A cloth, yes that was it. It had been a white cloth. It had smelled horrible. He had put it over her mouth. Susanne spat on the floor thinking about the horrendous taste it had left her with. She needed something to drink. She was so thirsty. But most of all, she needed to get back to her children.
What if Malthe is still sitting in the car in the parking lot? Oh my god, he must be so scared. I need to get back. What time is it? I need to pick up Christine. How do I get out of here? Where am I?
"Hello?" she said. "Is there anyone here?"
There was a sound from above. Susanne gasped. It certainly didn't sound human. Susanne reached out and her hand hit something that felt like a net. Her heart dropped.
What was this place? A panic spread quickly in her body. Her hands were shivering. Had that guy brought her here? Had he put her in some kind of cage?
Shivering and panting, Susanne felt her way along the net. It didn't take her long to feel her way around. This was definitely a cage of some sort. She hit the ceiling that was also a wired net of some sort. A loud sound startled her and made her throw herself to the ground with her face on the newspapers.
What was that? It sounded like an animal? Like an animal screaming? Was that? Could it be?
Susanne breathed heavily, trying to lie completely still. Whatever it was that was in there with her, she needed to stay away from it. The animal screamed again. Susanne slowly realized that there was more than one animal and they weren't staying in one place anymore. They were flying all over the cage.
Bats.
Susanne whimpered when one flew really close to her head. She felt the draft from its wings as it passed her with a high pitched cry. A few seconds after, it happened again, and this time it managed to grab her hair. Susanne screamed as it pulled her hair with its claws and a huge clump was pulled out. She tried to protect herself by hitting into the darkness with her arms, but the bats were too fast. Then she tried yelling and screaming, but the bats were louder. Suddenly, she felt one on her back. She threw herself around trying to knock it off, but it stayed on. Susanne screamed again when it bit her between her shoulder blades. Another bat flew close to her face and Susanne growled and hit her fist into the darkness, but hit the net instead and made a loud sound. Another bite, this time on her shoulder made her scream, then another followed on her leg and yet another on her arm. Susanne was screaming in distress, throwing her body on the ground trying to knock the bats off of her body.
Finally something happened that provided her with a slight hope. The lights were turned on and the bats all screeched before they flew back onto the ceiling, where they grabbed onto the wire with their long claws and covered their small ugly faces with their wings. Susanne gasped and cried. There were so many of them, it almost made her want to throw up. Her back was pounding and the wounds on her arms were bleeding. Susanne was whimpering as the man she remembered from the day before approached her from the other side of the net.
"Please, help me," she pleaded. "Please, let me out of here."
23
October 2009
THE LETTER CAME in his mailbox. Thomas suspected it might be bad and waited for hours before he opened it. He stared at it on the table with his heart pounding in his chest and his hands sweaty.
The police had been to his apartment twice since the accident in Ellen's yard. Two officers telling him to stay away from the house and from Ellen and her family. On the first visit, they had been nice and talked to him in a harsh, but almost friendly tone. They told him that Ellen and her husband were thankful that Thomas had saved little Gerda, but they wanted him to stay away from now on.
Thomas nodded and told them he would, but when he closed the door he went back to pick up the binoculars and look at Ellen inside the kitchen. She had been cooking lasagna. That was when Thomas knew she didn't mean it. It was his favorite food and she knew that. It was her sign for him, to let him know she didn't want him to stay away; she just had to send the police in order to make her husband happy. Thomas knew the game perfectly well. She still wanted him. She still loved him. All she was telling him was to be more careful from now on.
So Thomas had laid low for a week. He didn't send any flowers and bought no new toys for the children. He still followed Ellen everywhere, but made sure not to be seen. After a week, he thought it was enough and sent Ellen the biggest bouquet the store could provide. He sat in his apartment and watched with great joy when she received them.
Two days later the police came to his door again. This time they weren't so friendly. They called him a creep and a pervert and beat him with their batons. Thomas hadn't been able to walk properly for days afterwards. But it was okay, he told himself. If this was what he had to go through to be with her, then so be it. His love for Ellen was so profound, he would take any beating any day just to be close to her. It didn't matter. He took what he could get. The small signals letting him know she still loved him were enough to keep him going.
Now he was staring at the letter on the table wondering what it said, but not wanting to find out. He sighed deeply and looked at Ellen who was playing in the yard with Gerda. Then he looked back at the envelope. He picked it up and opened it. His arm was still hurting from the beating.
He read the letter, then put it down on the table again. With his heart pounding heavily in his chest, he watched Ellen push Gerda on the swings.
"You're gonna be late, Ellen," he mumbled while a tear rolled across his cheek. "You have to be at the dentist at two, remember?"
Thomas sighed and watched as Ellen realized they were running late for her appointment. Then he turned and looked at the letter again.
