Seven, eight ... Gonna stay up late (Rebekka Franck #4) (7 page)

I ran as
fast as I could across the festival grounds. I didn't care that mud splattered
on my pants or that I accidentally pushed a guy to get him out of my way. I
didn't even bother to yell that I was sorry when he yelled after me. There
simply wasn't time. Camilla was somewhere out there and she was in danger. This
man who called on the phone didn't want to do her any good, I just knew it. And
I had given him exactly what he wanted, what he needed. I had told him exactly
where she was. I could only hope I wasn't too late. Bruce Springsteen was
singing
Two Hearts
from the big
stage. The song all of a sudden woke an eerie feeling in me.

I went out walking the other
day. Seen a little girl crying along the way. She'd been hurt so bad she'd
never love again.

He was singing behind me as I ran towards the
area with the smaller stages, where the smaller bands were playing at the same
time. I stepped in another mud pile and soaked my shoe and socks. I cursed and
pulled my leg free from it. Then I heard music coming from inside the tent
where Suicide Silence playing. I turned and ran towards it. A stand selling
tartlets was empty next to it. 

I entered the tent and scanned it quickly. It
didn't take long since there weren't that many people. A flock of teenagers
were gathered in the corner, nodding along to the music while drinking beers. I
approached them while the band sang on stage:

Make sure you take the time
... to put them down on their knees ... Make sure you take the time and listen
to them beg and plead. We are violence at its finest! So take your precious
time and pick your enemy, then you take the time to put them down on their
knees. Now take a second look into their worthless eyes, now pull the trigger
back, click, surprise! Now you are the victim of, my, my two hands. Now you are
the victim of more violent circumstance. We are violence.

The guys listening were muttering along, some
closing their eyes while enjoying the music and singing along on the lyrics.

Now we're vengeful and war is
what we all crave. And I know exactly what this is! More! Human violence at its
finest and I want more.

One of the boys looked at me as I came closer. I
tried to talk through the loud music.

"I'm looking for a girl named Camilla, have
you seen her?" I yelled.

The boy shook his head and pointed at his ears
to signal me that he couldn't hear anything. I tried again, but it was drowned
by the loud music. I felt desperate. Frantically I scanned the area again to
see if she might be sitting in a corner somewhere on a bench where I hadn't
been looking. The area in front of the stage counted maybe ten to twelve
devoted fans dancing, singing, lifting their hands in the air, some even head
banging to the music. None of them were Camilla. A group were standing in the
bar ordering beer, some just hanging out while enjoying the music. She wasn't
there either. Where could she be? My heart beat faster and faster as I looked
around. Then my eye caught something. In front of the teenage boys, on the
table they leaned up against, was a beer that seemed to have no owner. It was
almost full. I walked closer and picked it up. It had lip-gloss on the side.
Pink lip-gloss.

"Where is she?" I yelled.

The boy from earlier shrugged while pointing at
his ears again. I lifted the glass and showed it to him.

He seemed to understand. "Where is
she?" I yelled again.

He shrugged while shaking his head. Then he
leaned over and as the music became slightly slower, there was a small break in
the song and I just managed to hear the words:

"She left ... some guy ... Don't know
where."

It felt like my heart stopped. I stared at the
boy as the music became loud again and the band started a new song. It was like
the entire tent started to spin. I looked towards the entrance, then stormed
out. Outside I stopped myself.  There were so many directions they could
have gone. I pulled my hair. How was I ever going to find which one they took?

I began spinning around myself, walking first in
one direction, then in another. The music from the tent quieted down while they
got ready for a new number. That's when I heard the groaning. A deep moaning
was coming from behind the tent. I walked around it and stopped. Someone was
lying in the mud, he was barely moving.

"Hello?"

I walked closer as he didn't seem to respond.
Probably just some drunk guy who had passed out, I thought. But instinct made
me walk closer. A feeling, a sense that this was something else. This wasn't
just your ordinary drunk-passing-out-in-the-mud kind of thing. This was
something else. As I approached him I realized I was right. The man lying on
the ground was severely bruised.

"Please help me," he muttered.
"Please someone help me."

I helped the
man get on his feet and had him hold on to my shoulders. He was mumbling
incoherently while I helped him walk. I still had no idea what happened to him
or how he ended up like this, but he was badly bruised and I knew I had to get
him to the paramedics right away. But he was heavy and barely conscious, and I
couldn't carry him far. I got him out in the open then I had to let go of him
and place him on the ground. A couple strongly entangled in each other walked
by and I stopped them by yelling.

