Seven, eight ... Gonna stay up late (Rebekka Franck #4) (13 page)

Allan felt
good.
He was actually happy and ... well
almost
content with himself. Everything
was going according to plan. While she was sedated he managed to tie Princess
Amalie to the pipe, stuff it into the esophagus and put her back in the box
without any problems. The hard part was over, he thought as he prepared the
liquid that was a mixture made from grain and fat. He had bought it all over
the Internet. Everything needed to produce the perfect foie gras, his favorite
meal of all time. The pipe and pump arrived first and then the food.

Allan stared down into the huge can of thick,
mushy yellow goose feed. He had several just like it in the garage. Not knowing
exactly how much it was going to take for the Princess's liver to bloat up to
ten times the normal size, he had probably bought way too much. But better safe
than sorry, he thought.

He found a funnel and placed it in the open tube
leading into Princess Amalie's box. Then he carried the big can with the yellow
mush closer and began pouring it in. At first he needed to use a cup, since he
couldn't carry the heavy can close enough to the tube to pour. But it suited
the situation well, he thought, since the girl first had to get used to being
force-fed. There was no reason to overdo it the first time. Allan had to be
careful that she didn't die too early. That would ruin everything. So he took
it easy on her on the first feeding. Four times a day they did it to the geese,
so he was going to do the same. Only he would do it even more often than that.
He would feed her with this fatty mush eight times a day until her liver was
engorged enough for him to take it out and prepare it. It was risky, he knew
that - thank you very much, since it had never been done to a human before and
he had no idea how the human liver and body would react to ingesting this much
fat. He had read about how some geese and ducks developed foot infections,
kidney necrosis, spleen damage and tumor-like lumps in their throats, so he was
aware that there might be severe side effects to the procedure. He was going to
look out for that, since the Princess was one of a kind and it just wouldn't be
the same doing it to someone else. The irony was that he knew the Princess
herself had enjoyed eating foie gras most of her life and now she was going to
end up on a plate just like those poor geese.

"What goes around, comes around,"
Allan said to himself as he shoveled the yellow mush into the funnel and
watched as it slowly ran into the tube and into the pipe. Then he plugged in
the pump. Princess Amalie gagged when the mush went through her throat and was
pumped directly into her stomach. Allan heard how she tried to scream or speak,
but the pipe and the mush forced her to stay calm while she was being fed.
Allan tapped the side of the box and smiled at her.

"Tastes good, right?" he said. "I
had it imported from France. Only the best for my Princess," he said
grinning.

Amalie was grunting, gagging while the funnel
slowly emptied. Allan looked at it as the last bit disappeared from it. He
counted to ten, letting Princess Amalie breathe for a few seconds thinking it
was over now, then he lifted the can and emptied the rest into the funnel,
filling it to the top so much than some of it flooded over the sides and landed
on the floor.

Allan grunted, and then went to get a paper
towel that he used to wipe it off the floor. Princess Amalie was moving,
tossing her body from side to side, while grunting heavily as the next shipment
of yellow mush reached her stomach. Allan watched her for awhile to make sure there
was enough room in her stomach for all of it. He didn't want her to throw up
and possibly choke. That would be catastrophic. He didn't know if it was even
possible with the pipe in her throat, but maybe it was? Amalie was now gagging
again and he realized that she was in fact about to throw up. He hurried to the
funnel, and pulled it off. He put it on the table behind him and waited. He
listened for a little while. Then he heard Amalie cough. Phew, she was alright,
he thought. He had to be more careful. It could so easily go wrong. One little
mistake and everything was ruined. He had to let her stomach get used to being
fed this heavily, he had to let it expand slowly, not too fast, too fast would
be disastrous. Oh, he thought and rubbed his fingers nervously against each
other. Oh how he had to be careful.

Allan put his head against the plastic-box and
looked at Amalie. She opened her eyes and looked back. He sighed relieved. She
was exhausted, but he detected anger in her eyes as well. That was a good sign.
No it was more than that. It was a great sign.

