The Circle (Hammer)

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 and forth in small groups everywhere, falling into each other, talking far too loudly. Anna-Karin can’t get a proper hold on the minds of people under the influence of alcohol and, she suspects, other substances.

The music is deafening. She finishes the beer and crumples the can. Jari takes it and immediately hands her another one. She smiles gratefully.

‘Cheers,’ he says.

‘Cheers.’

The beer cans meet in the air and she tips her head back to let the drink run down her throat. It’s surprisingly easy to get used to the taste.

Anna-Karin is starting to relax. She lets go of her control a little. It doesn’t really matter what anyone here thinks of her, as long as Jari looks at her like that.

She feels quite attractive tonight. She’s wearing a short bright pink dress with silver glitter. It has a low neckline and fits tightly around her breasts while concealing her stomach. Julia and Felicia thought she should choose something that was tight all the way down, but Anna-Karin wasn’t up for that.

Some drunken guy yells, ‘Looks like a pig’s escaped the Christmas slaughter!’ He points at her, and his friends laugh. Anna-Karin feels a familiar stab in her gut. It’s been a long time since anyone has said anything like that to her – she had almost forgotten how much it hurt.

She empties the beer can in silence and wonders about a suitable act of revenge. Jari is still gazing at her with rapt adoration.

Come here. Show them.

Jari throws himself at her. It’s as if he’s been longing for her for a hundred years and can’t contain himself for another second. His lips press against hers. Then she feels the tip of his tongue in her mouth and opening it.

‘Jari, what the f*ck, man? Are you serious?’ his friend says.

But Jari doesn’t answer. He grabs Anna-Karin’s neck and pushes himself even harder against her. Her head is spinning while his tongue explores her mouth. She can barely keep up. It’s her first kiss and she feels as if she’s being eaten alive. But at least that guy and his friends have shut up. Now she has to breathe. She pulls away. ‘Could you get me another beer?’ she asks.

Jari opens his eyes and smiles. Gratefully, as if he lives to fetch and carry for Anna-Karin, he trots away to fetch the beer, chilling in the snow outside.

‘Come on,’ someone hisses brusquely, pulling at her elbow.

Vanessa.

Anna-Karin allows herself to be led away. They pass Linnéa, and she follows them into a room where a few lads are sprawled on the floor playing video games. It’s comparatively quiet. They squeeze themselves into a corner of the room, as far from the boys as possible.

‘What the hell are you doing?’ Linnéa asks.

‘We saw your little show in there with Jari. What’s wrong with you?’ Vanessa snaps.

They’re bullying her, forcing her into a corner and yelling accusations at her. Just because she doesn’t do exactly as they want. Do they expect her to go back to being the old Anna-Karin, the one who never dared look anyone in the eye, the one who was always alone?

The throbbing bass line from the music vibrates through the walls of the room. The boys on the floor shout in unison when something explodes on the TV screen.

Vanessa and Linnéa are standing far too close. Anna-Karin doesn’t know if two beers is a lot, she just knows she wants another. Now. ‘Leave me alone,’ she says. ‘I know what I’m doing.’

‘Do you really?’ Linnéa says.

‘I’ve got it under control.’

‘I don’t think you have,’ Linnéa says. ‘You’re getting addicted. And this whole thing with Jari, it’s—’

‘What business is it of yours if I’ve got a boyfriend?!’

‘None,’ Vanessa says. ‘You can have as many boyfriends as you like. Only Jari isn’t your boyfriend. You’ve used your power on him.’

‘Don’t think we don’t understand, Anna-Karin,’ says Linnéa. ‘I know what it is to be an outcast. I know what it’s like to want something you can never have.’

Linnéa’s eyes are oozing syrupy pity. Anna-Karin can almost read her thoughts: Poor Anna-Karin. She’s so ugly and desperate that she has to use magic to get someone to want her. There’s nothing about her that anyone could like. And she might be able to fool everyone else, but we’ll always see her as she really is. The stupid, fat, disgusting, sweaty, flaccid, flabby, awkward, useless, loser hick she’s always been. She puts on a new dress and thinks she’s as good as anyone else. How f*cking sad.

‘Go to hell,’ Anna-Karin says slowly.

Her rage is so intense that it scares her. She jostles Vanessa as she pushes past her and throws open the door.

The place is packed with people. Anna-Karin forces her way through the crowd, searching for Jari. The warm bodies form an impenetrable mass of flesh. It’s like one of those nightmares when you’re trying to run but can’t get anywhere. She ducks to avoid glowing cigarettes, jumps out of the way of beer spilling and searches for an opening in the throng. Eventually she can’t take it any more.

Get out of my way, she commands.

It’s like when Moses parted the Red Sea. Everyone takes a few steps to the side so that Anna-Karin has free passage. She breathes a sigh of relief. Now she can walk calmly through the building at her leisure while the others are crammed together like sardines, forming a heaving, living wall along her path.

She searches for him everywhere but can’t find him. Eventually she crosses the hallway and opens what must be a door to the basement. She slips inside and closes the door behind her. A naked bulb lights the rough, unpainted pine planking that lines a staircase. Anna-Karin heads down it to another door, which she opens. Much of the little basement is occupied by a boiler and a huge freezer, each trying to drown the other’s loud humming. When she shuts the door, the music and loud voices dampen to a muffled drone.

