The warm apple pie tasted heavenly. I drank some wine. Then I looked at him. His eyes had a sadness to them.
"My parents died when my sister and I were only eight," he said. "I guess I find it hard to be close to anyone. I'm too afraid to lose them."
I smiled and put my hand on top of his. The touch made my skin shiver. He had never looked so attractive than he did at this vulnerable moment.
"So you're twins? You and your sister?" I asked. "You said you were both eight when they died."
Christian nodded. "Yes. Yes we are."
"That's nice." I sipped more wine and felt a little dizzy now. Christian smiled his charming smile and I suddenly felt an urge to kiss him.
"So who do you think is the killer?" he suddenly asked me.
"The lobotomy killer? I don't know. But I have a feeling that someone really wants us to think that it's a blond woman."
Christian became serious. "Why would you say that?"
"Wait. Are you only asking because you want a story for your paper?" I asked.
"You got me," he said. "I guess I only took you to dinner to pump you for inside information." He looked at me.
I felt bad. "I'm sorry," I said. "Like I said. I'm not used to dating other journalists."
He smiled. "Well I'll forgive you." He paused. "I was only interested in your opinion. Nothing else. Just making conversation."
"Okay. But if you really want to know then I think it's weird that the killer makes an effort not to leave any fingerprints behind but the last couple of killings they have found hair, long blond hair. It’s a little too strange, if you ask me. Too obvious."
Christian nodded. "You make a good point. But couldn't it just be a coincidence?"
"I don't know. Luckily it's not my job to catch the killer only to write about it and hopefully one day write the article about who it was."
Christian looked at me. Then he lifted his glass and made a toast. "To leaving it to the police to catch the lobotomy killer," he said as our glass touched.
Christian paid for dinner and we started walking along the canal. Huge wooden fishing boats were in the water waiting for dawn to arrive and another work-day to begin.
"There is something that has caused me to wonder about you," I said.
"And that is?"
I looked at him. He smiled again. I adored that smile. "How come you're always so fast to get at the scene of crime? You're always there before me."
Christian laughed. "And I bet you don't like that."
I shook my head. "No, I really don't."
"You're so competitive. Can't stand to lose, can you?"
I chuckled. "I know. It's bad isn't it?"
"A little," he said. "Not your most attractive side."
"But I really don't understand how you can get there so fast from Naestved?"
He paused. He looked at me. "Why Naestved?" he asked. "Ah, I get it. You think I live in Naestved, don't you? Just because I work there."
"Don't you? It would be the sensible place to live. Close to work and everything."
"Sure. But I don't. As a matter of fact I live not far from here. Right up that street up there and to your right."
I laughed. "That makes more sense," I said. "So you must have a police scanner just like we do?"
He smiled. "Yes. You got me. You didn't invent it you know. Many journalists and freelance photographers own them."
"I know." I paused again. "Say how come I haven't seen your name on any of the bylines in the paper yet?" I asked.
Christian smiled and chuckled.
I nodded. "I get it," I said. "Just like Frederik to take credit for the stories himself. He is the laziest journalist I have ever met. Can you believe he never shows up to anything around here? He just writes the stories often based on tips from people calling in or news-telegrams. I know he hates being stuck out here in the countryside writing stories he doesn't think matter to anyone. I bet he makes you do all the work now, huh? That would suit him perfectly fine."
Christian scoffed. "Well it sounds like you know him," he said.
We both walked on in silence. I felt his hand in mine. I leaned on his shoulder. "This is nice," I said.
He stopped. I felt his hand under my chin. He lifted it gently. Then I felt his lips on mine. I closed my eyes. His lips were so soft. His kiss made my skin shiver. I kissed him back. Gently, awaiting, luring him in. Then he became demanding, insisting. He held my face between his hands while he kissed my face, my neck, and my ears. He moaned in my ear, whispered under his breath.
"I want you badly. I want to be inside of you. I've wanted it since the first time we met."
I touched his face while taking my decision. He was shaking. Then I kissed him.
"Let's go to your place," I said when our lips parted.
CHAPTER 35
SHE WATCHED THEM all night. Watched this nice couple out on their first date together. The woman was sitting right behind them in the restaurant overlooking the water. She watched them eat and drink and listened in on their conversation. She couldn't help it. They were so sweet, so horrifically nice. They talked about all kinds of things. They got to know each other really well. He talked about living in Africa and helping children while working for some organization out there. It was so nice, the woman watching thought to herself. The way he cared for other people. That was really admirable.
The woman looked delicate in her dress that she told him her daughter had picked out for her. She was truly a beauty and he was quite the catch as well.
They ate and drank wine till their cheeks turned reddish. Then the man paid the bill, like the gentleman he was, and they left the restaurant amicably chatting and laughing.
The woman followed them as they walked along the canal. They were chatting, holding hands and then they stopped and to her great joy they finally shared their first kiss. She watched them from a distance while they were suddenly all over each other. She enjoyed the desire, the lust that surrounded them. She lived for it, she craved it.
It made her want to kill.
