A/N: I DO NOT own Inglourious Basterds, it is property of the magnificent Quentin Tarantino. I apologize for the racial slurs. Just part of the story. These next few chapters will be extremely graphic with depictions of torture, gore, sadism, and everything else the monster Josef Mengele inflicted on his victims during the Holocaust. You've been warned.
Kaoliang
I opened my eyes. Beige. Tan. All around. It was all I could see. My eyes hurt. Tongue fuzzy. Body light as a feather.
Drugged.
I moved my arms. The wouldn't move. Bound. Restrained.
I couldn't think.
Couldn't feel.
Couldn't move.
Couldn't think.
Where was I?
Who had brought me here?
Where was Donny?
Donny...had he been taken too?
Memories flooded. The picnic. The disaster. The ambush. I silently prayed that he was safe.
"Good to see you're awake."
I turned my head. Blonde man in the corner. Hair combed back. Dozens of medals hanging off his uniform. S.S. Where the hell was I?
As I took in my surroundings I became aware that I was on a table. A medical table. Much like the one back home, except the thick leather straps and leg shackles on this one made me realize they used it for more than torture.
Something darker.
Something more evil.
"Who the hell are you?" I spat, my tongue thick as mud. I couldn't barely talk. Barely breath. The scent of formaldehyde lingered heavily in the air.
"Well, I am Officer Kogel. We've had our eye on you for quite some time Annabelle. The little escapades of you and you little group have reached the ears of many across the front. I never thought though, that someone with such... filthy blood could be such a beauty."
"Filthy?" I challenged him, still fighting my way through the thick haze of drugs.
"Half nigger half Jew? What other word could I use to describe your heritage?"
Nigger. So he dared go there. In any other situation I would spit in his face. Fire insults right back at him, but I couldn't...I couldn't do anything.
"Do you know why you're here?" he said, standing up from the chair he was sitting in.
I stayed silent, giving him a look so menacing that I know his heart had to have quickened.
"You're here because out of all of that group of swine you keep, you are the most dangerous. It is often said a woman's beauty could be the most lethal weapon of all, and you have proved that. You made one mistake though darling."
"What?" I choked out.
"You let a few live. That is a lesson you must learn from the start. Never let anyone live."
It was something I had overlooked. He was absolutely right, and I had to admit it.
"What the fuck do you want?" I growled, each word coming out a struggle. I couldn't breath.
Informationen. he said simply, testing my German.
(Information.)
"What kind?" I rasped, stubbornly sticking to English.
Über die Basterds. Namen. Standorte. Alles, was Sie uns geben können.
(About the Basterds. Names. Locations. Anything you can give us.)
"What the fuck makes you think I'm giving you that?" I gave a small chuckle. Did he really think I was going to give information?
"I didn't think you'd cave that easily, but let me introduce you to a friend of mind."
He turned and walked to the door. I noticed he had abandoned trying to converse with me in German. Was that a good or bad thing? He opened the door and said something before another gentleman walked into the room.
My heart stopped. That face. I'd know it anywhere. The most feared. The most demonic. The face of death. The Angel of Death he was called.
"This is my good friend Dr. Josef Mengele."
I felt my windpipe constrict, panic rose in my chest. No. God. Josef Mengele.
His name was infamous. Notorious. Out of the S.S., he spent most of his time in Auschwitz, performing experiments on the prisoners. The types of experiments that no one survived. Sterilization. Human-animal impregnation. Eye surgery. Twin research. All kinds of twisted and grisly things. Horrifying. He was the devil.
"Hello child. I'm Dr. Mengele." he said, smiling down at me. His voice quiet. Gentle. Seemingly pure.
"Are you sure you don't want to tell me anything?" Kogel tilted his head.
I closed my eyes and felt tears prick. There was no way I could betray my country. My race. The man I loved, even if he didn't love me back.
And there was no way I could get out of this alive. I turned my head to the side, letting everything go. I only wished my last words to Donny would have been more meaningful.
