The voices in her dream mixed with a different, louder voice that ripped her from her sleep. One of the blinds was drawn up a bit, so she could make out a silhouette in front of the window. Elvira’s slim figure. There, the voice again, and running steps on the stairs and the sound of a motorcycle starting.
‘What’s going on, Elvira?’
‘Someone is shouting outside the wall.’
‘What?’
She got out of bed and went to the window. The lights were on in the yard and she could see Benny, or possibly Sten, heading for the sentry box on his motorcycle. She opened the window and stuck her head out to see what was going on, and then she heard the familiar voice — the one that had shouted outside a different window, in a different place.
‘Sofia! I know you’re in there. Sofia, come out, for fuck’s sake!’
It was Ellis. That really was his voice. He was outside the manor wall. It was surreal, and for a moment she thought she was dreaming. He couldn’t be there, and yet she could hear his voice so clearly, though it was clouded with jealousy and slurred like an angry drunk’s.
Madeleine was awake now too; she sat up in bed.
‘What’s going on?’
‘This is unbelievable,’ Sofia said. ‘I have to go down there.’
She pulled on her jeans, shoes, and jacket and ran out the door. A sleepy Bosse was standing in the yard. The shouting had stopped, replaced by angry voices outside the gate. It might be the night guard, talking to Ellis.
Bosse shot her an angry glare. Up at the manor, lights came on in several windows and curious faces popped up here and there. She wanted to disappear, to sink into the ground. She backed into the doorway where no one could see her.
‘Stay here!’ Bosse ordered. ‘I’m going to find out what’s happening.’
Sofia stayed put as Bosse walked to the sentry box. She had no trouble hearing the voices — the night was clear and still, and Ellis was still yelling. Benny, who’d been standing guard, was shouting by now as well.
‘I know she’s here, and I’m not leaving before I see her! You lot fucking kidnapped and brainwashed her.’
‘We have no one by that name here. Now get out of here. We’ve already called the police.’
‘I want to see that bastard Oswald too. You can’t stop me from coming in.’
‘Yes, we can. She isn’t here. Leave.’
Bosse returned and whispered angrily to Sofia: ‘Go hide! What’s wrong with you? He can’t see you here.’
It seemed idiotic. Ellis was on the other side of a solid wall, with no way to see in, but Sofia obeyed and slipped through the door of the main building. She wanted to go up to the gate and scream at him to leave her alone. But then she heard sirens and caught a glimpse of blue lights flashing beyond the wall, so she knew the police had arrived. Bosse came running over.
‘So that’s your boyfriend,’ he said, shaking his head.
‘My ex,’ Sofia mumbled. ‘I don’t understand why he’s here. It’s unbelievable.’
‘Yeah, you can say that again. Come on, let’s go back in.’
‘Where did he go?’ Sofia asked as they walked up the stairs.
‘The police took him; they’re going to put him on the morning ferry. But I’m sure he’ll come back if we don’t do something.’
They sat down in Bosse’s office and she spilled everything. How her last semester in Lund had ended in a nightmare when she broke up with Ellis, how he had hung her out to dry online. She avoided mentioning that she’d seen the most recent blog posts, saying instead that she’d heard about them from Wilma. When she was done speaking, Bosse looked at her gravely.
‘You have to fix this,’ he said.
‘And how is she supposed to do that, Bosse?’ a voice came from behind them.
It was Oswald. He was leaning against the wall and observing them. She didn’t know how long he’d been standing there or how much he’d heard, but he was seething with rage.
‘Explain yourself, Bosse. How is she supposed to just “fix” this?’
Bosse looked frightened. He cleared his throat, but Oswald jumped back in before he could respond.
‘For Christ’s sake, I thought it was your job to take care of the staff. Why is it that no one has told me about this? Magnus Strid will be here in just three days, so obviously I have plenty of time to handle it all on my own.’
‘No, you don’t need to do that,’ Bosse said.
‘Yes, I do. Fix it myself, just like everything else around here. Or do you want that idiot to show up and scream at us while Strid is here?’
‘No, I swear —’ Bosse tried. But Oswald walked up to him, grabbed him by the collar, and pulled his face close. There was a cruel gleam in his eyes. Bosse was white as a sheet.
‘You are a bunch of incompetent idiots, you and your little biker gang,’ Oswald hissed, his voice taking on a hard tone Sofia had never heard before. He let go of Bosse’s collar and Bosse fell back into his chair. Oswald turned to Sofia. His voice had returned to normal.
‘You can go back to bed, Sofia. This isn’t your fault. You should have told us all about it when you came, but I’m sure you didn’t know that idiot was still after you. You haven’t been online.’
He must have read the blog.
Seen the pictures.
Fucking hell!
‘Go to bed,’ he said again. ‘I’ll deal with this.’
