“What do you want?” he shouted. His tone was unfriendlier than he’d intended. Eileen sobbed.
“I’m sorry! Please forgive me. I didn’t mean what I said.” She forced her way into his apartment and put her arms around him. She tried to kiss him, and he was only able to loosen her grip on him and push her back into the hallway with great difficulty. Her face, stained with smudged makeup, looked terrible, and he felt sorry for her, in spite of her behavior. But all he wanted was that the rest of his neighbors didn’t hear any more of this ridiculous, awkward situation.
“It’s okay.” He tried to pacify her, making every effort to keep his voice calm.
“I’m sorry.”
She stood in front of him, looking at him expectantly. “So, do you want to?” He stared at her in amazement.
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly, and closed the door.
“Loser,” she hissed, and disappeared into her apartment.
Christian didn’t see Eileen in the next few days. Her behavior had taken him completely by surprise. Her mood seemed to change from one moment to the next. First, she yelled at him, then she insulted him, then she regretted her actions and apologized profusely, only to begin insulting him again a few moment later. He didn’t dare to tell Caroline about the episode. He feared that she might misinterpret something that could result in her becoming jealous without reason.
But over the next few weeks, it was impossible for him to avoid Eileen entirely. Each time she saw him, she glared at him angrily, but he suspected that she was about to burst into tears every time. Christian believed that she wanted nothing more than to throw her arms around his neck. However, they didn’t speak during any of their brief meetings.
Their relationship had become unbearable, and because of all the things Eileen had said, it had lost its innocence too. He asked himself how she was earning a living now, because she hadn’t had any callers for a long time. Usually, he heard her every time she left her apartment, but he couldn’t remember her having gone out at all in the last few weeks.
The behavior of the other residents was also unremarkable. Paul Flakers was nowhere to be seen or heard. He could have been lying dead in his apartment, and nobody would have noticed. Most signs of life came from the Klines. He heard footsteps and the pattering of little feet from their apartment, but they only ever left their apartment with Derek Dagger, who lived next door to them, and seemed to have a very close relationship with them.
Although he had been living there for quite some time now, Christian still hadn’t had the opportunity to get to know the Klines better, or to find out anything about their close ties with the ominous Mr. Dagger. He hadn’t spoken to Kyle or Tanya Benton for a long time either. Sometimes, he heard sounds from the stairwell, but he didn’t know whether it was really Tanya crying in the darkness, or rather his imagination playing tricks with him.
He wondered about the expression on Eileen’s face, when he’d said that Tanya was Kyle’s sister. Obviously, she believed that there was a different connection between them, and she couldn’t, or hadn’t wanted to go into any more detail.
Except for the odd cello piece, and the clatter of his cello being laid on the wooden floor, there was no sign of Morton Gould. The building had sunk into a deep state of lethargy.
A few days later – it was a Sunday – Christian found a card from Eileen in his mail box. Besides being filled with self-pity and complaints about how bad things were, it was an apology. He was slightly relieved, and hoped that their relationship would normalize somewhat now. He toyed with the idea of approaching her, but in the end, he was glad that she beat him to it.
He was just taking leave of Caroline, who left for home later that evening, when Eileen’s door opened. She stood in the doorway watching them shamelessly. Caroline greeted her briefly and went down the stairs, as Christian went back to his apartment.
“Do you have a little time for me later?” Eileen asked.
Christian felt dizzy when he heard her words. From the corner of his eye, he saw Caroline making an about-turn on the stairs. She walked up to Eileen.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” she hissed at Eileen. “Save your seductive talk for your clients!” Caroline virtually spat the words out. Caroline glared at Christian and began to descend the stairs once again. While Christian sat on a chair in his kitchen, thinking about what had just happened, Eileen passed out in her apartment. She only came to again in the morning.
Meanwhile, Christian was sitting in his kitchen, thinking about Eileen. He simply couldn’t explain her behavior. Why had she first apologized, only to embarrass him in front of Caroline a moment later? If she was in love with him, why didn’t she just say so, rather than trying to get him into bed repeatedly? At around 11pm, he decided that enough was enough! He stood up and headed for Eileen’s apartment. It was time to get clarity on the matter.
Chapter 21
Extract from a police interrogation protocol. Witness: Christian Shaffner
I needed to do something right away. I didn’t want to risk losing Caroline because of my crazy neighbor. Eileen owed me some answers. She went too far, trying to flirt with me in front of Caroline. I had to act!
I rang her bell, but she didn’t open. I rang again, and again. Still, she didn’t open. I would have heard if she had left her apartment, so I knew she was there. I stood in front of her door for half an hour before I remembered that Eileen had given me a key. I asked myself if I would be breaking in by using the key, but then I decided that in the face of all that had happened I had the right, and it was in fact my duty, to check on her. At first, I thought that the key wasn’t going to fit – that she’d just given me any old key – just to show that she liked me.
I put the key into the keyhole and found that it fit. Then I was inside. It was pitch dark. I called her name softly. I thought she might have gone to bed already, so I didn’t want to turn on the lights. I opened her bedroom door quietly, and saw that she was lying in her bed. I wanted to leave immediately.
