based on The Alpha Chronicles, a serial by bestdragon3 and Hinaoki ( Ephendelum)
NOTE: Rather than include hundreds of tags for translation, all dialog that isn't delivered in English with be set off by "[]" braces to indicate that it is infact another language, most likely German
Fragility of the Mind
Her Name Was Katja
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~------------------------------------------------Chapter 1-------------------------------------------------~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Her Name Was Katja
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~------------------------------------------------Chapter 1-------------------------------------------------~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[ Monikahaus ]
[ Frankfurt, Germany ]
The sun was bright but the air was cold. Udo wore a knitted brown sweater, and a pair of dingy corduroy trousers. His black and white sneakers were blotched with dirt and black scuffs. He broke away from the game of Hide-&-Seek with the other children to go for a drink of water. The poor boy was barely able to lean over the water fountain as he stood on the toes of his shoes to catch the cool stream with his outstretched tongue, but he was nearly eight years old and proving his independence was a matter of personal pride. He didn't "need" one of the older boys to hold him up to the water anymore.
It was then that he first saw her. "Das Maedchen mit Rotem Haar.", he called her. She stood just at the doorway leading back into the orphanage. Herr Frank was standing with her. He seemed to be saying something to her, as she turned her head to meet his gaze; he nodded before turning and retreating back inside. For a small girl, probably ripe with the imaginary germs that little boys believed plagued the female condition, she was deceptively pretty or at the very least, unusually distracting. Her hair was a deep crimson; a darker red, Udo was convinced, didn't exist. The straight lengthy strands made the color all the more rich. Her hair carried a shine from the overhead sun down the velvety locks. Her face was round and youthful, still showing how little from infancy she had grown. Her eyes glowed. The irises gleaming like skybound sapphires as they searched the grounds for a secure place to hide the fear radiating from them. At a last observation, Udo took note of her clothing. Creating a strong contrast against the red, she wore a faded lime-green sun dress hemmed just past the knees. Below the hem line scrawny legs fell to clean white stockings that bore shoes matching the sun dress. To deal with the cold, she wore a light cotton jacket that also shared a similar hue of green as the dress; It was clear that this girl came from a loving and financially stable home. The circumstances that brought her here couldn't even tickle the boundaries of Udo's understanding.
"Udo!", He heard from behind him. He whipped around to see the group he was playing with standing together watching him. How long had he been standing there, watching the new girl? Udo glanced over at her once more before rushing back to the game. She slowly made her way to an abandoned merry-go round and sat lightly against the semi rusted frame hidden only by remaining patches of chipping blue spray paint. With her foot, she began shifting the table top back and forth as she looked up to see a little blonde boy wipe his mouth as he rushed to the group of children waiting for him.
* * *
The next morning, Udo sat in his usual seat in the cafeteria; third row of tables, second seat from the north side of the room. It was a simple room. Large yet aged. The wood paneling that covered the walls were faded and fatigued from the length of time they had remained pinned to the frame. There wasn't much for decoration other than a few works of art from the children that the adults felt merited display, mostly scrambled works from the younger children. Udo was proud to admit that a few of his own projects had found their way onto the wall, though none were posted at the moment.
In front of him, sat Sean, an Irish boy who had ended up in Monikahaus after his parents died in a car crash while on vacation; Sean was lucky to survive. A long gnarled, scar running down the inside of his left forearm recited as much of the incident as Sean's own testimony. The original plan was to ship him back home to Ireland but he didn't have any next-of-kin and already spoke decent German so placing him in a local home turned out to be more simple in the long run. Since his arrival, he had been one of Udo's closest companions at Monikahaus, which said a lot. Neither of them had much success with building friendships, which is what probably brought them together.
