The world of Idun E-Book

Antje Soike

• Herausgeber: novum publishing
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 372

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Those eyes, they follow you, but what if you follow them? Follow them into your dreams and beyond - into the world of Idun ... For Jasmin, it was supposed to be the start of a real life. But after a mysterious accident, studies and crushes are out of the question. Haunted by inexplicable dreams and this hypnotic pair of eyes, she has to find out what it is that is gradually making her doubt her own sanity. Only with the help of George, with whom she has been connected in her dreams since the accident, does she seem to have a chance of getting to the bottom of the matter. With him and her friend Helena at her side, she has to face a fate that will decide more than just the survival of her own world.

Leseprobe

Chapter I

Full of expectation, she looked at the clock. At the same moment, the hope in her eyes disappeared. Only two minutes had passed since Jasmin had last raised her head towards the clock. Time simply wouldn't pass. She still had to stay in the bookshop until 7 pm., as she did every day. She actually really enjoyed this work because she loved books more than anything. But today she was particularly looking forward to going home because she had found a new book while browsing the new bestseller lists that she really wanted to read tonight.

Then the time had finally come: Jasmin left the store properly and hurried to her car in the parking garage on the other side of the street. "Thank God it's not slippery!" she thought to herself. It could get very slippery in this area in January. What's more, winter was at its harshest this year.

Normally, Jasmin drove 20 minutes home. However, she crossed a particularly long forest on her way. It was extremely dangerous on this part of the route because of the wildlife, especially in potentially slippery conditions.

So Jasmin set off on her way home. But when she drove near the forest, it was covered by a thick wall of fog. She shook herself briefly because the sight sent an icy shiver down her spine. She slowly rolled towards the fog. You could barely see your hand in front of your eyes. And the branches in the forest, adorned with ice crystals, made it difficult to see.

That's why she crawled along at only 20 km/h. "If this keeps up, I won't get home before midnight," Jasmin realized. Then she turned the radio down a little so that she could concentrate better. And when she looked up again, she was so scared that she thought her heart would stop beating. She slammed on the brakes with all her might.

Although she was driving very slowly, the car did not stop immediately, but slid a few meters further. "So it is slippery after all!" she blurted out. Only when she came to a halt did she carefully open her eyes.

Her eyes closed automatically when she was afraid or in danger. She turned her gaze to the street. She quickly rubbed her eyes with her hands because she couldn't believe what she was seeing. In the middle of the road, she spotted a larger than average white stag with regal shiny silver antlers on its head, staring at her with its eyes wide open. The animal was at least three meters tall.

Jasmine shook her head in disbelief, closed her eyes again for a split second and then looked there again. "Gone!" she snorted. "He's just disappeared," she remarked, still very excited. She carefully looked around again in all directions, but she couldn't see him anywhere.

Jasmin slowly pulled her car over to the side of the road and put on the hazard lights. The fog was getting thicker and thicker, if that was still possible. "I don't fancy being run over by a truck!" she said to herself, while her thoughts were still on the deer for some time. Slowly and carefully, she got out of her car and took another good look around. But there was no sign of this over sized animal. "Then I must have imagined it. Again!" she chided herself.

Finally, she decided to drive on before the road conditions got any worse. Shaking her head, she walked back to the car and got back in. Jasmin only had one wish left, and that was to get home safely. She started her car again and took a quick look around before driving off.

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, lights came slithering towards her from the opposite lane. After a few seconds, she realized that it was a car. Her first impulse was to jump out of the car and run away. But she was paralyzed with fear. She couldn't even lift her hands from the steering wheel to hold them in front of her face. The car whizzed past her, skidded and was only brought to a halt by a tree about ten meters behind her. Jasmine sat stiff with shock in her seat and clutched the steering wheel convulsively in her hands to hold on to it.

"Okay, calm down!" she urged herself. She knew how close she was to screaming. "You have to get out now and see if everything is all right over there!" she ordered herself in her thoughts, as her voice failed her. "Have to" was the right word in this case, because there was no question of "want to" with Jasmin. Her mind was buzzing with questions: "What if someone was seriously injured? What if someone was even dead?"

The idea alone made the stiffness of fear in Jasmine grow steadily. "But there's no one here who could help but me!" she pleaded with herself. Somehow she had to overcome herself.

