Edwina

  Ida turned and began to run towards the door, the blue door she had come in through, but as she did, she looked into the shining green eyes of Edwina. Ida screamed again, as more rats bit onto her leg, and she stumbled, trying to get away, and fell, smashing her face onto the concrete floor. She yelled and screamed for Edwina to help her, reaching out her hand towards her, but the girl did nothing but giggle and point at her with her finger.

  "Help me, please, help me. It hurts so badly!" she yelled, her lip beginning to hurt badly, but Edwina didn't move. Panting, Ida crawled forwards across the floor, while she could hear the rats nibbling on her skin. She groaned and kicked them off, but there were so many. A huge flock, all gnawing on the skin of her legs. Once she managed to get one off, three more would jump her.

  When she looked up again, Edwina was gone and the door was closed. Screaming, Ida pulled herself, panting, panicking towards the door. She kicked and knocked the rats off, then got up and sprang for the handle, turned it…

  Oh, dear God, don't let it be true. The door is locked! Please don't let it be locked; please, help me!

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Marie-Therese was worried about Ida. She thought about her when she rented the movie; she thought about her when she carried all the groceries inside the house and put them away.

  "She has become way too skinny lately," she said to herself. "She thinks I don't notice these things, but I do." Then she started wondering how long the girl would sleep if Marie-Therese didn't wake her up. "Well, I guess she needs it," she said to herself before making a cup of coffee and turning on the TV in the living room. Marie-Therese took a bowl of the ice cream she had meant for her and Ida, thinking Ida would get hers once she woke up.

  Beverly Hills 90210 was on, and soon Marie-Therese was lost in a world of her own, thinking that actor playing Brandon was cute, but a little wimpy for her taste. If Marie-Therese was ever to have a man, which she knew probably never would happen, since that ship seemed to have sailed long ago, but if, if someone came along, then it had to be a guy like Dylan. Someone that would really irritate her mother and make her talk about the devil trying to destroy her life.

  Marie-Therese dozed off, thinking about the Priest on a motorcycle picking her up and taking her away from everything.

  She woke up a few hours later to someone knocking on her front door. Marie-Therese grumbled and walked towards it.

  "Hold your horses," she yelled, trying to get back to reality.

  When she opened the door, the Priest's handsome eyes stared back at her. Marie-Therese blushed, thinking about her dream. Two men with very serious faces and crosses around their necks were with him.

  "We're here to continue our work on Edwina," the Priest said. "May we come in?"

  And, just like, that Marie-Therese was snatched back to reality. "Of course," she said, and stood aside. The two men carried bags with them.

  "What's all this?" Marie-Therese asked, curious as they walked towards Edwina's room.

  "Equipment, relics, and so on," the Priest said with a smile and a tone indicating that she didn't need to trouble herself with that; he had everything under control.

  "She stayed in there all day," Marie-Therese said, as they came closer to the door. "Hasn't made a sound. I guess she's been sleeping. I locked the door, as you told me to."

  The Priest nodded. "Good. We'll take care of her and, once we're done, she'll probably need to sleep for a long time again. She won't be much trouble; I promise you that. We have many years of experience with these kinds of things and there still hasn't been a demon we haven't been able to drive out somehow. Admittedly, this is a tough one, one of the worst cases I’ve seen so far, but I promise you we won't give up on her. We will make her well."

  Marie-Therese nodded, not knowing if she felt confident putting Edwina in the hands of the Priest once again. The TV was still going loudly in the living room and Marie-Therese wondered for a second how Ida hadn't been woken by the sound, but then thought that she herself had been able to sleep just fine, so maybe it wasn't so strange. What was very strange was that it was almost two o'clock in the afternoon and she still hadn't come out of her room. Was she awake, but just didn't dare to come out? Was she embarrassed because she had slept in?

