Volume I - Episode 98 Where: Potsdam, Germany When: 24 days after E-Day, 7:56 pm Sarah Bachmeier slept uneasily, her mind tormented by the memory of her husband's execution. It had been an uncomfortably warm Sunday afternoon in Berlin. All non-essential working parties had been given the day to rest. Most people escaped the heat inside their "borrowed" houses and apartments, chewing ice and filling their bellies with cold meat and beer. The ones who were lucky enough to have working generators sat in air-conditioned comfort while reading old newspapers or watching DVD's. Sebastian Walter, the elderly gentleman who lived alone on the other side of the housing estate from Matthias and Sarah Bachmeier, had no such luxuries. He was an old man, with barely enough to eat and no friends or family to look after him. Matthias visited Sebastian almost every day, helping him with chores and occasionally bringing him meals. Sebastian repaid his kindness with tales of the Great War, which Matthias consumed with fervor. Matthias had always been fascinated with the madness of that period, when Russia had swept west across Europe, plummeting the world into chaos and a war that rocked the globe. And on this particular Sunday, Sarah heard later, Matthias had spent the afternoon trying to rig up a pair of generators for the heat-stricken old man and his neighbour, a stern-faced middle-aged widow named Lena Sommer. Eventually, after hours of failure and frustration, Matthias had resorted to witchcraft to get the generators working. With a puff of blue smoke and a spark, the generators flew into life. Mrs Sommer had squealed with fright and fled the building, muttering about "the devil's work", but Sebastian had been fascinated. He stared at Matthias with wonder as he twisted strange metal wires into intricate shapes and attached them to the generators with expertly-weaved spells. Little did they realise that Mrs Sommer was at that very moment reporting Matthias to the district clergyman. An hour later, as Matthias returned home through the playground at the centre of the estate, he was approached by a trio of Hexenjägern soldiers in dark blue uniforms. At first Matthias was untroubled, amused by their bizarre attire. But then he noticed none of them were smiling. And then he saw they were carrying guns. And chains. And gasoline. Matthias ran. The way Sarah heard it later, the uniformed men had tackled Matthias to the ground and beaten him. Minutes later, he found himself chained to the swing set in the brightly-coloured children's playground and doused with gasoline. A small crowd had gathered. "Please," he begged. "I have a wife. She's pregnant." But nobody moved to help him. One of the uniformed men stepped forward. "You are being sentenced for witchcraft," he said in a cold, matter-of-fact voice. "The punishment is death." At that moment, a match was struck, and Matthias was surrounded by flames. The sound of his screams had brought Sarah to the bedroom window. There, she watched in horror as her husband twisted and flailed in agony. Flames leapt high into the air above his head and stripped the clothes from his body. Fire cannot kill a spellcaster, but the pain. Oh my God, the pain... Eventually the flames had dwindled, and Matthias had slumped to his knees, naked but unscathed, in pain but very much alive. "Please," he said again, but his words were cut short as one of the uniformed soldiers slit his throat. "Neinnnnn!" Sarah had screamed. She turned from the window and bolted for the stairs. Her mind boiled with fury and confusion. This had to be a dream. It couldn't be real. They will pay! One flight down the stairs she ran into Doctor Prabil running the other way. His face was deathly pale, his eyes wide with terror. "No!" he said. "Nein! You can't!" [CONTINUED IN COMMENTS BELOW]