The Key (16 page)

‘You fucking shits!’ Linnéa leaps at Matilda and grabs at her smock. ‘You let them die!’

Black smoke wells out of Matilda and its tentacles wind themselves round Linnéa; it pulls her away and holds her still.

‘What’s happening?’ Vanessa, who can’t see the black smoke, sounds terrified. ‘Linnéa?’

Linnéa makes a choking noise. It’s all she can do. By now, Anna-Karin is terrified.

‘Let her go!’ Minoo orders.

‘Unless she calms down, she will expose us all to danger,’ Matilda warns. ‘You don’t know what exists out there, what she could have alerted to our presence.’

She gestures at the surrounding darkness. A chill runs through Minoo.

‘The guardians do not know everything.’ Matilda looks at Linnéa again. ‘Nor do they see everything. You think that we have lied to you. Very well, we haven’t told you the whole truth. But I am not lying when I tell you that, throughout, our endeavour has been to protect you, to protect this entire world. You have to believe me.’

The smoke withdraws and sets Linnéa free.

‘You’re not exactly making it easy,’ she says between clenched teeth.

She gives herself a shake, takes a few steps to the railing and leans against it.

Minoo no longer knows her own feelings.

She should be angry with Matilda and the guardians, sure. But it is strangely difficult to get really worked up. She knows only too well herself how hard it can be to make the right decision. How much harder must it be if you have insights into so many different futures – or at least parts of them?

‘If the guardians can see the future,’ Anna-Karin asks, ‘what about the demons? Can they foresee things, too?’

‘It’s hard to know. But we suspect that they can foresee a great deal – probably more than us at times.’

Something irks Minoo. It is something Matilda said.

‘When you gave up your powers, how could you be sure that the demons couldn’t get in? Their Blessed One could surely have opened the portal when the time came?’

Matilda blinks and looks away and Minoo suddenly understands.

‘The Blessed One needed your powers to open the portal.’

‘Yes,’ Matilda says. ‘The powers and soul of the Chosen One make up the Key to the portal.’

‘So that was why Max wanted to kill us,’ Vanessa muses. ‘He not only saw us as threats, but he needed our powers as well.’

Matilda nods.

‘But he lost the souls of Elias and Rebecka,’ Minoo says. ‘They’re gone.’

‘And so is Ida,’ Anna-Karin adds.

‘All six elements are needed to open the portal, or to close it – isn’t that so?’ Minoo asks.

‘That is so,’ Matilda replies.

‘So it’s been over from the start?’ Linnéa says. ‘Ever since Elias died.’

‘But then it’s over for the demons, too,’ Vanessa points out.

‘But they don’t act as if it’s over,’ Minoo says. ‘They seem to carry on despite everything. For instance, why bless Olivia?’

‘We don’t know,’ Matilda says. ‘It should be over, as you say. But we could see futures when the portal was closed, even after Elias’s death. And even after Minoo had defeated Max, we became aware of futures in which the demons managed to open the portal.’

‘So, there must be other options,’ Minoo suggests.

‘You’re right. The rules seem to have changed. The demons must also have noticed it. If Olivia had succeeded with her human sacrifice at the spring equinox, she would have acquired your powers and your souls. And, by carrying out mass-murder, she would have set free so much life energy that she might have been able to affect the portal … but we’re not sure. It’s just speculation.’

‘We’ve noticed,’ Linnéa says coldly.

‘But what about me?’ Minoo asks. ‘If the six elements make up the Key …?’

Matilda looks at her.

‘Then strictly speaking you are not needed to open or close the portal. Which is why the demons were able to promise Max that you would live. Perhaps they even hoped that you would cross over to them.’

When she had faced Max in the dining area, he had said that they belonged together. Minoo had felt a wave of revulsion sweeping through her. He seemed to believe that she would let him go ahead and kill the other Chosen Ones. And let him destroy the whole world. What could have made him and the demons even consider such a thing?

Now a chilling insight comes to her. The demons might have discovered a future in which she would choose to be on their side.

‘But, if so, what is my role?’ Minoo asks.

‘You are blessed by the guardians,’ Matilda replies. ‘That means you can defend the other Chosen Ones against those who are blessed by the demons. But that is not all.’ She looks seriously at Minoo. ‘As I said earlier, the rules have changed. Now that the Key is no longer whole, your function in the closing of the portal has also changed.’

