So the game had lived on for nearly thirty years now and still the order was a well kept secret that only a few chosen ever knew about. Part of the instructions given to any new member was how to make sure to cover their actions up, to clean up after themselves. Therefore many of the killings were covered as a simple fire, tragically costing the lives of the people who were sleeping inside. Or sometimes people - especially women - would disappear mysteriously and were never seen again. No body, no crime, was the mantra. Ivan had heard that the order was good at covering up their tracks, and he was very excited to finally see them in action, to finally be a part of the fun.
"Somebody call the pastor, this bastard is so possessed ... This meetin' just begun, nigga I'm Satan's son," they all sang along.
Peter ran another red light, then honked at a car and passed it with full speed. "Fuckin' women, they don't know how to drive. I should slap her hard across her face with my dick before I stuff it in her throat till she chokes, am I right?"
Everyone in the car nodded.
"I would give it to her in the ass!" Michael yelled. "Booyah! Just like that. She'll scream for her life while I kiss her with my fist. I bet she'll enjoy that, huh?" Michael said and stuck his tongue out while pretending to lick something.
Peter laughed manically while they sped across the bridge towards Enoe Island. It looked dark in the distance, since most people were sleeping at this hour. Ivan couldn't help laughing either. He had never done any of this before, but he was looking forward for once to be the one watching and enjoying the terror in someone else's eyes. Up until now Ivan had been the victim, he had been the one terrorized by his older brother his entire life, but now it was finally his time to shine.
The Lucas family was never going to know what hit them.
7
MARIE LUCAS WAS a tired woman. Tired from working all day making sure her kids had all they needed, feeding them, washing their clothes, bathing them. She was exhausted from keeping the big old house clean. It was like shoveling snow while it was still snowing. Every time she was done in one room, she would move on to the next, only to return to the first room afterwards and find it completely ruined again. Exactly where all this dirt came from, she didn't understand, but there were days she was about to give up, before she even begun. She had begged her husband for a cleaning lady, but there wasn't enough money ever since they had bought this expensive, old house at the beach. Marie had often grumbled about it, murmured that if this house was so damn expensive then why is it in such a bad shape, but her husband had told her that it was the location they had paid for.
Marie Lucas hadn't accepted that as more than another of his many excuses for not getting her the help. The truth was that he was stingy and never wanted to spend any money on her or the children. And with the way the housing market was going they were stuck in this place. But Marie never felt good about the house, she never felt comfortable. The house didn't seem to like her either and she was certain it somehow got messed up and dirty on purpose. She had no way of proving this and yes, she knew perfectly well how insane it sounded, but it was as if it made sure to mess up the rooms as soon as she left them, just to annoy her. There was something about this house that made her feel very, very uncomfortable.
But of course her husband Frederik wouldn't listen. He thought Marie was making excuses for being lazy when he came home after a hard day of work and found it a filthy mess. When Marie told him about that terrifying man she had seen in the attic, he laughed and patted her cheek like she was a superstitious child.
But it wasn't superstition. Frederik knew it too, he just wouldn't admit it. He felt it on several occasions, plus he knew very well that Marie never believed in anything beyond what was able to be proven by science. Not until she moved into the house on Lungskyst that her husband bought without even telling her about it.
It was back in the days when Ella was a newborn and Louise was seven, or maybe eight, Marie didn't remember anymore. They had been so happy in their small townhouse in the middle of Karrebaeksminde. Oh how Marie loved that house with its high ceilings and stucco, wooden floors that never were dirty and light white tiles in the kitchen that were so easy to clean, even after the baby smeared mashed potato all over it. Talking about location. Marie always thought their former house had the perfect location especially for a woman on maternity leave from her job as a nurse. She could walk to almost everything. With Ella in the baby-carriage she could go anywhere while Ella napped and she would have time to shop or go to a café with one of her friends and have a coffee and a sandwich.
But then one day - out of the blue, her husband came home one day and told her they were moving. Those were his exact words. "Pack your bags, we're moving."
Startled Marie asked what he meant since she didn't remember discussing moving anywhere. Had he gotten a new job? Had they fired him from the paper or even better maybe promoted him so he had to live in another place, maybe even another city?
But it was none of those. No, he had simply walked past the real estate agency and seen the house in the window. He hadn't been able to take his eyes of it and knew he just had to see it in real life. So he contacted the realtor and she brought him there. Then without even mentioning it or calling his wife to discuss it he signed the papers right there on the spot.
"It was like the house spoke to me," he told Marie afterwards. "The house wanted me to buy it."
Marie cried and cried and begged him to reverse the deal, but she couldn’t change his mind. He always dreamt of living at the beach and that was what they were going to do now.
