Dead Men (Marie and Lotte Book 1)

by Mette Glargaard

  After only six months, he had suggested that I moved in with him and, since we were always together, so I did. But only after a few weeks he came home from a casting and was irritated, so I asked about what he was annoyed about and if he wanted to talk. He didn’t answer me and when I wanted to hug him he pushed me away - a little too hard - and went into the bedroom and slammed the door behind him.

  Later he came out and was so terribly sorry. Sorry that it had affected me, but he’d just had a silly discussion that day with a caster that thought he was “wrong” for the show and he was so miserable that he had pushed me. Inside my head, I made a comparison of on one side all the wonderful things he had done for me, the gifts, the words and caresses and on the other this one incident that he obviously bitterly regretted. I forgave him on the spot.”

  Lotte had a look of disbelief and compassion. I did not think that, after just a few months, she’d experienced something similar with Lars, but if she had she certainly would have paled at the memory.

  I took a break and asked for a glass of water and after I put a slightly upset expression on my face. Lotte gave me a spontaneous hug and fetched my drink from the kitchen. I took a breath and continued my story:

  “But it turned out to not just be an isolated incident. One evening he stood in the kitchen making coffee and I stood behind him and told him about something that had happened that day. Suddenly he turned and screamed into my face that he fucking did not care to hear about my silly little life. I told him to relax and when I did that, he took me by the arm and practically threw me out of the kitchen. Again he was sorry, but this time he made it sound as if I had violated his personal space by standing too close to him and so I was to blame for his reaction.

  I was deeply confused and could not believe what had happened. He had been so sweet to me and told me how great I was, that everything I did was beautiful and right. He said there was nothing wrong with me and then, out of the blue, I was suddenly offensive. I had already done the same in the kitchen lots of times without him feeling invaded.

  The next day I tried to talk to him about it, but he was dismissive. Would not go into it and the closest we got to any dialog was that he asked me when the hell I would understand that he had been under great pressure because he had not been selected by any of the castings he had been to in a long time.

  The day after I tried to bring the subject up and talked to him about the fact that the media seemed to prefer young people and so maybe he could turn his attention to something else for a while. I should never have said that. He shouted that it was all a conspiracy, that no one understood him nor wanted the best for him. No one could see his talent and everyone was against him and now that included me too … and after all he had done for me. I actually started feeling guilty, but knew it was silly because, as far as I could remember, there had been no price tag on the sweet things he had said to me. I owed him nothing, but still felt as if I had let him down.”

  I tried during the course of my story to look at Lotte and see if there was something that woke any echoes in her, but I found it difficult to read her expression. Compassion and shock at Verner’s behavior were there as well as a touch of confusion that I could not quite place. Maybe there was something that had happened.

  “Over the next six months, several times he came home drunk and beat me so badly that I had to wear high-necked blouses and sunglasses and my use of concealer was huge. His approach to sex was also changing and it seemed more like he wanted to punish me than make love to me. I was sure that he was stressed or depressed or something and tried to get him to go to the doctor, but he snapped at me and said that the miserable bastard of a doctor did not know anything about his problems and that if someone in the house was sick, it was me.

  Eventually it became too much for me and I moved out, but when I did he turned on a dime. He pursued me, showered me with bouquets, promised to repent and said he would start in therapy. Then there were several months where he was alternately abusive, violent and really romantic and charming. I conned myself into believing that he should have a chance, that he really worked at it and that it would take time. But before it led to a permanent change, he died so...”

  I just sat and stared into my water glass and Lotte took my hand and stroked it gently. She was such a really nice person and didn’t want her to get hurt. Also I was very much thinking that I would really like to have her to myself.

  “Phew, Marie, that’s a horrible ordeal you’ve been through there. I cannot imagine what it must be like to be in such a relationship.”

  Okay, so she had not experienced anything with Lars that resembled what I had told her … yet.

  “It was confusing. I felt insecure and guilty. I felt in fact that I owed it to him to give it a try and stand by him in his hard times, even though I was not feeling happy about the relationship. In some way he manipulated me to where I felt he was more important than me. I don’t know how he did it, but I think part of it was that he actually believed all the lies and therefore he must have thought he was credible to me also. “

  “I really don’t know what to say...”

  “You don’t have to say anything, Lotte. The fact that you are here listening to me is a huge thing for me. I’m ashamed you have to put up with it! “

  “Ashamed? The man was a lunatic!”

  “Yes, he might have been, but he was also the dearest and sweetest and most rewarding man I have ever met. It made it hard to separate things.”

  “Yes, I know it well because this is how we are, most of this world’s women. As soon as a man is a little nice to us, we give him all we have to give and more. It’s crazy what we put up with!”

  I laughed at her box-like thinking, but had to give it to her that many of the women I had known through my life gave far too much of themselves without getting enough back.

  We talked a little more about Verner and me and we got the rest of the world situation fixed and then Lotte talked about her and Lars.

