Chapter Text
'This is the apocalypse.' Hannah Krüger thought cynically as birds rained down from the sky ' And they say that the side effects from Chernobyl are over.'
It was an unusually cold day for September. Normally in any other time, Hannah would wake up from the sunlight streaming on her face, slowly moving and stretching her limbs, refusing to get out of bed until her papa called her that she was late for school.
But today was different. the weather had gone crazy the night before and it rained all night. Instead of a normal lazy morning, Hannah's day began with waking up from a nightmare. In her dream, she had been chasing a source of light as darkness took over everything. Every step she took, the light grew farther and farther away. Soon the light started flickering and after a few seconds, it disappeared leaving her in endless darkness. No light, no sound, everything simply ceased to exist; and worst of all was how good it felt. To finally stop struggling, for everything to end. But her comfortable silence had ended when someone called her name and she woke up with a start.
Cold sweat covered her face as she abruptly sat up on her bed and she shivered as the cold wind hit her wet face. she quickly closed the window and scrambled out of bed trying to get a hold of herself and recover from the morning fright.
“Hannah, are you okay?” Her papa called from downstairs. “You were screaming.”
“I'm fine,” she replied while wiping the sweat off her face. “Just a nightmare...”
Washing her face drained away all her sleepiness away, but it had done nothing to ease her mind. if anything, looking at her pale face and messy hair had soured her mood even more. Sleeping with her ponytail had been a mistake. ' Then again, it wouldn't matter how I change it. No one would notice it. I would always stay just plain, old Hannah.'
After redoing her ponytail, she walked to the kitchen and sat down on her chair, and started eating her cereals with little to no appetite. Her papa paid her no mind. apparently, the newspaper was just too interesting today. Hannah didn't know what the local newspaper could have that was so interesting. Just the typical news about the Winden power plant and maybe something about the Chernobyl disaster and lately, how nobody in the police department wasn't making any actual progress about the case of Mads Nielsen's disappearance; but she didn't need any newspaper to know that. The kids at school gossiped about it all the time and she was close enough to Ulrich to hear him complain about it all the time.
The silent morning was a routine of theirs. There was nothing the two of them could talk about. Hannah had long since given up on trying to make small talks with papa in the mornings unless it was to inform him of plans she had with her friends (if they had invited her that is, which was rare.) Papa would be reading his newspaper or eating breakfast with her until he informed her whenever he would be there to pick her up or not. Normally it wouldn't bother her much as she was used to papa paying her much attention unless necessary, but today the silence that had made her comfortable in her dream, felt suffocating.
“I'll be going to school by bike today. ” She told him. It managed to get him to look at her.
“Are you sure? I think it's going to rain. ” He told her.
“I'll wear my raincoat.” she answered and got up.“I'm not hungry. I'm going to be late. Bye papa.” she doubted that going to school would improve her mood, but maybe seeing Ulrich would.
'Unless Katharina is shoving her tongue down his throat that is...'
She walked toward the door and took her yellow raincoat from the hanger.
She didn't remember when she had received the raincoat but she remembered that it was something her father had brought for her. It wasn't necessarily ugly but Katharina had told her that it made her look ridiculous. Hannah remembered the anger that was simmering inside her as she had resisted the urge to tell Katharina that her own clothes were nothing to be jealous of either, but she said nothing. It was never a good idea to say anything that would anger Katharina as it would only result in being punched in the gut or the face; and although Hannah was a member of Katharina's little group, she was no exception to being one of the victims of her typical mood swings. If being Katharina's alleged friend didn't save her from Katharina's snark and cruel remarks, then it certainly wasn't going to spare her from the usual violence.
Besides, did it matter how they dressed? Katharina could be wearing dirty rags and Ulrich Nielsen would think she was beautiful; just like he wouldn't notice Hannah if she was wearing anything fancy or expensive.
Normally, Hannah would try her best to look like anything Katharina deemed attractive as it would be the opinion of any guy in the school, but for once Hannah didn't care what Katharina thought of her. If anything, she had started wearing her raincoat more. The bright yellow reminding her of her own hidden rebellious side that wanted to be free of the power that Katharina held over her opinion of herself.
After wearing her raincoat, she took her backpack that was resting near the doorway and slung it over her own shoulder. “Goodbye, papa.” She said and as she closed the door she heard his monotone reply.
