Between the Worlds.

Isabella wandered down the road slowly, but there was a strange glint in her eyes, something you couldn't see before. Everything about her was still very innocent looking, everything except her eyes. You could see the truth in her eyes, the hurt and the pain she had been going through.

She was all alone now, there was no one there for her. No one. Her father had died years and her mother two days ago.

She didn't need anyone who would take care of her, no, she had been taking care of herself for a very very long time. On the contrary - she was the one who had been taking care of her mother for such a long time.

No, what she needed was a friend. Someone she could talk to, share her thoughts with. But there was no one.

She walked the whole day and slept at night in the woods, up in a tree. The road was curling down along the forest all the time and Isabella was now used to see the green and brown mass on the right side of her.

Days passed. Nights passed, nights when Isabella was hardly getting any sleep as she listened at the howling of the wolfs and sounds of other night animals all around her. But no one ever touched her. Soon she came to the point when she almost wanted someone or something to find her. She wanted to see, talk to someone. But no one was ever there. She was left to be alone with her thoughts about everything and nothing; about the Universe and the stars and the moon that were shining down on her. And so, whenever it was night, you could see a lonely silhouette of a beautiful, young woman who sat up in a tree that hid her from the view, the wind toying with her long, blond hair as she looked up at the stars, searching for answers to her questions, for a reason to live and go on.

She never got a real answer, but there was something about the whispers in the wind that comforted her and that told her that sooner or later, her questions will be answered.

A week had gone. She continued to walk down the road and the view all around her started to change. The road got bigger and the trees weren't that many anymore. Soon she had to say goodbye to the forest that had followed her for weeks and continue her way down the road with meadows now all around her.

***

"Your Honour, dear members of the Jury, this man is completely innocent," Jack said in a confident voice as he approached the bench. His blue eyes were glowing with a strange power and his heart was beating in an up-beat pace.

"There isn't any proof that he was anywhere near the scene of the crime during the time when this happened. Just look at him! Can't you see the truth in his eyes? This is a honest and a decent salesman who would never, ever have any kinds of connections with the underground market. And if you decide to find him innocent, I will give you my word, the word of Jack Parker, that you will never regret your decision," he finished, fixing the Jury with his powerful gaze.

There was a moment of silence. Some of the audience started to clap their hands and whistle. Jack suppressed a smile and sat down again as the Jury left the room to decide if they would find the accused guilty or innocent.

He glanced at the man he was defending and gave him a supporting smile.

"Everything will be fine," he assured him. The man smiled back at him weakly, his tired face expression clearly showing how he felt.

Jack believed in this mans innocence. He only defended people he truly believed were innocent because he couldn't fiercely defend a person who just might be guilty for the crime he or she has been accused. Jack called that hypocrisy. Other lawyers didn't even bat an eyelid when they had to defend someone they believed was guilty, but he couldn't do that. His Principe didn't allow him to even think about it.

He looked back into the papers that were lying on the desk and then at his watch. The Jury would come to a conclusion soon and he was almost certain that the salesman would be proved innocent.

***

"Wher' 'r ya goin'?" the man shouted behind her back. She turned around, her blonde hair fluttering.

"E-excuse me?" she said in a weak voice.

"Ya heard me," the man replied and measured the poor girl with his cold gaze. "The road yar walkin' leads to nowher'."

"Well I'll have to find out about that myself, now won't I," Isabella replied colder than she intended to and turned around, starting to walk away from the man. She had met several other travellers during these past few days and they all gave her weird looks as they walked by. She could understand why; her dress was torn, her face and her hair were dirty and she was very pale and weak from her never ending journey. She had stopped counting the sunsets a long time ago. Or was it a long time ago? She had lost all her sense of time.

The road was stretched out in front of her, an everlasting line with curves, dives and ups. Yet she had no fear. Something was keeping her up, something made her ignore her exhaustion. She didn't know what it was, but she felt it all around her. It was a power she couldn't control or understand. Something unknown.

And that something now told her to ignore this man's warning and walk on.

"Don't say no on' warned ya, lady!" the man yelled behind her.

Where to? She didn't know, her mind was a blur and her whole body ached. But her feet knew.

She walked for hours and the sun followed her journey over the sky. She couldn't stop; the same invisible force pushed her forward like a strong wind in her back. The day had turned into night when she finally stopped in front of a little cosy looking house. It was practically radiating warmth and love. She could see the reflection of the fire in the little windows and as she looked up, she wasn't surprised when she saw the smoke slowly rising from the chimney. The house reminded her of a similar one she had once read about in a fairy tale. She got a warm and comforting feeling in her heart just as she looked at it. But as she took one step towards the house, her heart skipped a beat without a reason and she suddenly cold- sweated.

