| rdfs:comment | - Lili Toffler is a former East Berlin resident whom Nick Knight first met in 1966. Although they have not seen each other since, they remain good friends. In 1966, Lili is working as a custodian in State Archive No. 7 with her father and brother when Nick comes secretly to the state library searching for an ancient book called the Abarat. At first she, like her father and brother, believes that he must be either an American spy or a member of the secret police trying to trap them. Nevertheless, they stifle their suspicions and agree to help him because he claims to know the whereabouts of the catacombs under the old Bergen Church, which could be the key to the Toffler family's escape under the Berlin Wall to freedom in the West.
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| abstract | - Lili Toffler is a former East Berlin resident whom Nick Knight first met in 1966. Although they have not seen each other since, they remain good friends. In 1966, Lili is working as a custodian in State Archive No. 7 with her father and brother when Nick comes secretly to the state library searching for an ancient book called the Abarat. At first she, like her father and brother, believes that he must be either an American spy or a member of the secret police trying to trap them. Nevertheless, they stifle their suspicions and agree to help him because he claims to know the whereabouts of the catacombs under the old Bergen Church, which could be the key to the Toffler family's escape under the Berlin Wall to freedom in the West. As Lili and Nick search through crates of ancient texts searching for the Abarat, she asks him why he wants to find it. His answers are evasive; but he talks of America, and she tells him how bad things are in East Germany, and her family's dreams of living free in West Germany. They draw closer as they both realize that their situations are similar: each feels a profound desire to escape. When her brother Bernhardt is captured by the police, Lili and her father revert to their initial mistrust of Nick. However, they know that the police will soon be coming for them; so they grudgingly agreed to continue to trust that his route under the old Bergen church will lead to West Berlin. On their way through the catacombs, circumstances force Nick to reveal his vampire powers in Lili's presence in order to assure their escape. At first she is scared; but the knowledge that he is a vampire finally explains why he wants the Abarat. When they emerge from the tunnels onto the streets of West Berlin, she and Nick share their goodbyes. She promises not only to keep his secret, but never to stop looking for another copy of the Abarat for him. After many years of being out of contact she finally gets in touch with him. On a phone message, she tells him that her search to find a cure for him has continued and that she has two sons, one named Nicholas after him and that she has been awarded tenure at the university. She once again thanks him for all that he did for them and wishes him well.
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