Page 13 of Wicked Deceptions
I’m now in the last quarter of my training. Gerhardt was right; it is the hardest. I’ve endured so much between the sleep deprivation, starvation, and water torture, but Gerhardt has always been there at the end of the day to help me get through it. He still has not gotten the message that I am not interested, and I am finding it difficult to make it clear without being rude. He hasn’t tried anything, but some of the things he says makes me feel uncomfortable. I will be glad when I graduate. Then I will only have to deal with him occasionally instead of daily.
The worst begins today, I’ve been told. If I can get through today, I will graduate. I have no idea what to expect, but my instructions are to wait in my room, and I will be taken to the last test. So that’s what I am doing, waiting.
Time passes slowly, and my nerves are shot. The anticipation is killing me and not in a good way. I can’t stop watching the clock. Two hours have gone by and then, I hear a knock. The person on the other side of the door does not wait for me to acknowledge him. He just barges in my room. I’m confused, as I expected Gerhardt, but I have never seen this man before.
“Katerina?” he asks.
“Yes.” I stand.
“Come with me.” He turns briskly, and I scurry after him to catch up. He doesn’t utter another word as he leads me down the hall in the opposite direction in which I normally go. He confuses me but his uniform and rankingstripes tell me this man is someone I need to listen to.He is a high-ranking German officer, but that does not stop me from asking questions.Where is Gerhardt?
“Where are we going?” I ask.
He doesn’t even acknowledge that I have spoken to him and continues walking. We get to the end of the hallway, where he opens the door and proceeds down a set of stairs. The building is only two stories, but we walk down two more flights. There must be a basement I am not aware of.
At the bottom of the fourth flight of stairs, he goes through another door, and it is obvious we are indeed in the basement. There are no windows, and the hallway is very dark. I hear water dripping off in the distance and there are pipes running along the walls. He walks down the dark hallway, and we come to another door.
Opening it, he says, “In here.” He gestures for me to walk in the door, and I step inside.
The room is very dark. Immediately, the door is closed behind me. I quickly turn and call after him, but he doesn’t answer. He is either ignoring me, or he’s left the room. I stand in the darkness, but it is so black, I can’t see a thing. I then hear the flick of a match. Turning toward the sound, I can make out a figure sitting at a desk, lighting a cigarette.
“Gerhardt?” I ask as I walk toward the desk.
“Katerina,” says an unrecognizable voice. I approach hesitantly, and when I get closer, I can see an empty chair sitting across the desk. “Sit down,” the voice commands.Where is Gerhardt?
“I am General Holden Von Schmidt.” He takes a hit of his cigarette and blows the smoke toward me. Ican’t help but cough. “It has come to our attention that Gerhardt Wagner is not loyal to our cause. Do you know what we do to those who are not loyal to our cause?”
I shake my head.
“Speak up. Tell me,” the voice demands.
“Eliminate them?” I ask sadly. Gerhardt has been my trainer, my partner through all this, and my friend. This can’t be.
“Eventually, yes. But there is a price he will have to pay first.”
“And may I ask what that price is?”
“I was hoping you would.” The darkness in the room makes me uneasy, as the only light I see is the end of his cigarette. “Gerhardt will need to be tortured, and you, my young cadet, will be the one to do it.”
I gasp. “I cannot!” I say, shaking my head adamantly, “Gerhardt is my superior.”
“And I am his.” He takes a deep breath, “You can, or all your training will have been for nothing.”
“But Gerhardt trained me. He has worked with me and has helped me get this far. I can’t.” I cry.
“You have no choice.” He gets up from his chair to walk toward me, and he takes my arm.
I rise, and he guides me to the side of the room. We are now standing in front of a door I could not see before.
“He’s in there. You have been taught many things. You have twenty-four hours to make him admit to his crimes. Do your worst.”
I hesitantly turn the knob and open the door. Gerhardt is lying on the floor, broken and beaten. My first instinct is to run to him and tend to his wounds, but I know I can’t.
If he was disloyal to the Germans, he must pay for his crimes. If I want to graduate my training, I must be the one to do it. If I don’t graduate, I could spend the rest of my life here.
I step inside, and again, the door closes behind me. There are two men standing off to the side. One of them steps forward. “Fräulein Mueller, we are here to assist you in any way we can.”
I nod and step closer to Gerhardt. His eyes are swollen, and I don’t even know if he can see me. His body trembles in pain.How can I do this? This is not what I trained for.And then I remember, he is a traitor. I turn back toward the men and ask, “What has been done to him thus far?”
