CHAPTER 2 – IN WINDEN

Life in Winden without Jonas was the same. When he first starts to experience the hallucinations and psychosis, he was for certainly, the talk of the town, but now that he had been admitted for almost four mounts, they barely talk about him, as he never existed.

To keep themselves sane while thinking about their son´s future, Hanna and Michael, decided to follow a routine, every morning, Michael goes to school to give his classes, while Hanna, who was a massage therapist, gone visit her clients or goes to the clinic.

The only one, aside the Kahnwalds who suffered with Jonas condition, was his ex-girlfriend Martha Nielsen, she loved him very much and seeing him became not him, had shaken her a lot.

One morning at school, a few weeks after Jonas gone, the gang had joined to smoke a few weeds, when Bartok smirked, a dark joke ready to leave his almost drunken lips.

''Oh Gott…'' he smirked, already a bit high ''I think I should stop smoking this, or I will end up like him, crazy as…'' suddenly a hand encountered his face, as Martha slapped him right on his cheek. In response, he got up and grab her arm tight.

''Why you did this?'' he snapped.

''You don´t touch my sister!'' Magnus growled as Martha start to cry.

''You don't talk like that Bartok, Jonas isn't crazy, he was just feeling unwell, the doctor will find out what is wrong with him and he will be back!''

''Oh, are you in love with the loony?'' he joked.

''You know Bartok, there´s a reason the Kahnwalds don't like you and I´m honestly agreeing with them'' Magnus exclaimed ''I don't care less if Jonas will be back or not, the only thing that's annoy me is why you keep teasing about this, acting like a son of a…''

'' Beende den Satz nicht!'' the other boy exclaimed '' My mom is a businesswoman and you know it"

''Yeah, right!'' Magnus teased back.

''What is the meaning of this?'' suddenly, headmaster Katherina Nielsen appear at the yard and seeing her two children hanging out with their colleague during class time, made her furious. ''You four need to go back to classes. Martha, you and Magnus, we talk when get home'' she barked and left.

''Und du?'' Barok turned to the other girl in the group ''Are you going to say something?''

''Maybe Magnus is right'' said Franziska Doppler, the girl in question ''I don't think its right for us, keep teasing Jonas, he is our teacher´s son, its kind of disrespectful, I suppose… besides, he´s the first case Papa took it, after Mama died last year, so, I kind of thank him for keeping my father busy'' he said and left with her friends.

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A few days after the urgent visit, the Kahnwalds were in their home, minding their own business. Without Jonas there, the couple used to share just essential words, to keep their day at least presentable to the outside. It was that deafening silence and loveless marriage, that made Michael grab his jacket and walk toward the door again, just after he coming from work, when suddenly, they heard a knock on the door, it was Dr. Peter who making his way home, decide to stop by their house, for talk about some news regarding Jonas.

''How are our boy, Dr. Doppler'' asked Hanna.

''I sent him to an art therapy session, drawing sometimes, help our patients to open up and I thought it could help us find what´s bothering Jonas'' the doctor smiled ''And he draw me this…'' he said placing a few paper sheets, counting a fancy extravagant machine; three deformed circles united and the infinite symbol, drawing over and over again, among other draws.

'' Was wären diese Zeichnungen?'' Michael asked picking up one of the sheets.

''Frau Herta, the art Therapist ask him the same question…'' Dr. Doppler started ''Unfortunately, it's not much more than we already know. Jonas is obsessed with time travel. According to him, Dr. Tannhaus created this time machine, which allows us to travel both to the past and to the future. These circles, on the other hand, represent the junction of the three ages and the infinite, he said, it is, that we are in an endless circle.'' He explained and Michael couldn´t help but smile slight.

''You remember Hanna, how our boy liked this stuff about planets and Galaxies and spaceships…'' he smiled ''I used to call him my little Louis Armstrong, Dr. Doppler.''

''Michael…'' the woman give him a hard look, not really wanting to remember that.

''I…I need to go now, Herr Kahnwald, Frau Kahnwald…'' Peter tried to break the odd silence ''But don't lose hope, we´re making progress, maybe with these drawings, Jonas can give us a kay, of how we can bring him back!''

''Thank you, Peter'' Michael said and with that, the doctor left.

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Later the same day, at the hospital, Jonas for the first time, had been left alone at the common room. Today however, the 16-year old seemed calmer than the other days, so while other patients wander around, Jonas just sit there with papers and crayons, drawing his fantasy away.

Suddenly, he sensed someone approaching. It was Dr. Tannhaus, who after having a talk with Dr. Doppler, got interested in Jonas´s drawings and decided to see for himself what was troubling the younger man´s head.

''Hi Jonas, you know who I am?'' he asked, but instead, the teen just looked at his papers, where the phrase 'Sic Mundus Creatus Est' was writing all over again ''I´m Dr. Tannhaus, the director. Your doctor, Dr. Doppler, said you draw a few amazing things, can I see it?'' he asked and without Jonas agreeing or not, the old doctor pick up one of the papers and examined it.

''The Time Machine, you create it, you said in your book, the theory of the wormholes, it can allow us to travel trough time, 33 years in the past and 33 years in the future. The book…'' Jonas explained with such realism, that Dr. Tannhaus widened his eyes in surprise.

''So i…'' he smiled ''I´m quite the inventor, huh?'' the doctor asked ''What else did I do?''

''Adam said time is our enemy, we need to fight time!'' Jonas said instead, back to his drawings, not interested in talk to the doctor anymore.

