I only discovered Let the Right One In a couple of months ago randomly, watched the movie, fell in love, immediately read the book, and well, obsessed over it really. Naturally I found this place, and read a bunch of fan fiction.
I was inspired by all of the great writing here to write something myself... and so, sorry if you see any of your fanfiction being used as inspiration in my writing here, a lot of it has seeped into my brain.
What I’m going to post here is basically just a brain dump, unedited and probably filled with errors, both grammatical and factual, but please feel free to correct / criticize, especially if I got something wrong about the time / location / events that occurred in the book.
So, without further ado, something nobody asked for, that’s already been done to death, and is unfortunately rather boring I'd say.
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“No, no, please.”
Those were whispers he thought he heard, while in a haze of alternating shadow and smears of colors. Everytime it felt like he was slipping into the darkness he felt something pull him back: a sharp jostling of his head, a gust of air across his whole body, a loud slam. Pin pricks of light cut through the blackness that consumed his vision and became blinding, making him realize that despite being unable to see, his eyes were in fact open.
The last jostling was accompanied by a tight squeeze to his chest, and he felt himself cough up some amount of water. Suddenly he took in a deep breath, his first true breath in a long while, ragged and noisy as his lungs filled with new air. He couldn’t lift his head, or any other part of himself, not yet.
There was some more coughing and then suddenly a deep chill overcame him. The air was freezing, and it had been, but up until he’d taken these breaths, he’d felt warm, cozy, and at peace. Now, his body felt assaulted by cold air, like needles were being stabbed into every inch of his body. He tried to lift his head again, which he did with a bit more success. The rest of his body seemed to be feeling once again, and able to move once more.
He felt like he could see but it was still all blackness, except for a circular glow of white overhead; it was the moon, swaying back and forth. Despite being freezing, he felt his body completely out of his own control, disoriented, his head was hanging upside down, and it felt like he was floating. In the moonlight, he could see the glimmer of snow on the ground and closer to him, pale skin and a familiar jawline, but he couldn’t hold onto the visage. His neck muscles gave out and once again the darkness fully enveloped him. At least he wasn’t cold anymore.
--
“Please, please.”
Again, he heard the whispering.
Am I dreaming?
His senses slowly came back to him, all except sight. He smelled chlorine, and something musty. He tasted the chlorine, too, and something rusty in his mouth. He felt something scratchy against his skin, itchy. There was warm humid air around him, going in and out of his nose and mouth as he breathed. And then he heard the whispering again.
“Please... please.”
Slowly but surely, Oskar attempted to sit up, his body still weak, but something was holding him down, or so it felt. After a bit of movement he realized what it was. His body was wrapped up in a musty wool blanket, and he shifted in order to untuck it and free himself.
“Oskar?”
He grunted as he tried to respond to the voice in the darkness. It took a cough and a clearing of his throat to recognize how raw his throat was when he finally managed to whisper out a hoarse, “Yes?” The moment he was able to get an arm free from his side and out of the blanket he felt a hand upon his shoulder.
“Oskar!”
A sound of exasperation, relief, joy, sadness, all rolled into his name, spoken just above a whisper, and suddenly another familiar feeling and smell -- that of his friend. Eli’s hair on his face and a mouth on his shoulder. A strange wet warmth was on his shoulder, then droplets running down his back -- tears. Eli was crying; Oskar felt shuddering against him with each breath his friend took in, clearly unable to contain the emotion. Instinctively, he held an arm up to Eli, grabbing the nearest body part he could -- an arm and shoulder in this case, and pulled tight. That seemed to only intensify the weeping he sensed but could not hear.
They stayed like that for a few minutes. There was no more crying at least; Oskar had shed a few silent tears himself about the ordeal, of which he could remember very little. Finally though, he spoke.
“I can’t see.”
“It’s dark.” Eli whispered back, lips right beside Oskar’s ear.
Oskar realized where he was finally, the storage room of the apartment complex, however they’d managed to get in. He also realized he was still in his swim trunks and nothing else. He blinked a few times, his senses finally coming back to him. His brain had gotten enough oxygen and he was feeling surprisingly alert.
“How did we get back here?”
“...We flew.”
We flew? Oskar chuckled quietly at the thought, but it didn’t seem so far-fetched anymore. His hand slowly released his grasp on the arm around him and sat up straight. Eli’s body slipped away from him and in a moment there was a blinding flash of yellow light from the light bulb.