Marie will remember the day when Frederik first took her to see it till the day she dies. It had without a doubt been very beautiful once, but that was many years ago. Now it was crooked and slightly tilted to the side. The trees and bushes surrounding it were overgrown and it appeared abandoned. It was isolated from the rest of the houses on the island and built closer to the beach than what was allowed now. Marie took one glimpse inside of the hallway, then turned and looked at her husband.
"Please take me home," she begged him. "Please take me back to our own house."
But Frederik would do no such thing. "This is our home now," he said with a gigantic smile. Sometimes she thought he saw something completely different when looking at the house than she did. It was like he couldn't see how awful this place really was.
Now that Marie was staring at the wooden ceilings while her husband slept heavily next to her she realized they should have stayed in that other house, she shouldn't have given in this easily. If they hadn't moved into this godforsaken house she would still have her daughter, and she wouldn't have to be so tired all the time from lying awake all night listening to the sounds of the winds and the house sighing like it was talking to them, like it was warning them.
No Marie was sick and tired of living in this dirty old house, but that wasn't why she was lying awake this night like so many before it. Her eyes refused to shut because she was afraid. Afraid of what this house was going to do to them all if they stayed in it.
A few seconds after the thought left her mind, she got her answer. A sound, a huge crash startled her and she sat up in bed. She shook her husband's shoulder.
He grumbled. "What?"
"There is someone in the house," she whispered.
Frederik moaned. "Oh, not again. I told you sweetie there is no one in the attic, it's just the wind or thunder. There is a storm coming, remember? This is an old house. It's only natural that it has strange sounds coming from the roof. Go back to sleep."
Marie breathed heavily. "But these sounds didn't come from the roof. They came from downstairs."
8
PETER KICKED IN the door with a loud crash. Ivan had been afraid it was too loud and that the noise would alarm the neighbors, but Peter assured him the place was way too isolated for anyone to hear it.
"Plus the winds are really strong tonight, so if anyone heard anything they would just think it was the wind tossing around
a garbage can or something. Don't worry your pretty little head," he said with a big grin. "It's time to paaartay!"
Ivan felt the heaviness of the glove on his hand as he lifted it up and prepared himself for what he was about to do. He still had a nice buzz going from the coke and the booze and it removed the slight feeling of doubt left inside of him, if there had even been any. Ivan was ready for this, it was time.
"Showtime," he said and lifted the glove in the air.
The other boys howled like wolves, and then they walked inside the hall. The house had been beautiful once, no doubt about it, Ivan thought, but it was many years ago. Now it seemed disgustingly dirty and messy. The people living there had to be too lazy to clean it and if there was one thing Ivan loathed it were lazy people. They were all that was wrong with this world, if you asked him (or his late father).
"You do know the story of this house, right?" Michael said.
Ivan looked at him. He didn't.
"Yeah the one about the girl who died?" Peter said and stepped ahead. He was pointing his gun in front of him as they walked. Michael and Ole walked behind Ivan smashing vases and lamps with their baseball bats.
"What girl?" Ivan asked.
"Nothing but folktales and myths my friend," Peter replied.
"But what happened?" Ivan asked. "Was she murdered?"
Peter laughed. "You'd like that, wouldn't you? No it was something about her being really fat and not being able to stop eating. So her parents locked her in the attic to keep her away from food and starve her a little. Just till she lost the weight, you know. It was a long time ago. Maybe fifty or sixty years or something."
"Then what?"
"They forgot about her. Allegedly she starved to death up there."
"They say her soul never left the attic," Michael said making his voice sound creepy.
"So you mean she's still up there?" Ivan asked and stared up the long stairs leading to all the bedrooms. Peter stopped and turned to face Ivan.
"Are you scared little brother?" he asked. He grabbed Ivan by the neck and put the gun under his chin and pressed it against the skin till it started to hurt Ivan. "Cause we can't have scaredypants among us."
Ivan swallowed hard and shook his head, whimpering. "No. Of course I'm not scared."
Peter stared at him, scrutinizing his eyes. Then he smiled and let the gun down. He loosened his grip on Ivan's neck, and then patted him on the back of his head.
"That-a-boy," he said. He started walking towards the kitchen. Michael and Ole continued smashing things behind Ivan. Michael pulled out a knife and stuck it into a painting and ripped the canvas open. Ole took a framed family portrait and smashed it into the floor, then hit it with the bat.
"Feels good, huh boys?" Peter said. "Let out some steam, right?"
"Right!" Michael roared as he ripped open another painting.
Peter stopped at the end of the stairwell. He glanced up, then turned and looked at the people he referred to as his brothers. Ivan moved the knives in the glove, trying to get used to how it felt and trying to imagine what it would feel like once he ripped someone's chest open.
Peter grinned again. "Let's do this," he said.
9
LOUISE LUCAS WAS sound asleep when someone broke into her room. She was in the middle of some weird dream about the big love of her life, Marcus on a motorcycle who she was about to run away with, and she didn't want it to stop. So when the lights were suddenly turned on in her room and the door slammed open, she pulled her covers over her head with a complaining sound, thinking it was her mother telling her it was time to get up.
