“Do you need any help?” someone asked.
“No! leave us alone!” he snapped, slamming his apartment door behind him. We all went back to our apartments. Derek had made it clear that our help was neither wanted, nor needed.
Later, I heard that Claire Dagger and slipped on the basement stairs. I had no idea what Maria had meant with the hammer. She’d been so frightened! And I had neither seen nor heard an ambulance. I asked myself over and over, if Claire was okay. That night, I went to bed with a very uneasy feeling.
A few days later, I went down into the basement. There was no evidence of a crime having taken place. The walls and the floor were clean. There was just the one spot on one wall in the laundry, where the electricians had done the cabling for the new machine. Nothing unusual to arouse my suspicion. But, as absurd as it sounds, looking back now, after five years, I realize that the picture was very different than it appeared!
Claire Dagger was even more invisible than she’d been before, if that was possible. And Maria had changed completely. The clever, lively little girl had turned into a traumatized, frightened child.
After that, there were more and more incidents within a very short space of time. I caught myself regularly referring to the building as the Dark House. I decided that we needed to move out as quickly as possible – as soon as our income allowed it.
Chapter 48
Two weeks after Claire’s fall, Maria and I were with Eileen.
“I want to go back to Mommy,” Maria said, rolling around on the carpet.
“Your mommy is at work, Maria, but she’ll be home soon,” Eileen said.
Maria said no more. She seemed to have lost all desire to play. Occasionally, she stacked a few blocks on top of each other, but basically, everything seemed to bore her. She was distraught. Finally, Eileen tried to take matters into her own hands.
“Show me what Derek did to Claire,” she said.
“You mean Didi?”
“Yes, Didi.”
Eileen gave Maria one of the dolls she’d brought with her. Maria took the doll and laid it on the floor. Then she showed us what Derek Dagger had done to Claire. Eileen and I gasped in shock. We stared at one another and in silent agreement, we decided to keep quiet about it. That was the day, when Eileen and I took the guilt onto ourselves – if that hadn’t already happened some time before.
Chapter 49
When I got home the next evening, Eileen was sitting on the floor, by my apartment door, waiting for me. I was surprised, because at that time of day, she was usually taking care of Maria.
I invited her in, but before we even reached the living room, she collapsed in the hallway.
“It’s all over,” she whispered, as I tried to drag her to her feet.
“What’s over?” I asked urgently.
“Maria’s gone. Forever!” She spoke so softly, I could hardly hear her.
“Why? What has happened?” I didn’t understand what she was trying to tell me. Why had Maria gone forever?
“They fetched her from my apartment a few minutes ago.”
“Why? Who fetched her?” I still didn’t understand.
“They’ve taken my little girl away…”
I grasped her by the shoulder and shook her firmly. “Eileen! Come to your senses!” I almost screamed. “What’s wrong with Maria? Where is she?” At last, she seemed to realize where she was. The glazed look disappeared from her eyes, and she seemed to recognize me again. She stood up and fell into my arms.
“Hanna! Derek Dagger and Angelica Kline came to fetch Maria from my apartment today. It’s all over, forever. They going to…” I couldn’t get anything more out of her.
Eileen sobbed, hugging me desperately, as though my mere presence would prevent her from being sucked into the dark vortex that was threatening to engulf her. After fifteen minutes, I was able to get her to lie down on the sofa. I gave her a little cognac to calm her down. Then Simon came home and I quickly told him what Eileen had said.
“And what are you going to do about it?” he asked.
“Do you really need to ask. We must call the police! Obviously, there’s more to the story of what happened to Claire Dagger, otherwise they wouldn’t have taken Maria away like they did.”
“You don’t have any idea what happened with Claire,” he contradicted me. “All we know is that Maria is with her parents in her apartment. And that’s absolutely normal!”
“And what about Claire? How do you explain that?” Suddenly I was furious with Simon for being so indifferent.
“She is ill. We all know that. She fell down and Derek called an ambulance. That’s all there is to it!”
“I don’t believe that,” I said, ignoring his explanations. “I simply don’t believe it! What about Eileen? Why is she so upset? They didn’t just fetch Maria! They… they kidnapped her!”
“Oh! Eileen…”
“Don’t insult my friend!” I screamed at him. “She is one of the few people in this Dark Place, who still has a sense of responsibility about what’s going on!”
“In this dark place?” he replied mockingly. I’d referred to the building by that name several times before.
“I’m going to sort this whole thing out now,” I screamed, leaving the apartment and slamming the door behind me.
Chapter 50
I rang Angelica’s doorbell. If anyone had told me that I was doing so for the very last time, I would probably have laughed. Derek Dagger opened the door.
“What do you want?” he asked brusquely. The once friendly man from the barbecue in the courtyard was unrecognizable.
“What’s going on with Maria,” I demanded angrily. “Eileen told me that you had kidnapped her. And what about Angelica?”
“It’s got nothing whatsoever to do with you!” Derek replied indignantly. “Maria isn’t your daughter. Leave us alone! We will care for Maria ourselves from now on.”
