by Willow Rose
"I think I know what’s wrong with you," Christina said. "You're in love, my friend."
Maya shot up. "No way."
"Way."
Maya groaned. The butterflies in her stomach went nuts like they had only been waiting for her to realize this turn of events. For so long Maya had fought this. She really couldn't let it happen to her, could she?
40
Maria Finnerup sipped her second cup of coffee and glanced at the screen in front of her. She looked down at the papers next to her, then wrote another couple of lines in her report.
The trials the day before had been very fruitful, and Maria knew she might be looking at something big here. Years of research seemed to be paying off at last. She was looking at a very big bonus coming her way.
As a child, she had always held a love for the extraordinary, and even as she grew up and placed all her faith in science, she knew that there was more to this world than what she had seen so far.
It had all started when she was no more than eight years old and she saw a small rock floating in the air on the playground. It had been right in front of her, like it was staring at her, floating about a foot above the ground. Maria had held her breath and then reached out to grab it, but the rock had moved away fast. It had shot through the air like someone was throwing it, and that was when she thought she saw something else. It was like there was someone there, someone who she had later concluded had been holding the rock. But this someone couldn't be seen. As she reached out her hand, she felt something though. It felt like she grabbed onto a person and that person gasped when she did, but a second later, he was gone. As Maria reached out her hand to grab him once again, there was nothing there. Maria told everyone on the playground at her school about it, even the teachers, but no one ever believed her. Even so, Maria knew what she had seen. She knew there was more to this world and she had dedicated her life to figuring out what. That was how she landed the job at Omicon. She had written an article in Science Now about superhumans or the possibility of people visiting from different worlds, parallel universes, people with strength and powers we could only dream of, much to the laughter and mocking of her colleagues. But she had ended up being the last to laugh because that article was how the people behind Omicon discovered her and then contacted her. Now, she had worked at the lab for twelve years and seen things she could never talk about, but things that would absolutely blow people's minds if they ever knew. But they couldn't know. That was part of the job. The secrecy. She could never reveal her research outside the lab's walls, she was told. But, boy, it was hard when people were mocking you publicly. It was tough not to speak up.
Yet there is a lot about your work you don't want to speak about. A lot you don't even want to think about. The things you have done to get to where you are today.
Maria finished her coffee and realized she had to go to the bathroom. She got up from her chair and walked out to the hallway to the women's room, then pushed the door open.
The first thing that hit her as strange was the sound of water dripping. The sound soon turned into something slithering, something big and wet slithering away.
But this sound was no stranger to Maria, and as she rushed inside and found her co-worker on the floor in a puddle of water, her eyes staring wide open at the ceiling, Maria's heart completely stopped. Not so much because she was sad to lose Hanne; no, it was because she knew she could be next.
41
"They work in the same place."
Morten was eating his potato salad and Frikadeller, looking a little distant and only listening to half of what I was telling him.
"What's that? Who does?"
"Are you even listening to me?" I asked and ate another meatball, dipping it thoroughly in the brown sauce.
"Sorry," he said. "Jytte is giving me trouble."
"Now what?" I asked with a sigh.
Morten gave me a look. "Hey. I listen to all your problems with your kids all the time. But, God forbid I even mention my daughter. Of course, my daughter is always the big problem, right?"
I bit my tongue. Me and my big mouth. "Of course, Morten. Of course, you can talk about her. What's going on?"
He exhaled, shaking his head. "I'm sorry. She's just…on my case all the time. She doesn’t feel like I am prioritizing her enough. She says I’m here all the time and she’s lonely at the house."
I closed my eyes for a second. The girl was nineteen; why was that a problem again? Why didn't she have friends she could hang with? But I didn't say any of this out loud, which I was very proud of.
"Maybe you could do something with her soon," I said, secretly applauding myself for being the bigger person. "You could plan a trip together? How about going for a long weekend to Copenhagen and going shopping or something like that?"
Morten growled. "You know I hate that stuff. Plus, I’m swamped at work. We had another death today. Luckily, Allan took it. I couldn't really deal with more dead people."
"Let me guess," I said. "Someone who works at Omicon?"
Morten gave me a look. "As a matter of fact, it was at Omicon, inside the lab. She was found in the bathroom there. How did you know?"
"Well, if you had been listening to what I told you earlier, you’d know I’ve been doing a lot of research today since Brian Mortensen came here and asked for my help. And what I found out is that they both work or have worked for Omicon."
"What do you mean by both?" he asked. "There was nothing strange about Sven Thomsen's death."
"Well, you never had him autopsied, so how would you know?" I asked.
"It wasn't necessary, according to Dr. Williamsen."
"Seriously? You listen to that old geezer now? I mean, I love Dr. Williamsen, don't get me wrong, but what does he know? I bet if you have Sven Thomsen autopsied, you'll realize he died from drowning too."
