One Night In November
by Ambient Nightfall
First published
Horrific events only immortals could see and live through play out for the Dazzlings.
It's November 9, 1938. Three sirens sleep peacefully in their German flat, when two are awakened by breaking glass and gunshots. Now known as Kristallnacht, these are the Dazzlings' memories of the first few hours of the horrible night to their escape to the United States.
CANCELLED
Burned In The Brain
“Run Sonata!”
Sonata winced at the shrill scream Aria let out.
“Hurry up!!”
Tears streamed down her face as she tried keeping up with her sisters.
“You gotta keep going!”
Sonata sped up, her feet crunching on the glass that was broken around her. Everything was destroyed in a matter of seconds. She had been rudely awakened by Adagio saying to pack a suitcase and get some shoes on. Adagio had fear in her eyes, which made Sonata afraid. Adagio was never afraid. Not when they were robbed, not when they were in trouble with the law, never. She’s the leader. She can’t be afraid of anything.
Until tonight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was 1 AM. Sonata had been sleeping peacefully, a decent-sized drool puddle by her face, when her door was burst down by the eldest siren. Adagio was frantic as she shook the blue girl awake, who merely stirred. The leader growled, the sound getting caught in her throat as she heard the glass of their front window breaking. She violently slapped Sonata across the face, causing the middle siren to jolt up in pain. She stared at her older sister in shock, holding her cheek.
“Nata, you have to pack up. We have to get out of here!!” her sister quietly screamed at her, causing Sonata to leap out of bed and begin packing.
“Meet Aria and me downstairs when you’re done. Only things you need. You have ten minutes.”
Sonata was genuinely terrified, and the gunshots down the street did not help things. She was visibly shaking, her hands scrambling for clothes and some of her favorite snacks, plus some of her sisters’ favorites. She put on her sneakers, running downstairs with her knapsack over her shoulder. She still wasn’t sure what was happening, but if her sisters made the call, she followed. It had saved her countless times before.
“Dagi.. Ari..? Where’d you guys g--?!” Sonata was cut off by a hand over her mouth, yanking her into a closet.
She bit the hand, elbowing her assailant. She was immediately released, then hit in the back of a head by a hand.
“Way to go, you little snot, you drew blood,” Aria whispered in her rough tone, holding her hand.
“Sorry Ari!! I didn’t me--!”
Sonata was cut off by Adagio’s hand this time.
“Shut. Up. Sonata.” she said through her gritted teeth as quietly as she could. “We’re being robbed, just stay quiet and things’ll be okay.”
Sonata nodded, raising her hand to the hand covering her mouth and making a zipping motion over the back of it.
Adagio immediately recoiled, shaking her hand rapidly.
“Don’t do that.”
Aria peeked out the door, looking around before seeing a large man in a black military uniform, a red band around his left arm. He held a pistol, ordering his soldiers around in German. They were flipping chairs in their humble flat, turning over tables and checking every nook and cranny of the small apartment the Dazzlings had called home for a few years. She quickly shut the door and turned to Adagio. They whispered amongst the two of them for a few moments before they turned back to Sonata.
“Sonata, it’s finally happened. Nazis are rounding up the Jews, gypsies.. they’re all going to be killed,” Aria’s harsh voice trembled as she spoke the words, tears welling in her eyes as she imagined their fates.
“But we will not get caught, Aria. For fuck sake, get ahold of yourself. We’re going to be fine. Now you two need to listen to me. Here’s what we’re going to do; Sonata, you and Aria grab your bags. On my cue, sing the Melody of Minty Heartstrings. It should buy us enough time to get out of here, and make them depressed, not angry. On my mark, okay?”
The younger sirens nodded in unison, clearing their throats. Awaiting Adagio’s command and action, they picked up their bags, Aria grabbing Adagio’s.
Adagio sighed deeply, steeling her resolve and flung the door open, beginning to harmonize the transluscent melody. She saw the three Nazis point their guns at her, but she kept holding the notes, soon hearing her sisters join in. With the two added to the harmony, they were able to distract the men threatening them. They dropped their weapons on the carpet filled with shards of glass, eyes transfixed in a saddening stare.
The three sirens slowly backed towards their front door, their melody never faltering as they stepped outside. Once they turned around, the three girls went from regal sirens to scared children. One by one, Jews were taken from lines and sent to the left or right. A generously built Aryan woman was ordering it all. The people, mostly women and children, who went to the left were loaded into large trucks packed full of frightened screaming, horrendous pained groans, and desperate wails for mercy. The ones who were sent to the right, mostly men and the elderly, were put on their knees and shot in the back of the head. Blood, brain matter, teeth, skull fragments, and chunks of bone were blown away from the nice old man they knew from across the street. They would frequently visit him, and considered the poor old man the only human who hadn’t completely gotten on their nerves. He was the man who introduced the sirens to a peculiar Central American food called “tacos”. Sonata had been in love with the food since he made them a “Welcome To The Neighborhood” party about 4 years ago. And in the time it took Sonata to blink, his tired face and soft, tearful eyes were nothing more than pavement stains. Aria heaved up her dinner at the sight, Adagio’s breath caught in her throat, and Sonata clutched onto Adagio’s arm and screamed.
