The Key (79 page)

She puts the letter down on his table. ‘Please, look after it for me.’

‘The time has come, hasn’t it?’ Grandpa asks.

Anna-Karin nods, she can’t find the voice to speak.

‘You will do very well,’ he continues. ‘Everything you’ve been through will have prepared you for what is to come. You are ready.’

The light flickers.

‘I don’t feel ready,’ Anna-Karin says. ‘I’m scared.’

‘Don’t you think heroes feel fear? Courage is facing the things you are afraid of.’

He takes her hand and holds it tightly between both his.

‘Today, you will walk into battle. But I’m not worried about you. Not in the slightest. Are you listening to me?’

She meets his eyes. And, in a crystal clear moment, she believes him. She believes him completely.

She is ready.

* * *

Vanessa sits on the floor in Linnéa’s sitting room, leaning back against the wall. The solid, unlit red candles are placed in the corners of the room. The rectangular mirror lies in the middle of the floor, where it has been for the last three weeks.

Linnéa stands at the window smoking a cigarette in the pale sunlight. She has opened the window a crack and is trying to blow the smoke out through the gap. She shivers in the cold wind.

‘You might as well shut the window,’ Vanessa says. ‘The smoke blows straight back in again anyway.’

Her voice echoes. All the furniture has been crammed into Linnéa’s bedroom. It looks like Gym-Lollo’s extreme obstacle course fantasy.

‘I know,’ Linnéa says dully.

Vanessa watches her and thinks about when they prepared for their first séance here. She hadn’t realised that she was in love with Linnéa back then, but Linnéa already loved her.

Linnéa flicks the cigarette out into the blizzard and closes the window, then shivers again. She turns to look at Vanessa and seems to hesitate for a moment before she goes to sit down next to her.

In the kitchen, Mona is sniggering coquettishly at something Nicolaus has just said. Vanessa imagines his posture growing even more rigid. She finds herself wondering if Nicolaus has had sex since the seventeenth century.

‘Are you sure you don’t want to see your mum?’ Linnéa asks.

Vanessa nods. Anna-Karin has gone to see her grandpa and she had wondered herself if she should visit Mum at work. Or drop in at Melvin’s day nursery. But she couldn’t cope with the thought that it would be like saying farewell.

She mustn’t let her fear take over. They will deal with this. Will save the world, will survive and then … never mind what happens then.

They will survive.

Linnéa wraps her arms around herself.

Vanessa is very aware of how close she is. Linnéa’s energy is so strong that it vibrates in Vanessa’s chest. And Vanessa shares her determination.

She wonders if there is a chance for them after they have closed the portal. She has no answer. All she knows now is that she misses Linnéa. And that, if she just reached out her hand a little, she could touch her.

But what would happen if she did? She couldn’t bear it if Linnéa backed away. And, even if she didn’t, all wouldn’t be well. Sooner or later they would hurt each other again. For now, they must concentrate on saving the world.

It would be so much easier if she didn’t want to kiss Linnéa quite so much. Lose herself in her arms. But she mustn’t risk beginning something without even knowing what she really wants.

‘What are you thinking about?’ Linnéa says quietly.

‘Nothing special. What about you?’

‘I’m thinking about Elias.’

Obviously, her mind is full of Elias, her best friend – she had thought of him as dead for two years. Now, she might get to talk with him again.

Vanessa is so glad she didn’t touch Linnéa. The timing would have been terrible.

In the kitchen, Mona cackles loudly.

‘Relax, darling,’ she says. ‘If this isn’t the moment to have a good time, I don’t know what is.’

Nicolaus pops his head round the kitchen door.

‘Linnéa, would you be kind enough to give me a hand?’ he says stiffly.

* * *

Linnéa doesn’t want to get up and go to the kitchen. She is full of Vanessa’s presence and doesn’t want to leave it.

In the kitchen, Nicolaus is stirring ectoplasm in a bowl. Mona stands next to him and pours in iron filings now and then. Her breasts nudge his arm. She grins at Linnéa.

‘I told Vanessa it wouldn’t be a picnic,’ Mona says. ‘But I couldn’t have foreseen quite how chicken you’d be.’

Linnéa is stunned. Then she wonders if Vanessa heard what Mona said.

‘I’ve no idea what you’re talking about,’ Linnéa says.

Mona cackles, then produces her packet of cigarettes.

‘I expected a better comeback from you,’ she says.

