Tweedledum and Tweedledee (20 page)

Salvatore had visited Tweedledum in the home and cried while holding his hand. But it was like he was already dead. He didn't even look at him. Now, Salvatore had finally found Tweedledee's grave and, finally, he could cry out his sorrow and pain.

"I'm so sorry," he wept. "It's all my fault. The way it ended it was all my fault. If only I hadn't left you that day. If only I had…"

Salvatore wept and sobbed. His salty tears hit the dirt beneath him and, as he watched them wet the ground, he was certain he heard a voice call for him.

"Papà is that you? Is that you Papà?"

"Deedee? Is that you?"

"Yes, Papà. I'm down here, but it’s so dark. I can't see anything. I can't see you."

Salvatore spotted a shovel by the wall and grabbed it. He started digging in the grave until the case appeared. He threw himself at it and wiped it clean. Then he opened it. The stench was appalling, but the sight was all he had been looking for.

In there, was his son. The skin had rotted away and he was nothing but bones.

"I'm sorry, Deedee. I'm so sorry. I'll make it up to you," Salvatore sobbed. "I'll give you anything you need."

"I'm glad you came, Papà. I'm so glad you're finally here."

"So am I, son. So am I. From now on, everything will be fine. I promise you."

57

April 2014

"
Y
ES,
I
WILL."

I looked at the doctor in front of me. He was walking slowly towards me with a weird and creepy smile on his face.

"I’ll call the police right now," I said. I hoped he wouldn't see it on my face, but I had already called Officer Del Rossi earlier and told him I believed the doctor had Christoffer.

"The doctor, aha," Del Rossi had replied. "We'll take a look at him as soon as we're done with the first man you claimed had him."

I had hung up, thinking it would be too late and that I had to do something on my own. I wasn't allowed to leave my suite, so I thought I'd bring the doctor here instead.

Dr. Rosetti was shivering as he walked. He was sweating, but looked like he was cold. Why was he wearing that big coat anyway? Come to think of it, he didn't look very well. He looked like he was sick or something.

"Before you do anything. There is someone you simply have to meet," he said with a grin.

While I dialed the number to the ship’s operator, he grabbed the edge of his coat and pulled it off.

I gasped and immediately dropped the phone, as I clapped both my hands to my mouth. The doctor picked it up.

"What the hell is that?" I screamed.

"Emma Frost, meet Deedee. Deedee, meet Emma Frost."

I stared at the head sewn onto Dr. Rosetti's shoulder. It was so repulsive. A skull that had been patched up with pieces of skin and attempted to be sewn together. It was sewn onto Dr. Rosetti's shoulder. The wound surrounding where it had been sewn on was bleeding and looked swollen. The skin around it was bloody and a yellow infection ran out from it. It was nauseating to look at and the smell was even worse.

"That is sickening."

"Well, I admit he needs a little work and that is where your boy comes in. I need his face for my Deedee. Deedee needs a new face, right Deedee?"

He’s even talking to it?

"Yes, Papà, I need a new face."

He is answering too. Of course he is.

I started backing up slowly, realizing how sick this person in front of me really was. "So you've been patching up…uh…Deedee with the skin from others?" I asked, while looking for some kind of weapon to defend myself with.

"Yes, yes. That's correct!" he said chirping happily. "Emma Frost understands. She gets us, Deedee. She understands."

"She is so smart, Papà."

"That she is."

I stared at the guy having a conversation with the skull on his shoulder. It had to be the strangest thing I had ever seen. And I had seen a lot.

I fumbled backwards and touched the wall, then slid slowly to the side to see if I could get to the door to the bedroom and maybe hide in there. Maybe find something to hurt him with, or maybe just find my cellphone. It was in there on the nightstand.

"Too bad she has to die, Deedee. Too bad."

"Just don't hurt her pretty face, Papà."

"I won't," he said and pulled out the scalpel from his pocket. He stormed towards me and I shrieked in fear. I managed to duck down just in time and the scalpel landed in the wall, cutting up the nice, and probably expensive, painting of a beach chair and hat.