  “It’s as if he sees me for who I am. I cannot remember that I ever felt that a man understood me the way Lars understands me and he thinks I’m the world’s eighth wonder. I’ve tried that before, but not with a man who is so good at everything. He has a beautiful home, which he has decorated beautifully and he can cook so the angels sing. He loves to cuddle and kiss, he is ultra-romantic, even in bed. He has a good job with colleagues who respect him. It seems crazy when I sit and describe him, I know it sounds exaggerated, but it’s all true and more. What the hell have I done to deserve someone like him? I simply can’t understand it.”

  “You’re just lovely, Lotte. He should feel fucking lucky that he can use his talents for you!”

  Lotte smiled and blushed a little and then the conversation turned into small talk.

  When I got home I sat with a cup of coffee and thought about our conversation. It had gone very well and I didn’t think that Lotte suspected anything and now she had a frame of reference to start from for when Lars started showing his true self. She knew now which characteristics she should be aware of and be able to recognize them when she saw them … because she would come to see them. It was just a matter of time.

  She had actually told me something about Lars that she herself brought up, but I immediately recognized the signs. She told me that Lars had told her that he had broken off contact with his family, because most of them were mentally ill or addicts and that he had friends abroad because he had travelled extensively with his job over the last ten years. But it was too much traveling for him and he had therefore come home and had to start over making new friends.

  I had done a background check on Lars and he had never worked abroad. He hadn’t held a job for longer than two years and none of them had involved traveling.

  17

  “Honey?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Won’t you bring me a cup of cappuccino and a small co
okie?” Lars shouted from the living room where he sat on the couch. I’ve had a long and tiresome day and you are so good at cosying up our life!”

  Lotte was in the kitchen looking at a recipe for Chicken Masala and wondering whether she should make this weekend’s project Indian food. She felt a slight annoyance that he did not even bother to get up to ask her to get him something. She wished briefly that she hadn’t answered in the first place, but instead had gone to the bathroom pretending she had not heard him; there was a chance that he would have changed his mind when she came out again. But she had answered, so there was no way around it. Who says no to a partner when he or she has had a long and tiresome day?

  She was actually a little tired of cooking for him, but she would not admit it. He often invited her out to dinner, excusing himself by saying he was no great chef, but she thought it was bullshit because anybody can cook if they want to. But she then felt ungrateful since he did after all invite her out instead. He spent a good deal of money on food and wine when they were out, so the least she could do was cook for him. And then he teased her that the food she made was too monotonous.

  “If I wanted something that qualifies as “Brown, hot and enough of it”, then I would let my grandmother move into my place. She is a master in just that. “

  And then he laughed and kissed her neck and said that it was just for fun. Her expression would have given him a hint that she certainly did not think it was funny and he had looked at her with mild disapproval and asked if he might not even make fun in his own home?

  What do you answer to that? Lotte had no reply so she tried to smile and shrug it off, but she felt just ... well ... what did she really feel? There was a knot in her gut that was uncomfortable and a feeling that she was too fragile and took things way too personally.

  Now she stood there, trying to expand her repertoire in culinary art and so he expected that she could just bring him coffee and cake.

  “Oh, you are such a wonderful woman!” he said enthusiastically as she came in with the coffee.

  “It does not take much to excite you, huh?”

  “Not when it’s you, baby.”

  But somehow, she did not believe him. She just could not put her finger on why so she went back to her recipe. He called again:

  “Honey?”

  Now she felt really irritated. He did it just to tease her and she did not think it was funny, but she went into the room to him. He reached for her, pulled her down to him and kissed her passionately.

  “You do not believe me, but you are the most amazing thing has happened in my life, Lotte.”

  He suddenly looked very serious and so in love. She felt a stab in the heart and the knot in her gut disappeared as she felt truly loved right at that moment. She snuggled up to him and he stroked her hair.

  “Lotte, you are such a delicate little flower. You smell fantastic and light up my life and I never tire of saying how pleased I am that you are in my life. I think you are more delicate than you realize and perhaps more delicate than those around you realize. For example, your girlfriend who complained that you did not see her so much anymore she’s just jealous. It’s not because she’s a bad person, but you’ve given her so much and now she gets not so much of you anymore and she feels that. I understand her, but she’s not a particularly good friend when she does not accept you being in love and spend time with the man, who adores you.”

  Lotte wondered if he was right. Was Marie a bad friend?

  “You are the one who gives so much. You’ve probably also been the one who gave the most in your friendship. And that’s okay, but now it’s you who must have something.”

  He hugged her and kissed her on the cheek and seemed so in love with her. She smiled at him and felt grateful that he gave her this feeling. He patted her on the arm, very gently, while he kissed her softly and affectionately.

  Slowly, the kisses got more intense and his hand moved from her arm to her chest. He domed his hand on her breast and pushed it a little. He moved his mouth to her ear and whispered that he could not get enough of her, that she was enchanting. His breathing increased and he put his hand under her blouse and then under her bra and stroked her nipple which became instantly stiff. Lotte loved his intense and at the same time sensitive touch.

