Killer's Island

by Anna Jansson

  “Don’t hurt her. She’s your sister, she trusts you.” Anders coughed water between his words, swallowing a good deal, too. If he exerted himself too much he wouldn’t have the energy he needed once he got there. He forced himself to slow his swim strokes, to save his energy in order to give himself a chance of measuring his strength with his son’s. The moonlight fell on the surface of the water, glittering against the knife Roy was holding in his clenched fist just under the surface.

  “Come and get her. Your life for hers.”

  CHAPTER 49

  THE YELLOW HOTEL BUILDING lay in darkness. Only the lights by the parking area gave her some point of reference. Maria heard Erika’s screams, faint and distant, as soon as she stepped out of the car. Maria ran down the hill through the park, taking the path that led to the beach. From the edge of the cliff by Sjöstugan she could already see them, like dark shadows in the water. Roy, Anders, and Julia’s long hair. Erika was also in the water. Maria clattered down the stairs, stumbled, fell, and hit her knee against the stones on the beach. It took a few seconds before the pain hit her. Maria didn’t feel the cold. She surged through the water. When it got too deep she started swimming. Erika was still screaming, her eyes were closed. She only stopped when Maria touched her.

  “What’s happening?”

  “He has a knife. He stabbed me really deep in my leg.” Erika could hardly keep her head above water. Maria hauled and dragged her onto land. The blood was coloring her pants red.

  “Can you move your leg?”

  “No, not my right leg, it hurts too much. You have to help the girl first. Be careful!”

  Julia screamed at the top of her voice. Had the lunatic stabbed her, too? Maria swam out to them at full crawl, then dived under the water. She only surfaced when she needed air. She stopped a few feet away, rubbing her eyes so she could see. Anders was holding Roy’s hand, with the knife in it, and trying to make him come to his senses.

  “She’s your sister. She trusts you.”

  Julia clambered onto her father’s other arm. He tried to keep her away, while at the same time holding the knife at bay. He didn’t have many more seconds. Roy looked as if he were only toying with them. Only now did he notice Maria.

  “Come here, fucking cop cunt, and I’ll slice your stomach open.”

  While he was distracted for a moment Maria managed to snatch the child out of his hands. Anders got a free hand. At the same time Roy lashed out with the knife, grazing Anders’s lower arm.

  “Can you swim, Julia?” Maria felt the current growing strong. She could hardly keep herself from being swept out. With Julia under her arm she swam toward calmer water.

  “I have to help your father. Can you swim?”

  “Yes.” Julia looked terrified, but if she had a task to get on with she might manage it better.

  “When you get back to the beach, help Erika. Tell her the police are on their way, and the ambulance. ”Julia nodded. Maria watched her – she seemed to be doing all right – then dived and swam back toward the other two. Took a mouthful of air and then dived again, so that Roy wouldn’t know where she was. Maybe Anders could also gain some advantage from Roy’s divided attention. Fifty yards away, Anders no longer had the strength to resist. He received a powerful stab in his upper arm and one in his shoulder. The next lunge carried the knife straight through his hand.

  “Nothing’s going to get better by killing me!”

  Roy smiled derisively by way of an answer.

  Only now did Maria meet Roy’s gaze. They were the same eyes that she’d seen in her nightmares these last months. Scornfully he aimed the knife again at Anders. Maria threw herself between them, catching the knife mid-air and being thrown backward as she did so. At the same time as she cut herself, she also managed to twist the weapon out of his hand. The knife sank toward the seabed. Roy also glided back toward the sea, then sank into the water and disappeared. He could reappear at any moment. Maria stared down into the water round her. If he decided to pull her down under the water she wouldn’t stand a chance. Anders was hurt; he wouldn’t have the strength to help her. A slightly lighter nuance in the water and a stream of bubbles showed where Roy was. Maria fought the current. Roy glided away.

  “He’s drowning!” Anders swam after him. Maria couldn’t stop him. “I can’t let him die.”

  “Stop, you won’t manage it. You’ll both drown!”

  Maria felt the force of the water pulling her toward the abyss. She couldn’t do anything right now but fight for her life. The pain in her chest made her eyes blacken. She could no longer see any of them. Then, for an instant, she managed to get her head above water again. In the far distance she heard the sirens of the police cars. And, in the moonlight, a glimpse of Julia and Erika on land. She looked round for Anders and Roy, but they were gone. The next wave pulled her under the water. She swallowed water, and felt her strength waning. She must have air. Her lungs were almost exploding in their hunger for air. By sheer force of will she managed to get up to the surface again. Concentrating on each stroke, her chest paralyzed with pain, she slowly inched away from the edge of the coastal shelf, and was pulled down again, taking in more salt water. Her ears were singing. An angry, shrill note cut her head to pieces. The pressure against her eardrums was unbearable. She was pulled even further down. Maria no longer even knew which direction to swim toward the surface. She must go up. Must have air. Air.

