Discovery

Sorry its been so loooooooooooooooooooooooong everyone! I've been so busy! And its not even a particullarly long chapter dammit! Well, more soon i hope, despite the crappyness of chapter 23!

Anne Frank began to surface from the world of dreams, her head filled with the fear that came from living in Bergen-Belsen. Slowly she realized that she was lying curled up under a warm blanket, alone, and clean for the first time in she didn't know how long. She opened her eyes and looked around. The room was dark, but she could tell that it was not the shed she had previously been shut up in. What had happened when she had been ill?

Anne sat up, her blanket sliding off her, and realized that she was wearing new clothes, which were too big for her. Her old rags were gone. Had all this been a dream? Was Bergen-Belsen just a nightmare?

A line of moonlight from the not-quite-shut door began to grow wider, as a dark shape came into the room. Anne's heart sank when she saw it, for it was no one she recognized, and upon his head was the unmistakable silhouette of a peaked cap.

"Ich sehe, daB du wach bist, I see you're awake. " he said in a harsh voice.

She didn't move, unsure of what was going on. Surely this was some cruel Nazi trick or a strange, illogical plan.

"Mochtest du etwas zu essen? Do you want something to eat? " the figure asked.

She shook her head, too frightened to speak.

The dark figure stepped closer, and she shrank back, grabbing the blanket in an effort to put some sort of barrier between them. The man tilted his head to one side.

"Es gibte keine Notwendigkeit, angst zu haben. Es wurde keine Punkt geben, wehn mann du verletze, nachdenn die Obacht, die ich dich Helfe gegeben habe. There's no need to be afraid. There would be no point in hurting you after all the care I've put in to helping you recover. "

Anne lowered the blanket slightly.

"Wie wieB ich, das ich dich vertrauen kanne? How do I know I can trust you? " She asked, "Du bist ein Nazi, nicht. You're a Nazi aren't you? "

He sighed. "Ja, ich bin eine. Aber ich habe keine Wahl uber dich su helfen. Ich erwarte nicht dast du mich gern finden oder mich vertrauen. Du bist sicherer hier als drausen. Yes, I am. But I don't have any choice about helping you. I don't expect you to like me or even trust me. You'll be safer here than out there. "

He gestured to the door.

"In Ordnung, All right, " Anne said. After all, she thought, nothing could be as bad as Bergen-Belsen.

Karl stalked the dark countryside outside Bergen-Belsen, thinking. He needed to get away from the concentration camp where his father waylaid him and questioned him about Anne.

The Army would be here very soon and they could not know who Anne really was. No-one could. He would have to get her to agree to use a new name, and find a way to put that new name in the Kommandant's files.

Ahead of him Karl saw a dark shape standing by a tree. He doubted any normal human would have seen it, but it was obvious to him. He gave no sign of having spotted the other figure and kept walking, his hand slipping to the hilt of the baton sword at his side.

The shape stepped out of the shadows.

"Ich dachte, das ich dich hier finden konnte, I thought I might find you here. " It was Kroenen. "Hast du mich vermieden? Have you been avoiding me? "

"Nein. Nicht genau. Ich bin beschaftigt gewesen, No. Not exactly. I've been busy. " He changed the subject. "Ich horte, daB du Experimenten heute machtest. I heard that you were doing experiments today. "

"Jawohl. Ich forschte die Moglichkeiten des Gliedwiedereinbaus. Oh yes. I was investigating the possibilities of limb replacement. "

"Ja? Yes? " He was fascinated despite himself, but he knew it to be the Other that made him feel this way. It had been stronger ever since coming here. It was the taint of death on the air, and its aura embedded into the very bricks of the camp.

"Kein Gluck. Aber es unterheilt mich, um den Mann aufzu passen, langsan zu sterben. No luck. But it amused me to watch as the man died slowly. "

"Warum hast du heir herauskommen? Mochtest du jedoch wissen, was ich mache? Why have you come out here? Do you still want to know what it is I'm doing? "

"Selbstverstandlich. Du kannst nicht fur miene Merkwurdigkeit schuld geben. Of course. You can't blame me for being curious. "

Yes, Karl thought, curious. About how people work on the inside mostly.

"Siehst du, ich kann nicht dich erklaren. Hat der Ogdru Jahad nicht dich erklaren uber das Verwirren mit dem Zeitstrom? Es ist gefahrlich zu kennen! Look, I can't tell you! Didn't the Ogdru Jahad tell you about messing with the time stream! It's dangerous to know. "

"Vielleicht kanst du mich nicht erklaren, aber ich noch herausfinden konnte. Bevor lang muB ich zu Rasputin und Ilsa zuruchkommen, und dann wurde ich wissen. Ich denke, daB du etwas von mir verstecken. Maybe you can't tell me, but I can still find out. Before long I must return to Ilsa and Rasputin, and I will know by then. I think you are hiding something from me. "

"Ich verstecke nichts! Ich wurde dich meine Mission erklaren, wenn ich konnte. I am not hiding anything! If I could tell you my mission, I would. "

"Wurdst du jetzt. Would you now? "

With that, Kroenen turned on his heel and left, blending into the darkness within seconds.

This was the day, he knew that. The dark shade of the Ogdru Jahad in his dark soul whispered this to him. He had tracked his son to one of the abandoned huts. With the British this close some of the Jews here were being killed; there were plenty of empty rooms. His son had brought food to this hut, which was strange, since he would certainly have made the same modifications to his son as to himself, so he would no longer have to eat. The dark magic running through him should sustain him. Who else was hiding there?

Kroenen slipped up to one of the windows, barred and shuttered on the inside. Carefully and silently he bent aside the metal bars until they began to rip from their sockets, and slid a long knife through the gap between the shutters. He wiggled it a few times and was rewarded with a thunk as the bar holding them closed fell. A slight push and they swung open. Kroenen grasped the bars and slithered through them like a snake, half-somersaulting to land on the other side in a crouch.

He was in a dark room, but a thin line of light coming from under the door and his own magic enhanced night sight made it as clear as day too him. The space was empty, but he could hear voices from the next room. He went over to the door and listened.

"Du kannst nicht Anne Frank mehr anguerufen sein. Es ist nicht sicher. You can't be called Anne Frank anymore. It's not safe. "

"Warum nicht? Why not? "

"Vertraust du mir auf diese Sache.. Was willst du angerufen? Trust me on this one. What would you like to be called? "

"Ich weiB nicht. Was fur Rachel? I don't know. How about Rachel? "

"Diese Name ist gut mitt dir.Was uber einen zweiten Namen? It suits you. What about a second name? "

"Warum nicht Rachel Frank? Why can't I be called Rachel Frank? "

"Weil Einer der oberen Nazibeamtun Frank angerufen ist. Die Briten denken konnten, daB du seinen Tochter bist. One of the leading Nazis is called Frank. The British might think you were his daughter. "

Kroenen had heard enough. What exactly did his son think he was doing?

He burst through the door to be confronted by the sight of his son sitting by a Jew.

"Was gescheht. What is going on here? " he yelled.

I'll update soon, I promise!