Three, Four...Better Lock Your Door (21 page)

Then he exploded inside of her with a scream while the woman screamed out her pleasure and came at the same time.

The woman watching had to bite her hand to not scream as well and thereby reveal her presence.

When they were done with their act they lay on the bed, still sweating and panting. The woman watching saw them kissing and felt disgust. All that affection meant nothing to her. She liked to watch the act, the raw and pure sex.

Knowing that first act of the spectacle was over she sneaked into the bathroom and crawled into the shower. Ready for the next act she pulled the curtain. In her hand she held her scalpel tight. The other hand covered her mouth so no one would hear her giggling.

C
HAPTER 36

"
T
HAT WAS REALLY GOOD,
" I said gasping for air.

We were lying on Christian's bed trying to catch our breath. Making love to him was incredible, I thought. So passionate, so wild, so ... I ran a finger down his chest. He was perfect. Almost too perfect, I thought. Muscular upper arms, broad chest and big hands. Oh how I adored a man with big hands. I loved it when they could cover mine. And Christian had strong hands. Big, strong hands.

He lifted one of them and let it caress my hair. I felt good at that moment. I didn't think about work or even Julie. It was the most relaxed I had been in years.

"Do you want more?" he whispered.

"Wow. Already ready for more? You're in a good shape," I said laughing. "I’m still exhausted."

"I have been known to have that effect on women," he said with a grin.

I exhaled. Then I grabbed his face and pulled it close to mine. I felt his heavy breath on my face. It smelled good. Everything about him smelled so good. His skin, his hair, even his breath I couldn't believe it. I kissed him to make sure he was real. His lips felt very real. He climbed on top of me while laughing. He held me down with his strong hands.

"Gotcha now," he said still grinning. "You can't run."

I laughed. "I'm not going anywhere," I said.

He paused. Then he became serious. He stared at me.

"What?" I asked. "Did I say something?"

His right eye winked three times before he returned to me. He shook his head. "Sorry," he said.

"Where did you go all of a sudden? You became so distant?" I asked.

He rolled off me and lay next to me on the pillow. We both stared at the ceiling above. "I was just thinking about my sister, sorry."

"Now there's a turn off," I said.

"I know. I didn't mean to. She can just be really controlling you know. She would really resent me if she knew I slept with you on our first date. I could just suddenly hear her, hear what she would say."

"Like what?" I asked.

"Like 'You really blew it' and 'You can't do anything right' or 'She will never stay with you. She'll never be with a guy like you.' Stuff like that." He lifted his head and looked at me. "Don't tell me she's right. Don't tell me that you'll leave after this and I'll never see you again."

I shook my head. Then I touched his face gently. "Sweet, sweet Christian. Of course I would like to see you again. Sleeping with you means I trust you, it means I want to be with you, I want to get to know you more."

Christian exhaled deeply. "Boy am I glad to hear that," he said.

"You shouldn't listen to your sister," I said. "Sounds like she doesn't know what she's talking about. To be frank it doesn't sound like she treats you very nice."

"Well we're twins you know. We can be a little harsh to each other. It's no big deal. It's just that sometimes she gets to me, you know?"

"Sounds really dominant," I said.

"Yeah she can be. Always meddling in my life, telling me what to do. Says it's for my own good, but I get so tired of her." Christian shook his head.

"Sounds a little like my mother," I said and chuckled. "It was like she had nothing better to do than to call me up and tell me all the things that were wrong with me."

Christian looked at me and smiled. "Yes. Exactly like that. You'd think she had enough to do living her own life, right? Why does she have to meddle in mine?"

I kissed Christian on his lips. He tasted so incredible. Then I looked deep into his eyes. Those deep blue eyes. It was like staring into eternity.

"You'll just have to tell her off," I said. "Tell her to stay out of your life. Tell her you can take care of yourself perfectly fine and she has no business meddling."

"You really think that'll work?" he asked.

"Trust me," I said. "I’ve been through it with both my mother and my sister."

