New story. I have been thinking of this one for a while. Thanks Avi for editing it. EDIT: OK, so I edited this only a tiny bit, because "The Author 1945" reviewed the story, and told me I had some errors in the time stream, so I decided to fix them as best I could. I'd like to thank "The Author 1945"

Enjoy!

Chapter 1: A Walk Into Hell

"… in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can't build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again."
– Anne Frank

The year was 1942, meaning the Holocaust was currently going on. Lovino and Feliciano Vargas were twin brothers, living in Italy with their grandfather, Grandpa Romulus. At 15 years old, currently, the twins were Jews. Every night, the three would turn off all the lights, and sit quietly on the couch. Each time, they hoped there wouldn't be a knock on the door; tonight, they did what they do every night: turn off all the lights, close all the curtains, and sit quietly on the couch... Staring at the door. Almost an hour had passed when, suddenly, the dreadful noise was heard.

There was a knock at the door. Slowly, their grandfather got up and made his way towards the front door. His hand reached out shakily to clutch onto the brass knob; and, slowly turning it, he opened the door to come face to face with a Nazi solider.

"Are you Romulus Vargas?" the man asked with a German accent. Slowly nodding his head, Romulus gulped. "Then you also have two boys living here with you?" he proceeded to ask, and instead of nodding his head, the Grandfather shook his head.

"They died of typhus, a month ago," he lied.

"It says right here the two boys live with you. If they died, why did you not report it?" When the twins heard their grandfather telling the solider they had died, Lovino took this as a hint to grab Feliciano and hide. Slowly rising to their feet, careful not to make any noise, they walked over to the stairs; they headed to the hallway closet. Inside the closet, their grandfather had built a secret compartment the brothers could hide in, to stay away from the German soldiers.

Lovino moved a box out of the way, pulling off the cover to the hiding space. He told Feliciano to crawl in; once his brother was inside, Lovino joined him. Replacing the cover back, it easily hid them; it was, however, dark and cramped inside the small space. Soon enough, shouts were heard, and footsteps climbed the stairs, in an upward sound. They held their breath as to not make a sound.

"Where are you hiding them, you filthy Jew!" a solider yelled at their grandfather.

"I told you they have died."

The solider did not believe it. "Find them!" the commanding officer yelled.

The soldiers looked through the entire house, but could not find them, and the commanding officer grew angry; taking his gun out from the holster, he pointed the barrel at their grandfather's temple. Romulus closed his eyes and calmly said, "They have died; I live here alone." Growing tired with the Jewish man, the commanding officer pulled the trigger. Lovino and Feliciano heard a gunshot, starting to shake. What had happened; was their grandfather alright? So many questions ran through their minds.

"I know they're here... Tear this place apart and find them!" the officer yelled, cleaning off the blood from his gun, proceeding to place it back in its holster. The soldiers threw things out of cabinets and flipped mattresses off the beds. In a short while, one soldier checked the hallway closet; and moving the box, and saw a part of the wall looked different from the rest. He quickly yelled for the commanding officer to look it over. The officer, grabbing the edges of the cover, pried it off, thus revealing the Italian twins.

Eyes growing wide in horror and panic, they realized they'd been found, and now would be taken to a concentration camp. The officer grabbed Lovino, pulling him out from the hiding space. Shoving the boy to an awaiting soldier, he did the same with Feliciano. Standing up, the officer looked at the two boys. "Well, well, I guess your grandfather lied to me. I would punish him, but I'm afraid he's already dead." A sadistic smirk was growing on the officer's face; "Take them to the trucks." The officer turned around, heading back to the trucks. Lovino and Feliciano were shoved into a truck filled with many others. Soon enough, the trucks engine started, and the truck drove away. When it stopped, and everyone was unloaded from the truck, they realized they weren't at a camp, but a train. Why were they here? In response, an officer spoke;"You are all going to be taken to Auschwitz in Poland." With that, the train doors opened, and they were herded into the cars. That seemed to be that; it was cramped inside the cars, and everyone was squished together. There was very little air, though all the same, the boys were lucky, seeing as they were against the wall of the car. Just underneath that was a barred window, easily visible.

Hours passed, and many people stopped moving.

When the train finally stopped the car doors opened, soldiers yelling for everyone to get out. Families were separated; males were ushered to the left, and women to the right. The twins held onto each other tight, so they wouldn't lose each other. They had arrived... At Auschwitz. Soon a soldier grabbed the boys, and started yelling something in German. "Zwillinge! Zwillinge!" The two Italians were confused, but then guided by the man, to another man now staring down at them. He was smiling, something neither liked very much.

The officer was tall, very well-built, with slicked back blonde hair, and hard blue eyes. Asking in Italian, he took a deep breath. "You boys are twins, yes?" They slowly nodded their heads, still confused by the situation. "Perfect." After a few moments of silence, they were guided to a group of children; the children were guided to a wooden hut of a structure. Inside the structure were cots, and other children. As soon as they entered, there was a door on the right leading to the showers; the brothers and other children who were just loaded off the train were guided into the showers.

They were hosed down, and cleaned. They got to keep their own clothes, and were soon given a cot. After more moments of confusion, they were settled into their new home. Lovino and his brother were always told stories of how the camps were miserable places. That was what they had heard, but this wasn't so bad. In the long run, they would soon realize how wrong they were.

Thanks for Reading!

Jay~