But she had to restrain herself standing there by the canal. This wasn't the time or the place. Her time would come soon, she thought as she followed them up the street towards his apartment. She felt like clapping her hands with excitement as she saw them walk inside the building without locking the door. This was almost too easy. What a pity, she thought. Such nice people.
She followed them up the stairs as they stopped to kiss again. It made her smile and giggle on the inside with pure joy. Oh the expectation of what was about to happen. Oh the pleasure this was going to give her.
The man opened the door to the apartment and their lips hardly moved away from each other as they walked through it. The woman giggled and followed them inside. Then she locked the door behind her while she heard them moan and groan in the bedroom where they were already undressing each other, throwing their clothes on the floor. It was almost unbearably arousing and thrilling for her to watch.
The man was sucking on the pretty woman's breasts and drinking from her lips. He was whispering dirty words in her ears that the woman watching could hardly hear but she knew them all too well. They were all the same. They were moaning and groaning the same words. It was disgusting, but also highly exciting to the woman in the hallway peeking in through the bedroom door that was slightly ajar.
The man was penetrating the woman now and she was moaning with desire, crying out for more and more, wanting him to keep on, go faster, do it harder. The woman watching felt a shiver go down her back, the shiver of extreme pleasure.
The sound of the bodies slamming against each other, the cries from the woman as she neared climax, the wildness of the man, the muscles moving, the sweat that caused their skin to glisten. He became wilder and more demanding. He was riding her now. Holding her hair while entering her, wilder and harder.
Then he exploded inside of her with a scream while the woman screamed out her pleasure and came at the same time.
&nbs
p; The woman watching had to bite her hand to not scream as well and thereby reveal her presence.
When they were done with their act they lay on the bed, still sweating and panting. The woman watching saw them kissing and felt disgust. All that affection meant nothing to her. She liked to watch the act, the raw and pure sex.
Knowing that first act of the spectacle was over she sneaked into the bathroom and crawled into the shower. Ready for the next act she pulled the curtain. In her hand she held her scalpel tight. The other hand covered her mouth so no one would hear her giggling.
CHAPTER 36
"THAT WAS REALLY GOOD," I said gasping for air.
We were lying on Christian's bed trying to catch our breath. Making love to him was incredible, I thought. So passionate, so wild, so ... I ran a finger down his chest. He was perfect. Almost too perfect, I thought. Muscular upper arms, broad chest and big hands. Oh how I adored a man with big hands. I loved it when they could cover mine. And Christian had strong hands. Big, strong hands.
He lifted one of them and let it caress my hair. I felt good at that moment. I didn't think about work or even Julie. It was the most relaxed I had been in years.
"Do you want more?" he whispered.
"Wow. Already ready for more? You're in a good shape," I said laughing. "I’m still exhausted."
"I have been known to have that effect on women," he said with a grin.
I exhaled. Then I grabbed his face and pulled it close to mine. I felt his heavy breath on my face. It smelled good. Everything about him smelled so good. His skin, his hair, even his breath I couldn't believe it. I kissed him to make sure he was real. His lips felt very real. He climbed on top of me while laughing. He held me down with his strong hands.
"Gotcha now," he said still grinning. "You can't run."
I laughed. "I'm not going anywhere," I said.
He paused. Then he became serious. He stared at me.
"What?" I asked. "Did I say something?"
His right eye winked three times before he returned to me. He shook his head. "Sorry," he said.
"Where did you go all of a sudden? You became so distant?" I asked.
He rolled off me and lay next to me on the pillow. We both stared at the ceiling above. "I was just thinking about my sister, sorry."
"Now there's a turn off," I said.
"I know. I didn't mean to. She can just be really controlling you know. She would really resent me if she knew I slept with you on our first date. I could just suddenly hear her, hear what she would say."
"Like what?" I asked.
"Like 'You really blew it' and 'You can't do anything right' or 'She will never stay with you. She'll never be with a guy like you.' Stuff like that." He lifted his head and looked at me. "Don't tell me she's right. Don't tell me that you'll leave after this and I'll never see you again."
I shook my head. Then I touched his face gently. "Sweet, sweet Christian. Of course I would like to see you again. Sleeping with you means I trust you, it means I want to be with you, I want to get to know you more."
Christian exhaled deeply. "Boy am I glad to hear that," he said.
"You shouldn't listen to your sister," I said. "Sounds like she doesn't know what she's talking about. To be frank it doesn't sound like she treats you very nice."
"Well we're twins you know. We can be a little harsh to each other. It's no big deal. It's just that sometimes she gets to me, you know?"
"Sounds really dominant," I said.
"Yeah she can be. Always meddling in my life, telling me what to do. Says it's for my own good, but I get so tired of her." Christian shook his head.
"Sounds a little like my mother," I said and chuckled. "It was like she had nothing better to do than to call me up and tell me all the things that were wrong with me."
Christian looked at me and smiled. "Yes. Exactly like that. You'd think she had enough to do living her own life, right? Why does she have to meddle in mine?"
I kissed Christian on his lips. He tasted so incredible. Then I looked deep into his eyes. Those deep blue eyes. It was like staring into eternity.
