Elizabeth woke up with her head pounding. She couldn't tell if it was from all the champagne she had drank, or all the crying she had done that night. Luckily it was a Sunday, and she had nowhere to go. She didn't feel like getting out of bed at all, but just lying in bed wasn't helping her. So she decided to get up, still in pajamas, and make herself a pot of tea. Hopefully, it would have a calming effect on her rough nerves.
While she was in the kitchen she started to make herself some breakfast. It was still relatively early, probably around 6 o' clock. Her mind couldn't get restful enough to stay asleep so she had simply rolled around most of the night. She made a warm bowl of chicken noodle soup, a favorite dish from America that still loved. And it was prefect for a day like today, cold and snowing. Snuggled up in blankets on the couch, she drank her tea and ate her soup while watching it snow.
It was beautiful and it helped relax her, and it brought her back to her home in Germany. She remembered building snowmen with her friends, which was actually how she had met Heinrich. She had been building a snowman when he came up to her and told her she was doing it wrong. He told her she need to roll the snow until it slowly became a ball to build the body, not to keep packing snow together. He had helped her complete it and they both laughed as they threw snow balls at it until was completely destroyed. That was how she liked to remember him, as a laughing boy. Not the man he had grown to be.
There was a soft noise coming from her door and she looked to see a newspaper trying to make its way through the bottom, which wasn't working. She laughed he went to open the door. A little boy stood on the other side looking embarrassed. "Sorry I'm late mam', with the snow coming down so hard out there it's hard to bike through it."
"It's alright, I'm not mad. Just be careful out there," she said as he handed her the paper.
She closed the door and opened the newspaper to the front page. There is bold letters was written 'Mass murder Hugo Stiglitz killed in prison break, no one left alive'. She collapsed on the floor, grasping the paper. What? She couldn't believe it, how could this have happened? Who did it? She tried to read the rest of the article, but couldn't see through the tears in her eyes. She simply laid on the floor for a long time trying to comprehend it, but she couldn't. She refused to believe it was true. After all that had happened in the last few weeks she couldn't bear to hear this.
No, she thought. It's not true, I just know it. She knew she wasn't thinking straight, but something in her heart told he wasn't dead. Plus, it didn't make any sense. She knew a lot of people hated him for his crimes, but those people would rather see him publicly tried and executed. Who would take such risks just to kill him?
In her somewhat delusional state, an idea popped into her head. She had to go see Colonel Landa, he would know the truth. he was one who had mentioned his name to her in the first place. She would go and demand that he tell her the truth, she deserved that much. Quickly, she got dressed and walked outside. It was miserable, it was freezing and she could barely see a foot in front of her. No one was out on the streets, and it was eerily quiet. But she pushed on, determined to see Colonel Landa and to hear him tell her that Hugo was alive and that it was all lies.
By the time she had made it to the embassy, she couldn't feel anything. The snow had built up on the sidewalks to about half to her knees. She didn't know how she was going to get back home, but that didn't matter to her. She was here now and she was going to get some answers. Just like the streets outside it was completely empty inside the building. She suddenly became afraid that since it was Sunday, that it was closed, a thought that she hadn't considered before. Relief washed over her when she saw that there was a man behind the window at the front.
He looked at her with a strange expression and she was sure that she must have looked like a wreck. "How may I help madam?" he asked.
"I'm here to see Colonel Landa."
The man's eyebrows shot up and he looked surprised. "Do you have an appointment with him?"
"No," she confessed.
He looked at her through tired eyes, and debated telling her to leave. But there was something about her that made him do otherwise. He disappeared behind the desk to call his secretary.
"Colonel Landa," called Herman softly from Hans's door.
"What now?" called Hans back grumpily. He was buried deep in his work, and he did not want to be interrupted.
"There's a young women to see you. Her name is Elizabeth Himmel."
Hans whipped his head up in surprise; he wondered what would bring her here. Although he didn't want to bothered, for her he was willing to see what she wanted. He was excited that she had come, but also curious as to what would bring her in such bad weather. He looked outside his window and wasn't able to see a thing, it was a complete whiteout. Whatever it was, he had a feeling that it wasn't good.
"Let her in, Herman" he said as calmly as possible.
The man at the front desk returned, "He will see you now" he said.
Elizabeth was relived, she was beginning to worry that she had trekked through the snow and wind for nothing. She thanked the man and walked towards the stairs. As soon as she started to walk up the stairwell, towards his office, she stopped. Her mind suddenly went blank. What was she supposed to say him? Her mind was a boggle of thoughts and emotions, and through all that mess she had never thought of what she would actually say once she was in front of him. Now she was afraid, she wanted to run away, but he already knew she was here, so there was no way to run away from this.