As she sat on her bike's saddle, she noticed a dead bird on the ground. Her head turned around as she heard the sound of something hitting the ground and saw another bird, presumably dead as it wasn't moving. A third bird fell on the ground, a fourth and then a fifth met the same fate. Hannah's face scrunched up in a mix of fear, concern, and disgust.
'What's going on?'
'Someone keeps sending me signs that something would happen today. These are all omens, I just know it!' She thought as she started pedaling.
She winced as more and more birds started falling down the sky. Soon enough, the streets started looking like something out of a horror movie. The exact kind of thing you would see before the impending doom. Hannah felt pity for those poor street-sweepers that would be responsible for cleaning this mess.
Maybe this was the apocalypse she and Ulrich had talked about. To be honest, Hannah had envisioned the apocalypse as some sort of unending darkness that followed a loud boom, instead what they got was the weak thump of birds hitting the ground. But, then again, what else was to be expected from Winden? Even the end of the world would be boring in this town.
She winced as her head missed a bird corpse by an inch.
'Definitely the end of the world.'
As always, riding her bike made her feel better. The wind hitting her face and the fresh cool air, albeit a bit unusual for that time of the year, had taken any daze that the nightmare had left her with away with it and improved her mood considerably. She looked to her right as she passed the bus stop; the same place where Ulrich would sometimes stop to smoke. Sometimes she would see him and his motorcycle and they would go to school together. Not an easy task as it was hard to keep up with a motorcycle, but she had never complained, it wouldn't have mattered anyway.
Years later, Hannah would be thanking the heavens that she had gotten distracted that day and had not seen the dog that rushed toward the road.
For the next minute in her life, however, she would be only cursing herself.
Trying to stop herself from hitting the dog, she lost her balance and hit the asphalt.
She cried out she felt a sharp pain in her hip, below her left knee and her hands; and for a few seconds she froze; then, she grunted and after some struggling, managed to get out from under her bike.
'Oh great.' she thought after looking at her leg. She could see a bleeding wound from where was a tear on her tights. ' Those birds were actual omens, huh? How am I supposed to go to school now?' She tried to get up and hissed after her hand touched the ground. She looked at them and saw that they too, were in a bad shape.
“Are you alright?” A voice called and Hannah turned around saw a man carrying a suitcase and a backpack coming toward her. Hannah felt a shiver run down her spine as she saw his face. There was something familiar about him. Something she couldn't put her hands on.
The poodle that caused Hannah to fall ran to the man and started nuzzling his jeans.
“Did she make you fall? I'm really sorry. I should have controlled her better.” He said and bent down, offering a hand. “Here. Let me help you.”
Hannah didn't know what came over her as she grabbed the palm of his hand as fast as she could and squeezed his fingers. He helped her to her feet and she clung to his hand as if it would anchor her to life itself.
She stopped paying attention to the pain in her body while they walked toward the bus stop and instead, put all of her attention on the man's face. Her mind analyzing his weird clothes, his face, his blue eyes, and brown hair, trying to determine where and when they had met before. They had to have met before. If not, then why was meeting him felt like meeting an old friend she had not seen in years?
She sat down on the chair and watched the man bring her bike to the stop and then sit down next to her. “You can't walk like that.” He told her. “We need to fix that up.”
She shook her head. “I'll be late for school I need to go.” She tried to get up which turned out to be a big mistake. Her leg felt as if it was on fire.
“Not with that leg, you're not. Just sit down or those will get infected.” He said gently.
She sat down again. The stranger took off his backpack and opened it. She raised an eyebrow after seeing him take a first aid kit out. Well, this was convenient.
'Too convenient.'
Her peers would have thought that she was a fool if they had seen her taking off her shoe and leg warmer and rolling her legging up in front of a total stranger. Hannah could practically hear Katharina's voice jeering at her in her head; “You're a moron, Hannah. An absolute idiot. Just invite him to it, why don't you?” Was it insane that she felt like she could trust him? That seeing him was like meeting an old friend? Was it because he looked familiar?
He opened the first aid kit and slowly brought his hand toward her, his hand momentarily stopping before it touched her leg. “May I?”
She bit the inside of her cheeks. Was it the gentle tone or the fact that he asked her permission that caused her to nod quickly and turn her eyes down? Hannah was never the easily trusting type, especially if it was an adult. 'What's with me today?'
she felt his fingers caress her shin slowly and apply pressure in some spots making her frown from the pain.
