Chapter: Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It's night. I'm walking through a forest and wondering what I'm doing here. I have no idea how I got here. But that's not all I don't know why my clothes are covered in blood. And why my right arm has a deep wound. My thoughts are slowly coming back. I sat down on a fallen tree trunk and put my head in my hands. I am desperately trying to figure out what is going on. Suddenly I hear footsteps. And when I look up, a young man stands in front of me. It all didn't fit together. Why am I in this forest? At night? And why is this blood everywhere? What does the wound on my arm mean and why does this man appear now? Everything is like one of those bad movies. "Come on ... I'll bring you home," says the young man and holds out his hand to me. But I couldn't trust him. Hatred and anger sparkled in his eyes. I didn't know whether it was aimed at me, but why should a complete stranger want to help me?"Now they are coming ... It's cold and you are sure to freeze. Here ..." he took off his coat and put it over my shoulders. Did I really look so desperate at that moment that you could feel my fear? This young man seemed to be able to see my thoughts. Because when I felt a stabbing pain in my arm he asked: "Should I have a look?" I shook my head. I couldn't utter a single word. In the presence of this man I suddenly seemed to be numb. Without being able to do anything about it, he picked me up by the back and the back of the knees and carried me through the forest. After a few minutes the fog came up and became thicker and thicker. My heart started beating faster and I noticed how fear rose in me. And again this man seemed to feel it: “Do not be afraid… You are safe with me.” A little later the tiredness overcame me and I fell asleep in the man's arms.

I didn't know how long I slept, at least I didn't wake up again until late in the afternoon.I was lying in a four-poster bed with large white pillows. When I sat up, my brown hair fell over my shoulders. I slowly kicked the covers off of me and noticed that I was wearing a blue velvety nightgown. It wasn't one of my own and I got out of bed. I felt insecure and lost. Where was I? What happened last night? There was a knock on the door. ... "Come in," I said softly and in a somewhat shaky voice. The young man from the forest who had carried me entered and asked: "How are you? Did you have a good night's sleep?" I did not know how to answer and just looked at him questioningly. He seemed to guess my ignorance and sat on the edge of the bed. "I think ... I should explain a few things to you ... Well ... My name is Leonardo. I found you pretty scared and confused in the woods last night. You were also injured and in bad shape ... So it seemed advisable to bring you here to my house bring to.Here I put her in bed and bandaged her wound. She looked really bad. I was about to call a doctor, but then they said in their sleep that they didn't want anyone ... I left it up to them and as you can see they survived everything well ... But now ... please tell me why you were in the night Forest? "I shook my head, sat down next to him on the bed and said barely audibly:" I don't know anymore ... "Leonardo nodded and seemed to understand:" Then at least tell me your name. "I looked at the light brown carpeting and said," My name is ... Laureen. "The young blonde stood up and asked me:" Well, Laureen ... Are you hungry? The food is on the table. "Yes, I felt a feeling of hunger in me and said yes. Leonardo pointed to a closet and said:" Look for clothes that fit you. I'll be waiting for you Laureen downstairs. "He bowed and left the room. Leonardo seemed very polite and I felt almost in the wrong place.Somehow it was me too. What does a seventeen-year-old girl do in a strange house of some equally strange man? I didn't know, but I didn't want to go home either. At all I didn't know how to find my home from here. I went to the closet and opened the two large, beech-colored doors. I was amazed when I saw the many beautiful things. There were mostly old-fashioned, but still beautiful, clothes in it. One thing caught my eye immediately. It was dark red and white, long and strapless. At the back it was held together with a zipper. The wrists were further rearranged and that gave him something fashionable again. Inwardly I asked myself who owned all the clothes, because I didn't think they belonged to Leonardo. I drew the curtains and took off my nightgown. I carefully put on the dress and, with a little effort, closed the zipper on the back. I looked around the room when I saw a mirror.I stood in front of it and looked at myself. "It looks really good," I said to myself, running my fingers through my hair. I looked in the mirror one more time and smiled. I left my room and went into the hall. I look around. There was a long corridor on the left and a staircase on the right. He wanted to meet me at the stairs. I went down and looked into a smiling face: "You look beautiful ... May I show you into the dining room?" I nodded and returned the smile. Reluctantly, I followed him through a door into a spacious room. In the middle of the room was a large table that ten people could have eaten at. Around it were ten high-backed chairs. Leonardo pulled back a chair. I sat down and he pushed him over. "Thank you," I said softly and my gaze wandered around the room. There were many pictures on the wall. Most of them had men in uniforms. Two women could be seen in three pictures.One was around 18 and had long, wavy brown hair. The other had blonde hair and was around 40 years old. It seemed to be his mother, for they both had the same hair color and the same steel-blue eyes.

"Have a seat", Leonardo pulled one of the chairs from the table and stayed seated on the armrest. I nodded and sat down while Leonardo took the chair a little closer to the table behind me.
He let his hands rest on the back of my chair. "The food will be served soon ... I hope you will like it," he said, dropping his hands. The blonde went to the other side of the table and sat across from me. He smiled. There was that twinkle in his eyes again. I still couldn't understand why his eyes were twinkling so. But I knew it expressed anger and anger. Then why was he so nice to me? I didn't understand anything anymore of what was happening. Let alone what is happening in the forest.
An older woman, around 60, was pushing plates on a cart into the dining room.She looked happy and kept smiling at me. When Leonardo noticed this, he shook his head. He got a rather serious look. As soon as I looked at it, however, it evaporated again immediately. Why these mood swings? I wondered. First angry, then serious and smiling again. ... I would have liked to know what he was always thinking about.