She slowly raised her left hand to open the door. There was a bang on her windshield. Now she could no longer hold back. She screamed at the top of her lungs. You could hear fear, no, even hellish panic in that scream, and it must have been audible for at least 30 kilometers. Jasmin's eyes automatically closed again and she only opened them when there was another knock on the window. This time she looked up. A handsome young man with dark hair was standing in front of her car, peering in through the window of the driver's door of Jasmin's car. The young man was about Jasmin's age. He looked quite shocked. Jasmin carefully rolled down the window. "Are you OK?" he asked quietly so as not to frighten Jasmin.

Jasmine was still sitting there speechless and it was difficult for her to answer. Her vocal chords were still irritated by the scream.

"He must think I'm completely crazy and hysterical!" she thought, "Are you out of your mind?" she rebuked herself in her thoughts. "The guy has just had a car accident and comes straight over to ask you if everything is okay, and you're worried about whether he might think you're crazy?"

Finally, she looked at him and replied shyly: "Yes, everything's fine with me. And you? You just slid into the tree. Did you hurt yourself?"

"No, thank God not. It's just a minor fender bender. It will be easily covered by my insurance!" He grinned. "It's a good thing you were at the side of the road and didn't run into me. That could have turned out differently."He snorted.

Jasmine nodded in agreement and looked at him with a shy smile. She couldn't tell him that she had been brought to a standstill by an oversized white stag.

He smiled and said goodbye. "Perhaps we'll meet again at another time. By the way, my name is George. Can I have yours too? Just in case." His eyes lit up. Jasmine nodded with a slightly flushed face. "Yes, of course! Jasmine is my name." She held out her hand to him from the window. Meanwhile, she was already reprimanding herself again: "I haven't even managed to get out of the car yet! How stupid!"

"Nice to meet you, Jasmin!" He took her hand. "See you at our next meeting!" Then he let go of her hand, walked to his car and turned around once more before getting in and disappearing into the thick fog.

"What's going on?" she asked herself. "First this oversized white deer that I almost crashed into, and then I narrowly escaped a car accident with a really cute guy." She shook her head and started her car. She only wanted one thing: to get home.

After about 40 minutes at a snail's pace through the fog, she arrived home safely without any further incidents and was finally able to prepare her well-earned dinner. She didn't really feel like cooking after all the stress. So she got a tin of lentils from the pantry and opened it. "Where the heck is that green pot again?" she asked herself, a little exhausted. She impatiently opened every cupboard door, some of them several times, until she finally remembered that she had it in the dishwasher. She rinsed it by hand and put the lentils in. She wanted to use the time it took for the stew to warm up to sit down on the sofa for a moment. She sat all the way back, pulled her knees very close and wrapped her arms around them. She rested her chin on her knees.

Jasmine thought about the situation in the forest earlier. She thought that you couldn't imagine something like that, especially not when you're sober.

Last weekend at Mike's birthday party, she had had too many caipis with a friend. But even when she was drunk, she couldn't imagine having hallucinations like that. Maybe she could have dreamed of Dennis or even imagined he was with her. But a white stag that was at least three meters tall? No! She couldn't have imagined that no matter how hard she willed for it.

A loud and high-pitched hiss coming from the kitchen brought her back from her thoughts. "Shit! The lentils!" Unfortunately, there was no way of rescuing them. They were completely burnt. So she took the burnt pot as it was and threw it in the bin.

Bored and hungry, she flipped from one TV channel to the next. But there was nothing but junk or documentaries that she had already seen several times. In the end, she decided she'd rather read something in bed and switched off the TV. In the shower, Jasmin let her thoughts run free. She thought about that white stag. Could she really have imagined something like that? Maybe he was even a protectiveangel? But under no circumstances was she allowed to tell anyone about it. Otherwise she would be labeled crazy.

Blindly, she reached for her towel, quickly dried herself off, put on her pajamas and snuggled under the covers in her bed. A short time later, she reached for her e-book reader, which was on the bedside table to the right of her bed. She didn't used to like them. She loved turning through the pages of real books and feeling the paper between her fingers. But a few months ago, she had to deal with e-books for work and took a liking to them. She liked the fact that you could read in the dark and if your eyes closed, you wouldn't be woken up at night by the disturbing light.