“It's not broken, but it'll bruise. You shouldn't strain it too much. Now let's tend to this wound.” He said and took a bottle of hand sanitizer out of his bag.
' Again, this is way too convenient. Who carries this sort of stuff around? First that Boris guy with his passport and gun and now this.'
Then again, she wasn't really complaining about the stranger having the sense to not touch a wound with dirty hands.
He opened a water bottle and started to rinse the scrap and clean it of any debris that might have been stuck there.
Hannah looked down when she felt a tickling sensation on her ankle and saw the little poodle nuzzling her feet and staring at her with its sparkling eyes. She smiled at the adorable ball of fluff. This dog was too cute for her to be angry at. It reminded her of the times when she had begged her parents for a dog, only to be rebuffed by her mother.
“Flattery will get you nowhere Gretchen.” The stranger chuckled.
She smiled. “Is it your dog?”
He shook his head. “Yes and no. I've been watching her but this girl is too independent to be owned by anyone. ” She snorted. “Case and point, her running off and appearing in the middle of the road.”
“She's really adorable.” Hannah cooed.
“Don't let those doll eyes fool you. she's a little devil.” He smiled. “Give me your hands.”
Hannah slowly raised her hands. The man took her palms and gently rubbed them with a wet cloth. “Sorry, Hannah!” He said when Hannah hissed in pain. Hannah's eyes widened. She never told the man her name. “How do you know my name?” She asked, trying to hide how alarmed she was. The stranger, however, didn't seem a bit agitated by her tone. To her surprise, a sad smile covered his face.
“You don't remember me do you?” He whispered. “I suppose you wouldn't. You were really young back then.” Hannah's heart sped up at those words. So she had met him before. He continued. “I know your father. Sebastian and I had met a few times. I even came to your house once with my wife. That's when I saw you. You were really small. You were wearing a blue dress and your hair was in a braid.” He smiled at the memory. “I wouldn't forget your face.”
She raised an eyebrow. Hannah wasn't really the memorable type. People saw her at school all the time and she's always invisible. But somehow, this stranger had recognized her face after many years?
'Not a stranger though is he? You too did meet. That explains the familiarity. But when? We never had guests and papa wouldn't let strangers into the house. Especially if It was before mama...' She snapped her eyes close and willed the tears away. 'Not now you crybaby' A Katharina like voice snarled at her. 'We have more important things to think about. I do remember having a blue dress. It had those white stripes... and I did have a thing for braids. we never had that many guests. I don't remember a man and his wife coming to our house... He is married... Why wouldn't he be? He is quite handsome.' She fixated her eyes on Gretchen and prayed that she wasn't blushing. She hissed in pain as she felt the wound on her leg burn, most likely from the alcohol on the cloth the man had put on it.
“Were you one of papa's customers? We don't have any family friends.” She asked.
He looked up and smiled. “A friend you could say. we needed a place to stay the night. I'm actually visiting him tomorrow.”
“So I'll see you again tomorrow?” She asked maybe a little too excited. She noted that for just a moment his smile wavered; he cast his eyes down at her hand and his hold became gentler if possible. was it her imagination or did he squeeze her fingers lightly? “Yes. You'll see me again tomorrow.” He replied softly the smile becoming warmer.
“Are you from out of town?” She asked.
“No. I was born in Winden. I needed to come here for an important matter.” He replied.
Maybe it was the warm tone or the fact that he actually answered her questions that she felt the urge to let the conversation go on. “It must be really exciting out of this town.”
To her surprise, he laughed. Nothing mocking like the kids in school or dismissive like some of the adults; but something with a hint of sadness. “Trust me. This town is anything but boring. I used to think the same but now I just wish this was some boring town.”
“Why? Nothing ever happens here.” But then again, that wasn't really true, was it? Not with Mads's disappearance or that guy that she had found burying a gun and a passport in the forest.
“Really? Are you sure?” He began applying cream on her hands.“Things are different in Winden. if you pay attention, you can see that everything always changes. The people too. everyone in this town has their own story.”
“Everyone has their secrets.” She said and her eyes widened. Why did she just say that aloud? But the stranger didn't look disturbed; if anything, he looked a little amused.
“You are a smart girl Hannah.” She blushed again. “Everyone has a secret here. some have multiple secrets. Every action affects their lives and this town and this town affects them too. the sad thing is that if they knew how much they could change, maybe they wouldn't complain about their lives here.”
“What do you mean?” She asked.