‘How?’

‘That is not yet clear.’

‘You mean, you’re not going to tell us,’ Linnéa says.

Matilda doesn’t even glance her way.

‘The demons will try to attack you again,’ she continues. ‘It was easy to take over Max, because he had already been blessed once, but his life energy was so weak. They had to fill him up with their energy and he received too much, too quickly.’

‘Like an overdose of magic,’ Vanessa says.

Minoo remembers the black fire, how it consumed Max, annihilated him. His inhuman cry, which has echoed in her dreams ever since.

‘Have the demons blessed anyone else in Engelsfors?’ Anna-Karin asks.

Matilda shakes her head. ‘Not as far as we can see. But someone else will return.’

‘Olivia,’ says Linnéa. ‘So she survived?’

Matilda nods.

‘Do you know where she is?’

‘No. But we do know that she will return to Engelsfors. She will be blessed again. And then she will come here. And she will be strong – much stronger than Max.’

Matilda’s ice-blue eyes sweep over their faces.

‘You must practise your powers and become stronger, because you are the last hope of this world.’

‘The last hope?’ Linnéa asks. ‘Why? If we don’t close the portal, surely the next Chosen One will have a go?’

‘Makes sense,’ Vanessa says. ‘You left it for later, Matilda, and we could do the same, couldn’t we? We’ll just have to make sure that the demons’ Blessed One doesn’t get to open the portal. Whoever is the next Chosen One might get to shut that fucking portal for good. Maybe in another three hundred years or so.’

‘There will be no “next Chosen One”,’ Matilda tells them.

A sound of beating wings is coming closer. Minoo feels a puff of air as the rook lands next to her and perches on the railing.

‘What do you mean?’ she asks Matilda.

‘There is no uncertainty about this. It is quite clear that there will be no more Chosen Ones to follow you. Either you are the last because you will succeed in closing the portal …’

She falls silent.

‘Or else, we are the last because the demons will get their apocalypse,’ Vanessa says.

Minoo recalls the vision of the black smoke engulfing Engelsfors. Her town sunk into total darkness. Did she see the apocalypse?

‘Time is running out,’ Matilda states. ‘The last battle will take place within a year from now.’

Minoo has heard so often that the apocalypse is close, and that the fate of the world is in the hands of the Chosen Ones.

But right now, and for the first time, she truly believes it.

‘There is hope for the future,’ Matilda tells them. ‘We have seen that clearly. And we have also seen a new possibility.’

She comes close to Minoo.

‘A stranger will make you an offer. You must accept it. And you must do what is demanded of you and do it wholeheartedly.’

‘What kind of offer?’ Minoo asks.

‘You will understand.’

Matilda takes Minoo in her arms and hugs her. Minoo is surprised how warm Matilda is, how alive she feels.

Matilda’s voice whispers inside her head.

I wish things were easier for you
.

Minoo wakes up with the smell of smoke making her nose prickle. She sniffs a strand of her hair, realising that that is where the smell comes from.

The morning light filters in between the slats of the Venetian blinds. She reaches for the notebook and pen on the bedside table. Starts to write down everything Matilda said before she forgets any of the details. Writing usually helps her to think more clearly. However, this time, when she is finished, her head still feels overloaded.

Her mobile vibrates. It’s a text from Linnéa.

DID YOU DREAM
?

YES
, Minoo texts back.

The reply arrives almost instantly. Linnéa wants them to meet up in Nicolaus’s flat before setting out for school. She asks Minoo to tell Anna-Karin.

Minoo puts the mobile down and tries to remind herself that she is not alone. She can lean on the others. Together, they will be able to sort this out.

* * *

Anna-Karin lies awake in the darkened room, aware of the smell of smoke lodged in her hair. Peppar jumps down from her bed when the door opens. Minoo stands there, outlined against the light in the corridor.

‘Morning,’ she says. ‘May I come in?’

‘Of course.’

Anna-Karin shifts into a sitting position.

Peppar meows and slips out of the room before Minoo closes the door.

‘You dreamt it, too, didn’t you?’ she asks.

‘Yes,’ Anna-Karin replies.

Minoo sits down on the end of the bed.