“Maria,” Eileen whispered in her sleep. Christian cringed. Her eyes were closed. “Maria, you must go now,” she murmured. Christian stood where he was. Who was Maria? “No. Mommy will be there. Mommy will always be there for you.”
Christian took a cautious step forward. He couldn’t leave her now.
“We can’t see each other anymore. But Mommy will always be there. And you can’t play with Tanya anymore either. From now on, you have to stay with Mommy. You won’t hurt the child, will you? And you won’t tell my parents? Please, I’ll do whatever you want. Maria, you can’t stay with me! You must go now!”
Eileen’s voice became louder, more urgent and Christian wondered if she was still sleeping.
“I’ll say hello to Tanya for you. Now please stop crying. I can’t bear it. Please be good to her. And don’t say anything to my parents! You promised! Goodbye Maria, and please don’t be angry with me. Don’t be angry with me. It’s not my fault! It’s not my fault!” She spoke louder and louder, and in the end, she was almost shouting.
“It’s not my fault! It’s not my fault!”
Christian couldn’t take it any longer. He turned on the light and shook Eileen by the shoulders.
“Wake up, Eileen!” he shouted, almost into her ear. “Wake up! Wake up!”
“It’s not my fault!” she shouted, freeing herself from his grasp. “Where is she? Where is Maria Kline? Where are you? Oh God!” Then she recognized Christian, and everything went very quickly. He took her in his arms and she broke down in tears. She was very upset and shook all over. He stroked her hair gently. “What are you doing in my apartment?” she asked finally. She pulled the covers up to her chin. Christian didn’t answer her question.
“Who is Maria Kline?” he asked. Eileen was crying again, but Christian was determined not to give up. Not now! “Who is Maria Kline?” he asked again.
“I don’t know. I’ve forgotten,” she replied. She repeated herself. “I’ve forgotte
n.” Christian realized that he wasn’t going to get any more out of her, but Eileen had already given a lot away in her sleep.
“It can’t go on like this!” he said, standing up abruptly.
“Forgive me my sins,” Eileen begged quietly.
“What sins? Talk to me! What is burdening you so much?” Christian asked.
“I can’t tell you anything, but there is somebody who can tell you without putting himself in danger.”
“Who?” he asked quickly.
“In recent years, only one apartment in the building has gotten a new tenant.” Christian understood.
That night, Eileen slept in his apartment. The very next day, Christian began to search for his predecessors, H. and S. Cars... He had to find their new address.
He saw Eileen Evans for the last time that morning.
Part Three
Chapter 22
It was no easy task finding out the address of H. and S. Carstens. Christian wasn’t so naïve as to think that he would find it in the phone book or that he could get it from Information. However, one call to his landlord brought the desired result.
But the conversation he had with Ms. Carstens on the phone a little while later, proved much more difficult. Christian had already made some notes in advance, and had thought carefully about what he was going to say, but nothing could have prepared him for the rude, unfriendly reaction from the woman on the other end of the line.
“Hello,” said a smoky voice.
“My name is Christian Shaffner. I’m the new tenant at 22 Meadow Road.” She hung up immediately. Christian wasn’t surprised. He tried again.
“Hello,” said the smoky voice once again, more indignant than before.
“Hello, it’s Christian Shaffner. again.” She hung up a second time and Christian realized that he was wasting his time. He wasn’t going to get anything out of her over the telephone. He tried again, several hours later, but this time, he hid his number. He didn’t want her to be forewarned.
“Hello.”
“I’m going to come to visit you,” Christian said.
“Who am I speaking to?”
“I called this afternoon. I’m going to come by tomorrow evening at about 8 pm.” He knew that he could be risking a 200-kilometer drive for nothing, but he decided that it was worth it.
Chapter 23
The next afternoon, he took off on his journey to visit the Carstens family.
After getting lost several times, he finally turned into a neighborhood of modern-looking houses, shortly before 8pm. The houses, which couldn’t have been more than ten years old, made a secure, orderly and clean impression, quite unlike what he had become accustomed to in the building he lived in.
He stopped in front of the Carstens’ house and got out. The air smelt like rain and boxwood. It was already fairly dark, and the light that shone between the gaps in the blinds gave him a strange, yet cozy feeling.
Then he was standing in front of the door. “Hanna and Simon Carstens,” he read. A few seconds after he had rung the bell, the door opened a crack. It was pitch dark inside.
“What do you want?” asked the same voice that had already refused to speak to him on the telephone.
“I’m Christian Shaffner. I must speak to you. Somebody’s life could depend on it.” The woman made a dismissive, yet somewhat unconvincing gesture and turned away.
“What does that have to do with me?” she asked.
“You lived there too. You can help me.” Christian begged, trying to hold open the door. “You know what I’m talking about.”
“I’ve nothing to say about that house. I told the police everything I know. Now go away and leave me alone. Anyway, everyone knows what happened, but nobody wants to admit it.”