  “You like that, right? You like that I can turn you on with a touch of my hand, right? I really am something, am I not?”

  Lotte nodded with half-closed eyes and began to give in to the seduction.

  “Let me hear you say it, beautiful.”

  “You can make me do anything, Lars. You turned me on just with your touch ...”

  “Mmm ... yes .... you are so nice to touch.”

  She could feel his cock, stiff behind the zipper and she reached down to unzip his pants so she could get it free. He immediately let go of her breast and stood up opening his pants. She was a little surprised when he grabbed his cock and stretched towards her.

  “Kiss me, Lotte. I need you. Let me see you put it in your mouth.”

  Something in her was briefly troubled, but she was turned on and wanted him, so she went to her knees and took his cock in her mouth. It was warm and smooth and silky and she began to slowly move back and forth while her tongue played with the head. He got harder and harder and his breathing became jerky.

  He grabbed her hair, gently but firmly and helped her movements back and forth. She grabbed his balls with one hand and massaged them gently and with her middle finger she pressed on the perineum. It made him groan loudly.

  “Faster,” he demanded.

  But she would not go faster; she wanted to stop so he did not come and so, still as excited, they could make love properly. She moved her head slowly back and forth and then pulled back slightly so his cock got out of her mouth. She smiled up at him and he gave her lecherous glance that was mixed with something else that she didn’t recognize.

  He grabbed her harder by her hair and stuck his cock into her mouth again. Moving faster, back and forth, he slammed it so deep into her mouth that his cock head hit her uvula and she felt like she had to throw up. The touch of the uvula made her gag and she had tears in her eyes, wanting to pull away and look up at him so that he could see that she was crying. But his mouth was contorted in a snarl and his eyes were stiff. He saw nothing. He was in fuckland.

  His grip tightened in her hair and began to move her head back and forth, faster and faster. She tried to pull away, to say something, but his cock filled her mouth and pushed again and again against her uvula, so she felt like she was suffocating. Tears ran down her cheeks and he looked at her with intense pleasure in his eyes as he just drove his cock harder and harder as quickly as he could.

  He groaned loudly and called her “Little fuck-girl” and still she could not pull away. Faster and faster, moving his cock back and forth, he his hand squeezed the back of her neck and she heard him groan, “Oh yes! Oh yes!” and then she could feel that he came. She tried one last retreat, but he held her in a vice like grip and forced his cock down her throat and sprayed his sperm directly into her throat while his hand held her head firmly, his own was thrown back in orgasm.

  Finally he let go of her and she fell to the floor, coughing and gagging with pain in her neck. She was sobbing and feeling totally humiliated and abused.

  18

  The creature had a woman’s head with dark wavy hair, but her eyes were so cold and filled with bloodlust, that her facial features looked demonic. The creature’s mouth was twisted in a snarl and the teeth were like little pointed awls able to rip him to shreds. When he looked closer, only because he could not move, he saw that the creature’s body, slightly hidden in shadows, was that of a huge spider queen. The neck was much too long to be human and ended in a sickly greenish brown body, covered with silky hair the same color as the body. The long double jointed legs were a deeper green and hairy as well and ended in something ho
rrible - a mix of feet and claws, like a very short foot with fives toes. Each was a moving claw, feeling the surface to seek out its prey.

  His own body froze in horror, everything knotting up, from the inside of his thighs, up through his gut and to the shoulders and his hands, which clenched into fists, damp and rigid with fear. His heart started beating insanely fast. He knew, looking at the creature that he was going to die. She was going to bite him and inject poison and suck at his innards when they were nothing but a mushy porridge.

  The creature started towards him, opened its mouth and let out a shriek that went straight to his spine and paralyzed him and he tried to get away. He was desperate to move his body in some way so he could get away from that thing, but he was stuck. She had spun her webbed strings around his body and there was no way out.

  He let out a cry and his bladder gave out and emptied itself and he could smell the urine and feel it warming his legs. He opened his eyes and found he was in the darkness of his own bedroom, duvet wrapped tightly around him and no creature in sight. His heavy breathing kept him lying there for several seconds. It felt like he had run a marathon and he was gasping, trying to make his breathing slower and deeper. He unraveled himself from the duvet, which was damp at one end from his panicky sweat and soaked at the other end from his piss.

  He let out an annoyed groan and got up and walked to the bathroom, where he washed his face and drank some water. As he ripped the wet sheet off the mattress, he thought about the face of the creature. He had a feeling it was somebody he knew. He couldn’t quite get his memory to conjure up a face that resembled the creature’s. He swore under his breath as he realized the mattress was wet as well and took his pillow and the blanket to sleep on the couch.

  He closed his eyes but his thoughts were racing. Why such a dream? Why such a creature? He hadn’t watched any horror movies lately, something he enjoyed immensely, but he had been busy. He sighed, wanting to quickly drift into sleep, when he suddenly saw a face before his inner eye lids. He sat up with a jolt, opened them and said: “Marie Tofte-Nielsen!”