"That's easy for you to say," I mumbled while trying hard to see through my front window where the wipers had trouble keeping up with the big piles of snow that kept landing on it blocking my view. Even when I managed to wipe the snow away the visibility in front of me was like zero. I could hardly see the road and tried to focus on just not ending in a pile of snow not being able to get free or even worse hitting something.
Of course that was exactly what happened next.
CHAPTER 27
SLOWLY AND GENTLY Anders Granlund managed to help Mette get back on her feet again. He helped her regain her self-esteem and her trust in people again. With love and understanding he helped her get back to life and soon she even found herself laughing. He could make her laugh.
Anders was only visiting Hungary on his trip around the world visiting different churches, a trip he referred to as his “spiritual journey.” He told her he was trying to find himself and God in a world destroyed by evil forces. Then he taught her what he believed, that evil forces lived in people, often even possessed people and made them sin towards God and do evil things if they weren't stopped, driven out of the body they possessed. Mette had never heard anyone talk like Anders. She found him refreshing and different, and she soon became very fond of him, and later she fell helplessly in love with him, this savior who wanted to save her from herself and the world surrounding her. He told her he was starting his own church in Denmark even if he didn't like the term “church” - he would rather refer to it as a family. Mette had liked that. A family. She had never had much of one and had always dreamt of having her own.
"If you come with me you'll get a big one," he said. "No matter where you come from, no matter what you experienced in your past, we will treat you as family, we will love you."
Mette had really liked the sound of that. So after a couple of months in the center Mette went back to Denmark escorted by Anders Granlund to meet her new family at the camp in Arnakke that they were restoring. At first they were so supportive and helped her in any way they could. She had a hard time staying in small rooms and they let her sleep outdoors since it was summer, at least for a couple of weeks. When it got colder she acquiesced to sleeping indoors in the big spacey common room and finally she felt comfortable enough to sleep in her own room. They were patient with her and very very loving. They even helped her at night when she woke up screaming and when she crumbled by human touch. They taught her that touching could be nice and filled with love.
It wasn't until later she realized that something was wrong. When her new adventure slowly turned into misery. After a while in the camp she realized that they never had anything else to eat other than vegetables and that they were all very weak from not having proper food, and not enough of it. Mette soon learned that it was used as a control tactic by Anders Granlund who now wanted her to call him the Priest and not by his name. He would feed them very little and sometimes drag them out to walk in the middle of the night. Mette remembered how she felt so exhausted she didn't even have the strength to protest when they came to get her. All night long they were forced to walk in circles in the courtyard. Mette loved the priest so much she was willing to endure anything for him. That quickly turned into him demanding her sexual favors which she provided and he returned the favor by letting her increase in rank and soon she was eating meat once a week at his table while the rest of the “family” were stuck with only vegetables.
The priest told them they needed to suffer, to deprive the body of its fleshly desires before they were ready to step up the next level like he had. It was vital for their survival that they fasted. It would starve the evil inside of them and soon it would be forced to leave. Then and only then they would be able to be closer to God. God demanded this of them, she heard the Priest say. The lack of sleep, the starvation and being engaged in intense physical activity during the day soon broke all of the members and Mette saw how they ended up worshipping the Priest and kissing his feet. So did she. Mette had only eyes for him and just the mention of his name could make her shiver. Shiver with a rare combination of fear and delight. The fear of losing him was worse than the fear of his rough treatment of her. Without him to guide her in her life where would she be? What would have become of her? That was why she gave him all of her money when her parents died, that was why she had devoted her life to serving him, to loving him and providing him the pleasure he needed, whenever he needed it. The Priest told her that she was “meant to serve” that it was a way to find “inner peace.”
Mette tried to escape once. That was before she learned how to use her gender and sex appeal to have the Priest give her favors and make her one of the leaders. It was back in the beginning after only a few weeks in the camp when she had grown tired of all the hard work she was told to do. The members had told her to wash six of their cars and her hands were blistering and bleeding from scrubbing, but they told her to continue even if blood was smeared at the cars. So when no one was looking, she ran. Ran towards the exit and climbed the fence. She ran into the street and hid in a vacation house nearby that at the time was empty. Less than half an hour later she saw the six cars she had been forced to wash loaded with church members. They were driving on all the roads surrounding the house and knocking at all the doors, telling people they were looking for someone who escaped a sanatorium, asking if they could search their houses.
It didn't take them more than fifteen minutes to locate Mette. When they brought her back the Priest looked at her disappointedly. Then he locked her in a small closet without food, water or toilet for four days. Mette screamed hysterically for the first two days. Then she went quiet. When they finally opened the closet they found her shaking, covered in her own excrement, broken.
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 back
ed 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 and 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 d
riving 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.