Eloise struggled against the rising panic. She frantically groped her pockets for her apartment key. She finally found it and yanked it out. In her haste, it fell to the floor. Eloise bent over to pick it up.
Over her shoulder, she could see that the blood-smeared woman was gripping the frame of the neighbor’s door. Her backbone was twisting and wobbling even more frenetically, as though her body was changing.
“It’s no use fighting. Everything depends on you now. You have to accept it.”
There was an otherworldly tone in her voice, and it, too, was changing with each syllable. Different voices seemed to be emanating from the same throat. But that wasn’t all. The woman’s skin was rippling, like the shimmering surface of a stormy river.
“The gods chose you,” she said in a distorted voice. “You do remember that the gods chose you, don’t you, Eloise? The dark lords want your blood. They want your tears, your sweet tears. I am the one who’s going to collect them. One by one.”
Eloise was struggling to get the key in the lock.
Glancing behind her again, she could see the woman’s body with more clarity. Now she could see the huge gash in her chest. The wound looked raw, but it was closing. It was healing by the second.
Eloise didn’t want to see any more of this. She got the key in the lock. She turned it hastily, opened the door, and hurled herself inside her apartment.
88
And so, everything is for the best.
The girl is trapped now.
Judith Saint-Clair comes closer, one step after another, taking delight in the wild energy that is coursing through her body again, under her blood-adorned skin. All around her, the eyes of the gods are attentive. The gods are hungry.
She rests a hand on the door. Blood is dripping from her fingers.
Slowly, she traces a circle.
She crosses it with three horizontal lines.
“I’ll tell you a story.”
“Go away!” the girl screams from inside the apartment.
A smile. She brings her lips close to the door.
“I’m afraid that’s not possible. You are the last one. The gods led me to you, do you understand? You were chosen to enter into a miracle.”
The world vibrates. The walls contract. The entire building becomes an enormous heart made of gray flesh that starts beating.
“The miracle of blood. You’ll see. I’ve come to free you.”
“Get the fuck away from me!” the girl screams from the other side of the door. “Please, leave me alone!”
What a little fool.
Judith Saint-Clair smiles again, and the wolves draw near.
89
Hurrying through the main lobby of the hospital, Vauvert listened distractedly as Leroy fumed on the cell phone. Leroy kept repeating that his request took absolute priority.
Worry was written all over his face when he ended the call.
Vauvert gave him an anxious look.
“So? What’s going on?”
“The boss is in a meeting. I could only talk to Deveraux, and he just won’t disturb him. He took the message, though. The chief will call me,” Leroy said with a shrug. “As soon as Deveraux tells him, I guess.”
“And you think there is a chance the idiot will actually tell him?”
“Well.” Leroy nervously ran a hand through his hair. “I’m not stupid, okay? I know Jean-Luc is obstructing us. The asshole has every intention of taking credit for Saint-Clair’s arrest, though he can’t figure out even half of what’s happening. You were right when you said that a stubborn guy like him can mess things up.”
Vauvert waved the thought aside.
“It doesn’t matter. We’ll be at her place. We can call for backup if there’s a reason to. Do we have a car?”
“I’m on it.”
There were two uniformed officers at the entrance. Leroy made a beeline for them. The conversation did not go as smoothly as Vauvert had hoped. Leroy raised his voice when one of the cops obstinately shook his head. Finally, the cop handed Leroy a key.
“Before the end of the night shift, right?”
“You won’t even know we borrowed it, I swear.”
As he hurried back to Vauvert, he waved the key.
“Here. We’re taking a cruiser.”
“It’s parked at the hospital?”
“Yes. Right in front.”
The area outside the hospital was a maze. They had to go around two inner courtyards before they were able to spot the white cruiser.
And then they saw that someone was waiting for them.
Eva Svarta stood there, her back resting against the vehicle and her arms crossed.
Seeing their stunned faces, she gave them a wide grin, then burst into a coughing fit.
“There you are, finally. You guys took your time.”
90
The landline worked no better than her cell. Eloise dropped the phone. She spun around and hit the corner of the table in the dark.
She tried to control her breathing and realized that she could not. Her heart was pounding.
She screamed as loud as she could, “I have a gun! If you come in, I’ll shoot you in the head! I swear to God I will!”
“Don’t be silly. Open the door. You knew it would end this way.”
Eloise refused to listen. She ran to the kitchen and opened the utensil drawer. She grabbed the biggest meat cleaver she could find.
Would it be enough to protect her?
She stared at it.
It looked almost pathetic in the face of what was on the other side of the door. Still, she put it next to her.
She tried her cell phone again. No signal.
The screen went blank all of a sudden, and a series of letters started scrolling.
