His Own Salvation.

Second

London. Diana.

It was exactly thirty-two minutes until her arrival, because Diana had to walk a bit. The address belonged to a house that was centrally located in London, yet remote. The streets became ever narrower, the rows of houses ever higher and denser. The car had parked her in an underground car park open 24/7, which was just as busy used.

There was not much going on the streets of London, at least not in this area. Only vague people lived here, and they did not really care about what was happening in the neighborhood. Many apartment blocks were empty or were rarely rented. The wind had subsided, instead the sun let a few warm sunbeams shine through the thick cloud network.

Counting the house numbers in her mind, houses and apartments of various kinds, colors and shapes passed by.

10, 11, 12, ...

15. Finally.

Diana was in front of a huge, rust-brown house reminiscent of a church or a large chapel. It had at least five dozen rooms, if not more. Amazed, Diana stopped in front of her, her brown, long braid being blown over her face again and again. It was not very wide - not wider than a normal terraced house - but longer. In front of the entrance was a well-kept, green grassy area and trees shielded the building from the neighbors, which only gave it a more mysterious impression. The roof deformed into pointed towers, and the outer cladding was clad with wood in certain places and looked like it was made of bricks - but that only fooled at first sight. In addition, Diana's style appeared old. Even if he faded a bit now, as here and there renewals were made. At least it looked inhabited, as there were curtains in front of the large windows and you could also spot decorations on the windowsills.

She took a few deep breaths of the cold evening air and then walked with great, confident steps towards the front door. There she almost jumped up the white stone steps and stopped in front of a wood-clad front door, if you could even call it that. Her heart started beating faster, why, she did not know herself. Probably because she was in a special situation that not every person was exposed to be in.

She did not see a bell, but only a golden lever on the front door, which she raised a few times and struck hard on the door. Even from outside she could hear the loud bang that seemed to ring through every room inside.

In Diana's head all sorts of thoughts whirled around like leaves in the autumn wind. Will someone open? How many people lived here? How would her parents and friends react if they knew what she was doing here?

Her surge of thought was abruptly interrupted as dull steps sounded. Keys were turned over when the door finally opened.

Jack was standing in front of her. Exactly how she remembered him. There was a big smile on his face, his white teeth coming out. She returned his gesture and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, which had already released itself from the braid. Years ago, Diana once had a pony, which was now at the level of her nose and fell again unruly from every hairstyle.

"Nice to see you, Diana, I was hoping you'd come. Come in." He made a welcoming gesture in the direction of the hall before she entered.

"To be honest, I knew right away that I came here, you made me curious." She let Jack help her out of the coat, which he then hung up. He laughed briefly, a light, gentle laugh. At the same time sympathetic laugh lines formed next to his almost black eyes.

She took the moment to look at him unobtrusively. He wore dark blue jeans and a simple, white shirt. He also wore socks that and not shoes like at their meeting, which made him look vulnerable.

"You do not know how happy we are about your arrival, and I hope you will start working here. But we'll come to that later, first I'll introduce you to the others and then Caroline will explain everything to you in peace. Is that okay for you?", he ran through his brown, thick hair.