Restraining Order, it said with big black letters on the top. So this was how it was going to be, huh? Well Thomas wasn't going to let that stupid husband of hers destroy what he had with Ellen. No, he thought he could stop Thomas from seeing and protecting his beloved, but Thomas wasn't going to give up that easily. Ellen needed him and no man or any piece of paper was ever going to keep him away from her.
While the tears rolled across his face, Thomas picked up the letter and looked at it.
To think that he would play a dirty trick like this. Well, if that's the way you want it, then that's what you're getting.
Thomas shredded the letter, then put it in an envelope and wrote Ellen's name and address on the outside of it. He looked at the letter with great satisfaction. This should let her know. This should comfort her and give her the reassurance that Thomas was always going to be there for her. No matter what happened. No husband, no police or court order was ever going to stop him from protecting her.
No one ever comes between you and me, beloved. No one.
24
November 2013
I DIDN'T WANT to admit it, but I quite enjoyed being treated for once. The lady at the salon cut my hair and put some highlights in. It looked really good once she was done. Sophia didn't enjoy it as much, though. One of her friends in the group, a woman called Susanne hadn't shown up and that worried her senseless. She was walking back and forth in the salon, waiting for it to be her turn.
"Sit down and read a magazine," I said while the hairdresser made sure my hair was cut evenly. "You're making me nervous wandering around like that, biting your nails."
"I just can't understand where she can be?" Sophia said.
"She probably just forgot," another of the women called Lisa said. I recognized her picture from one of the posters I had seen on my way to the salon telling me I needed to vote for her in the upcoming election for City Council.
"But why doesn't she answer the phone?" Sophia said.
"People are entitled to not answer their phone now and then," I argued. "Just because they have a cellphone doesn't mean they have to be available at any hour of the day."
"Maybe Malthe had a rough night," Lisa said, with the same gentle smile that she had on the poster. “Maybe Susanne is simply sleeping, not caring about anything but getting some shut-eye. We all have those kind o
f days."
"That's exactly what we said about Simone," Sophia said and bit down heavily on a finger-nail. "And look at what happened to her!"
Lisa sighed. "We have no idea what happened to Simone or who killed her. Maybe she owed money or something. There is no way for us to know exactly what went on in her life."
"Or it could have been a serial killer who likes to kill mothers with newborn babies," Sophia said.
Lisa burst into laughter. "I have never heard of such a silly thing," Lisa said.
I couldn't help chuckling a little myself. Sophia looked at me like she was hurt. "I'm sorry," I said. "It sounded really funny. Besides you told me yourself that you think the husband did it."
Sophia nodded. Lisa looked at me with a serious face. "Tim? Now that is ridiculous."
Sophia shrugged. She found a chair and sat down. She dialed her phone and tried to call Susanne once again. When there was no answer, she put the phone down. The babies were being looked after in a room next door. I could hear them babbling happily. Sophia exhaled deeply. "Well. I guess I might be overreacting a little. What do you think, Nora?"
The third woman in the group looked up from her magazine. Sophia had told me about her … that she was always so quiet. She hardly ever spoke a word when the group met and Sophia felt like she hardly knew her at all. She was the only one in the group who had gone back to work after only six months of maternity leave, instead of staying out the full twelve months that she was entitled to. It was strange, Sophia had thought, while I explained to her that maybe the woman enjoyed her job and really wanted to get back. But Sophia didn't get that. It was difficult for her to see how anyone would give up six months of fully paid leave with your child. I tried to tell her that not everybody enjoyed maternity leave the way she did.
Nora looked at Sophia with startled eyes, like she had never expected anyone of us to ever address her and now she was afraid of saying something stupid. She had that look like a neglected child and I wondered if she had a husband who abused her or if she had been abused in her childhood.
"I … I … I really don't know," she said. "Maybe Susanne had something else to do today. Or it could be that killer again." Nora forced an insecure smile, then returned to her magazine looking like she hoped we would leave her alone from now on.
"Well that was enlightening," Sophia growled. She picked up the phone and called Susanne once again. This time she left a message.
"Hi Susanne. This is Sophia. We're getting a little worried about you. Well maybe you just forgot or something, but we are at Mirabelle's getting our hair done and afterwards, we’ll go downtown to look for some new clothes. We'll have lunch at our usual café, if you want to join us later. Anyway, give me a call and let me know you're alright, okay? See ya'."
25
November 2013
HE HAD LET her out. Much to her surprise, the strange man had let Susanne get out of the cage and now they were standing in the garage staring at each other. Susanne was wondering what he wanted with her, not daring to ask since the man was pointing his rifle at her. He was grinning from ear to ear while looking at her with menace in his eyes.
This whole ordeal was making Susanne feel scared for the first time in a long time. Usually, nothing ever frightened her. But right now, she was afraid. She was very afraid. Afraid that she was going to die there in that strange garage at the hands of this man, afraid that she was never going to see her children again, frightened for Christine and little Malthe's future without parents. She felt just as scared as she had back when the husband and father of her two children had been in the hospital bed and the doctors had told her that he wasn't going to make it, that he only had a few days left to live.