"You'll just have to tell her off," I said. "Tell her to stay out of your life. Tell her you can take care of yourself perfectly fine and she has no business meddling."
"You really think that'll work?" he asked.
"Trust me," I said. "I’ve been through it with both my mother and my sister."
Christian smiled and kissed my forehead. Then he got up. "Do you want a beer or something?" he asked.
"I'll take something, if something is a glass of red wine," I said.
Christian smiled his beautiful smile. "Coming right up. I also have some crackers and cheese," he said and got up. "I'll just take a quick shower first."
CHAPTER 37
HE WAS ALONE when he entered the bathroom. The woman watching had butterflies in her stomach when she saw the handle turn and heard him come in. This was it. Now the time had come, finally her hour had arrived. The man closed the door and locked it behind him. The woman watching stared at him while he looked at himself in the mirror and splashed water in his face. He sighed and shook his head slowly like he was in disbelief, like he couldn't comprehend what he was seeing in the mirror.
The woman watched him. He was standing with his head bowed. He dried his face with a towel. The smell of sex was still on his skin.
The woman crept up behind him silently like a snake creeps up on its victim. She held the scalpel tightly in her hand.
"I can't do it," he mumbled and covered his face with his hands.
She smiled then she put her lips close to his ear.
"You have to," she whispered. "You know you have to do it." She placed the scalpel in his hand. "She knows too much already."
The man looked at himself in the mirror. He was standing with the scalpel raised in his hand. Then he threw it in the sink.
"Don't you understand anything?" he yelled. "This is a good thing in my life for once. You always destroy everything good in my life!"
"Shh," the woman hushed with a gentle voice. "She'll hear you."
The man exhaled deeply. "I like her. I really like this one."
The woman scoffed. She wasn't used to this kind of reluctant behavior from her brother. Usually he just did as he was told. But she could manage it. He would cave in eventually. After all she knew him better than he knew himself.
"What does that have to do with anything?" she said. "The only reason you went out with her was to figure out how much she knew. That was the plan. To keep her close so she wouldn't find out about us. She is too dangerous for us right now. She knows way too much. Besides you're falling for her and I can't have that. You'll lose your focus."
The man struck his hand hard on the edge of the sink. "I won't do it!"
"But you have to dear brother," the woman said hissing. "You don't have a choice, remember?"
The man stared at his sister in the mirror. Her mouth moved when his did. The reflection told him that he had to do it, persuaded him with her soft yet persistent words. She had a way of dealing with her brother; she knew exactly how to make him do what she wanted him to. And they both knew she would get her way ultimately.
"I want you out of my life," he said trying his new approach. "I want you to stay out of my life!"
But the sister wouldn't hear of it. He could yell all he wanted to. The brother realized it now. She was never going to go away. She had overtaken him, taken over his body and his mind. She used him whenever she needed him to do something for him. She had reduced him to nothing more than a puppet. A marionette. And she wasn't going to stop until the mission was completed. But even then he wasn't even sure he would be able to get rid of her.
"Please just leave me alone," he pleaded crying. "I think this girl could be the one. I really like her."
The woman in the mirror giggled at him. That annoying giggling laughter filled with self-righteousness and condescension. He hated that sound so much. It was always there wasn't i
t? He couldn't escape it no matter how badly he wanted to. No matter how hard he tried. No matter how many doctors he consulted to help him. It would always be there. She would always be there, right there looking at him in the mirror, giggling, laughing at him, and ridiculing him.
He would have killed her right there in the bathroom in an instant. He would have slit her throat with the scalpel and freed himself of her endless tyranny.
If only she wasn't already dead.
CHAPTER 38
CHRISTIAN TOOK FOREVER in the shower. I thought I heard voices so I got up from the bed and walked to the bathroom door. I knocked.
"Christian. Is everything alright in there?"
It went quiet.
"Are you alright?" I asked again.
"Sure," his voice said. Then there was a fumbling by the door and he opened it slightly and peeked out. He looked confused. His left eye had tics.
"I thought I heard voices," I said. "Who were you talking to?"
He smiled awkwardly and shook his head nervously. "Nobody. I was just singing, I guess."
I glanced inside of the bathroom through the door, but couldn't see anyone. "Oh. Okay," I said. "Do you mind if I go ahead and open the wine?"
He nodded in short sharp movements. "Not at all. Go ahead. You'll find everything in the kitchen."
He closed the door and I went back into the bedroom to find a shirt to cover me up. I was still naked but didn't want to wear my tight dress so I decided to find one of his shirts in his closet. I opened it and started going through his clothes. It didn't take too long before I froze completely. In there, behind all his blue and white shirts I found a dress. A long beautiful blue evening dress. I took it out. Why did he have a dress in his closet? Could it be his sister's? I held it up in front of me and looked at myself in the mirror thinking I would look great in it. It was kind of old-fashioned and the fabric told me that it was an old dress. Then it struck me. I had seen this dress somewhere before. I had seen it in the picture that Sune had taken from the scene of the first murder. There had been a woman standing out in the crowd. A tall blond woman wearing this same kind of blue dress.