A pair of large eyes looked piercingly at Jasmine. They moved closer and closer to her and felt as if they wanted to devour the young woman. Jasmine tried to move and run away, but she was as stiff as a statue. Again and again she tried to free herself as those eerie eyes came closer and closer. Suddenly there was a muffled noise in the background. Slowly it got louder and louder. She knew it, but didn't know where it was coming from. She looked in the direction the sound was coming from, then back to the wide eyes. She was overcome with panic. Now she saw those eerie eyes right in front of her. They almost touched the girl. Then, all of a sudden, she remembered where she knew that sound from and opened her eyes. Slowly, she felt her way with her hands until she found the cell phone and turned off the alarm.

She lay in her bed, bathed in sweat. Fear was deep in her throat. She had to get up, but she couldn't. She realized that she couldn't stay lying down. Work was calling. But she was completely terrified.

Jasmin took another deep breath and then got up mechanically, as if she were a robot, and went to take a shower. There she tried to wash away her fear. For the most part, she succeeded, even thoughshe kept seeing those terrifying eyes in front of her.

Loudly and already slightly irritated by her anxiety, she straightened her head: "That was just a stupid dream! Now pull yourself together!"

After breakfast, which was not as hearty as usual today, she went to the car and drove to the bookshop. Fortunately, there was plenty for her to do there, so she hardly had time to think about this frightening dream.

By midday, she had all but forgotten about it. Only the fear still lingered stubbornly inside her. She suppressed it as best she could.

The afternoon dragged on once again as she had already been through all the new merchandise in the morning. All she had left for the afternoon was to sort some books and organize the shelves. Jasmin thought it was a shame that she wasn't allowed to have any direct contact with customers. Of course, she could talk to customers and answer their questions about the books she had already read herself. But she was not allowed to serve them or make recommendations. After all, this was just a temporary summer job. She would do this until the end of August, when she would finally start her studies. This degree would be the start of the serious side of life for her. Whatever that meant.

She felt that the GCSEs (General Certificate of Secondary Education) were enough qualification. In her heart, Jasmin fervently hoped that studying would only be half as stressful as her A-levels. But that would also mean that she would finally have decided what she wanted to study. She didn't have the slightest idea yet. That's why she took this job working in the bookshop

Jasmin was looking at the clock above the store door when it opened. It was 4:42 pm. and a strange figure entered. The man was covered from head to toe in a long, dark coat.

When Jasmin looked out of the window onto the street, she knew why. It was storming and the snowflakes were almost as big as tennis balls.

"Oh God!" Jasmine thought to herself, "How am I supposed to get home like this?" It came out louder than intended. The weather forecast hadn't said anything about a storm. "Strange!" she thought.

She looked worriedly at this man, who was wrapped up with only his eyes visible. He was standing by the table of bestsellers. He picked up one book after another, took a look inside and put it back again.

Jasmin concentrated on her task once more. She had to find a list of books that would then be sent back to the supplier. So she picked up the list and read which title she needed to find next. To do this, she went to the fantasy books shelf.

As she turned towards the shelf, she jumped back twice in shock. Two over sized eyes looked at her. Jasmine gasped for air. She wanted to call out to Sarah, but she stood there paralyzed. Her eyes closed automatically, as they always did when she was very frightened. After a few seconds, she opened them again. The figure with the big eyes was gone.

She looked carefully around the store. But there was no sign of the man. Completely confused, she ran to Sarah. "Where has he gone?" she asked, almost in a panic.

"Where has who gone?" Sarah looked at Jasmin questioningly.

"Well, the guy who came into the store a few minutes ago!" replied Jasmin in an uncertain voice.

In response, Sarah shook her head and looked pityingly at Jasmin. Jasmin lowered her head in despair and went back to her work. She was dreading the journey home. The journey from yesterday was still deep in her bones. Even if she wouldn't admit it. And today there was a snowstorm on top of that. So she turned to Sarah, who was standing right next to Jasmin at the shelf, pulling out the books Jasmin couldn't find. "What do you think?Will the storm stop by tonight?" She looked hopefully at Sarah, desperately yearning for her to say yes.

Sarah looked at Jasmin questioningly. It was hard to tell whether you could see pity or astonishment in her eyes. "What storm?" Sarah replied with a counter-question.

At the same time, both women raised their heads and turned to the window. It was cloudy and it would soon be dark, but there was no sign of a storm or snow.

"Are you all right?" Sarah looked worriedly at Jasmin.

Jasmine shook her head, although she had intended to nod, and replied: "Yes, sorry. I just didn't sleep well."