They had discovered the tumor the week after Susanne had learned she was pregnant with their second child. It was advanced, they said. And it had spread. He died two weeks before Malthe was born. That was the worst part, Susanne always said … That he never got to see his second child.
"Please, sir. I have children," she said now and looked at the strange man. "They have no father. If you kill me, there is no one to take care of them."
The man tilted his head. The bats were making noises in the cage. A chill went down Susanne's back thinking about how they had been all over her body. Her arm and back were hurting. Did she have a fever? Or was it the anxiety? It was hard to tell.
"I'm sure you have someone to take care of them," the man said. "Grandparents?" The man chuckled.
Susanne exhaled. She didn't say anything, but he was right. If she was killed, her mother would take care of Malthe and Christine. No doubt about it. But that was even worse than being orphaned if you asked Susanne. She couldn't do this to her children. She couldn't let them grow up under the same conditions that she had. She had barely gotten out of there with her sanity intact. Susanne felt tears pressing behind her eyes.
"Please, sir. Please, don't do this to me. I beg of you. Let me go. I'll never tell anyone. Have your way with me, rape me if you want to, but please let me see my babies again."
The man stared at her in silence. He seemed to be scrutinizing her, like he was speculating about what she said.
"Please, sir? What do you even want with me? Why me?" she asked.
"Why is not the question. I have my reasons. You have taken something from me and now I'm taking something from you. It's that simple," he said.
Susanne shook her head. "What? What have I ever taken from you? I don't even know you?"
"That might be. But I know you."
Susanne stared at the man, feeling helpless. He was clearly as mad as they come. How was she ever going to talk sense into him? Could he be mistaking her for someone else? She couldn't imagine what it was he was talking about.
"Please sir. I'm sorry if I have done something to you, but I … I have children, for crying out loud. They need me."
"I tell you what," the man said, chewing on a piece of gum. "I'll give you a second chance."
Susanne was startled. What was he saying? Was there hope for her after all? Would she make it out? "I'll do anything you want," she said.
"Good," he said and smiled. Then he leaned over and pushed a button. The wall opened up and a ray of sunlight lit up the room. The garage door opened completely and Susanne gasped when she saw the dirt road that continued into the forest. She looked at the man.
"So what is it you want me to do?" she asked with a pounding heart.
The man grinned, then leaned closer to her face. Susanne gasped in fear.
"I want you to run," he said. "Run as fast as you can."
26
November 2013
LISA COULDN'T FIND rest all day. She had spent the morning at the hairdresser's with her group. All of whom had annoyed her immensely, even that extra woman that the loud-talking Sophia had brought along with her. Lisa knew who she was. She was that author who had written two bestselling books about horrendous things happening on Fanoe Island years ago or something. Lisa hadn't had the time to read them and probably never would, but it was bad to be seen in that woman's company. She wasn't very popular right now among the people on the island even if her books had made Fanoe a popular tourist attraction among the rest of the population. Lisa was upset with Sophia for having brought that woman along and making Lisa look bad in the eyes of her possible voters. It was just so typical of Sophia to never think about anyone but herself.
Lisa hit her fist into the steering wheel in anger and wondered if she should drive past Sophia's and teach her a lesson once and for all. No, there was no time for that now. There was someone else who annoyed her even more. Lisa had been thinking about her all day, not being able to get her out of her head again. Not after what Tim had told her about this woman. How could anyone be so idiotic and selfish as to come on to a married man? And she was even married herself. It was simply not something you did. She should have known better.
Appalling. Inexcusable. Horrendous.
Margrethe was fussing in the back seat while
Lisa drove into her driveway. She parked in the garage and took her baby out. She put her in the playpen while thinking about this woman and how somebody ought to teach her a lesson.
Lisa clapped her hands in joy. Oh, how she would love to be the one to do it. She went into the kitchen and started baking cookies for her family. As she put them in the oven, the telephone rang. She picked it up.
"Yes?"
"Lisa Rasmussen?"
"Yes. Who is this?"
"Per Egon."
Lisa froze.
"Do you know who I am?" he asked.
"I think I do."
"Great then you also know that you don't stand a chance against me, right? I have had my eye on that seat on the City Council that you want for eight years and I'm going to get it," he said. "You might as well pull out right now."
Lisa laughed. It was true that yesterday someone had pulled out of the race for City Council and now there was one seat open. An elderly member had announced that he was retiring. Lisa knew there were two who wanted it, since the rest of the seats were spoken for. Per Egon was a local hero, born and raised on the island, the son of a former very popular mayor, whereas Lisa had just moved to the island. She had all odds against her, but that had never been an obstacle before in her life. Lisa was going to win this no matter what it took.