The Circle (Hammer) - By Elfgren, Sara B.,Strandberg, Mats Page 0,31

her throat. She looks at Anna-Karin. ‘You made me say that, you fucking freak!’

‘You!’ Nicolaus exclaims in relief, and turns to Anna-Karin. ‘You are the Chosen One!’

‘Excuse me,’ says Vanessa, ‘but I became invisible the other day.’

Anna-Karin gets angry again. Doesn’t Vanessa realise it’s Anna-Karin’s turn to be the centre of attention?

‘I didn’t do it on purpose,’ Vanessa continues, ‘but it happened. Twice.’

Nicolaus looks at her in horror. He can’t dismiss her yet.

‘I can’t explain it,’ says Rebecka, slowly. ‘But the accident in the auditorium today … it was me who did that.’

It’s harder for Anna-Karin to be angry with Rebecka. She likes her.

‘Have the rest of you experienced anything out of the ordinary?’ Minoo asks. ‘I mean, besides the fact that we’re all here.’ No one answers, so she continues: ‘I dreamed I was locked up in some kind of dungeon in another time. And in the next dream I was on a cart. And when I woke up my hair smelt of—’

‘Smoke,’ Linnéa cuts in.

‘Otherwise I haven’t noticed anything special,’ Minoo mumbles.

Minoo is used to being the best at everything, and Anna-Karin can see she’s disappointed that she doesn’t have any amazing new powers. She thinks she can hide it, but Anna-Karin sees right through her. She’s an expert. You become a very keen observer when you’re always in the background.

‘Neither have I,’ says Linnéa.

Everyone looks at Ida.

Please don’t let her have any powers, Anna-Karin prays silently. If she does, there’s no justice at all in this world.

‘I’m going home,’ says Ida.

‘Wait a minute,’ Rebecka says.

‘No! I don’t want anything to do with you, you fucking freaks!’

‘You haven’t had any strange dreams?’ Rebecka asks.

Anna-Karin can’t understand why Rebecka is wasting time on Ida. Nobody wants her here.

‘So what if I have?’ Ida screams. Then her gaze hardens. ‘Rebecka, we can still be friends if you come with me now.’

Rebecka doesn’t hesitate. ‘I’m staying,’ she says.

‘Just wait till I tell G about this,’ Ida says, and walks off.

But she doesn’t get far.

Ida looks like something from a cartoon, when she stops mid-step, as if she’s just walked into a wall. Rebecka can almost hear the boing you hear when Wile E. Coyote runs into a door that’s been drawn on a cliff face. She almost expects to see a cloud of little birds twittering around Ida’s head.

Ida staggers and remains standing there, her back still turned to the others.

‘Ida?’ Rebecka says.

Ida doesn’t answer. She just stands there, motionless.

And then she’s not motionless.

Her body is dragged back towards them, dangling limply a few centimetres off the ground as if by some unseen hand. Her toes brush against the ground as she moves through the air.

Rebecka slides closer to Minoo. Vanessa looks frightened and Linnéa backs away. Anna-Karin sneaks up to Nicolaus.

Standing together they form a loose circle, with Ida hovering in the middle.

Her head is hanging down and her face is slack. Steam is coming from her half-open mouth, as if it is very cold where she’s hovering. Everything becomes still again. A strange shudder spreads through Rebecka’s body. Her skin is covered with goose bumps and the hair on her arms stands up. It’s as if the air itself is charged with electricity.

Ida slowly lifts her head.

No, Rebecka realises. Someone or something has raised Ida’s head.

A string of white mucus oozes from the corner of Ida’s mouth and dribbles slowly down her chin, remains suspended there, then drips to the ground. Her mouth closes and she opens her eyes. Her pupils widen and stare vacantly in front of her, yet it feels as if her gaze pierces right into Rebecka, sees things inside her that not even she knows about.

‘Do not be afraid. You are in a protected place.’

It’s Ida’s voice, yet not. It’s soft and warm.

‘The enemy cannot find you here. It is only here that you are safe. It is only here that you may meet together. You must hide your friendship from everyone else.’

‘At school, too?’ asks Anna-Karin.

Ida’s face contorts into a grimace. ‘Especially at school. That is a place of evil.’

‘I could have told you that,’ Linnéa mumbles.

Ida looks around. ‘The Circle is seven,’ she says. ‘One of you is missing.’ A lone tear runs down her cheek. ‘Then the battle has already begun.’

‘Who’s missing?’ Nicolaus asks.

‘Elias,’ Linnéa whispers.

Ida nods. Nicolaus looks dismayed and Rebecka thinks she understands how he feels. A piece is missing. The puzzle will never be complete.

‘If evil prevails, the flames will engulf the world,’ says Ida. ‘You cannot afford to

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