Sounds good @andmker! Yeh, you're right, gotta chunk up your story in order to land it here. Looking forward to it. Cheers and welcome back!andmker wrote: ↑Wed Dec 07, 2022 8:02 pmHello everyone
It's been a long time - more than a year, but I'm back. A lot has happened in that time to us all, be it COVID, Brexit, change of jobs, moving to somewhere new (or all of the above). I've slowly (very slowly) been chipping away at my Fan Fiction "Let The Wrong One Out" and I have finally finished (I think). I've rewritten some of the content I have uploaded previously based on a bit more source reading and feed back from you all. I've also split the story in to "Part 1" and" Part 2" for several reasons.
So, check it out below and I hope you enjoy it. The first part I'll upload now, the second part after a bit of tweaking. As always feedback is welcome, and I hope you're all doing well.
(UPDATE: I've just realised that I can't copy and paste 160-odd pages of text from Word into one of these forum boxesI'll get it uploaded as soon as I work out how lol)...
Let The Wrong One Out (Fan Fiction)
Re: Let The Wrong One Out (Fan Fiction)
Re: Let The Wrong One Out (Fan Fiction)
Thanks 
I'll break it down in to chapters and upload them at the weekend.
I'll break it down in to chapters and upload them at the weekend.gkmoberg1 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 08, 2022 3:52 amSounds good @andmker! Yeh, you're right, gotta chunk up your story in order to land it here. Looking forward to it. Cheers and welcome back!andmker wrote: ↑Wed Dec 07, 2022 8:02 pmHello everyone
It's been a long time - more than a year, but I'm back. A lot has happened in that time to us all, be it COVID, Brexit, change of jobs, moving to somewhere new (or all of the above). I've slowly (very slowly) been chipping away at my Fan Fiction "Let The Wrong One Out" and I have finally finished (I think). I've rewritten some of the content I have uploaded previously based on a bit more source reading and feed back from you all. I've also split the story in to "Part 1" and" Part 2" for several reasons.
So, check it out below and I hope you enjoy it. The first part I'll upload now, the second part after a bit of tweaking. As always feedback is welcome, and I hope you're all doing well.
(UPDATE: I've just realised that I can't copy and paste 160-odd pages of text from Word into one of these forum boxes
Re: Let The Wrong One Out (Fan Fiction)
Thank you for giving me something to look forward to andmker! Cheers!
I've nearly finished breaking the first part down into chapters. Have you read my fan fiction before?Re: Let The Wrong One Out (Fan Fiction)
Hey Andmker,
I am at Chapter 6. It is very good!
Re: Let The Wrong One Out (Fan Fiction)
Thats itgkmoberg1 wrote: ↑Sun Dec 11, 2022 12:48 amAhhh... this one!
http://let-the-right-one-in.com/forum/v ... =12&t=9989
I've rewritten some of it, expanded some of it, and written so much more of it lolRe: Let The Wrong One Out (Fan Fiction)
Re: Let The Wrong One Out (Fan Fiction)
Part 1. Chapters 1 to 3
Chapter One
We start in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark and a country recently voted the happiest in the world. More specifically, our story starts at a top-floor flat in an unremarkable drive, in a small housing estate surrounded almost completely by fields. It was a tiny village or hamlet, Oscar could never remember the difference between them. Nonetheless, it was a place that made Blackeberg back in Sweden look like New York in its magnificence. A place found roughly ten miles south of the eventfully exciting aforementioned capital, yet somewhere that a lot of native Danes were unaware of. After all, there was nothing here to demand their attention or to lure people through those fields. Just eighteen almost identical buildings, mostly blocks of flats two or three stories in height, dotted randomly, and a few more traditional detached dwellings.
Oscar had counted them all on his first day here, noting both the differences and similarities between Danish and Swedish architecture. Most buildings looked the same with pressed grey concrete and faded white bricks around the window frames. He enjoyed that one home had been painted a very pale shade of blue. Maybe to stand out from his neighbours or maybe just because he felt cold.
“At least there is a shop,” he reassured himself that first day owing to the complete lack of anything else.
The reality that both he and Eli were in a foreign country was hard to comprehend. Just a few weeks ago, the notion of such would have felt like a dream, or a nightmare. Things had happened, so much so, that he had no time to process them and was still in the mammoth task of trying. Leaving his hometown and his country had however been absolutely necessary. At best he was a missing person and at worst a suspect in the swimming pool bloodbath. That night had started pretty normally and ended with Eli ripping apart multiple people. If she hadn’t, Oscar would most likely be dead. If not that night, then another.
Either way, his photograph would be in every newspaper throughout the country. Oscar had spent enough years reading those newspapers, reading about crimes and murders, reading about those who get caught and those who do not. The golden rule for the latter seemed to be that you don’t hang around. You can’t hide so you should run.
Denmark had seemed like the smart choice. Both Danish and Swedish are very similar in vocabulary just with some differences in pronunciation. One of Oscar’s favourite television programs when he was younger was broadcast in Danish, with subtitles for those who needed it. A rather strange but fun cartoon about a fat, ginger lazy cat who would keep finding himself in troubling situations. Then there was the travel aspect. It was easy to get here the way they needed to get here. Carrying a few suitcases and a trunk that would contain Eli during the hours of daylight, should it be needed. Changing trains on their journey a number of times was unavoidable, as was having to wait around on platforms. Thankfully this could be done without leaving stations or having to walk far on foot.
Eli had done her part, she got them the flat. She had spotted an advertisement in a newsagent’s window upon arriving in Copenhagen Central. She had noticed the ad, he did not. It was almost as if she knew it would be there. Of course Oscar knew that was not possible, just his head overflowing with recent events. After that, all it took was a phone call by Eli to the landlady to secure the tenancy.
“You’re sure that you don’t want to see it first?” the owner enquired strangely.
“Not at all, no need. It is exactly what we require,” she had replied in her most adult sounding voice.
Oscar had smiled at watching her on the phone. Even when she was concentrating, even when she was being serious, she was still beautiful in a goofy sort of way. He looked at the piece of paper in his hand detailing what would be their new home.
‘Top floor with laminate throughout. One bed and one bath. Very clean with good windows. A few pieces of furniture included. Rent is eleven hundred PCM.’
Using his fingers to do the exchange, he worked out that the rent was about fifteen hundred in his local currency. While that seemed reasonable, Oscar wondered if and when money would become an issue. He didn’t know exactly how much Eli had. He doubted that he could find a job to support them. At best maybe something similar to what he had back in Blackeberg, surely businesses here would need someone to distribute flyers. That would bring in some money, maybe enough to pay half the rent each month.
He glanced at Eli making eye contact, the bluest of eyes greeted him. Bright even in this light, but with both pupils narrowed slightly, likes you would expect to see on a cat. As the telephone call was coming to an end, Oscar began to speculate once more how Eli had amassed such a fortune. The old guy robbing his victims, as well as draining their blood for her, was the most pleasing answer. Yet, he doubted that the man could have been killing frequently enough and that all he targeted had full enough wallets to account for it. There was another more disturbing answer that Oscar did not allow himself to entertain. He knew what the old guy was, he knew what or rather who he liked. He knew there were other's like that man around who wanted...Oscar shook his head violently to stop his mind exploring this idea. For all he knew, maybe Eli would be a surprise guest at rich people’s parties. People who knew what she was and wanted to impress their friends by having her perform tricks. Like a magician but a ‘Vampire Magician.’ She could see in the dark, move really fast and silently, climb up walls and scare the crap out of cats. Yes, that was a much more pleasant thought. There was nothing sinister in people wanting to hang around with her just for that.
Oscar suddenly felt a bit sick and dizzy. He thought about his mother, he thought about her going door to door looking for him. Most likely she had spent this time putting up posters with his picture on every tree, wall and lamppost. She would no doubt speculate that one of his customers, that he delivered leaflets to, had abducted him or was in some way responsible. He tried not to imagine what she was feeling and what she would do in despair. Maybe she would keep phoning his father, shouting at him and demanding to know where “her Oscar” was. That would be the first thing she would say when the police arrived. She would somehow try to blame his dad.
Eli was looking directly at him, still continuing to close the conversation on the phone but actually giving him more attention than before. It was if she could sense his sudden change in emotions. Just her gaze reassured Oscar that he had made the right decision. She reached out and softly squeezed his shoulder melting away any uncertainty.
Getting the flat was easy giving Eli’s apparent experience in such matters. She arranged to post the rent each month to the landlady, and to have the keys waiting for them hidden under the bin outside.
“We will be arriving very late, would not want to keep you up. We work long hours during the day so night is always better. It has to be at night, please don’t come during that day.”
Oscar impressed at either the landlady’s trusting nature or Eli’s ability to convince, zipped up his jacket and picked up their cases. After they left the station everything went to plan, other than a few strange looks and questions from the taxi driver who drove them to the apartment flat. Employing some creative carrying to get their luggage up three flights of stairs, they had arrived.
Those opening hours in their new home was the first chance Oscar had to stop and gather his thoughts.
They had tried to kill him.
The night was deadly silent with the view from his new front window was showing nearly nothing in the darkness. An empty car park near the top of the road and a few pale snow dusted streetlamps. It was strange to be somewhere so quiet. Even the other neighbours all appeared to be mouse like. After standing still looking out for nearly an hour, all he had heard was an alarm briefly sounding sharply in the distance and the merry cries of a drunk trying to get home. Whatever noise or lack of such on the other side of the glass did not matter, it was a different world.
Oscar’s head was numb, his thoughts were both unfocused and disjointedly absent. It would take a while to come to terms with everything that happened this week. “They tried to kill me. They would have killed me,” he repeated to himself. To be more precise, they threatened to remove one of his eyes if he did not comply with what they had in mind. His former classmates and Johnny’s older brother had forced him under water in the swimming pool. He remembered being under the surface for two minutes...maybe longer, it didn’t matter. Oscar’s memory was a bit damp at exactly what had happened at that point. He dredged up everything prior to that. How he had been persuaded to attend the weight training class which took place without incident. It was after having a shower, then heading into the pool that things deteriorated. He could just about recall the deal that he had been offered at knife point. They cut out one of his eyes, or if he could hold his breath for three minutes they might just cut him a bit. Whatever way you looked at it, they would have killed him...somehow. They would not have been satisfied otherwise. That is where his memory became strange and dream like in reminiscence.
At the point of blacking out, Oscar felt like he was floating. Not in the water but up into the air. He believed that he had died. He could just about make out the shape of a bloody detached hand dropping below him. There was no longer anyone with a grip on his head. If he was still in the water then that should not be possible. He was suspended in motion, floating for a few seconds before someone or something pulled him out. That first breath he took was like the first breath of life. Pins and needles covered the entire surface of his skin, while his chest felt heavy from the inside. The first thing he saw was blue eyes.
He must have died. That was the only explanation as he was being carried out and away from danger. Someone was carrying him away from the scene and to a safe place. While his memory was still rough from the lack of oxygen, Oscar could recall seeing his tormentor’s dead, in pieces, with blood everywhere.
It was of course Eli who had saved him, and her who ripped the others apart. Oscar laughed a silent laugh within his own head. They must have thought a vengeful Angel had descended on them. As he was being carried out, he heard Tommy sobbing on the steps with his face in his hands. Eli had spared him. Tommy had done no wrong. At least there would be no more ‘piggy’ from now on.
Back in his new flat, Oscar carefully touched his own reflection in the glass of the window and smiled cheeky at what he saw. He had changed his physical appearance. It was something that he had been thinking about for a while, but also on the advice of Eli, in case he was recognised somehow by someone. His hair was cut to about a quarter of its normal length and then it was coloured. Well, he had tried to dye it but rather unsuccessfully. Somehow it had gone an angry shade of red, his fault for not reading the instructions. Eli had been laughing since first seeing it and wanted to touch it.
“Is it, is it a wig?” she kept asking trying to contain her amusement.
Personally while the result was unintended, Oscar quickly grew to like it. He felt like a cool punk rocker and was looking forward to getting some gel through it. With that slightly happier thing to look forward to, he turned around and sat on the green leather sofa.
“Wonder where I can get a TV?” he asked the empty room as Eli was out exploring the area. Whatever that meant.
Chapter Two
It had been a frantic and frosty first week and perhaps that was best. Oscar used the first few days to make the flat more perfectly safe for Eli. He purchased some music and movie magazines along with a few newspapers from the shop, and spent most of an afternoon carefully choosing then cutting out pictures. There were three windows in total to contend with. One was in the bedroom which was at the back of the flat, a wide double in the sitting room that connected onto the bedroom. The final one was in the bathroom as there was no natural light in the hallway that connected the bedroom and sitting room with the bathroom and the front door. Ideally he wanted to keep some, if not all, of the bedroom window uncovered so he could always see outside. The bathroom window was not really a problem as it was a small rectangle made of thick frosted glass and was very high up on the wall. Eli was not tall enough to come face to face with the sun, even Oscar who was about six inches superior had to stand on the bathtub to comfortably reach the windowsill. The first time he did so, he set out a small selection of his models to block what little sunlight would penetrate through. A metal Dodge Seneca 1963 classic car, a small plastic robot from ‘Lost in Space,’ and right in the middle was his Rubix Cube. It was still in its solved state from when Eli last tackled it so easily. He ensured the sitting room windows were thick with posters and cut-outs so they could enjoy each other’s company whatever the time. The one disappointment about the apartment flat was the kitchen. It was rather small and open plan, connected with the sitting room but it didn’t sit right in his head. Oscar felt it looked too open, he was accustomed to being able to shut doors.
On Wednesday, it was like Christmas had come in the midst of October as they received a wealth of deliveries. They decided that the pale green leather sofa had a few years of life left in it and was perfectly fit for them both. The cooker worked as it should after a deep clean, but other than a small table, broken bed and wardrobe, there was little else.
“I want us to be comfortable. For this place to look and feel like home,” said Eli.
She knew that Oscar needed the essentials such as warmth and food. While he had learnt to look after himself to an extent with his often absent mother, he was less experienced in life than Hakan and those before him.
Getting everything delivered on the same afternoon of the same day was a bit chaotic and confusing. All those deliverymen trying to navigate between each other up and down those tightly wound and poorly lit stairs. It was however the most sensible way to do it. If anyone was watching them or taken an interest in who had just moved in, all they would see is an onslaught of random men coming and going. Anyone of them carrying goods could be the new occupant. If Oscar or Eli were seen coming or going after today, the hope was people would presume they were someone’s teenage kids. Just a normal part of a normal family unit.
Their flat was the only one on the top floor while the ground and first floors contained two flats each, one of each opposite side with the staircase in the middle. Oscar and Eli’s new flat stood alone. Instead of a second property, there was a door heading up and out to the roof. Exactly why a minor mystery as the door was was heavily padlocked. Maybe just for safety and security, but Oscar hoped that when the warmer weather comes, he could gain access to make it his space and place. Eli would snap those locks off like they were made of ice. Each delivery man brought something different into the flat by turn and Oscar examined each of the items as they did. This had all been organised by Eli, again over the phone and by using classified advertisements in the local newspaper. Oscar’s job was to pay them one by one, and naturally ensure they kept away from the bathroom where Eli was locked inside and asleep in the tub. By the end of the afternoon the place looked much better and he was impressed with what they now both had. The gem in the collection was a cool looking Hi-Fi system with a pair of floor standing speakers nearly as big as him.
“Anything else Rusty?” asked the shopkeeper.
It took Oscar a few moments to realise that the short, fat and nearly toothless man behind the counter was speaking to him. “Rusty? My hair is red and not...orange,” Oscar complained to himself. He had been in this shop several times a day, every day, since arriving yet it had taken the man this long to think of such a stupid nickname.
“No, just the sweets. And it’s Oscar.”
The man grinned showing his nastily blackened gums and he gave over the change.
“Just so you know I sell other kinds of magazines. Any kind you want, not just music and movies,” he said quietly while leaning in closer. Oscar simply looked at him stone faced then walked out, pretending he didn’t understand.
Rather than returning directly to the flat some ten minutes away, he took the chance to explore the area around him. Oscar found the lack of people somewhat strange considering the number of buildings he had counted on arrival. Many of the rooms in the blocks looked like they hadn’t had anyone living in them for years. The few people who were around seemed uninterested in him, which he was thankful for. A strange area indeed but Oscar supposed property here was cheap to rent and most occupants were likely commuters. Looking once again at the homes and empty fields, he got the impression that this entire area had been intended for renovation. Maybe the start of a new town, but for some reason that had never happened. After nearly an hour of exploring very little he made his way home, stopping to admire a very elderly looking pigeon in the process.
“Hey,” said a voice as he entered through the front door. Eli was stood in the hall waiting for him to return.
She stood with a wide smile unable to hide her delight at seeing him. She was wearing a long red t-shirt that somehow had been put on back to front. The colour of the shirt was uncomfortably close to the colour of blood, and for a brief moment Oscar found himself back at that swimming pool.
“Hi,” he replied happily shaking off the flash back and moving in to give Eli a hug. “Sorry, I wanted to get back before you got up,” releasing her eventually.
“It is alright,” answered Eli softly.
She stoked his cheek with the back of her hand like a different kind of handshake. Oscar expected the gesture he knew that Eli was still a bit afraid of hurting him should she return his hug. To be honest, he never meant to hug her so suddenly, he just couldn’t help it.
“You’re up early. How was your...bath?” he asked unsure whether or not to refer to her resting place as a bed or not.
“It was fine, still getting used to it. What sweets did you get?” enquired Eli looking at his shopping bag as they strolled into the sitting room.
“Err, a few Milkyway’s, some Chew Bars, oh...and some Jellybabies.”
“Awesome!” she replied excitedly with the way she said the word not quite matching the intended result.
The pair engaged in conversation of nothing really that important for a few hours. Oscar spoke about the man in the shop, what he looked like and what he had said. Then progressed onto what he had found, or rather not found, in the area around them. Eli spoke about the bathtub smelling strange, almost suggesting she could smell the people who used it before, then about the leaking sink tap which she didn’t like.
“I’ll see if I can fix it. This place is a bit weird,” reasoned Oscar as he screwed up the now empty plastic bag.