Naturally, Linnéa can’t think of a single thing to say. She hates Mona wholeheartedly. And hates herself for letting Mona make her look like a fool.

Mona grins at her before going off to the sitting room to light a cigarette.

Linnéa and Nicolaus exchange glances.

‘That woman …’ he begins.

‘I can’t think how you can resist her,’ Linnéa says.

Nicolaus laughs. It takes her aback completely. She can’t remember ever seeing him laugh before. His teeth are remarkably white, especially given that they’ve been around since the seventeenth century.

‘What can I help you with?’ she asks.

‘Can we speak privately?’ Nicolaus asks quietly and points at his head.

Linnéa nods and releases her power.

There’s something I must tell you
, Nicolaus thinks.
Do you remember the night we opened my grave and I got my memories back?

Hard to forget
, she replies. He smiles faintly.

You and Minoo wondered why I hadn’t opened the grave earlier. I think you said that it would have been ‘pretty useful’ if I had remembered everything when you were called
.

Linnéa nods again. She hasn’t thought about it since, but remembers how weird she thought it back then.

You said you didn’t know
, she thinks.

Nicolaus sighs and pulls his fingers through his hair.
I didn’t want to worry you at that stage. I had planned to tell you. But, that very same night, Matilda told me I had to leave Engelsfors
.

It can’t be good news if he thought it would worry them.

Tell me now then
, she thinks.

The magic that preserved my memories in the grave was also preserving me, allowing me to live for such an unnaturally long time
.

Nicolaus looks as though he hopes he has said enough, that she has understood. But she doesn’t want to take it in.

For hundreds of years, I’ve lived on borrowed time
, he continues.
The repayment will be swift. As soon as the grave was opened, the last of my life energy began to drain away. I only hope that I have enough time left to complete my task as guide of the Chosen Ones
.

The inscription on Nicolaus’s gravestone read
MEMENTO MORI
. Remember you must die
. And Nicolaus did remember.

She looks at him. He seems his normal self – not dying in the least. If anything, he has looked healthier since he came back from his journeys. More alive.

Don’t tell the others
, he thinks.
Not yet
.

The feeling driving his thought is so full of pleading. It is hard to meet his eyes. She feels overwhelmed.

Why tell me?
she thinks.
Why me?

Because you understand what must be done
, he thinks, looking pained.

What do you mean
? she thinks.

I might not have the time to say farewell as I would like to
, Nicolaus thinks.
And if so, you must tell them, Linnéa. Assure the others that I was prepared and that I have felt honoured to be at your side, even though I wish I could have done more to help you. Above all, tell everyone that what I did, I did out of love
.

Linnéa is too shaken to answer, even in her thoughts, and only nods.

She senses Anna-Karin’s energy in the stairwell and hurries out into the hall.

On the landing, Anna-Karin is waiting, together with Rickard and Evelina. And Gustaf.

‘What are you doing here?’ Linnéa says.

She sounds far too harsh, but what Nicolaus has just said has thrown her.

‘Why shouldn’t Gustaf join us?’ Anna-Karin says.

‘Let’s check with Mona,’ Linnéa says, avoiding Gustaf’s gaze.

Four people getting out of their winter kit and shoes in her small hall is more than enough to crowd the space, so she backs into the sitting room.

And almost walks into Mona.

‘Good that you turned up, sweetheart,’ Mona says to Gustaf. She drags on her cigarette. ‘Both the girls were crazy about you. You being here will probably strengthen the connections. I want you to sit on my right.’

She looks at Linnéa.

‘And you on my left. For the laddie’s sake.’

It takes a second before Linnéa realises that Mona means Elias. Her heart starts beating faster.

Mona turns to Rickard and scrutinises him.

‘Well, well,’ she says. ‘So you’re the metal witch? All right then. We’ll draw the circles now. Keep your eyes open and you might learn a thing or two.’

The sun is flooding the room. In the corner, the pale flames of the candles are fluttering. Linnéa’s eyes are fixed on the upside-down glass placed at the centre of the mirror, the edges of which are smeared with ectoplasm.

Linnéa has Mona on her right and she holds on tightly to Vanessa with her left hand. Mona might have put her and Vanessa next to each other to tease them. It would be just like her, but Linnéa is glad she did. Glad to have Vanessa so close.

Because, something will happen. She is certain of it.

From the corner of her eye, she sees Mona lean forward so that her blonde hair hides her profile.

