by Willow Rose
“What’s that, buddy?” I asked and went to him. He was shaking all over. It scared me.
My heart started pounding, as he repeated the sentence over and over again, just like the other times.
“Is that another quote from the movie?”
Could it be another one? It had to be.
I almost panicked. Somewhere out there, someone was about to get killed, and I had no idea who or where.
“Victor, do you know anything that can help me?” I asked, but he kept repeating the sentence over and over again. That was when I saw it. That was when I saw the big bright light outside of my window.
Oh, my God. My house is on fire!
The heat was suddenly unbearable; flames were licking the side of the house. I grabbed Victor in my arms and, for once, he didn’t complain that I touched him. He let me carry him through the hall and into Maya’s room. I pulled on her arm. “Maya, baby. Wake up. The house is on fire!”
“What?”
“We need to get out now. Run!”
We jumped the stairs, two at a time, and stomped outside, where we threw ourselves onto the grass, coughing and panting. My kids were both screaming, and so was I at the sight of my wonderful house surrounded by flames. Windows were popping, and curtains took the fire inside. I couldn’t believe this. It was like a horrible nightmare.
I heard a voice come up behind me.
“Step aside!”
I turned and saw Jack run into the front yard, dragging a huge hose, much like the ones the firefighters used. He turned it on, and water splashed onto the house and soon killed the fire. My heart was beating fast, as I held my children close, and the fire slowly died out. My only question was, who the hell had done this?
Little did I know, I was seconds from getting my answer.
65
August 2014
I HEARD TURMOIL, and turned my head to see two people on the street outside the neighbor’s house, fighting, yelling, and screaming. I let go of my children and ran to see. I was quite startled by the sight that met me.
It was Steffen Carlsen’s wife and…and Dr. Sonnichsen? What the heck was this? Why was Louise Carlsen wearing a beard?
Dr. Sonnichsen was on top of Louise Carlsen now, sitting on her, holding her down. “Dr. Sonnichsen?” I asked, and approached them.
She was groaning and panting. “She is one strong bastard, a fighter, a typical seven. I saw her. She was pouring gasoline on your house and setting it on fire. I had to stop her.”
I couldn’t believe any of what was happening. Louise Carlsen had set my house on fire? Why?
“I don’t understand…” I said.
“She was trying to kill you and your family,” Dr. Sonnichsen said, sounding annoyed that I didn’t understand.
“But…but why?” I asked.
“Maybe we could ask her that later, like after she’s incarcerated?” Dr. Sonnichsen said, and fought to keep the woman beneath her down.
“I’m sorry. I’ll call the police right away.” I fumbled with my phone, then found Morten’s number and called it.
“I’m sorry, Morten. I really need your help.”
“What’s up?” he said.
“I…I don’t know where to begin. Maybe you should come down here. Someone tried to set my house on fire.”
“I’ll be right there.”
When Morten said that, he meant it. A few seconds later, he was standing in my front yard, putting Louise Carlsen in handcuffs. The woman kept screaming and laughing like a madman. She had definitely lost it.
Morten put her in his van and drove off. I thanked Dr. Sonnichsen, and gave her a warm hug.
“I’m so glad you were here to catch this crazy woman,” I said. “How can I ever repay you?”
Dr. Sonnichsen smiled and bowed her head. “It’s no big deal.”
“What were you doing out here anyway?” I asked.
“I…well, I was just in the neighborhood. I know some very nice people not far from here, and was on my way home, when I saw this person lurking around the house with a can of gas. It looked very suspicious, and when she lit a match, I jumped out of the car and threw myself at her, trying to prevent her from setting the house on fire, but the match fell to the ground just as I did and lit up the house anyway. I couldn’t stop it from spreading. I’m sorry about the damage to your house.”
“It could have been much worse,” I said. “Thanks to you, it wasn’t.”
“I’ll get going then,” Dr. Sonnichsen said, and waved to Maya. “See you tomorrow.”
Maya waved back, and I watched as the hero of the day walked to her car and drove off.
Sophia, who had also come out of her house once she heard all the noise, came over and hugged me.
“My beautiful house,” I said, shedding a tear.
“You can all sleep at my place tonight,” she said. “You can stay there as long as you want.”
Jack came to me and hugged me too. “Thank you so much,” I said. “Without you and your giant hose, my entire house would be burnt to the ground.”
“Y-y-you’re welcome. We don’t have a f-f-firestation on the island, so, many years ago, I v-v-volunteered as a firefighter in case of emergency. Guess today was one of those, huh? It doesn’t look too bad, though. M-m-mostly façade work. Maybe the kitchen will need a little r-r-redecorating and your room upstairs, but that should be all. The rest of the house l-l-looks intact.”
“Thank you. You have no idea how grateful I am.” I kissed his cheek and our eyes met. I smiled, then turned my head and met Sophia’s eyes. She was staring at us, looking like she was frozen. I saw something in her eyes I hadn’t seen before, and suddenly it struck me. I stared at Jack, then back at her.
“Are you guys…?”
Sophia nodded and so did Jack.