  Marie-Therese chuckled, thinking it would be so like her, the sweet thing, while the Priest and his company unlocked the door to Edwina's room and went in. Marie-Therese heard Edwina hiss and shriek, then turned and walked towards Ida's room. She knocked gently on the door and waited for Ida to reply. But none came. Marie-Therese knocked again.

  "Ida?" she sang, trying to sound like she wasn't mad, in case that was why Ida was staying inside her room, because she thought Marie-Therese was angry with her for oversleeping.

  But still no answer. "Ida, honey. It was me who let you sleep in. I wanted to let you have the day off," she said, but soon realized that her voice was drowned by the loud TV. "Listen Ida…" she said and opened the door. It was like the empty bed was laughing at her.

  "Ida?" she asked and scanned the room. Then she went into the bathroom, but still not a sign of Ida. The TV was loud through the walls on one side, and now Edwina began her whimpering and screaming on the other side, making it unbearable for Marie-Therese to stay in the room. She spotted Ida's backpack on the floor on her way out and felt a pinch in her stomach. If Ida hadn't gone off to school, then where could she be?

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Ida was crying while lying on the floor behind the blue door. The pain from the rats eating her leg hurt so bad; she kept knocking them off, but they were back as fast as she could get them off. She had tried everything. She had screamed, even though it hurt her lip, which was now at least twice its normal size. She had kept quiet, she had kicked them, she had hit them, and pulled them off, while their little sharp teeth were still clinging on to her skin. She had thrown some of them across the room, causing them to hit the wall, but they always, always came back to bite her again. Now she was crying and panting while fighting them and knocking on the door at the same time, trying to let the world know where she was.

  "Heeelp," she yelled. "Help me!"

  Her hand touched something and she lifted her head to better see. It was a hammer. It was leaning up against the wall.

  Yes, finally a breakthrough, Ida thought and grabbed it by the handle. She lifted it, and then knocked it against one of the rats. The hammer hit its head and crushed it, making a sound like a cracking walnut. The rat flew across the room and hit the wall next to her, leaving a big red mark the size of its body, then slid down and lay lifeless on the floor. Seeing this, Ida regained hope and got to her feet, swinging the hammer randomly at anything on her body that didn't belong, forcing them to fall down or be thrown across the room, smashing against the wall like their predecessor. One or two tried to bite her again, but then they all withdrew to the nest.

  "That's right," Ida yelled, while holding the hammer in the air like a mad man. "I'm in control now; if you come closer, I will smash you like I did to your little friends over there."

  Through the darkness of the room, Ida could see their small eyes watching her, as she slid with her back against the door down to the floor, panting, hurting, and crying.

  What felt like an hour or maybe even more passed by before she heard steps from upstairs. Ida was hurting badly now from all of her wounds, and watched as her blood had gathered in a small puddle on the floor. The rats were still watching her every move from their nest. Listening to the footsteps, Ida was once again filled with hope. Marie-Therese had to be back from wherever she had been, she thought, and started banging on the door again, while yelling and screaming.

  "Marie-Therese!! I'm down here. I'm in the basement. Marie-Therese! Help me. The door is locked. Help me!"

  Ida paused to see if it worked, if she had heard her. Her lip was throbbing hard from the yelling. More footsteps. She was in the kitchen, Ida thought. Probably been grocery shopping and now she was putting everything in its
place. She definitely wouldn't be able to hear her from the kitchen. The hallway maybe, or Ida's room, but not the kitchen. Ida sighed, feeling sore all over her body. The rat bites were aching, and felt like they were swelling to double size now. Ida tried to inspect her body, but it seemed she was covered in bites. All aching and swelling and feeling like they were about to explode. She remembered reading about rats in a book in school and all the diseases they could carry, and now she was praying that she hadn't caught any of those. Ida hammered on the door again and yelled at Marie-Therese as loud as she could. When she ran out of air, she listened again, but there were no sounds of steps in the hallway or doors opening to the basement.

  Ida sighed deeply. She'll find me. I just have to be patient, she convinced herself. She'll go to my room and find it empty and then she'll begin looking for me. Of course she will.

