Dead Men (Marie and Lotte Book 1)

by Mette Glargaard

  As she studied the slight rise and fall of the land on the island, Marie felt some comparison to Gammel Skagen, back home in Denmark. She remembered seeing the small fishing community in North Jutland from the sea for the first time when she was a child, and had been out sailing with her aunt and uncle. They were terrible people who quarreled from morning to night, and she hated the fourteen days each summer where, against her will, she was sent on holiday.

  While Gammel Skagen had small low houses, Menjangan was uninhabited except the Menjangan deer which gave the island its name, but she just had to close her eyes to remember the smell of salt from the sea, and see the bright light from the high sky. As Gammel Skagen has its beacon, there stood at the edge of the north shore of the Indonesian island a huge white statue of the Hindu god Ganesha, the elephant with a missing tooth, and a human body. The statue was carved into white marble and the shadows sinking into its curved and smooth crevices gave it great detail in the bright sunlight.

  He sat on a throne in a smooth white bow, with ornaments on each base, had an ax in one hand stretched toward the sky. Lotte could easily imagine how Ganesha if he were alive, would smell of sun and elephants, a slightly acrid yet comforting aroma. His voice would be a deep bass, and his body would move forward while his trunk swung from side to side.

  “Oh.” Lotte sighed happily when she saw the wonder and Marie smiled. She could remember the first time she had seen the statue.

  “Ganesha is the god of new beginnings. You pray to him to remove the obstacles in your life.” Marie said and winked at Lotte.

  Lars snorted in contempt, for whatever it was he had contempt for; new beginnings, Ganesha or Lotte and Marie.

  “Yes, go ahead and snort. But they have tremendous respect for Ganesha here; he is considered to be one of the most powerful gods,”

  The diving instructor pulled out small plastic boxes and shared some fresh, juicy tomatoes, cucumbers and ripe bananas and they enjoyed their snack as the sun’s rays reflected on the sea surface. After the boat’s engine was turned off there were no sounds except the small waves jagged melody as they kissed the side of the boat.

  When it was time to equip themselves for the dive they assisted each other with the slightly arduous task. The pressure in the oxygen tanks were checked, all straps were ensured tight as they adjusted their diving vests for safety and comfort.

  The diving instructor had already told them that they were going down to a depth of forty feet, ensuring they understood that such a depth could well be fatal if anything went wrong. They would have to swim up slowly from such depths, otherwise the pressure in the lungs could build to dangerous levels.

  Even though there was somewhat of a truce between them, Lars still seemed angry and hostile, and Lotte had her bruised eye that made wearing the diving mask painful. She wished Lars wouldn’t have come on the diving trip, but he’d Googled it and even he was taken by its beauty. Even so, under the weight of his tank, he still muttered that he’d rather be at the hotel.

  Lotte thought it would be nice if a shark attacked him, then she would never have to see him again or be subjected to his cruel and abusive behavior. For a moment she felt guilty she wanted him dead, but then realized his death was an earnest wish. A slow and painful death was preferred, in the hope it would give him time to regret what a pitiful person he’d been and the violence he’d visited upon her. She sighed. It was wrong to want other people dead.

  “We all go down together. When we are there, Lotte and me are buddies and Lars and Marie are buddies.” The diving instructor was, of course, using the diving term; there was no way that Lars was a buddy of either of them anymore.

  Lotte had given him everything she could, and more with an abundance of patience. It was very clear to her now that he had only been lovely in the first few months, then after that it was nothing but crap. Somehow he’d managed to convince her that it was her fault that he had stopped treating her lovingly. She’d accepted the blame, but was unwilling to fall into that trap ever again.

  She looked up at Ganesha and vowed to never again be a doormat. She formed a silent prayer in her mind, her lips moving slightly but she made no sound.

  “Honorable Ganesha, please be sure to remove the idiot from my life, so I can start fresh.”