“It happened a couple of weeks ago. We didn’t want to tell you until we knew if it was going somewhere, but I guess it is,” Sophia said, walking to him. He put his arm around her shoulders.
I was startled, completely taken aback. But at the same time, so incredibly happy for them both.
“You guys,” I said, with tears in my eyes. “I can’t believe it. That is such wonderful news! And Sophia. I can’t believe you managed to keep it from me for this long.”
Sophia shrugged, while I hugged them both. Guess it was time to let go of the men in my life. Maybe it was about time.
66
August 2014
I MOVED INTO a hotel downtown while they worked on my house. I had made the decision to have my entire kitchen redone, even though the damage from the fire didn’t require it. I wanted a new kitchen, and had thought about it for a long time. It was, after all, the room of the house I spent the most time in. It was my favorite place to be, so it should be nice. It should be up to date and have the newest appliances.
The hotel was nice, and the kids and I enjoyed staying there, pretending to be on vacation.
My parents had told us we could come live with them any time we wanted, but I really needed some time alone with my kids and didn’t want to have to argue with my mom about all kinds of strange little things like we always did.
Every day, I felt so grateful for still having my life and for nothing horrible happening to my children. I couldn’t believe how close it had been.
After a week in the hotel, Morten called me one morning while the kids were in school. I hadn’t heard from him since the night of the fire, so it was quite surprising to hear his voice.
“I thought you’d like to know that we have interrogated Louise Carlsen, and she has admitted to committing all the killings, dressed like her husband.”
“Excuse me, what?” I asked, almost choking on the soda I had just grabbed from the mini-bar. I couldn’t believe what he was telling me. Was she the one? I guess it made sense, when you thought about it. She was very strong.
“But how? Why?”
“Apparently, she wanted to frame him because he was constantly cheating on her, bringing ho
me new women all the time. He was into bondage and stuff like that, and they had a basement filled with equipment that he used to torture her, against her will, she told us. She had no idea how to get rid of him or to revenge herself for all the hurt he had brought upon her, so she came up with the kills. She made the shoes herself, to make sure the police would know it was someone who loved the movie, like Steffen Carlsen, or whatever his name is now, was. She took one of his hairs and planted it on the bed next to Camilla Hermansen. We found everything when we searched the house, the craft table to make the slippers, the glitter and red spray cans. She was dressed like him in a leather vest and a glued-on beard when we arrested her, and we found more clothes like them in the house where she told us they would be, some of them with blood on them. We even found the knife in her closet behind her clothes. I think it’s going to be very easy to convict her fast and put her away.”
“Wow!” I was completely blown away. I guess I should have known when I saw her strange outfit and beard while she was fighting with Dr. Sonnichsen. But it all happened so fast, and she was a mess, and her hair was all over the place. Now, it all made sense, I thought. I couldn’t believe the guy was actually innocent like he had told me. I guess I owed him an apology.
Not really. He’s still a prick, a genuine bastard.
“I know. It’s quite the story,” Morten said. “But, luckily, we got to the bottom of it, and like I told you, she admitted to doing it all by herself, with the intent of framing her husband. We found the remains of what we believe might be her parents in a freezer in the basement. And get a load of this. We found the heart, the brain and the nerve in the freezer as well. Plus, she had just started at RealInvest, the island’s only realty company six months ago as a realtor. It gave her the access she needed to the victims. Plus, she had a very good reason for wanting to get rid of Camilla Hermansen, since she knew she was one of the women sleeping with her husband. Now, I think it’s fair to say, it’s all over. Case is closed.”
“I’m so glad to hear that,” I said. “You must be thrilled. Finally, your life can get back to normal.”
“Well, it’s not going to be normal…” he paused. “At least not without you in it.”
My heart was about to melt. I missed him so incredibly much. “Well…” I had no idea what to say. I held the phone tightly to my ear when there was a knock on my hotel room door. “Hold on, there’s someone at the door. Wait a second; don’t go anywhere. I’ll get rid of them. It might be room service. I ordered some lunch.”
I put the phone on the table and walked to open the door, wondering why they had brought my lunch at ten-thirty in the morning.
I couldn’t believe what I saw standing on the other side of the door. It was Steffen Carlsen.
67
August 2014
“WHAT THE HELL do you want?” I asked.
He looked even more obnoxious than the last time I saw him. Had he come to gloat? To tell me I should have believed him? To have me say that I was sorry? That I was wrong? What?
He didn’t ask if he could be let in, but pushed me aside and shoved his way in.
“Hey!” I yelled after him. “You can’t just barge in here!”
Steffen Carlsen smacked his hands together with a laugh. The door closed shut behind me.
“I’m here to thank you,” he said.
“Thank me for what?”
“For making it all so easy for me. For falling for every trick in the book, for being such a fool. Basically, thank you for being YOU!” he pointed his finger at me and laughed again.
“What do you mean?”
“Ha! You have no idea, do you? You women are so predictable, BOY it’s almost too easy.”
His eyes were flickering, and I wondered if he had completely lost it. He made me feel very uncomfortable.
“You still haven’t told me why you’re here,” I said.
