Youthful Rebellion: Exposed

Um... hope you are enjoying it. Nightcaster, I wasn't actually taking the Just one Night story any where it just sort of trailed off...

Karl sat in the darkness of his room. He had been surprised to discover that the new President was female. She was certainly clever though, that little bodyguard idea had worked on him like a charm. His darker side couldn't resist bloodshed. Once, he hadn't had a darker side. Once he had been of one mind...

It was night when Laura climbed the stairs to Karl's flat, a damp night lit only by the bright lights of Cambridge. She had only met him a few weeks ago when he had joined her Anatomy club after the summer, and already she felt like she was falling in love. He was so kind to her, and he and his friends were so funny! It was as if she had known him for ever.

At the top of the stairs she turned down a narrow corridor which led to a small complex of rooms which was the only place Karl had been able to get accommodation. He had told her that he hadn't planned to come back to Cambridge; he had wanted to go with his father to some other place. He had been strangely reticent about it, which wasn't like him. Usually he was very open with her. She had told him that she could easily get him better rooms, but he had laughed, and said that he liked them.

This was the first time she had been up here; she only knew what it was like from Karl's descriptions and those of her friends. She had a little trouble finding Karl's rooms for they were tucked away at the very back of the building, but when she got there, she found the door ajar, the place silent, and seemingly deserted.

"Karl?" she called, "Karl, are you here?"

There was no answer.

Cautiously Laura poked her head around the door and looked around the small room. It was dimly lit, the lights, from Ikea she thought, were turned down and sticks of incense burned in pots, filling the room with a strange thick smell. She coughed a little; it was a bit too sweet for her. Apart from little swirls of ash the room was surprisingly clean for a bachelor, but she supposed that Karl did have a sort of fetish for cleanliness.

"Karl?" she called again. No answer. There was no-one there. Curious, she opened the door wider and slipped inside. There was a couch in the south-east corner, and a television opposite it. Two doors were set in the north and east sides of the room, probably leading off into a bedroom and toilet. She walked over to one of them and opened it a touch. As she had thought, a bedroom, but with another door leading out of it. What could be behind it?

As she opened it, knowing she shouldn't be prying like this, but unable to stop herself, a shortish hair dropped off the hinges unnoticed. Laura wasn't looking for anything like that, why would she be. Maybe she should have been more careful. She certainly wished she had noticed it later.

The door swung open silently, and when Laura stepped into the room she froze. The first thing that hit her was bright streaks of red down the side walls, and one big one at the far end of the room. Thick black lines on the red scribed out on of the most hated symbols in modern history; swastikas. Nazi banners lined the walls, she realised, and at the top of the room was an especially big one, toppedtoped by an eagle. In front of this a uniform was lying on the floor. Laura walked up to it in a daze and picked it up. It was made of black leather, and she recognised it immediately. Schlutz-Staffel. SS. The hated killers of the Jews, and the emblem on the peaked cap proclaimed it to be that of the Death's Head units. What was going on here? It seemed like a bad dream. Maybe Karl was only one of the people who studied the terrible evil of the Nazis. But still it seemed to make a horrid kind of sense. Karl was defiantly Aryan, with his piercing blue eyes and golden hair. And then there was his love of wearing black leather trench coats and boots. Maybe he was a Sonnenkind, though they were supposed to be only myth, perfect Aryan children who would hide their Nazi sympathies and work their way into positions of high influence and useuses their powers to support the Nazis causes.

Laura slumped to the ground, feeling a terrible sense of betrayal. She noticed a small, framed photograph standing next to the banner, and picked it up, fearing what it could show. A person in a mask and some sort of sleek black body suit was standing with his arm around a young boy who was obviously Karl. Karl was smiling happily and licking a chocolate ice-cream. He was wearing a sort of scout type uniform in khaki. It reminded her horribly of pictures she had seen of the Hitler Youth. In the background was a beautiful garden, with sculpted hedges and a water fountain, but surrounded by a high wall. Was this Karl's home? There was a woman walking along a path some way behind the two figures, unaware that she was being photographed. She too was very Aryan, with a cruel look in her eyes. Was that Karl's mum? She didn't think so; he didn't look much like her.

Laura stood up. She couldn't stay here, she knew that. If Karl found out that she had seen this… a shiver ran down her spine. And to think that she had come up here to ask him if he wanted to come with her to the synagogue on Saturday. It was lucky that he hadn't known she was Jewish. She had planned to tell him today. Now…

She slipped out of the room, quietly closing the door behind her, and left the apartment, trying to make as little noise as possible. As she turned to go down the corridor, she heard footsteps, and a voice humming a tune. She froze, for she recognised the sounds. It was Karl!

"Laura!" he said when he saw her, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh…Karl," She tried to smile, "I…I…just wanted to ask…" She thought quickly. Maybe he wasn't really a Nazi. "…I wanted to ask if you would come to the synagogue with me on Saturday."