Slowly but surely his eyes adjusted and there, by the light switch stood Eli. Eyes red from crying, hair and shirt still damp. The small figure approached him and he felt his heart jump when Eli crouched down beside him.
Why am I nervous?
He was well aware of what Eli was, and he’d accepted that, even if it meant they couldn’t be together. The last time they were together had been traumatizing maybe, perhaps that was why he was nervous now.
Was it because of what had happened at the pool? To him? To the others -- there were flashes in his mind, little bits of sound that he recalled hearing in his daze. People were dead. Eli had saved him, he understood that almost implicitly; no, that wasn’t it.
It was the fact that Eli had come back. As much as he cried his heart out at the loss of the person he was closest to, how numb he’d been, he had made peace with the fact that now, at least, life would be normal again, as much as it hurt. He hated his life, but so did many people; at least it was normal. But now that wasn’t so certain, and he knew he hadn’t gotten over Eli.
“I wasn’t sure if you would make it... but your heart was strong.” Eli placed a hand to the his chest, making it beat even faster. Tears seemed to well up in Eli’s eyes only to be pushed down with a stern face of concern taking over instead.
“I thought you’d left.”
“I did.” Eli glanced down, then after a moment, back to Oskar, blinking once, “I thought I did.” Oskar thought he saw a look of regret, but no, it was something else -- apologetic at the very least. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry -- why are you sorry?”
“I--” Eli hesitated, “I caused this, and now it’s a mess. You don’t deserve to be-- I can’t do this to--”
“Eli.” These weren’t even complete sentences, Oskar was having trouble understanding anything, but he could sense the pain Eli was feeling.
“The only thing I bring with me is death.”
“I would have died. Eli.”
Eli finally stopped, meeting Oskar’s eyes. With a furrowed brow, there was a sense of uncertainty, hopefulness.
“Thank you, for saving me. But, I’m glad you came back.” Oskar had a genuine smile plastered across his lips. “I really wanted to see you again.”
“Yes.” Eli’s eyes softened and on came a broad smile. Of course, if something had actually happened to Oskar, there would be no telling what Eli would have done, especially having witnessed it.
The two sat next to each other once again, arm to arm, saying nothing to one another. The feeling of being next to each other was enough for a while. Then Oskar spoke again, curious.
“How long was I out?”
“Not long, a few minutes... A long few minutes.”
His senses finally came back to him fully. Eyes wide, he turned and gripped Eli by the shoulders.
“You have to leave, now.” He stood up and pulled Eli up alongside him. Eli’s eyes were wide in surprise at Oskar’s sudden intensity, but both of them were on their feet before long.
“I know,” Eli’s head shook with disappointment, “I just... I couldn’t leave you here without knowing.”
“They’ll come looking for us, for me. The police will question me--”
“I know, I’ll leave.” Forceful, definitive, sad, even a bit angry. Eli stood up, but couldn’t seem to stop looking at Oskar, couldn’t seem to take a step away.
Oskar looked up, and suddenly it dawned upon him what he was saying. Leave -- this time for good. No, that wouldn’t do, he couldn’t bear it, or at the very least, that wasn’t what he wanted.
“I’ll come with you.” His eyes lit up, while Eli’s brow furrowed, looking horrified by the thought.
“No, no -- you can’t.” Eli’s head shook ‘no’, reinforcing the statement, walking away from the blonde boy before turning back to fix him with a determined look. With the lower lip being bitten along with wide eyes and a tight jaw, upset. “It’d be too much for you.” Eli’s head shook again.
“I have to--”
“No.”
“Please, Eli I--” Oskar took a step forward, toward Eli, who retreated.
“No!” Eli took another step back and held a hand across the mouth, regretting the volume of that shout.
“I have to -- I can’t stay here any longer. Take me with you, wherever, away from Blackeberg.” Oskar walked, no, staggered toward Eli, his legs still not fully under him. If he had just been more surefooted, perhaps things would have been different, but Eli couldn’t bear to see him in this condition, and in a second the both of them were in each other’s arms, with Eli holding up the majority of Oskar’s weight.
They stood there, their chins on each other’s shoulders, just absorbed in one another, silent.
“Alright.” It was spoken quietly, with a pair of lips tickling Oskar’s collarbone.
“Really?!” He pulled back and away, looking into those familiar eyes seeing a bit of surprise, and then a faint smile.