“You can’t do that! You’ve got no right to treat me this way!” I screamed at him.
“I’ve had enough! Get lost, or…”
“Or what?” I snapped.
When I got back to my apartment, I sat down beside Eileen who had fallen asleep. I stroked her short, black hair gently. When Simon came into the room, I glared at him, sending him a clear signal that I didn’t want his company. I was very angry with him, because he hadn’t supported me.
Eileen woke up at last.
“Good evening,” I said gently. Her eyes were still red and swollen. “I was at Angelica’s apartment earlier.”
“Did you find out anything about Maria?” she asked.
“No, I didn’t,” I admitted. “I didn’t see her or Angelica. I only saw Derek Dagger.”
She sighed deeply.
“I know. He’s making all of us ill!” I continued. “Eileen, I hope you understand, but Simon and I must move out of this place! I can’t take it any longer.”
“But, you can’t leave me here on my own!”
“You should also move out!” I said determinedly.
“You can’t do that to me!”
“We have to,” I said. My voice was shaking. “We have to move out, to protect ourselves.”
Eileen looked at me in disbelief, and I continued. “As I said, I spoke to Derek Dagger, and he said that if I ever tried to make contact with Maria or Angelica again, there would be serious consequences.”
Eileen sat up, clearly shaken.
“And if you do?” she asked. I couldn’t speak anymore, and laid my head in my hands.
“He threatened to disfigure your face with a razor blade!” Eileen had laid an arm across my back, and now, she withdrew it slowly.
“Please understand,” I said hesitantly, “I can’t carry on living this way. I just can’t. Derek Dagger is making our lives a misery; not just yours and mine! Maria’s and Angelica’s too! He casts a shadow over everything!”
“And if we call the police?”
“No, that would just make it worse. I can’t live
with the knowledge of having made Maria’s life miserable. I can’t live with the idea of him mistreating you, if I try to make contact with Maria. I have to get out of here.”
Finally, Eileen admitted that I was right. The conversation I had with Simon afterwards was brief. My tone made it quite clear that we had to move out. There was no other way.
I invited Eileen to come and live with us for a while, but she declined. She said that she wanted to be there for Maria, should the need ever arise. When we moved out, we promised to keep in touch with her, but she declined that offer too. And I haven’t heard from her since.
Part Five
Chapter 51
Hanna Carstens had finished telling her story. Christian sat opposite her, utterly shattered by what she’d told him. The story was much more complex than he’d imagined, and he didn’t know what to make of it. At least he knew now, how the people who lived in the Dark House had made themselves guilty, and with each passing day, they were dragging him deeper and deeper into their mutual guilt.
“Guilty by omission!” This formulation raced through his mind, and his confused head ached. He knew he wouldn’t have another good night’s sleep until he found out what had really happened to Clair Dagger. But that wasn’t even the worst problem! The more urgent question was: “Where was Maria Kline?”
“What about Maria?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I never saw her again. I presume they sent her away, to distant relatives. Or perhaps they even gave her up for adoption. Angelica Kline and Derek Dagger – that was a bad alliance from the very beginning. Paul Flakers realized it very quickly. I despised him for his indiscreet comments, but he was right all along!”
“Why didn’t you do something about it? Why didn’t you try to prevent it?” Christian asked.
Hanna smiled sympathetically.
“You weren’t there,” she said gently. “I have summarized the whole thing for you, but the whole thing actually took place over a period of many months. Until the end, when I decided to move out, there was no specific moment when I could have said: “That’s enough!” And besides, Derek Dagger had us all under his control. He threatened to hurt Eileen if I continued asking about Maria. Would you like to feel responsible if someone you liked was mistreated?” She looked at Christian calmly.
“But,” he continued, “you certainly must have noticed that Claire Dagger had disappeared. Maria disappeared too, and you knew that she was in trouble shortly before.”
“Yes, I know,” Hanna said quietly. She was staring at the floor. “And I admit that I did nothing to prevent it.” She took another drink from her glass of sherry. Somehow, it made Christian furious. Hanna Carstens certainly knew that she was guilty of not having done anything to help Maria. And if that wasn’t bad enough, she had somehow managed to come to terms with it.
“How can you be so calm about it? How can you even sleep at night, knowing how much you had to suffer yourself?” Hanna remained calm.
“You have no idea what I went through. You have no idea how I sleep at night.” She laughed bitterly. “I’m not trying to deny my guilt!”
Christian jumped to his feet. “Well, I can’t live with it, and I don’t want to have to. This madness must come to an end, and quickly too.”
“Well, if you think you can do something about it…”
“There’s no time to lose. Derek Dagger has to be stopped!”
“That’s easy to say. Derek is also on the run, perhaps more than the rest of us. He’s a victim of his own evil. You told me just now, that he had beaten Angelica. He loved her once, just as he once loved Claire.”
“But, is that still an issue?”
“I don’t know. But let me remind you that there is seldom a clear definition between good and evil. I suspect that the only way you’re going to be able to solve this whole thing, is by disregarding the rules, just like Derek Dagger would!”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about!”