“Is it? I haven’t noticed. But you like it here?”
“With you, yeah I do.” He felt himself blush, what he had just said sounded less cheesy in his head. However he did notice Eli taking a breath as if relieved at his answer.
That night Oscar tried his best to grill a pizza for his dinner. It had worked, but not as successfully as he had hoped. His dad was the expert at doing it. He knew the special way of wrapping the pizza in foil and when to turn it over to ensure both sides were perfectly cooked. Oscar had slightly burnt the topside and slightly underdone the bottomside, but it was still acceptable in his eyes for a first attempt under an unfamiliar grill.
Their first week in Denmark was coming to an end and Oscar was truly thankful that nothing bad had happened. It appeared for the moment anyway, they had made a clean escape from Sweden. Content with that notion, Oscar began to relax by lying on the sofa to watch some television. The hour was late, he was too tired and stuffed with pizza to focus on whatever program was on. It just felt good to do something normal and stress free. Initially when Eli climbed over the back of the sofa to join him, he did not notice. It was only when he could feel her breath on the back of his head and neck did he fully register that she was there. As he noticed, Eli turned her head upwards towards the ceiling.
As the room darkened around them, Oscar felt very comfortable and very safe just being next to her. He allowed his mind to drift back to Sweden and Blackeberg. He wondered how Tommy was doing. He wondered if the funnel for Johnny and his bastard friends had taken place yet. Whatever was left of them at least. The idea to try and find a newspaper from home to read about the gory details was rather tempting. With that he smiled a wicked smile and almost instinctively squealed like a pig, just like he had been trained by them to do so. His unintentionally noise made Eli jump just a tiny bit in surprise. It would take a while to break that habit, nonetheless he, not them, had been victorious. He had won the war.
Oscar started to fell himself drift into sleep, before that a final waking thought entered his head.
“What happens if the landlady wants to meet us?” he whispered hardly moving his lips.
“Don’t worry. Usually they stay away if the rest is paid on time.”
“But...what if she comes here?”
“Oscar, don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”
In the final moments of alertness, he lacked the resolve to question exactly what she meant. Whatever it was, he knew she would.
Chapter Three: Part 1
He was really not meant to smoke but still did from time to time. He had already lost all of his teeth and both his eyes and fingertips were turning the same shade of mustard. A cigarette now and again wouldn’t hurt, especially when it was needed to calm his nerves. The shopkeeper was not used to doing what he was now doing. It seemed strange being paid two thousand kroner to do it and to keep silent about it.
“I want to know where he lives and who is with him,” an unknown man had explained on the telephone.
“The boy with red hair? August or Oscar, or something like that,” he had replied.
The money wasn’t a fortune but Edvard would always welcome any chance to gain a bit extra from time to time. He had purchased his store back when it appeared that the area was set to explode with new businesses, workers and families from all over the country. That never happened and Edvard had been stuck here ever since.
He had no issue with Oscar, it was always good to get a new customer like him. One who came in so often. Edvard knew everyone around here as they all tended to use his store. It was strange when he thought about it. Why would a new family move here now? He felt there was zero possibility of anything changing or any new developments after so much time. Years ago a property developer had wanted to build a small cinema and shopping mall, it was declined permission and no one else had even attempted since. If it wasn’t for his store, Edvard wouldn’t be here either.
Oscar or maybe August owing to the shopkeeper’s poor hearing was easy to follow. Not just because of his red hair that had started to grow out a bit, not just because of the sweet wrapper trail he was dropping, but he was humming loudly. Sort of half humming and half singing as he walked along the cold concrete cracked path. To Edvard the tune sounded very close to ‘You’re All That I Want’ by Gene Simmons. At least he had good taste in music. He focused more on not being since by Oscar, trying to keep a sensible distance but close enough to see firsthand which block he entered. If Oscar had looked behind him at any point, he would have easily seen the out of breath shopkeeper. There was no one else around.
Oscar and Eli were both feeling rather nervous but both for their own separate reasons. For Eli it was because she had never travelled on a tram before, it was very different from being on a train or in a taxi.
“It moves another way, rocks from side to side,” she attempted to explain.
Oscar was sitting opposite her in the carriage, which due to the time of night was nearly empty. He smiled such a large smile that it annoyed Eli but he couldn’t help himself. Just watching her struggle to maintain balance on the seat and not slide to the side or onto the floor was brilliantly funny. Every time Oscar managed to recompose himself, Eli would look at him with a smirk on her face which set him off laughing. She did not want to meet his gaze for that very reason, but also couldn’t look out the window without starting to feel motion sickness. The tram tracks were rougher and noisier than a train and she would prefer to be cuddled up in a box like normal.
Oscar looked at what she was wearing to try and distract himself from her lack of equanimity. A rainbow coloured stripped hat, a light blue jacket that had seen better days and a pair of black jeans that were technically Oscar’s but they fitted her better.
“People will stare if you don’t put more on. It’s cold outside.”
“Will they? I don’t feel it.”
On Oscar’s advice she agreed to wear more so not to draw attention to them both. Neither of them had packed much in the way of clothing when leaving Sweden, it wasn’t exactly on the top of their list at the time. As a result both of their outfits were comically mismatched, but for the moment Oscar did have enough to stay warm.
He was still fixated on watching Eli try to remain in her seat, like a kitten trying to balance on a washing line. So much so that he did not notice the ticket inspector coming up to them. It was Eli, who had wanted to hold their tickets and who handed them over to the man.
“Where are you two young lads heading at this time?” asked the inspector perfectly routinely as he punched a small hole in each piece before handing them back.
“To see the Little Mermaid,” blurted out Oscar with a bit too much excitement in his voice.
The inspector looked at them both for a few seconds, unsure how to respond and when he couldn’t think of anything, he simply nodded and moved on. It was the truth. That is where Oscar and Eli were going, or at least one of the places he wanted to take her tonight. That is why he was feeling nervous, he was taking Eli out to see Copenhagen. She had not been out of the flat much and he wanted to change that, starting with a night trip to the capital seemed like an ideal start.
In Oscar’s mind she was sort of his girlfriend, but it was much more complex. He couldn’t help wonder if this would be classed as a date. Their relationship was difficult to categorize in his mind. He had asked her back in Blackeberg if she wanted to be with him, and she had agreed on the understanding that everything stays the same. That felt like a lot longer ago than it really was, before everything went wrong. He thought it was rather stupid to feel nervous at the notion that they were now on a date. On one hand they were living together, she had ‘slept’ in his bed, they had kissed and would cuddle up together. On the other hand, none of it was romantically motivated. Oscar liked the idea of finally having a girlfriend, but it wasn’t that simple. She was also his best friend and his saviour. He glanced out of the window then down to his scuffed boots, concluding that his nerves stemmed from this outing being the first thing for a long time he had done something normal. They were two good friends heading out in public to do something normal. It was a nice feeling.
“What?” he asked suddenly noticing that Eli was looking right at him and had been for a while.
“You two young lads? He asked where we two young lads were going,” smirked Eli who raised her eyebrows in delight that Oscar had not noticed what the inspector had said.
“Well, you look like a...I mean you used to be a...I mean, err...it must be the clothes you have on.” He bit his lip, embarrassed at what he had just said and how he had said it.
They had never really discussed it, not in detail anyway. Naturally he was curious and had a few questions, but the chance to ask never really came up. He had discovered that Eli used to be called Elias and that she used to be a boy. She had shown him how it happened by sharing the memory and she had shown him the end result. Personally it did not matter to him, he had accepted Eli, or Elias, regardless of gender. Male or female, neither or both, or a combination of all of the above, it didn’t matter to Oscar as she (or he) was still Eli (or Elias). He had not asked at any point what Eli would prefer to be known as or called. Oscar had stuck with Eli, and her, as it was easier, and also because that is what he had always known her as. He felt now like he had just put his foot in the wrong place with his comment and was unsure how to proceed.
“It’s alright. Yes, technically I used to be. It was just unexpected and sort of nice to be call a lad, a boy for once,” she told him happily and finally putting him out of his embarrassed state.
Eli jumped out of her seat with speed and sat down next to Oscar, leaning against him to keep herself upright.
“I’ve been Eli for much, much longer.”
A few minutes later the tram pulled into Osterport Station. The pair waited for the few other passengers to disembark and for the platform to clear before following. Eli looked relieved the second both her feet touched the solid ground. Oscar looked around. The place was rather old and under maintained. A homeless man was asleep under a bench surrounded by trash. He hoped the rest of the capital was in a fairer state.
Chapter Three: Part 2
It was definitely difficult to catch his breath in the coldness of the air. It was Oscar’s fault, he had told Eli where they were heading first and she had run off in excitement. Naturally he had followed behind at full speed, but was unable to match her stride and she easily outpaced him. Oscar was in bewildered hilarity at not just Eli’s speed but how she ran. It was so efficient with each stride being near identical to the last. It was like she was doing running lunge with springs attached to the bottom of her reluctantly worn shoes. It had been a rather long time since Oscar had run flat out and he was disappointed that even with his best effort, he couldn’t keep up. All he had to show for his efforts when reaching the waterfront and Eli, was a hammering heart and a sore chest. It took longer than he hoped it would to be able to finally speak.
“Stop...mimicking...me,” Oscar managed to gasp out word by word.
“What?” she questioned with her head tilting somewhat unnaturally.
Eli was breathing fast and hard, faster than Oscar in fact. He decided to wait a tad longer before attempting to speak again.
“You’re not even out of breath, are you?”
“How could you tell?” she asked after stopping panting, slightly soured that he had seen through her faking.
“You didn’t start it until I caught up with you. When you did, it didn’t look natural.”
Eli dashed over to Oscar’s side and poked his side annoyed.
“It’s difficult to remember how to be out of breath when it doesn’t really happen,” she explained.
“Is that the fastest you can run?” he asked now just about managing to stand up straight.
Eli dithered for a few seconds before answering.
“No. I can go a little faster. If I really need to.”
“That’s really cool,” he told her.
“I’ll help you!”
Suddenly Eli grabbed one of Oscar’s wrists and started to run the final distance towards the statue pulling him behind her at speed. Oscar somehow managed to move his legs and feet to avoid being pulled off the ground and into the air. She was actually running slower than what he had just seen moments ago, but he was still recovering from his first sprint. The muscles in his legs were burning and his heart pounding so heavily that he was sure Eli would be able to hear it.
“Eli,” he tried to call out but could not muster the word. He wondered why she was so excited about the Little Mermaid Statue, but mostly he wondered how to stop.
Thankfully they were not far from the statue when Eli decided to take flight with Oscar in tow behind. She stopped and released him looking outwards at the half-illuminated attraction. Oscar examined his left wrist, it felt sore and no doubt some bruising would likely come later. Struggling to stand from the physical undertaking he had been forced into, as well as the pain throbbing throughout his body, he went to push Eli but totally missed, falling flat on the ground very ungracefully. She turned around surprised and saw him bundled up at her feet. Seconds later, Oscar vomited the partly digested contents of his evening meal out onto the cold pavement. Eli, just beginning to realise what she had done took a step backwards.
“You can’t do that, are you trying to kill me?” asked Oscar with more anger in his voice than he had intended. Wiping away from his mouth what might have been a piece of bacon.
“What? No...I...” Eli didn’t get a chance to finish.
“I’m not like you. I can’t do what you can do and I don’t want to,” he proclaimed.
Oscar was nearly sick for the second time, but this was because of his reaction and how he had spoken. He didn’t mean to get angry, he was just sore and surprised by her sudden actions. Regretting the last sixty or so seconds so much that he could not bring himself to look up at her. He felt shame at wounding her feelings, he could tell without looking at her. Eli hadn’t meant to hurt or scare him, she was just happy to be here. Pleased to be here with him.
When he heard footsteps, he presumed it was Eli walking away from him but it was not. Instead she walked around behind him and sat on the ground. She leaned up against him so they were back to back facing in opposite directions. Oscar smiled, for some reason being sat here like this reminded him of Blackeberg. Both of their apartments side by side separated by a single wall. They had spent hours communicating through that wall by Morse code. He imagined them both back there right now, with himself currently tapping out s-o-r-r-y on the plasterboard. He couldn’t help thinking about what things would be like if he was like Eli, if things would be easier. Despite that, despite everything, the concept still did not hold much appeal.
“Oscar?”
“Yeah?” he whispered softly.
“Can you get off the ground now? My posterior is getting cold so I can only imagine how yours feels.”
Oscar laughed at her attempt at humour. While she didn’t feel the cold, she was actually correct. The ground was indeed very cold. He slowly stood up with his legs heavy and stomach light. Eli stood up with him matching his pace and when he was upright she hugged him. She put her arms around his stomach and allowed her face to drop into his chest. Oscar returned the hug. Looking down at the top of her head, he couldn’t help notice something that would soon present a problem. Eli’s hair was beginning to matt and become unhealthy looking. It would soon be necessary for her to feed.
For the moment however, he pushed that displeasing notion to the back of his mind as they walked towards the statue. Oscar had seen a black and white photograph of it in a textbook a few years ago, but actually seeing it in person, lit up by a few small lights allowed him to appreciate its fairytale like beauty.
He looked at Eli’s face and at her delightful fascination at the granite and bronze statue of a half-fish, half-woman hybrid. She appeared captivated but slightly haunted by it, almost as if she believed the statue might be alive. It was a bit bizarre to him, when they had decide to go to Denmark in the first place, Eli was less interested in the culture and country and more interested in this statue. Oscar’s knowledge was based on a school project that he had both really enjoyed and also committed himself to. He never imagined that one day what he had learnt would actually be so useful.
“It got finished,” she reacted with a small bounce.
Now as he watched Eli walk over to the rocks and examine every detail of the statue, stroking the bronze and granite tail and almost fondling the rest of it, something entered his mind.
“Eli, are mermaids real?”
It sounded like a stupid question but considering not so long ago, he didn’t think vampires were real so it made sense to ask.
“Not as far as I know. But wouldn’t that be wonderful,” she replied with no judgement either way on his question.
Oscar took a moment to imagine what would have happened if he had asked such an outrageous thing back in school. Not that he would ever have dreamed of doing so. If he had then no doubt his new nickname for the rest of the year would be mermaid-boy instead of piggy.
“So, what’s so important about this statue? Why is it...I mean why are we here?”
A somewhat strange smile appeared across Eli’s face as she read the information plate in front. Oscar couldn’t make out the text in this light, so she spoke its content for his benefit.
“Presented to the City of Copenhagen by sculptor Eriksen and unveiled by Carl Jacobsen on 23rd August 1913.” Eli finished her detailed examination and walked back to Oscar’s side, leaning into him and secretly whispering into his ear. “Oscar, I told him to sculpt it.”
He turned to check that she was being serious, it was clear that she was and she was proud about it.
“How is the possible? And why?” he stuttered in surprise.
“I didn’t know who he was,” Eli summarized. “I followed him from a brothel back to his home. I was hungry and intended to...well. But he went into his workshop instead, and I saw all of his work. It was all beautiful so we made a deal.”
After a short period of comprehension thinking about his friend scrolling around the night streets of this city decades ago, he could just about picture it. Needing blood and intending to kill for it, but instead finding a sculptor at his peak creating works of art. Being able to override the thing inside her and the hunger, deciding to spare him so he could continue.
“He sculpts a mermaid and gets to live. Sounds like a good deal to me,” said Oscar putting his hands in his jacket pockets to warm them up. “But why a mermaid?”
He watched her expression drop suddenly and unexpectedly at the question. Just for a few seconds before she corrected it.
“Oscar, a mermaid is beautiful. It has the best of both worlds, and it can turn into a person again. It’s kind of my fairytale.”
He looked at her as she wore a half smile knowing it was an empty gesture. The answer while pretty was not the full truth. She was being evasive and smart, trying to be brave, but there was a glimmer of long-seated pain behind her eyes.
“Eli you can tell me if you want. You can tell me anything.”
She looked deeply into him and sighed.
“Someone...used to tell me stories, a very long time ago. About mermaids and other creatures. To help me sleep at night.”
He could see her jaw and facial muscles tighten. For the time being this was as much as she wanted to disclose. Unable to fonder a response to her revelation, he simply smiled and took her cold hand.
“This time, can we run at my pace?” he asked her.
She nodded in agreement and let Oscar pull her behind him. The two of them running back into the depths of the capital to see what else they could find before the slightest suggestion of sunrise. As they ran across the streets random thoughts started to stir in Oscar’s mind. Eli had been in Copenhagen before and never mentioned it. Still, it was so long ago, Oscar wasn’t sure if his parents would have been born at that point. It was strange to think about. That strange idea was soon suppressed by another train of thought. Where and how will he get blood for her?
Chapter One
We start in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark and a country recently voted the happiest in the world. More specifically, our story starts at a top-floor flat in an unremarkable drive, in a small housing estate surrounded almost completely by fields. It was a tiny village or hamlet, Oscar could never remember the difference between them. Nonetheless, it was a place that made Blackeberg back in Sweden look like New York in its magnificence. A place found roughly ten miles south of the eventfully exciting aforementioned capital, yet somewhere that a lot of native Danes were unaware of. After all, there was nothing here to demand their attention or to lure people through those fields. Just eighteen almost identical buildings, mostly blocks of flats two or three stories in height, dotted randomly, and a few more traditional detached dwellings.
Oscar had counted them all on his first day here, noting both the differences and similarities between Danish and Swedish architecture. Most buildings looked the same with pressed grey concrete and faded white bricks around the window frames. He enjoyed that one home had been painted a very pale shade of blue. Maybe to stand out from his neighbours or maybe just because he felt cold.
“At least there is a shop,” he reassured himself that first day owing to the complete lack of anything else.
The reality that both he and Eli were in a foreign country was hard to comprehend. Just a few weeks ago, the notion of such would have felt like a dream, or a nightmare. Things had happened, so much so, that he had no time to process them and was still in the mammoth task of trying. Leaving his hometown and his country had however been absolutely necessary. At best he was a missing person and at worst a suspect in the swimming pool bloodbath. That night had started pretty normally and ended with Eli ripping apart multiple people. If she hadn’t, Oscar would most likely be dead. If not that night, then another.
