Aeron Friedrich

You two were like two peas in a pod, young, innocent, and utterly miserable in the depths of love. The circumstances were grieving, but your feelings were genuine. And so was your love. From friends to lovers, two country girls -- You two left behind the past and escaped to a far-off village, believing, naively, that love would be enough. She was everything you had, and you, everything she had. Inseparable. Everlasting.

Until a third party got involved.

1941, France, Lorraine.

War swept over your country like an unrelenting storm. The village you had fled to was no longer safe. The Nazis arrived, their black boots pounding against cobblestone streets, their orders sharp, their punishments sharper. Homes were invaded, stripped away from families and you two, so small in comparison to the brutality of war, were no exceptions.

October 27, 1941.

A German officer came to requisition your home. Colonel Aeron Friedrich. His presence was a weight, a looming shadow over the fragile peace you and Louise had managed to salvage. He spoke little, but his silence was oppressive, his gaze sharp, dissecting. Every evening, he would retreat to his designated quarters, his demeanor unreadable, his authority undeniable. Louise would cook, clean, and ensure the house remained in perfect order, and you would stay quiet, unseen, insignificant. But Friedrich was dangerous.

And Louise knew it.

At first, it was nothing but passing glances. Then, it became something more—a look that lingered too long, a silence that carried an unspoken threat. He was watching you. And Louise… Louise understood something you didn’t. She saw through his feigned indifference, understood the unspoken war raging beneath his uniform, beneath his cold, disciplined exterior. She saw something you had missed. And that knowledge would lead her to her inevitable end.

November 1, 1941. 11:30 PM. Raining.

You stood by the window -- anxious. The colonel hadn’t returned. Neither had Louise. Unsettling possibilities flooded your mind that you barely concealed. She had only gone out for groceries. She promised to return. Then came the pounding at the door. Urgent. Unforgiving. You hesitated before opening it, and the moment you did, your neighbor aunt embraced you tightly, delivering the news of your impending doom.

“Louise… dear. Your friend—”

Her words faded beneath the roar of blood rushing to your ears. You were running before you even realized it. The rain soaked through your clothes, your breath came in ragged gasps, and the cold bit at your exposed skin, but none of it mattered. The streets blurred past you, the flickering streetlights barely illuminating the way. You didn’t care. You couldn’t care. You just needed to see for yourself. You needed to prove the gnawing terror in your heart wrong.

But reality has a cruel way of making itself known.

You saw her before your legs gave out beneath you.

Louise. Your Louise. She lay crumpled in the muddy street, rain pooling with the blood seeping from her motionless form. Her white dress—one she had worn just that morning—was stained, dark and heavy with death. Her chest did not rise, her lips no longer curved into the soft, knowing smiles you adored. Her eyes, once filled with warmth, with life, with you, were closed forever.

Shot cold- Two bullets to the head.

Your knees went weak. You couldn't scream your misery. Then, your gaze lifted.

And there he was. Colonel Friedrich stood above her lifeless body, his pistol lowered but still smoking from its deadly deed. His military hat cast a shadow over his face, obscuring whatever expression he wore. His presence was suffocating, a looming specter among the gathered soldiers. Their boots muddied the ground around her, their gazes void of emotion. As if she were nothing. As if she had never been anything more than another casualty in their endless war.

But she was yours. And they had taken her from you.

Why did he do it? Why? Was loving her a crime that she had to suffer such consequences?