Oskar’s arms wrapped around the frail feeling body in front of him that managed to support all of his weight effortlessly. His efforts were reciprocated, and the two stood in a mutual embrace, heads lying on each other's shoulders once again. Eli inhaled deeply and pressed into Oskar’s neck briefly only to pull away and turn to face his shoulder instead, nuzzling against his bare skin, whispering.
“Yes.”
After a moment or two more like this, reveling in each other’s warmth, Oskar took in a deep breath. There was no more time to waste.
“Let’s get your things, we have to leave right now.” Finally with his feet underneath him, and used to his own weight again, Oskar went over to the rugs where Eli’s things were.
“And your clothes.” Eli smirked, staying close to Oskar’s side in case he needed the physical support, and just for some much needed closeness.
“Right.” Oskar half laughed to himself, still entirely too nervous. He was rushing to uncover a few things, leaving Eli’s side in the process. There must have been some older clothes that his mother had packed away. Every noise he thought he heard could have been his mother coming to look for him, the police coming to his house.
Squinting, Eli confessed apologetically from a couple of steps behind Oskar, “I left all of yours at the bathhouse.”
Oskar shook his head as he found a “It’s ok, I have some here I think.”
“Yes.” Eli nodded, standing still with arms crossed over each other.
Suddenly, he paused, looking over his shoulder to Eli who he suddenly realized was wearing something awfully familiar. Oskar looked puzzled.
“Is that my shirt?”
Eli, who was not at all as worried as one should be, clearly, looked at the shirt in question and shrugged, smiling embarrassedly, “Yes.”
Oskar shook his head, not knowing what to think about that, but it seemed to fit, they’d take what they could for now, leave, and he’d get to ask questions later. He rushed to find clothing, all of which was now a bit too small... for him, at least. Nevertheless, it would have to do. He dressed as warmly as he could, stuffed his feet into shoes a size too small.
Eli, meanwhile, went to collect the boxes Oskar had taken from the other apartment. Interestingly, it seemed like they had already been stacked, sealed shut, and neatly wrapped with a few clothes for easier carrying.
There was a loud noise from up above, or outside, and Oskar jumped. “Let’s go.”
Whatever the case was about anything, they would have to talk about it later. It seemed he wouldn’t have a chance to say a final goodbye to his mother, or even to collect any of his things -- not the things he cared about anyways. Sure, there were many of them he still liked, things that he’d had for as long as he could remember -- but those were from his old life. He knew this was the start of his new life, it had started the moment he’d been pulled from the pool.
He grabbed one of the tied sacks of cloth Eli had made in one hand, and Eli’s hand in his other. As the two of them hurried out of the storage room, he realized that he wasn’t leaving anything behind that mattered to him, not anymore. Everything he needed was right there, not in his hands, but holding his hand. The old Oskar was dead, and this was the new one.
--
They ran, hand in hand, through the courtyard, down Ibsengatan, through another complex’s parking lot, heading as quickly as they could toward the train station. It wouldn’t be far, but Oskar knew the police would be nearby -- the lights and the sirens were audible in the distance, and seemingly always on the brink of being right in front of them, and that seemed to keep Eli similarly focused on leaving.
Even though, if he thought about it, he’d know they wouldn’t yet know who to be looking for, but it didn’t make him any less frightened about being stopped and questioned. Oskar was barely able to make the short run to the station before he was entirely out of breath, his muscles burned, and his chest ached.
Before he knew it, his arm was hoisted over Eli’s shoulder, and he was being helped into the station. He was barely able to speak as they made their way to the station. The next train toward the city center would arrive shortly.
“We should go into the city I guess? Or maybe--” Oskar considered briefly going toward where his father lived, or just in the opposite direction. Maybe they could find a way to live out there -- no, that didn’t make sense. The opposite direction of Stockholm would mean away from wherever the detectives were busy with the murders in Blackeberg, no doubt, but he didn’t know if that mattered. His head hurt and he frowned, upset he couldn’t figure out how to run away properly.
“I have a hotel room in the city, come on.” Eli pulled on him, breaking him out of his indecision, and leading him to the platform. The next train toward the city center would arrive shortly.
“Okay.” Surely Eli knew what to do better than him, after two hundred years, you had to know how to take care of yourself right? But this was different, now he had to be taken care of as well. He suddenly felt like, well, like a child -- and a burden. He wouldn’t have to make the decision, it seemed.
Bonus if anyone happens to enjoy reading it anywhere near as much as I enjoyed writing it.