What was wrong with this picture? What was she doing here? What or WHO had led her to this house? How did she even know about it?

She glanced around the neighbourhood carefully, like a scared wild animal, and took a step back onto the road.

The night surrounded her and everything was quiet. She couldn't hear a sound.

Suddenly the door of the house slowly opened and, in the light of the fire, she could see the dark silhouette of a very tall man. The light lit up a part of his face and her brain fixed his black, dangerous eyes and a large scar that was spread all across his right cheek before she screamed, turned around and started to run away in immediate panic.

The man swore behind her back and leaped after her, pressing her down to the ground and shutting his mouth with his hands as she helplessly writhed under him.

"Quiet," he hissed as she let out a moan. "I don't want you any harm. You were sent to me. I'll let you go and you won't run away, deal?"

Isabella nodded weakly for an answer. What else could she do? There was a ringing sound in her ears now and her vision was getting blurry from the exhaustion and the surprises this day has had in for her.

The man let go of her slowly and helped her up with a hand. She put her small, white hand in his weakly and looked up at him with her tired blue eyes. She noticed that his eyes were dark brown; not black as she had thought. His skin was rough, just as his face. She could see the worry that was slowly appearing in his eyes as he looked into her own.

The world started to spin...

She fell into his arms like a white dove that has been shot in one of her wings. The last colour disappeared from her already very pale face and the world went black.

***

"We find the accused... innocent," the head of the Jury proclaimed for the whole courtroom. Jack let out a little sigh of relief as he could hear some people cheer in the back of the room. He had been a little worried about the outcome, even if on the outside, he seemed very calm and confident. He was just very good at hiding the worry.

The innocent salesman grabbed Jacks shoulder and hugged him.

"Thank you, thank you so much..." he rambled on, apparently very relieved. Jack smiled and talked to him for a few minutes, wishing him the best of luck in his business. Then he went over to the Jury and politely thanked them, reminding them that they have his word and that they won't regret their decision. Afterwards, he changed a few words with the judge. The minutes passed by slowly and he thankfully breathed out once he was finally outside the court building. The cool evening air refreshed him and as he watched a taxi drive by, he decided to walk back home. It seemed to be the right thing to do on a pleasant evening such as this one.

His grey cloak fluttered slightly in the slight breeze and he swung his portfolio lightly as he whistled a cheerful tune. He looked up at the sky and saw how the stars were becoming brighter and brighter as the day was slowly coming towards its end and the night started to take over. People walked by, seemingly in a hurry. Jack smirked slightly as he thought of the possibility that most of them just pretended to be in a hurry just to seem important. He had never understood those kind of people.

"Sometimes you just had to stop and look at the world around you," he thought. "Just to see how everything is constantly changing. But most of the people seem to have forgotten how that is: to stop. They just keep on going and going, running through their lives, searching for a meaning, for a light in the end of the tunnel, conquering, taking, winning and losing. They've forgotten how it is to just stop. Close your eyes for a moment and take a deep breath. Open them again and really SEE everything around you. See the birds flying over your head, the life, the power of a city like this... Enjoy those warm summer evenings when everything is going right and nothing seems to be able to go wrong. People forget about those kind of things. They search for a meaning in their lives, but they've forgotten that life is a meaning itself... You have to admire the beauty of the nature and the power of the mankind. See the play that is set up between the two. Don't they ever wonder which one of them will win?"

***

She was looking at a stranger, but the stranger didn't see her. He was walking down a street and he was wearing very odd clothes. She couldn't recognize the world around him, it was like nothing she had ever seen before. But she couldn't take her eyes of him. He seemed to be away, deep in his thoughts because he accidentally ran into someone and apologized automatically. And strangely enough... she could hear his thoughts. They echoed in her head, louder and louder for every sentence, sometimes disappearing and then coming back again. His deep blue, intelligent eyes hypnotized her.

"You have to admire the beauty of the nature.... see the play that is set up between the two... Don't they ever wonder which one of them will win?"

How come he couldn't notice her? Where was he? Where was SHE?

"Don't they ever wonder which one of them will win? Don't they-"

What was going on?

Suddenly the piercing blue eyes noticed her.

She gasped and opened her eyes, breathing heavily. She was looking straight into darkness, into nothing.

And she was lying in a bed. Naked.