  She was not only bad at meeting attractive men; she was bad at leaving them when they became abusive. She was too good at finding excuses, and gave them too many chances to show that they were anything other than what they were. Her new beginning would be a stronger Lotte who would not stand for abuse, even if that meant she’d be alone for the rest of her life.

  The diving instructor checked the equipment one last time and they reviewed the hand signals they would use underwater to communicate. It was a long way up from forty feet. Marie had told Lotte she knew she would be able to do it and Lotte felt some confidence from Marie’s calm declaration.

  Lars’ body language suggested that he had completely mastered it and he acted as if he wanted to impress. Maybe the diving instructor was his target or perhaps Marie; whoever it was his attempts just made him look stupid. Marie had dived for over ten years and it showed in the familiar way she handled the equipment how experienced she was.

  Lotte thought about what was going on between Marie and Lars, since it was obvious that he was interested in Marie. When he first met her he very arrogantly said that while Marie seemed as if she had control of everything she lacked a real man between her legs. Women who are too strong are unattractive, he’d said. Lotte had been so taken aback by his statement that she said nothing, but later she thought about saying that if Marie was so lovely why did he not go and be with her instead of me?

  Lotte chose not to utter such words to someone as easily provoked as Lars, but wondered if Marie did want Lars; what then? Was Marie so lovely that Lars wouldn’t mistreat her? What if he were to grow into a loving and beautiful man with Marie? They would make a great couple. They would travel the world and be the envy of all those they met with their beauty and love. The thought alone made Lotte’s heart sink. Part of her believed it would be like that when they got home, that she would be abandoned to the sidelines like so many times before wondering what was wrong with her.

  Her body began to react as though it were already true that Marie and Lars were together. She felt tense from head to foot as if poison slithered through her veins. She realized she had held her breath and stood slouched over, with her shoulders rolled forward. It was a weak stance that suggested she could easily be messed with, but she quickly straightened her spine and drew in a deep breath.

  She wanted to back out of the dive. There was no way she was going to make it down the forty feet only to see them swim together. Then she thought maybe that’s why she should do it. To see them together, to see if the feeling she was getting made any sense. She wanted nothing more to do with Lars, but she wanted Marie to hate him as well. Then she remembered about what Marie had said, joking about him dying, but she had said she would get rid of him. There was no way that Marie would want to be with Lars.

  She made her decision and indicated that she was ready and joined the other three on the edge of the boat; once she was settled they let themselves fall backwards into the water. Lotte turned, kicking the fins on her feet and looked around. They were supposed to be heading towards an underground wall, where the depth of the sea suddenly increased, but there was nothing to see.

  The diving instructor took her hand gently and began to swim with her. He looked at her, and made a circle with his thumb and forefinger - a question if she was okay. She gave the signal that everything was fine and they continued with their slow descent, swimming in a spiraling way so they could equalize the pressure as they approached their destination.

  The diving instructor led her down a little further and in the clear water she suddenly sensed there was something in front of her that had not been there previously. She looked
down and it felt like she was standing on a glass plate on the hundredth floor of a tall building; she looked down and could see nothing. To realize there was nothing under her caused her to panic for a moment, but she knew she needed to relax and breathe normally. The feeling of infinity had overwhelmed her and quickened her breath, so she began to paddle with her fins to stay afloat. She felt as though she would die; the sea would engulf her and make her invisible.

  She felt a hand on her shoulder, and the diving instructor gave the signal that she needed to slow her breathing and not panic. He held her there in the blue water to ensure she felt safe and could calm her nerves. She relaxed, took a deep breath and gave the sign that she was okay. He looked questioningly at her and made an up-movement with his thumb - an offer to go to the surface - but Lotte shook her head and did the okay sign again.

  They were swimming again and after a short time she sensed they were close to their destination. As they approached the face of the wall a few schools of fish circled around as flocks of birds circle the air. At first the wall was brownish gray with no defined edges or the appearance of any other structures, then they swam several more feet and Lotte gasped at the pure beauty.

