She never refused to obey again not even when the Priest asked her to participate in doing those awful things to that poor girl many years later.
Mette woke up with scream. She was lying on top of her bed still fully dressed. She hadn’t realized she had dozed off. It had to be the tea, she thought and looked at the pot on the dresser. She hadn’t wanted to fall asleep, she wanted to be fully awake all night and usually she slept with one eye open, something she had learned back at the room in Hungary. To survive, Nadja had told her. Now she woke up because she thought she heard a sound. Someone was outside her door, she thought and got up. Her heart was racing. Probably from that dream she just had. She had dreamt about the girl. She had stared at her just like Hans Christian had just before he died. She had pointed at her and yelled the same words:
“… You … You!” then she had laughed that horrific laughter.
Mette stopped herself. Was the handle moving? She was certain it was. She reached over and grabbed her crucifix. Then she kissed it and started praying. Her heart was racing faster now and she felt almost suffocating. A burning sensation was spreading underneath her skin. Was this it? Was she coming for her? Was she finally going to pay for her sins? For what she had done? Suddenly it was like Mette heard voices in her head. The voices of the many men she had been with, the voices of her parents, the voice of the Priest yelling at her that she was impure. She threw herself to the ground holding her head between her hands, screaming. Where did all these voices come from? Where were they? Why were they yelling at her like this? Then suddenly it went quiet for a short while and Mette got on her feet again, panting, gasping for air. Was this it? Was she going insane before she died?
Next, she was certain she heard another voice. It sounded like it was coming from the other side of the door. Her heart was pounding hard in her chest. She recognized that voice. It was calling for her. Calling out her name. She whimpered as she reached out for the handle and opened the door.
Her heart stopped and Mette froze. There she was. Right in front of her stood the little girl with the crooked deformed head, looking at her with her green eyes, staring at her and pointing, while laughing a demonic laughter, her eyes almost like fire, like they were the very door to hell.
Mette screamed and backed up into the room. The girl stepped closer and Mette tumbled to the floor while trying to move away from her. Her laughter grew stronger, wilder, more manic. Mette crawled backwards, still while screaming. She reached the wall behind her and spotted her chance. Quickly she opened the hasp on the window and jumped out into the snow with a scream high-pitched enough to penetrate glass. When she got up she stared at the window, the girl was looking directly at her, still laughing manically. Then Mette turned around with a gasp and started running, just like she had run trying to escape the guards in Hungary, trying to cheat death for the second time in her life.
Chapter 28
I had no chance of seeing it coming. Luckily I was driving slowly on the slippery road when I hit it, whatever it was.
It was like had it come out of nowhere, I thought when I tried to regain control of the car that soon landed in a big pile of snow. I hurt my forehead as the car came to a sudden stop. I was breathing heavily trying to calm myself down and put the shock behind me, before I stormed out the door and ran through the heavy snow towards whatever I had hit. I hoped it was a big deer or maybe a fox, but I knew in my heart it was way too big in size to be just an animal.
“Oh my God,” I stuttered holding a hand to cover my mouth. In front of me in the snow lay a woman. She was small, skinny and wasn’t dressed at all to be outside in this kind of weather. “Oh my God,” I exclaimed again when I realized the snow was colored red by her blood. She was moving, groaning, trying to pull herself forward in her arms.
“I’m so so sorry. Are you alright?” I asked.
The woman didn’t answer, she groaned and looked up at me with weak eyes that seemed like they were about to cave in any moment now.
“You’re hurt,” I said. “Let me call for an ambulance.” I fumbled, searched frantically in my pocket for my phone. Panic was slowly spreading in my mind. What if you have killed her? What if she is going to die out here while you’re watching. Oh my God, oh please God don’t let her die.
I called the emergency number and reached a woman who promised to send an ambulance, but told me to be very patient since the snow made it almost impossible for the paramedics to get out tonight.
“Just hurry, I am afraid she is really hurt,” I said with trembling voice.
I put the phone back in my pocket and attended the woman who was still groaning and crying in pain in front of me. I had no idea what to do in a situation like this. There were no houses nearby and no other cars in the road. We were in the middle of nowhere. Where did that woman even come from? Did she just jump out of the forest? She was coughing and making noises that sounded like she was suffocating.
I walked closer. “Are you alright? Is there anything I can do for you?” I asked.
She lifted her head and looked like she wanted to say something but it wasn’t words that came out of her mouth. Instead she threw up on the ground right in front of me. Yellow vomit mixed with a lot of blood in it. That was strange, I thought to myself. Could she have internal bleeding or something from the accident? But I didn’t hit her that hard did I? I was driving pretty slow, no more than twenty miles an hour. Could I have caused that much damage? The woman tried to look at me again, then she groaned and looked like a wave of pain rushed in over her. Her face was strained in pain. Then she threw up again.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. It was the lady from the emergency number.
“The ambulance can’t get through to you. The road is blocked with snow,” she said. “It might take hours to clear it and get to you.”