Either way, his photograph would be in every newspaper throughout the country. Oscar had spent enough years reading those newspapers, reading about crimes and murders, reading about those who get caught and those who do not. The golden rule for the latter seemed to be that you don’t hang around. You can’t hide so you should run.
Denmark had seemed like the smart choice. Both Danish and Swedish are very similar in vocabulary just with some differences in pronunciation. One of Oscar’s favourite television programs when he was younger was broadcast in Danish, with subtitles for those who needed it. A rather strange but fun cartoon about a fat, ginger lazy cat who would keep finding himself in troubling situations. Then there was the travel aspect. It was easy to get here the way they needed to get here. Carrying a few suitcases and a trunk that would contain Eli during the hours of daylight, should it be needed. Changing trains on their journey a number of times was unavoidable, as was having to wait around on platforms. Thankfully this could be done without leaving stations or having to walk far on foot.
Eli had done her part, she got them the flat. She had spotted an advertisement in a newsagent’s window upon arriving in Copenhagen Central. She had noticed the ad, he did not. It was almost as if she knew it would be there. Of course Oscar knew that was not possible, just his head overflowing with recent events. After that, all it took was a phone call by Eli to the landlady to secure the tenancy.
“You’re sure that you don’t want to see it first?” the owner enquired strangely.
“Not at all, no need. It is exactly what we require,” she had replied in her most adult sounding voice.
Oscar had smiled at watching her on the phone. Even when she was concentrating, even when she was being serious, she was still beautiful in a goofy sort of way. He looked at the piece of paper in his hand detailing what would be their new home.
‘Top floor with laminate throughout. One bed and one bath. Very clean with good windows. A few pieces of furniture included. Rent is eleven hundred PCM.’
Using his fingers to do the exchange, he worked out that the rent was about fifteen hundred in his local currency. While that seemed reasonable, Oscar wondered if and when money would become an issue. He didn’t know exactly how much Eli had. He doubted that he could find a job to support them. At best maybe something similar to what he had back in Blackeberg, surely businesses here would need someone to distribute flyers. That would bring in some money, maybe enough to pay half the rent each month.
He glanced at Eli making eye contact, the bluest of eyes greeted him. Bright even in this light, but with both pupils narrowed slightly, likes you would expect to see on a cat. As the telephone call was coming to an end, Oscar began to speculate once more how Eli had amassed such a fortune. The old guy robbing his victims, as well as draining their blood for her, was the most pleasing answer. Yet, he doubted that the man could have been killing frequently enough and that all he targeted had full enough wallets to account for it. There was another more disturbing answer that Oscar did not allow himself to entertain. He knew what the old guy was, he knew what or rather who he liked. He knew there were other's like that man around who wanted...Oscar shook his head violently to stop his mind exploring this idea. For all he knew, maybe Eli would be a surprise guest at rich people’s parties. People who knew what she was and wanted to impress their friends by having her perform tricks. Like a magician but a ‘Vampire Magician.’ She could see in the dark, move really fast and silently, climb up walls and scare the crap out of cats. Yes, that was a much more pleasant thought. There was nothing sinister in people wanting to hang around with her just for that.
Oscar suddenly felt a bit sick and dizzy. He thought about his mother, he thought about her going door to door looking for him. Most likely she had spent this time putting up posters with his picture on every tree, wall and lamppost. She would no doubt speculate that one of his customers, that he delivered leaflets to, had abducted him or was in some way responsible. He tried not to imagine what she was feeling and what she would do in despair. Maybe she would keep phoning his father, shouting at him and demanding to know where “her Oscar” was. That would be the first thing she would say when the police arrived. She would somehow try to blame his dad.
Eli was looking directly at him, still continuing to close the conversation on the phone but actually giving him more attention than before. It was if she could sense his sudden change in emotions. Just her gaze reassured Oscar that he had made the right decision. She reached out and softly squeezed his shoulder melting away any uncertainty.
Getting the flat was easy giving Eli’s apparent experience in such matters. She arranged to post the rent each month to the landlady, and to have the keys waiting for them hidden under the bin outside.
“We will be arriving very late, would not want to keep you up. We work long hours during the day so night is always better. It has to be at night, please don’t come during that day.”
Oscar impressed at either the landlady’s trusting nature or Eli’s ability to convince, zipped up his jacket and picked up their cases. After they left the station everything went to plan, other than a few strange looks and questions from the taxi driver who drove them to the apartment flat. Employing some creative carrying to get their luggage up three flights of stairs, they had arrived.
Those opening hours in their new home was the first chance Oscar had to stop and gather his thoughts.
They had tried to kill him.
The night was deadly silent with the view from his new front window was showing nearly nothing in the darkness. An empty car park near the top of the road and a few pale snow dusted streetlamps. It was strange to be somewhere so quiet. Even the other neighbours all appeared to be mouse like. After standing still looking out for nearly an hour, all he had heard was an alarm briefly sounding sharply in the distance and the merry cries of a drunk trying to get home. Whatever noise or lack of such on the other side of the glass did not matter, it was a different world.
Oscar’s head was numb, his thoughts were both unfocused and disjointedly absent. It would take a while to come to terms with everything that happened this week. “They tried to kill me. They would have killed me,” he repeated to himself. To be more precise, they threatened to remove one of his eyes if he did not comply with what they had in mind. His former classmates and Johnny’s older brother had forced him under water in the swimming pool. He remembered being under the surface for two minutes...maybe longer, it didn’t matter. Oscar’s memory was a bit damp at exactly what had happened at that point. He dredged up everything prior to that. How he had been persuaded to attend the weight training class which took place without incident. It was after having a shower, then heading into the pool that things deteriorated. He could just about recall the deal that he had been offered at knife point. They cut out one of his eyes, or if he could hold his breath for three minutes they might just cut him a bit. Whatever way you looked at it, they would have killed him...somehow. They would not have been satisfied otherwise. That is where his memory became strange and dream like in reminiscence.
At the point of blacking out, Oscar felt like he was floating. Not in the water but up into the air. He believed that he had died. He could just about make out the shape of a bloody detached hand dropping below him. There was no longer anyone with a grip on his head. If he was still in the water then that should not be possible. He was suspended in motion, floating for a few seconds before someone or something pulled him out. That first breath he took was like the first breath of life. Pins and needles covered the entire surface of his skin, while his chest felt heavy from the inside. The first thing he saw was blue eyes.
He must have died. That was the only explanation as he was being carried out and away from danger. Someone was carrying him away from the scene and to a safe place. While his memory was still rough from the lack of oxygen, Oscar could recall seeing his tormentor’s dead, in pieces, with blood everywhere.
It was of course Eli who had saved him, and her who ripped the others apart. Oscar laughed a silent laugh within his own head. They must have thought a vengeful Angel had descended on them. As he was being carried out, he heard Tommy sobbing on the steps with his face in his hands. Eli had spared him. Tommy had done no wrong. At least there would be no more ‘piggy’ from now on.
Back in his new flat, Oscar carefully touched his own reflection in the glass of the window and smiled cheeky at what he saw. He had changed his physical appearance. It was something that he had been thinking about for a while, but also on the advice of Eli, in case he was recognised somehow by someone. His hair was cut to about a quarter of its normal length and then it was coloured. Well, he had tried to dye it but rather unsuccessfully. Somehow it had gone an angry shade of red, his fault for not reading the instructions. Eli had been laughing since first seeing it and wanted to touch it.
“Is it, is it a wig?” she kept asking trying to contain her amusement.
Personally while the result was unintended, Oscar quickly grew to like it. He felt like a cool punk rocker and was looking forward to getting some gel through it. With that slightly happier thing to look forward to, he turned around and sat on the green leather sofa.
“Wonder where I can get a TV?” he asked the empty room as Eli was out exploring the area. Whatever that meant.
Chapter Two
It had been a frantic and frosty first week and perhaps that was best. Oscar used the first few days to make the flat more perfectly safe for Eli. He purchased some music and movie magazines along with a few newspapers from the shop, and spent most of an afternoon carefully choosing then cutting out pictures. There were three windows in total to contend with. One was in the bedroom which was at the back of the flat, a wide double in the sitting room that connected onto the bedroom. The final one was in the bathroom as there was no natural light in the hallway that connected the bedroom and sitting room with the bathroom and the front door. Ideally he wanted to keep some, if not all, of the bedroom window uncovered so he could always see outside. The bathroom window was not really a problem as it was a small rectangle made of thick frosted glass and was very high up on the wall. Eli was not tall enough to come face to face with the sun, even Oscar who was about six inches superior had to stand on the bathtub to comfortably reach the windowsill. The first time he did so, he set out a small selection of his models to block what little sunlight would penetrate through. A metal Dodge Seneca 1963 classic car, a small plastic robot from ‘Lost in Space,’ and right in the middle was his Rubix Cube. It was still in its solved state from when Eli last tackled it so easily. He ensured the sitting room windows were thick with posters and cut-outs so they could enjoy each other’s company whatever the time. The one disappointment about the apartment flat was the kitchen. It was rather small and open plan, connected with the sitting room but it didn’t sit right in his head. Oscar felt it looked too open, he was accustomed to being able to shut doors.
On Wednesday, it was like Christmas had come in the midst of October as they received a wealth of deliveries. They decided that the pale green leather sofa had a few years of life left in it and was perfectly fit for them both. The cooker worked as it should after a deep clean, but other than a small table, broken bed and wardrobe, there was little else.
“I want us to be comfortable. For this place to look and feel like home,” said Eli.
She knew that Oscar needed the essentials such as warmth and food. While he had learnt to look after himself to an extent with his often absent mother, he was less experienced in life than Hakan and those before him.
Getting everything delivered on the same afternoon of the same day was a bit chaotic and confusing. All those deliverymen trying to navigate between each other up and down those tightly wound and poorly lit stairs. It was however the most sensible way to do it. If anyone was watching them or taken an interest in who had just moved in, all they would see is an onslaught of random men coming and going. Anyone of them carrying goods could be the new occupant. If Oscar or Eli were seen coming or going after today, the hope was people would presume they were someone’s teenage kids. Just a normal part of a normal family unit.
Their flat was the only one on the top floor while the ground and first floors contained two flats each, one of each opposite side with the staircase in the middle. Oscar and Eli’s new flat stood alone. Instead of a second property, there was a door heading up and out to the roof. Exactly why a minor mystery as the door was was heavily padlocked. Maybe just for safety and security, but Oscar hoped that when the warmer weather comes, he could gain access to make it his space and place. Eli would snap those locks off like they were made of ice. Each delivery man brought something different into the flat by turn and Oscar examined each of the items as they did. This had all been organised by Eli, again over the phone and by using classified advertisements in the local newspaper. Oscar’s job was to pay them one by one, and naturally ensure they kept away from the bathroom where Eli was locked inside and asleep in the tub. By the end of the afternoon the place looked much better and he was impressed with what they now both had. The gem in the collection was a cool looking Hi-Fi system with a pair of floor standing speakers nearly as big as him.
“Anything else Rusty?” asked the shopkeeper.
It took Oscar a few moments to realise that the short, fat and nearly toothless man behind the counter was speaking to him. “Rusty? My hair is red and not...orange,” Oscar complained to himself. He had been in this shop several times a day, every day, since arriving yet it had taken the man this long to think of such a stupid nickname.
“No, just the sweets. And it’s Oscar.”
The man grinned showing his nastily blackened gums and he gave over the change.
“Just so you know I sell other kinds of magazines. Any kind you want, not just music and movies,” he said quietly while leaning in closer. Oscar simply looked at him stone faced then walked out, pretending he didn’t understand.
Rather than returning directly to the flat some ten minutes away, he took the chance to explore the area around him. Oscar found the lack of people somewhat strange considering the number of buildings he had counted on arrival. Many of the rooms in the blocks looked like they hadn’t had anyone living in them for years. The few people who were around seemed uninterested in him, which he was thankful for. A strange area indeed but Oscar supposed property here was cheap to rent and most occupants were likely commuters. Looking once again at the homes and empty fields, he got the impression that this entire area had been intended for renovation. Maybe the start of a new town, but for some reason that had never happened. After nearly an hour of exploring very little he made his way home, stopping to admire a very elderly looking pigeon in the process.
“Hey,” said a voice as he entered through the front door. Eli was stood in the hall waiting for him to return.
She stood with a wide smile unable to hide her delight at seeing him. She was wearing a long red t-shirt that somehow had been put on back to front. The colour of the shirt was uncomfortably close to the colour of blood, and for a brief moment Oscar found himself back at that swimming pool.
“Hi,” he replied happily shaking off the flash back and moving in to give Eli a hug. “Sorry, I wanted to get back before you got up,” releasing her eventually.
“It is alright,” answered Eli softly.
She stoked his cheek with the back of her hand like a different kind of handshake. Oscar expected the gesture he knew that Eli was still a bit afraid of hurting him should she return his hug. To be honest, he never meant to hug her so suddenly, he just couldn’t help it.
“You’re up early. How was your...bath?” he asked unsure whether or not to refer to her resting place as a bed or not.
“It was fine, still getting used to it. What sweets did you get?” enquired Eli looking at his shopping bag as they strolled into the sitting room.
“Err, a few Milkyway’s, some Chew Bars, oh...and some Jellybabies.”
“Awesome!” she replied excitedly with the way she said the word not quite matching the intended result.
The pair engaged in conversation of nothing really that important for a few hours. Oscar spoke about the man in the shop, what he looked like and what he had said. Then progressed onto what he had found, or rather not found, in the area around them. Eli spoke about the bathtub smelling strange, almost suggesting she could smell the people who used it before, then about the leaking sink tap which she didn’t like.
“I’ll see if I can fix it. This place is a bit weird,” reasoned Oscar as he screwed up the now empty plastic bag.
“Is it? I haven’t noticed. But you like it here?”
“With you, yeah I do.” He felt himself blush, what he had just said sounded less cheesy in his head. However he did notice Eli taking a breath as if relieved at his answer.
That night Oscar tried his best to grill a pizza for his dinner. It had worked, but not as successfully as he had hoped. His dad was the expert at doing it. He knew the special way of wrapping the pizza in foil and when to turn it over to ensure both sides were perfectly cooked. Oscar had slightly burnt the topside and slightly underdone the bottomside, but it was still acceptable in his eyes for a first attempt under an unfamiliar grill.
Their first week in Denmark was coming to an end and Oscar was truly thankful that nothing bad had happened. It appeared for the moment anyway, they had made a clean escape from Sweden. Content with that notion, Oscar began to relax by lying on the sofa to watch some television. The hour was late, he was too tired and stuffed with pizza to focus on whatever program was on. It just felt good to do something normal and stress free. Initially when Eli climbed over the back of the sofa to join him, he did not notice. It was only when he could feel her breath on the back of his head and neck did he fully register that she was there. As he noticed, Eli turned her head upwards towards the ceiling.
As the room darkened around them, Oscar felt very comfortable and very safe just being next to her. He allowed his mind to drift back to Sweden and Blackeberg. He wondered how Tommy was doing. He wondered if the funnel for Johnny and his bastard friends had taken place yet. Whatever was left of them at least. The idea to try and find a newspaper from home to read about the gory details was rather tempting. With that he smiled a wicked smile and almost instinctively squealed like a pig, just like he had been trained by them to do so. His unintentionally noise made Eli jump just a tiny bit in surprise. It would take a while to break that habit, nonetheless he, not them, had been victorious. He had won the war.
Oscar started to fell himself drift into sleep, before that a final waking thought entered his head.
“What happens if the landlady wants to meet us?” he whispered hardly moving his lips.
“Don’t worry. Usually they stay away if the rest is paid on time.”
“But...what if she comes here?”
“Oscar, don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”
In the final moments of alertness, he lacked the resolve to question exactly what she meant. Whatever it was, he knew she would.
Chapter Three: Part 1
He was really not meant to smoke but still did from time to time. He had already lost all of his teeth and both his eyes and fingertips were turning the same shade of mustard. A cigarette now and again wouldn’t hurt, especially when it was needed to calm his nerves. The shopkeeper was not used to doing what he was now doing. It seemed strange being paid two thousand kroner to do it and to keep silent about it.
“I want to know where he lives and who is with him,” an unknown man had explained on the telephone.
“The boy with red hair? August or Oscar, or something like that,” he had replied.
The money wasn’t a fortune but Edvard would always welcome any chance to gain a bit extra from time to time. He had purchased his store back when it appeared that the area was set to explode with new businesses, workers and families from all over the country. That never happened and Edvard had been stuck here ever since.
He had no issue with Oscar, it was always good to get a new customer like him. One who came in so often. Edvard knew everyone around here as they all tended to use his store. It was strange when he thought about it. Why would a new family move here now? He felt there was zero possibility of anything changing or any new developments after so much time. Years ago a property developer had wanted to build a small cinema and shopping mall, it was declined permission and no one else had even attempted since. If it wasn’t for his store, Edvard wouldn’t be here either.
Oscar or maybe August owing to the shopkeeper’s poor hearing was easy to follow. Not just because of his red hair that had started to grow out a bit, not just because of the sweet wrapper trail he was dropping, but he was humming loudly. Sort of half humming and half singing as he walked along the cold concrete cracked path. To Edvard the tune sounded very close to ‘You’re All That I Want’ by Gene Simmons. At least he had good taste in music. He focused more on not being since by Oscar, trying to keep a sensible distance but close enough to see firsthand which block he entered. If Oscar had looked behind him at any point, he would have easily seen the out of breath shopkeeper. There was no one else around.
Oscar and Eli were both feeling rather nervous but both for their own separate reasons. For Eli it was because she had never travelled on a tram before, it was very different from being on a train or in a taxi.
“It moves another way, rocks from side to side,” she attempted to explain.
Oscar was sitting opposite her in the carriage, which due to the time of night was nearly empty. He smiled such a large smile that it annoyed Eli but he couldn’t help himself. Just watching her struggle to maintain balance on the seat and not slide to the side or onto the floor was brilliantly funny. Every time Oscar managed to recompose himself, Eli would look at him with a smirk on her face which set him off laughing. She did not want to meet his gaze for that very reason, but also couldn’t look out the window without starting to feel motion sickness. The tram tracks were rougher and noisier than a train and she would prefer to be cuddled up in a box like normal.