The shrill scream caused the entire Nazi fleet to look at the three girls. As the cold eyes of the soldiers stared at them, acting on fight or flight, the sirens took off down the street in the opposite direction of the Nazis pulling their pistols and the German woman with piercing blue eyes. With a loud order to fire, they heard what seemed like hundreds of gunshots behind them.
“Run Sonata!”
Sonata winced at the shrill scream Aria let out.
“Hurry up!!”
Tears streamed down her face as she tried keeping up with her sisters.
“You gotta keep going!”
Glass crunched under their feet, as Adagio stopped abruptly, lifting Sonata into her arms and taking off running again. With Aria close by her and Sonata in her arms, she knew they’d all make it out alive. The three girls ran until the echos of the gunshots were mere ringing in their ears. The three stopped to catch their breath, Aria vomiting again from her stomach cramping. Her face had tears staining the cheeks and horrible gasping chokes for air came from her chest. Adagio leaned against the wall of a brick building on the outskirts of town. She was gasping, holding a sobbing Sonata in her arms. She clutched the younger girl tightly, holding her close as a way to comfort her. The three girls took cover in the alley behind the building, resting from their 10 kilometer sprint to “safety”. The trio had finally caught their breath after a few minutes of heaving-gasps turned into deep breaths and small wheezes. The air smelled of smoke coming from their town, and the smell of semi-coagulated and fresh blood lingered in their nostrils. The sight of their nice elderly friend’s head being mercilessly blown away was forever burned in their eyelids. The light blue eyes of the blonde woman who gave the orders to kill their friend, women, men, children, sick, and elderly neighbors still seemed to be grinning the savage grin that she had given them as she nodded for their execution. Adagio imagined losing Sonata or Aria to gunfire, she imagined their brains being smashed in by the Nazi general’s steel-toed combat boots. She wouldn’t have been able to ever forgive herself if her sisters had gotten hurt, let alone killed by the Nazi enforcers. She held both her sisters in a mediocre cuddle pile in an attempt to calm the sobbing and gasping sirens currently buried in her chest. She cursed the day Hitler rose to power. She cursed ever thinking he’d help Germany. They were supposed to leave Germany next week! Now they’re stuck in the deteriorating mess that its dictator had caused. She wanted so desperately to be able to save her sisters from this horrible situation. As tears slowly fell down the eldest girl’s face, she wiped them with her free arm.
‘No.’
‘This is no time to feel sorry for myself. I need to protect my sisters. Their safety is most important. You need to hold off on the nervous breakdown, Adagio. Hold it together, for them.’
Adagio gently ran her fingers down Aria and Sonata’s hair. She stood up, grabbing their hands and beginning to walk down the street away from the blazing town they used to call home. With both of her sisters holding her arms, she made a promise to herself and them.
“I will get you two out of here. We’re going to get out of this safe and alive. I promise.”
Author's Notes:
Spur of the moment inspiration.
Dazzlings are immortal, so I assume they were there on Kristallnacht.Apologies if this offends you.
Safe For Now
The rain came quickly. It poured from the sky like the unrelenting force of a freight train. A dented but still fighting Adagio helped her fellow distraught sirens to their feet. She held Sonata's hand and put Aria's arm over her shoulder. She winced from a pain in her back, but shrugged it off. With a promise to keep and a mix of love and hatred burning like a purple flame in her heart, she fought through the increasingly painful sting in her back, carrying her little sisters to the nearest safe haven.
After about two hours of walking aimlessly down a unanimously selected road, they spotted a small house along the gravelly trail. From the looks of it, the house didn't seem to be occupied. Adagio encouraged her sisters to run to the shoddy cabin, but the two girls weakly shuffled at best. All three of the sirens were cold, tired, wet, and in pain. Once they reached the little shack, they looked around briefly. It was only one room, but it would suffice for the night. It had a couch, a tiny bed, a fire pit, a moldy table, a poorly kept chair, and a few clean pieces of cookware with other minor furnishings. The three girls each chose their semi-comfortable place to collapse on. Aria fell on the soggy couch, not caring about the cold and only enjoying the wool cushions. Sonata was given the bed by Adagio, the only spot somewhat dry. The eldest siren was left with the chair, but she didn't care as long as her sisters were okay. She leaned back, closing her eyes as she awaited the oncoming complaints. To amuse herself, Adagio silently debated which girl would speak up first.
"Dagi, I'm hungry," Sonata spoke softly, voice trembling.
Adagio didn't open her eyes, only allowing herself a small smile at the obvious winner of her mental debate.
"I packed some food in one of my pouches," the orange-haired girl sat up and grabbed for her gray knapsack. She opened it, grabbing out a bottle of water and some ingredients. She poured the water into one of the pots by the fire pit, hooking it onto the cooking spit and deftly starting a fire under it. It was then Adagio knew the cracks everywhere were a result of avoiding carbon monoxide poisoning.
'Could've left the damn roof alone.'