She gestured to the sky behind them. “Look at the clouds for example. It's going to rain. It always rains in Winden or is on the verge of raining; and unless you really liked it, you would hate living here but did you ever see a single person carry an umbrella with them? It doesn't matter if they have one at home. No one carries one when they go outside.”
Hannah raised an eyebrow. Firstly because that was such a mundane answer but also because when she thought about it, she realized that he was right. Hannah never saw anyone with an umbrella when it was raining. They even had one at home but they never used it. Papa always drove her around with his van, or she went around with her bike and just wore her raincoat if it rained.
“You're right. No one uses an umbrella. wired isn't it?” She laughed quietly.
They carried on with their conversation after that. The stranger answered all her questions and asked some of his own. about her papa, about her school. He actually seemed interested in her words. He bandaged her scrapes and walked with her until they were close to her school. “Well, that's it I guess. sorry for the trouble we caused.” He said.
Hannah gave Gretchen a pet and smiled. “It's alright. I wasn't paying attention. You didn't need to fix me up.” That got her curious. “Do you always carry a first aid kit around? Or was I just lucky?”
He chuckled. “I wouldn't call falling and injuring yourself luck. And to answer your question, I brought it for someone who needed it.”
Hannah wanted to ask more questions but realized that she was going to be late for school. “I should go. It was nice talking to you...” She realized that she never asked his name. He apparently thought the same thing; because he raised his hand. “It was nice talking to you too Hannah. I'm Mikkel.”
'Mikkel. His name is Mikkel.' She smiled. today didn't seem so bad after all.
She took his hand and shook it.
***
“Mikkel, get the hell out! Did you die in there?” Magnus shouted from outside of the bathroom, impatiently.
“In a minute!” Mikkel snapped.
Yet another chaotic day in the Nielsen household. After 11 years, Mikkel liked to say that he was used to the insanity that followed each morning; but today, was going extra stressful and it showed.
Mikkel's day would have normally started with his mama waking him up. (Dragging him out of bed was more accurate.) Or Martha pouring a glass of water on his head; much to his and mama's annoyance or Magnus swatting him on the forehead. But today none of those scenarios had happened. Mikkel had been woken up by a nightmare. In his dream, he had been chasing something. He wasn't sure what. Something? Someone? All he knew was that he had to reach the end to some tunnel but it stretched beyond everything and the scariest part was how alone he had felt. He jumped out of bed, sweat covering his face.
Trying to control his breathing, he ran toward the bathroom and locked himself in.
He listened to the sound of water flowing down trying to concentrate. Somewhere at the back of his mind, he could hear Martha's voice chastising him for wasting water when so many children didn't have clean water; so he started to wash his face as quickly as possible.
That was when Magnus came behind the bathroom door, demanding that he got out as if he was about to wet himself. Mikkel always thought that his brother way too dramatic in the mornings. Just like when he made a show about losing a piece of clothing and would search the entire house just to stall from going to school. He would always use it as an excuse to swat Mikkel's head.
“Mikkel! What the hell are you doing in there?” Magnus shouted.
“Shut up!” He shouted back. He took his sweet time to dry his face just to annoy that jerk. And then got out of the bathroom.
Only for Magnus to hit the back of his head the moment he got out.
Typical. Fantastic even. The day was already shaping to be awful. All he needed now was a surprise test for the top of the cake.
He glared at the bathroom door and rolled his eyes. He went to his room and dressed up for school.
“Good morning.” He said As he walked down the stairs.
“Morning,” Mama replied from the table while putting something on Martha's plate. “You woke up early today.”
“Nightmare...” He mumbled. Mama frowned in concern. It made him feel a little better. Not her frown. But the fact that she cared enough to know when something was wrong. That was how he could always be sure that she loved him. Mama looked like she wanted to ask about his dream when Martha started talking. “I'm on a hunger strike mom.” She said without looking up from her theater play lines.
“Not again...” Mama groaned. “Put that book down and eat your breakfast, Martha. You aren't going to school with an empty stomach.”
Mikkel really couldn't understand his sister sometimes. how was starving herself supposed to help any kid? It wasn't as if she was sending money or food to them or anything.
Martha wasn't really paying attention. Her eyes were glued to her book. It was a scrip about her next play which she had been stressing over. Something about a Greek hero killing a monster in a labyrinth. Mikkel wasn't really interested in Greek mythology. The stories were really weird and the characters with long names were all related to each other; which was really annoying since the number of gods and heroes were somewhere between two hundred and too many.