Oscar looked at what she was wearing to try and distract himself from her lack of equanimity. A rainbow coloured stripped hat, a light blue jacket that had seen better days and a pair of black jeans that were technically Oscar’s but they fitted her better.
“People will stare if you don’t put more on. It’s cold outside.”
“Will they? I don’t feel it.”
On Oscar’s advice she agreed to wear more so not to draw attention to them both. Neither of them had packed much in the way of clothing when leaving Sweden, it wasn’t exactly on the top of their list at the time. As a result both of their outfits were comically mismatched, but for the moment Oscar did have enough to stay warm.
He was still fixated on watching Eli try to remain in her seat, like a kitten trying to balance on a washing line. So much so that he did not notice the ticket inspector coming up to them. It was Eli, who had wanted to hold their tickets and who handed them over to the man.
“Where are you two young lads heading at this time?” asked the inspector perfectly routinely as he punched a small hole in each piece before handing them back.
“To see the Little Mermaid,” blurted out Oscar with a bit too much excitement in his voice.
The inspector looked at them both for a few seconds, unsure how to respond and when he couldn’t think of anything, he simply nodded and moved on. It was the truth. That is where Oscar and Eli were going, or at least one of the places he wanted to take her tonight. That is why he was feeling nervous, he was taking Eli out to see Copenhagen. She had not been out of the flat much and he wanted to change that, starting with a night trip to the capital seemed like an ideal start.
In Oscar’s mind she was sort of his girlfriend, but it was much more complex. He couldn’t help wonder if this would be classed as a date. Their relationship was difficult to categorize in his mind. He had asked her back in Blackeberg if she wanted to be with him, and she had agreed on the understanding that everything stays the same. That felt like a lot longer ago than it really was, before everything went wrong. He thought it was rather stupid to feel nervous at the notion that they were now on a date. On one hand they were living together, she had ‘slept’ in his bed, they had kissed and would cuddle up together. On the other hand, none of it was romantically motivated. Oscar liked the idea of finally having a girlfriend, but it wasn’t that simple. She was also his best friend and his saviour. He glanced out of the window then down to his scuffed boots, concluding that his nerves stemmed from this outing being the first thing for a long time he had done something normal. They were two good friends heading out in public to do something normal. It was a nice feeling.
“What?” he asked suddenly noticing that Eli was looking right at him and had been for a while.
“You two young lads? He asked where we two young lads were going,” smirked Eli who raised her eyebrows in delight that Oscar had not noticed what the inspector had said.
“Well, you look like a...I mean you used to be a...I mean, err...it must be the clothes you have on.” He bit his lip, embarrassed at what he had just said and how he had said it.
They had never really discussed it, not in detail anyway. Naturally he was curious and had a few questions, but the chance to ask never really came up. He had discovered that Eli used to be called Elias and that she used to be a boy. She had shown him how it happened by sharing the memory and she had shown him the end result. Personally it did not matter to him, he had accepted Eli, or Elias, regardless of gender. Male or female, neither or both, or a combination of all of the above, it didn’t matter to Oscar as she (or he) was still Eli (or Elias). He had not asked at any point what Eli would prefer to be known as or called. Oscar had stuck with Eli, and her, as it was easier, and also because that is what he had always known her as. He felt now like he had just put his foot in the wrong place with his comment and was unsure how to proceed.
“It’s alright. Yes, technically I used to be. It was just unexpected and sort of nice to be call a lad, a boy for once,” she told him happily and finally putting him out of his embarrassed state.
Eli jumped out of her seat with speed and sat down next to Oscar, leaning against him to keep herself upright.
“I’ve been Eli for much, much longer.”
A few minutes later the tram pulled into Osterport Station. The pair waited for the few other passengers to disembark and for the platform to clear before following. Eli looked relieved the second both her feet touched the solid ground. Oscar looked around. The place was rather old and under maintained. A homeless man was asleep under a bench surrounded by trash. He hoped the rest of the capital was in a fairer state.
Chapter Three: Part 2
It was definitely difficult to catch his breath in the coldness of the air. It was Oscar’s fault, he had told Eli where they were heading first and she had run off in excitement. Naturally he had followed behind at full speed, but was unable to match her stride and she easily outpaced him. Oscar was in bewildered hilarity at not just Eli’s speed but how she ran. It was so efficient with each stride being near identical to the last. It was like she was doing running lunge with springs attached to the bottom of her reluctantly worn shoes. It had been a rather long time since Oscar had run flat out and he was disappointed that even with his best effort, he couldn’t keep up. All he had to show for his efforts when reaching the waterfront and Eli, was a hammering heart and a sore chest. It took longer than he hoped it would to be able to finally speak.
“Stop...mimicking...me,” Oscar managed to gasp out word by word.
“What?” she questioned with her head tilting somewhat unnaturally.
Eli was breathing fast and hard, faster than Oscar in fact. He decided to wait a tad longer before attempting to speak again.
“You’re not even out of breath, are you?”
“How could you tell?” she asked after stopping panting, slightly soured that he had seen through her faking.
“You didn’t start it until I caught up with you. When you did, it didn’t look natural.”
Eli dashed over to Oscar’s side and poked his side annoyed.
“It’s difficult to remember how to be out of breath when it doesn’t really happen,” she explained.
“Is that the fastest you can run?” he asked now just about managing to stand up straight.
Eli dithered for a few seconds before answering.
“No. I can go a little faster. If I really need to.”
“That’s really cool,” he told her.
“I’ll help you!”
Suddenly Eli grabbed one of Oscar’s wrists and started to run the final distance towards the statue pulling him behind her at speed. Oscar somehow managed to move his legs and feet to avoid being pulled off the ground and into the air. She was actually running slower than what he had just seen moments ago, but he was still recovering from his first sprint. The muscles in his legs were burning and his heart pounding so heavily that he was sure Eli would be able to hear it.
“Eli,” he tried to call out but could not muster the word. He wondered why she was so excited about the Little Mermaid Statue, but mostly he wondered how to stop.
Thankfully they were not far from the statue when Eli decided to take flight with Oscar in tow behind. She stopped and released him looking outwards at the half-illuminated attraction. Oscar examined his left wrist, it felt sore and no doubt some bruising would likely come later. Struggling to stand from the physical undertaking he had been forced into, as well as the pain throbbing throughout his body, he went to push Eli but totally missed, falling flat on the ground very ungracefully. She turned around surprised and saw him bundled up at her feet. Seconds later, Oscar vomited the partly digested contents of his evening meal out onto the cold pavement. Eli, just beginning to realise what she had done took a step backwards.
“You can’t do that, are you trying to kill me?” asked Oscar with more anger in his voice than he had intended. Wiping away from his mouth what might have been a piece of bacon.
“What? No...I...” Eli didn’t get a chance to finish.
“I’m not like you. I can’t do what you can do and I don’t want to,” he proclaimed.
Oscar was nearly sick for the second time, but this was because of his reaction and how he had spoken. He didn’t mean to get angry, he was just sore and surprised by her sudden actions. Regretting the last sixty or so seconds so much that he could not bring himself to look up at her. He felt shame at wounding her feelings, he could tell without looking at her. Eli hadn’t meant to hurt or scare him, she was just happy to be here. Pleased to be here with him.
When he heard footsteps, he presumed it was Eli walking away from him but it was not. Instead she walked around behind him and sat on the ground. She leaned up against him so they were back to back facing in opposite directions. Oscar smiled, for some reason being sat here like this reminded him of Blackeberg. Both of their apartments side by side separated by a single wall. They had spent hours communicating through that wall by Morse code. He imagined them both back there right now, with himself currently tapping out s-o-r-r-y on the plasterboard. He couldn’t help thinking about what things would be like if he was like Eli, if things would be easier. Despite that, despite everything, the concept still did not hold much appeal.
“Oscar?”
“Yeah?” he whispered softly.
“Can you get off the ground now? My posterior is getting cold so I can only imagine how yours feels.”
Oscar laughed at her attempt at humour. While she didn’t feel the cold, she was actually correct. The ground was indeed very cold. He slowly stood up with his legs heavy and stomach light. Eli stood up with him matching his pace and when he was upright she hugged him. She put her arms around his stomach and allowed her face to drop into his chest. Oscar returned the hug. Looking down at the top of her head, he couldn’t help notice something that would soon present a problem. Eli’s hair was beginning to matt and become unhealthy looking. It would soon be necessary for her to feed.
For the moment however, he pushed that displeasing notion to the back of his mind as they walked towards the statue. Oscar had seen a black and white photograph of it in a textbook a few years ago, but actually seeing it in person, lit up by a few small lights allowed him to appreciate its fairytale like beauty.
He looked at Eli’s face and at her delightful fascination at the granite and bronze statue of a half-fish, half-woman hybrid. She appeared captivated but slightly haunted by it, almost as if she believed the statue might be alive. It was a bit bizarre to him, when they had decide to go to Denmark in the first place, Eli was less interested in the culture and country and more interested in this statue. Oscar’s knowledge was based on a school project that he had both really enjoyed and also committed himself to. He never imagined that one day what he had learnt would actually be so useful.
“It got finished,” she reacted with a small bounce.
Now as he watched Eli walk over to the rocks and examine every detail of the statue, stroking the bronze and granite tail and almost fondling the rest of it, something entered his mind.
“Eli, are mermaids real?”
It sounded like a stupid question but considering not so long ago, he didn’t think vampires were real so it made sense to ask.
“Not as far as I know. But wouldn’t that be wonderful,” she replied with no judgement either way on his question.
Oscar took a moment to imagine what would have happened if he had asked such an outrageous thing back in school. Not that he would ever have dreamed of doing so. If he had then no doubt his new nickname for the rest of the year would be mermaid-boy instead of piggy.
“So, what’s so important about this statue? Why is it...I mean why are we here?”
A somewhat strange smile appeared across Eli’s face as she read the information plate in front. Oscar couldn’t make out the text in this light, so she spoke its content for his benefit.
“Presented to the City of Copenhagen by sculptor Eriksen and unveiled by Carl Jacobsen on 23rd August 1913.” Eli finished her detailed examination and walked back to Oscar’s side, leaning into him and secretly whispering into his ear. “Oscar, I told him to sculpt it.”
He turned to check that she was being serious, it was clear that she was and she was proud about it.
“How is the possible? And why?” he stuttered in surprise.
“I didn’t know who he was,” Eli summarized. “I followed him from a brothel back to his home. I was hungry and intended to...well. But he went into his workshop instead, and I saw all of his work. It was all beautiful so we made a deal.”
After a short period of comprehension thinking about his friend scrolling around the night streets of this city decades ago, he could just about picture it. Needing blood and intending to kill for it, but instead finding a sculptor at his peak creating works of art. Being able to override the thing inside her and the hunger, deciding to spare him so he could continue.
“He sculpts a mermaid and gets to live. Sounds like a good deal to me,” said Oscar putting his hands in his jacket pockets to warm them up. “But why a mermaid?”
He watched her expression drop suddenly and unexpectedly at the question. Just for a few seconds before she corrected it.
“Oscar, a mermaid is beautiful. It has the best of both worlds, and it can turn into a person again. It’s kind of my fairytale.”
He looked at her as she wore a half smile knowing it was an empty gesture. The answer while pretty was not the full truth. She was being evasive and smart, trying to be brave, but there was a glimmer of long-seated pain behind her eyes.
“Eli you can tell me if you want. You can tell me anything.”
She looked deeply into him and sighed.
“Someone...used to tell me stories, a very long time ago. About mermaids and other creatures. To help me sleep at night.”
He could see her jaw and facial muscles tighten. For the time being this was as much as she wanted to disclose. Unable to fonder a response to her revelation, he simply smiled and took her cold hand.
“This time, can we run at my pace?” he asked her.
She nodded in agreement and let Oscar pull her behind him. The two of them running back into the depths of the capital to see what else they could find before the slightest suggestion of sunrise. As they ran across the streets random thoughts started to stir in Oscar’s mind. Eli had been in Copenhagen before and never mentioned it. Still, it was so long ago, Oscar wasn’t sure if his parents would have been born at that point. It was strange to think about. That strange idea was soon suppressed by another train of thought. Where and how will he get blood for her?
Re: Let The Wrong One Out (Fan Fiction)
Part 1. Chapters 4 to 7
Chapter Four
In the midst of a dark and cold night, when even the wildlife were hiding in their holes and homes, the landscape and the road running through it looked as still as a painting. There was conversely one thing that spoiled this otherwise idyllic scene, the flashing lights of an ambulance.
“Pulse is steady, but heart rate is elevated. Pupils look normal, maybe a bit dilated. Why the hell is he unconscious?” the young paramedic asked both himself and the driver who was focusing more on navigating the emergency vehicle down the darkness of the road.
“What about hypothermia? Took us half an hour to get here, who knows how long he had already been out.”
He hated when this happened, he much preferred being called out to stabbings, shootings, even boring falls and all that sort of stuff. They were easier, at least he could tell instantly what to do. When they got this call from dispatch they had been given very little information. Just that a young male with reddish blonde hair was lying outdoors on the ground near some bins. Upon arrival it was easy to find him thanks to his bright blue jacket and hat. He was unresponsive but they couldn’t find any signs of injuries. It appeared at first that he was simply asleep but unable to be woken up. The paramedics quickly started to suspect he had taken drugs but his vital signs said otherwise. There was no one else around, both of them wondered who had placed the telephone call in the first place and why they had just left him alone, unresponsive in this cold. A brief examination concluded that he needed to be taken to hospital. Whatever was wrong, they couldn’t work in out on the ground.
One week earlier...
Oscar examined the blade trying to judge if it would be sharp enough. Trying to recall how many times he had stabbed trees outside his home in Blackeberg. Despite not always using the knife for its intended purpose, it still looked sharp and could likely do what he was thinking. An hour ago, the blade had been plunged into boiling water to ensure it was sterilised then wrapped in a towel to cool down. Now under close inspection, Oscar took care not to breathe on the exposed metal. The handle was plain and boring but that was not the point. Still, he appreciated the paradox that using the knife would potentially save a life. Eli needed blood and he was going to find a way of giving it to her.
He was sitting astride the bathtub with the door locked in case Eli returned from her night time walk sooner than expected. It was good that she had taken to going out for a few hours each night just too...well, Oscar didn’t really know, but imagined her exploring and stretching her legs. It seemed healthier from her habits back in Sweden, spending most of her time in that nearly empty apartment doing puzzle after puzzle.
In the bottom of the bathtub was a small bag with two bandages, a few pieces of cottonwood and a sickly wound dressing. On the floor next to him was an empty glass bottle with a plastic filter funnel. He looked at what he had brought into the bathroom and then looked at his wrist. Oscar wanted to give her something, any amount would help and would eliminate the need to obtain blood through other methods. At least for a short time. Losing some blood himself, suffering a bit of pain for a time was not the problem, the difficulty was how exactly to do it.
Oscar bent his hand back and examined the veins protruding from his wrist. Did he cut across them and if so, how deep? He looked at his small green lines speculating if it was possible to get a pint of blood from them. Looking at the inside of his elbow, he contemplated if it might be easier and safer to cut there instead.
“Bloody hell,” he cursed shaking his head annoyed with his own ignorance.
He felt stupid that he didn’t know how to do this, stupid that with everything he had read in his life, he did not know how to cut himself. He thought about Eli who was becoming more restless and thirsty with each passing night. If he suspected for one moment that she would take him up on the offer, then he would simply hold out his wrist and let her drink from him directly. Oscar trusted her to drink enough to satisfy her thirst but not to damage him. He knew from probing the issue over the last few days that she did not trust herself to stop, and would never want to take the chance and hurt him or worse.
“Oscar, when I start, it’s very hard to stop. It compels you to keep going until there is nothing left. When that happens a person dies.” She explained when he suggested trying to find and pay a willing volunteer to donate a few points of the lovely red stuff.
“But with Tommy in the basement, you managed to stop yourself. You didn’t kill him,” he had asked trying to understand.
“With difficultly. Its worse the thirstier I am. It’s even harder with someone I know, with someone I... That’s just that way it is.”
Oscar didn’t really understand, but had spent those days trying to think of another solution. It had to be human blood, it had to be from someone who was alive at the time, and the fresher the better. He knew that eventually either he or more likely Eli, before growing too weak, would have to go out and find blood one way or another. If he did it his way, donating himself to her, then leaving it in the bottle for Eli to find then there was little risk. He shuddered when seeing his reflection in the blade, shuddered at the idea of what could happen to someone else with the knife in his hand.
“Definitely inside my elbow,” he told himself. It would be easier to bend his arm and elevate it to stop the bleeding in case he cut to deep. He clenched his teeth, took a deep breath, closed his eyes and started to inch the blade towards its target. Seconds before the knife made contact, he heard the door handle being tried from the outside.
“Oscar? I need to get in.”
All Oscar could muster was a bit of a cough which he hoped signalled to her to hang on for a short time. He hadn’t realised how long he had been in here, how long he had been looking at the knife and skin trying to work things out. It was too late as Eli had returned to her resting place. Disappointed at his inability to do what he was intending, he hid the empty bottle behind the sink, picked up everything else and opened the door.
Eli entered nodding in thanks without looking at him. She was become paler with the bones of her face now more pronounced. As she hastily heaved herself into the tub, Oscar helped cover her up with the blankets, remembering to breathe through his mouth as he did so.
“Good night and don’t worry,” he said to her.
The hours continued to pass with Oscar spending most of time packing up and down in the sitting room rather restless. As daylight began to break, ignoring his tiredness he decided to get some fresh air. Maybe he would be inspired or a solution would somehow present itself. As Oscar exited the entrance to the block, he stopped to feel the weak sun on his face. It was going to be a warm day. The shop would be opening soon, and he was heading to buy some food for himself.
“Kottbullar with mash potatoes and mustard, maybe get the stuff to make Raggmunk in case I’m hungry later,” he spoke to himself walking on while looking down at his feet.