Sofia didn’t dare protest. There was nothing to say.
She rose and left the room as Oswald continued to scold Bosse.
Madeleine was still awake when she got back to the dormitory, but Elvira was under the covers and snoring faintly.
‘What’s going on, Sofia?’
‘It’s a long story. I’ll tell you tomorrow.’
‘Please, tell me now. Is Franz upset?’
‘I’m the one who messed up. It has nothing to do with you.’
She was sure she wouldn’t be able to sleep after what had happened, but she was completely drained and slipped into deep sleep the moment her head hit the pillow. She didn’t wake up until Madeleine gave her a gentle shake and told her it was time to get up again.
*
She was one of the last to arrive at morning assembly. The staff were restless as they stood in their lines.
‘We’re waiting for Franz,’ whispered Elvira. ‘He’s going to lead assembly today.’
Oswald almost never came to morning assembly, so it could only mean one thing. He was angry with them, and it had to be about Ellis. The knot in her belly tightened. She felt nauseous, exhausted, and terribly unhappy.
When Oswald strode into the courtyard, he looked exhilarated. He had that look in his eyes that meant he held a trump card, which usually resulted in someone getting in trouble before assembly was over. He was carrying a thick folder under one arm. He stood still for a moment, observing them. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop; everyone was staring straight ahead. Like soldiers at attention.
‘Well, I came to ask you how things are going with the projects you were given yesterday. The preparations for Magnus Strid’s visit.’
Nothing but surprised faces.
‘Why the blank looks? Weren’t you assigned projects yesterday?’
He turned to Madeleine, who turned bright red and stared at the ground.
‘Surely Madeleine didn’t go to bed before handing them out to you?’
He knew they hadn’t received their projects, but he wanted to drag it out and make Madeleine feel horrible. And she did.
‘That’s too bad. And here I stayed up late writing them. Magnus Strid is an important part of our plan, as you know. He’s a highly regarded journalist. He’ll write positive things about us. That is, if we take advantage of this opportunity.’
Oswald waved Bosse over and gave him the folder.
‘You hand them out. Make sure everyone reads them right away and gets started.’
Then he turned around and went back into the manor house. Madeleine was still staring down at the ground in shame.
Everyone remained silent until Oswald had vanished through the front door. Ellis had been forgotten for the moment.
Thank God.
The knot in her stomach loosened and she could breathe freely again.
Bosse handed out lists of varying lengths — all she got was a note with a short message from Oswald.
‘The library looks good. Here are some of Strid’s favourite authors. Make sure you have some books by them, and place an order if you don’t.’
Only one of the authors wasn’t yet represented in the library, and she ordered the books online. She had no intention of helping someone else with their project; she was still feeling drained after the night’s incidents. Instead she sat down at the window with a cup of coffee and watched the staff running this way and that across the yard like industrious ants. She thought about what had happened in the night, how Oswald had transformed, threatening Bosse, shaking him by the collar, shouting at him. And how frightened Bosse had been.
On her way to dinner that evening, she spotted Madeleine on her knees, weeding a flowerbed outside the guest quarters. Katarina, the gardener, sat beside her. Madeleine was wearing jeans and a hoodie. There weren’t many weeds yet, so she was yanking at whatever was there. She sneaked a look up at Sofia but quickly looked down again and continued to paw at the bare dirt.
Oswald didn’t come to evening assembly, where Bosse preached about how important their projects were. When it was time to go, he called out to Sofia. She approached him, immediately noticing the peculiar expression on his face: a mixture of worry and triumph. He didn’t say anything for a moment, waiting for the rest of the staff to leave the yard.
‘You’re being assigned a new job, Sofia,’ he said at last.
I don’t know how long I’ve been sitting here.
It must have been hours, because I’m so cold I’m shaking and my teeth are chattering.
Yet my mind is still crystal clear.
Devil’s Rock is swarming with people now. Police, boats, divers.
And of course the usual group of idiots who start drooling the minute they get wind of a disaster. They’re standing there like vultures, staring out at the sea.
The red glow in the sky is gone, replaced by faint blue flashing lights. So the police are on the property. It occurs to me that perhaps I should have cleaned up after myself a little better, but it’s too late now.
I look at the crowd on Devil’s Rock again. All this, for me.
It’s exciting, almost exhilarating, especially the fact that they can’t see me.
But then I spot her. She’s standing at the edge of the cliff with her hands on her hips. It’s impossible to mistake her posture, even at such a distance.
She’s just standing there, gazing out at the water.
Any other mother would go to pieces. Cry and scream.
But not her. She just stands there staring.
Now that I’ve seen her, I have to go.
It’s now or never.
I steal into the forest and find the familiar path to the cottage.
I have transformed into a phantom who wanders in darkness.