"He had a weak heart, Dr. Williamsen said. That's enough for me. He had treated him for it and prescribed him medicine. It wasn't odd that the man died. He had been very upset lately with the neighbors, they told us. And the snow and because his daughter had left the island. It isn't exactly rocket science to figure out that his heart couldn't take it anymore."
"But what about the water, Morten, huh? He was soaked in water, and there was a puddle on the floor. I’m telling you, it's not natural what's going on here. I hear it at night. The pipes are banging and rumbling, and then I wake up because there's dripping coming from my bathroom, but as soon as I go out there, it's gone. It disappears back into the drain. I’m telling you, something is going on down there underneath our houses, something strange, and I think that something is killing people."
Morten chuckled and almost spat out his food. "By drowning them? How?"
I leaned back in my chair and sipped my red wine. "I don't know how it works yet, but I’m telling you: Ann used to work for Omicon, and so did Sven. And now you tell me a third person has been killed, inside Omicon. That is the connection. That's what they have in common."
"It's a coincidence," he said and looked away. He didn't want to discuss this anymore; that was obvious.
Because he knew I was right.
42
I was disappointed that Morten didn't decide to spend the night—again. Instead, he decided to go home right after dinner and be with his daughter. They were going to the movies together. He promised me he would be able to spend the night on the weekend, either Friday or Saturday. He told me this as we kissed goodbye. I pulled him close and tried to plant a kiss that he wouldn't forget anytime soon, but it came off as clumsy and awkward instead. I don't know why. I wasn't angry with him or anything. I was still attracted to him. Wasn't I? I thought so. As I closed the door behind him, I wondered where we were going with all this. Was this all there was to our relationship? Eating dinners together? Seeing each other a few hours a day? Wasn't it about time we took it to the next level or at least moved forward? I felt like we were constantly going backward lately.
Were we drifting apart?
> The thought made me shiver, and I rushed into the living room and sat by the fireplace while watching TV for the rest of the evening. I decided to go to bed early, right after tucking in Victor and Skye and leaving Brutus in his usual corner to watch them.
But, of course, I had a hard time falling asleep. I lay awake for hours, wondering about Morten and how tired I was of waiting for him, waiting for us to move ahead. I wanted to. And I had told him that. He wanted it too, he said, but he was afraid of losing his daughter in the process.
I sighed and turned to the side when I once again heard the dripping coming from behind the bathroom door. I stared at it through the darkness, wondering what was going on behind it. As it continued for quite a while, I finally rose to my feet. I grabbed my son's baseball bat that he had never used, then walked to the door and placed my hand on the handle. I realized I was shaking heavily as I pushed the door open with a loud bang.
And there it was.
Right in front of me stood something, something I had no words to describe. A creature, looking like it had grown, emerged out of water. I didn't get to have a really good look at it long enough before it disintegrated in front of my eyes and became nothing but water, a puddle on my floor, a puddle that moved fast into the shower and disappeared down the drain with a loud sucking sound.
I stared at the drain where it had gone through, the bat clutched between my hands, ready to swing it should this strange creature show its clear face again. Meanwhile, I couldn't stop thinking about the eyes that had been looking back at me, even though it was for just a split second. I had looked into them and realized this was no animal. There was a brain and a soul behind this, whatever it was. And it terrified me to the core that it had such easy access to my house.
I fell asleep sitting on the bathroom floor, the bat still clenched in my hands and, as my alarm went off the next morning, I woke up with a shriek and looked around myself with a gasp when my hand touched some water left on the floor. I felt it between my fingers and recognized it as the same I had felt on the floor next to Sven Thomsen. My heart was pounding in my throat as I touched it with my finger, wondering if this monster had also come here to kill me.
I reached down, found the drain-plug, and plugged it in. Next, I continued to do the same to each and every drain in the entire house.
43
It was strange not feeling safe in your own home, staring at every sink in the house as a potential entrance for this monster. While the kids were in school, I kept all the doors closed to the bathrooms, closed the lids on all the toilets, and sat in my kitchen staring at the faucet like I expected it to come out of there any minute now. This slimy, wet creature that could turn itself into a puddle of water at any time.
What the heck was it?
I used my laptop to research this strange phenomenon, but most of what I found was about the creature from that movie, The Shape of Water, and that bore no similarities to my water monster. I sure as heck wasn't going to fall in love with it either.
Maybe it was a snake of some sort?
I looked it up. But water snakes were nothing compared to what I had seen. Seeking for drain monsters resulted in me watching some strange video taken from a drainage of annelid worms. It made me want to throw up, so I closed the lid of my computer and continued staring at the sink.
Sophia came over a little later and brought pastry from the bakery. I served her coffee, and we sat down, but I kept staring at the water inside my cup, wondering if this monster could somehow grow out of it and suddenly emerge in front of us, killing us both.
"Are you not going to even drink your coffee?" Sophia finally asked after our second piece of pastry. "What's the matter with you today?"
"I saw the monster," I said. "Living in our pipes."
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
"You know the noises, the dripping at night, the slithering wet sounds? I saw what it was. Last night. It was in my bathroom. We locked eyes for just a second before it vanished back into my drain. I’m telling you, Sophia, it simply turned itself into water."