Dr. Rosetti grunted, then reached down and grabbed me by the throat. He was panting and growling as he pulled me up and held me against the wall.

"She's fast, Deedee. But not fast enough."

"Not fast enough, Papà."

Dr. Rossetti stared into my eyes with such strong anger and hatred, it scared me senseless. "Please," I said.

His grip tightened around my neck. I could hardly breathe. I gasped and sputtered. "Pleeas…"

There was a strange sound…Like the cracking of a melon. Suddenly, the doctor's eyes changed drastically. His facial expression froze. Blood sputtered out of his mouth and onto my face. Then the grip on my neck loosened and I fell to the ground with him on top of me and the patched-up skull fell onto my face. I screamed and pushed it away.

Then I saw him.

"Victor!"

He was standing behind the doctor. His hand was still holding onto the shaft of the axe that was now in the doctor's back. Blood had spurted onto his face. Behind Victor, glass was shattered all over the floor.

"The fire axe," I stuttered and got up.

Victor was staring at the dead doctor and paid no attention to me. I grabbed the phone from the floor and dialed the operator.

58

April 2014

"
W
HAT A MESS."

Officer Del Rossi scratched his hair underneath his hat. He looked baffled. The doctor was still on the floor of my suite, in a pool of his own blood. Del Rossi had sent his officers downstairs to search the doctor's cabin to find Christoffer. I was still shaking from the attack and fear that something had happened to Christoffer.

Please, let him be alright. Poor boy. Please, tell me he is okay.

"What is that on his shoulder?" he asked.

"I haven't the faintest idea. But he called it Deedee."

"Very well then. We'll have to secure the entire suite and search for evidence."

"What about the boy?" I asked. "What about Christoffer?"

I had barely finished the sentence before Officer Del Rossi's phone rang. He picked it up. "Yes, yes. Oh, you did? Well, excellent."

He put the phone back in his pocket and smiled.

"They found your boy," he said.

I breathed a sigh of great relief. "They found Christoffer? Is he alive?" I asked with my heart in my throat.

"Yes. He was asleep when they got there. They're bringing him back here."

I breathed in relief. I looked at Victor. He was sitting on the couch in the living room, looking at his shoes. I had tried to wash off the blood from his face, but he desperately needed a bath. And I was going to throw away his clothes after this. I had no idea how he was going to react to this. Having killed someone isn't something you just do, then move on as usual afterwards. Even if it was to save the life of your own mother. I was going to have a long talk with him later.

"That is really good news. The doctor didn't hurt him?"

"Not a scratch," was what my men said.

"Good. What a relief."

"Like I said, we'll need to seal off the suite to secure evidence. You'll have to stay somewhere else tonight."

"Well, I hardly think we'll be sleeping in here, even if they clean it up. It just doesn't feel right, if you know what I mean."

"You can sleep in our suite, all three of you."

I turned my head with a smile. "Dad!" I threw myself into his arms.

"Oh, baby. What happened here? What is that on the floor?" My dad turned his head to face my mother, who was standing in the doorway. "Ulla, don't come in here. It's awful. You shouldn't see this." My dad looked down at me. "Are you alright? Is Victor alright?"

"I think we are. Victor did this, Dad. Victor saved me. He took the fire-axe and planted it in the back of the guy."

"Victor did that?" my mother asked. She had stepped inside anyway, curious as she was. She covered her eyes. "That is really nasty."

"Well, I told you," my dad said. "How is Victor?"

"I don't know. He's sitting in there saying nothing. The policeman needs to take his statement, but he refuses to speak. I think I need to get him away from here. But the police need me here. I have to give my statement too."

"Let me take him," my mother said. Without waiting for my reply, she stormed into the living room and sat next to him. She spoke with him for a little while, then took his Pompeii-book in her hand. To my surprise, Victor seemed to listen to her. He got up and walked with her.

"We'll just be in our suite," my mom whispered as she walked past us. "I'll make sure he gets a bath too. Don't worry. You could use one as well, Emma. And a clean shirt. Yours is smeared with blood."