Confused and without waiting for an answer, she went back to her work. Many questions were buzzing around in her head. "What's wrong with me? Why am I imagining things like this?" Finally, she asked herself: "Am I going crazy?"

Her parents had thought she was crazy when she told them that she wasn't going to study straight away. She didn't want to study anything. She didn't want to realize at the end of her studies that she had made a mistake.

She didn't yet know what she wanted to do with her life. After all, she was only 20 years old. Jasmin firmly believed that a person at this age can't possibly know what they want to do for the rest of their life. She struggled already with small, every day decisions like how to style her long dark brown hair or what clothes to wear with her green eyes.

"If you want, you can go home early today!" Sarah smiled kindly at Jasmin. "There's not really much left to do. And you still have hours from the overtime you worked that you can take."

"Yes," replied Jasmin in surprise. "Not a bad idea." She smiled back with relief and went into the lounge to get changed. Then she said goodbye andwalked briskly to her car. This time she arrived home quite quickly. It was clear that most people were still at work. When she arrived at her apartment, Jasmin leaned back against the door and pushed it into the lock. She breathed in and out a few times and was quite relieved that she hadn't encountered any strange imaginary animals or people on her way home. She was overjoyed that everything had gone normally.

After dinner, she watched a bit of TV and was delighted that Helena had canceled. The two girls had planned to go to the movies, but Helena urgently had to study for an exam.

When Jasmin told her parents that she didn't want to go to university straight away, they weren't necessarily pleased or happy about it. But they didn't force Jasmin. However, she was not allowed to sit around at home, but had to find a job and a small apartment. The pay at the bookshop wasn't great, but Jasmin was able to pay for her small apartment. She also earned her own living. Her parents only helped her out with special things. They were the best after all.

Helena lived next door and was Jasmin's best friend. They had known each other since they were in diapers and playing in the sand at nursery school. Helena's mother had bought this little apartment for Jasmin. She seemed happy that the young women were now neighbors.

As children, Jasmin and Helena had often imagined that they were both adopted and were actually sisters. Which was, of course, absolute nonsense. You couldn't get people that were more different than these two girls were.

Jasmin was 1.70 meters tall and very slim. Her face was narrow with a well-fitting, inconspicuous nose and a pointed mouth with full lips. But, it was her green eyes that were the first thing to attract people's attention.

Jasmin didn't like sports at all. Every time she tried something new, she injured herself or hurt others. So she gave up sports.

Quite the opposite of Helena. She worked out three times a week at the gym and had the figure to match. She was 1.75 meters tall and her face was rounder than Jasmin's. Helena's eyes were blue and she had probably inherited her long, curly blonde hair from her father. Her mother had straight, black hair. Her father had died many years ago. Neither girl could remember ever having seen him.

Helena took the train into the city every morning to commute to university by streetcar. She was studying medicine and wanted to become a pediatrician one day. Jasmin admired her because she knew exactly what she wanted. Helena had a head start on her.

Meanwhile, Jasmin lay in her bed and tried to read a little. After a few failed attempts to concentrate on the book, she finally gave up and put the e-book reader aside again. She kept getting lost in her thoughts and kept seeing those two eyes in front of her. Was she really imagining those eyes?

Did this man in the bookshop today have anything to do with the stag from yesterday? At least Jasmin recognized the same eyes in both figures. There was something threatening about those eyes. Nevertheless, the young woman also recognized something familiar in them. But she couldn't explain why.

Were they really all just figments of her imagination? And that guy from the accident? She couldn't remember his name straight away. After pondering for a few moments, she remembered it. "The guy's name was George." Was he just a figment of her imagination? "I guess that's it!" Jasmin said to herself with a grin. "Helena's probably right again! I should really get out and about more!" With this thought, Jasmin fell asleep peacefully.

The next few days passed by normally. There were no big white stags, no mysterious men and no threatening eyes. On the contrary - it was Saturday and Jasmin wanted to meet up with Helena and a few other friends in the pub. Dennis was there too, of course. Jasmin liked him. He was exceptionally good-looking and very well educated. He was studying medicine with Helena. Dennis didn't want to be a pediatrician like Helena, but a surgeon.

Much to Jasmin's regret, he was already taken. Kathrin was also studying medicine with the two of them. Dennis had already been with Kathrin for six months now, and it looked as if things were going well for the two of them. That meant he was off limits for Jasmin.

