- Prologue -

Panic.

The last thoughts of a dying woman, the desperate hope for rescue.

Wisps of clouds chased across the treetops. Midnight had long since passed. The light of the moon shrouded the solitude of the forest in an icy black and white.

She gazed at him. Under the stocking the eyes were visible, whose vigilance did not escape the slightest movement, the rest of the contours resembled those of a predator. Like a matte, black-gray fur, the fabric lay over the skin. Forced nose and lips into a formless existence. Even if she survived this night, she would not be able to recognize him. Not even the eyes, even if he faced her.

When he put his hands around her neck, she was sure she would not survive the night.

"Don't fight back!" she heard him say.

How could she?

Her joints were in handcuffs. Her naked body lay partly on a picnic blanket, rumpled and with all kinds of leaves and dirt on it.

Her clothes, torn from her body. Partly she had done it herself. Only bra and panties he had taken from her himself. Had gone under them with sharp blades - in those seconds she had hardly dared to breathe, lest he slip off and cut her skin.

As if it mattered.

A few hours earlier, she had been sitting at the bus stop.

Not far from a parking lot that was also used by commuters. That's where he came when they met. But today he had taken his time. Probably the heavy traffic, there had been a serious accident. Dusk had already set in, which had made her visibly uncomfortable. One read so many terrible things in the newspapers. And then here at a bus stop near a parking lot where all sorts of shady riffraff frequented?

The man had been watching her for half an hour. Every muscle movement, every worried look she cast toward the street. A bus approached, it stopped. People got off. She remained seated. As the bus pulled away again, she dug a cigarette out of her purse. Puffed a few times, only to toss the cigarette half-smoked into the canal. The next grab was for a pack of peppermint gum, the one after that revealed a makeup mirror. Lipstick, eyebrows, she plucked at herself. On her perfect body. He looked at the dress. She had worn it before. But today it looked especially good on her. As he thought of how the hem would soon move up over her knees, he felt hot and cold. His loins began to throb. And the longer he waited, the more unbearable his greed became.

But he was not allowed to let his guard down. Not yet.

Had to lie in wait like a predator for his unsuspecting prey.

She saw it, too.

Waved joyfully, immediately looked around furtively, but no one was interested in her.

Except for him, the observer thought.

And except him.

That strange man who now and then entered the young woman's life. Who made her forget that she had a family that didn't seem to suspect anything about her love games.

He followed the two into the forest.

At the thought of what was about to happen, he shot his load into his underpants.

A airplane was approaching.

The sound of the engines drowned out the choking scream even before he squeezed her neck. His thumbs dug deep into the soft skin. The chain snapped. The beads rolled across the picnic rug and disappeared among needles and old foliage.

She saw the flash of landing lights pass over her head.

Then once more the moon and the wisps of clouds.

Then came the darkness.

Forever.