chest. I was holding back my need to cry then. I took my hand off of his shoulder and wrapped both of them tightly around his neck. I clung to him as hard as I could, digging my fingers into his back. I buried my face into his neck and breathed in his breath taking scent that I missed so much. Andreas took his arms and linked them around my back. I held onto him so tightly that my fingers cramped up.

"I missed you so much, Andreas. Don't go." I didn't dare open my eyes for the fear that he might not be there when I did and I would find out that this was all a dream.

"Don't worry, Sarah. I won't go anywhere. Just listen to the music." He rubbed my back soothingly.

"But…" I started to say. Andreas peeled my face from his neck and held it inches away from his. A smile spread across his lips as he shook his head in amusement.

"You haven't changed one bit, Sarah. Still as stubborn as ever." I bit my bottom lip and let out a quiet laugh. Andreas came close to me and gently kissed my clammy forehead, whispering all the things that I longed to hear from him for months.

Everything was so perfect. I had Andreas again. I had my love again in my arms and I knew that he wasn't going to leave me ever again. As the song came to an end, I sighed with depression that we had to separate, even if it was only by a few feet.

Soon, I saw Elijah and Lev walking toward me. Lev trailed behind Elijah so closely. I could tell by the way their hands repeatedly grazed each others as they walked. When they saw me dancing with some strange man, Elijah's face became confused and caution.

I mouthed out Andreas' name over his shoulder to Elijah and Lev. A huge grin spread across his face and his hands shot up to cover his open mouth. He spun around quickly to Lev, grabbed his hand and sped off toward another direction.

"I'm so happy to have you again." I gripped my arms around his neck tighter, pressing our bodies closer. I felt his beard brush across my neck. I took in another breath of his scent. "So happy" I mumbled.

ugh! sorry so much for taking so long but the chapter is up! this is one of the BIGGEST moments in the story, but don't worry there will be more!please leave any reviews on things i should change and/or add. they are greatly appreciated! thank you all!

TwilightGirl14