But it wasn't her mother's gentle hypocritical voice that spoke to her from the door. And it wasn't her soft arm that touched her shoulder and shook her lightly to get her to wake up. No this was much different and at first it seemed more like her dream was taking a strange and unpleasant turn than rough reality.
"Mom?" she said and turned her head.
"No, not mommy," the voice said.
Louise lifted her head and covered her eyes. A flashlight was aimed directly at her and the beam hurt her eyes. "Who are you?" she asked.
The person approached. When close enough the flashlight was turned and a face was revealed. A face covered by a Freddy Krueger mask.
Louise screamed but not for long. An arm stretched out and a gloved hand grabbed her around the throat. She was pushed backwards on the pillow and she felt the weight of the man on top of her.
"Feisty, huh?" he said.
Louise was kicking and tried to find a way to throw a punch that would knock him off. Her head pounded, her lungs screamed but hardly a sound left her body. Nothing but sputtering. It felt like her entire body had become jelly.
Help me, she screamed inside her head. Mom and Dad, please hear me, please run to help me.
But no one came. In those fatal seconds, Louise even wished for her little sister to come for her rescue. Anyone would do at this crucial point.
While she was still gasping for air, the intruder put his masked face real close to hers. She heard him moan close to her ear, the same way her father moaned so many times when he came to her room at night. Louise stared at the mask with terror, feeling her life running out of her. Was this it? Was this all there was for her? Sixteen years of torture? She had been so close, she thought. Only two years from now she could leave home and never have to look back ever again. Louise felt tears in the corner of her eyes. This was not how her life was supposed to end; this was not how it was supposed to go down. She had it all planned out. Sure her mother would grieve for her and that made her sad, but Louise had to get as far away as possible from this house and especially from her father.
She still looked back with dread at the day he came to her room and gave her a pack of birth control pills. At only thirteen she hardly knew what it was and naturally she asked.
"Just to make sure we can still be close without making any mistakes," he said. Later that night he had come to her room like he always did, but this time it was different. This time he didn't just touch her; he didn't just kiss and lick her places, no this time he did the thing. It had hurt like nothing she had ever experienced.
"Lay still you bitch," the voice said in her ear.
Louise struggled while she felt the grip on her throat tighten. "Pl ... ea ... se," she sputtered.
Then she felt the grip loosen a little and she drew in as much air as possible, while coughing and slowly catching her breath. Afraid he might try and choke her again, Louise stopped fighting. The intruder moved his body on top of hers and rubbed himself against her. "I'm not going to kill you ... not yet," he whispered. "You and me. We're going to have some fun first, just the two of us. Would you like that, huh?"
After years of abuse and listening to her father talk like that, Louise knew the only way to be left alone was to play along with their games. She whimpered slightly, and then nodded.
10
BETWEEN CLASHES OF thunder and the sounds of the hard pouring rain, Marie Lucas listened to the footsteps below and heard the wooden floors creaking. First she heard them in the hallway, and then she was certain they entered the kitchen. There were sounds of things being smashed blended with voices. But now it was very quiet except for the footsteps. It sounded like they were in the hallway now. Marie felt her knees became wobbly under her body. A flash of light from a lightening lit up the room momentarily.
Marie had gotten out of bed and was standing by the door, leaning her ear against it to better hear. Looking down she realized her hands were shaking.
"Frederik. I'm serious. There is someone in the house. I hear them talking downstairs, they’re smashing things. It sounds like they're tearing the house apart. You have to do something Frederik."
"Mmm," he groaned.
"Frederik listen to me. I know you never believe anything I say, but this isn't about steps coming from the attic or about strange men in old-fashioned clothes. Someone is in the HOUSE!"
Her husband became
alert all of a sudden, not because of Marie raising her voice at him, but because they both heard a door slam open followed by their oldest daughter scream shortly before she went quiet. Marie didn't know what was worse. The scream or the silence that followed.
"Louise," Frederik said, his voice trembling.
He jumped out of bed, ran to the door, past his wife and opened it. Marie followed behind him.
"Going somewhere?" a voice said as they went into the hallway. In front of them stood two intruders wearing masks, which Marie recognized from the movies she used to watch as a teenager without her parent's permission. Their empty expression caused a shiver to crawl down her spine. Frederik stopped and looked at the gun one of them was holding.
"What do you want?" he asked. "Money?"
The intruders looked at one another.
"I have money," Frederik Lucas continued. "I have money stashed away that I can give to you. As long as you leave us alone, leave my daughter alone."
Marie stared at her husband. "You have money?" she asked. "You've been hiding money from me?"
Frederik gave her a look that told her to shut up. "Not now, Marie, okay? I'm trying to get them to not hurt Louise."
The two intruders laughed.