Oscar felt his stomach rumble, not because he was excessively hungry, but at the memory of eating Raggmunk back in Sweden. His mother used to make them for him, fried potato pancakes with bacon and lingonberries, totally delicious. Danish food was a bit different which was reflected in what the shops and supermarkets stocked, but he normally managed to find what he desired. If not the exact then the next best thing. Yet, sometimes his stomach still rumbled for what it was more accustomed to.
Oscar stopped on the spot and looked up, he was exactly where he expected to be just a few minutes away from the shop, but he felt a bit strange. He turned around and looked behind feeling almost as if someone was watching him. To his left were the remains of an old washing machine that looked like it had been there for years. To his right in the distance was a blue car, possibly a mini, but he had seen it parked around a few times so didn’t present a cause for concern. Oscar took a deep breath, looking around once more to confirm he was alone before continuing.
“Are your parent’s sick or something?” asked Edvard as Oscar deposited a dozen items on the crowded counter.
“Sick?”
“I’ve never seen them, only you. Was wondering if they were housebound or something as you do all the shopping?”
Oscar picked up a packet of mints from the display counter and held them up for Edvard to see. He did his very best not to look at his ugly unwashed face.
“Just my dad here with me. He works nights so is asleep most of the day,” he answered trying to look naturally convincing.
“Ah, that explains it. You see everyone around here tends to use my store. The next one is nearly is the capital. I tend to know everyone for that reason.”
“Yeah,” mumbled Oscar to show his disinterest. His mind was still on a poorly Eli.
“You’ve moved into the block of flats at Sovej?”
Oscar unintentionally looked directly into Edvard’s eyes. He guessed that someone might ask where he lived and was prepared for the question, he was not prepared for someone telling him correctly where he and Eli were living.
“No, one of the blocks past that. A few minutes away, closer to the fields and the river near the back,” he lied trying to quickly recall what he had seen on previous walks.
Edvard didn’t respond and his face gave no indication on whether or not he believed him. He simply resumed bagging up the items and once completed handed them over the counter. Oscar made a point of not looking at him, surprised that he appeared to know where they were staying. Not the exact building but close enough. Surprised that he had asked about his parents.
“Take care. See you tomorrow,” Edvard called as Oscar was leaving.
“Weirdo,” he muttered quietly but loud enough to hope that he had been heard.
Oscar concluded the next time he came here, he should bring Eli. She would put him in his place, maybe scare him a bit. She could tell a lot about a person just by looking at them.
“Maybe she can take some of his blood,” he contemplated beginning his trip back home. “Or perhaps just ask him if he has any foam bananas.”
Feeling more relaxed carrying the two heavy bags, he heard something in the background. An unusual sound for this area, the siren of an ambulance in the far distance. It was then an idea started to form within his mind.
As Oscar walked away in preparation, Edvard was stood outside his shop smoking and watching him disappear towards those blocks at Sovej.
Chapter Five
Oscar looked out the bedroom window feeling both hopeful and apprehensive. He scanned the ground outside then looked to the horizon, thankfully it was still pretty mild but that could easily change. Somewhere in the distance closer to the main road would be the perfect place to do such a thing. It was tricky, he needed somewhere that he wouldn’t be disturbed, but also somewhere that he could be found by the right people. Somewhere not too close to the apartment flat. Oscar closed his eyes and listened hard. While he had heard his neighbours below moving around and playing music from time to time, they were all pretty mute. Sometimes he would see one of them entering or exiting the building or walking about outside but it was a rare thing to see or hear anyone here. Oscar and Eli tended to come and go the most. He laughed at his random thought that everyone in this block were vampires, everyone apart from him. That is why he rarely saw anyone, they were all sleeping during the day and out hunting for food at night. The more he thought about it, the more he came to believe it was a real possibility. Almost frightened at the idea, Oscar had to reassure himself that it was only his imagination. Eli would have known if such a thing was true.
They had both stayed up late, or early for her, watching a horror movie. It was based in London and was about an American werewolf. It was pretty pants but was still definitely responsible for keeping him awake now. At one point when he was half asleep, Oscar nearly jumped out of bed thinking the shadow being case on the wall looked like a werewolf’s head. After that he had decided to just stand at the window until his imagination went back into its place.
“You sure you can do this?” Eli asked.
She had been stood secretly in the bedrooms open doorway. He turned to greet her. While he had seen her looking and smelling worse back in Blackeberg, it was still upsetting watching her slowly deteriorate. Her appearance itself made no difference to him in the slightest in conventional terms, he was not that shallow. Young or old looking, male or female looking, she was still Eli and Oscar would always treat her as his best friend, companion and more. If anything her appearance simply made him more determined to go through with his idea.
“Yeah, my part is easy,” he said yawning before turning on the bedside lamp so he could see her better.
“What if they give you medicine?”
Oscar decided to give up on sleeping, doubting it would be possible considering everything that was on his mind. Instead he stretched on the spot, raising his arms over his head, before walking over to Eli who had patiently been awaiting his answer.
“You will have done your part before that happens. You think you can get their undivided attention on the road?”
“Absolutely!” she declared loudly, her eyes widening and lighting up at the challenge.
They discussed the final details of the plan once again, along with the exact timings of what was to happen and when. Eli would make the phone call from a nearby payphone and Oscar would play possum by lying in wait. Ideally Oscar would have preferred that their roles were reversed. He loved the thought of the paramedics trying to make sense of Eli, but he knew that he couldn’t do what she needed to do for this to work. He was also a bit disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to hear the phone call or see their faces first hand. Oscar fought to contain his excitement knowing that he personally had to make it all appear as realistic as possible.
Eventually Eli returned to the bathroom to rest until night fell again. She was worried on multiple fronts and as such was rather restless. Her main worry revolved around Oscar and the uncertainty about his safety, but the growing hunger was beginning to fog her mind. The thing inside her that demanded blood was making itself known and trying to take over.
Oscar remained in bed until just after three in the afternoon, getting up only to make dinner and prepare for the long night ahead. He killed time by channel flipping and looking through his limited wardrobe. It was difficult to pick something bright in order to be easily found, but at the same time looked normal and natural. All he had to do now was wait for sunset, knowing what they were planning would either work fantastically or be a complete and almost certainly a dangerous disaster. A short time later he entered into the bathroom, surprised the last twelfth hours had went so quickly.
“Ready?”
Eli was slowly getting up, she looked tired and hungry.
“I’ll call them at exactly twenty past to the refuse area of the first block. You better get going,” she said.
“Trash...or bin area,” corrected Oscar helpfully zipping up his jacked and handing over his watch.
He left the flat, walking down the stairs as silently as he could despite there being no real need to do so. Once outside he walked almost hugging the walls, avoiding open and well-lit areas just in case. In about twenty minutes, Eli would make the call. After briskly walking, Oscar arrived at the trash area of another block of flats, he didn’t know exactly how much time he had to spare, so he got to work moving around trash cans to stop himself being seen should anyone look out their windows. He then lay on the ground in an unnatural but comfortable way, popped up against the wall.
It seemed like an hour or more had passed and he had not been found yet. Oscar was becoming more nervous with each passing minute, if anyone had came out to empty their bin, he would have been discovered. One side of his body that was in contact with the ground with becoming colder and colder but he dared not move. This was the one thing they couldn’t factor in, the time it would take for an ambulance to arrive. That in itself wasn’t a huge issue as Eli, who would be watching from her spot, wouldn’t proceed to the next stage until seeing Oscar being taken away. Then finally he heard them approaching, they had found him.
Oscar did his very best to act completely unresponsive, shouting a song to himself within his own head to try and drown out everything external. The paramedics, two of them as far as he could tell with his eyes shut, kept shaking him to try and wake him and kept asking if he could hear them. Their hands were all over him checking for injuries, and he almost called out in pain when they checked his blood pressure as the collar nipped his skin tightly.
“This is for Eli, this is for Eli,” he repeated to himself over and over again.
After a short time, less than he thought it would have taken, they decided to load him onto a trolley and into the ambulance. Oscar was relieved when they had done so, as once he was onboard they pretty much left him alone other than monitoring his vitals and rechecking what they had already checked.
The driver, a man in his early forties was driving as fast as he deemed safe on these under maintained roads. While there didn’t appear to be any urgent need to get their patient to hospital, they were short staffed and had been encouraged to do so to free them up. Oscar guessed the paramedic attending him was a Frenchman, as he swore almost constantly in his native language.
“Typical French,” groaned Oscar silently. “No wonder he had been so keen to run his hands over me.”
Their progress to hospital was being hindered by the state of the roads. Potholes large enough to cook in, loose debris both organic and manmade in nature being blown around everywhere and not to forget the actual winding design with tight bends. Someone’s brilliant idea once upon a time to stop drivers from speeding.
As they turned onto a straight street that stretched a few miles before it joined onto the main road into the capital, Frederic eased off the gas pedal. He was concentrating on the street which was flanked by rows of dense trees on both sides. Despite being a rather easier road, you still had to be careful. It was not uncommon to come across wildlife determined to play chicken by running in the path of vehicles. For that reason, the ambulance was driving with lights flashing and siren sounding to help scare away any suicidal animals.
Just as Frederic was gaining confidence, letting his mind drift slightly to his plans for the weekend, he saw something approach in the corner of his eye. For a brief second he believed that someone was running alongside them, but such a thing would be impossible. Before he had a chance to decide if it was worthwhile diverting his attention from the road to look, the thing got bigger and closer.
Realising somewhat later than one would hope that it was a person, he slammed his foot on the breaks as whoever was out there ran and jumped less than twenty feet directly in from of them. All he saw was the persons light red woollen jumper and candy-striped leggings.
“It’s a fucking elf!” he shouted out in shocked stupidity, struggling to keep control of the vehicle with his face nearly going into the steering wheel.
The ambulance swerved somewhat over the road as the speed decreased, Alfred the younger paramedic who was attending to Oscar, went slamming into the back of the passenger seat sideways. Despite Oscar being strapped onto the trolley, he could feel the tension of the straps struggling to keep him in place. They came to a rest halfway across both lands with Alfred quickly separating himself from the back of the seat to check on both his patient and his work partner.
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” protested Frederic checking that his neck and collarbone were still present and correct. “At least the airbag stayed where it belongs.”
“What airbag?” said Alfred reattaching various leads to Oscar. “What the hell happened? Did you say something about an elf?” he asked still confused to the reason behind such a sudden undeclared stop.
Frederic didn’t reply and was attempting to replay the last few minutes in his mind.
“I think...I think it was a person. Like a kid but older looking. She had a woman’s face. She jumped in front of us.”
“Did we miss her?” Alfred’s voice became inaudible as he blinked like a humming bird.
The pair looked at each other for what seemed like an eternity, frozen in horror at the idea before rushing out of opposite doors. Feeling the colder air rush in, Oscar knew his moment had come and began to undo his restraints.
“Hello, can anyone hear us? Is anyone hurt?” shouted Frederic.
They stood turning randomly determined to scan every meter of the road and the ground around it.
“Over there!” they gasped at the identical moment.
In the distance on the wrong side of the road was someone lying in a heap. Even this far away they could tell it was a person. They had hit a person! Whoever it was must have been thrown an impossible distance and were now whimpering like a wounded cat. Alfred, who was nearest the ambulance door, grabbed the fast response bag from under the seat and they made haste to the injured party.
Oscar had already begun ripping open every unlocked drawer, locker and pocket around him. He knew what was required but finding it in time, before they reached Eli, was essential. The first two overhead lockers contained boxes of medications, the third had an array of bandages and dressings which all fell on his head. He turned and looked into a cabinet on the floor, disappointed to find that it contained a portable ECG machine. That could have been fun on any other night but not tonight. He could hear the crew’s voices becoming more distant but was aware that they could return any minute. On the floor was a dusty burns kit, and then ripping open a small set of drawers he found various medical utilities and tools. There were so many storage places he was becoming disoriented and frustrated. Then at last, when he turned once more he spotted what he hoped was the prize.
“Yes!” shouted Oscar pulling the door of a small compartment tucked away in the corner. A small refrigerated compartment that didn’t contain that staff’s lunch. Instead there were three packets of beautifully radiant red blood, just sitting there waiting for him. It was exactly what he had been looking for. Oscar never thought he would be so happy to see blood, part of him was beginning to doubt if ambulances actually carried blood.
He grabbed the bags with both hands, holding them against himself tightly like they liquid gold, and threw his body against the backdoors. As soon as his feet hit the ground, Oscar started to run back in the direction they had driven. It would be a long way back, he had to pace himself to put distance between him and the crew, but not so fast that he couldn’t make it. His boots were bouncing off the tarmac with so much noise that they sounded like thunder echoing and that is what he wanted. Oscar whistled as loud as he could, both to get the paramedics attention and to let Eli know it was mission complete. When hearing Oscar, she stood up and ran off galloping into the trees easily disappearing into the darkness.
Both Alfred and Frederic, who had almost arrived at Eli’s side, stopped confused looking back and forward. They were trying to decide who to go after. The person who they may or may not have struck but who had suddenly got up and ran off, or their original unresponsive patient who was now running in the opposite direction whistling.
Oscar dared not look behind him, worried that the two men would be chasing and closing in on him. If he was caught he was clueless on how to explain all of this. “Sorry for stealing blood but my friend is thirsty,” would most likely land him in a padded room. His hands were getting cold and he did the only thing he could think off to keep the blood safely on his person. He slid the bags down the front of his trousers. Now he could run properly without worrying about dropping or damaging them. Feeling proud and managing to lightly jog for nearly twenty minutes, Oscar arrived at their meeting point. It was a small stone bridge over a dried-up stream, far enough away from both the road and their flat, and an easy landmark to find thanks to a single old lamppost next to it.
“The blood?” asked a voice from under the bridge.
He couldn’t see her face but understood from the tone that he was to come no closer. Instead he removed the bags, knelt down on the ground and pushed them as far forward as possible.
“Leave,” she commanded before adding “just in case.”
As soon as Oscar turned around the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and he felt a disruption in the air behind him. Eli had pounced at the blood. Slowly walking away, he could hear her scoffing the contents and knew not to look back or interrupt. When she was this hungry, she really wasn’t herself. Oscar simply continued to walk forward knowing that for now, she was fed.
Chapter Six
Oscar and Eli’s First Christmas: Part 1
“Mum? Can we leave lots of cookies and milk out for Santa? The fatter he gets, the less likely he’ll be to escape my anti-Santa traps this year.” [Oscar to his mother at age 8]
There was a light rain outside that had persisted for the last three days subduing anyone’s hope for a white Christmas. It was odd as Denmark, like Sweden, was no stranger to snow. If it didn’t snow it was unusual. In fact the Swedish have about fifty words for the white stuff. From pudersno to klabbsno, each word describing the wetness and firmness not to forget which snow was best for snowman building. Still, there was always something magical about snow on Christmas, this year sadly it was starting to look like a washout.
Oscar lay comfortably and warmly completely outstretched like a starfish across the sofa looking around the sitting room. The Royal Family were giving their Christmas day speech on television. He found their hats comical and had been laughing loudly, but was concerned at waking Eli so he was trying to focus on other things.
“Boring ceiling, need to get some posters up there. Need to find a pair of ladders or...” he stopped and wondered if Eli could climb the walls and hang upside down long enough to affix them to the slightly shoddy paintwork.
Oscar started to laugh again and covered his mouth with his hand. He was feeling joyful...very merry in fact. Early this morning, just after eight, he travelled into one of the neighbouring suburbs to try and find an open store. Their local shop with the short man Edvard had mysteriously been closed for the last few days, despite a sign displaying his seasonal opening hours stating otherwise. Oscar was glad to have a break from the shopkeeper but was also annoyed having to travel further afield everything he needed something.
On his way home, he stopped at a market stall where a man was giving away free cups of ‘Glogg’ to anyone and everyone passing. Those aromas had sucked him in. The combined smell of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, impossible to resist. Despite being rather thirsty, he waited patiently in queue doing his best not to draw attention to himself. When finally at the front he saw an old bearded man in a red tunic spooning out the liquid into disposable pint pots.
“You had Glogg before?” asked the server initially holding back the cup.
“Yeah of course, love the stuff. What is it?” Oscar replied grinning, feeling his cheeks stretch with the cold air.
“Made from wine and slowly heated with spices. Its alcohol,” said the server slowly stirring it.
“Yeah, Glogg! I always have it at Christmas.”
“Good enough for me,” laughed the man filling the cup up to the brim and handing it over.
Oscar immediately drank a few large mouthfuls, then a few more mouthfuls to try and discharge his thirst. He could see the server raise his eyebrows over the top of the cup. The seasonal spicy liquid was tasty with a unique flavour that danced on his tongue and warmed his insides.
“Top up?” offered the man waving his ladle.
Oscar nodded pleased handing his plastic pint pot back over.
“Drink it slow, enjoy it.”
It was advice that he didn’t follow as he resumed his journey back home. The man was correct, this was definitely wine. It smelt and tasted so much better than whatever it was his Dad used to drink. Oscar had been tempted to go back and chance his luck for another refill, but now in reflection he was glad he had not. Making it back to the flat was fun but difficult. He had almost forgotten how steep the stairs leading up to their place were. He had managed to make it to the sofa about an hour ago, but hadn’t done much else. Not even remove his jacket.
“Glogg is odd,” he proclaimed.
It had tasted much better than expected, he kind of wished there was someone he could tell or share it with. His hands were tingling slightly, maybe still warming up or maybe from the spiced wine, but he put them in his jacket pocket ensuring that he hadn’t lost it. Oscar pulled it out carefully and examined what he had purchased. It was for Eli, not a puzzle but a gift and hopefully something she would like. Ideally, he was hoping to get her a bigger one but they were surprisingly more expensive. A few days after they had moved in, Oscar had used his knife to stab open a hole behind the bathroom mirror. A hole that was big enough to hold their tin that contained Eli’s money. While it still contained a small fortune, that didn’t appear to be going down, he was still concerned what would happen when it ran out. He would have to get a job, or worse, Eli would have to do whatever it was she did in the first place to get it again.
“People gave it to me.”
That is what she had told him back in Blackeberg, but she had omitted the details of exactly how, when, and why. Oscar felt a tiny bit guilty that he was effectively being supported by her, it was her money he was spending.
“Oscar, it’s ours. It belongs to both of us,” she had told him not feeling the same way.
