My Story: World War II - German [COMPLETED]

49: Family Secrets

Adalwolf Zimmerman

(May 1945)

I held onto Alaric since I felt so weak from running as we walked onto the American base. I looked up at the buildings as Adeline walked forward. A man a little older that Alaric walked up to Adeline and they started talking in English. Alaric and I exchanged a look. Our sister knew English? Adeline and the guy started walking pass the buildings.

"Alaric, Adalwolf, come on," Adeline called out to us and Alaric sighed before looking at me.

"Come on. I think we need to trust her a little bit," I said. He stared at me and closed his eyes.

"She's eighteen," he said and then looked at her with her expectant smile.

"And somehow got a nation to protect us. Let's trust her more that we want," I said as I started walking to her. She smiled and took my arm.

"Is he coming?" she asked as Alaric continued to stare at the base. He took a deep breath and walked towards us.

"I will say yes," I said before Alaric stared that the man that Adeline talked to in English.

"I wouldn't trust all of them," Alaric muttered as we walked pass the first set of gates and into a building. Adeline smiled and nodded.

"Of course not. Why would we?" Adeline asked.

"Because I've killed their men," Alaric said and we stopped to stare at him.

"You've killed people?" I asked. He raised an eyebrow and nodded.

"Of course I have. I was on the battle field," Alaric said and Adeline looked at me.

"God have mercy on your soul," Adeline muttered as started walking again.

Alaric Zimmerman

I sat on the lower bunk in a three bed room. Adeline had the single bed and Adalwolf had the upper bunk because that's where he felt safer. They said that we would have to stay at the base for three days while they secure the air space before moving us to America. Adeline and Adalwolf were talked about our parents while tried to think of something to say.

"Mother use to make the best Bratwrut," Adeline muttered as Adalwolf and she came down from laughing.

"You know that they loved you two a lot, right?" I asked. They were silent for a moment. "They told me before they were killed."

"I thought that they were already dead by the time you came home," Adeline said.

"They might as well been. That's what the file said. But the file was made three days in advance. I went to see them one last time," I said. I knew Adeline hadn't seen them since my wedding day and Adalwolf since he ran away.

"What did they say?" Adalwolf asked.

"That they knew. They knew that Adeline was a spy. That Adalwolf was gay years before he knew himself. That I worked for a Jewish man before the war," I said.

"Kornfeld," Adalwolf said. I froze.

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"He kept me alive for a while until he got transferred," he said. I blinked.

"Mother and Father got caught giving information to the UK. They were smarter than I would have been. Then again, all of you kept really big secrets from everyone," I said.

"Well, I am sure that you kept your own secrets," Adalwolf said. I crossed my arms as Adeline looked across to me.

"My secrets are more like my personal nightmare," I said as I move my hands behind my head. I heard Adalwolf move above me.

"A soldier raped me," Adeline muttered and I sat up. I saw Adalwolf's feet swing off the top.

"Who? When? Where?" I demanded as I stood up. Adeline stood up and grabbed my arms.

"Don't get mad, Alaric," Adalwolf said and I looked at him, only to see the same broken look Adeline had.

"Not you too," I whispered. "Who?"

"Country or person's name?" Adalwolf asked. I held my composure.

"Whatever you know," I said.

"German soldier named Weber," Adalwolf said. "He wanted to show me what was wrong with being gay." I curled my hands into fists as I walked to the window.

"German soldier named Muller," Adeline whispered and I punched the wall. They both made a sound. "He thought I owed him for protecting the nation."

"It's not your fault," I said and they were silent for a minute.

"Your turn," Adalwolf said. I glanced over my shoulder. They were going back to our childhood game were we each had to share a secret. They were seriously playing it now.

"I executed a French woman with my regiment because she was a spy," I stated. There was an uneasy silence. "I didn't have much of a choice. It was my men or her. I didn't want to but she was giving the French information about where we were and she was trying to make sure that we would die." I was rambling and I knew that when I was rambling it was because I was scared of what they would think. We were all silent for a moment as tears rolled down my face.

"I think that this is the first time he has acted like Alaric since we've been together again," Adalwolf said, softly. I looked over at the two of them, both of which had tears rolling down their faces. I wiped my eyes and looked at them.

"I was always here but I promised to protect you. I am a trained and conditioned killer. I am not the boy that you two remember," I told them. Adeline walked to me, wiping her eyes.

"Of course not. None of us are the same from when we were children, let alone last year. We are adults. As Mother would say, we are too old to rely on each other but too young to be alone," she said. I nodded and put my arm around her shoulder.

"I'm killing the two soldiers that raped you two," I commented and they hugged me.

At the very least, we were together.