“And you don’t understand me,” Hanna said loudly, “because you are far too naïve, with your arrogance and your supposed moral superiority. Do what you must to save Maria, but for God’s sake, do it right the first time!”
She quietened down again. With shaking hands, she filled their glasses with sherry again. She was so nervous that she filled the glasses to the brim. “In this world, evil can only be overcome with evil,” she whispered. Christian paced up and down the room.
“I’m going to go home now,” he said. She stood up too, and went to the door with him. “Thank you very much for giving me so much information. I’ll let you know what happens.”
“Thanks for offering,” she said, “but I don’t want anything to do with it anymore. Please don’t contact me again.”
Chapter 52
It was 1am when Christian got into his car for the long drive home. He had learned so much, that his mind was full of thoughts that needed to be sorted out. He was very sleepy as he drove home. Several times, he almost fell asleep at the wheel, but he made an effort to pull himself together, and finally got home just before 4 am.
“Home,” he thought to himself, “if this place even deserves to be called home!”
He walked up the stairs slowly, in the dark, and remembering what a bad way Eileen had been in when he had last seen her, he decided to check on her first. It was the early hours of the morning, but he didn’t care. He rang her doorbell.
Nobody opened the door. Perhaps she was sleeping so deeply that she hadn’t heard the bell. He tried again, and when there was still no response, he took the key out of his pocket, and let himself into Eileen’s apartment. He went straight to her bedroom.
He knew immediately, that she was dead. It looked as though she was asleep, but Christian sensed that she was ice cold. She lay on her bed, unnaturally still.
He didn’t know what to do! Should he simply leave? Should he sit down for a while? Should he call and ambulance? So, he simply stood there beside her bed for a whole hour, before he moved again.
He realized that something was happening to him. Something was building up inside him – something that he couldn’t control – something that was going to destroy him.
At last, he switched on the ceiling light, flooding the ghostly moonlit scene with harsh neon light. He saw that she’d slit her wrists. Both arms bore deep wounds but they seemed not to have been administered at the same time. The bedding was dark red. She’d simply lain down on her bed to die. There was a note on the bed. A suicide note of sorts. Most of it was unreadable, but he thought could make out something:
“Guilty, but without guilt.” But perhaps he was just imagining it. Christian switched the light off again.
Where was Maria Kline? The question went around and around in his head. On the trip home, he’d come up with so many theories that he’d become quite dizzy. He no longer knew what was fact and what was fiction.
But where was Maria Kline?
She had witnessed the incident with Claire Dagger, just before she had disappeared from the face of the earth. And now, nobody knew where Maria was either. Derek Dagger was involved in both cases. He was responsible for Maria’s disappearance! Christian was engulfed by a feeling of foreboding.
He knew what he had to do.
“Evil can only be overcome with evil,” Hanna Carstens had said bitterly.
“Well, if that’s the case, I’m a bad person,” he said to himself.
He bent over Eileen and kissed her gently on the lips. Then he called an ambulance and left her apartment.
Chapter 53
Christian had no time to lose. He charged down the stairs and rang Angelica Kline’s doorbell. He hammered on the door at the same time, and was on the verge of kicking it in, when Angelica finally opened it.
He wasted no time on formalities. Far too much had already happened in that Dark Place.
“Where is she? Where is she?” he yelled. He grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her back inside her apartment,
where she fell to the floor with a look of outrage on her face. “Where is she?” he yelled again. She got up again, and he pressed her up against the wall.
“What do you want? What are you doing here? Let me go at once!” she screamed.
“Where is your daughter? Where is Maria? What have you done with her?”
“It’s got nothing to do with you! I don’t have a daughter!”
“Damned liar! I know everything!” He was furious and hit her in the face. Only then did he turn on the light. There was no time to waste.
“Call the police!” Angelica called to her husband. She wiped the blood from her face. He must have hit her harder than he’d intended to.
Christian was faster than Sebastian Kline. He grabbed him and pushed him up against the coat stand. He had to get past him. He had to find Maria before it was too late. He went into the bedroom, but there was nobody there, and when he returned to the hallway, Derek Dagger was suddenly standing in front of him.
“Leave this apartment immediately!” he hissed. But Christian didn’t give a hoot. He threw his full weight against Dagger, who was so surprised by the attack, that he stumbled into the kitchen backwards.
Christian made use of the opportunity to get past him, and into the living room. There was another door there, but because it was dark, he could see no more. Then, suddenly he was fighting for breath. Dagger had come up behind him, and had his arm around Christian’s neck. Slowly, he tightened his grip on Christian’s throat.
“Are you going to give up at last?” Dagger whispered into his ear, as he wrestled Christian to the floor. “Are you going to give up?” He showed no mercy.
Christian had gotten this far, but it looked like he was going to fail in the end. He had risked everything and still, he had achieved nothing. Finally, he felt exhausted, and simply stopped resisting. Where was Maria Kline?
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