"Very well, I'll leave you two alone in here then."
I heard footsteps. The door closed. And the Angel set his tools down at the end of the table.
"I am glad to have such a beautiful patient. I'm going to do great things to you." he ran his hand up one of my shins.
I opened my eyes, letting a single tear drop. I was ready.
BIRBIRBIRBIRBIRBIR
"FUCK!" Aldo screamed as swung at the wall, leaving an impressive crack in the cement.
I sat on the bed, resting my head in my hands. Damn. This was all my fault. How the fuck could they have gotten her?
"I TOLD YOU TO TAKE CARE OF HER! I FUCKING TOLD YOU NOT TO LET ANYTHING HAPPEN TO HER! WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?" Aldo screamed, pacing the room back and forth. If I didn't know any better I'd think that he was the one in love with her.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I just..." I couldn't even find the words. This was my fault. Annabelle was gone and it was my fucking fault. The pain I had caused her beforehand didn't really help with the guilt either.
"No, sorry don't fucking cover it. Do you know what they could be doing to her right now? What kind of danger she could be in? You want to apologize to her for that?"
I looked up at him. This was the closest I had gotten to crying since I was a kid. Damn. Not Annabelle.
"Omar, get downstairs and bring the guy at the front desk up."
Omar nodded before departing.
"Everybody else get the hell out."
Everyone stood up and left swiftly, even Hugo, who rarely ever left Aldo's side these days. As soon as the door closed he pulled a cigarette from his pocket before firing it up.
"Let me tell you this. We don't find Annabelle...things won't be lookin' too good for you."
I looked up at him.
"It's funny. I thought she was my girlfriend, not yours." I challenged him. Fuck if I cared.
He stared at me, long and hard, the vein in his forehead throbbing wildly.
"That may be but I've treated her better than you ever will. We find her body, your death will be more painful than you can imagine."
I clenched my jaw, my fists curling. Fuck if I'd let him sit here and threaten me.
Before I could even say anything he pushed past me and left the room, slamming the door.
I fell back down onto the bed. If she was dead, I don't think I could live with myself.
BIRBIRBIRBIRBIRBIR
I opened my eyes. Light. The Angle was standing over me, looking down.
"You're awake. Good. I had to get your heart rate down so I put you to sleep for a little bit."
"Please..." I whimpered. I knew begging would get me no where. There was no getting away from the Angle.
"There is no need to be afraid child. I'm just making you better."
My heart raced in my veins. In all honesty, this was the most afraid I had ever been in my life. I was more scared than anything I could imagine. There was no getting out of here. No chance at it.
I watched as he pulled out a syringe. Syringe didn't even cover it. The needle was huge. The silver glinted off the light above my head.
He gave it a small push, a tiny stream of liquid emitted and he put a hand on my shoulder.
"W-what are you doing?" I trembled, looking around wildly.
"I have often wondered, if possible to change the color of the iris. You have beautiful brown eyes, but they can be improved. Would you like that?"
I shuddered. His voice was so kind. His touch gentle. But the needle in his hand spoke for everything he really was.
As he came closer with it I realized something. I could still blink. I could look around.
I wasn't under anesthesia.
"Please...please don't do his." I begged, gripping the edge of the table.
"Relax child." he smiled before plunging the syringe into my left eye.
The pain was nothing short of unbearable. It traveled everywhere. My optic nerve. Arms, legs, chest, it took over my entire body like some sort of deadly cancer. A scream escaped my lips. What was even worse was when he pushed down on the plunger, expelling the burning liquid into my eye.
I thrashed, the leather straps digging into my skin. It burned like nothing I had ever felt before.
"Shhh." he said quietly, running a hand over my forehead. I wailed loudly before my extreme pain sensitivity kicked in, black dots appearing in my vision.
I heard him mutter something as I passed out, before I welcomed the black curtain like I never had before.
