prologue

Ada Hertz, the daughter of a Nazi soldier, finds a runaway Jewish boy in the woods. She makes it her duty to keep him safe. But is that possible when your father works for Hitler himself?

The door to Ada Hertz's cell opened slowly. She forced her eyes open to glare at the soldiers who were entering. They gave her cold stares and picked her up by her arms. She struggled as she always did, but to no prevail�"as always. That's how it was around here in this hellhole. The same thing over and over again.

They brought her to an interrogation room that had absolutely no windows. If Ada hadn't known what kind of place this was she would have guessed they wanted their privacy. No. They wanted to hide the torturing they would do within.

The soldiers threw her on the ground, none too gently. She cried out as she landed on her bad leg. A*s holes. They had planned for that, she knew.

"Are you going to tell me where the Jew is today?" the German soldier inquired, not looking up from his paperwork on a table. Ada stared up at the ceiling saying nothing. She saw from the corner of her eye as the soldier gestured for the other soldier to grab the whip from the other side of the room. He nodded and walked slowly to get it. Adding emphasis was he? How mature.

Once the soldier stood right behind her, the soldier with the paperwork looked up.

"Now, tell me where the Jew is," the soldier said coldly.

"I don't know what you're talking about." The whip landed on her back with a hard whap! Ada cried out in pain.

"Tell me where the boy is," the soldier demanded in a calm voice. Ada fought to stay calm.

"I don't know the person you speak of," she said softly. The whip came down again, this time harder. Ada screamed in agony.

"I said, tell me where the boy is."

"What boy? What are you talking about?" Ada hollered. "I don't know a Jew boy!" 

"Oh I think you do," the man argued coming to kneel before her. Her whole body went cold as he did this. The last time the soldier knelt before her, they twisted her leg so far that it almost broke.

"I don't," she whispered. The man gestured for the other soldier to whip her again. Ada bit her lip so she wouldn't cry out. She licked her lip, feeling blood.

"This could all be over," the man said in a persuasive voice. Ada rolled her eyes mentally. Yeah, once she admitted that she'd been hiding a Jewish boy in her home they would kill both her and Daniel. What good would that do? "You could go home. Back to your family. Your life could go back to normal."

Ada pretended to think it over. Then she brought her head forward as if to tell the soldier what he wanted to hear, only to spit on his shoes. The soldier glared and gestured for the whip to be moved again. Ada cried out as it connected with her skin.

Over and over again the whip came down. Yet she didn't say anything. The only things that came out of her mouth were screams.

"Now," the German soldier said with a satisfied smile on his face, "tell me where the boy is."

"There is no boy," Ada replied glaring. The soldier sighed.

"Playing it this way again are we?" He gestured for the other soldier to picked her up. She fought as he grabbed her hands and pulled them behind her back. He kneed her in the back, and she cried out in pain. Knowing that she was too weak to fight, the soldier pushed her violently out of the room.

On the way to her cell she fought every so often. It wasn't until she lay on the cold concrete floor of the cell did she lay down in defeat.

They'll see, she thought to herself. They'll all see. The people will be freed. It's only a matter of time.

Author's Note

**Content Not Edited**