Peter helped me
get Julie to bed once we returned from the restaurant. I was so full I could
have rolled all the way home. And a little tipsy as well from all the wine I
had enjoyed. My cheeks were warm and I felt really good. It was Julie's idea
that we tuck her in together like we used to when she was younger. We were
sitting on each side of her bed while holding her hands. Peter was reading
Pippi Longstocking goes to circus
out loud
to her. I closed my eyes feeling like the room was spinning a little bit, while
enjoying listening to Peter reading about the world's strongest girl that I
myself had enjoyed reading as a child. Julie put her head on my shoulder and
squeezed my hand tightly. I opened my eyes and looked at her while caressing
her hair gently. She was so happy at this moment. I could tell by the way she
was looking at us. Peter kept reading:

"
I can
go with you most anywhere,
"
answered Pippi,
"
but whether
I can go with you to the surkus or not I don't know, because I don't know what
a surkus is. Does it hurt
?"

Peter paused and laughed. Julie laughed too.
"Silly Pippi," Julie said and shook her head. Peter looked at her
with affection, then kissed her forehead and pulled her close. Then he lifted
his head and looked at me.

"This is nice," he said. "This is
really nice."

Our eyes locked for a long time. I bit my lip
while trying hard to fight all those emotions from rising in me. I didn't want
to feel anything for Peter again, not after what we had been through. But could
I stop it? Had it ever stopped?

I shook my head feeling confused and tired. No,
Peter had disappointed me so many times. Why should this be any different?

"It's time to sleep now," I said and
kissed Julie on the forehead. "Your dad has to get back to Aarhus. It's a
long drive." I got up and looked at them both. "You better say
goodbye."

Peter shrugged. "I could stay," he
said.

Julie shrieked with joy. "Could you
Dad?"

He nodded. "I don't have anywhere I need to
be tomorrow. It's not like I really want to get back to that empty house and be
all alone again."

They both looked at me. "Could he stay,
Mom?"

"I could stay at a hotel," he said.
"Stay a couple of days and spend time with Julie. You need to go to work
anyway, right?"

I shook my head. "It's just not a good
time, she has camp. It starts tomorrow and lasts for two weeks."

"I'll take her there and pick her up. That
way you don't have to, you can focus on your work and that big story you told
us about at dinner."

"Please, Mom?"

I exhaled deeply. What kind of a mother would I
be if I said no to that? I tried to find an excuse, I really did. I scrutinized
my entire brain, but found nothing. Not one single reason to not say yes. Peter
taking care of Julie would make my life easier and I did have this story that
would definitely take most of my time the next couple of days, maybe even the
entire week. My only problem with this solution was that I had no idea what to
tell Sune. I enjoyed Peter's company this evening and feeling like a family
again and giving Julie that back. Sune and I weren't doing very well and I was
scared that this would drive us further apart.

"Okay, then. I could use your help and
Julie loves to spend time with you. It is a great offer, really. But what about
your business, don't you have to work?"

"All I need is an Internet connection and
I'm up and running," Peter said. "I might as well take care of things
from down here. I think it'll do me good to spend a couple of weeks away from
it all, and close to my kiddo," he said and pretended to take her nose.
Julie whined with joy.

"Okay," I said with a smile.
"We'd love to have you around." I raised my finger. "But you're
getting a hotel room."

Peter's smile froze a little, then he nodded.
"Of course. That is the only right thing to do."

"And you young lady, you need to go to
sleep now. Big day tomorrow."

I kissed her forehead and stroked her cheek. She
smiled widely. "Goodnight," I said and went to the door.

"I love you, Mom. Thank you, thank you for
letting Dad stay," Julie said.

"You're welcome," I said and closed
the door.

Peter stared at me. "Thank you," he
whispered.

"Don't make me regret it," I said and
began walking towards the stairs. Peter grabbed my hand and pulled me back. He
looked into my eyes, and then stroked my cheek gently the way he always used to
do. He lifted my chin with his finger.

"I have missed you so much," he said.
"You have no idea how much I've missed you."