"Please, don't tell me you're going to fall in love with it and have weird sex because that scene in the movie was just disgusting. I get sick even thinking about it now."
"Ha-ha. Very funny," I said. "But I’m not making jokes here. I think this water creature is the one killing people on this island. There was another one yesterday, Morten told me. At Omicon. I looked for it this morning, but I can't find anything about it anywhere. Not till I hacked into the police server and read about it. The woman was found inside the bathroom of the lab in a puddle of water. They haven't done the autopsy yet, but my guess is they'll find that she drowned."
Sophia almost spit out her coffee. "Drowned? In a bathroom? That's a sad way to go."
"The others drowned too. Ann Mortensen in her bed. Sven Thomsen in his recliner."
"How do you drown in your bed or recliner?" Sophia asked.
I shook my head. "If a water monster attacks you, I guess anything is possible, right?"
Sophia gave me a look. I could tell she didn't believe a word I was saying. She looked more like she was ready to admit me to a mental institution.
"If you say so."
44
Saturday, I had invited Victor's new friend, Daniel, over for a playdate. It might have been an attempt to get him away from Skye a little, or maybe just me being totally excited about the fact that he had made a real friend. I don't know, but I thought it was worth a try.
The mother brought Daniel over at ten o'clock and knocked on my door. I hurried out and opened it.
"Hello. I’m Emma," I said and shook the mother's hand. I looked at the boy. "You must be Daniel."
The boy smiled shyly. To my surprise, he looked me straight in the eyes when I spoke and, when I reached out my hand to greet him, he shook it. I hadn't expected this since I thought he would be a lot more like Victor and Skye, but this kid seemed very different. His clear and very blue eyes looked up at me.
This kid could be a good influence on my son.
"Come on inside," I said, smiling from ear to ear."
His mother followed him inside and closed the door behind her. Victor and Skye were sitting in the living room like I had asked them to. I had told them not to go into the yard after breakfast like they usually did because Daniel was coming. Victor hardly reacted when I told him his friend was coming over, and I kept asking him if he was looking forward to seeing him, but he didn't answer me at all. Looking at the pretty boy standing next to his mother, I sincerely hoped he could rub off just a little bit on my son.
"Now…Daniel doesn’t like surprises," the boy's mother said, still standing in the hallway, seeming like she almost wasn't sure she dared to leave her son. I knew the feeling. I couldn't stand leaving Victor in new places where you didn't know what might set him off.
"So, please make sure nothing upsets him. Otherwise, call me. I'll be back in an hour."
I smiled and nodded at his mother while looking into her worried eyes. "I will."
The mother stood for a few seconds, shifting the weight on her feet, hand on the doorknob. Then she exhaled and opened it.
"See you in an hour," I said and waved.
As the door closed and the mother disappeared, I turned around and found Daniel standing right behind me. I took his hand in mine and guided him into the living room.
Victor and Skye were sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace, staring into each other's eyes, not making a sound.
"Victor?"
He didn't react.
"Daniel is here."
Still nothing.
"Victor!"
Finally, Victor turned his head. He didn't look up at us but rose to his feet and walked to Daniel. He stood in front of him, his head still bowed. Behind him, Skye was staring at Daniel, and I noticed with concern that her little body was shaking. Daniel spotted her and their eyes locked.
"Do you two know each other?" I asked, surprised.<
br />
Biting his lip, Daniel nodded.
"Really?" I said. "Do you know her name?"
He nodded shyly. "B-3."
I shook my head in wonder. "B-3? What do you mean?"
"B-3," he repeated.
I looked down at him. "Daniel. Where do you know her from?"
He looked up at me, blue eyes growing even wider. "From the place with the cords. The place where no one hears you scream."
And with those words, Daniel let go of my hand, then rushed to Skye and embraced her. I wanted to stop them, I wanted to ask him more questions, but all three of them seemed to soon be lost in some conversation I could never be a part of and, seconds later, they rushed into the yard.
45
I spent the morning sitting by the window, watching the kids playing outside in the snow while researching on my computer. I had read all there was about the disappearance of plumber John Anderson and all there was about the company Omicon and what they did. According to their own website, they were a research lab, testing and developing new treatments for diabetes patients. But what struck me was that I couldn't seem to find any of their research online. No articles about some breakthrough they'd had or were trying to make, no scientific magazine describing their research and work. I told myself that could be because it was top secret or maybe because they hadn't really had any breakthroughs, but there was something about their secrecy that made me curious. So far, three people who had worked there or were working there had died under strange circumstances. I didn't care what Morten said about it being a coincidence. In my book, something odd was up, something I couldn't really put my finger on.
I was pleased to see that the three kids seemed to play well together and the two of them included Daniel just fine. They didn't seem to really play much, though. At least not that I could tell. Instead, it seemed they were communicating with one another and possibly with the trees. Maybe it was just part of some role-play, I decided and returned to my computer.