Chapter 1- Memories

January 31, 1983- Gothenburg, Sweden

It had been almost four months since Oskar had first seen Eli on the jungle gym. A little over three months since they had fled Blackeberg together. Every night was as amazing as the last. They had enlisted the help of a homeless man in order to rent a small, one bedroom apartment, near downtown Gothenburg.
Eli was out "getting food" as they had referred to it whenever they couldn't avoid the topic altogether. She had been feeding every other night since they moved in. "For safety reasons" Eli had explained. Oskar hated the two to three hours he spent alone these nights. Most of the time he would be thinking about Eli. About what they would do with the rest of their night, or how wonderful the previous nights had been.
To often though, when Oskar was alone, unwanted thoughts seeped into his consciousness. Thoughts of Mom, Dad, mom's cooking... Conny, Jimmy...

Oskar was sitting down at a little card table, thinking, fiddling. Like all of the furniture in the small apartment, this piece had been salvaged during one of their nightly strolls. He and Eli had spotted it leaning against a dumpster. Despite a few tears in it's plastic covering, and one leg that was slightly too short, it met their needs just fine. Oskar stared at the table's covering, scratched at a little bit of dried red sauce that would not give way. He giggled to himself, and thought "Eli".

†

"Bon appétit" Eli said as Oskar picked up his fork.

"Thanks, it smells great"

This not being Oskar's first encounter with Eli's cooking had learned it was better to make the first bite a quick affair. Eli scrutinized Oskar’s face as he scooped a forkful into his mouth. His jaw moved quickly for a few seconds before a wide grin spread across his face.

Eli's lips curved involuntarily into a smile of their own, “his smile” she thought. "Is it allrig....?”

Oskar burst out laughing, launching bits of spaghetti and sauce all over the table.
"How much sugar did you put in this?" he barely got out through his laughter

"Sugar? No I thought it was salt!"

"If it was salt, I don't think I'd be able to laugh. My face would probably look like..." Oskar contorted his face to look like a fish, and then it was Eli's turn to start laughing. They laughed until tears came, until it hurt.

Eli finally gained control of her breath, her face grew more serious before she said, "I'm sorry Oskar, I'm just trying to make sure you're fed properly, I know I can't match your mother's cooking, but I..."
Oskar's expression shifted at the mentioning of his mother.
Not sad, just blank.
They sat in silence for what seemed like a long time. After awhile, Oskar looked up from his plate, reached across the table, and put his hand over Eli's.
"Its ok Eli, I like things sweet… I like you don't I?" his smile came back along with warm blood rushing into his cheeks. He had gotten up from his chair and started inching his way toward the bedroom, “But next time canned soup would be fine… just don’t poor an entire bottle of hot sauce in it” He made a choking sound, as Eli stood up.

“Hey, at least I tried!” said a slightly pouty looking Eli. Oskar was more than halfway to the bedroom door before he started cackling uncontrollably, and gave chase.

“You’ll never catch me, I’m the gingerbread man!” Oskar’s head start was barely enough to get him into the bedroom in time, Eli had caught the tail of his shirt as he shut the door in her face. The rip of the shirt and the click of the door’s lock.

Eli pounded on the door, “Oskar, no fair you got a head start, let me in!”

A short silence then; Dash, Dot. Pause. Dash, Dash, Dash. (N.O). Followed by restrained giggling.
Eli smiled, and the night’s fun began.

†

Eli sat at the middle of the bus, across from an old couple; a cardboard box in her lap. The hood of her Star Wars sweatshirt pulled up around her face. She stared out of the window as the buildings of downtown Gothenburg blurred past. The city wasn't entirely unfamiliar, but it had been quite awhile since her last visit.
She had not been back in maybe "half a century", she told Oskar. The idea of coming back had scared her immensely, but in the end there wasn't much choice. In the past; before Oskar, she would have retreated into the wilderness, picked off hunters and hikers for awhile, at least until the cities calmed down.
She had left Gothenburg running, "But now my friend, I have a wonderful idea..." echoed in her head. This was the city where she had met the only other person who shared her illness. The only other Infected one aside from “Him”.