Kathrin was an extremely pretty, well-educated, friendly and cheerful girl. Her manners seemed to spring from the nobility. She was the one who had got Jasmin the job in the bookshop. So apart from the fact that Kathrin was with her secret love, there was no reason not to like her. Kathrin certainly liked Jasmin.

This weekend it was Jasmin's turn to drive. This fact put her in a positive mood, as the hangover from last weekend was still lingering. It did the girl good not to drink anything alcoholic this time.

She was sitting alone at her table, sipping her Coca-Cola. Dennis was dancing with Kathrin and Mike was at the bar trying to persuade a woman to have a drink. Jasmin already suspected that the poor guy was going to get rejected. The woman looked a bit older and didn't necessarily seem interested in 20-year-old boys. When Jasmin told Mike this, he replied with a grin: "I like mature women! Besides, nothing ventured, nothing gained!" Grinning, he walked towards the bar.

Suddenly Helena stood in front of Jasmin. "Man, it's full on the toilet. I almost wet my pants. They really should install a few more toilets!" She sat down at the table with Jasmin. "Would you like to dance?" she asked with a smile.

Jasmin didn't really feel like dancing at all. But with the pleading looks Helena was giving her, she had no other choice. So she nodded. Before Jasmin could lift her head from nodding again, Helena pulled her onto the dance floor by her arms.

The movement visibly did Jasmin good. She felt better from song to song, as if all her worries and fears were slipping away. And she thought that was really great. Both girls laughed and sang along loudly to every song. A couple of boys joined them and did their best. Helena seemed to like one of them, John was his name. That's why Jasmin joined in for a while.

A few songs later, she went outside saying that she had to go to the toilet. She needed some fresh air. When she looked around outside, all she could see were clouds of smoke around the other young people standing at the entrance with fags in their hands. So she walked a few meters further and propped her back against the outside wall of the pub. She closed her eyes for a moment and breathed in the fresh, cold air.

Then she slowly opened her eyes and wanted to turn around to go back into the pub. Out of nowhere, she was overcome by the feeling of being paralyzed again. She wanted to scream, she wanted to call out to the other people standing five meters away from her, but the sounds got stuck in her throat. "What is that?" she asked herself in her mind. "What is that?" Her fear turned into brutal panic. And there it was, the over sized white stag. He was standing right in front of her, looking at her with his big, menacing eyes, and it looked as if he was saying something to her. But Jasmine couldn't understand him. She concentrated as much as she could amidst the panic. But he only looked at her again briefly and disappeared as mysteriously as he had appeared.

It took her a while to free herself from the paralysis. She braced herself against the wall with her hands and slowly slid into a squatting position. She quickly looked around at the other youngpeople. But they didn't seem to have seen anything. With such a huge animal, they would all have run off screaming in panic. Nevertheless, they talked as if nothing had happened. Jasmine was beside herself. Apparently it wasn't enough that a huge monster had appeared to her in the middle of the city. This animal also wanted to tell her something. "What does that mean? How can such a thing be possible?" she asked herself in tears. Once again, she looked around inconspicuously. As the others couldn't see the deer, she decided to keep the whole thing to herself. She wiped the tears from her face as best she could without smudging her make-up and went back inside to find the others. Helena was sitting alone at her table, sipping her drink with a grin. "Are you all right?" she asked worriedly, looking at Jasmin questioningly. "You look pretty pale and your make-up is smudged, as if you've been crying. Do you want to go home?"

Jasmine furrowed her brow. "No, I'm fine." That was a lie and Helena knew it. Jasmine was shaking inside.

"But if you want to go home, we can drive. What time is it already?" They both looked at their watches at the same time. They both nodded to each other. It was almost 4 o'clock. "Time to go home!" the girls said almost simultaneously, smiling.

As the two of them drove home, Jasmin kept catching herself thinking about this deer. Perhaps she hadn't been able to tolerate something she had eaten or drunk and that was where her hallucination came from.

The girls stood in front of the house they lived in as if guided by a stranger. They got out and said goodbye in the stairwell with a hug.

Jasmin was looking forward to her bed. Tomorrow was finally Sunday and she could sleep in properly. She wanted to recover from the stresses and strains of the past week. Before going to bed, she brewed herself some lime blossom tea. She drank it in small sips,while she thought about the evening and its events. Then she fell asleep.