“Nobody wants to tell me anything,” Christian countered, clearly distressed, “and besides, if you didn’t want to talk to me, why didn’t you just go out? You knew when I was coming.” After a few seconds of silence, Hanna Carstens opened the door, and Christian entered the house.
Chapter 24
“You’ve come a long way to see me,” said Hanna, as she led Christian into the living room. Christian noticed that the walls were bare, and he thought that the windows were dirty, but he couldn’t really see in the dim light. The furniture was covered with a visible layer of dust. It reminded him of Paul Flakers’ apartment in an eerie way.
“Two-hundred kilometers,” he answered. “Is your husband also here?”
Hanna didn’t reply. She offered him a seat in the dimly lit room, and sat down herself. She looked at him for the first time. She was very pretty.
“What can I do for you?” she asked in a businesslike manner, as though she was speaking with a realtor, rather than with the person who lived in her previous home.
“Who is Maria Kline?” Christian began with a question that he had asked himself over and over in the car, on the way here. Hanna took a deep breath and leaned back in her chair. She looked up, then closed her eyes, and Christian thought he saw the hint of a smile on her lips.
“Have you seen her?” she asked.
“No,” said Christian.
“Pity! There’s a simple answer and a complicated answer. I’ll give you the simple version first. Maria is Angelica and Sebastian Kline’s daughter.”
Christian was by no means satisfied with her answer. He’d figured that much out already.
“And the complicated answer?” he asked slowly.
“Maria Kline is the reason why that building, where we once lived, and where you live now, became a Dark Place.”
She stood up and took a bottle of sherry from a cupboard in the living room. She put two glasses on the table and poured sherry into them. They drank in silence, but a thousand questions were running through Christian’s mind as he did so.
“A dark place?” asked Christian confused, putting his glass on the table.
Hanna laughed without looking at him, like someone laughing at an old joke that they have suddenly remembered.
“That’s what we called it, and you will probably also do so soon.” Christian still didn’t understand.
“Because it’s so dark there,” she said, “and because somebody made it dark! But it wasn’t Maria Kline.”
Hanna closed her eyes again. “I’m afraid you aren’t going to be able to save Maria Kline...” She poured herself another drink. Her hands were shaking.
“Is she dead?” he asked quickly. Hanna hesitated.
“I don’t know! I hope not! But you need to hear the whole story. It all began seven years ago, when we moved into the dark house. God knows what ever made us move into that neighborhood. I suppose because of work! But, of course, we didn’t call it the Dark House then, although the name suited it, because of the dark and dingy conditions. Besides us, Paul Flakers, Morton Gould and Kyle Benton and his daughter lived in the house. And Eileen Evans. A few months later, two other families moved in. Angelica and Sebastian Kline, and their daughter Maria, with Angelica’s father, Frederick Smith, and Derek Dagger and his wife, Claire.”
Hanna drained her glass, then she continued.
Chapter 25
The landlord had already informed us in writing, that it might be noisy over the next few days, because two families would be moving in at the same time. It seemed a little strange to me, but obviously, he was afraid that all the noise would upset the few tenants he had. But the two families moved in quickly, and without too much upheaval. I met one of the men on the stairs on the first day, while he was busy carrying boxes inside.
“Watch out! Be careful!” he shouted suddenly. I was looking into one of the new tenants’ apartments and walking down the stairs at the same time, and I didn’t notice a box standing on the landing. I tripped over it, slipped, and grabbed the bannister. I managed to get my balance sufficiently, so that I only fell down one step, and not all the way down the stairs.
“I’m Derek Dagger,” said the man who had warned me, as he helped me to my feet again.
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“Hanna Carstens,” I answered, somewhat unsettled from the fall, holding my hand out to him.
“Are you okay?” he asked. “You came down pretty hard!”
“I’m fine,” I said, and wanted to continue on my way immediately.
“Why don’t you come in for a moment?” he asked with a friendly smile. Holding me by the arm, he led me inside the apartment. His wife was busy unpacking boxes.
“This is my wife, Claire,” he said, pointing to the woman in the next room.
“Nice to meet you,” I said.
“Have you lived here long?” Dagger asked.
“No, only for a few months. We had to move here for professional reasons.”
“Really? Me too! What do you do for a living?”
“I work at a travel agency. The office I worked at closed, and I managed to find a new position here. And you?”
“I’m unemployed at the moment. My former company threw me out, and I hope to find something else here.” His wife threw him a look of disbelief, which I caught through the corner of my eye.
“Great,” I said. “Well, I must be on my way.” Derek Dagger stood up and saw me out.
“Come and visit us some time, and bring your husband along,” he said amiably, as they walked down the stairs.
Another family was moving into the other apartment on the same floor at the same time – Mr. and Mrs. Kline, her father and their daughter, Maria. I only saw Mr. Kline two or three times in all. The first time was two days after I’d met Derek Dagger. He was the absolute opposite of his wife, Angelica.
She had both of her feet firmly on the ground. She wasn’t too concerned with her outward appearance, and her skin looked brittle, from too much cigarette smoke. But she still radiated an impression of strength. For a while, she was one of my best friends.
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