Christian smiled and kissed my forehead. Then he got up. "Do you want a beer or something?" he asked.

"I'll take something, if something is a glass of red wine," I said.

Christian smiled his beautiful smile. "Coming right up. I also have some crackers and cheese," he said and got up. "I'll just take a quick shower first."

C
HAPTER 37

H
E WAS ALONE
when he entered the bathroom. The woman watching had butterflies in her stomach when she saw the handle turn and heard him come in. This was it. Now the time had come, finally her hour had arrived. The man closed the door and locked it behind him. The woman watching stared at him while he looked at himself in the mirror and splashed water in his face. He sighed and shook his head slowly like he was in disbelief, like he couldn't comprehend what he was seeing in the mirror.

The woman watched him. He was standing with his head bowed. He dried his face with a towel. The smell of sex was still on his skin.

The woman crept up behind him silently like a snake creeps up on its victim. She held the scalpel tightly in her hand.

"I can't do it," he mumbled and covered his face with his hands.

She smiled then she put her lips close to his ear.

"You have to," she whispered. "You know you have to do it." She placed the scalpel in his hand. "She knows too much already."

The man looked at himself in the mirror. He was standing with the scalpel raised in his hand. Then he threw it in the sink.

"Don't you understand anything?" he yelled. "This is a good thing in my life for once. You always destroy everything good in my life!"

"Shh," the woman hushed with a gentle voice. "She'll hear you."

The man exhaled deeply. "I like her. I really like this one."

The woman scoffed. She wasn't used to this kind of reluctant behavior from her brother. Usually he just did as he was told. But she could manage it. He would cave in eventually. After all she knew him better than he knew himself.

"What does that have to do with anything?" she said. "The only reason you went out with her was to figure out how much she knew. That was the plan. To keep her close so she wouldn't find out about us. She is too dangerous for us right now. She knows way too much. Besides you're falling for her and I can't have that. You'll lose your focus."

The man struck his hand hard on the edge of the sink. "I won't do it!"

"But you have to dear brother," the woman said hissing. "You don't have a choice, remember?"

The man stared at his sister in the mirror. Her mouth moved when his did. The reflection told him that he had to do it, persuaded him with her soft yet persistent words. She had a way of dealing with her brother; she knew exactly how to make him do what she wanted him to. And they both knew she would get her way ultimately.

"I want you out of my life," he said trying his new approach. "I want you to stay out of my life!"

But the sister wouldn't hear of it. He could yell all he wanted to. The brother realized it now. She was never going to go away. She had overtaken him, taken over his body and his mind. She used him whenever she needed him to do something for him. She had reduced him to nothing more than a puppet. A marionette. And she wasn't going to stop until the mission was completed. But even then he wasn't even sure he would be able to get rid of her.

"Please just leave me alone," he pleaded crying. "I think this girl could be the one. I really like her."

The woman in the mirror giggled at him. That annoying giggling laughter filled with self-righteousness and condescension. He hated that sound so much. It was always there wasn't it? He couldn't escape it no matter how badly he wanted to. No matter how hard he tried. No matter how many doctors he consulted to help him. It would always be there. She would always be there, right there looking at him in the mirror, giggling, laughing at him, and ridiculing him.

 He would have killed her right there in the bathroom in an instant. He would have slit her throat with the scalpel and freed himself of her endless tyranny.

If only she wasn't already dead.

 
C
HAPTER 38

C
HRISTIAN TOOK FOREVER
in the shower. I thought I heard voices so I got up from the bed and walked to the bathroom door. I knocked.

"Christian. Is everything alright in there?"

It went quiet.

"Are you alright?" I asked again.

"Sure," his voice said. Then there was a fumbling by the door and he opened it slightly and peeked out. He looked confused. His left eye had tics. 

"I thought I heard voices," I said. "Who were you talking to?"

He smiled awkwardly and shook his head nervously. "Nobody. I was just singing, I guess."