“Ah!” Steffen Carlsen covered his mouth with both hands, and then he moved them and spoke. “It’s almost too EXCITING! See, the plan failed on one account. You were supposed to be dead. You were supposed to be the next victim, the home, and the police were going to find the red slippers in the ashes, and then they would know they had the wrong guy. But, that’s not how it went. Not that I’m disappointed. No, this way is so much BETTER!”
“Plan? What plan?” I asked, while the pieces to my puzzle started to fall into place. “You planned this with her, didn’t you?”
Steffen Carlsen laughed again. “Isn’t it beautiful? Magnificent. And I’m here to share the entire secret with you, Emma, only you. I want to see the look in your eyes when I tell you how I can get women to do anything for me. And I do mean ANYTHING!”
“Like, go to prison for you?” I asked.
“YES! Exactly.”
“So, someone took the fall for you, and admitted to having killed your ex-girlfriend and her sons? You convinced her to take the fall?”
“She suggested it on her own. She had been writing letters to me during the trial. She told me she would die for me, that’s how much she loved me. I told her she could do something almost as good. From there on, it was easy. I just told her where the bodies were buried, and where the bloody axe was that I used to kill them, then she could tell the police, and they would believe it was her. I let her in on every little detail, so they wouldn’t see through it, and she told them she was jealous of my ex because she was in love with me. We went over it again and again when she came to visit. I think, in the end, she actually thought she had done it. She lived the act, so to speak. Isn’t it wonderful?”
“And, so Louise, your wife, did the same?”
“That woman loves me more than anyone. See, I found out what she really likes.” Steffen Carlsen approached me and pushed me up against the wall. It hurt my back and I had the air knocked out of me.
“See, she liked it hard. She liked the pain. And I loved watching her in pain. Just like I like watching you in pain right now,” he said, and grabbed me around my throat. I spurted and gasped for air.
“Please…let…me…go.”
“Tsk. You’re not listening, Emma. You need to listen, or you’ll ruin everything. I’m finally spilling the beans here, Emma. I’m telling you everything, just like you wanted me to. I’m telling you I did kill my mother on that night when we were watching The Wizard of Oz. I stabbed her with a kitchen knife again and again, while Dorothy followed the Yellow Brick Road. I was so SICK of her and her many different men. You know what they did to me, Emma? They did awful things to me, things you can’t even imagine and put in your little books. And my mother watched. She never stopped them. So, once when we had gotten a new home and moved for the thirteenth time and we were sitting in the living room watching my favorite movie, she told me she had met someone new, and that he would move in soon. She was so excited. She told me she was in love and promised me that this time it would be different. This one was a good guy. Do you know how many times I’d heard her say that? No, you don’t, Emma. You don’t know what it’s like to be chased around the house, your own home, where you should feel safe as a child, by some man who would beat the crap out of you if he got ahold of you. So, I hacked her into bits and pieces with my axe, while they sang about how they were off to see the Wizard. You know that song, Emma. Oh, the wonderful wizard, Emma. You know him, don’t you? He’s truly wonderful. But the best part is still the witch. I loved the witch, and I still cheer for her to be able to stop them, Emma. But she never does. She never stops them from getting to the Wizard. And then she melts. I hate that scene when she melts, and, oh, how I loathe the scream.”
Steffen Carlsen loosened his grip on my throat a little. He looked like he was remembering something. “You know what I did when I was done hacking my mother into pieces?”
I shook my head the best I could while gasping for air.
“I rewound the movie and watched it all over again. I was sitting there in our new living room, with blood smeared all over me, and I watched the movie ove
r and over again, singing along to all the songs. Then, I fed her to the pigs on a nearby farm. I rode there on my bike in the middle of the night with my chopped up mother in a garbage bag. They ate everything, and I enjoyed listening to the sound of her bones crunching. I was accused of killing her, but no one could ever prove it. There was no body. They never found her. Now, how did I get Louise to be in on this? Well, it wasn’t as hard as you’d think, my dear. First, I helped her kill her parents. I told her what to do and when to do it. She needed to be delivered from them. They were only holding her back. She did it while I was in prison. It was beautiful. I told her about anger and how she should let it grow…that it was her friend. Feed the hurt, nourish the pain till it’s strong enough to avenge you, I said. Save it inside of you. Treasure it. And she did it. She stabbed them to death in her own apartment, just because I told her to. It was magnificent. She stuffed them inside that freezer and brought them with her everywhere we moved to. I made her what she is. I created her.”
Steffen Carlsen looked me in the eye. He was tightening his grip on my throat. “They would jump to their death for me, Emma. Do you understand that? Do you understand what kind of power that leaves me with?”
I tried to nod, but he was holding me too hard, choking me. I was begging for my life now.
“Please…” I pleaded.
“No, Emma, dear. You know how all things must come to an end. Even good and fun things. This is your curtain call, Emma. Now that you know everything, you must die.”
His gloved hands were pressing harder now, and I could no longer breathe. I saw light flicker before my eyes and an overwhelming dizziness came over me. In my dying moments, all I could think of was my children. Who was going to take care of them? Michael?
In the distance, in my suffering darkness I heard a well-known song whispered in my ear.
Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up high.
There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby.