The Key (19 page)

‘And my best friend,’ Linnéa adds.

Vanessa, too, is smiling by now.

‘And then Minoo managed to defeat him. Though he woke up from his coma and came after her to kill her.’

‘For the second time.’ Minoo bursts out laughing because everything is so absurd.

Linnéa is laughing and Vanessa, too, so hard she makes a loud snorting noise that makes all three of them laugh even more.

‘I was freed in the trial,’ Anna-Karin says, and starts smiling hesitantly. ‘But instead the Council sentenced Adriana to execution.’

‘And now the demons are trying to kill us again.’ Linnéa is wiping away tears of laughter.

‘And the only ones we thought we could trust have lied to us all along,’ Vanessa puts in. ‘Or else they’ve vanished.’

‘And it’s more than likely that we won’t even be able to stop the apocalypse,’ Anna-Karin says.

‘Perhaps it’s all been hopeless from the start,’ Minoo splutters between her cackles.

Linnéa is struggling to breathe.

‘But, even so, we’re – like – the world’s last hope,’ she stammers.

They carry on listing everything that has happened since the night of the blood-red moon, as well as everything that the future might bring: all the frightening things, the dangerous and dark secrets. They drag it all out into the light, competing with each other to put their terrors as plainly and brutally as possible.

And none of them can stop laughing.

Linnéa empties the glass of cranberry juice and puts it down hard on Anna-Karin’s kitchen table. She is feeling wiped out, as if she has laughed away half her brain cells.

‘I’m exhausted,’ Vanessa says, as she fills her own glass. She is sitting next to Linnéa.

Minoo nods. ‘Me, too. Is it all right if we call it a night?’

‘Yes, of course,’ Anna-Karin says. ‘Anyway, I think I should think about this a little more. Work out what I should keep and all that.’

Under the table, Linnéa’s foot lightly touches Vanessa’s.

‘There is one thing we must talk about first,’ Minoo says. ‘Rickard.’

‘What about him?’ Vanessa asks.

She takes Linnéa’s hand on the table top and their fingers intertwine. At first, Linnéa wants to pull her hand back, but then she realises that Vanessa hasn’t forgotten about having to be discreet. It’s Linnéa who has forgotten about
not having to
.

Vanessa strokes her thumb across the palm of Linnéa’s hand. Every nerve-ending sends signals criss-crossing Linnéa’s body. She can barely take in what Minoo is saying but, after all, she has already heard it. Vanessa feels what she herself feels, Linnéa can sense it. Sensations zoom back and forth between them, twisting, spiralling …

This won’t do, I can’t concentrate at all
, she suddenly hears Vanessa think at the same moment as she lets go of Linnéa’s hand.

Linnéa comes back to reality, as if she had been in a trance.

‘What do you think we should do?’ Minoo asks.

‘There’s no choice,’ Linnéa tells her. ‘You have to remove his memories.’

Minoo stares at the table top.

‘Wouldn’t it be better if I tried to talk to him first?’ she asks. ‘We don’t know how much he really remembers.’

‘Easy for you to find out if you go into his head and check his memories,’ Linnéa suggests.

‘Hey, go easy on her,’ Vanessa says. ‘Don’t pressure her.’

Linnéa knows that Vanessa is right.

‘I understand that it’s not exactly fun for you,’ she tells Minoo.

Minoo straightens up.

‘No. You don’t understand at all. None of you do. Gustaf was really shocked by what he saw in the gym. When I removed his memories, his shock has become
my
shock. When Max killed Elias and Rebecka … Look, at times it feels as if
I
killed them.’

A chill crawls through Linnéa’s body. It is the first time she has had some insight into what it has been like for Minoo. She remembers what it was like for her, when her own power had just awakened. How it was when everybody’s thoughts were crashing into her head, jumbled and unfiltered. She could hardly stand it. And what Minoo is describing sounds even worse.

Part of Linnéa feels that Minoo should be let off having to go through that process again. But is she prepared to run the risk of Rickard speaking out?

‘If I have to sort out what is inside Rickard’s head, I’ll do it,’ Minoo says. ‘But, please, give me a chance to find out.’

‘I think Minoo should talk to him first,’ Anna-Karin says.

‘Me, too,’ Vanessa agrees.

‘Fine by me,’ Linnéa adds, though she thinks it will be a waste of time.

Minoo looks relieved.