I glanced inside of the bathroom through the door, but couldn't see anyone. "Oh. Okay," I said. "Do you mind if I go ahead and open the wine?"

He nodded in short sharp movements. "Not at all. Go ahead. You'll find everything in the kitchen."

He closed the door and I went back into the bedroom to find a shirt to cover me up. I was still naked but didn't want to wear my tight dress so I decided to find one of his shirts in his closet. I opened it and started going through his clothes. It didn't take too long before I froze completely. In there, behind all his blue and white shirts I found a dress. A long beautiful blue evening dress. I took it out. Why did he have a dress in his closet? Could it be his sister's? I held it up in front of me and looked at myself in the mirror thinking I would look great in it. It was kind of old-fashioned and the fabric told me that it was an old dress. Then it struck me. I had seen this dress somewhere before. I had seen it in the picture that Sune had taken from the scene of the first murder. There had been a woman standing out in the crowd. A tall blond woman wearing this same kind of blue dress.

I looked at it a second time in the mirror. Yes it was definitely the same. I had noticed it since it stood out, it wasn't a dress a woman would normally wear walking down the street in Karrebaeksminde. And she had been an unusual woman.

I chuckled and then froze. Could it have been Christian I had seen wearing this dress? I mean I had heard about men dressing up like women to live out a side of themselves that they couldn't normally share with their friends and families. It didn't have to mean that they were gay, and Christian certainly wasn't, I knew that much by now. Transsexualism was the word. Was that what Christian was? A transsexual? I chuckled again. I couldn't imagine him in this dress. Would I be able to live with a boyfriend who was a transsexual and every now and then took a stroll in the street dressed like a woman? I wasn't sure. I shook my head. Maybe I was jumping to conclusions here. I hurried up and put the dress back. I could be wrong; it could after all have been his sister I had seen. Maybe it was her dress and she had forgotten it here or something. 

I found a shirt and put it on. I loved the way it covered my body. Christian was a big guy. I liked that. I really liked him. I put the dress all the way in the back so he wouldn't suspect that I had seen it. Then when I was about to close the closet-door I spotted something else. It made my heart drop. Something was sticking out on the top shelf. I grabbed it and pulled it down. It was a wig. A blond wig. I gasped for air. What was this?

I thought I heard the door to the bathroom open so I hurried and threw the wig back on the shelf. Then I closed the door and walked back to the bed. I had no idea what to think anymore, I thought. Maybe it was about time to go home.

I picked up my stockings and started putting them back on. Then I took off Christian's shirt while wondering what I should tell him. My daughter called? Some kind of emergency? I felt sad. I really liked him, but this was just a little too much right now. I had to have some time to myself and think. I sighed and sat at the bed. The dress felt tight. Probably from all the food I had eaten tonight.

Christian was very quiet in the bathroom. I couldn't even hear the water running. Maybe he was done showering. I exhaled. I had to come up with something to tell him. I decided to go with the “My daughter called and I have to go home to her” angle. It was plausible enough after all she had been through.

My eyes scanned the room while I waited. I spotted a book on the bedside table. I picked it up.
Under the Burning Sun
was the title. I turned it over and read the back cover. My heart stopped. Literally. The book was written by a journalist named Tue Hansen who had lived in Zimbabwe for three years while working for a humanitarian organization. The book was about his experiences and how he had seen an entire village burned to the ground and how the villagers had fled to a church thinking they would be safe there. The attackers had then let the Danish journalist watch as they burned the church to the ground with the people inside of it.

“To let us understand that anything we did in this country was in vain. We might as well go home, they said. We couldn't change Africa,” the text read. I read the last part three times. Those were Christian's exact words. This story was exactly what he had told me, to the very detail, to the word. Even the part about the young boy that he had gotten close to and tried to adopt was in this book.

Was it all just a lie?

I threw the book on the bed. Then I lifted my head and gasped. Christian was standing in front of me. He was wearing blue eye shadow and red lipstick. In his hand he held a scalpel. He was staring at me. Then he began to giggle like a little girl.