"A little help, please? This man has been
hurt."

They stopped walking and approached us. The
young woman kneeled down next to him. "I'm a nurse. Let me have a look at
him. What happened?" she asked.

"I have no idea. I found him like this.
He's severely bruised."

The woman leaned over him. "Looks like he
has been beaten," she said.

I nodded. "I think so too."

The woman checked his pulse, then lifted his
eyelids to look into his eyes and see the pupils. "He doesn't seem to be
affected by drugs or alcohol," she said. "Who did this to him?"

"I have no idea. I found him in
there," I said and pointed. "I don't even know who he is."

"We need to get him to a hospital as fast
as possible," the woman said. Then she turned her head and looked at her
boyfriend. "Mads, could you run and get the paramedics?"

Mads nodded. "Sure," he said and began
to run.

The man on the ground moaned and the woman spoke
to him. "We'll get you to a hospital soon, don't you worry."

I felt my heart racing in my chest. I still had
no idea in what direction I was to look for Camilla. I was confused. Had she
gone with him willingly? Had he lured her to go with him, maybe told her he
knew where Amalie was? No, Camilla wasn't that stupid, she wouldn't fall for
that, would she? I breathed heavily. I realized I didn't even know either
girl's last name. I wouldn't be able to file a missing person's report for
Amalie nor Camilla. I wouldn't even be able to call their parents. I felt
suddenly helpless. I received a text from Sune.

YOU'RE MISSING OUT ON A GREAT CONCERT. COMING
SOON?

I touched my face. I had no idea how to begin to
explain the whole thing to Sune, and I certainly didn't have time to answer
now. So I put the phone back in my pocket, as Mads arrived with the paramedics.
They got the man on a stretcher, then looked at me. "Did you see
anything?" one of them asked.

I shook my head. "No I just found
him." I reached inside of my pocket and found a card, that I handed them.
"Here in case the police want to talk to me."

"Good," the paramedic said. Then they
carried the man away. I sighed and thanked the young nurse and her boyfriend.
They left me and suddenly I was back to chasing Camilla and the mysterious man.
I stomped my feet in irritation. Where the hell could she be?

That was when I heard a scream. It sounded like
a small shriek and then it was suddenly gone. Convinced that it was Camilla I
ran towards the sound, but soon found myself at the area in front of Orange
Stage. Bruce Springsteen was still going at it on the stage and people were dancing
and singing in a daze of ecstasy. No one would have noticed anything let alone
heard Camilla scream. What now? I thought. He had Camilla somewhere, but where?
Where would I go if I had just kidnapped a young girl? I wouldn't stay here on
the festival grounds would I? No of course not. I would take her away from here
to a place where no one would find her. I turned and spun around myself. There
were several entrances and exits. The ones leading to the stages were  all
guarded. He could pretend that she was very drunk and use one of those exits
since they were closest. Or he could play it safe and use one of the exits by
the campsite that weren't guarded. I started running towards the campground
when I realized something. You only had to show your bracelet going
in
on the festival grounds. Not out. It
didn't matter what exit he took. No one ever noticed anyone exiting. The smart
person would choose the closest, I thought and spotted one not far from where I
was standing. The big concert on Orange Stage was almost over and people had
already begun walking towards the exits. In a matter of minutes it would be
overly crowded when all the people who didn't stay in tents on the campsite
were about to leave.

After that it was going to be very easy for him
to escape in the crowd.

Chloroform
always did
the trick, Allan thought as he went through
the exit to the festival. He quite enjoyed himself walking with Camilla tightly
wrapped around his shoulder, carrying her by holding her around the waist. To
people passing by it looked like she was just wasted and clinging on to him to
not lose her balance. Allan found this part amusing because it was always so
exciting to see if anyone would even notice. He had found that he could walk
around with his victims even bleeding from their heads and yet with his
appearance and charming smile no one would even blink. If they did notice
something was wrong with the girl, they would assume that he was taking care of
her. Allan knew it and often found himself taking chances that no one else
would dare, just for the fun of it, just to feel the thrill of excitement of
possibly getting caught.

