Chapter 9: Laying Low

Oskar and Eli heard the car pull up outside. The professor came in with the newspaper. “Anything on the news yet?”

“The evening news starts in half an hour. Anything about us in the paper?” Oskar asked.

He grinned at them, “Yes actually, and it’s quite interesting.” He opened the paper to the front page and read:

RESCUED CHILD KIDNAPPED AGAIN.
Early this morning, a person or persons unknown were able to somehow breach security at police headquarters in downtown Karlstad, and retake Oskar Erickson, the boy who had been recovered only yesterday. The police were in the process of questioning the boy about his experiences with his abductor, who is the prime suspect in the gruesome murders and decapitations in Blackeberg last November. Somehow, he was taken from a high security area at the station. Inside sources tell us that a heavily reinforced window was literally torn out of the wall on the fourth floor. Officers found the remains of the window on the roof of the station, and concluded that the perpetrators made their escape over the roof somehow. Chief Detective Jocke Ellstrom is convinced that the boy went willingly, as he was hostile and uncooperative when first questioned.

There were also conflicting eye-witness reports of a huge, dark, bat-like ‘bird’ that flew out of the alley and across the street in front of the station at about the same time the kidnapping occurred. Some said the bird seemed to be carrying two children and insisted that one of them, based on clothing and appearance, was the missing boy. The other was dressed all in white. The mayor and chief of police both dismissed the reports as ridiculous and unbelievable. An unnamed uniformed officer insisted it was some kind of glider or small plane, but no trace of it was found in the surrounding area. A curfew of 8:00PM has been imposed on the city for a week’s duration, while the authorities conduct door-to-door searches in the immediate area and monitor all air and rail services in or out of the Karlstad area. Roadblocks have been set up on all major and most minor routes out of Karlstad.

Eli clapped, “Hostile and uncooperative? Bravo, Oskar!”

“I wasn’t hostile!”

The professor broke in, “You two will have to stay inside until further notice. You can’t even step out for a second. My neighbors are respectful of privacy, but in this climate, they will be alert. Unfortunately, I will have to leave you alone for most of the day. I need to make my work schedule as normal as possible to avoid attracting attention. I am going to shut down our work in the lab until we get to London. Call me on my private line immediately if anything happens. If I need to contact you, I will let the phone ring twice, then hang up. Call me back immediately.”

“What about the mice?” Oskar asked.

“Sorry Oskar, I am going to have to destroy all those we injected with Eli’s unaltered blood. It’s too dangerous to others to allow them to survive.”

“But what about the others? You can’t just kill them!”

“Oskar, we have to... I’ll tell you what! I’ll bring home the last ten, the ones we injected with the last cultured batch and you can take care of them until we leave in June. There are enough cages and equipment in the storeroom in the back of the garage. You’ll be responsible for them however. We’ll decide on their final disposition in June.”

“Ok. I promise I’ll take good care of them. Thanks!”

“You’re welcome.”

“Eli, it’s time for the news. Let’s see what our local news folks think about all this.” They went into the living room together and turned on the TV. The news was just beginning.

The Karlstad Police Department got egg on their face early this morning when the young boy kidnapped during the murders and mutilations at the pool in Blackeberg last November was kidnapped again while in a high security area at Police Headquarters downtown. Some of the unofficial stories we’ve heard about the incident are absolutely unbelievable! Of course excuses abound, but in our humble opinion, there is no excuse for the incompetence and gross negligence that led to this comedy of errors.

Despite the boy being held in protective custody in a high security area on the fourth floor of the building, some mysterious person or persons unknown not only managed to get up on the roof of the building unseen, but somehow, knowing exactly where he was, were able to scale down the side of the building, noiselessly remove a case-hardened steel-reinforced window with half-inch thick safety glass, twist it like a pretzel, place it on the roof, and escape without leaving a trace, unless you count the unbelievable stories about a giant bat that flew off with – are you ready for this? – not one, but two children in its talons. One was identified by 10 or more of Karlstad’s Finest as the boy, based on descriptions of his clothes. The other unknown child was said to have been dressed entirely in white – perhaps his guardian angel? If we take these reports at face value, then all efforts to apprehend them will be in vain. After all, who stands a chance against the Almighty and his minions? We all breathlessly await future developments and are keenly interested in seeing whose heads roll first. Our own first hope would be the head of our favorite Chief of Detectives, Jocke Ellstrom, who has through his ‘grace’ and ‘kindness,’ endeared himself to so many of us. And we all have the psychological bruises to prove it. And now for other less-interesting news...

The professor turned off the set. “Case-hardened steel? You’ve really outdone yourself, Eli. Remind me to run some tests to determine the limits of your raw strength. If it weren’t for the laws of inertia, you being a featherweight, you probably wouldn’t have lost to the moose in the head-to-head.”

“What do you mean ‘lost’? Where’s the moose now?” Eli said sarcastically.

“I can’t, and won’t argue with that!” he laughed.

“So the second kid was dressed all in white? At least he got that one right, Eli. You were in your best birthday suit, just back from the cleaners. My naked guardian angel.” Oskar ducked as she grabbed for him behind the professor.

“Well, at least my outfit didn’t look like I had slept in it like yours did. Mine is definitely wash-and-wear. Except for the belt.” She stuck her tongue out at Oskar.

“On a more sober note, it sounds like you two have a real enemy now. Ellstrom is not going to forget this anytime soon, assuming he survives the wrath of City Hall. We’re going to have to be extremely careful.”

==============================

A month had passed, and they had finally settled into a daily routine. Dawson would go into work every morning, and return about 5:30PM. Oskar would then clean the cages, feed and water the mice, and sit down with Eli and practice his English. Every third night or so, Eli would fly to their old apartment, check for mail and move the small lamp to a new location. She also decided to check the neighborhood for fliers with Oskar’s picture on them, and remove any she found.

Dawson had successfully shut down their saving account with no apparent problem and, according to Eli, the apartment was undisturbed. No one had linked it to them at this point.

This evening, Eli and Oskar were watching the mice scurrying about in the big cage. Oskar’s English lesson was more boring than usual, and he easily talked Eli into taking a break. The mice were still exhibiting the same strange behavior, but this time, the two of them were watching them more carefully.

“Oskar, I wonder; do you think maybe they are talking to each other, like you and I can do now?”

“You mean mice with ESP” Oskar laughed. “Wouldn’t that be cool! I wonder if we could figure out what they might be saying to each other? It couldn’t be too complicated, whatever it is. Like maybe, ‘Do you know that cute girl’s name?’ or ‘When’s lunch? Or ‘M’god, I just stepped in your poop!’ or ‘Why don’t you join me in the Kiosk? For a banana?’”

Eli laughed, “Or ‘You all look alike to me. Girls, line up over there; boys, over here.’ Or ‘Wow! your butt sure smells good.’ Or maybe every time they bump into each other its ‘Pardon me’ and ‘Oh no – pardon ME’ They could be very polite mice.”

“The lunch thing gives me an idea.” He took a couple kernels of corn and quickly slipped them in the corner of the cage. A couple of minutes later, one of the mice discovered them and nibbled away at them. “Eli, watch who he touches first, while I put some more food down.” Eli watched the mouse carefully as he mingled with the others, at the same time Oskar replaced the eaten kernels. As soon as their mouse brushed up against another one, it headed immediately for the same corner and grabbed the new corn that Oskar had just placed there.

Eli and Oskar looked at each other. “Wow, how neat is that?” They tried the same experiment using different locations in the cage, and it worked every time. Soon, however, all ten were madly scrambling for the different locations, depending on which mouse they had last come in contact with. “I guess there are no secrets among these guys anymore. Just like with you and me.” Eli said.

“At least, not for the important stuff, like where the food is stashed. Too bad we don’t both have the same food requirements.”

Eli gave him a funny look.

“EEWW! No, No! Like mine. Like mine!” Oskar shuddered.

When Dawson came home, they lost no time telling him what they had discovered. He watched as they repeated the experiment for him.

“Well done! That would never have occurred to me. There’s nothing better that having fresh eyes looking at a dead-end experiment. This means that Oskar has picked up the same talent, so we need to watch these mice more carefully for other symptoms.”

“I guess the fact that none of them has died, is a good thing then.” Eli said.

“That’s an understatement,” Dawson laughed.

Eli and Oskar carried the cage back out into the storeroom, and put the mice back in their cages on the rack.

“I wonder what else they can do? They don’t drink blood, and they’re not strong, or else they would have made their own ‘Great Escape’ They also can’t fly, as far as we know.” Oscar said.

“You’re starting to sound like the Professor,” Eli teased.

“Well, remember. What they have, I may have.”

“You’re right! I’ll get worried when you start squeaking and running around in circles.”

They went back upstairs and started in on their English lessons. Later, they watched the news with the Professor. Apparently, Chief Detective Jocke Ellstrom had indeed been fired for incompetence, along with several others who had been overseeing Oskar that night. Oskar hoped that the detective who had been kind to him still had his job.

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Oskar looked at his watch. 7:00AM. It was time to feed the mice before He and Eli went to bed. He went into the garage, and immediately felt chilly. It had been unusually cold that night, dropping well below freezing for the first time in over a month. He was startled to see that the door to the storage area was wide open. Had they forgotten to close it earlier? He rushed in to check the cages. Six of the mice were huddled together in a corner of the cage, but four were lying on their backs, apparently dead or dying. The water in their water dish was frozen. He quickly turned on the heater, and opened the cage. He reached in and gently prodded one of the motionless mice, but got no reaction. He put food in the food dish and refilled the water dish, “I hope I haven’t killed them! That would be awful!” The other mice slowly moved out of their huddle and went for the food and water. The temperature in the room was almost back to normal when he finally shut the door behind him and rushed up the stairs. “Professor! I think I may have killed some of our mice. I left the door open last night, and their water dish was frozen and four of them may be dead.” He had tears in his eyes.

“Let’s go take a look” They hurried out to the garage, and entered the storeroom. The temperature inside was stable now, and the mice were behaving normally. “Where are the dead mice?”

Oskar looked around, then counted the mice. All ten were alive and well. “I don’t know! I guess they were just sleeping or something. But they were on their backs!”

Dawson watched them carefully for a few minutes. “Well, it looks like everything is ok now. Oskar, you’re going to have to be more careful. You have taken responsibility for these animals and I expect you to take it seriously.”

“I’m really sorry! I promise I’ll be more careful from now on”

The Professor smiled at him. “I’m sure you will. Now get on up to bed. I’ll be leaving for work in a few minutes.” There’s something odd about this. Mice don’t sleep on their backs. What could this mean? He was becoming worried for Oskar again.

Oskar climbed into bed with Eli, looking a bit sad.

“I’m sorry, Oskar. It was my fault. I took your mind off what you were supposed to be doing.”

“No, it’s my responsibility, and I blew it. Now the Professor is disappointed with me.”

“I’ll help you! I’ll make a check list on the computer for you and you can check off each job when you finish it!”

Oskar hugged her. “Thanks! You’re always on my side! I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“Well, for starters, you would probably sleep at night like regular people.” She hugged him back.

===========

The Professor got home from work a bit late, and hurried toward the kitchen. “Come on kids, We have something we need to talk about.” They all went into the kitchen and sat down at the table. “I’ve finished emptying out the lab, and all my notes are now in the storeroom. I even brought this home for you.” He set Eli’s egg on the table.

“I think you should have this with you now. It’s been with you every time you moved for over 100 years. I think it brings you luck And I know it’s safe here – especially since YOU are here.”

“I was going to ask you to bring it home, but I was kind of afraid! How did you know?”

“It’s my job to know these things.” That’s the first time she’s called this home! He felt happy for her.

“Thank you! Thank you!” She gave him a big kiss on the cheek and hugged him tightly.

Now to more serious matters. I think it’s safe enough now for us to made one last trip to the apartment to make sure we didn’t leave anything behind. I also sent our termination notice to the landlord so he’ll be able to rent the apartment out before we leave in June. I’ll feel much safer when we are out of there for good. I thought we could go late tonight. I’ve already set times for the utilities to be shut off, and all bills are paid in full. Eli, Tonight you can rest your wings and drive over there with us.”

They had dinner together, and played a few games of Scrabble, in which they could only use English words. As usual, Oskar lost. “Why don’t we play in another language? Eli, are there any languages you don’t speak?”

“Eskimo. I can’t speak Eskimo.” She said sarcastically. “But then … neither can you. You lost! Take it like a man…I mean boy.”

He threw a couple of tiles at her. “Just you wait! Once I’m in school in London, I’ll pick up all the slang, and you won’t stand a chance against me.”

“Ok, kids, that’ll do. It’s time to get going.” Dawson got up, grabbed his coat, and headed for the door.

Eli poked Oskar and they both scrambled after him.

==========

Jocke Ellstrom sat in the dark in the bedroom, waiting. He had been checking the mailbox for two weeks and had noticed that the mail was picked up regularly about every three days, but always late at night. The refrigerator was empty, and there was no sign that anyone lived here regularly. He had also noticed that the one lamp in the apartment was moved to a new location on the same days the mail was picked up. With luck, he would get his answers tonight. The fingerprint he had found on the inside of the bed frame matched Oskar Erickson’s index finger. He was sure the boy had lived here. He hadn’t been able to trace the renter because all transactions had been in cash. The landlord didn’t remember much about the man who had rented it, but his impression had been that he was a bit threadbare and seedy-looking. The landlord had been surprised that he had enough cash for three months rent in advance. All utilities and the phone had been paid in cash under the same name. The phone repairman actually remembered nothing about the installation at all. He thought there might have been a man and a young boy at the apartment, but he wasn’t sure. He couldn’t identify the photo of Oskar.

Unfortunately, since Ellstrom had been fired, he didn’t have the resources at his disposal to do further research, and without his badge, he couldn’t use coercion or threats to get information. He was convinced the boy was a willing participant in the original murders. His limited research had turned up a serial killer in Blackeberg who had lived in an apartment adjacent to Oskar’s, and had apparently committed suicide a few days before the pool massacre, and even though he had been ridiculed and not believed for his description of the events the night of Oskar’s escape, he was sure he had seen a small, naked or semi-naked girl with shoulder-length black hair, jump out the window just ahead of Oskar. That would certainly explain whom the clothes he had purchased were for. And there had to have been at least one adult on the roof strong enough to have quickly hauled them up.

After he was fired, he made this case his own personal crusade. He had already compiled a list of all apartments in the city that had been rented within a month of the Blackeberg murders, and had systematically been checking them all, until, in one neighborhood, he noticed that the unofficial flyers he had been posting were being removed almost as soon as he put them up. He began watching the three apartments on his list in the area, and had finally narrowed it down to this one. Finding the fingerprint had been the frosting on the cake. He couldn’t wait to see the look on the Chief’s face when he single-handedly brought them all in. He wasn’t going to share the credit with anyone on this case.

================

Dawson parked the car in the shadows two blocks away. With Eli in the lead, the three of them walked quietly toward the apartment. They waited in the shadows as Eli unlocked the door and stepped in. Quickly, they followed her up the stairs.

“Oskar, you check the bedroom. Eli, the kitchen. I’ll go over the living room, and dining room and then we’ll switch rooms and do it all again. Remember to wear your gloves if you have to touch anything, and wipe off any areas you think you may have missed before.” Dawson went over to the couch and removed the cushions, looking for anything that might have fallen into the couch lining.

Oskar stepped back suddenly from the bedroom door.

“Well! It looks like I hit the jackpot this time.” Jocke stepped into the living room with his gun drawn. “Hello Oskar. Why don’t you introduce me to your friends? I believe I met you briefly at the Police Station, young lady, but you didn’t hang around long enough for introductions. Too Bad! I didn’t have a chance to give you that nice dress Oskar bought for you.” He sneered at Dawson, “And who might you be? Their pimp?”

“How dare you speak like that in front of the children? Nothing you think we may have done justifies that kind of language.”

“You three cost me my job. Don’t expect any ass-kissing from me. You can take up my rude behavior with the Mayor and Chief of Police from your jail cell, however I don’t think you’ll get much sympathy from them either. I don’t know how deeply involved these children were in the Blackeberg murders, but I’m certain of the part you played in them; and, of course, I’m sure you’re connected to the serial killer who lived next door to Oskar. It’s too much of a coincidence. You’re about to find out what happens when someone makes a fool out of me.” He hit Dawson hard with his gun.

Eli made a low growling sound as he went down, but he quickly held his hand up to stop her, “Eli! Don’t!”

Eli stepped back, her face red with anger.

“What were you going to do, little girl? Slap my face?” he laughed.

“I’m not a girl!” she snarled.

“Oh this just gets better and better! What kind of shit are you running here? Kiddie porn? Gay sex? Orgies? What happened in Blackeberg? The kids at the pool wouldn’t go along with your disgusting perversions, so you killed them?”

“I’d be careful if I were you. You’re a private citizen now. You don’t have the right to hold us, let alone arrest us. In fact right now, I could have you arrested for assault, as well as breaking and entering. We have committed no crimes, and are on this property legally. You clearly are not.” Dawson started to get to his feet.

“Stay where you are! I’ll tell you when you can get up!” He reached for Oskar, and grabbed him by the hair. “Now Oskar, will you please tell me where you are staying currently? I’m done treating you like a victim. You forfeited that right when you escaped from the Police Station. Or would your pimp here like to tell me instead?” Oskar’s head jerked back and he stumbled, as Ellstrom pulled his hair.

“Eli, back off!” Dawson warned.

He turned to Ellstrom “I’ll tell you what you want to know as soon as you let him go.”

Ellstrom pushed Oskar away. “I’m listening!”

“My name is Richard Dawson. I’m a visiting Professor at Karlstad University. These children are staying with me in my home. They have done nothing wrong and I won’t have you manhandling them and treating them like common criminals.”

“I hate to point this out, but what the hell do you think you’re going to do about it? One phone call and the entire Karlstad Police Force will be here in a matter of minutes. In fact, I think I’m done talking.” He backed up toward the hallway.

Oskar suddenly brushed past Ellstrom, bolted for the phone, grabbed the cord and jerked it out of the wall. An explosion rocked the apartment, as Oskar jerked, spun around, crashed into the end table and fell to the floor. An expanding pool of blood formed around his head as Eli ran to him.

“Oskar!!” Eli screamed, and took his bloody head in her hands. He was unconscious and bleeding profusely.

“You killed him!” she screamed “You killed him! You killed him!!”

“Get back,” Ellstrom shouted at Dawson. “I didn’t mean to shoot him! It happened too fast, and I just reacted. I told you not to push me!”

“Get out of the way and let me help him! You’re going to have to shoot me to stop me.” Dawson pushed past him and knelt beside Oskar. He felt his pulse – rapid, but still strong. He wiped away the blood on the side of his head with his handkerchief and breathed a sigh of relief. The bullet had grazed his head, but left a deep two-inch-long gash that was still bleeding heavily. He pressed the handkerchief to the wound. I left my medical bag at home. We’ll have to get him back quickly so I can make sure he’s …

He heard a sound he hadn’t heard in years, but louder; more sinister. It brought back childhood memories of a time he was on a camping trip with his Father, and was frightened awake in the middle of the night by two tomcats crying and growling at each other in the dark. He had never forgotten that chilling, unearthly sound.

He turned around as he realized it was coming from Eli. He looked into her hate-filled eyes, and saw them change fluidly into the cat’s eyes he had seen the first day, only there was no trace of humanity in them; they were the empty lifeless eyes of a primordial predator. Ellstrom’s jaw dropped and he backed toward the bedroom. Eli moved haltingly at first, as though she was somehow conflicted; then she started rapidly towards him. Her body jerked twice as Ellstrom managed to get off two shots before her fangs sank into his neck. Dawson heard the two high-velocity bullets thud into the kitchen wall after passing entirely through her body. Eli’s head jerked as she ripped away a piece of his throat and flung it against the wall. The gun clattered to the floor. Ellstrom began screaming as the force of her attack threw him into the darkness of the bedroom. Dawson heard two more screams, then a third that was choked off. He could hear the animal sounds of her feeding. He watched the door anxiously as he heard the chilling sound of bones breaking and tendons snapping, then nothing.

Eli appeared, demon-like, in the doorway, holding Ellstrom’s head in her clawed hands. She raised it in front of her, crushed it like a melon, and tossed it into the living room, where it slid and rolled across the floor, coming to a stop against the couch. Her dark eyes turned toward Dawson. Her fangs were dripping blood as she crouched for a moment, then moved forward stealthily towards him. He looked directly into those awful eyes for a moment, then closed his eyes and held Oskar’s hand in his. Let this happen. I deserve this. This is all my fault. I couldn’t even protect him for Eli. He felt resigned to his fate.

He jerked reflexively as he felt her arms wrap around his neck, and her cheek press firmly against his. She was sobbing inconsolably.

“Eli, he’s alive! You need to hold this against his head while I get some water from the kitchen.”

She quickly sat down beside Oskar and gently pressed the handkerchief to his head. Finally, she lay down next to him and pulled him close to her. Dawson could hear her whispering to him as she gently rocked him in her arms.