Reckoning Point, стр. 22

“Have you been tested?”

Elian almost laughs out loud at Brigitta’s response and immediately she thinks of Alex again. But Brigitta is deadly serious and Elian shakes her head.

“You need to, that’s your first priority, even if he used protection. Did he use protection?”

Again, Elian shakes her head, no.

“And you’re here alone? What happened to the friend you were with at the time?”

“He’s back in England. He doesn’t know I’m here,” replies Elian, eyes downcast.

“And why are you here? I can think of better places to run away to.”

Elian scratches at the wooden table top and thoughts of Lev fill her mind. She doesn’t answer.

“Well, the first thing to do is visit the doctor, take the tests. He can give you some ideas on the whole memory problem too. It might be PTSD, you know.”

“What?”

“Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,” replies Brigitta, patiently. “It’s when you’ve suffered–”

“I know what it is! How are you such an expert on the subject?”

Brigitta shrugs and drops her cigarette to the floor where she grounds it out with her heel. “I was at university for a while, in Utrecht. I studied Medicine and Psychology. I started doing this job as a way to pay my fees and then, well, I dropped out.” It’s Brigitta’s turn to look embarrassed and Elian gives her a sympathetic smile.

“I will go to the doctor, I have his card,” she says determinedly. “He’s a good doctor, is he?”

Brigitta shrugs. “He’s discreet. He’s a bit weird, but he knows what he’s talking about. I’ll come with you, if you like?”

It’s an offer made with ease and without agenda and it feels like a weight has been lifted from Elian’s shoulders. And although she doesn’t think she’ll take Brigitta up on her offer, suddenly, she doesn’t feel quite so alone.

“Thanks, I do also want to look into the self defence class, if you have the time to spare maybe we could go together?”

“Yeah, I’m keeping a low profile, work-wise for a bit.” A shadow crosses Brigitta’s face and she tips another cigarette out of the packet. “It’s probably a one off, this thing with Gabi, and the streets are filled with coppers, but still, I’ve got enough put aside to have a few days off.”

“Does it happen much?” Elian asks in alarm. “Murders, or attacks on girls who work here?”

Brigitta shakes her head vehemently, her brown hair flying around her face. “No, it’s really unusual. Although …”

“Although, what?”

Brigitta leans in, so close that Elian can smell the tobacco as she speaks. “A lot of girls go missing, and people say they got fed up and they moved to Amsterdam or back to wherever they came from, once they’d made enough money, you know? But, some people say they’ve been done away with, that the government wants this place ‘cleared up’, and if they ever dragged the canal, they’d find all the remains of all the girls that we all thought just went home.”

It’s a dark themed fairytale that Elian can tell has been told many times before, an urban legend just like the ones that are found all over the world. But she can’t help but think of the people who went missing in Chernobyl and how the residents were under the impression that they too, had simply upped and left. But all the time, when their family thought they were building another life in a safe environment, away from the effects of the nuclear disaster, they were still in Chernobyl, buried deep under decades of decaying forest.

Brigitta is laughing at her own dark humour, swaying on the bench as she lights her cigarette. Elian hesitates before trying to join in her mirth, but her laughter is forced.

It can’t be happening again. Not to her, not in an area that’s not even close to Chernobyl. And besides, the one responsible for all the slayings there is dead. That much Elian is sure of, after all, Sissy identified his body herself. Elian tries to reassure herself that the death of Gabi is a one off, just a tragic but accidental death, the like of which happens everywhere at some point.

It can’t be Niko. He’s dead. Sissy saw him dead. She repeats the thought in her mind, all the while trying to ignore the other thought that attempts to push through.

But Lev isn’t dead. He’s very much alive. And he’s here, but more than that, he’s been here before…