“Where is the ambulance now?” I asked.
“They’re trying to get to you from the main road,” she said.
I stared in the direction from where I had entered the small road. What was it, five to ten minute walk? Maybe twenty in the snow?
“I’ll find them,” I said and hung up.
I looked at the woman in front of me. I was on the verge of panic now. Damn it if I was just going to watch her die out here in the snow. The woman seemed small, not much bigger than Julie, a little taller but way skinnier. Then I reached down and grabbed her leg and arm and threw her over my shoulder. She was groaning and crying in pain while I started walking towards the main road in the deep snow.
It was much tougher than I anticipated. The deep snow made every step hard and being in the worst physical condition of my life I was soon completely out of breath. But I was determined to save this woman’s life, so I struggled through the heavy snow, gasping for breath, until I spotted the lights from the ambulance in the distance. I forced myself to walk another step then fell into the snow. The woman landed next to me. She was in spasms now, her body shaking and her eyes rolling.
“Hey! I yelled desperately towards the lights. “We’re right here! HELP!”
I looked at the light blinking in the distance while foam and drool came out of the woman. We were almost there. All I had to do was to lift this woman up again and carry her for a few more steps.
“Come on, Rebekka,” I told myself. “You can do this!”
I took in a deep breath then pulled myself up from the deep snow that had grabbed my leg and made me fall. Her body was cramping, convulsing and it made it almost impossible to hold on to it. I grabbed her arms and with great strength and effort I managed to pull her over my shoulder. Two more steps through the snow, then one more and I fell in a deep hole again and dropped the woman. I screamed as we both fell face flat into the icy snow.
I groaned and fought the heavy snow while yelling. Suddenly I heard voices in the distance yelling back.
“We’re on our way. Stay where you are!”
A burst out in relieved laughter as I saw flashlights and heard the voices approach. I waved my arms in the air an
d soon we were surrounded by men and women in yellow suits.
Chapter 29
They brought the woman to Holbaek Hospital where my dad also was. After being examined by a doctor they told me I was fine except for a bump on my head that they put a bandage on. I went to see Dad while waiting for news about the woman. He looked so peaceful, I thought and sat in the chair next to him. Then I called Sune.
I started crying when he answered the phone.
“What’s wrong Rebekka?” I heard the anxiety in his voice. “Did something happen? Why are you not home yet? Where have you been? Has something happened to your dad?”
“I … I,” I had a hard time getting the words across my lips. It all kind of came back to me, all the emotions having piled up inside of me during the last couple of days. I just needed to let it out, to cry it all out.
“Please talk to me Rebekka,” Sune pleaded. “What happened? Are you okay? Is your father okay?”
“I’m fine,” I finally managed to say. “My dad is fine too …”
“Phew,” Sune exclaimed. “You had me scared there for a second.”
“I know,” I sniffled. “I’m sorry … I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Okay,” Sune said. “I’m calmer now. Just tell me why are you crying? Where are you?”
“I was in an accident.”
“What?” the desperation was back in Sune’s voice. “But you’re okay, right?”
“I am,” I sniffled again. “But I hit someone, a woman, with my car and now I’m afraid I might have killed her. She was in a really bad shape, bleeding from her mouth and throwing up, then her body started having spasms while I had to carry her to the ambulance that was stuck in the snow and couldn’t get to us. It’s just been a really awful night.”
“Wow,” Sune said. “Where are you now?”
“Back at the hospital. I decided to check in on Dad while they’re taking care of the woman in ER. Oh Sune I just hope she is going to be alright. What if I killed her? I can’t live with that.”
“I understand that, but you have to. It wasn’t your fault. It was snowing heavily, you probably didn’t have a chance to see her. Accidents happen. I know you Rebekka you’re not a bad person because of this. This is just something that happens in weather like this. What was she doing out in this weather? Was she walking?”
“I don’t know. She didn’t have a jacket on or anything. Seemed like she just came out of nowhere. I wasn’t even driving that fast because of the snow. They tell me that the police will arrive later to get my statement and I’m really dreading having to do that. What if they think I did something wrong?”
“You need to relax now. No one will ever say this was your fault. If she was walking in the middle of the road. You couldn’t have avoided it no matter what you had done. Did you say she was vomiting?”
“Yes she kept throwing up in the snow and some of it had blood in it. I’m afraid it might have been internal bleeding or something awful.”
“Why would she be throwing up because she was hit by a car? It doesn’t add up,” Sune said.
“Well I don’t know anything about all that but she was really sick afterwards and now she is in there and maybe she is … maybe she will … She might even have kids or something and maybe I’m about to make them orphans.”
“You need to calm down Rebekka. If you drove slowly then she will definitely not die from being hit by you. She is not going to die, you hear me?”
I sniveled again. “Okay,” I whispered. “It’s just everything right now, I guess. My dad is still unconscious and I am afraid he will never wake up again.”
“Everything is going to be just fine,” Sune said, sounding very reassuring.
“How are the kids?” I asked.