Sitting to Sean's right, was Gabrielle, though everyone preferred to call her "Gabbi". Gabbi was a precocious and explorative girl. Tall for her age, Gabbi had golden blonde hair that fell to her shoulders in thick and full waves. Her clothing was simple like most of the children who had spent any extended time at Monikahaus; Udo didn't know if she had been there as long as he had, but she had been there for as long as he could remember and that was good enough for him. Only six and a half years, she spent much of her days finding the darkest corners and hidden spaces in the aged building, as well as it's grounds. It was a well known fact, that if playing a game of Hide-and-seek with her, one could expect to either never find her hiding spots or be discovered with ease; she knew the property too well. Still, Udo liked her well enough for a girl. Her rigid demeanor and natural love of dirt and grime essentially made her another one of the boys, in his book.
"Damien. [Are you going to eat that?]" Gabbi said to the boy sitting at Udo's right.
The dark-headed boy just looked at her with a blank and callous stare before uncrossing his arms just enough to slide his tray over to her. She wasted no time in scooping his scrambled eggs on her plate, as well as taking the time to tear the crust off of his toast and leave the discarded rinds behind. He was quick to withdraw his arm back into the folded and guarded posture he frequently adorned.
Damien Miller; even at eight years old, he was a true enigma. He had raven black hair that he preferred to be trimmed and layered. His eyes were pitch voids as dark as his hair. His clothing was better than most, as he came to Monikahaus with a fairly full wardrobe. He never spoke about it, but it was known that he came from an abusive home. The official story was that he had been kept locked in his room almost continuously, but to call his dwelling a room didn't describe it; dungeon was a more fitting term. He was barely fed and slept on the floor, and his parents, strung out on whatever they could get their hands on, felt no remorse or saw the dangers in their actions; the prison cells, in which they now lived, reflected the hell they put their son through appropriately. Child services eventually learned of the abuse and Damien was removed from the home, too late perhaps. His resulting psychosis and social in-development put an enormous burden on placing him in foster care; Monikahaus was the last resort after a series of failed placements; nevertheless, his foster families had adorned him with possessions that he was allowed to keep upon his departure. Damien rarely spoke and when he did he was abrasive. It made most people uneasy and even more children aggravated, but Damien never seemed phased; by anything. His attitude, or lack there of, didn't bother Udo, Gabbi, or Sean. The fact that he preferred to sit with them every meal, where he would contribute to conversation when he felt warranted to, was the most notable show of affection from him that anyone had seen yet.
The rest of the children were as faceless as they were nameless. If he had chose to interact with any of them, like the game of hide and seek the previous afternoon, it was a rare occurrence in which he didn't invest much of himself. The routine was simple; breakfast, then lessons, followed by the first recreation break, where the children were essentially given free roam in approved areas of the building. Afterwards; lunch, another hour or so of lessons, then the kids were free again until dinner. After dinner, everyone was given a few more hours to wind down, where most bathed and prepared for bed. It was lights out at 9PM every night. The teenagers nearing adulthood and the end of their time at the orphanage were allotted an extra hour's access to the living areas and rec-room, but still the overall effect was the same; No children roamed the halls after dark. Udo spent most of his free time reading in the library or skimming old stage-plays tucked away in a trunk in the auditorium. Sunday, all the children gathered in the old worn-in auditorium for mass, once in the morning and again that evening. It was required for the younger children, but once old enough, the adults let the growing teens decide for themselves if they wanted to invest in their faith or not. Udo felt it a privilege even one as young as him should be given.
"[So.]" Gabbi's mouth was still full as she gazed at Udo. "[Are you going to tell me or what?]" "[Tell you what?]" Udo replied with a coy smile.
"[Don't play dumb. I know you didn't find it around here, so spill the beans or I will. You catch my drift.]" Her smile carved her threats into a hollow jest but her curiosity still bellowed.
Udo didn't back down. He took a fork full of eggs and chewed slowly and patiently. His eyes studied Gabbi's irritated stare with a humored delight.
"[I didn't know you were a tattle-tale. What a baby.]" He said after taking a sip of his milk to wash the eggs down. He grinned as he glanced around at a now fuming Gabbi and an intrigued Sean; even Damien's curious gaze could be felt to his right. "[I guess you leave me no choice. I'll show you later.]"
His eyes caught the others as he skimmed the table. "[All of you.]"