  Ida groaned in pain as she tried to sit up straight with her back against the door. "Come on, Marie-Therese," she mumbled, feeling how her strength and hope were leaving her fast now. "Go to my room and see that I'm not there. Come look for me in the basement, come on. You need me to cook for you tonight."

  Ida felt tears pressing on and took in a deep breath. She tried hard not to move her hurting legs and body, while imagining being in her bed, lying under the soft covers, sleeping, dreaming about riding on dragons and unicorns.

  "Where are you Exodor?" she cried. "Where are you when I need you?"

  Ida heard footsteps in the hallway.

  This is it. This is my chance!

  With all of her last strength, she hammered on the door and yelled through the pain in her broken and swollen lip till she had no more air. Panting, she lay on the floor, crying because of the pain from the rat bites. She lifted her head and listened to hear if the footsteps approached or the door to the basement opened. She kept imagining it did, Marie-Therese opened the blue door and looked at Ida, then took her in her arms and held her tight.

  "Please, please hear me," she whispered.

  The footsteps approached and Ida lit up, thinking this was it, she was going to come down here now, but then they turned and went away.

  A second later, the loud theme song from Beverly Hills 90210 completely drowned out Ida's cries.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Sebastian came home at four thirty and was suddenly standing in front of her. Marie-Therese was sitting in the living room and had turned the TV up very loud in order to drown out the strange noises coming from Edwina's room.

  Marie-Therese didn't notice him until he was right next to her.

  "Sebastian," she said, startled. "I completely forgot about you." Marie-Therese got up from her recliner and walked towards him. "I'm so sorry."

  "Where is Ida?" he asked with a thick, almost-cracking voice. "Ida always picks me up when I'm in aftercare."

  "Yes, I know, Sebastian. And I'm so sorry; I don't know where Ida is. I thought she was in her room but…" Marie-Therese stopped. She could tell by the look in the boy's eyes that he couldn't deal with any more right now.

  "I'm the one who was supposed to pick you up today. Ida didn't go to school. I'm sorry, Sebastian."

  Eyes filled with reproach stared back at her. Marie-Therese felt awful. She had planned to go and get Sebastian, but had completely forgotten.

  "How did you get home?" she asked.

  "Peter M's mom took me home. They closed at four and they tried to call you."

  Marie-Therese stared at the phone that she probably hadn't heard because of the TV and felt a pinch of guilt. "Well, I guess I didn't hear it since…"

  "Where is Ida?" Sebastian asked again. He glanced towards Edwina's room, from where eerie noises emerged in a constant flow. Marie-Therese sighed deeply. If only it could stop soon. She didn't like the way Edwina was crying; she didn't like the way the Priest yelled or the way the other men were humming and chanting, at times even talking in Latin. This was no place for Sebastian to be right now, she thought.

  "I don't know where she is. I can't find her," Marie-Therese said with a heavy heart. She knew how much Sebastian loved Ida and realized that so did she. She was worried about her, worried that something might have happened to her. Marie-Therese had thought it all through, all the possibilities. But she had found nowhere that Ida could have gone to. She had no friends in school, none that Marie-Therese knew of. She never brought anyone home with her and she never visited anyone after school or on the weekends. Could she have gone back to her old town to look for her parents? Marie-Therese thought. But that was so far away? Maybe she saved her allowance and spent it on a train ticket? That was definitely a possibility. Marie-Therese suddenly regretted not having told Ida that both her parents were dead. They had killed each other in a fight one night; the father had stabbed the mother and then shot himself. It happened almost three years ago, right after Ida had been removed from their home and put in foster care at Marie-Therese's. They had called from the social worker's office and told her the bad news. Marie-Therese had wanted to tell her, she really had, but on that very day, Ida had been so happy coming home from school with her first A. They planned on celebrating with ice cream and After Eight chocolates when the phone rang. Marie-Therese had told the social worker that she would make sure to tell Ida, but, well…life happened, didn't it? Life got in the way. The truth was that Marie-Therese hadn't been able to, since she couldn't bear seeing Ida sad; she couldn't stand seeing her cry. She wanted to protect her from the pain and then…well, she was planning on telling her one day, some day…soon. Now it might be too late. Now Ida might be on her way to find them and then…oh, no, she was going to end up resenting Marie-Therese for the rest of her life, wasn't she?