“Both sleeping in their beds. I gave them a long warm bath before bedtime and that made them sleepy. They’re just fine. What happened to the car?”
“It’s still out there. Maybe you could call for a tow truck to get it tomorrow? I’ll take a cab home if possible.”
“Sure. Now keep me updated, alright. And Rebekka?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t worry.”
I chuckled lightly. “I’ll try not to.”
I sobbed while putting the phone back in my pocket.
“He’s right, you know.”
I jumped at the sound of his voice. I couldn’t believe it. I looked up and stared at Dad. His eyes were still closed and he hadn’t moved. Was I hearing voices all of a sudden? I stood up from the chair and looked at him. No nothing had changed. Then I sat down in the chair again. I had just been imagining things.
Suddenly his eyes opened and he stared at me. “Sune is right,” he said. “Haven’t I always told you that everything will be just fine?”
“DAD!” I jumped up from my chair and threw myself at him. “You’re awake!
My dad chuckled. “That I am,” he said with a strained smile.
“Are you in any pain? Should I get the nurse to give you something?”
“Nah. I’ll be fine. The old body is just a little tired, that’s all.” Then he smiled. I hugged him and held him tight feeling the tears roll down my face.
Chapter 30
The night at the hospital became quite busy for me. First the nurses came running as soon as I told them Dad was awake, then a doctor examined him and told me that they wanted to keep him for a couple of days more to make sure everything was working the way it was supposed to. Then they told me he needed to rest and I went back to the ER to see if there was any news about the injured woman. In the waiting room the police came to talk to me. They took my statement and were soon on their way telling me this was a very busy night with the snow causing many accidents.
“Will I be charged with anything?” I asked just before they left.
“We’ll be in touch,” was their not so satisfying answer.
Of course they needed to look into the circumstances of the accident before they could determine if I had done anything wrong. I knew that perfectly well, I was just hoping for a more comforting answer.
I had a strange feeling inside sitting in the waiting room staring out the window or flipping through old magazines without even looking at the pictures. Part of me was happy, thrilled even, that Dad had woken up and was feeling better, but then I was overwhelmed with guilt since it was after all my fault that this woman was laying in there while the doctors fought for her life.
I texted Sune and told him that my dad was awake and he replied with an annoying “Told you everything would be fine.” Then I laughed as I read the text again. Had I in fact found a guy who was just like my dad? They did both have the same calm nature, they were both like rocks and they always chose to stay positive even when things looked awful. It was a wonderful quality in a guy and something that often made me forget how young Sune was.
I put the phone back in my pocket when I spotted a nurse walking past the waiting room. I approached her.
“Hello, nurse? Excuse me.”
She stopped and turned to look at me with a smile clearly indicating that she was busy and did not have time for this, but she did it anyway.
“Yes?”
“I was wondering if there was any news about the woman I brought in a couple of hours ago. She was hit by a car.”
“Let me get a doctor for you who can answer that,” she said and walked away still smiling widely and forced.
“Okay, thanks!”
I went back to the chairs and waited for another half an hour before someone finally approached me. He sat down in the chair next to me. His eyes were serious. The nametag said Dr. Wad.
“Are you the driver who hit the woman with her car?” He asked.
I swallowed hard feeling my stomach turn into a knot. “Yes. How is she?”
“I’m afraid she is not doing too well,” he said.
I felt my heart pounding in my chest. My cheeks flushed and I gasped for air. “Will she … is she …”
The doctor si
ghed. It wasn’t a nice sigh, it was deep and worried. “She is very sick and we are having a hard time finding out what is causing this. Plus we don’t know who she is. She didn’t carry a wallet or any identification. Do you have any idea who she is or where she is from?”
I shook my head. “No. She just jumped right out in front of my car. Like she was running and was surprised that there was a car. It was really strange. You said she was really sick, did that come from being hit by the car?”
“No, no. She keeps vomiting blood and having seizures. This has nothing to do with the hit. She has a few fractures on her left arm from bumping into the car, but that is not what is making her sick. She has also ripped her arms and legs on what may have been barbed wire.”
“Then what is making her sick?”
He looked at me and our eyes locked. “If only we knew,” he said with heavy voice. “If only we knew.”
“Will she survive it?”
“We don’t know yet.”
I gave the doctor my number and told him to call me if there was any news about her condition. He promised to do so. Slightly dazed and startled I walked down to the reception and asked her to call a cab for me.
“In this weather it might take awhile for them to get here,” she said.
“It’s okay. I’ll be right over here,” I said and pointed at some chairs in the lobby. Then I walked to them and took off my jacket. I folded it into a pillow and laid my head on it. Soon I was sleeping heavily.
Chapter 31
Soren Sejr had a happy morning. He was thankful he was still alive but even more thankful that no one else had died at the camp during the night. Two people in two days was enough to drive them all into panic, and that was exactly what the devil wanted them to do. He always used fear to prevent them from accomplishing anything, to paralyze them.
Well, he would never get to Soren Sejr. Not again, not anymore.