Then she left, with Victor walking right behind her. I was speechless. But also relieved.

"Emma?" a weak voice said behind me.

I turned and looked into Christoffer's gorgeous eyes. He was walking in, flanked by two officers. 

"Christoffer!" I grabbed him in my arms the way I always dreamed of grabbing Victor.

"Easy, you're crushing me," he laughed.

I loosened my grip, but didn't let go of him. "I'm so sorry. I'm just so happy to see you again. Don't think I'm ever letting go of you again."

E
PILOGUE

T
HE TRIP ENDED IN
S
ICILY.
Once the police were done interviewing everyone and examining everything, they allowed the ship to dock in the port of Palermo. Everyone was told to get their things and leave the ship. The cruise line told people to get on a bus and be transported to another ship they had docked close-by. But for me and my family, the trip was over. I was done with sailing and all any of us wanted to do was to go home.

Morten met us in Palermo and we stayed there for four more nights, waiting to get on a flight home. We stayed in a nice small local hotel where the food was great and there was solid ground under our feet. Christoffer was very upset and cried a lot the first day or two. I let him use my phone to talk to his mother as much as he needed to. On the third day, he seemed better and we went to the beach for a couple of hours.

In the afternoon, Officer Del Rossi called me. I was still at the beach and sat under a palm tree while talking to him.

"We know who he was," he said. "Apparently he was the father of a couple of conjoined children from Rome. The one was killed during the attempt to separate them and the other is still in a mental hospital…basically a vegetable. Apparently, Salvatore somehow, we still don't know how, lost them as children and didn't find them again until it was too late. He must have lost it by then and dug up the remains of his son Deedee. Apparently, he sewed the head onto his shoulder, pretending they were conjoined and took it on and off when he needed to. The wound was very infected. The twins were called Tweedledum and Tweedledee, after the nursery rhyme. Just Dumdum and Deedee as nicknames."

"Okay, that makes sense, I guess. And the victims had no connection to the twins after all? They were just random then? Because he wanted their skin?"

"Apparently, he was building a new body for his son. We found remains of what looked like the attempt to make a body or a suit or something made from the skin of his victims. But, not all of the victims were random, we think. Apparently, the Alessandrino's had a connection to the twins. Dr. Alessandrino was the one who separated the twins when one died during the surgery. It harmed his career badly. But, while Francesca Alessandrino was, indeed, planned, the rest seem to be random victims."

"He wanted the doctor to suffer for what he had done to his boys. He wanted them to feel the same pain he had felt," I said and looked at Morten, who was trying to teach Victor to snorkel.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Just me thinking out loud. Well, I'm glad you called and told me all this, officer. And I'm glad that it is all over. Let me know if there is anything more you need."

"I believe we can call this case closed now and move on. Have a nice trip home," he said. "I do hope you'll give our beautiful country another try one day. It truly has a lot more to offer than what you got to experience."

I laughed. "Of course I will. Thank you."

"Goodbye."

I hung up and sat for a little while, staring at my boyfriend and son trying to put on a snorkel. It seemed like Victor was getting used to having Morten around. It was good to know that they liked each other.

Christoffer was already in the water when Morten and Victor walked out to him and got in. I watched their snorkels move around in the water and chuckled. Victor seemed to like it. He stayed in for a long time. I stayed in the shade and went on Facebook to check on Maya. No new updates for two days now. I was sad that there were no new pictures or anything. I was worried about her. I didn't know what it was, but I had this feeling of unease inside of me. Like she needed me or something.

No, it was probably just me thinking my baby still needed me. I was a mother. It was only natural to think this, right? To be worried when your baby wasn't with you. To think they couldn't take care of themselves when you weren't around.

Of course it was. I was just being silly.

Christoffer had found something in the water and held it up in the air. My mom and dad clapped their hands when he ran to show them. I smiled. It was a nice ending to a terrible vacation after all. The next day, we would fly home and that would be it. It was over. I had spoken to Sophia and told her everything and, luckily, she wasn't angry with me at all. No, she was relieved that Christoffer was alright.