Frozen Ones

Chapter 1 (Leonie)

Another funeral. 

It was already her tenth. Or eleventh? 

Now that most of her relatives had died, who was left to turn to? She couldn't even look at the grave of her great cousin, with whom she had spent so much time for a year. Instead, Leonie preferred to busy herself with her hands, as if there was nothing more interesting in the world. The feeling of her black mourning dress on her skin was too familiar. She had worn it so many times. 

She looked at the people standing around her with a dull gaze and let the world affect her dimly as if through a veil. Nobody spoke to her, even though most of them knew her. But Leonie had become the black sheep of the family and would no longer be able to change this. Just as her mother had always been rejected.She had been insulted. Said that she seduced Leonie's father and was then responsible for his early death. She then committed suicide and left Leonie alone with her grandparents. 

This point marked the beginning of the deaths. 

Grandma, grandpa, her aunts and uncles, cousins, everyone with whom she had spent a lot of time. And so Leonie was sure: she brought bad luck. It was her fault that everyone around her died.It didn't help that she was the only one of four sisters who had long distanced themselves from her who still looked really young. 

At almost thirty-one years old, most people thought she was a student and she could only get alcohol by showing her ID.And she often needed it. 

After what felt like an eternity it was finally over and Leonie was able to leave without attracting any unpleasant attention. It annoyed her that she had to stay until the bitter end even though no one paid attention to her. If she was there, it wasn't wanted, if she wasn't there, she was blamed. What should she do? 

She walked down the street in the twilight. She was supposed to get her train soon, but she didn't really care if she missed it. She could also take the next one. Plus, it was calming to walk around outside in the dark. The deep breaths became more relaxed each time and she felt herself relax more and more.There were never really many people on the streets on the outskirts of Brieselang. Leonie liked that very much, but she had been living in Berlin for some time, where there was far too much going on and she was constantly getting strange looks from passers-by when she just stopped on the way and didn't know whether she should keep walking. Or when she was in a bar during school hours and those around her thought she was a renegade high school student. 

Leonie was so tired of it all. 

A look at the sky showed her the endless blackness, punctuated by small, flickering dots. The longer she focused on them, the weaker and flickering they became. The more they seemed like an illusion. Did they really exist? Those lights in the darkness? Or did she just believe that and in reality all that existed was emptiness and the illusion of hope? 

When something cold landed on the tip of her nose, she winced. Only then did she realize that it was snowing. Tiny flakes fell silently from the sky and disappeared as soon as they hit the asphalt.Leonie didn't believe that the snow would stay put. It was the end of March, so it was probably just a break in the weather. 

Somewhere in the dull lump that had once been her heart, she thought that was a shame. As a small child, she always enjoyed playing in the snow with her parents and sisters. Sometimes she felt like she did when she found the world covered in a blanket of white on a cool winter morning.But she knew that was childish. Unnecessary. An illusion, like everything else.She was an adult now, working, owning her own apartment, having her own problems. Why did she still sometimes think like a teenager? 

More flakes fell on her and Leonie closed her eyes for a moment. She was cold because she had forgotten her jacket when she rushed to the funeral service.She was shaking.