Well if Martha wanted to starve herself again that was her own problem. Mikkel took the bagel off her plate and took a bite before walking toward the door.
“Where are you going?” Mama called.
He swallowed before answering. " Because unlike Magnus, I have manners.' “School. Papa is still jogging and I need some air.”
“Don't walk to school alone. It's not safe these days.” Martha said.
“Because of Erik?” He asked, stomach, churning. The news of Erik Obendorf's disappearance had become the talk of his classmates. Many people had been spreading rumors about where he could be. Magnus had dismissed it; Saying that the redhead teen had probably run away. Despite not personally knowing the boy, Mikkel still couldn't help but worry for his safety; or hope that his parents were doing well. “I'll be careful Mama.” He said before rushing out of the door, ignoring his mother's calls.
'I'll apologies later.'
Finishing his sugary breakfast did nothing to ease the uncomfortable feeling that had settled in his stomach since waking up. Walking in the streets and finding it empty of any person but instead covered with dead birds certainly didn't help either.
'It looks like a haunted town. What was it that papa said? The apocalypse is upon us.'
He jumped and made a noise of surprises when something hit him in the head. When he turned around, he saw another bird on the ground. He didn't know what exactly had possessed him to bend down and pick it up but curiosity took the better of him and he started looking around to see why all the birds had lost their lives.
Too engrossed in the soft creature in his hand, he didn't notice two hands wrap around his waist.
“Watch out!” a voice cried and Mikkel felt himself being pulled toward a strong embrace. From the corner of his eyes, he saw a motorbike passing. It would have run him over had it not been for the stranger.
In his shock, he forgot how to breathe. His muscles no longer felt his own and the bird fell from his hands. His blood pounded in his ears. His heart thudded in His chest. 'I nearly died. I nearly died. I nearly died.'
“Are you okay?” His savior's question snapped him out of his incoherent train of thoughts. He turned around mechanically. And his blue eyes met warm hazel ones. All thoughts ceased to exists. She... Where had he seen her before? Her dark her, her freckled face, her eyes that were staring at him with so much concern and love that it could rival his parents. Somehow, he instantly knew that she would keep him safe. He threw his arms around her shoulders.
She returned his embrace quickly and started rubbing circles on his back. “Shhh... It's okay. It's okay. I've got you. I've got you. You are safe now. Oh, that blind asshole.” Mikkel laughed at the last part. It sounded too hysteric. Why wouldn't his heart calm down? Why couldn't he control his breathing? 'I'm not having a right attack right? I'm too young for that. That would be stupid. Calm down. Calm down. Calm down!'
“Hey... sweetheart, look at me.” She said and gently cupped his cheeks in her hands. “Tell me what's wrong.”
“I can't breath.” He chocked out. “My heart is... I'm dying... I'm...” The lady shook her head. “You're not dying, darling. It's a panic attack. It won't kill you. Do you hear me?” She said and took his hands in hers. “Nothing will happen to you as long as I'm here. Now I need you to do something for me.”
He slowly nodded which earned him a smile. ' Her smiles are different than mama's .'
“I need you to tell me five things you can see and take deep breaths. Can you do both?” She said calmly.
He tried his best to focus on her request, even though he didn't know what it was going to do.
'In, out. In, out.'
“Your face, Your hands, Your necklace The road, the houses. ” He said.
“Good.” She said. “Now four things you can touch.”
“Your hands.Your... your ring. M...my clothes ...and my tears.”
“Good” She wiped away a teardrop from his face. “Now three things you can hear.”
'In, out. Deep breaths.'
“My voice. Your voice. Your breathing.”
“Good. Remember, deep breaths. You're doing so well. Two things you can smell.”
'I'm not really doing anything...'
“The birds.” a nice, flowery scent filled his nose. “Your perfume.”
Her smile became even brighter. “last one. One thing that you can taste.”
This one was by far the easiest. “My breakfast.” Hopefully, it was going to stay where it belonged.
“You did great. Tell me. Do you feel better?” He nodded. “Good. Do you want me to walk you to school?” Not wanting to spend the next few minutes alone, he nodded again.
“Thank you... for saving me. And thank you for helping me afterward.” He managed a smile. “I'm Mikkel. Mikkel Nielsen.”
The women's smile became as bright as the sun itself as she replied. “Hello, Mikkel. I'm Hannah. ”