The offer proved satisfactory in lowering Gabbi's offense and Sean appeared just as pleased; After all how often does one get to see a dead body.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~------------------------------------------------Chapter 2-------------------------------------------------~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the final lesson that day, Udo gathered Sean, Gabbi, and Damien in the yard. It took only twenty minutes or so for Udo to lead the others off the orphanage's "secure" grounds. Thanks to the hole in the fence behind the fern on the south wall (probably created by a dog strong enough to break the integrity of the fence in pursuit of a chipmunk or the like) slipping out was easy. After the fence, it was just a short walk down the alleyway to a long abandoned manhole leading to a collapsed section of sewer. City Planning probably decided rerouting the system would be less costly than repairing the collapse so here the ruins remained untouched by official hands for easily a decade.
The rusty iron ladder well that provided access to the sewer was shaky and weak, and Udo made sure to warn everyone of that fact before being the first to descend the ladder. Once he touched ground he shouted up the well to signal the others to follow before turning towards to gaping dark of the sewer. Udo let his hands glide on the cold damp wall near the entrance until his hand fumbled over the shelf and the lantern hanging under it. He lifted the lantern off the hook and fumbled in the half empty box of wood matches on the small shelf. He lit the lamp just in time to see Damien step off the ladder. His eyes caught the flame in the lamp before he walked past Udo to look around. As usual, he said nothing. Sean was next. He stepped easy, skipping the steps that wore the most rust.
"[Woah. Look at this place.]" He said to no one in particular as he scanned the area and glanced at the still water still in the aqueduct. He turned back towards the ladder. "[Your turn, Gabbi!]"
"[Shut-up. I'm working on it.]" She yelled down before the vibrations on the ladder told them that she had made the first steps. She worked her way down cautiously and slowly. Perhaps her anxiety weighed her down or the final stress of a fourth use of the ladder in so short a time increased its weakness but before she had made it ten steps her foot snapped through one of the rusty welds. The step fell on one side and dropped Gabbi from it's security. The others heard her frightened screech before her blurred silhouette came rushing from the darkness of the ladder well. Sean was only able to turn around, look up, and lift his arms before she crashed on top of him, flattening them both on the poured cement floor.
Gabbi looked up at the hole in shock as Sean shifted beneath her, still holding on to her.
"[Are you alright?]" He asked, his voice slightly muffled through her loose fitting sweater.
"[I... Let go of me!]" She squirmed off of him and stood up quickly. She wiped the dirt from her elbows and examined a mild scrape on her arm. "[I'm fine, alright? You didn’t have to catch me.]"
"[Catch you!? You fell on me!]" Sean returned in rebuttal while he made his way to his feet.
Gabbi looked at him, her embarrassment showed plainly forcing her eyes away.
"[Stupid ladder’s fault.]" She added to herself, thankful that the sting of pain on her arm was all she suffered from the fall.
Confident that the two were alright, Udo ushered everyone to follow him further. It wasn’t long after the ladder they had entered with was no longer visible by the lantern’s light that they reached Udo’s big secret.
Set aside in an enclave was a make shift camp made from all sorts of discarded material. Aluminum sheeting and cardboard fixed to a rusted bedframe created a barrier that provided some enclosure to the area. Inside a folding card table that had been mended several times by what ever seemed handy at the time sat against the inside of the barrier with a homemade chair using two cinder blocks as a base and a ten gallon paint bucket as a seat. For a cot, a neatly stacked pile of cardboard sheets made rise to layer after layer of old blankets, some of which looked like discarded articles from Monikahaus. In front of the cot, sat the elephant in the room; the reason they were there: a headless skeleton sat back against the bed. It’s clothing was tattered and scarce, deteriorated over time. It’s missing appendage, the article that Udo had used to entice the others with curiosity, sat on the table, eye sockets facing it’s dismembered body. Around it’s neck hung a pair of dog-tags; an item even Udo had overlooked.
Gabbi was first to react with an uncharacteristic gasp before she looked away. Sean and Damien were less disgusted and more enthralled with the bones.