‘I have a feeling I could calm him down. He is just frightened.’

‘I would be, if I were him,’ Vanessa says.

‘I wonder how long it will take for people to grasp what is actually going on here in Engelsfors,’ Minoo muses. ‘So far, they’ve come up with “natural explanations” for everything. Everyone who lost it during the night of the blood-red moon, the problems with electricity and water …’

‘And the weird weather, and the forest,’ Anna-Karin fills in.

‘Yes, exactly,’ Minoo says. ‘But how much more can they explain away? There must be a limit somewhere. And everything that’s happened until now … it’s presumably just the beginning. The intensity of the magic is increasing; the veil that separates the worlds is getting thinner … and then …’

She falls silent. Linnéa is convinced that they are all thinking about the same thing. Matilda’s words.

The final battle will take place within a year
.

Suddenly, it feels impossible to laugh at the apocalypse.

‘Then we will lock that fucking portal and live happily ever after,’ Vanessa says. ‘Right?’

Linnéa can almost believe it when Vanessa says it. Almost.

Minoo smiles.

‘Of course. We are the Circle, after all.’

What little is left of it, Linnéa thinks.

But that thought, she keeps to herself.

Vanessa steps out into the street and draws a deep breath. After too much time spent in Anna-Karin’s flat, the fresh air is cleansing her lungs.

Behind her, she hears the familiar click of a lighter. Linnéa has put a cigarette between her lips and is lighting it, sheltering the flame with her hands.

‘It’s beyond me how you can smoke after being in the flat.’

‘I don’t get it either,’ Linnéa replies and inhales.

They start walking along the street. A swallow takes off from a gutter, plunges down and almost crashes into the road but, at the last second, swoops upwards with a whoosh.

‘It actually feels good that they know now,’ Linnéa says.

‘Yes, it does,’ Vanessa answers.

And she means it: one secret fewer to guard. Though before she understood why Anna-Karin had started crying, she had been scared. The fear was instant, and she understood that it had been there all the time, that she has underrated it.

‘I must tell Evelina,’ she suddenly says, and stops.

‘What? Straightaway?’ Linnéa asks.

‘Yes, now. Is that okay? I’ll come to your place directly afterwards.’

Linnéa drags on her cigarette.

‘Are you worried what she might think?’

‘No. I don’t know. But she has to be told, whatever.’

Actually, Vanessa badly wants to know how Evelina will react.

‘Naturally,’ Linnéa says, and Vanessa senses a smile playing around one corner of her mouth. ‘But, look, you don’t have to ask me when you want to tell somebody. Let’s just do this. For real.’

‘Are you sure?’ Vanessa asks.

‘I’m sure.’

‘You don’t have to ask, either.’

Linnéa smiles sardonically.

‘Who am I supposed to tell? Diana from the social? Olivia, when she comes to kill us?’

Vanessa nearly mentions Linnéa’s dad but holds back just in time.

She moves closer to Linnéa and gives her a kiss. It feels unbelievable to kiss her like this, in the middle of town, where anyone might see them. It’s almost wasteful that no one does; that the streets of Engelsfors are as deserted as ever.

* * *

Minoo is standing in front of the ground-floor board with the names of people who live in the upstairs flats. JOHNSSON is the only entry for the third floor, which is the top floor of the block. There is no lift and she starts walking upstairs. The higher she gets, the stronger the smell of cooking.

They have stuck a small plastic sign on the door.

WE CARE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT! NO JUNK MAIL PLEASE
!

Minoo presses the doorbell. From inside comes a deep male voice.

‘Rille, please answer the door!’

Far too soon, Minoo hears steps in the hall. Before she has had time to get her act together, the door swings open and she is overwhelmed by the smell of frying.

Rickard is in the doorway. Their eyes meet. He tries to push the door shut but she gets her foot in the way. It hurts so much she has to choke back a cry.

‘Please, Rickard, just a quick word.’

‘Who’s that?’ the man calls out from inside the flat. The frying pan sizzles and the smell intensifies. Despite everything, Minoo suddenly feels very hungry.

‘Back in a moment,’ Rickard shouts over his shoulder as he steps out onto the landing. ‘What do you want?’

His hand is still on the door handle. It is obvious that he is frightened.

Minoo keeps her voice as low as she can but, even so, it seems to boom in the stairwell.