  When she woke she was lying on the beach, in recovery position. She saw the rubber dinghy. And the body carried ashore by the policemen. Erika’s crying was mixed with Julia’s screaming. Maria saw a glimpse of the face.

  It was Anders. His face was pale blue, his lips white.

  “Is he dead?” Julia waded toward the men in the boat. “Is my father dead?”

  Per Arvidsson squatted down and took her in his arms. “Yes, Julia. He is.” Julia let go and ran over to Erika, sitting against the wooden construction of the stairs. She curled up there. Erika grimaced in pain and put her arm round her. “Is he really dead? He can’t be!”

  Erika couldn’t answer. She pressed the child closer to her. Julia’s grandmother stood at the top of the wooden steps. Her aching legs made it difficult for her to make her way down.

  “Did you find Roy?” Maria tried to push herself up on her good arm. At that moment she saw him sitting on the beach, a short distance away, between two policemen, awaiting transportation to the hospital. Maria managed to get up somehow. She had a fit of coughing but she made her way to him. She had to know, she had to see him face to face and hear him say it.

  “Why did you do it? Why did you kill them?”

  Slowly he turned his head, smiling derisively at her pathetic presence and inserting his finger into his mouth like a child. “Because they took my father.” His voice was like a child’s. “That was my dad. Only my dad. But he didn’t give a goddamn.”

  “He saved your life.” Maria saw the lonely little boy in him, and for a moment all the fear and hatred was gone.

  “Yeah, he did.” A big smile spread over Roy’s face. “I don’t get it. Why did he do that?”

  Maria went over to Erika and Julia with a blanket she took from the boat. She swept it round all three of them, and wept.

  Four days later Maria ran into Jonatan Eriksson in the Café Siesta. He had something to tell her, which couldn’t wait until they’d ordered their coffees.

  “You can stop worrying. Roy doesn’t have HIV and there’s nothing in your tests to indicate you’ve been infected.”

  “Thanks.” Maria felt a lump in her throat which she could not quite swallow.

  “How is Julia doing?”

  “She wants to stay with Erika if her grandmother doesn’t get custody of her. No decision has been made yet. I have hopes that things can be resolved for the best.”

  “And you? How are things for you?”

  “They’re okay. But I can’t stop thinking about Roy. Do you think there’s any chance that he can ever be released in
to society again… and function as a normal human being without hurting others? Can someone who gets a kick out of harming others ever be reprogrammed? And what happens if he reaches some insight into the terrible things he’s done? Will he ever be able to forgive himself?”

  “I don’t know, Maria. I really don’t know.” Jonatan put his arm round her and felt her trembling.

  “Just for an instant I saw the child in him.” Maria’s eyes grew moist. “He’s a monster, but in that moment I actually felt sorry for him.…”

  TRANSLATIONS OF STREETS AND PLACES

  Adelsgatan - Noble Street

  Bredgården - The Broad Farmhouse

  Bruna Dörren, Restaurant - The Brown Door Restaurant

  Donnersplats - Donner’s Place

  Fiskarplan - Fishermen’s Square

  Fiskarporten - Fishermen’s Gate

  Galgberget - Gallows Hill

  Hästbacken - Horse Slope

  Hästgatan - Horse Street

  Jungmansgatan - Deckhand’s Street

  Klinten - The Mount

  Klinttorget - The Mount Square

  Korpenområdet - Raven Field

  Kärleksporten - Lover’s Gate

  Lilla Karlsö - Little Karl’s Island

  Louis Sparres Väg - Louis Sparre’s Way

  Norra Murgatan - Northern Wall Street

  Paviljongplan – The Pavilion Square

  Pigstugan - The Maid’s Cabin

  Rostockergränd - Rostock Alley

  Ryska Gränd - Russian Alley

  Sjöstugan - Cabin by the Lake

  Skafferiet - The Larder

  Smittens Backe - Smitten’s Slope

  Specksgränd - Speck’s Alley

  Stora Karlsö - Big Karl’s Island

  Stora Torget - Town Square

  Storvägen - High Street

  Studentallén - Scholar’s Parkway

  Södra Kyrkogatan - Southern Church Street

  Sörviksgården - South Bay Farmhouse

  Tempelkullen - Temple Mount

  Tranhusgatan - The Whale-Oil House Street

  Trädgården, Restaurant - The Garden Restaurant

  Vattugränd - Water Alley

  Wallers Plats - Waller’s Place

  Östercentrum - Eastern Center

  Österport - Eastern Gate

  Östra Tullgränd - Eastern Tollgate Alley