Jasmine stood in front of a large door. It was made of solid wood and decorated with small carvings of animals. The varnish on the door consisted of three shades. The outer edges were painted olive green, which turned into a kiwi shade. In the middle, it was painted in apricot. It looked very ornate. Whoever built this door must have been a great artist.

Jasmin examined this door for a long time. She looked for the knob or a handle. But she could find nothing of the sort. She looked at the door again from top to bottom. She took a step towards it and wondered how to open this beautiful door. She took another step forward, and another. Now she was standing right in front of it. She gently touched the small carvings with her fingertips. And then she carefully pressed against the door with the palm of her right hand. First she opened the door a small crack. Now she pushed against it with her forearm until it was finally wide open.

Slowly, she leaned forward and looked through the now open door and was startled. What she saw in the room behind the door was a mirror image of the room she was in. Jasmine took another look at the room she was standing in. "What kind of room is this?" she asked herself. She didn't know it. Where was she?

She focused on the door again. She took another close look at the entire room. It seemed identical to the one behind her. Only she didn't see herself in the room. So it didn't seem to be a mirror after all. She carefully lifted her arm and put it through the open door. Then she took a step and then another and stood on the other side. The rooms were like two peas in a pod. She was overcome with fear and wanted to go back. But when she turned around, the door was closed behind her. She tried to open it. But as there was no handle or latch on it, all her efforts were in vain. On the other side of the room, she saw the next door. Just like the previous one, this one was beautifully decorated and shone in the same beautiful colors. This door also had no handle or anything similar. She repeated the game and found herself back in the same room as before. She wasn't sure if it was the same room every time or if all the rooms here were the same. She repeated the game again and again. Since she couldn't go back, she had no other choice but to keep moving forward. She entered the same room again. And again. And the same one again.

After a while, an indescribable feeling of fear rose up inside her. This feeling turned into panic after another three doors. "What the hell is this?" she screamed as loud as she could. Tears ran down her face like a waterfall. "Let me out of here!" she squeaked helplessly. The tears on her face flowed and flowed. She leaned her back against the closed door and slid into a crouch. "Let me out of here!" The words were barely audible. She cried for quite a while.

Jasmin slowly began to believe that she would be trapped in this room forever. Like in a time loop. Then she became angry. Full of rage, she jumped up. "Let me out of here at last!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. Again, nothing happened. She stormed towards the door in a rage and banged hard on it with her fists and feet. "If you don't let me out right now, then ..." She leaned back against the door again and slowly sank to the floor. "... then you're in for a treat!" she whispered almost silently. "Why are you doing this to me?" She pulled her knees to her body and embraced them with her arms. She leaned her head on her knees and cried again. The anger and panic faded and gave way to a feeling of hopelessness for Jasmin. She couldn't and didn't want to go on. She gave up.

Jasmin felt like she had been sitting on the floor by the door for several hours. Frightening thoughts buzzed through her head. Was this real or just a nightmare? Would she just wake up and everything would be back to normal?

She thought of Helena, her parents and Dennis. Would she see these people, her favorite people in the whole world, again?

"Make a wish!" a soft voice was heard whispering. "Make a wish!"

Jasmine slowly lifted her head and wiped the tears from her face with her sleeves. She searched for the source of the voice. But she couldn't find it. She couldn't determine where the voice was coming from. "Make a wish!" the voice spoke again. Jasmine didn't understand what it was on about. She got up and walked around the room. The voice spoke again: "Make a wish!"

"Oh God!" Jasmine cursed, "What am I supposed to ask for? Like a door to take me home?" There was irony in her voice and as she spoke, she raised her right arm and made a waving hand gesture, expressing her disapproval.

"Exactly!" echoed through the room.

Now Jasmin was standing right in the middle of the room. She remained silent and wondered in her mind if it could really be that easy. She had nothing to lose. The worst thing that could happen to her was to be trapped in the next room. And she already was. So she stood in front of the door, closed her eyes and tried to sound convinced: "Please lead me home through this door!" She opened her eyes and slowly pushed open the door in front of her. She walked through with one big step and jumped out of her bed. She almost caught one foot in her blanket and fell. It was only thanks to her good sense of balance that she didn't fall flat on her face. "Thank you!" she shouted angrily.

"What a nightmare!" she said to herself. She still felt the fear. She had never had a real dream like this before, at least she couldn't remember any. She wondered what time it was. Her cell phone lay next to her bed. She took a quick look at her smartphone and almost fell back to the floor in shock. It was 2:00 in the afternoon. She had slept for 16 hours! The question of how long she had been locked in this room came to the forefront of her mind. And had she been asleep at the time or had it all been real? That would explain why she didn't feel rested at all after so much sleep.

Her whole body was shaking. She was also soaked with sweat. Once she had calmed down a little, Jasmin decided to treat herself to a long shower.

The hot shower was very good for her. Slowly she was able to think more clearly again. As she dried herself off, she shook her body as if she wanted to shake off what she had experienced. She succeeded a little.

She went to her bedroom and got new clothes from her closet, including the thickest sweater she owned, and got dressed.

In her kitchen, she made herself a coffee and something to eat, and while she ate, she fell back into her thoughts.

Just the thought of last night gave Jasmin goose bumps all over her body. She was trembling. "Jasmine Cline! Now pull yourself together!" she ordered herself in an aggressive voice in order to gain some control over her emotions.

She absolutely had to be around people. She knew that things couldn't go on like this. She was simply alone far too much. After breakfast, which she ate at 3:00 in the afternoon, she blow-dried her hair, put on her make-up and changed into a pair of jeans and another sweater. Then she grabbed a jacket and hat and left the apartment. After a moment's thought, she decided to let Helena sleep. She walked past Helena's apartment without lifting her head. First she headed towards the city center. "City" was probably a bit of an exaggeration in this case. But it did have its own town hall and a relatively large pedestrian zone, which was great for shopping. There were also some nice bars and cafés. Jasmin sat down in one of them and ordered a large cappuccino.

She sat down in a corner of the café right by a window so that she could look out at what was going on. Jasmin eyed the people walking past the café. She admired these people for voluntarily going for a walk. Because it was terrible weather outside.

An elderly lady was walking next to the fountain with her little dog. It looked funny because they were walking almost in step. Jasmin grinned at the sight. The old lady was approached by another, slightly younger lady with a large black schnauzer on a lead. He could have swallowed the little mongrel in one bite. But what was happening there fascinated Jasmin. The big dog lay down on the ice-cold floor to be at eye level with the little one, wagging his tail enthusiastically.

Jasmin lifted her cup and sipped her cappuccino once more. Now she turned her attention to an elderly gentleman. He was walking slowly past the café with his walking stick, step by step, without looking back. He seemed to be lost in thought. The two ladies had disappeared together in a different direction.

"Hello, Jasmin!" These unexpected words from this unexpected voice jolted Jasmin out of her thoughts. Slowly, Jasmin raised her head and looked at the young man standing at her table, completely taken aback.

"Oh! Hello, George!" Fortunately, she had remembered his name. Smiling and unsure, she stood up and held out her hand to him. "How are you?"

He took her hand with a firm grip and replied: "I'm fine. And yourself?" His grin lit up his face. "What a coincidence that we should meet here. Can I sit with you for a moment?" Somewhat surprised, she nodded to him and pointed with her hand to the chair opposite. George ignored her gesture and sat down right next to her.

"I haven't seen you on that street since we met. Were you just there by chance?" He looked questioningly at Jasmin. But she was still speechless. She had to pull herself together to make any sound at all. "No!" she replied in a weak voice. "I drive that route to work every day and back again in the evening. I was just late that day because of the fog." Slowly, her voice became more confident. "And you?" she asked a question in return in order to keep him from leaving too soon. This young man was living proof that she wasn't completely crazy.

George shrugged his shoulders. "I was visiting some friends that night." He pointed with his face to a couple of young people sitting on the other side of the café. "I told them about the near-accident and that I'd seen a white stag." He looked apologetically at Jasmine. George looked nervous and unsure. He assumed she thought he was crazy.

Jasmin didn't say anything in response, but just smiled back timidly. "So it is!" Jasmin whispered. George looked at her expectantly.

"So you've seen him too?" Now his voice sounded euphoric. "Please tell me the truth! I was afraid something was wrong with me. Did you?"

Jasmine was speechless. Should she really tell a complete stranger about what had been haunting her for the last few days? After all, he had seen the animal too.

"Please!" came out of his mouth pleadingly. Jasmine nodded.

He breathed a sigh of relief. "So I'm not going crazy after all!" He grinned. "Were your friends able to see that white stag?" he asked her directly. Jasmine shook her head no and finally dared to talk about it.