"[Wonder who it was?]" Sean inquired as he approached the remains.
"[I don’t know.]" Udo returned, remaining further away. "[I found it a few days ago.]"
"[Well. What does the tag say?]" Sean continued as he lifted one of the dog tags.
Udo raised an eyebrow and took a curious step forward.
"[Tag?]"
Sean read the tag aloud and everyone, including the now less disgusted Gabbi, listened intently:
ID: Rolf Gellar
p#: ED077-0024RG
SerumID: Z-30
Sean stopped for a moment before grabbing the other tag and reading it as well:
ID: Simone Mueller
p#: ED077-0023SM
SerumID: Z-17
What proceeded was an awkward silence finally broken by Damien of all.
"[So which one is it?]" He asked.
"[I don’t care.]" Sean chimed in. "[I’m taking them for myself.]"
He then carefully lifted the chain off of the skeleton’s neck before turning the metal name plates over in his hands.
"[That’s gross.]" Gabbi stated as she watched him play with the tags.
"[You want one? You can have the girl.]" He offered playfully before looking back at them. "[What do the numbers mean?]"
There wasn't much else there of note. Which ever of the two identities these remains belonged to had lived and died in this hole months, maybe years ago. The collection of various junk and trash organized against the wall was affirmation of a long stay. For Udo, he thought the space seemed like a fun and forrbidden way to pass the time. Already, for him at least, the skeleton was slowly becoming a piece of the scenery no more shocking than the lazy attempt of a chair pushed up to the card table; easily ignored, especially without a head.
Udo approached the card table and lifted the skull up in his hands. Gabbi turned away again and grumbled to herself. Damien stood centered in front of the junk collection as his eyes burned into the arrangement. His body seemed frozen but his eyes flicked as if it chased some unseen entity to randomn objects on the ground; not the first time he'd droned out like that, and certainly not the last. Sean was busy polishing his prize with his shirt sleeve. Udo glanced around at the others for a moment before examining the skull more closely.
It seemed at first glance an ordinary skull, or as ordinary as a skull hidden in a ruined aqueduct could be. It's shape was featureless, providing no more insight into the indentity but Udo took notice of two gaps in the skull's teeth. On the top row, the third tooth on opposite halves of the row were missing. Other than that it seemed ordinary and not nearly as menacing as the movies made them out to be. Udo palmed the skull the best he could in his right hand and extended his arm.
"[To be or not to be]" He recited with remarkable Hamlet-esque poise and a playful laugh before flipping the skull over and looking inside the open cavity within. He raised a curious eyebrow at the contents before raising the lantern over the hole; the light gleamed over what appeared to be some sort of liquid. The material was dark and void of color. It seemed to cling to the inside of the skull like a slimy web. Udo let a curious index finger creep inside and touch the liquid. It was wet and cold but didn't feel like liquid; more like slime. It clung to his finger and filled his digit with a numbing tickle. The gel released easily enough as Udo pulled away. He rubbed his finger on his pant leg while examining the skull again. He caught him self lost in two dark eye sockets for a moment before the silence was broken by Damien again.
"[A boy.]" He said without taking his gaze from the junk collection.
Udo set the skull down and moved along side Damien; just behind them, Sean and Gabbi joined in the examinination.
"[How do you know?]" Udo asked, skimming over the piles.
Damien didn't respond but pointed to a rusty straight razor laying in an empty basin. near it a broken piece of a mirror and a dirty and stiff towel. Everyone agreed that it wasn't likely that this Simone was shaving with a straight-razor so Rolf it was. The four looked at the skull on the table once more before beginning the walk back to the orphanage. Their excursion was nearing a dangerously suspicious amount of time and none of them knew what the consequences for leaving the grounds might entail. Best not to find out.
Their new friend Rolf was the height of conversation for weeks after that. Sean wore the dog tags daily and Gabbi still insisted he was disgusting for doing so. Still, none of them went back down to that sewer, not even Udo. Maybe it was a fear of punishment or maybe the excitement of his discovery had worn off, but for everyone, simply talking about the man and his possible origins was enough.