He took a few deep breaths and put the present back in his pocket making a mental note to wrap it up. As soon as he could get off the sofa. Letting his head fall back to the cushion, he closed his eyes and thought about more recent events. He felt proudly happy at being able to get blood without resorting to previously used methods. He wasn’t keen to head down such an avenue and Eli was even less eager for him to do so.
“If it comes to it, she can have some of mine,” insisted Oscar. As soon as he could work out how to do it safely for them both.
Within minutes of her scoffing those bags of blood she felt better and slowly over the night became her normal radiant self again.
“Was it good?” he had asked her when she had run from the bridge to catch up with him after feeding.
She never answered, just walked by his side and took his hand as they sauntered home. Oscar had felt that her hand was wet, not from blood but from Eli licking her hands clean of any traces of it. He didn’t need Eli to explain, he knew it wouldn’t have been as good as the fresh stuff, collected and eaten close together. The blood she fed on had to be from a living person, never dead. So while blood collected from a living donor was safe to consume, its storage and age meant it didn’t provide as much ‘goodness.’ Oscar tried to understand it in a way that made sense. The closest he could come, was thinking about a roast chicken dinner with vegetables. You can cook it, cool it down in the fridge, and still eat the meat a few days later with it tasting satisfactory. Those vegetables however would likely be void of any taste and nutritional value.
A few hours passed and Oscar managed to shake off the effects of his mild intoxication, drinking a few glasses of water to starve the onset of a headache. Walking around, he pulled open the middle drawer of the sideboard and removed a Christmas cracker. It had been given to him last week by Edvard who had a box of them on the counter, giving out one to each customer he saw. Oscar originally intended on pulling it with Eli after dinner today, but imagined that the noise may give her a fright. Recalling her reaction to the sudden bass of music, technically she still owed him a new set of headphones. He smiled as he carefully unravelled and opened the cracker to reveal the contents within. There was a purple hat, a small useless whistle, a Santa sticker and a joke;
‘Why was the turkey allowed to join the pop group? He was the only one with drumsticks.’
The joke was place in his pocket for later, it was definitely a keeper and had the potential to make Eli laugh which was often a task. Walking into the bathroom he carefully uncovered her and slowly stuck the Santa sticker on her forehead. Then he pulled the purple hat onto her head, just about managing to contain his laughter.
Eli had told him late last night not to start making his dinner until she got up today. No explanation was given, nonetheless Oscar agreed. Instead he made himself a few pancakes just after five o’clock to remain satisfied until she awoke. He used the time alone to tidy up a bit and to do their laundry. Oscar made a point to smell each piece of Eli’s clothing as they went into the machine. It was an easy way to gauge how she was feeling and specifically how hungry. At the worst end of the spectrum her clothes would soak what he could only describe as the aromas of death and decay. A nasty strange smell that he doubted he would ever get used to. At the other end, she smelt perfectly normal, almost nice, which was impressive for someone who he had to remind every week to wash.
“A bath was something we could infrequently afford.” A habit from back in her day when water would be drank to survive, and not to soak yourself in, that she never managed to break.
Oscar continued to clean up to pass time but also for another reason. For as long as he could remember, his mother would always tidy up before Christmas dinner. He enjoyed the idea that maybe she was doing it right now. Time had passed, but not enough for her to have given up on him. He pictured her vacuuming and dusting telling people it was in case he returned. For a short time, he considered sending her a letter or a card, but he could never risk it somehow being tracked back to them or giving the authorities a lead. Besides what would he say in it? Leaving it totally blank also seemed like a waste.
After completing everything he could, Oscar lay on the sofa to relax, read and to try and ignore the slight smell of Glogg that was coming from him. Half of his attention was on the magazine ‘Rock4Ever’ and half was on trying to watch television. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of purple as Eli glided into the room. She was up sooner than he expected and was frowning.
“Really?” she asked pointing upwards first to the paper hat then to her forehead with her facial expression melting into a smirk.
“What? It’s Christmas,” announced Oscar remaining horizontal on the sofa and mockingly waving a piece of leftover pancake in the air towards her.
Eli slithered over to him, almost as if she sliding along the floor, looking deathly serious and not breaking eye contact.
“Maybe I’ll come into your room when you’re sleeping and play with your face.”
“Only on Christmas,” beamed Oscar.
“Maybe. Or maybe when you least expect it. I can be very quiet when I want to be,” she boasted. “I’ll see you, but you most definitely won’t see me.”
Oscar’s eyes rolled around in his head trying to think of a response.
“Then...then, I’ll uninvite you. Then you won’t be able to come in at all, and you’ll have to sleep out on the stairs. So I win,” he said trying but failing to match her serious face and tone.
“Oh? You’ll uninvite me will you?” she asked moving in closer to Oscar, putting her hand on his chest and pressing down. Somehow she managed to place her fingers in such a way that they were tickling his ribs.
“Yes! Yes I’ll uninvite you.”
“Really?” asked Eli pushing down moderately harder.
“Okay, okay, no!” Oscar struggled to reply with his eyes watering with laughter.
“No what?”
“I won’t uninvite you. I’ll never uninvite you, I promise.”
Eli released him from her single handed rib-tickling grip, mouthing the word ‘easy’ to further infuriate him. Oscar held his hand up for a friendly lets-call-it-a-draw high five. It took her a few moments of starting at the palm of his hand before realizing what he was waiting for and returned the action.
Chapter Seven
Oscar and Eli’s First Christmas: Part 2
Oscar’s stomach rumbled like thunder, at least to Eli’s keen sense of heading. She had asked him to wait until she got up before making dinner and for good reason. Forcing herself to get out of the tub during the day always felt unnatural and a struggle. As soon as her eyes opened and gazed upon the pale daylight they tended to snap shut. It was almost like they could command her to sleep more because the sun was still up. When she was asleep it always felt like each limb was independent from one and other. It had taken a lot of practice over the years for Eli to train herself and her body to return into the waking world on request. This is what she had done today to get up early.
“Oscar, I need to head out briefly,” she stated moments after returning his high five.
He looked behind to the bedroom and confirmed there was still a bit of daylight out there.
“It’s still kind of light.”
Automatically Eli adjusted her gaze towards the far window. Oscar noticed her pupil’s contract into almost nothing, as if they were trying to protect themselves.
“It will be alright. I won’t go far and will stick to the shade.”
Oscar began to sit up somewhat surprised.
“Do you want me to come with...”
“No, I won’t be long. I promise,” she said with sudden objection in her voice. With that she walked backwards and away from a confused Oscar.
Still sitting half-up and half-down on the sofa, he watched Eli leave without saying anymore or looking at him again. She grabbed her hat and gloves from a hook near the door to help protect any exposed skin. Oscar initially thought he had done or said something wrong as the situation had changed so quickly. He had to remind himself that she, like he, did go outside albeit he had never known her to be so eager to go out so early. With little else to do until Eli returned and his stomach still not satisfied, he distracted himself by trying to wrap up the present he had got for her this morning.
“How the hell do you wrap something sphere shaped?” Oscar asked himself becoming quickly annoyed and bamboozled by the task.
Using his knife to cut the paper and second-hand tape from the window posters just added to the problems. He should have paid the extra two krone for the shop to gift wrap it. Eventually however and almost breaking a sweat, he was satisfied with what he achieved even if it was a bit messy. He had the rest of the night planned out in his head. Eli would return, he would make a quick dinner, then tell her some jokes as was his personal tradition. He was more looking forward to explaining each of them to help her grasp why they are funny.
“Oscar, when I was growing up, the only joke was the plague,” she had told him.
He had laughed which had resulted in Eli asking why what she had said was funny. There was a very real generation gap between them when it came to humour. He had been trying on and off to find a line of jokes that would work for them both. It seemed that jokes that involved observational humour with as much satiric as possible would sometimes tickle her fancy. Oscar now used the word ‘fancy’ after Eli got annoyed after he convinced her that she really did have a ‘funny bone’ and it was inside her arm. Still, Oscar hoped her smiles were genuine and not just her trying to make him feel better about putting in so much work. He liked to make her laugh.
After food and some jokes, he would give her the gift. Finally they would spend the night on the sofa watching whatever was on. What Oscar didn’t know was that Eli had different plans for the night.
Suddenly he heard the front door handle being turned, he rushed to the door to investigate. Oscar had not been keeping track of time but had not been expecting Eli to return so soon, she had been away for less than twenty minutes.
“Hey,” she said entering.
“Are you alright?”
“Exceedingly” she announced with such a wide smile that Oscar could see her fangs deep in the top of her mouth in their retracted position. She closed her mouth when she noticed him looking at them, and then walked into the front room leaving Oscar still wondering where she had been.
“Err, how about some music?” he asked following behind.
“Yeah, that would be awesome.”
He had suggested that she used the word cool instead of awesome a few times as it was more modern and would fit better in everyday conversation. While he thought the way she said awesome was...well very awesome, it just never hit his ears right. Almost like she was saying “orse-ham.”
Oscar muted the television and then started tuning through the Hi-Fi radio stations. The first was playing something by Status Quo but he quickly turned away to avoid their boogie rock. The next was a local News station that repeated everything on a loop, and he had already heard it all. Finally, after listening to static, he found a station playing Christmas music, not quite what he was looking for but it would do. He sat down next to Eli, but noticed that she didn’t seem very relaxed. While she was listening to music and watching the muted screen, she was sitting on the very edge of the sofa. Sitting very upright with a very straight back and with her hands on her knees. She appeared perfectly normal in conversation, just for some reason in a state of heightened readiness like a mouse caught in a cats gaze.
Oscar spent a short time telling her about his day, but omitted the details over her semi-drunkenness from drinking that wine. He liked to keep her informed on where he would go during the day to keep her in the loop. A few times Eli would know about the places he mentioned, but often her information was out of date. Oscar hoped that when everything died down they could head out together at night more frequently. In the midst of their conversation, there was a loud knock at the front door which made them both jump up to their feet.
“Oscar, go into the bedroom and close the door,” commanded Eli as she swiftly shot towards the flat entrance.
He automatically obeyed as if they had rehearsed it, leaping the distance knowing she wouldn’t open the front door until she heard Oscar close himself in. As his heart rate climbed even higher, he placed his ear to the cold wood just in time to hear Eli answer the door. There were voices, a man was speaking, no, it was two men, followed by Eli’s voice. They were muffled and the few words that he could make out were not enough to get a grip on what was going on. The two men were speaking louder but they all seemed to be having a normal and calm conversation. After nearly a minute he heard the front door creek closed.
“Eli?” he shouted just loud enough for her to hear.
“Stay in the bedroom.”
Oscar pressed his ear on the door even harder to try and determine if Eli was alone. He could hear a lot of movement, fast footsteps and the table being dragged over the floor. He wrapped one hand tightly around the door handle and the other around the handle of his knife.
“Eli?” he asked again a bit louder.
“Don’t come out,” she shouted back. “Wait a few minutes.”
Oscar did as instructed but remained ready to jump out wielding the knife if it was needed.
“Close your eyes and come out slowly.”
Oscar looked down and saw the shadow of Eli’s feet being cast through the gap. He could smell something strong and pleasant bleeding through into the room. Again he obeyed carefully opening the door.
“No peaking!” shouted Eli so loudly that Oscar almost opened his eyes in fright. She took him by the arm and guided him towards something, Oscar’s sense of small was being bombarded.
“What is that?” he asked trying to separate and identify each separate aroma.
“Okay, open your eyes now.”
His jaw dropped at what he saw in front of him. Set out on their table were boxes upon boxes of opened take-away containers and tubs. There was so much food that he was still trying to work out what was there. Sliced roast duck in sauce, a tub of aebleflnesk which he had learnt was pork with apples, sugar and thyme. Another dish looked like a chunky chicken and vegetable soup. He recognised some Swedish food in the mix as well, at least three different meatball dishes and a tub of wallenbergare.
“What’s all of this?” he asked struggling to contain the saliva in his mouth.
“Your Christmas dinner.”
“All of this?”
“Yes.”
Oscar looked at her but was quickly drawn back to the food that she had displayed across the entirety of the table. This would feed a family of three and it was all for him.
“This is what you went out to arrange? Over the phone?”
“Yes,” nodded Eli proudly.
“It’s a lot of food,” grasped Oscar still scanning across.
“My treat. You helped feed me so now I feed you. Besides you’ve lost weight.”
What she said was true, despite eating a lot of junk food he had started to notice some weight loss. Oscar had been planning on simply putting a pizza in the oven tonight, but this was...something else.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Get tucked in,” she encouraged.
Oscar sat down in the chair and Eli sat opposite him. He smiled wildly watching her put the Christmas hat back on her head. Everything smelt and looked far too good to hold back and he started to eat several of the dishes at once, going back and forward between them all. Eli’s eyes followed Oscar’s hands and she pleasantly watched him enjoy each bite.
“Is it good?” she asked.
“Very...mmm, yeah,” he muttered with a mouthful.
Oscar quickly noticed that Eli was mirroring his reactions to the food. She was watching him enjoy the dishes and was enjoying them with him. Eli was obviously not eating anything herself, but anyone watching would have thought otherwise. When Oscar made a noise she would make the same noise, when Oscar nodded in delight she did as well. He rationalised that this was her only way to ‘eat food’ and had no problem with her actions. It was sort of neat to be able to share dinner with her.
It took a huge effort, including taking a few breaks, to get through as much as he could physically manage, but feeling like a stuffed pig he admitted defeat. Oscar leaned back in his chair, undone the top button on his jeans and rubbed his stomach. Eli, who was still mirroring him, did the exact same thing and the pair laughed at each other. In his surprise at the feast, Oscar had nearly forgotten about the gift for Eli.
“Your turn to close your eyes,” he told her struggling to his feet.
“What?”
Oscar repeated his request as he went over to the sofa where he had hidden the present underneath. Eli hesitated for a few moments before closing her eyes.
“You’re not going to stick more stickers on me are you?”
“Nope,” he replied trying to tip-toe over to her. Despite Eli’s eyes being firmly shut, she was able to follow his movements.
Oscar put the gift on the table in front of her and took a wide step back.
“You can open them now. Your eyes I mean.”
Eli did so and looked at what was in front of her.
“A present?”
“Yeah, just a small one.”
“Who is it for?”
“Wh...What? It’s for you stupid,” answered Oscar in a kindly way.
Eli slowly picked it up surprised.
“A present for me?”
The suspense was killing Oscar, so he became animated, using his hands to encourage her to just open it. Eli took the hint and began to rip open the several messy layers of Christmas paper revelling the contents within. It was still wrapped in the second hand newspaper used by the shop to protect it. Her eyes opened wide as the final layer was removed, revelling a small snow globe about the size of a tennis ball. It was of the Little Mermaid statue. Instantaneously she was captivated and shook the globe to tryout the snow effect.
“Do you like it?” asked Oscar beginning to worry that she hadn’t said anything yet.
“Yes, yes I do. Thank you.”
Eli stood up still holding the globe, went over to Oscar and hugged him tightly. A bit too tightly as after about ten seconds Oscar had to tap her sides to ask to be released from her embrace. Eli did so and took a step back to re-examine the snow globe once more. Oscar could see the reflection of the globe in her eyes, she was entranced by it.
Chapter Four
In the midst of a dark and cold night, when even the wildlife were hiding in their holes and homes, the landscape and the road running through it looked as still as a painting. There was conversely one thing that spoiled this otherwise idyllic scene, the flashing lights of an ambulance.
“Pulse is steady, but heart rate is elevated. Pupils look normal, maybe a bit dilated. Why the hell is he unconscious?” the young paramedic asked both himself and the driver who was focusing more on navigating the emergency vehicle down the darkness of the road.
“What about hypothermia? Took us half an hour to get here, who knows how long he had already been out.”
He hated when this happened, he much preferred being called out to stabbings, shootings, even boring falls and all that sort of stuff. They were easier, at least he could tell instantly what to do. When they got this call from dispatch they had been given very little information. Just that a young male with reddish blonde hair was lying outdoors on the ground near some bins. Upon arrival it was easy to find him thanks to his bright blue jacket and hat. He was unresponsive but they couldn’t find any signs of injuries. It appeared at first that he was simply asleep but unable to be woken up. The paramedics quickly started to suspect he had taken drugs but his vital signs said otherwise. There was no one else around, both of them wondered who had placed the telephone call in the first place and why they had just left him alone, unresponsive in this cold. A brief examination concluded that he needed to be taken to hospital. Whatever was wrong, they couldn’t work in out on the ground.
One week earlier...
Oscar examined the blade trying to judge if it would be sharp enough. Trying to recall how many times he had stabbed trees outside his home in Blackeberg. Despite not always using the knife for its intended purpose, it still looked sharp and could likely do what he was thinking. An hour ago, the blade had been plunged into boiling water to ensure it was sterilised then wrapped in a towel to cool down. Now under close inspection, Oscar took care not to breathe on the exposed metal. The handle was plain and boring but that was not the point. Still, he appreciated the paradox that using the knife would potentially save a life. Eli needed blood and he was going to find a way of giving it to her.
He was sitting astride the bathtub with the door locked in case Eli returned from her night time walk sooner than expected. It was good that she had taken to going out for a few hours each night just too...well, Oscar didn’t really know, but imagined her exploring and stretching her legs. It seemed healthier from her habits back in Sweden, spending most of her time in that nearly empty apartment doing puzzle after puzzle.
In the bottom of the bathtub was a small bag with two bandages, a few pieces of cottonwood and a sickly wound dressing. On the floor next to him was an empty glass bottle with a plastic filter funnel. He looked at what he had brought into the bathroom and then looked at his wrist. Oscar wanted to give her something, any amount would help and would eliminate the need to obtain blood through other methods. At least for a short time. Losing some blood himself, suffering a bit of pain for a time was not the problem, the difficulty was how exactly to do it.
Oscar bent his hand back and examined the veins protruding from his wrist. Did he cut across them and if so, how deep? He looked at his small green lines speculating if it was possible to get a pint of blood from them. Looking at the inside of his elbow, he contemplated if it might be easier and safer to cut there instead.
“Bloody hell,” he cursed shaking his head annoyed with his own ignorance.