  Marie-Therese sighed and put her arm around Sebastian's shoulder. She pulled him closer. "What do you say you and me go out for ice cream?" she asked.

  Sebastian's face lit up. Then he remembered something and his face grew serious again. "Will Ida meet us there?"

  Marie-Therese shrugged. "Maybe we should leave her a note, huh buddy? Let's hope she is here when we get back."

  Marie-Therese wrote the note with shivering hands, trying hard to hold back her tears. Then she put the note on the refrigerator, hoping, praying that Ida had just gone for a walk to get away from everything and that she would be back shortly and everything would go back to normal.

  As they passed Edwina's room and then the door leading to the deep basement that went far under the house, Marie-Therese thought Edwina's voice suddenly sounded much like Ida crying for help. She stopped by the door to the basement. Edwina cried again and sounded very much like herself. Then the Priest yelled something. Marie-Therese shook her head. Sebastian looked up at her.

  "What's wrong?" he asked.

  She shook her head again. "I thought I heard something. Like someone hammering on something and yelling for help."

  "Edwina always hammers her fists on the floor when that man is in with her," Sebastian said.

  Marie-Therese looked at him.

  "I watched them yesterday," he said. "I was outside looking in through the window leading to the yard. There is a curtain, but it doesn't always close all the way."

  Marie-Therese kneeled in front of him. "What else did you see?"

  Sebastian shrugged. "They're making her fall on her knees again and again. That's why she screams. I think it hurts."

  Marie-Therese nodded and got up. She grabbed Sebastian's hand and they started walking towards the front door. "I think so too," she said with a low voice. "I think so too."

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Her suitcase was heavy as she pulled it down from the attic. Emma let it bump all the way down the stairs to not strain herself carrying it. Her doctor had told her to be careful to not lift too many heavy things, and even though it was still empty, she wouldn't take any chances. Once it hit the wooden floor, she grabbed it by the handle and rolled it to the bedroom.

  Emma sighed as she opened the closet and started pulling out clothes. It had only been a few days sin
ce she had worked so hard to put everything in its place, arranging it all to look nice. She loved this big closet. Emma had never had a big closet before, and she never had one that was just hers and hers alone.

  There was a sound from the window and Emma turned to see a small bird had landed just outside. Emma looked out at the landscape and the blue water of Isefjorden in the distance.

  She had never lived in a nice place like this. She grew up in a bad neighborhood, the ghetto, and if she hadn't been smart, she would have ended up as a member of Sisters of Pain like her own sister. If she hadn't run away at fourteen, she would have been shooting up and attacking people, beating them up for no reason whatsoever, other than them being ugly or looking at her at the wrong time; she would burn them with cigarettes or cut them with her knife. Her sister Pernille (now mostly known as Niller) was one of the worst now, she had heard. Done time twice now. First time for car theft, second time for fighting and stabbing someone from another gang. Emma was glad she had made it out in time.

  When Emma was thirteen, Pernille told her that she wanted her to join the sisters, and after that they wouldn't leave her alone about it. Emma didn't dare to say no to them, since she knew what they had done to a girl living in the apartment under them a few months earlier. Pernille had told her that if she just went through the rituals and wore the bandana around her arm to show everybody that she belonged to them, then no one would touch her. No one would dare, since they would know she was under their protection. But Emma knew it also meant she had to beat someone up, someone they chose for her, as part of her initiation as a member. Emma couldn't do that. She wasn't like her older sister.