Anna-Karin knows that she ought to be scared, upset, sad, angry. Matilda and the guardians didn’t tell them the truth. The guardians were demons once and the demons are still plotting to kill them. Olivia is coming back. The Chosen Ones might not be able to close the portal at all. Still, they are the last hope for this world. No more Chosen Ones will ever come. And they only have a year.

She had thought that her numbness would give way if only something happened to shake her. But nothing has changed.

‘At least it’s good to know the truth at last,’ Minoo says. ‘Must be for the best, right?’

Anna-Karin nods.

What would Minoo and the others think if they knew the truth about
her
? What if they knew that she has lost it to such a degree that not even this has made her feel anything?

‘I wonder who that stranger might be,’ she says – just to say something.

‘Me, too. And what that offer might be.’

‘I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about. I mean, it’s something that’s meant to help us.’

Minoo glances quickly at her, and Anna-Karin asks herself if it’s too obvious that she doesn’t care one way or the other.

‘Linnéa wants us to meet in Nicolaus’s flat before school starts,’ Minoo tells her.

It is a strain even to think that she has to get up, shower and dress.

‘I don’t think I’ve got the energy,’ Anna-Karin replies. ‘I’ll probably miss out on school today, too.’

‘But the biology test is …’ Minoo begins. And stops.

She looks embarrassed and it has clearly struck her that Anna-Karin buried her mother yesterday and is feeling exhausted. Of course she won’t be worrying about biology tests.

‘OK.’ Minoo gets up from the bed. ‘Text me if there’s something you want. I’ll be home for lunch if you like.’

‘No need,’ Anna-Karin mumbles, crawling in under the duvet again.

‘Do you think you can bear to carry on clearing the flat this afternoon?’ Minoo asks. ‘I realise it’s tough, but if we do it together it’s quicker. And imagine how good you’ll feel when it’s all done …’

‘Yes, you’re right.’

As soon as Minoo has left her alone, Anna-Karin closes her eyes. She disappears into the fox’s consciousness, where she doesn’t have to think.

* * *

Minoo stops for a while outside Anna-Karin’s room. Somehow, nothing she had said seemed to reach Anna-Karin. Should she go back in?

Minoo knows what it is like to be listless. After her victory over Max, she had felt utterly switched off. Perhaps she should tell Anna-Karin. But might that not sound as if she thought what happened with Max mattered as much as Anna-Karin’s loss of her mother? Besides, was Anna-Karin as detached from her emotions as she seemed? Perhaps she cries her heart out when Minoo isn’t there to watch?

Minoo showers, washes the smell of burning from her hair, and gets dressed. In the kitchen, a voice on the radio talks about how someone has discovered a large batch of rocket leaves contaminated with salmonella. Probably another sign that the apocalypse is near.

Dad is breakfasting on a big bowl of yoghurt, a banana and a cup of coffee. Minoo is amazed. Both he and Mum usually skip breakfast.

She gets herself coffee and yoghurt. Dad is leafing through the latest issue of the
Engelsfors Herald
. He always tries to read it as if for the first time, like their subscribers would.

‘Is Anna-Karin awake?’ Dad asks.

‘She’s taking the day off.’

‘I see. Of course.’

He scrapes up the last of the yoghurt and washes it down with coffee.

‘Would you like to come along before school starts and have a look at our new editorial offices? I thought I’d walk there.’

He looks almost shy as he says this.

‘I’ve got to meet Linnéa first thing,’ Minoo says. ‘But I’d love to, some other day. I mean, I almost always walk to school, it’s just that today …’

‘Minoo, that’s fine.’ Dad puts his hand on hers.

Minoo walks towards the centre of Engelsfors. The scent of hawthorn flowers hangs in the air. The trees are in full leaf. The birds are singing. Summer is almost here. It could be the last summer ever.

The last battle will take place within a year from now
.

She hadn’t expected the day to be so warm. By the time she arrives at 7 Gnejs Street, Minoo has shed both her jacket and her cardigan. As she enters the building, she fishes in her pocket for the key to the flat. It is the only one on the ground floor.

In the sitting room, the Venetian blinds are pulled down. Linnéa and Vanessa are sitting on the sofa. They look up at her at the same time with identical expressions of guilt. Minoo wonders if they have been talking about her.

‘Where is Anna-Karin?’ Vanessa asks. She is definitely dressed for the hot weather. It is a pale blue shift – so short that Minoo would have assumed it was a top if she had seen it in a shop.