He felt stupid that he didn’t know how to do this, stupid that with everything he had read in his life, he did not know how to cut himself. He thought about Eli who was becoming more restless and thirsty with each passing night. If he suspected for one moment that she would take him up on the offer, then he would simply hold out his wrist and let her drink from him directly. Oscar trusted her to drink enough to satisfy her thirst but not to damage him. He knew from probing the issue over the last few days that she did not trust herself to stop, and would never want to take the chance and hurt him or worse.
“Oscar, when I start, it’s very hard to stop. It compels you to keep going until there is nothing left. When that happens a person dies.” She explained when he suggested trying to find and pay a willing volunteer to donate a few points of the lovely red stuff.
“But with Tommy in the basement, you managed to stop yourself. You didn’t kill him,” he had asked trying to understand.
“With difficultly. Its worse the thirstier I am. It’s even harder with someone I know, with someone I... That’s just that way it is.”
Oscar didn’t really understand, but had spent those days trying to think of another solution. It had to be human blood, it had to be from someone who was alive at the time, and the fresher the better. He knew that eventually either he or more likely Eli, before growing too weak, would have to go out and find blood one way or another. If he did it his way, donating himself to her, then leaving it in the bottle for Eli to find then there was little risk. He shuddered when seeing his reflection in the blade, shuddered at the idea of what could happen to someone else with the knife in his hand.
“Definitely inside my elbow,” he told himself. It would be easier to bend his arm and elevate it to stop the bleeding in case he cut to deep. He clenched his teeth, took a deep breath, closed his eyes and started to inch the blade towards its target. Seconds before the knife made contact, he heard the door handle being tried from the outside.
“Oscar? I need to get in.”
All Oscar could muster was a bit of a cough which he hoped signalled to her to hang on for a short time. He hadn’t realised how long he had been in here, how long he had been looking at the knife and skin trying to work things out. It was too late as Eli had returned to her resting place. Disappointed at his inability to do what he was intending, he hid the empty bottle behind the sink, picked up everything else and opened the door.
Eli entered nodding in thanks without looking at him. She was become paler with the bones of her face now more pronounced. As she hastily heaved herself into the tub, Oscar helped cover her up with the blankets, remembering to breathe through his mouth as he did so.
“Good night and don’t worry,” he said to her.
The hours continued to pass with Oscar spending most of time packing up and down in the sitting room rather restless. As daylight began to break, ignoring his tiredness he decided to get some fresh air. Maybe he would be inspired or a solution would somehow present itself. As Oscar exited the entrance to the block, he stopped to feel the weak sun on his face. It was going to be a warm day. The shop would be opening soon, and he was heading to buy some food for himself.
“Kottbullar with mash potatoes and mustard, maybe get the stuff to make Raggmunk in case I’m hungry later,” he spoke to himself walking on while looking down at his feet.
Oscar felt his stomach rumble, not because he was excessively hungry, but at the memory of eating Raggmunk back in Sweden. His mother used to make them for him, fried potato pancakes with bacon and lingonberries, totally delicious. Danish food was a bit different which was reflected in what the shops and supermarkets stocked, but he normally managed to find what he desired. If not the exact then the next best thing. Yet, sometimes his stomach still rumbled for what it was more accustomed to.
Oscar stopped on the spot and looked up, he was exactly where he expected to be just a few minutes away from the shop, but he felt a bit strange. He turned around and looked behind feeling almost as if someone was watching him. To his left were the remains of an old washing machine that looked like it had been there for years. To his right in the distance was a blue car, possibly a mini, but he had seen it parked around a few times so didn’t present a cause for concern. Oscar took a deep breath, looking around once more to confirm he was alone before continuing.
“Are your parent’s sick or something?” asked Edvard as Oscar deposited a dozen items on the crowded counter.
“Sick?”
“I’ve never seen them, only you. Was wondering if they were housebound or something as you do all the shopping?”
Oscar picked up a packet of mints from the display counter and held them up for Edvard to see. He did his very best not to look at his ugly unwashed face.
“Just my dad here with me. He works nights so is asleep most of the day,” he answered trying to look naturally convincing.
“Ah, that explains it. You see everyone around here tends to use my store. The next one is nearly is the capital. I tend to know everyone for that reason.”
“Yeah,” mumbled Oscar to show his disinterest. His mind was still on a poorly Eli.
“You’ve moved into the block of flats at Sovej?”
Oscar unintentionally looked directly into Edvard’s eyes. He guessed that someone might ask where he lived and was prepared for the question, he was not prepared for someone telling him correctly where he and Eli were living.
“No, one of the blocks past that. A few minutes away, closer to the fields and the river near the back,” he lied trying to quickly recall what he had seen on previous walks.
Edvard didn’t respond and his face gave no indication on whether or not he believed him. He simply resumed bagging up the items and once completed handed them over the counter. Oscar made a point of not looking at him, surprised that he appeared to know where they were staying. Not the exact building but close enough. Surprised that he had asked about his parents.
“Take care. See you tomorrow,” Edvard called as Oscar was leaving.
“Weirdo,” he muttered quietly but loud enough to hope that he had been heard.
Oscar concluded the next time he came here, he should bring Eli. She would put him in his place, maybe scare him a bit. She could tell a lot about a person just by looking at them.
“Maybe she can take some of his blood,” he contemplated beginning his trip back home. “Or perhaps just ask him if he has any foam bananas.”
Feeling more relaxed carrying the two heavy bags, he heard something in the background. An unusual sound for this area, the siren of an ambulance in the far distance. It was then an idea started to form within his mind.
As Oscar walked away in preparation, Edvard was stood outside his shop smoking and watching him disappear towards those blocks at Sovej.
Chapter Five
Oscar looked out the bedroom window feeling both hopeful and apprehensive. He scanned the ground outside then looked to the horizon, thankfully it was still pretty mild but that could easily change. Somewhere in the distance closer to the main road would be the perfect place to do such a thing. It was tricky, he needed somewhere that he wouldn’t be disturbed, but also somewhere that he could be found by the right people. Somewhere not too close to the apartment flat. Oscar closed his eyes and listened hard. While he had heard his neighbours below moving around and playing music from time to time, they were all pretty mute. Sometimes he would see one of them entering or exiting the building or walking about outside but it was a rare thing to see or hear anyone here. Oscar and Eli tended to come and go the most. He laughed at his random thought that everyone in this block were vampires, everyone apart from him. That is why he rarely saw anyone, they were all sleeping during the day and out hunting for food at night. The more he thought about it, the more he came to believe it was a real possibility. Almost frightened at the idea, Oscar had to reassure himself that it was only his imagination. Eli would have known if such a thing was true.
They had both stayed up late, or early for her, watching a horror movie. It was based in London and was about an American werewolf. It was pretty pants but was still definitely responsible for keeping him awake now. At one point when he was half asleep, Oscar nearly jumped out of bed thinking the shadow being case on the wall looked like a werewolf’s head. After that he had decided to just stand at the window until his imagination went back into its place.
“You sure you can do this?” Eli asked.
She had been stood secretly in the bedrooms open doorway. He turned to greet her. While he had seen her looking and smelling worse back in Blackeberg, it was still upsetting watching her slowly deteriorate. Her appearance itself made no difference to him in the slightest in conventional terms, he was not that shallow. Young or old looking, male or female looking, she was still Eli and Oscar would always treat her as his best friend, companion and more. If anything her appearance simply made him more determined to go through with his idea.
“Yeah, my part is easy,” he said yawning before turning on the bedside lamp so he could see her better.
“What if they give you medicine?”
Oscar decided to give up on sleeping, doubting it would be possible considering everything that was on his mind. Instead he stretched on the spot, raising his arms over his head, before walking over to Eli who had patiently been awaiting his answer.
“You will have done your part before that happens. You think you can get their undivided attention on the road?”
“Absolutely!” she declared loudly, her eyes widening and lighting up at the challenge.
They discussed the final details of the plan once again, along with the exact timings of what was to happen and when. Eli would make the phone call from a nearby payphone and Oscar would play possum by lying in wait. Ideally Oscar would have preferred that their roles were reversed. He loved the thought of the paramedics trying to make sense of Eli, but he knew that he couldn’t do what she needed to do for this to work. He was also a bit disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to hear the phone call or see their faces first hand. Oscar fought to contain his excitement knowing that he personally had to make it all appear as realistic as possible.
Eventually Eli returned to the bathroom to rest until night fell again. She was worried on multiple fronts and as such was rather restless. Her main worry revolved around Oscar and the uncertainty about his safety, but the growing hunger was beginning to fog her mind. The thing inside her that demanded blood was making itself known and trying to take over.
Oscar remained in bed until just after three in the afternoon, getting up only to make dinner and prepare for the long night ahead. He killed time by channel flipping and looking through his limited wardrobe. It was difficult to pick something bright in order to be easily found, but at the same time looked normal and natural. All he had to do now was wait for sunset, knowing what they were planning would either work fantastically or be a complete and almost certainly a dangerous disaster. A short time later he entered into the bathroom, surprised the last twelfth hours had went so quickly.
“Ready?”
Eli was slowly getting up, she looked tired and hungry.
“I’ll call them at exactly twenty past to the refuse area of the first block. You better get going,” she said.
“Trash...or bin area,” corrected Oscar helpfully zipping up his jacked and handing over his watch.
He left the flat, walking down the stairs as silently as he could despite there being no real need to do so. Once outside he walked almost hugging the walls, avoiding open and well-lit areas just in case. In about twenty minutes, Eli would make the call. After briskly walking, Oscar arrived at the trash area of another block of flats, he didn’t know exactly how much time he had to spare, so he got to work moving around trash cans to stop himself being seen should anyone look out their windows. He then lay on the ground in an unnatural but comfortable way, popped up against the wall.
It seemed like an hour or more had passed and he had not been found yet. Oscar was becoming more nervous with each passing minute, if anyone had came out to empty their bin, he would have been discovered. One side of his body that was in contact with the ground with becoming colder and colder but he dared not move. This was the one thing they couldn’t factor in, the time it would take for an ambulance to arrive. That in itself wasn’t a huge issue as Eli, who would be watching from her spot, wouldn’t proceed to the next stage until seeing Oscar being taken away. Then finally he heard them approaching, they had found him.
Oscar did his very best to act completely unresponsive, shouting a song to himself within his own head to try and drown out everything external. The paramedics, two of them as far as he could tell with his eyes shut, kept shaking him to try and wake him and kept asking if he could hear them. Their hands were all over him checking for injuries, and he almost called out in pain when they checked his blood pressure as the collar nipped his skin tightly.
“This is for Eli, this is for Eli,” he repeated to himself over and over again.
After a short time, less than he thought it would have taken, they decided to load him onto a trolley and into the ambulance. Oscar was relieved when they had done so, as once he was onboard they pretty much left him alone other than monitoring his vitals and rechecking what they had already checked.
The driver, a man in his early forties was driving as fast as he deemed safe on these under maintained roads. While there didn’t appear to be any urgent need to get their patient to hospital, they were short staffed and had been encouraged to do so to free them up. Oscar guessed the paramedic attending him was a Frenchman, as he swore almost constantly in his native language.
“Typical French,” groaned Oscar silently. “No wonder he had been so keen to run his hands over me.”
Their progress to hospital was being hindered by the state of the roads. Potholes large enough to cook in, loose debris both organic and manmade in nature being blown around everywhere and not to forget the actual winding design with tight bends. Someone’s brilliant idea once upon a time to stop drivers from speeding.
As they turned onto a straight street that stretched a few miles before it joined onto the main road into the capital, Frederic eased off the gas pedal. He was concentrating on the street which was flanked by rows of dense trees on both sides. Despite being a rather easier road, you still had to be careful. It was not uncommon to come across wildlife determined to play chicken by running in the path of vehicles. For that reason, the ambulance was driving with lights flashing and siren sounding to help scare away any suicidal animals.
Just as Frederic was gaining confidence, letting his mind drift slightly to his plans for the weekend, he saw something approach in the corner of his eye. For a brief second he believed that someone was running alongside them, but such a thing would be impossible. Before he had a chance to decide if it was worthwhile diverting his attention from the road to look, the thing got bigger and closer.
Realising somewhat later than one would hope that it was a person, he slammed his foot on the breaks as whoever was out there ran and jumped less than twenty feet directly in from of them. All he saw was the persons light red woollen jumper and candy-striped leggings.
“It’s a fucking elf!” he shouted out in shocked stupidity, struggling to keep control of the vehicle with his face nearly going into the steering wheel.
The ambulance swerved somewhat over the road as the speed decreased, Alfred the younger paramedic who was attending to Oscar, went slamming into the back of the passenger seat sideways. Despite Oscar being strapped onto the trolley, he could feel the tension of the straps struggling to keep him in place. They came to a rest halfway across both lands with Alfred quickly separating himself from the back of the seat to check on both his patient and his work partner.
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” protested Frederic checking that his neck and collarbone were still present and correct. “At least the airbag stayed where it belongs.”
“What airbag?” said Alfred reattaching various leads to Oscar. “What the hell happened? Did you say something about an elf?” he asked still confused to the reason behind such a sudden undeclared stop.
Frederic didn’t reply and was attempting to replay the last few minutes in his mind.
“I think...I think it was a person. Like a kid but older looking. She had a woman’s face. She jumped in front of us.”
“Did we miss her?” Alfred’s voice became inaudible as he blinked like a humming bird.
The pair looked at each other for what seemed like an eternity, frozen in horror at the idea before rushing out of opposite doors. Feeling the colder air rush in, Oscar knew his moment had come and began to undo his restraints.
“Hello, can anyone hear us? Is anyone hurt?” shouted Frederic.
They stood turning randomly determined to scan every meter of the road and the ground around it.
“Over there!” they gasped at the identical moment.
In the distance on the wrong side of the road was someone lying in a heap. Even this far away they could tell it was a person. They had hit a person! Whoever it was must have been thrown an impossible distance and were now whimpering like a wounded cat. Alfred, who was nearest the ambulance door, grabbed the fast response bag from under the seat and they made haste to the injured party.
Oscar had already begun ripping open every unlocked drawer, locker and pocket around him. He knew what was required but finding it in time, before they reached Eli, was essential. The first two overhead lockers contained boxes of medications, the third had an array of bandages and dressings which all fell on his head. He turned and looked into a cabinet on the floor, disappointed to find that it contained a portable ECG machine. That could have been fun on any other night but not tonight. He could hear the crew’s voices becoming more distant but was aware that they could return any minute. On the floor was a dusty burns kit, and then ripping open a small set of drawers he found various medical utilities and tools. There were so many storage places he was becoming disoriented and frustrated. Then at last, when he turned once more he spotted what he hoped was the prize.
“Yes!” shouted Oscar pulling the door of a small compartment tucked away in the corner. A small refrigerated compartment that didn’t contain that staff’s lunch. Instead there were three packets of beautifully radiant red blood, just sitting there waiting for him. It was exactly what he had been looking for. Oscar never thought he would be so happy to see blood, part of him was beginning to doubt if ambulances actually carried blood.
He grabbed the bags with both hands, holding them against himself tightly like they liquid gold, and threw his body against the backdoors. As soon as his feet hit the ground, Oscar started to run back in the direction they had driven. It would be a long way back, he had to pace himself to put distance between him and the crew, but not so fast that he couldn’t make it. His boots were bouncing off the tarmac with so much noise that they sounded like thunder echoing and that is what he wanted. Oscar whistled as loud as he could, both to get the paramedics attention and to let Eli know it was mission complete. When hearing Oscar, she stood up and ran off galloping into the trees easily disappearing into the darkness.
Both Alfred and Frederic, who had almost arrived at Eli’s side, stopped confused looking back and forward. They were trying to decide who to go after. The person who they may or may not have struck but who had suddenly got up and ran off, or their original unresponsive patient who was now running in the opposite direction whistling.
Oscar dared not look behind him, worried that the two men would be chasing and closing in on him. If he was caught he was clueless on how to explain all of this. “Sorry for stealing blood but my friend is thirsty,” would most likely land him in a padded room. His hands were getting cold and he did the only thing he could think off to keep the blood safely on his person. He slid the bags down the front of his trousers. Now he could run properly without worrying about dropping or damaging them. Feeling proud and managing to lightly jog for nearly twenty minutes, Oscar arrived at their meeting point. It was a small stone bridge over a dried-up stream, far enough away from both the road and their flat, and an easy landmark to find thanks to a single old lamppost next to it.
“The blood?” asked a voice from under the bridge.
He couldn’t see her face but understood from the tone that he was to come no closer. Instead he removed the bags, knelt down on the ground and pushed them as far forward as possible.
“Leave,” she commanded before adding “just in case.”
As soon as Oscar turned around the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and he felt a disruption in the air behind him. Eli had pounced at the blood. Slowly walking away, he could hear her scoffing the contents and knew not to look back or interrupt. When she was this hungry, she really wasn’t herself. Oscar simply continued to walk forward knowing that for now, she was fed.
Chapter Six
Oscar and Eli’s First Christmas: Part 1
“Mum? Can we leave lots of cookies and milk out for Santa? The fatter he gets, the less likely he’ll be to escape my anti-Santa traps this year.” [Oscar to his mother at age 8]
There was a light rain outside that had persisted for the last three days subduing anyone’s hope for a white Christmas. It was odd as Denmark, like Sweden, was no stranger to snow. If it didn’t snow it was unusual. In fact the Swedish have about fifty words for the white stuff. From pudersno to klabbsno, each word describing the wetness and firmness not to forget which snow was best for snowman building. Still, there was always something magical about snow on Christmas, this year sadly it was starting to look like a washout.
Oscar lay comfortably and warmly completely outstretched like a starfish across the sofa looking around the sitting room. The Royal Family were giving their Christmas day speech on television. He found their hats comical and had been laughing loudly, but was concerned at waking Eli so he was trying to focus on other things.
“Boring ceiling, need to get some posters up there. Need to find a pair of ladders or...” he stopped and wondered if Eli could climb the walls and hang upside down long enough to affix them to the slightly shoddy paintwork.