An old grandfather clock is propped against one wall, with a broken guitar and two sledges. The junk of everyday life. It smells of stone, damp and earth. On the other side of the room, a green metal door stands ajar. Anna-Karin knows instinctively that she shouldn’t go through it. Perhaps that’s why she can’t resist.

The light nearly blinds her. The room is big and the walls are white. UV lamps hang from the ceiling above neat rows of green plants. It’s warm and damp, and she hears a monotonous whirring as if from electric fans.

How strange, she thinks, that someone should grow vegetables in their basement. Then she understands. How naïve she is. The green plants growing beneath the lamps are cannabis. Or marijuana. Or is it the same thing? She has no idea.

She looks at the table, which is cluttered with tools and a pile of well-thumbed instruction manuals. And, next to the manuals, a gun.

Anna-Karin moves closer. The gun is black with a brown handle. It looks as if it’s been used.

Just then she hears footsteps on the stairs and a door opening. Her eyes dart around nervously. The footsteps are coming closer. There’s nowhere to hide.

A tall, lanky guy enters the room. He’s wearing a grey hat pulled down over his eyebrows. He has a dull yet intense look in his eyes. Anna-Karin knows instantly who it is. Jonte.

‘This door’s supposed to be locked,’ he says.

‘It was open,’ Anna-Karin says. ‘I didn’t know …’

Jonte’s eyes narrow. He comes closer and Anna-Karin backs away until she hits the table.

‘What the hell are you doing here?’

Anna-Karin directs her power at him, tries to envelop him in a soft, pleasant feeling. Jonte stops short and cocks his head to one side, a bit like an animal listening for danger. Then his face relaxes, but he doesn’t quite let down his guard. Anna-Karin can’t get a hold of him. The beer, of course.

‘Anna-Karin?’ Jari’s voice calls out.

‘I’m here!’ Anna-Karin shouts back, a little louder than necessary.

She feels an enormous sense of relief when Jari comes in the room. ‘Hey, babe,’ he says, and smiles.

‘Who is she?’ Jonte asks, his voice still full of suspicion.

‘It’s cool. She’s with me,’ Jari says. ‘Anna-Karin, this is Jonte, who’s throwing this party.’ He holds up a clear bottle of brown liquid and grins at her.

‘Better than beer,’ he says triumphantly.

‘Get this skanky-ass bitch and that skunky-ass homebrew the f*ck out of here,’ says Jonte with contempt.

‘Don’t you f*cking—’ Jari says threateningly, and takes a step towards him.

‘It’s okay,’ Anna-Karin says quickly. ‘Come on, Jari.’

The noise from the party grows in intensity as they go up the stairs. ‘Jonte’s weird sometimes,’ Jari says. ‘His brain is, like, smoked. Know what I mean?’

He laughs hoarsely and holds out the bottle. Anna-Karin pauses to take it. Vanessa and Linnéa are most probably still up there. She swigs and nearly retches. Her mouth seems to be filled with napalm, but she forces herself to swallow. The liquid burns all the way down her throat. She gags a few times as if she’s going to puke and hopes Jari doesn’t notice.

‘Good shit, huh?’ Jari says.

‘M-hm.’ She has another swig. This time it goes down more easily, as if the first gulp had numbed her mouth and throat. She tips the bottle back again, lets more of the liquid run down her throat.

‘Take it easy.’ Jari laughs.

Just for that Anna-Karin, of course, has to take an extra gulp before she hands it back to him.

As she opens the basement door, they’re hit by a full-frontal assault from a wailing hard-rock guitar.



Minoo is dreaming of Ophelia. Ophelia who is Rebecka. She’s drowning and Minoo is trying to save her. She wades into the stream. It’s surprisingly deep and she has to struggle against the current to stay upright. She tries to grab the white nightgown that is billowing around her friend in the water. But it keeps slipping through her fingers. Rebecka looks at her with doleful eyes, as if she’s sad for Minoo.

Minoo … Minoo, you have to wake up now.

Minoo objects, still half asleep. She hasn’t finished her dream. She has to grab Rebecka.

Wake up.

She opens her eyes and looks around in a daze, adjusting slowly to the darkness. The familiar contours of the room come into view. She tries to remember what woke her, but she has difficulty in concentrating.

Minoo …

Her heart skips a beat. It’s a voice that isn’t a voice. It’s inside her head, disguised as one of her own thoughts. It’s warm and comforting, and it terrifies her.

Minoo sits up in bed. She fumbles for the lamp at her bedside and presses the switch.

She looks around, her heart pounding. The fear is so intense that she feels like a hunted animal, driven by instinct. She doesn’t dare to breathe. The awful presence will find her if she makes the slightest sound.

The bedside lamp flickers.

Get up.

Minoo’s body obeys: she gets out of bed and walks towards the door.

And she realises that the awful presence is inside her.

When she steps out into the corridor, the bathroom door is wide open. The sound of running water reaches her ears. The bath is filling. Step by step she approaches the open door.

No pain, the voice whispers. No pain, I promise.

Minoo walks quietly into the bathroom and the door swings shut behind her.