Fog Island: A terrifying thriller set in a modern-day cult

‘What’s the catch?’

‘You’d have to become part of the staff, of course. We work on contract. Two years at a time. And I’m not sure whether you two have boyfriends . . .’

‘We don’t have boyfriends, but I’m not signing any contract,’ Sofia said firmly. ‘No matter how interesting it sounds.’

Wilma cleared her throat. A small warning, to let Sofia know she was about to cross a line into rudeness again. But Oswald didn’t look defeated; if anything, he was amused.

‘I thought as much. But I have a suggestion. Come for two weeks and go through the program, like our guests do. No cost to you, no commitment. If you still don’t want to take over the library when you’re done, you can go right back home again.’

Sofia and Wilma looked at each other, speechless. Wilma was just about to open her mouth, and Sofia knew what would come out. The trip to Rhodes with her mother, the internship she’d arranged at a newspaper, blah blah blah. But Wilma closed her mouth again and smiled at Oswald.

‘Can we talk it over in private and let you know?’

‘Of course! It was nice to have you here. Let me know when you decide. I’ll tell Madde to meet you in the dining room for afternoon coffee before you leave.’

He was already walking off, but then he turned around and looked directly at Sofia.

‘You seem clear-sighted. I’m sure you can tell that this place is something very special.’

Then he winked at her, turned on his heel, and vanished.

*

Everything was silent on the ferry home. She hardly heard the shrieking of the gulls, the lapping of the waves, or the pleasant hum of the engine. Her thoughts were torn, bouncing around inside her head like tiny demons. The peaceful, well-organized atmosphere of the manor clashed with her own chaotic life. And the thought of working with books was a tempting one.

Wilma was also noticeably quiet; she was staring down at the foam where the keel of the ferry broke the surface.

‘Jesus, what a place!’ she said.

Sofia laughed.

‘Like a different universe, right?’

‘I think you should try out the program.’

‘Without you?’

‘I promised to go to Rhodes with my mom, and I can’t blow off this new job. And you were obviously the one he was into. The air practically crackled when he looked at you.’

Sofia’s cheeks grew warm.

‘Oh, quit it. But who knows, maybe I’ll do it. No way I’m signing any contract, though.’

‘Of course not,’ Wilma said.

Sofia was dragged back into the roiling sea of thoughts in her mind. But then the mainland came into sight on the horizon and the sound of the sea and the ferry engine returned. It was as if the sea was a bridge between two worlds — the real world, where they were headed, and the strange, dreamlike world they had just left.

She didn’t know whether this new world, the one she had just discovered, was a new adventure awaiting her, or just a creepy illusion.

I’m practically right next to him before he notices me.

He’s fixing the chicken wire, on his knees in the dirt. He has put his garden gloves on the ground and is holding the barbed wire with his bare hands.

His entire being disgusts me. The start of a bald patch on the top of his head, the sweat gathering in beads on his neck, and the pungent odour of grime, earth, and grass pouring off him.

I lean down, place my mouth near his ear, and say ‘Hello, Doctor!’

Loudly.

He jumps and seems relieved once he realizes it’s me. He looks like a little piglet, lying there in the dirt.

‘Well hello there, Fredrik! Nice to see you.’

‘Not that nice,’ I say.

‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean it’s not so nice, what you do to Lily.’

Sudden, naked fear appears on his face and he readies his fat, protruding lips. But I cut him off before he can say a word.

‘You don’t need to say anything. I know everything, do you understand me? She told me the whole damn thing, but I’m not going to tattle. Why would I?’

He starts to speak again but I put up my hand, and then I feel the rush, that intoxicating mixture of power and strength.

He squints up at me; the sun is at my back. I want him to see me like this, like a backlit angel of justice.

‘All I want is for you to leave us alone,’ I say. ‘And I want access to the attic. I need to look for something there.’

‘Of course you can go in the attic, Fredrik. But what on earth did Lily tell you?’ He makes an attempt to get up. I just turn my back on him.

‘You know perfectly well what she told me,’ I say as I walk away.

I’m so pleased that I have to repress the urge to do a little victory dance there in the sunlight. Now I’ll have Lily to myself and free run of the estate.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a plan. A grand plan.

He is only a tiny, flimsy part of it. And anyway, it’s all for his own good.

4 (#ulink_3fae6214-f2d2-5aed-b022-51b80702c6ec)

It was unusually dark when she woke. She felt rested, but something was wrong. Her eyes searched for her digital alarm clock, but there was only blackness. Her fear of the dark strangled her for a moment, until she realized where she was. Far from home, out on the island. That was the way of things here — no light at all when you were sleeping. Although she had left a tiny crack at the bottom of the roller blind, in spite of the ban.

She fumbled for the button on the bed frame, and as she pressed it the room was slowly bathed in a warm, gentle light. The clock became visible: quarter past ten! She had overslept again. ‘Use your mental clock,’ they had told her. ‘Decide when you will wake up, and it will happen.’ But so far that wasn’t working for her.

Breakfast was only served until ten, but that didn’t matter. She would take a walk around the island before lunch.

She had been there for three days, and completed the first step, which was called ‘unwinding’. It really just meant that you ate, slept, and took walks. And did a few hours of what they called ‘altruistic work’ — in other words, free labour for them, because it involved working in the fields or pottering in the gardens. It didn’t matter, though; it was pleasant to weed flowerbeds. Today she would meet with a personal advisor and receive her program plan, and she was curious how it would go. But most of all she was curious about Oswald’s theses.