  She had become accustomed to the sensation of being submerged under the sea, now feeling at one with the water and she started to relax. The only sound was of her own wheezing breath in her regulator mouthpiece and water swooshing from moving her limbs. Ahead now were only colors – the colors of the fish and the colors of the corals. The closer they swam, the more colors there seemed to be. It was like looking at a wall where all the colors of the world were shown in fish and coral form, like a wonderful painting that had suddenly come to life.

  Lotte looked to the side, and saw Marie and Lars swimming hand in hand, as they should for the sake of safety. But still, she didn’t like it. The diving instructor paused, waiting for Lars and Marie, and showed with his hands that they could swim to the reef and then down, in zigzag movements.

  Again, she forgot all about Lars and Marie and Lotte was completely wrapped up in the moment. She had never seen anything like it and if someone had tried to describe the sheer beauty of this vertical coral wall she would have thought that they were really exaggerating. Small and large fish of all colors floated in and out between each other and the corals. The bulk of it was white and gray-brown coral, but spread evenly throughout were corals in bright colors, red, blue, purple, white and orange. It was as if someone had decided to distribute them so that each could have its own place.

  Lotte was close to a huge shoal of silvery fish with colored tails, and she barely had the heart to swim through the formation, but as soon as the four divers approached, they divided themselves and reassembled again somewhere else. It was as though they had radar that would only allow a certain amount of distance between them before they rejoined.

  Lotte let go of the diving instructor’s hand after giving him the okay sign, and swam over to Marie. She was a little ahead of her and Lotte touched her leg as she approached her. Marie turned in the water and Lotte looked into her eyes, put one hand on the heart and made an air kiss with the other. Marie reached for her and squeezed her hand gently. It was hard to show gratitude without words, and Lotte just hoped that Marie understood before she swam back to Lars.

  A big orange coral shaped like a fan drew the diving instructor’s interest and he swam close to it. He looked at Lotte and motioned her toward him. When she got there she couldn’t see anything, but maybe because she didn’t know what she was looking for? The diving instructor made an ‘S’ in the air and indicated with his thumb and forefinger that it was something small and then pointed to a spot in the coral. Lotte looked again and saw a tiny, almost transparent seahorse; and then another one and then three more. She stuck a finger near the seahorse to get them to move, she would have liked to see them swim, but they did not move. She wouldn’t touch them since she didn’t want to scare or hurt them so she settled for enjoying them, seemingly seated in the coral and bobbing in the ocean currents.

  There were so many fish and each kind so distinct from the next; silvery white fish in pairs, black ones that swam alone, blue, red and green, round, flat, thick, long, small and large. The largest was the size of a dinner plate, it swam alone, weaving and dodging in and around the smaller fish. Lotte didn’t know what it was called, but it didn’t matter to her. The only thing that mattered to her was the sensation of being at one with the sea and experiencing the fish and the reef. She appreciated that the beauty before her was foreign to most people. It wasn’t like taking a walk in the woods or lying on the beach. It was an experience one had to work for, to adventure out to into deep and unknown waters. It was a wonderful gift Marie had given her.

  She could not see Marie and Lars, but saw their bubbles dancing up from below. She began to swim down and imagined the air bubbles looked like jellyfish, creatures whose movement through the water were natural and graceful. She watched as they traveled towards the surface and noted how they got bigger and bigger. It served as a reminder for the need to surface slowly, making sure to exhale and then inhale otherwise the air in her lungs would expand.

  Lotte noticed Marie and Lars and was again heartsick to see their close proximity. She thought of putting a rocket under Lars so that he would jet to the surface. He’d breach the water and shoot into the air and the expansion of air in his lungs would make his chest explode and bits and pieces of him would rain down like pink and red confetti. Then the sea would absorb him and only then would he be absolved of his cruelty in this world. Lotte felt bad she let her imagination run wild and that she fantasized about Lars’ death, but still, the image amused her. She’d share it with Marie later when they were back on land. She knew Marie could appreciate such dark humor.