Karl smiled quickly, and made an excuse, but it was too late. Laura had seen that flash of hatred in his eyes before he had forced a smile. Her heart sank, and she left for home feeling as though a blanket of despair had been laid over the world. He had seemed so nice…and now this. What had the world come to?

Karl sank onto his bed in exhaustion. He hadn't known. So Laura was Jewish. He felt the familiar surge of hatred as he thought of that. He heard the voice of his father in his mind telling him of the evil creatures that Jews were, filthy, sub-human beasts, corrupting the world. He supposed he was lucky that she hadn't known he was a Nazi, or she would never have told him, and then anything could have happened. But…she had been standing just outside his room, and the door hadn't been locked. Laura could have easily come in. He stood up and checked the hinges of the door leading to what he thought of as "the Nazi room". The hair was gone from where he had put it, on the hinges of the door. She knew. Why had she asked him to come to the synagogue then? Possibly she hadn't believed what she had seen. He couldn't take any chances though. If that knowledge became public, he and his Sonnenkinder friends would be in a lot of trouble. He needed to prevent this information getting out.

Karl pulled open a drawer and from its depths drew a long blade, a handle set at ninety90 degrees. It flashed in the muted light. Laura had to die.

Laura paced up and down in front of the Rector's Office. The decision to come and tell him of what she had learned had not been an easy one, but she knew what she had to do. Karl couldn't be trusted.

Finally, the Rector opened his door and beckoned her to come in. She did so and sat down in the swivel chair in front of the desk.

"So, Laura, what was it you wanted? It had better be something important at this time of night."

"It is important sir. Do you know Karl Kroenen?"

"I do, yes. His parents are very rich from what I've heard."

If that's true, why is he living up in those cramped rooms? Laura thought. Or perhaps it's so no-one finds out what he is.

"Well…sir, I went to see him this evening, and while I was there I saw a room filled with…Nazi regalia. I'm sure that he's a Nazi."

"If what you say is true, this could be quite serious, but you know that students do have the right to free expression."

"Yes but…the right to be a Nazi? I'm a Jew!"

"Ah, yes. You're quite right. I must do something about this. Thank you. You can go now."

Laura stepped out of the university building and began walking down between the tall buildings to the street. As she passed through a particularly dark passage, she heard a noise behind her. She spun round, heart racing, and looked about wildly. There was no-one there. She sighed with relief and turned back, to come face to face with Karl. She shrieked in surprise, and then she saw the glint of metal at his side. She froze.

"Who have you told?" he asked quietly.

"I…I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't play games with me, Unflater."

"I didn't tell anyone!"

"You're lying. Why else would you be here in the dead of night."

"I…I…I honestly didn't tell anyone."

"Hol'dich der Teufel! You told the Rector didn't you!"

"No…no…I…"

Karl grabbed her throat and raised a long razor-sharp blade.

"Do you have any idea how much damage you may have done to us? We need to be here, here in Cambridge. Do you know what mein Vater does to those who fail him?"

"Please, please Karl. Don't do this…killing me will get you nowhere."

"Oh, don't worry Unflater; I'm not going to kill you. Not yet at any rate. Vorrucken!"

He pushed her ahead of him, his weapon to the back of her neck.

"We're going to das Hauptquartier."

Franz looked up from his book, uninterested, when Karl came in, but when he saw the girlLaura, he stood up quickly and came over.

"What's this Karl?" he asked, looking concerned. "Are you compromising our hiding place?"

"Nein, Franz, do not be stupid. I would not do that."

"Please, Franz, please, help me!" Laura broke in, pleading with him.

"Laura?" Franz said, astonished. "What is going on here Karl?"

"She's Jewish."

"So. If we went after everyone who was Jewish we'd never get anything done."

"She saw my room."

"Mein Gott!. You are a fool Karl. Did I not tell you to keep it locked?"

"I did! I think she must have picked the lock."

"What?" Laura cried, "It was open when I got there!"

"But…then, who?"

"It must have been your landlady Karl. She is one of us, and I'm sure she meant to lock it again."

"Vater will not see it that way."

"Why? She did not tell any one did she?"

"She told the Rector."

"SheiBe! This is bad, very bad."

"I…I…I only told him about you Karl, not Franz, or anyone else! I didn't know about anyone else!"

"That is one good thing at least," Franz sighed.

"Then, in that case, perhaps Vater will not mind so much if I bring her to him."

"Maybe, Karl, but you'll still get a beating."

"As long as he doesn't let Ilsa do it. I can not stand her!"

"Pray that that doesn't happen, Karl. Pray that that doesn't happen."

"We don't believe in God remember Franz."

The next day Karl received a letter from the Rector. He opened it slowly with trepidation. It contained the worst. He was expelled from Cambridge University forthwith. Vater would not be pleased.

To be continued...Mwahahahahah!