Just like all the other times, Allan managed to
walk all the way to his car without anyone even asking him if the girl was
alright. Of course he knew perfectly well to tell them that she was his younger
sister and that she had called for him to come and get him because she was too
drunk to get home on her own, of course he was prepared for questions, but they
never even came. Not a single person turned their head to look or addressed
him. It was too easy, he thought slightly disappointed. It was always more fun
when he had to fight for it, it wasn't as fun when everything went too smooth.
That was just plain boring.

Allan opened the door and put Camilla in the
backseat while talking to her like she was awake and could hear what he said.

"I'll get you home now safe and
sound," he said and closed the door.

Just as he had shut it, the scene became
slightly more interesting and exciting when he spotted a woman run out of the
exit, scanning the area, looking desperately around her. In her hand she was
holding a phone tightly. Allan laughed. He knew perfectly well who she was. He
was happy to see that he had in fact underestimated her thinking she wouldn't
care who was on the other end of the phone asking for Camilla. She had known
somehow that he was going to get her and somehow she had found him.

Allan studied the woman for a little while. He
watched her as she talked to people passing by, probably asking them if they'd
seen a young girl with brown hair with a man, maybe he was carrying her.
However she had no idea what Allan looked like, how old he was or how he was
dressed. If she had at least known that it would have been easier for her, he thought.
I should at least have given her something
to make it a little more interesting,
he thought.
Throw the woman a bone.
He chuckled while
watching her desperately asking everybody in the parking lot, explaining to
them that she was looking for this girl, only fourteen, brown hair, etc. Oh how
fun, Allan thought and for a few seconds wanted her to come to him and ask. She
was pretty, the woman. In her mid-thirties, probably had a kid or two, but
still gorgeous. Would make a beautiful corpse. He started imagining what he
could do to her body after he had strangled her. He would definitely have sex
with her. That would be perfect. Then he would cut out her organs, maybe boil
her tongue and eat it. With a great Chateau La Garde from 2009 or maybe even a
Castello Fonterutoli Chianti from 2006.

The woman came closer and Allan shivered with
pleasure. This woman triggered something in him. A lust, a desire to do
something, to deviate from the plan. He could put her in the car with Camilla,
then hang her from a meat hook in the cellar, maybe have sex with her while she
was hanging there, her feet scraping across the ground. Maybe kill her in the
car before he took her inside. No that was no fun. It was better to have Amalie
watch him. Maybe kill the woman while she was looking at it. That sounded like
more fun. Allan licked his lips while watching the woman approach.

"Excuse me," she said.

Her voice was like music in Allan's head. Like
promises of spring. He smiled and their eyes locked for a second. The beautiful
second when two souls meet. He could smell her, smell her blood. It drove him
insane. The lust for the kill, tasting her, sinking his teeth into her flesh.
Oh how he craved the kill. He yearned to look into those eyes and see the fear,
the anxiety when she realizes it's all over.

"Excuse me?" she repeated.

"Yes?" Allan smiled endearingly.

"I'm looking for a young girl. She is
possibly with a man. I'm afraid that he is forcing her to leave against her
will. I don't know ..." The woman sighed resignedly. "I don't know
what I'm looking for."

Allan grabbed her hand and held it in his. 
"A girl, fourteen years old, brown hair?" he asked.

She looked at him startled. "Yes. Exactly.
How do you know?"

"I heard you talk to some people over
there. I'm afraid I haven't seen her. What did the man look like? The man she
is with?"

The woman sighed again. "I don't know.
That's the problem. Look it's a little complicated. I just know that she is in
danger and I'm afraid she might have gone with him, maybe even voluntarily. He
might have told her something to make her go with him."

Allan licked his lips while staring at the
woman's soft skin on her neck. He fought hard to restrain himself. His hands
were shaking as he imagined strangling her.

"Anyway," she said. "Here is my
card in case you see something or hear anything or remember something that
might help me. I will have to keep looking."

The woman handed him her business card. He
studied it for a few seconds. "I'll be in touch ... Rebekka Franck,"
he said, then walked to the side of the car and opened the door to the driver's
seat. He paused for just an instant. Part of him wanted her to look inside of
the car and see the girl in the back seat. That would give him an excuse to
grab her and drag her with him as well. He took in a deep breath and breathed
her scent, as the woman turned her back to him and began to walk away.

"You were lucky this time around, Rebekka
Franck," Allan said and started the car. Before he backed out he looked in
the rear view mirror and looked at Camilla still lying unconscious on the
backseat. Then he smiled to his own reflection. "Hi, I'm Allan, wanna
play?" he said and stepped on the gas pedal.