‘I don’t know exactly what you saw in the gym that time. And I don’t know exactly what Olivia did to you—’

He interrupts her.

‘I don’t want to have anything to do with you or your friends. Leave me alone.’

‘Can’t we go somewhere, just to talk?’ Minoo asks. ‘Give me a chance to explain in peace and quiet.’

She tries to look as calm and unthreatening as possible. Rickard backs towards the door.

‘We could go to your room if you like,’ Minoo suggests.

Rickard presses the door handle down.

‘OK, fine,’ she says. ‘Think about it. We can talk some other time. And if you don’t want to, don’t worry, I’ll leave you alone …’

Rickard gets back behind the door and retreats quickly into the flat. Minoo hears him lock it and put on the safety chain.

She stands still for a moment while the sound of his footsteps fades.

And if you don’t want to, don’t worry, I’ll leave you alone
…

The lie seems to reverberate in the stairwell.

If he doesn’t want to talk to her, she will have to break into his mind. And then use magic, to alter his memories.

Rickard is absolutely right to be frightened of her.

Belinda, Evelina’s mum, has a green watering can in her hand when she opens the door. She smiles widely when she sees Vanessa.

‘Nessa! It’s been such a long time!’

She lets Vanessa in, hugs her, and manages to splash some water on the floor.

‘We really must stick together now,’ Belinda says in a low voice.

Vanessa only makes a ho-hum noise while she takes off her outdoor shoes.

Belinda has a habit of catching Evelina’s friends practically in the doorway. Especially when she and Evelina have had a row.

‘We simply must work at this together,’ Belinda continues. ‘You’ve heard about Örebro, haven’t you?’

Vanessa doesn’t want to go there. The only thing she knows that connects Evelina and Örebro is that Leo lives there, but she isn’t sure that Evelina’s mum knows about him.

‘Anthony is about to start a new job as a truck driver in Örebro. And now he has told Evelina that she can come and live at his place. Do her last year at school there. It’s typical of him. I am landed with bringing her up, right to the end of puberty, and then, when the worst bit is over, he suddenly remembers that he has an almost grown-up daughter. Nessa, whatever am I supposed to do? I mean, I’m not stupid, I realise that Evelina has got some guy from there, otherwise she wouldn’t even dream of leaving this town and all her friends. Do you know who it is?’

‘Look, I’m sorry but I must …’ Vanessa says.

Belinda sighs and waves her hand hopelessly.

‘Yes, yes. Just say if you want to stay for supper.’

‘Thank you.’ Vanessa escapes to Evelina’s room.

Evelina half lies back on her bed with her bashed-up laptop resting against her knees. Back in junior school, she covered the lid with sticky labels, and last year she had a go at picking them off. Vanessa almost ruined her nails trying to help.

‘One second, I’ll just say bye to Leo,’ Evelina says, without taking her eyes off the screen.

Vanessa sits down on the bed. Looks around the room while Evelina taps on the keyboard.

A string of heart-shaped fairy lights hangs across the window. Michelle and Vanessa bought them for Evelina after she’d been dumped by her last-but-one boyfriend.

A glittery gold top sticks out from the pile of clothes on the chair at the desk. Vanessa borrowed it once. They were going to a New Year party in Sala, the party where she met Isak, the younger guy she had a one-night thing with.

On the wall above the desk hangs a framed photo of Evelina, Michelle and Vanessa on the roller-coaster at Liseberg. Vanessa and Evelina are sitting in the front car. Their arms are stretched up in the air and they are holding hands, hair flying around their laughing, screaming faces.

Evelina snaps her laptop shut.

‘Look, take no notice of Mum,’ she sighs. ‘I get so fucking fed up with her.’

‘Örebro?’ Vanessa asks. ‘Seriously?’

‘I haven’t made up my mind yet.’ Evelina puts her computer on the floor. ‘It would be nice to live with Dad for a bit. And be close to Leo, naturally. But having to start in a new school isn’t so great. Maybe I can stay there just for the weekends. I don’t know.’

‘But why haven’t you said anything?’ Vanessa asks.

Evelina shrugs.

‘Anyway, what did you want to talk about?’

Vanessa looks at Evelina, remembers the many, many times they have been together in this room, exchanged whispered secrets, chewed over problems, teased dirty old men online, planned outfits, tried to concentrate on homework, gone to sleep drunk and wept over guys they never give a thought to any more.