Oscar started to laugh again and covered his mouth with his hand. He was feeling joyful...very merry in fact. Early this morning, just after eight, he travelled into one of the neighbouring suburbs to try and find an open store. Their local shop with the short man Edvard had mysteriously been closed for the last few days, despite a sign displaying his seasonal opening hours stating otherwise. Oscar was glad to have a break from the shopkeeper but was also annoyed having to travel further afield everything he needed something.
On his way home, he stopped at a market stall where a man was giving away free cups of ‘Glogg’ to anyone and everyone passing. Those aromas had sucked him in. The combined smell of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, impossible to resist. Despite being rather thirsty, he waited patiently in queue doing his best not to draw attention to himself. When finally at the front he saw an old bearded man in a red tunic spooning out the liquid into disposable pint pots.
“You had Glogg before?” asked the server initially holding back the cup.
“Yeah of course, love the stuff. What is it?” Oscar replied grinning, feeling his cheeks stretch with the cold air.
“Made from wine and slowly heated with spices. Its alcohol,” said the server slowly stirring it.
“Yeah, Glogg! I always have it at Christmas.”
“Good enough for me,” laughed the man filling the cup up to the brim and handing it over.
Oscar immediately drank a few large mouthfuls, then a few more mouthfuls to try and discharge his thirst. He could see the server raise his eyebrows over the top of the cup. The seasonal spicy liquid was tasty with a unique flavour that danced on his tongue and warmed his insides.
“Top up?” offered the man waving his ladle.
Oscar nodded pleased handing his plastic pint pot back over.
“Drink it slow, enjoy it.”
It was advice that he didn’t follow as he resumed his journey back home. The man was correct, this was definitely wine. It smelt and tasted so much better than whatever it was his Dad used to drink. Oscar had been tempted to go back and chance his luck for another refill, but now in reflection he was glad he had not. Making it back to the flat was fun but difficult. He had almost forgotten how steep the stairs leading up to their place were. He had managed to make it to the sofa about an hour ago, but hadn’t done much else. Not even remove his jacket.
“Glogg is odd,” he proclaimed.
It had tasted much better than expected, he kind of wished there was someone he could tell or share it with. His hands were tingling slightly, maybe still warming up or maybe from the spiced wine, but he put them in his jacket pocket ensuring that he hadn’t lost it. Oscar pulled it out carefully and examined what he had purchased. It was for Eli, not a puzzle but a gift and hopefully something she would like. Ideally, he was hoping to get her a bigger one but they were surprisingly more expensive. A few days after they had moved in, Oscar had used his knife to stab open a hole behind the bathroom mirror. A hole that was big enough to hold their tin that contained Eli’s money. While it still contained a small fortune, that didn’t appear to be going down, he was still concerned what would happen when it ran out. He would have to get a job, or worse, Eli would have to do whatever it was she did in the first place to get it again.
“People gave it to me.”
That is what she had told him back in Blackeberg, but she had omitted the details of exactly how, when, and why. Oscar felt a tiny bit guilty that he was effectively being supported by her, it was her money he was spending.
“Oscar, it’s ours. It belongs to both of us,” she had told him not feeling the same way.
He took a few deep breaths and put the present back in his pocket making a mental note to wrap it up. As soon as he could get off the sofa. Letting his head fall back to the cushion, he closed his eyes and thought about more recent events. He felt proudly happy at being able to get blood without resorting to previously used methods. He wasn’t keen to head down such an avenue and Eli was even less eager for him to do so.
“If it comes to it, she can have some of mine,” insisted Oscar. As soon as he could work out how to do it safely for them both.
Within minutes of her scoffing those bags of blood she felt better and slowly over the night became her normal radiant self again.
“Was it good?” he had asked her when she had run from the bridge to catch up with him after feeding.
She never answered, just walked by his side and took his hand as they sauntered home. Oscar had felt that her hand was wet, not from blood but from Eli licking her hands clean of any traces of it. He didn’t need Eli to explain, he knew it wouldn’t have been as good as the fresh stuff, collected and eaten close together. The blood she fed on had to be from a living person, never dead. So while blood collected from a living donor was safe to consume, its storage and age meant it didn’t provide as much ‘goodness.’ Oscar tried to understand it in a way that made sense. The closest he could come, was thinking about a roast chicken dinner with vegetables. You can cook it, cool it down in the fridge, and still eat the meat a few days later with it tasting satisfactory. Those vegetables however would likely be void of any taste and nutritional value.
A few hours passed and Oscar managed to shake off the effects of his mild intoxication, drinking a few glasses of water to starve the onset of a headache. Walking around, he pulled open the middle drawer of the sideboard and removed a Christmas cracker. It had been given to him last week by Edvard who had a box of them on the counter, giving out one to each customer he saw. Oscar originally intended on pulling it with Eli after dinner today, but imagined that the noise may give her a fright. Recalling her reaction to the sudden bass of music, technically she still owed him a new set of headphones. He smiled as he carefully unravelled and opened the cracker to reveal the contents within. There was a purple hat, a small useless whistle, a Santa sticker and a joke;
‘Why was the turkey allowed to join the pop group? He was the only one with drumsticks.’
The joke was place in his pocket for later, it was definitely a keeper and had the potential to make Eli laugh which was often a task. Walking into the bathroom he carefully uncovered her and slowly stuck the Santa sticker on her forehead. Then he pulled the purple hat onto her head, just about managing to contain his laughter.
Eli had told him late last night not to start making his dinner until she got up today. No explanation was given, nonetheless Oscar agreed. Instead he made himself a few pancakes just after five o’clock to remain satisfied until she awoke. He used the time alone to tidy up a bit and to do their laundry. Oscar made a point to smell each piece of Eli’s clothing as they went into the machine. It was an easy way to gauge how she was feeling and specifically how hungry. At the worst end of the spectrum her clothes would soak what he could only describe as the aromas of death and decay. A nasty strange smell that he doubted he would ever get used to. At the other end, she smelt perfectly normal, almost nice, which was impressive for someone who he had to remind every week to wash.
“A bath was something we could infrequently afford.” A habit from back in her day when water would be drank to survive, and not to soak yourself in, that she never managed to break.
Oscar continued to clean up to pass time but also for another reason. For as long as he could remember, his mother would always tidy up before Christmas dinner. He enjoyed the idea that maybe she was doing it right now. Time had passed, but not enough for her to have given up on him. He pictured her vacuuming and dusting telling people it was in case he returned. For a short time, he considered sending her a letter or a card, but he could never risk it somehow being tracked back to them or giving the authorities a lead. Besides what would he say in it? Leaving it totally blank also seemed like a waste.
After completing everything he could, Oscar lay on the sofa to relax, read and to try and ignore the slight smell of Glogg that was coming from him. Half of his attention was on the magazine ‘Rock4Ever’ and half was on trying to watch television. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of purple as Eli glided into the room. She was up sooner than he expected and was frowning.
“Really?” she asked pointing upwards first to the paper hat then to her forehead with her facial expression melting into a smirk.
“What? It’s Christmas,” announced Oscar remaining horizontal on the sofa and mockingly waving a piece of leftover pancake in the air towards her.
Eli slithered over to him, almost as if she sliding along the floor, looking deathly serious and not breaking eye contact.
“Maybe I’ll come into your room when you’re sleeping and play with your face.”
“Only on Christmas,” beamed Oscar.
“Maybe. Or maybe when you least expect it. I can be very quiet when I want to be,” she boasted. “I’ll see you, but you most definitely won’t see me.”
Oscar’s eyes rolled around in his head trying to think of a response.
“Then...then, I’ll uninvite you. Then you won’t be able to come in at all, and you’ll have to sleep out on the stairs. So I win,” he said trying but failing to match her serious face and tone.
“Oh? You’ll uninvite me will you?” she asked moving in closer to Oscar, putting her hand on his chest and pressing down. Somehow she managed to place her fingers in such a way that they were tickling his ribs.
“Yes! Yes I’ll uninvite you.”
“Really?” asked Eli pushing down moderately harder.
“Okay, okay, no!” Oscar struggled to reply with his eyes watering with laughter.
“No what?”
“I won’t uninvite you. I’ll never uninvite you, I promise.”
Eli released him from her single handed rib-tickling grip, mouthing the word ‘easy’ to further infuriate him. Oscar held his hand up for a friendly lets-call-it-a-draw high five. It took her a few moments of starting at the palm of his hand before realizing what he was waiting for and returned the action.
Chapter Seven
Oscar and Eli’s First Christmas: Part 2
Oscar’s stomach rumbled like thunder, at least to Eli’s keen sense of heading. She had asked him to wait until she got up before making dinner and for good reason. Forcing herself to get out of the tub during the day always felt unnatural and a struggle. As soon as her eyes opened and gazed upon the pale daylight they tended to snap shut. It was almost like they could command her to sleep more because the sun was still up. When she was asleep it always felt like each limb was independent from one and other. It had taken a lot of practice over the years for Eli to train herself and her body to return into the waking world on request. This is what she had done today to get up early.
“Oscar, I need to head out briefly,” she stated moments after returning his high five.
He looked behind to the bedroom and confirmed there was still a bit of daylight out there.
“It’s still kind of light.”
Automatically Eli adjusted her gaze towards the far window. Oscar noticed her pupil’s contract into almost nothing, as if they were trying to protect themselves.
“It will be alright. I won’t go far and will stick to the shade.”
Oscar began to sit up somewhat surprised.
“Do you want me to come with...”
“No, I won’t be long. I promise,” she said with sudden objection in her voice. With that she walked backwards and away from a confused Oscar.
Still sitting half-up and half-down on the sofa, he watched Eli leave without saying anymore or looking at him again. She grabbed her hat and gloves from a hook near the door to help protect any exposed skin. Oscar initially thought he had done or said something wrong as the situation had changed so quickly. He had to remind himself that she, like he, did go outside albeit he had never known her to be so eager to go out so early. With little else to do until Eli returned and his stomach still not satisfied, he distracted himself by trying to wrap up the present he had got for her this morning.
“How the hell do you wrap something sphere shaped?” Oscar asked himself becoming quickly annoyed and bamboozled by the task.
Using his knife to cut the paper and second-hand tape from the window posters just added to the problems. He should have paid the extra two krone for the shop to gift wrap it. Eventually however and almost breaking a sweat, he was satisfied with what he achieved even if it was a bit messy. He had the rest of the night planned out in his head. Eli would return, he would make a quick dinner, then tell her some jokes as was his personal tradition. He was more looking forward to explaining each of them to help her grasp why they are funny.
“Oscar, when I was growing up, the only joke was the plague,” she had told him.
He had laughed which had resulted in Eli asking why what she had said was funny. There was a very real generation gap between them when it came to humour. He had been trying on and off to find a line of jokes that would work for them both. It seemed that jokes that involved observational humour with as much satiric as possible would sometimes tickle her fancy. Oscar now used the word ‘fancy’ after Eli got annoyed after he convinced her that she really did have a ‘funny bone’ and it was inside her arm. Still, Oscar hoped her smiles were genuine and not just her trying to make him feel better about putting in so much work. He liked to make her laugh.
After food and some jokes, he would give her the gift. Finally they would spend the night on the sofa watching whatever was on. What Oscar didn’t know was that Eli had different plans for the night.
Suddenly he heard the front door handle being turned, he rushed to the door to investigate. Oscar had not been keeping track of time but had not been expecting Eli to return so soon, she had been away for less than twenty minutes.
“Hey,” she said entering.
“Are you alright?”
“Exceedingly” she announced with such a wide smile that Oscar could see her fangs deep in the top of her mouth in their retracted position. She closed her mouth when she noticed him looking at them, and then walked into the front room leaving Oscar still wondering where she had been.
“Err, how about some music?” he asked following behind.
“Yeah, that would be awesome.”
He had suggested that she used the word cool instead of awesome a few times as it was more modern and would fit better in everyday conversation. While he thought the way she said awesome was...well very awesome, it just never hit his ears right. Almost like she was saying “orse-ham.”
Oscar muted the television and then started tuning through the Hi-Fi radio stations. The first was playing something by Status Quo but he quickly turned away to avoid their boogie rock. The next was a local News station that repeated everything on a loop, and he had already heard it all. Finally, after listening to static, he found a station playing Christmas music, not quite what he was looking for but it would do. He sat down next to Eli, but noticed that she didn’t seem very relaxed. While she was listening to music and watching the muted screen, she was sitting on the very edge of the sofa. Sitting very upright with a very straight back and with her hands on her knees. She appeared perfectly normal in conversation, just for some reason in a state of heightened readiness like a mouse caught in a cats gaze.
Oscar spent a short time telling her about his day, but omitted the details over her semi-drunkenness from drinking that wine. He liked to keep her informed on where he would go during the day to keep her in the loop. A few times Eli would know about the places he mentioned, but often her information was out of date. Oscar hoped that when everything died down they could head out together at night more frequently. In the midst of their conversation, there was a loud knock at the front door which made them both jump up to their feet.
“Oscar, go into the bedroom and close the door,” commanded Eli as she swiftly shot towards the flat entrance.
He automatically obeyed as if they had rehearsed it, leaping the distance knowing she wouldn’t open the front door until she heard Oscar close himself in. As his heart rate climbed even higher, he placed his ear to the cold wood just in time to hear Eli answer the door. There were voices, a man was speaking, no, it was two men, followed by Eli’s voice. They were muffled and the few words that he could make out were not enough to get a grip on what was going on. The two men were speaking louder but they all seemed to be having a normal and calm conversation. After nearly a minute he heard the front door creek closed.
“Eli?” he shouted just loud enough for her to hear.
“Stay in the bedroom.”
Oscar pressed his ear on the door even harder to try and determine if Eli was alone. He could hear a lot of movement, fast footsteps and the table being dragged over the floor. He wrapped one hand tightly around the door handle and the other around the handle of his knife.
“Eli?” he asked again a bit louder.
“Don’t come out,” she shouted back. “Wait a few minutes.”
Oscar did as instructed but remained ready to jump out wielding the knife if it was needed.
“Close your eyes and come out slowly.”
Oscar looked down and saw the shadow of Eli’s feet being cast through the gap. He could smell something strong and pleasant bleeding through into the room. Again he obeyed carefully opening the door.
“No peaking!” shouted Eli so loudly that Oscar almost opened his eyes in fright. She took him by the arm and guided him towards something, Oscar’s sense of small was being bombarded.
“What is that?” he asked trying to separate and identify each separate aroma.
“Okay, open your eyes now.”
His jaw dropped at what he saw in front of him. Set out on their table were boxes upon boxes of opened take-away containers and tubs. There was so much food that he was still trying to work out what was there. Sliced roast duck in sauce, a tub of aebleflnesk which he had learnt was pork with apples, sugar and thyme. Another dish looked like a chunky chicken and vegetable soup. He recognised some Swedish food in the mix as well, at least three different meatball dishes and a tub of wallenbergare.
“What’s all of this?” he asked struggling to contain the saliva in his mouth.
“Your Christmas dinner.”
“All of this?”
“Yes.”
Oscar looked at her but was quickly drawn back to the food that she had displayed across the entirety of the table. This would feed a family of three and it was all for him.
“This is what you went out to arrange? Over the phone?”
“Yes,” nodded Eli proudly.
“It’s a lot of food,” grasped Oscar still scanning across.
“My treat. You helped feed me so now I feed you. Besides you’ve lost weight.”
What she said was true, despite eating a lot of junk food he had started to notice some weight loss. Oscar had been planning on simply putting a pizza in the oven tonight, but this was...something else.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Get tucked in,” she encouraged.
Oscar sat down in the chair and Eli sat opposite him. He smiled wildly watching her put the Christmas hat back on her head. Everything smelt and looked far too good to hold back and he started to eat several of the dishes at once, going back and forward between them all. Eli’s eyes followed Oscar’s hands and she pleasantly watched him enjoy each bite.
“Is it good?” she asked.
“Very...mmm, yeah,” he muttered with a mouthful.
Oscar quickly noticed that Eli was mirroring his reactions to the food. She was watching him enjoy the dishes and was enjoying them with him. Eli was obviously not eating anything herself, but anyone watching would have thought otherwise. When Oscar made a noise she would make the same noise, when Oscar nodded in delight she did as well. He rationalised that this was her only way to ‘eat food’ and had no problem with her actions. It was sort of neat to be able to share dinner with her.
It took a huge effort, including taking a few breaks, to get through as much as he could physically manage, but feeling like a stuffed pig he admitted defeat. Oscar leaned back in his chair, undone the top button on his jeans and rubbed his stomach. Eli, who was still mirroring him, did the exact same thing and the pair laughed at each other. In his surprise at the feast, Oscar had nearly forgotten about the gift for Eli.
“Your turn to close your eyes,” he told her struggling to his feet.
“What?”
Oscar repeated his request as he went over to the sofa where he had hidden the present underneath. Eli hesitated for a few moments before closing her eyes.
“You’re not going to stick more stickers on me are you?”
“Nope,” he replied trying to tip-toe over to her. Despite Eli’s eyes being firmly shut, she was able to follow his movements.
Oscar put the gift on the table in front of her and took a wide step back.
“You can open them now. Your eyes I mean.”
Eli did so and looked at what was in front of her.
“A present?”
“Yeah, just a small one.”
“Who is it for?”
“Wh...What? It’s for you stupid,” answered Oscar in a kindly way.
Eli slowly picked it up surprised.
“A present for me?”
The suspense was killing Oscar, so he became animated, using his hands to encourage her to just open it. Eli took the hint and began to rip open the several messy layers of Christmas paper revelling the contents within. It was still wrapped in the second hand newspaper used by the shop to protect it. Her eyes opened wide as the final layer was removed, revelling a small snow globe about the size of a tennis ball. It was of the Little Mermaid statue. Instantaneously she was captivated and shook the globe to tryout the snow effect.
“Do you like it?” asked Oscar beginning to worry that she hadn’t said anything yet.
“Yes, yes I do. Thank you.”
Eli stood up still holding the globe, went over to Oscar and hugged him tightly. A bit too tightly as after about ten seconds Oscar had to tap her sides to ask to be released from her embrace. Eli did so and took a step back to re-examine the snow globe once more. Oscar could see the reflection of the globe in her eyes, she was entranced by it.