After the last lesson, though, she had mustered the courage when he happened to walk past her locker. ‘Jari, I left my bag in the art room. Could you get it for me?’ she asked.
Julia and Felicia were standing a few metres away. They giggled far too loudly.
For an awful moment Anna-Karin thought he would respond with a scornful smirk, that her power would have no effect on him. But then he smiled as everyone smiles at her, these days, cheerfully and sort of surprised that she wanted to speak to him. ‘Of course,’ he answered. Three minutes later he was back with Anna-Karin’s bag. His forehead was a little sweaty.
‘But I’m not sure,’ she says now. ‘We barely know each other.’
‘It’s obvious he’s interested,’ Julia insists.
‘Soooo obvious,’ Felicia joins in.
Anna-Karin is starting to understand how it works. She enjoys hearing her friends promise things they can’t possibly know anything about. No, of course he likes you. It’s obvious he wants you. Everything’s going to be fine.
They hear a cough from the kitchen door.
‘Hello, girls.’
Anna-Karin hadn’t noticed Grandpa coming into the house. Now he’s standing there, smiling warmly.
‘Hi,’ Felicia and Julia say, with one voice.
‘This is Julia and Felicia,’ Anna-Karin says.
‘Nice to meet you,’ Grandpa says, and glances at Anna-Karin before he heads out again.
There was a question mark in his eyes. He’s wondering what’s going on with Anna-Karin – and with her mother. She’s been getting looks like that for the past few weeks.
‘Was that your grandfather?’ Julia asks.
Anna-Karin nods distractedly and recalls that Grandpa noticed the moon was red. Perhaps he knows.
‘He’s soooo cute. I wanted to go up and hug him,’ Julia continues.
‘Me too,’ Felicia agrees, and wolfs the last of her second cinnamon bun, swallowing it so eagerly that it makes a disgusting sound deep in her throat.
They fall silent.
Julia and Felicia look about nervously. When a text message dings on Anna-Karin’s mobile, it’s a welcome distraction. She picks up her phone. It’s from Minoo. At first she doesn’t understand it. It’s as if it were written in another language. She stares at the words. Then she says, ‘You’ve got to go,’ to Julia and Felicia. ‘Now.’
Everyone is assembled for the first time since the night it all began. Even Ida has come. She’s leaning against the curved railing that surrounds the dance floor twirling her silver necklace around her fingers. She’s wearing beige jodhpurs, a dark green knitted jumper and black boots. A riding helmet is sticking out of the bag sitting next to her on the floor. Minoo had no idea Ida was into horses. It strikes her how little she knows about Ida’s life.
There are just five Chosen Ones left. Rebecka’s absence is so marked that she seems more present than ever. Minoo can tell that the others feel the same. It’s as if an actor has suddenly vanished in the middle of a performance: the rest of the ensemble is still there, not knowing what to do.
Minoo turns her head and sees the mangy cat saunter on to the dance floor. It sits by the steps and starts licking one of its paws. The green eye seems to be watching them.
‘Shoo,’ Nicolaus barks, but the cat doesn’t budge.
‘Leave it alone,’ says Anna-Karin. ‘It’s not doing any harm.’
The cat returns the favour by hissing at her.
Minoo meets Nicolaus’s gaze. He nods once. She turns to the others. ‘So, whoever killed Elias has now killed Rebecka.’
‘How do you know she didn’t kill herself?’ Ida asks. ‘It’s possible, you know. She was totally anorexic – everyone knew it.’
Anger bubbles inside Minoo. ‘Shut up,’ she says slowly.
Ida’s eyes open wide. A few tears trickle down her cheeks. ‘I refuse to believe this shit!’ she shouts. ‘I don’t want to die! I don’t want to be here with you!’ Her voice cuts through the clear autumn air.
‘So what’s it to be?’ Linnéa asks coldly. ‘You’ll have to choose.’
A wave of gratitude sweeps through Minoo: at least Linnéa understands.
‘What are you talking about?’ Ida snaps.
‘We can be sure of only one thing,’ Minoo says. She pauses for effect and looks at the others one by one. They have to understand, and they have to understand now. ‘If we don’t stick together we’ll die.’
Ida wipes her tears on the sleeve of her jumper, so hard that her cheeks redden.
‘We’ve been behaving like idiots. We were warned and we didn’t listen,’ Minoo says. ‘Rebecka was the only one who really got it. She said time after time it felt wrong