4

The cold surrounded me and made my whole body tremble.

I stood there alone, in the middle of the forest, leaning against a tree.

A beautiful white dress encased me and made my dark blue eyes shine.

Only darkness surrounded me until icy blue eyes met mine.

The tremors disappeared and even fear gave way to curiosity.

Resolutely I put one foot in front of the other and ran towards the eyes, which I did not know to which creature of the night they belonged.

But that didn't matter either. Nothing seemed to matter at that moment.

Just before I could reach her, I reached out and waited for the stranger's reaction, but a low growl made me flinch.

Surprised at myself, I stopped and didn't run away.

I heard his breath. I saw his eyes and felt so connected that his pain became mine.

****

I woke up in a sweat and jumped from the thunderstorm that was driving outside, startled. I was slowly becoming really crazy about these dreams, because they have now followed me into reality. Where before waking up relieved me of fear, this indescribable pain clung to my mind and continued to ache even after waking up.

Exhausted and completely confused, I sat up and looked around the room. A large window opposite my bed gave me a view of the forest, whose trees were swaying in the wind. Under the window was a white chest of drawers on which my backpack lay. There was a clock radio on the small bedside table next to my bed. It said 1:00 p.m. and I wondered why I slept so long.

Still overwhelmed by my reverie, I got up, rubbed my eyes tiredly, and walked across the light blue carpet to my backpack to get new underwear, a pair of black ripped jeans, and a gray hoodie. I changed quickly and just grabbed my toothbrush and then left the room, padded down the stairs and disappeared into the bathroom.

The bathroom shined like you were in a 5 star hotel. I hardly dared to turn on the tap the sink was so clean, but then I just had the heart to brush my teeth and hastily combed through my hair to let it fall loosely. I looked my reflection in the eye and then quickly left the bathroom to look for Lili, because I wanted to ask her to accompany me into town.

I had sold all my furniture and things and now I had to get new clothes because the backpack wasn't much longer.

I searched the whole ground floor for her, but she was nowhere to be found. Only a note in the small red kitchen let me know that she had probably gone shopping. So that meant waiting for me.

I sat down on the couch in the living room and stared at the ceiling in boredom. Questions raced through my head because it didn't feel like my grandma needed my help at all. She seemed to be doing well financially and seemed fit as a fiddle to me. So what should I do here.

"There might be a storm out there.", Lisbeth tore me out of my thoughts and I got up immediately to take the shopping bags from her hand. "Thank you." She gave me a kiss on the cheek and then took off the brown coat and absolutely ugly yellow rubber boots.

"What do you want? I have spaghetti, rice or potatoes." She looked at me questioningly after we entered the kitchen and I put the bags on the counter. "I actually wanted to go into town and eat there," I replied with a smile and hoped that she would offer to accompany me, but she only looked thoughtful for a moment and then left the kitchen.

I stood there completely perplexed and didn't know what had just happened, but without thinking about it, I cleared out the things and sorted them neatly in the fridge, before pouring myself a glass of milk.

"So. I called Rudi, because I won't let you out alone in this weather." She looked through the kitchen window and shook her head slightly. "Is the weather always like this here?" I asked her and also stood in front of the small window. "It's basically always cold. The rain comes and goes as it pleases.", she laughed and suddenly looked at me curiously.

"Have you ever had a boyfriend?" Her piercing gaze was directed straight at me and I immediately felt the warmth in my cheeks and skilfully avoided her gaze. "No," I breathed, wanting to quickly change the subject. "But tell me. Why should I come here? You don't look like you need my support."

I was the one with the curious look at that moment and waited for her reaction, but a ring at the door made me roll my eyes and she left the kitchen. Timing really wasn't there in my life.

"Hello, Chase!" I heard her say to someone in the hallway and I felt weird hearing his deep voice. "Hey, Lisbeth. Shall we go then?"

Rough, mature, deep, trembling. I could have described his voice any way I could, it was so deep in my mind and I was bursting with curiosity about the unknown.

"Chiara? Will you come please.", my grandmother grinned at me around the corner and I frantically tousled my hair and tried to bring it into a perfect position. A look into the toaster, in which I am reflected, a short breath, and with an excited smile I padded into the hallway.

My smile faded, but my jaw dropped inadvertently. Radiant green eyes, short brown hair and a smile that could knock you out suddenly faced me.

I quickly tried to pull myself together and politely held out my hand to him. "Hi. I guess I'm Chiara then." I mumbled and tried to focus on something other than his beautiful eyes, but my gaze fell on his lips and then I felt his ice-cold hand on mine. "And then I guess Chace." He winked at me kindly and then pulled his hand back. We stood in silence for a fleeting moment, until my grandma cleared her throat, snapping me out of my uncomfortably rigid position.

"Well then, I wish you a lot of fun and don't forget your jacket!" She made room for me so I could pass her into the living room to put on my jacket. "And you take good care of her for me.", she then wagged her finger admonishingly in front of him and put on a warning face.

"I'm not going to bite her." He laughed and then ran in front of me to his blue Volkswagen to obligingly hold the door open for me. After I got in and buckled up, I looked back at Lili, who waved at me with a smile and then disappeared into the house. "Let's go then." He sat down in his dark blue jacket and light jeans on the driver's seat, grinned at me briefly and then started the engine with his eyes on the wet road.

I just looked out at the rain and felt really overwhelmed. What a day that would be, I thought to myself and we set off in the direction of the city centre.