Let the Right One In: A Novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist

Author:John Ajvide Lindqvist [Lindqvist, John Ajvide]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2008-10-28T00:00:00+00:00

With the exception of Oskar, two people got off at Blackeberg, from other subway cars. An older guy he didn’t recognize and then a rockabilly guy who appeared very drunk. The rockabilly guy walked up to the older guy and shouted:

“Hey man, spare a cigarette?”

“Sorry, don’t smoke.”

The rockabilly guy didn’t appear to hear more than the negative, because he drew a ten kronor note from his pocket and waved it around. “I got ten! One stick is all I need, man.”

The guy shook his head and walked away. The rockabilly guy stood still, swaying, and when Oskar walked past he lifted his head and said: “You!” But his eyes narrowed, he focused them on Oskar, and then he shook his head. “No. Nothing. Go in peace, brother.”

Oskar kept going up the stairs, up into the subway station. Wondered if the rockabilly guy was planning to pee on the electric rail. The older guy went out through the exit doors. Except for the ticket collector in his booth, Oskar was alone in the station.

Everything was so different at night. The photo shop, florist, and clothing store in the station were dark. The ticket collector sat with his feet up on the counter, reading something. So quiet. The clock on the wall said a few minutes past two. He should be lying in bed now. Sleeping. Should at the very least be sleepy. But no. He was so tired his body felt hollow, but it was a hollowness filled with electricity. Not sleepiness.

A door down by the platform was thrown open and he heard the rockabilly guy’s voice from down there: “And bow down, you officers in your helmets and batons . . .”

Same song he had been singing. He chuckled and started to run. Ran out the doors, down the hill toward the school, past it and the parking lot. It had started to snow again and the large flakes squelched the heat in his face. He looked up as he was running. The moon was still there, peeking out between the houses.

Once he was in the courtyard he stopped, caught his breath. Almost all the windows were dark, but wasn’t there a faint light coming from behind the blinds of Eli’s apartment?

What will she look like?

He walked up the sloping yard, glancing at his own dark window. The normal Oskar was lying in there, sleeping. Oskar . . . pre-Eli. The one with the Pissball in his underpants. That was something he had done away with, didn’t need any longer.

Oskar unlocked the door to his building and walked through the basement corridor over to hers, did not stop to see if the stain was still on the floor. Just walked past it. It didn’t exist any longer. He had no mom, no dad, no earlier life, he was simply . . . here. He walked through the door, up the stairs.

Stood there on the landing, looking at the worn wooden door, the empty name plate. Behind that door.

He had imagined he was going to dash up the stairs, make a dive for the bell.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.