  28

  Marie looked up and signaled that they had to get down there, so Lotte and her diving instructor buddy swam down to see what Marie wanted to show them. It was a shark. It wasn’t very big, but even so Lotte was startled. She didn’t want to be close to a shark. She tried to put some distance between her and it and she was going to swim back towards the reef when the instructor grabbed her and pulled her slightly away, turned her around and made a reassuring up and down motion with the flat hand in the water, an indication to calm down. He folded his arms and made a rocking motion; mimicking the rocking of a baby. A baby? That’s when Lotte understood; it was a baby shark.

  Lars also backed away from the baby shark, but Marie seemed completely at ease. It reassured Lotte a little but not entirely. Her breathing was uncomfortably rapid and the instructor took her by the hand and pulled her away. He swam up a bit with her, so Marie and Lars could only be seen from a distance, and the shark was only a shadow in the water beneath them.

  As she looked down towards Marie and Lars, she was astonished when Marie suddenly took her mouthpiece out and then took Lars’ out. As they embraced each other and kissed, Lotte simply lost it. Her body tensed and she attempted to swim down to them, but then realised that she couldn’t because the diving instructor had grabbed her and held her fast in his arms. He was stronger than her and she had no chance of being released from his grip. With one arm across her chest and the other around her waist, Lotte sought to let out an angry noise but in her ears it sounded like a muffled scream into a pillow. The massive pressure of the sea compressed in around her as she realised that, with the lips closed over the mouthpiece, she had no chance of being heard.

  He met her expression of fury with stoicism in his eyes, but he tried to pull her to him in what seemed like a comforting gesture. But Lotte would not allow the embrace and red-hot fury burned through her body. She kicked and thrashed against his hold, but without any success. When she turned back to look at Marie and Lars she watched, horrified, as they were engrossed in another passionate kiss. She noticed that Marie’s hand rested on Lars’ air bottles with her fingers on the valve that released the air. Lars was too focused on the kiss to
notice anything.

  Lotte’s mind was now confused and there was something about the embrace that caught her attention. Lars seemed wrapped up in it, but Marie seemed to be totally ‘outside the moment’. Lotte saw Marie deliberately close Lars’ air valve and Lotte’s body gave a twitch as it dawned on her what Marie was doing. At the realization she tugged at the diving instructor’s grip attempting to pull away from him, but still he held her tight. Lotte fixed her gaze on him, her eyes big and pleading, but again he made the calm-down motion with his hand.

  Marie continued to kiss Lars, and as she did so she removed her hand from his oxygen tank and reached for something inside her diving vest. Lotte gasped and almost choked as she realised it was a knife, which Marie quickly thrust the knife into Lars’ neck. He gave a violent spasm and as soon as Marie removed the knife blood instantly blood began to ooze from his neck and flood the water around him. As she pushed him towards the coral reef and swam towards Lotte and the diving instructor, Lars briefly scrabbled to put his mouthpiece back in. For a brief moment he seemed to realize that there was no air and his body went limp.

  Marie’s face gave no indication of alarm or any emotional upheaval, just a simple expression of calm as she swam in Lotte’s direction, but then Lotte looked passed Marie again. Lars floated limply as the blood plumed around him, creating a red cloud in the clear water, his arms and legs spread loosely around his torso. Lotte’s mouthpiece fell from position and she began drawing breaths of seawater. The diving instructor was quick to react and replace the mouthpiece, but Lotte coughed and her body felt paralyzed as her stare was glued to Lars’ flaccid form.

  He twitched and for a second Lotte hoped there was enough life in him to save. But his body drooped lower, crowding into the coral and fish came out and appeared to sniff at the blood. The image made Lotte think of wild dogs seeking to feast on a much larger animal. Their tentative movements took them close before they backed away again; and then even closer each successive time. Lotte still coughed from the water in her lungs, but with the guidance of the diving instructor was able to pull in air from the tank.