"I've seen him several times. And once he even came into our bookshop as a person. That's where I work." At least she thought it had been the same one. "Have you seen him often too?" she asked George now in a firm voice.

He also nodded in agreement. "I see him almost every day. Even in my dreams. And last night..." He closed his eyes briefly. "Last night I had an absolutely absurd dream." He sat up straight and continued. "I was trapped in a strange room. And no matter how many doors I went through, I kept coming back to the same room. In the neighboringroom, I heard a voice. I think it was from a girl. She sounded very distressed and she was crying. Then she was gone." He took a deep breath and wanted to continue, but Jasmin interrupted him.

"The girl in the other room was probably me. I also dreamt that night of a room with a beautifully decorated door without a handle and I couldn't get out."

Now he was looking at her almost fearfully. Jasmine was afraid that he would get up and leave, but she finally had someone she could talk to about all this. So she continued to ask him: "Did that voice tell you how to get out of there?" He looked her straight in the eye and nodded.

They were both silent for a few minutes. Jasmin was looking for answers, just like George. But neither of them found them. Both were at a loss.

"What does all this mean? Do you have any idea?" Jasmine looked inquiringly into his eyes. And she recognized the same helplessness that tormented her. George shook his head and shrugged his shoulders at the same time. "I don't know." Now he looked at the floor. "And I don't know if I even want to know." Then he stood up and shook her hand goodbye. "Maybe we'll meet again!" Now he grinned again. "I'd love to!" Nodding and smiling, she shook his hand.

Jasmin's eyes followed him to the table where his friends were sitting. One of them slapped him amicably on the shoulder.

"Who's that?" Helena looked at Jasmin with wide, questioning eyes. "You really shouldn't be allowed to go off on your own!" Her feigned indignation made Jasmin laugh.

"No, seriously. Who is this cute guy?"

Jasmin's eyes moved briefly towards the table where George was sitting. Their eyes met. "Oh, that's George." Now she looked at Helena. "You know I told you about him and the near-accident."

Helena turned her head to the table where George was sitting with his friends. She said: "But you didn't tell me he was so handsome!" She grinned at Jasmin with a cheeky, teasing look.

"Oh, I didn't really notice," she replied shyly, knowing that it was pointless to lie. Helena knew her friend only too well.

She screwed up her face into a pout. "And I thought I was your best friend! I thought you'd tell me everything!" Her face contorted into a grimace. Jasmine laughed and threw a crumpled napkin at her friend's head. Now both girls were laughing out loud.

A second later, Jasmin looked back at the table where George was sitting with some friends. But he was gone. They were all gone.

Jasmine had hoped that he would say goodbye to her again before he left. Still, he had already done so beforehand and that meant she couldn't be too upset about it, right?

"Oh, don't worry about it!" Helena said, recognized the disappointment on Jasmin's face. "You'll meet him again! Tribeck isn't that big." Helena turned her head towards the front door. "Where did he actually come from? I don't know him and I grew up here."

"I have no idea," Jasmin answered truthfully.

"What? You have no idea? You had such an intense conversation, and it didn't even occur to you to ask him where he was from?" Helena sat in front of her friend, stunned in disbelief.

Jasmine sank into thought for a moment. She really hadn't thought about it. She had been much more interested in the conversation about their shared experiences with the white stag and the room.

"And what's his last name?" Helena's questioning gaze pierced Jasmin's. "We can use it to find out where he lives." Jasmin shrugged her shoulders apologetically again.

"May I ask what you were talking about so intensely?" Her indignation was beginning to sound more like annoyance.

Jasmin shrugged her shoulders again. She couldn't tell her about the stag and the room. Helena would laugh at her. Or should she try anyway? She wasn't sure what would happen. But she needed to talk to someone familiar about it. She needed a second opinion. She needed her best friend's opinion.

"Okay! I'll tell you about it. But not here. Let's go to the park. I need some fresh air."

Helena shivered at the thought of going out into the cold. But she agreed anyway. Somehow she suspected something must be really bothering Jasmin. She had known her friend for many years. And something was very wrong with how she was acting lately. Jasmin had been withdrawing even more than usual recently. And every now and then she talked a lot about things that sounded crazy. She just wasn't herself. And the thought that her friend no longer trusted her enough and no longer spoke to her openly worried her greatly.