She shook her head and continued up the stairs. She would just have to let the words come to her when she got there. When she finally came to the front of his door she was shaking, and it wasn't from the cold. Herman recognized her, and gave her a smile. He knocked on the door for her and announced her presence. Then he opened the door and ushered her in. She wished she could have his calming presence in the room with her, but he walked out the room closing the door behind him. Now it was just her and the Colonel.
He sat at his desk with his usual smirk, and she felt incredibly stupid for coming. Hans stood up and approached her. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked as he came over and helped her out of her coat.
She allowed him to do so but still couldn't think of what to say to him. He looked down at her the way a disapproving father would. "What were you doing going out in this kind of weather? You could have seriously hurt yourself, it's dangerous out there." His eyes darted up and down her body. "You need something to warm you up, would you like a glass of whiskey?" he asked as he was already pouring one for her.
She simply nodded in response and sat down on a chair in front of his desk. She hadn't realized how numb she felt until she took a sip and it burned her throat. She coughed in pain and Hans chuckled.
"There now you should start to feel better. So now tell me what are you doing here?"
She looked around the room thinking of answer when her eyes landed on his hat hanging on the coat rack. It was embellished with an evil looking skull and crossbones. Just looking at it filled her heart with hate and anger, and it reminded her why she was here. She looked Hans straight in the face and in a level voice said, "I saw the paper this morning, have you?"
"No," he responded. "I have been working all day; I didn't have time to look it over." He truly hadn't seen the paper and had no idea at what she was trying to get at.
"I know what happened, I saw what happened to Hugo and I know it's a lie!" She practically screamed at the commanding officer.
"What are you talking about?" he asked defensively, while his mind reeled at the thought of the papers already hearing about the break in. There was no way they would be allowed to print what happened.
"They say he was killed last night, but I know better. I know that you know the truth so tell me what happened!"
He looked blankly at her, not sure what to say. He was trying to take in all the information first. She said the papers said Hugo had been killed, which relieved him a little bit. But she said she knew better, did she really know what actually happened? He decided to test the waters slowly.
"And what, my dear, do you think happened exactly?"
She looked at him and tried to say something but nothing came out. He raised his eyebrows at her, and his look told her that he knew she didn't have an answer.
"Look, I understand this must be hard for you. Losing a friend always is, and I assume from your reaction to his death that you still must have close after all, unlike what you told me the other day. But you and I both know that nothing else happened. I'm sorry Elizabeth, but Hugo was killed in a terrorist attack this morning. It's not a surprise; he wasn't a much liked man."
She was devastated by his words, and it was like a mental wall came down. She broke in tears and couldn't stop herself. She broke down and finally let the reality of Hugo's death sink in. Hans felt bad watching the woman cry, especially since he knew that she had been right, he wasn't dead as far as anyone knew.
He got and grabbed his jacket and hat. "Let's get you home okay?" he said softly.
She was obliviously to everything now, and let Hans take care of her. He slipped her coat on and walked out of the office. He looked over at Herman and motioned with his head for him to get up. "I need you drive us to her apartment. Place all my meeting on hold and meet us down stairs." Herman was taken aback by Elizabeth's sobbing and immediately did as he was told. He wondered what Hans had done to make her so upset, but he didn't dare ask.
Outside the weather had gotten worse and Hans wondered how Herman was going to able to drive through it. Luckily Elizabeth didn't live far away, which would make it easier. Although the roads were covered in about a foot of snow, Herman was an excellent driver and was able to plow through it, but he had to do so very slowly. What would have taken about five minutes took them about twenty. And poor Elizabeth cried the whole time. Hans wanted to comfort her in some way but didn't know how, comforting wasn't exactly his strong suit. So, he simply put his arm around her and held her until they drove up to her apartment building.
He wrapped her up tightly against him and then walked her as quickly as possible across the sidewalk, through the snow and into the building. Once they were inside he brushed the snow off both of them and like a gentleman walked her to her door. She had stopped cry by this point, but she looked exhausted.
"Try to get some rest bitte," he pleaded with her.
She looked at him and nodded solemnly and gave him a weak smile. "Thank you for taking me home," she said quietly. She really did appreciate him taking care of her, even though she didn't know how to feel about it. All she did know was that she was embarrassed about her behavior and wanted to go inside and be alone for a while. She unlocked the door and gave Hans another nod in thanks closed the door shut. Hans, now in a horrible mood went downstairs and asked Herman to take them home; he definitely didn't feel like going back to work.
Finally a softer side of Hans, which Elizabeth seems to be warming up to. Hope y'all enjoyed the new chapter, and I know this chapter may have seemed like there wasn't a lot going on but I promise the next one will have a bit more happening. And thanks again to everyone who reviewed :)