The Circle (Hammer) - By Elfgren, Sara B.,Strandberg, Mats Page 0,104

You hardly need any money there. Just lie on the beach all day long. Fuck and smoke all night. Just you and me. That’s all we need.’

She’s never been to Thailand, but she can see it so clearly: white beaches, sparkling blue sea, Wille’s suntanned body, never having to feel cold again. To run away from everything, from her mother, from fear, from magic books and heavy responsibilities. Why not?

The song cuts out abruptly and changes back to hip-hop.

‘Come on,’ Vanessa whispers. She takes Wille’s hand and leads him to the stairs. When she glances over her shoulder she sees that Evelina and Michelle are still standing on the table. They’re boogieing drunkenly, but still managing to look sexy. Lucky is kissing a blue-haired girl, one of Linnéa’s friends. But Linnéa is nowhere to be seen.

‘I love you,’ Wille says, as they sink on to Jonte’s bed.

She rips off her sweaty top while he unbuttons her jeans, pulls them down over her thighs and calves, then struggles to get her feet out. He takes off his T-shirt and lies down next to her.

‘You mean it?’ Vanessa murmurs.

‘That I love you?’

‘That you’d like to go away with me. Just like that.’

‘Let’s leave tomorrow,’ Wille whispers, slurring a little. ‘We don’t even have to pack. We don’t need any clothes.’

He tries to wriggle out of his jeans and falls off the bed. Vanessa laughs and helps him up. She kisses him and lets her hand caress him outside his boxers. Wille groans and coaxes off her pants, kisses her breasts, stomach and continues downward.

Vanessa doesn’t care about what’s happened, doesn’t care about the future. Only Wille means anything to her, and how he can make her forget everything.

Afterwards, Wille goes to look for a beer. She pulls on her clothes and notices that her top smells of smoke. She heads into the bathroom for a pee and touches up her makeup. She finds a half-full bottle of wine under the sink and has a few swigs as she gets ready. She blows exaggerated kisses at the mirror, poses, flashes her breasts at herself and giggles. She’s nearly hammered.

When she opens the door, Linnéa is standing outside, leaning against the wall, smoking a cigarette. She’s wearing a short black dress with a corset top, fishnet stockings and black boots. Her eyes are heavily made-up underneath her long black fringe. They gaze at each other.

‘You look a bit worn out,’ Linnéa says finally, with a smirk.

‘Kind of you to say so,’ Vanessa says, and grins back.

She’s unexpectedly happy to see Linnéa. Tonight seems like one long love trip. She wonders vaguely if someone put ecstasy in the wine she just drank.

‘Worn out, but hot,’ Linnéa adds.

‘You look hot, too,’ Vanessa says. ‘But not worn out.’

‘Only on the inside.’ Linnéa smiles.

Vanessa wonders if Linnéa’s drunk. She’s probably the sort of person who never really shows it.

‘Things got pretty … intense last time,’ Linnéa says, and Vanessa wonders if that’s her way of saying, ‘Sorry I acted like a bloodthirsty maniac.’

Linnéa laughs, showing off her perfect teeth.

Shit, she really is hot, Vanessa thinks.

‘But I meant it,’ Linnéa continues. ‘We can’t trust the principal. She really can’t protect us.’

Vanessa lays her hand on Linnéa’s arm and stares into her dark eyes. She’s feeling a bit dizzy. Crap, she shouldn’t have drunk that wine. But she can’t let Linnéa see how drunk she is because then Linnéa will never take her seriously, and what she’s going to say now is important. ‘Even if that’s true it doesn’t make any difference. We have to stick together. We promised each other.’

Linnéa’s arm is cool, and suddenly Vanessa is worried that her hand is sweaty. She removes it and almost loses her balance.

‘Speaking of which,’ Linnéa says, ‘we’re not the only ones here tonight.’

Vanessa doesn’t understand what she means.

‘There’s another witch in the house,’ Linnéa whispers theatrically. Then she adds, more seriously, ‘And we should probably go and see what she’s up to.’

39

JARI OPENS A can of beer with a frothy hiss and hands it to Anna-Karin. Carefully, she licks away the foam that has flowed over the edge and takes a big gulp. It doesn’t taste very nice, but it’s not disgusting either. It’s bitter and a little metallic. She has a few more gulps and suppresses a burp.

Most of the people here are older. They’ve never been affected by Anna-Karin’s powers, and it’s hard to control them, now they’re filling the house with their clumsy movements. They’re swaying back