I swallowed hard, then pulled back. "Well
I'm just glad you're better now and that Julie can have you in her life
again."

"What about you?" He asked.

I shrugged. "What about me?"

"Are you happy to have me in your life
again?"

I pulled further away. "Don't push it,
Peter. One step at the time."

Peter sighed then bowed his head. "Of course,"
he said. "I know I've disappointed you, I know I've hurt you and that it
takes time for you to trust me again. But I'm willing to fight for it, to have
you be able to trust me again."

"That's all very good, Peter, but you're
forgetting one thing."

"And that is?"

"I'm with someone else now."

Camilla was
fighting
to breathe. She had her body elevated on her
elbows, but knew it wouldn't be long before they would cave in. They were
hurting and shaking already. She took in a deep breath, and then let her body
be covered by the water while her arms rested. Shortly she lifted herself up
again, in order to take a breath. She gasped for air, filling her lungs,
panting. Her arms began to shake again and she had to repeat the maneuver. She
did so a couple of times, but soon she wasn't able to stay above the water for
long. She tried to scream when she was above the surface, but didn't have much
strength or enough air. She swallowed water, then coughed wildly. Meanwhile the
man seemed to be occupied with Amalie. Camilla tried to catch his attention to
her and to let him know she was about to drown in here, but he was preoccupied
by what he was doing to Amalie. Camilla managed to keep her head above the
water long enough to look at her. What was he doing over there? Amalie seemed
to be tied to something, a pipe and he seemed to be force-feeding her through
it with something. What was he doing? He seemed to be dancing around Amalie's
box, then there was a light, like a flash. Was he taking pictures?

Camilla didn't understand what was going on, and
she wasn't certain she wanted to. All she could think of was her own survival.
She felt her mouth fill once again with water and coughed and spat it out. Then
she took another deep breath before she let herself go under the water while
resting her arms. She returned above the surface spitting and panting, gasping
for air. She didn't know how much longer she could sustain this. Was that his
plan? she thought with dread. Was she just supposed to drown in this box once
she couldn't hold her head up any longer? She sobbed and moaned, feeling sorry
for herself and for ending her life like this. Her parents were going to be
devastated. She wanted so badly to see them again. She didn't blame them for
anything. Yes they had been very absent in her life, but they had only done so
to be able to give her a life in luxury, a life where she had everything she
could ever want in life. Camilla used to blame them for not being present
enough in her life, for letting their jobs be more important than her, than
their family, but not anymore. Now all she could think of was to be able to
once again be with them, to hug her mother like when she was only a child,
before the money, before the luxury when her mother had time to hug and listen
to her talk. She knew they could mend the broken pieces if only they tried. All
she had to do was to forget all the anger towards them, all the resentment she
felt in her heart for being left alone so many times, for them not showing up
to watch her in her school play, or when she scored that goal in soccer. She
saw that now. All she had to do was to let it go, let the bitterness go. She
saw it clearly now. But it was too late. It was much too late. She was going to
die here, in this awful box by the hands of this horrifying killer. Her arms
were shaking heavily once again, hurting like hell too, and she had to let go.
With a great sigh she fell back in the water without even taking a deep breath
first. A few bubbles left her mouth and travelled towards the surface. She
stared at them while getting ready to meet her creator. Bye Mom, bye Dad, she
thought. I'm sorry I didn't get to say a proper goodbye. Everything around her
seemed to go in slow motion now. Her arm floating in the water next to her
head, her hair looking like waves. Pictures of the ones she had loved danced
before her eyes in a bright light. Her parents were holding each other like
they used to when Camilla was a child, they were happy again and waving at her.
Then her grandmother showed up looking like she did before she died and finally
she saw Amalie, blowing kisses at her while running at the beach. A song popped
into her head. A song she and Amalie used to sing along to.

Seven devils all around you

Seven devils in my house

See they were there when I
woke up this morning

I'll be dead before this day
is done

She repeated the lyrics from Florence and the
Machine in her head several times, while the water slowly swallowed her and she
felt it enter her body, her nose, her mouth and finally her lungs.

Then it all went black.