Deception - WWII Resistance / Holocaust Novel

chapter 35: accused of betrayal

I am excited to present to you, the latest trailer for Deception with the updated cast! A lot has changed not only with the characters, but also the plot since I  first envisioned this story back in 2018 - so I felt the need to find some inspiration and made a new trailer :)

Rachel was arrested on the spot. I watched helplessly as her face completely fell, her eyes wandering as if searching some sort of an explanation as to why she was being taken away. The more I mulled over the look of fear on her face, the more I felt as though my chest would collapse with the weight of guilt which sat on it.

Ellis, Frederick, Lenka, Elek, and Eva were huddled around the table. Luuk's body was spread out across the surface, the front of his shirt stained red.

'What happened?'

'Luuk's been shot in the shoulder,' Elek replied. 'I'll explain later.'

'Here,' Vera ran into the room with a bottle of alcohol. She poured the liquid over Luuk's wound which caused him to scream out in agony causing Ellis to slap her hand over his mouth to muffle his cries.

'I'm going to remove it, but you are going to have to try your hardest to keep it down,' Ellis said sternly.

'Are you sure you don't want to wait for Lotte?' Lenka asked hesitantly. Lotte was the only one with a nursing background and thus knew better how to treat injuries.

'Just fucking get it out!' Luuk gasped.

Ellis turned to Eva and asked her to fetch a piece of cloth for Luuk to bite down onto. Ellis wedged the piece of thick fabric into his mouth and then grabbed the long pair of tweezers.

'Hold him down,' Ellis instructed Elek and Frederick who placed their hands firmly on Luuk's shoulders while Lenka, Vera and Eva held down the rest of his body to prevent him from squirming.

As Ellis plummeted the tweezers into the wound, Luuk's body heaved up. Tears were streaming down the sides of his face. His screams were now barely audible, but there was no doubt as to amount of pain he was in.

It felt like minutes, but Ellis managed to retrieve the small bullet within a matter of seconds. She proudly showed it off in front of Luuk's eyes who sighed in relief. Vera cleaned the wound and bandaged it.

Elek and Frederick slowly sat him up.

With his good side, Luuk wiped the leftover tears from his eyes. After Luuk was able to catch his breath, he and Elek finally filled me in on what had occurred. They had been ambushed whilst setting up the explosives along the railway lines.

'There wasn't enough time. The wire was too short. I told Niels to leave it, but he refused. He ran back and when he set it off, body flung backwards from the explosion,' Luuk explained how he was shot in the shoulder as he attempted to run away. Luckily, Elek was near and was able to hoist him up and drag through the forest where they hid for hours. By the time they made it back, Luuk had already lost a significant amount of blood. They had been separated from Niels, Jacobus and Christopher ever since.

Hearing the university boys' names for the first time since I entered the building caused a rush of memories from earlier that day.

'Niels is dead,' saying those words out loud didn't make it seem any realer.

A cue of 'What?' echoed around the room.

'I saw his body with my own eyes,' I confirmed.

'What about—' Luuk began to speak, but I cut him off already knowing what he was about to ask.

'Christopher and Jacobus are imprisoned.'

Everyone tensed.

'Shit,' Luuk muttered under his breath.

'That's not all... I suspect one of them talked.'

'How can you know?' enquired Lenka.

'I overheard Herr Fehmer's conversation. They know that someone is helping the resistance from the inside.'

'I bet it was Christopher!' Elek muttered. His hands formed fists and he began to pace up and down. 'I told Sven. I told you all, we shouldn't have taken him on. I told you he was weak! Couldn't even keep his mouth shut for 24 hours!'

'Calm down Elek,' Eva said softly.

'Calm down? How can any of us stay calm?' Elek began to raise his voice. 'None of us are safe here. If Christopher was so quick to talk – how long do we have before the Germans come knocking at our door?'

'He has point,' Ellis reluctantly agreed. 'We don't know how much information – who ever talked – revealed.'

Suddenly, the entire room erupted into a fit of rage.

I heard the backdoor open and shut, followed by shuffling.

Lotte entered the room, her face lightly flushed pink with exhaustion and loose strands of hair sticking to her face, 'What's going on?'

Her eyes scanned the room of faces and landed on the injured Luuk, 'Your shoulder—' Lotte attempted to reach out towards him.

'I'm fine,' he pulled back, but gritted his teeth. 'Ellis removed the bullet.'

'Are you crazy?' Lotte exclaimed. 'You could have severed an artery. You should have waited for me. Let me have a look at it.'

Again, Luuk resisted her efforts and waved her away. 'Your friend Kloet failed to pitch today.'

Lotte seemed taken back. 'I don't understand,' She shook her head. 'He knew—'

'You're the only one who had contact with him.'

'Kloet knew he had to be there. I spoke to him three days ago.'

'Well he wasn't. Now Niels is dead and Christopher and Jacobus are probably being tortured as we speak... I think you set us up,' Luuk accused her.

'What?' Lotte said in shock. 'Are you insinuating that I had something to do with this?'

'I think you had everything to do with it.'

'Then why would I come back here?'

In one swift movement, Luuk pulled out his pistol and raised it in Lotte's direction.

'What are you doing?' I questioned anxiously.

'I think we have a mole of our own.'

'Luuk, put the gun down,' Elek commanded. 'There could be other reasons why Kloet didn't pitch.'

Lotte raised her hands slowly in front of herself, stepping back to increase the distance between them, 'Luuk, you're not thinking clearly.'

Luuk raised his voice, the veins in his neck protruding.

'What the hell is going on here?'

That mere distraction of Sven entering the room was enough for Elek to disarm Luuk. Luuk, already weak, was helpless and slumped back into his seat with his head in hands.

Dekker who had entered the room alongside Sven seemed just as confused as to what had almost transpired.

Lotte's face was red with rage. She seemed to swallow the anger which she was suppressing for Luuk's actions. His words surely stung her and only fuelled the fire within. But she knew better.

'I'll talk to Kloet,' she narrowed her eyes in Luuk's directions.

Lotte attempted to leave the room, but Sven pulled her back by her upper arm, 'Not yet. We have more important matters to discuss.'