†

Eli had been sitting alone on a park bench, watching a swing sway lightly with the night breeze. The woman had sort of just appeared next to her on the bench, Eli never sensed her approach. The woman glanced at the swing, then at Eli before she began what seemed like a well-rehearsed monologue. A one woman show just for Eli; complete with hand gestures, and other theatrics.
"...That's why you must educate yourself in other languages... It's much easier to avoid detection if you expand your hunting grounds. The way you're stomping about now, it’s only a matter of time before you have a pitchfork armed posse at your doorstep or a crazy Vampire hunter standing over your bed, with a stake in hand when you wake up. I assure you they do exist." She said with meaningful smile.
"Do you think our paths crossed by sheer luck?" "No, I found you because I know where to look, how to spot the tracks." The woman walked two fingers through the air.
"I do not see this thing we share as... What did you call it, an illness?" "Rather we are but another piece of the puzzle, the puzzle of life; like cancer, earthquakes, and volcanoes, how they all fit together is not for us to decipher. Our job is simply to exist" The woman cast a meaningful look at the moon, "Enough philosophy, you must be wondering why I've sought you out... No? Not curious?" The woman shifted her gaze from the moon back to Eli, "As I am assuming you know by now, our kind are immune to all the horrible afflictions humans suffer, but alas we are not spared the horrible sickness of loneliness." A wide smile took over the woman's face, "But now my friend, I have a wonderful idea..."

†

The box in Eli's lap yelped and shook a little, causing the old couple to look up from their reading material. They looked at Eli, who smiled back at them as two front paws and the head of a puppy spilled over the edge of the box. "He's cute" the old man said.
"I think it’s a girl" Eli replied as she stopped the puppy from climbing over the edge.
The bus stopped, and the couple stood up, "This is us" the old man said. He looked down at Eli as his partner shuffled toward the front of the bus, "Enjoy that dog young lady, he won’t be a puppy forever". Before the bus started moving again Eli heard the Old man's wife from the sidewalk, "Such a beautiful face, and he hides it with that hood". "….I thought that was a girl", the man chuckled. Eli giggled to herself as the bus pulled away from the curb.
She looked down at her new furry companion, who stared unblinkingly back at her. "Does she know", Eli thought.

The night had gone considerably well so far. She had managed to find sustenance, and finally an early birthday gift befitting her beloved. All in just two hours, the night was still young.

†

On her bus ride toward the outer suburbs of Gothenburg, Eli had spotted a homeless man stumbling into an alley. Thinking she could buy a little blood off him if he was drunk enough, she got off at the next stop, and backtracked her way to the alley. When she first saw the man sprawled out in the middle of the alley unmoving, she thought he was dead, “Waste”, but she quickly realized that the man was alive, at least for the time being. The man's right leg began twitching, so that his boot made a thud every time it hit the dumpster next to it. She had seen this before; more, and more often in recent years, “Drugs.. Overdose”.
Eli acted quickly, pulling out a small bag from her sweater's front pocket. She fumbled for a second before finding her bounty; a box of razors. She carefully picked one out, and then grabbed the man's wrist. Eli looked at the man's face; his jaws clenched tight, his head twitching in cadence with his foot. "I'm sorry, I... I would have paid", Eli said before she carefully cut a vertical line down his wrist. The Man's showed no signs of consciousness as Eli brought his wrist to her mouth and began to drink. The familiar taste of alcohol filled her mouth, along with something else, some other drug she didn't know. The drug was strong and before she realized it she was lying with her ear on the dying man's chest. His heartbeat and the tapping of his foot against the dumpster provided a soothing rhythmic lullaby as she finally let her eyelids fall.
Only a few minutes went by before Eli was awakened by something rubbing against her thigh. Frightened she quickly rolled away from the man, "He’s come back", like Håkan. She stood up and looked at the man. His foot had stopped twitching. “No, that can’t be, I didn’t infect him.” His chest was covered in blood since that's where Eli had left his hand. She saw next to the man's head what she suspected; had caused his fit; an empty syringe.

Then she saw snuggled next to the man, the puppy. Desperate for warmth it was trying to get underneath the man's arm. She picked the dog up. It didn't seem to mind being held. She inspected it carefully, "You're a girl!" She looked around, and found a small cardboard box lined with a blanket. A sudden understanding entered her mind, "You were his". She carefully put the puppy back in the box, before laying the now blood stained razor blade in the man's open palm. She knelt down and kissed the man on the cheek, "Don't worry… Oskar and I will take good care of her... and thank you for...thanks.

†

Oskar reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of kronor. Tossed it on the table in front of him. As with any teenager Oskar had no problems with spending money. Unlike most teenagers though, he spent very little of it on himself. Aside from the essentials of food, and clothing, all the money he spent was for his beloved; for Eli. He remembered vividly how when he was younger, how much he enjoyed when his Dad took him to the toystore. He could never make up his mind about what he wanted. So his dad always bought him two toys. These days though he realized as he strolled down the isles of any store, that he wasn't interested in anything for himself. When he looked at things he always thought about what Eli’s reaction would be. Her smile was what he lived for now. He fiddled with the brand new camera in his hands.

†

The store clerk had looked at him suspiciously, before grabbing the box from one of the higher shelves. The baseball cap and hooded sweatshirt didn’t help.
"Umm, how do you plan on paying for this? ... Its very expensive you know."
Oskar pulled out a wad of thousand kronor notes, "I have money... my life savings"
The clerk’s expression changed to relieved, "Oh... well this is the top of the line instant camera, but if you want the best quality you really shouldn't buy an instant"
"I know, but I like having the pictures right away" he smiled
"The film costs a heck of a lot more too"
"I know..."

As the boy left the shop, the clerk watched him walk until he was out of sight. “He looked so happy. Shame he didn't buy a real camera. He looked like he had some things worth sharing with the rest of the world.”
†

Oskar felt the weight of the camera. It was heavy, probably the “special film”. A picture; “a pure, eternal, tangible memory”, he had read that somewhere. He also remembered reading an article about some tribe somewhere believing that a picture stole part of a person’s soul. “A good horror story”, he thought.
The camera was for Eli but the pictures would be for him as much as for her. Proof that all this was real. A memory he could cherish "Forever". What was it one of his teachers had once said? "Forever does not exist in this world". He smiled. How would his teacher have reacted to meeting Eli, a walking contradiction to that statement. He picked the camera up, pointed the lens at himself and said, "Cheese!" Mechanical noises, then the camera spit out a white square of paper. He took it and fanned it through the air. He stared at the developed picture of his smiling self.

"Thirteen in a few days Oskar"

"Then fourteen, fifteen, sixteen. Pretty soon you'll have hair on your chest and a beard on your chin", said picture Oskar

"That won’t be so bad, I’ll get to drive eventually, maybe have a cool job, write horror stories or something, and I could still be with Eli"

”Yeah, you'd probably be good at that, and Eli, I guess people would think of you as her dad, like that old guy"

Oskar's face changed, looked disgusted, "No! I'll never be like him... I would never do what he did to Eli!"

“Really? He loved her, like you, she even said so. Time changes people. You don’t think he was once like you, a nice little boy? Who knows what you'll be like in a few years... maybe you'll be just like your dad...like a werewolf”, Picture Oskar smiled a creepy smile. Just a slight aberration from his normal smile, but it looked completely unnatural on his face.

Oskar suddenly felt scared; he crumpled up the picture and threw it against the wall.
"No, forever isn't just a saying from fairy tales! I don’t have to change!”

†

Eli looked up at the lit window of her and Oskar’s third floor apartment. She smiled in anticipation, “Oskar”. She quickly kicked off her shoes, and gently placed them in the box next to the shivering puppy. “Don’t worry, were almost home, its warm inside”, she said as she closed the lid. She looked around to make sure no one was looking out their window, “All clear”. She thought her claws into existence, before she started to climb a pipe that ran up the side of the building. When she was level with the third floor, she gracefully leapt from the pipe and caught the railing of the balcony, then carefully climbed over it. She saw through the glass door; that Oskar was sitting at the table, doing nothing, just staring at the wall. His expression; blank, deep in thought.

This wasn’t the first time Eli had observed Oskar alone. It worried her. She noticed how he always looked a little sad when she left to “get food”. She also knew that Oskar spent at least part of every day by himself as she was asleep for two thirds of the day. She knew the pain of loneliness. Eli’s worst fears had changed from being discovered, and the stabbing pains of sunlight, to the fear of loosing Oskar. That she would wake up one night and find a note telling her that he’d left, had had enough of this crazy new life. That was another reason tonight had been such a blessing, the puppy. She finally had something she could give Oskar. Hopefully it would help save him from his loneliness, his own thoughts.

She tapped the glass, and started to open the door. Oskar looked up at the sound, and smiled, “Eli!” Oskar started to get up, but Eli stopped him,

“Wait, sit down, close your eyes”, she said from the half open sliding door.

Oskar did as he was told, “Eli, I…”

“Wait Oskar, I have a surprise, but first… say that I can come in” she smirked as she was already closing the door behind her

Oskar’s smile widened, “You can come in”

Eli opened the box, lifted out the puppy and held it in front of Oskar’s face, “Ok… you can open your eyes now”

Oskar was surprised to see the wide eyed puppy, only a few inches from his face staring at him. His smile, already wide, took over his entire face at the sight of it, “Wow Eli, he’s so cute, where did you get it?”

“It’s a she actually”, Eli giggled. “I found her in an alley, she was freezing… I think she’ll make for good company for you, during the day”.

Oskar carefully grabbed the puppy and set it on the floor, “Hey there adorable, do you want to play”. He lay down on his stomach so his face was level with the puppy, who immediately ran to him and started licking. Both Oskar and Eli giggled as the puppy relentlessly licked Oskar’s face. It was a few minutes before Oskar looked up at Eli who was still smiling but had kept a deliberate distance from them.

“What’s wrong”, he said as the puppy nipped at his nose.

Eli looked down at the ground, and fiddled with her hands, “Nothings wrong”, she glanced back at Oskar, whose face had shifted to one of concern. “ I just don’t know if she’ll like me… a lot of animals don’t like me”

“Puppies like everyone”, Oskar said as he sat up, “You never had a dog, before…?”
Eli’s face grew distant. Oskar had seen this face many times. Her eyes sparkled, a city of lights. Memories were flooding Eli’s consciousness.

“No… I… I had a cat”.

†

The cab driver looked into his rear view mirror at his passenger. A young woman, he guessed in her early twenties, jet black hair, with the face of a doll, and piercing blue eyes, “Beautiful”.
“First time in Blackeberg?” he asked as he stared at her in the mirror.

The woman looked at him in the mirror, their eyes met, but she did not respond.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to pry, It’s just odd seeing visitors to this city… you know with all that drama a few months ago… people are leaving this place, yes…, I’ve helped a few people move away myself”, He turned looked over his shoulder, while changing lanes, trying to get a peak at her legs. “There is no God here, they would say, move their entire family out of superstition”.

The woman looked out her window, “What do you think, has God left this place?”

“Lady, how should I know… what I do know is bad things happen all the time, all over the world, why should this suburb be immune? Even if there was a church here, would that mean bad things would stop happening?”

The woman looked back into the driver’s eyes through the mirror, but did not respond.

They pulled into the courtyard of a large familiar apartment complex, “Hey isn’t this where that Eriksson boy lived”, but the woman had already handed him several thousand kronor and was stepping out onto the pavement. He whistled to himself as he watched her walk up to the door of the nearest building. “What a bitch”, he said as he pulled away from the building.

†

Eli lowered herself onto her stomach, and stared into the dog’s eyes. The dog sat still for a second, sizing her up before it lunged at her face and started licking. She couldn’t stop giggling as the puppy’s tongue found its way into her nostrils and tried to get between her lips.

Oskar giggled, “See, nothing can resist your charm Eli”.

Eli had picked the puppy up kissed it on the nose, “What are you going to name her?”

Oskar looked at the puppy for a moment, “Hmmm, how about Laika?”

“I love it, it’s beautiful”, Eli replied.

“The soviets, they launched a dog into space, to make sure it was safe for humans… that’s what they named her”

“Into space, really? Did she come back?”

Oskar frowned, “No… she died, but if it weren’t for her, man would never have made it into space”

Eli lay on her back, and lifted Laika over her head, “Well, we’ll never send you into space beautiful, you belong here on Earth”.

Oskar stood up, walked over to the table, and came back holding the camera.

“What’s that”, Eli said turning her head toward a smiling Oskar.

“Smile, Eli”, Oskar snapped her photo. Waited a few moments before the picture popped out, and then began shaking it between two fingers.

“Oskar, what is that?” Eli asked as she put down Laika

Oskar looked down at the picture, made sure it was fully developed, “It’s a memory Eli, one you can keep forever… well almost”

She took the picture from Oskar; “Like I would ever forget thi…” she looked down at the picture of her smiling self, holding Laika. She had seen her own reflection many times, but this was different. She was seeing herself through Oskar’s eyes for the first time. She recognized in her picture’s eyes her adoration for Oskar as she had looked up at him smiling. The same look he gave her every night. Tears started to well up in her eyes. She stood and walked up to Oskar. She took his head in her hands and kissed him. Consciously trying to send Oskar her thoughts, thoughts words alone could not express. How much she meant to her. How much she loved him. They stood like that for several minutes, until the sound of a metal waste basket tipping over rang in their ears.

They separated simultaneously, Oskar smiled at Eli, “Come, let’s see if we have anything to eat… for our new space dog”.

†

Erik and Yvonne were lying on the couch, watching “Nutcrackers”. There heads on opposite arms of the couch, legs intertwined. They looked at each other whenever the other one laughed. Erik, got up, went to get a glass of water. Before he could sit down the intercom buzzer started. Both of their heads immediately turned toward the door, “Oskar”. Erik reached the intercom first, pressed the button, “Hello”?

A pause then, a woman’s voice spoke, “I’m sorry, I must have hit the wrong button, this isn’t the Eriksson residence is it?”

“Yes, yes it is. Who are you, it’s late, what do you want?” Erik said, slightly irritated

“I’m sorry, I won’t take up much of your time, it’s about, Oskar, the boy who was kidnapped, I thought his mother lived here… I just have a few questions?”

Yvonne looked at Erik, “Another reporter, just tell her no.”

Erik pushed the intercom button, “I’m sorry miss, were done giving interviews, we just want to be left in peace”.

“I’m not a reporter; I’m a private detective… I might be able to help you. I just have a few questions. Please it won’t take long”

Erik looked at Yvonne, who sighed, and gave him a curt nod before retreating to the bathroom, “Ok, ok, come in”. He hit the buzzer and leaned against the wall waiting, “Private detective… funny accent”.

Yvonne came out of the bathroom wearing a bathrobe when the knock on the door came. Erik immediately opened it after the first knock so that the woman’s fist was stretched out in front of her face. She dropped her hand, and Erik who had already planned out an offensive stood dumbstruck, at her beauty.

She didn’t seem to notice his reaction, “I’m very sorry for intruding like this, so late, but I think we can both benefit from this meeting”. She stared straight at him, her eyes, felt like they could read his thoughts. “May I come in”, she said, as she shifted her gaze to her purse and began rummaging for something.

Erik, still a mute, simply opened the door further, and stepped aside for her. The woman did not move, she simply returned her gaze to Erik’s face and waited, expectantly.