Buried Angels

VALÖ, EASTER EVE 1974

‘What’s this?’ Rune’s face was white as he stood in the doorway to the dining room. Behind him were Leon and the other boys: John, Percy, Sebastian, and Josef.

Inez blinked at them in surprise. She’d never seen Rune lose his composure before, but right now he was so upset that he was shaking all over. He went over to Claes. In his hands he held a stack of photographs and a gun.

‘What’s this?’ he repeated.

Claes didn’t say a word, his face expressionless. The boys cautiously came into the room, and Inez sought Leon’s eye, but he avoided looking at her. Instead, he stared at Claes and Rune. For a moment no one spoke. The air felt heavy and it was hard to breathe. Inez gripped the edge of the table. Something terrible was about to happen right in front of her, and no matter what it was, she knew that things were going to end badly.

A smile slowly spread across Claes’s lips. Before his father could react, he stood up, grabbed the gun, and pressed it against Rune’s forehead. He fell to the floor, lifeless. Blood gushed from the bullet hole, black with gunpowder. Inez heard herself scream. It sounded like it was coming from someone else, but she knew it was her own voice echoing between the walls, blending with Annelie’s cries in a macabre duet.

‘Shut up!’ shouted Claes, still pointing the gun at Rune. ‘Shut up!’

But she couldn’t stop screaming. Terror forced the sound from her mouth as she stared at the dead body of her husband. Ebba was crying shrilly.

‘I said, shut up!’ Claes fired another shot at his father, making the body twitch. The white shirt slowly turned red.

The shock made Inez abruptly fall silent. Even Annelie stopped screaming, but Ebba was still crying.

Claes rubbed his face. In his other hand he held the gun. He looks like a little boy playing cowboy, thought Inez, but there was nothing boyish about Claes’s face. Nor was there anything human about it. His eyes were empty, and he was still smiling that awful smile, as if his face had frozen into that expression. He was breathing hard.

Suddenly he turned towards Ebba and aimed the gun at her. She was still crying, her face bright red. As if frozen in place, Inez watched Claes’s finger press the trigger as Johan threw himself forward. Then he stopped. With a look of astonishment, he looked down at his shirt, where a patch of red was spreading fast. Then he collapsed on the floor.

Silence once again descended over the room. An unnatural silence. Even Ebba was quiet, sucking on her thumb. Next to her highchair, Johan lay on his back. A lock of his blond hair had fallen into his eyes, which were staring, unseeing, up at the ceiling. Inez suppressed a sob.

Claes backed up so that he was standing against the wall. ‘Do as I say. And be quiet. That’s the most important thing of all.’ His voice was eerily calm, as if he were enjoying the situation.

Out of the corner of her eye, Inez saw a movement near the door, and Claes seemed to notice it too. He instantly pointed the gun at the boys.

‘No one leaves the room. No one’s going anywhere.’

‘What are you going to do with us?’ asked Leon.

‘I don’t know. I haven’t decided.’

‘My father has lots of money,’ said Percy. ‘He’ll pay you if you’ll let us go.’

Claes uttered a hollow laugh. ‘It’s not money that I want. You should know that.’

‘We promise not to say anything,’ said John, but his plea fell on deaf ears.

Inez knew that it was pointless. She’d been right about Claes. She’d sensed that there was something missing inside of him. No matter what he’d done to the boys, he was going to cover up his crimes at all costs. He’d already killed two people, and he wasn’t about to let anyone out of there alive. They were all going to die.

Suddenly Leon looked at her, and Inez realized that he was thinking the same thing. They’d never have any more time together other than those few stolen hours. They’d made plans and shared so many thoughts about how they were going to live. All they had to do was wait and have patience, and they’d have a future to share. Now that wasn’t going to happen.

‘I knew that whore was up to something,’ said Claes suddenly. ‘There’s no mistaking those kinds of looks. How long have you been fucking my stepmother, Leon?’

Inez didn’t say a word. Annelie turned from her to Leon.

‘Is that true?’ For a moment Annelie seemed to forget her fear. ‘You bloody slut! Isn’t there anyone your own age that you-’

Her words were cut off. Claes had calmly raised the gun and fired a shot through her temple.

‘I told you to shut up,’ he said tonelessly.

Inez felt tears welling up in her eyes. How long did they have left to live? They were powerless. There was nothing to do but wait to be slaughtered, one by one.

Ebba began crying again, and Claes flinched. Her cries got louder, and Inez could feel her whole body tense. She ought to stand up, but she couldn’t make herself move.

‘Make the kid stop.’ Claes glared at her. ‘I said, make the brat stop crying!’

She opened her mouth but no words came out, and Claes shrugged.

‘Okay. In that case, I’ll have to do it myself,’ he said and again pointed the gun at Ebba.

As he pulled the trigger, Inez threw herself forward to protect her daughter with her own body.

But nothing happened. Claes pulled the trigger again. The gun didn’t go off, and he stared at it in surprise. At that instant, Leon rushed forward to attack him.

Inez picked up Ebba and held her close, her heart pounding wildly. Claes was pinned to the floor under Leon, but he was twisting and turning to get free.

‘Help me!’ shouted Leon, and then he screamed when Claes punched him in the stomach.

It looked as though he was about to lose his hold on Claes, who was struggling ferociously. But a well-aimed kick from John struck Claes in the head and they heard a horrible cracking sound. His body went limp and he stopped fighting.

Leon quickly rolled away, landing on all fours on the floor. Percy kicked Claes in the stomach as John kept on kicking his head. At first Josef just stood and watched. Then he resolutely walked over to the table, stepped over Rune’s body, and reached for the knife that had been used to carve the roast. He fell on his knees next to Claes and glanced up at John and Percy, who stopped kicking as they gasped for breath. A gurgling sound came from Claes’s mouth, and his eyes rolled. Slowly, almost as if savouring the moment, Josef raised the big knife and laid the sharp edge against Claes’s throat. Then he made a swift incision, and the blood began pumping out.

Ebba was still crying, and Inez held her even closer. The instinct to protect her child was stronger than anything she’d ever felt before. Her whole body was shaking as Ebba curled up like a little animal in her arms. She clung so hard to her neck that Inez could hardly breathe. On the floor in front of them sat Percy, Josef and John next to Claes’s ravaged body. Like a pride of lions surrounding its prey.

Leon came over to Inez and Ebba. He took several deep breaths.

‘We need to clean this up,’ he said in a low voice. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.’ He kissed her gently on the cheek.

As if from a great distance, Inez heard him start to issue orders to the other boys. Scattered words reached her, about what Claes had done, about the evidence that had to be concealed, about the shame, but it sounded as if someone were speaking from far away. With her eyes closed, she rocked Ebba. Soon this would all be over. Leon would take care of everything.