''I see…'' Dr. Tannhaus nodded ''Oh, you draw Father Noah, you saw him the other day, didn't you? he came to give this place the Sunday blessings'' he asked, but hearing the name Noah however, caused Jonas to widened his eyes in horror. ''Jonas?''

''You can´t trust him!'' it was what the boy said, suddenly holding the old man´s arm so tight, that he felt like the patient was going to break It. ''Noah isn't going to free us from evil, he is the evil, he is the one who have been killing those children… he said I will be the next… please, I want to go home, you can't trust in everything Noah said.''

''Its okay Jonas, its okay, you are in a safe place, no one will hurt you, I will make sure Father Noah won't come close to you!'' Dr. Tannhaus tried to calm Jonas down, but it didn't seemed to work, the boy in front of him had got into a trance, repeating the Sic Mundus phrase over and over, his eyes staring into nothing.

As much as Jonas could see the older man in front of him, he wasn't sure of who he was, at first, he thought the older man was going to help him, like Herr Helge does, when he was afraid of Noah or the two men that followed him, but he was wrong. Even with his begging, the older man was heartless enough to make a sign and a minute later, an old rag appeat on his side, making Jonas tremble from head to toe and hold the older man for dear like.

''You can take him!'' the man ordered, when two other man came and help the woman carried Jonas away.

'' NEIN, DER WEISSE TEUFEL!'' he yelled ''The white Devil, she´s going to kill me, help, please!'' his screams were heard on the corridor, causing of course, a minor uproar within the other patients.

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Back in Winden, a few nights later, fire chief Ulrich Nielsen was reading a newspaper after his family went to bed, as he waits for his father, Herr Nielsen to arrive, when just about to turn midnight, the front door open and the older man appear.

''Where have you been?'' asked Ulrich folding the paper and the older man frowned

''I am the father, not you…'' he laughed ''Shouldn't be me, to ask you these questions?''

''Don't tell me you were at Regina´s House again!'' the fire chief growled ''Dad, if you keep behaving like that, I will have to ask you to find another place, I don't want you to go there and face your grandchildren later!''

''You are going to visit your mother tomorrow?'' Herr Nielsen asked, trying to change the subject and in response, Ulrich lowered his head.

''I will pass by the battalion and then I will go, you should go too'' he said and left, before the older man could say another word.

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At the mental health facility, there was a few patients, beside Jonas of course, that, according to Herr Helge, made the place brighter, one of them was Herr Alexander, who think he was an important doctor and Frau Nielsen, who was living there as long as she could remember, since her youngest son Mads died on a fire. That morning, she was in the garden, picking some flowers, when the janitor asked her to come inside, as she had a visitor waiting for her.

''Oh, Mads, he is here, as he told me, thank you Herr Helge'' she smiled and walk inside, just to find her other son Ulrich there, smiling at her.

'' Hallo Mama'' the firefighter smiled ''how have you been?''

''Mads, I missed you, you rascal'' she embraced Ulrich, who tried to hide his sadness, on the contrary, he just led his mother to a bench, so they could talk.

Not far away from them, Jonas set in silence, next to Herr Alexander, who keep saying he was a doctor, he looked around, as he was in another world; since Frau Claudia took charge of his medicines, the hallucinations seemed to grow worse and today, instead of the common room, he saw himself in some kind of a bunker, with a lot of other strange people, probably awaiting for the apocalypse.

Within these people, Jonas spotted Ulrich talking with another woman and as fast as he could, the teenager jump on his feet and ran to the man he thought was a policeman and exclaimed he knew where his son Mikkel was.

''Woa, Kid'' Ulrich smiled ''I know where Mikkel is, he is at school, he misses you… oh and Martha do too''

''Mikkel, he is my father, Michael, you have to believe me, he gone through the portal, in the cave and Mads too, they told me, you have to believe in me!'' Jonas started to get nervous, when, to make the matters worse, upon hearing her son´s name, Frau Nielsen grab the teenager by the collar of his shirt and ask him again where her son was.

''Jonas, come with me, want to help me in the garden?'' Herr Helge appear, trying to take Jonas away, when Herr Alexander approach, saying he could cure the young patient, just to have his fingers bitten in response.

The uproar was done, with Herr Alexander yelling, and Jonas crying out about the cave and about a portal, the other patients, including Frau Nielsen, started to yell and scream and have breakdowns on their own. Seconds later, nurses appear from all over the place and once again, Jonas as well as Herr Alexander had been taken away.

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In Winden, Michael Wake up Sunday, with the sound of a thunder. Turning to his side, he found his wife´s side empty. Confusing and annoyed, thinking she had go out again, the art teacher decided to go downstairs for a glass of milk, when passing by his son´s room, he found the door opened and his wife Hanna, ling on Jonas bed.

''Hanna?'' he asked and she look at him.

''I couldn't sleep'' she said ''Couldn't stop thinking, Michael, maybe we should take a lesion from all of this? Maybe God decided to punish us, for neglecting our son…'' she said more for herself than for her husband and in response, Michael just ignored her and went downstairs.

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Jonas opened his eyes again, his head was about to explode and he felt like his arms were tight. He was back in that fancy room, the bald man stared at him with a disappointed look.

''You aren't making others believe in you, you are suppose to help find a way to stop the apocalypse…'' he shock his head ''Don´t worry, the time is coming and any time now, you will fuffill your destiny.'' The bald man said, not caring to see the teenager cry.