Adagio internally growled at the poor carpentry, watching the water come to a boil. She poured in milk, butter, necessary spices, and parsley. She mixed the ingredients in a certain way she'd adopted, making a makeshift spätzle dinner. She topped each of the plates of food with cheese, giving Aria and Sonata each a plate of the cheesy noodles, taking the smaller portion for herself.
As they ate in silence, Aria got up with her plate to look around. She rummaged through a few things and pulled out a wet map from one of the top drawers of a nearby nightstand. She looked at it, thankful the previous tenant had marked their location on it, but she glared at the Nazi symbol at the bottom right of the paper.
"We're right outside Karlsfeld. We were in Munich," the purple siren said aloud. She looked behind her, seeing Adagio handing Sonata a small lebkuchen.
"Our best bet is France, they're still against the Nazis. We need to get there by tomorrow. That general saw our faces," Adagio stated, walking over to her youngest sister and handing her one of the cookies. She put her finger along a road, continuing, "If we get to Colmar by tomorrow at latest, we can take the next few days to get to Paris. Maybe find a place to rest for a while."
"But Colmar is by one of those congregation camps!" Sonata spoke up, worry in her voice.
"Concentration camps," Adagio corrected. "And I know. But, it'll be safer the farther we are from Germany. Look, Dachau is only 8 kilometers from where we are. And they have a worse concentration camp there than where we're going."
Sonata only whimpered at that statement.
"Colmar is our best bet," Adagio looked at her watch. "It's 4:26. We need to sleep if we're going to get there by tonight. 422 kilometers is a long walk. Get some rest, you two."
Adagio retreated to her chair, but stopped in her tracks and turned around after hearing Sonata speak up.
"Dagi?" Sonata stared at her older sister with a face so adorable it could rival a bunny. "Can you sleep with me?"
Adagio looked at her, then back at the chair. The bed looked way more comfy than the chair did. She offered the blue girl a gentle smile, "Sure, Nata."
Adagio strode to the bedside, getting under the blankets with Sonata and laying by her, cuddling her in a close, protective embrace.
Aria went over to the couch, going to the end of it and pushing its stubby, moldy bottom across the floor of the cabin. Both couch and wooden floor gave creaks and what seemed like groans of protest at the scraping Aria was causing from her impromptu rearrangement. The purple girl pushed the couch to the front door, blocking it off. She then shut each of the stained windows and pulled down the ugly shades attached to all but one of them. After her makeshift locks where in place, she walked over to the chair and sat in it, holding her knapsack close. She closed her eyes, trying to ignore the barely relenting rain still battering on the roof.
"Aria," Adagio spoke up again.
"What?"
"Come here."
Aria opened her eyes and looked at Adagio. She raised her right eyebrow quizzically.
"Get over here before I change my damn mind," the orange siren said with a stern tone.
Without retorting, Aria walked over, laying by her sisters on the bed. She took the left side, putting Sonata between her sisters. The middle siren giggled at her younger sibling, who simply growled at her.
"Look, Aria made it a cuddle pile!" Sonata cheered despite her fatigue.
"You're the worst, Sonata."
Sonata gasped at that, narrowing her eyes. "No, you are!"
"Both of you, knock it off and go to sleep," Adagio spat, venom almost dripping from her tone.
The two sisters stopped their nitpicking, Aria rolling over to face the wall.
"Good night, Dagi," Sonata yawned. "Good night, Ari."
And with that, the three sirens slowly succumbed to their exhaustion as the rain outside slowed to just a light sprinkle.
Author's Notes:
You all asked for a full story and you'll get your wish, as promised!
The Dazzlings are headed to Colmar to escape Nazi Germany!Thank you all for the support on this one!
With love,
Pan/Nyx.
Not Now, Why Now?
Author's Notes:
This is a teaser for the fans while I work on the next chapter.
Much love,
Pan/Nyx
Adagio woke up when the rain stopped. And she was not happy about it. It was barely sunrise, which meant at most she got a few hours of much needed rest. She tried to get back to sleep, but after half an hour she just decided to get up. The eldest siren rose from the bed and seethed as she stretched her muscles. She was cramped, tense, and hurt. Very hurt. For some reason the sharp pain in her back from the night before had not subsided.
'Damn it, this is not the time to be in pain.' the Dazzling thought to herself.
She removed her shirt, feeling around her back for any sign of relieving the agony in her muscles. When she passed over a clotted, but still wet spot, she choked on a groan. It burned like hell, and it certainly wasn't going to stop anytime soon. She felt around a bit more, her finger digging into a hole in her Latissimus dorsi muscle.
'That shouldn't be there.'
She fought through the pain, feeling the wound a little more before she brought her hand back into view. It was soaked in blood. Adagio fought the urge to scream as the realization hit her.
She had been shot.
The leader stood in shock for a moment, then slowly put her shirt back on. She faced her sleeping sisters, wincing as she moved to sit by them. She rested the clean hand on Sonata's forehead, smiling softly at the peaceful look the blue girl gave.
'I can get through this. I need to keep you two safe. Just a little longer, Adagio.. hold it together.'