‘We are trying to make contact with three souls,’ Mona says in a solemn voice. ‘Ida Holmström, daughter to Carina and Anders Holmström. Elias Malmgren, son to Krister and Helena Malmgren. Rebecka Mohlin, daughter to Isabelle and Jörgen Mohlin. Are any of you here?’

The glass doesn’t move. The room is as silent as the grave.

Please, Elias, Linnéa thinks. Please Elias, come. Please come. Talk to us. Talk to me.

A slight grinding noise. The glass begins to move. Linnéa presses Vanessa’s hand harder when it stops at yes.

‘Within this circle, we meet with mutual respect and deference,’ Mona continues.

Then she coughs, straight out. An abysmal, slimy wheezing that would scare off the most enthusiastic would-be smoker. Gustaf leans sideway as far as he can without letting go of Mona’s right hand. Mona falls silent. Linnéa feels the hairs on her arms standing up. Across the circle, she meets Nicolaus’s gaze.

‘Hello?’ Mona says.

It sounds like a poor little bleat. She straightens her neck and looks around the room, apparently confused.

‘What’s the matter?’ Linnéa says.

‘It worked!’ Mona says. ‘I’m in her! I’m in Mona!’

She leans forward, looks at herself in the mirror, then turns her head to sniff her shoulder and looks disgusted.

‘Oh my God, she stinks!’

Linnéa stares at Mona. It’s so obvious, but she still can’t believe it.

‘Ida?’

‘Yes!’ Ida says in Mona’s voice. ‘It’s me! You can hear me!’

‘Is Elias here too?’ Linnéa asks.

‘No,’ Ida says.

The disappointment is so bitter that Linnéa can’t speak.

Ida catches sight of Gustaf. Looks down at their clasped hands.

‘Hi, G,’ she mumbles.

‘Hi, Ida,’ he replies uncertainly.

Large tears start trickling down Mona’s cheeks, leaving oily trails of mascara.

‘You guys have no idea how happy I am to see you,’ Ida says. ‘Or, rather,
I
have seen
you
lots of times, but you haven’t seen me. Apart from that one time when you glimpsed me in your mirror, Linnéa.’

It takes a moment and then Linnéa understands. In her bathroom, just before the court hearing.

‘I hadn’t slept for – like – forty-eight hours,’ Linnéa says. ‘I thought I was hallucinating.’

‘Really? Even though you know ghosts exist?’ Ida says crossly. ‘Seriously? You have no idea how frustrating it was for me. I tried to warn you that Olivia is in town.’

‘Olivia is dead,’ Vanessa tells her.

‘Oh,’ Ida says with audible relief. ‘Good.’

Linnéa and Rickard glance at each other. He had wept when she told him what had happened and, since then, they haven’t mentioned Olivia again.

A thin string of ectoplasm dribbles from one corner of Mona’s mouth. Ida lifts the hand that holds on to Linnéa and quickly wipes the white goo off with the sleeve of Mona’s tracksuit. Then she glances at Gustaf to see if he noticed. He has.

‘Where’s Minoo?’ she suddenly asks, looking alarmed. ‘Did Olivia get her?’

‘Minoo is with the Council,’ Anna-Karin says. ‘But we’re going to get her out.’

‘You really should,’ Ida says. ‘All that stuff about the Council circle that you were on about in Kärrgruvan, it seemed so totally wrong.’

‘How often have you been around, really?’ Vanessa asks.

Linnéa wonders, too. How often has Ida been in her bathroom? In her bedroom? In her life?

‘It’s hard to explain,’ Ida says. ‘I’ve sort of jumped back and forth. It might feel like five minutes to me, but for you, months can have passed … what’s the month now?’

‘October,’ Linnéa says. ‘We’re in third year now.’

‘Did you ever watch me?’ Evelina asks her. Rickard looks ill at ease.

‘Mostly, I end up in places that have to do with the Chosen Ones,’ Ida says.

‘Because of the bond between you.’ Nicolaus nods thoughtfully. ‘It’s only natural.’

‘Natural?’ Ida sneers. ‘There isn’t anything natural about it.’

‘Where is Elias?’ Linnéa asks, because she needs to know now.

‘He is waiting for me in the Borderland. I’ve only found him quite recently. Or, well, recently for me but … everything is so different when you’re dead.’

There are so many questions that Linnéa wants to ask, so much she wants an answer to that she doesn’t know where to begin.