What was he telling her? It could not be true.
“They found a way to make people remember what their fathers or grandfathers had done in their lives. It is like having a past life experience, except it’s as if you were there. It’s mad. I can remember his mother, his first school, his girlfriends, his wife, his affairs. I can remember the way he felt, his beliefs, his anger. Lisa, I can remember my grandmother—he raped her. She was just a girl, and he took her as if she were a vessel for his amusement.”
Again, she shook her head.
“Sometimes there is no me. I become lost in him, in his memories, in his thoughts. And when that happens, I lose control. He takes over. I can watch, but I can’t stop him. Then a while ago, in the apartment, something changed. He got a headache, and suddenly, I remembered who I was. Can you remember, maybe? When I fell in the kitchen? When I told you they had drugged me? I got control back for a few minutes. When you hit him, hit me in the bedroom, it helped me to take control back from him—it has something to do with the pain! Lisa, you have to believe me. I would never hurt you. I love you. Please, Lisa, you know that it’s true!”
Lisa had once read a book about schizophrenia, and this sounded a lot like it.
Michael is a schizophrenic, she realised in horror.
“Michael, I think you are ill. You need help. You need to get help, Michael.”
“No, Lisa, you’re wrong. There is nothing wrong with me; it’s them. They have done this to me.”
Michael held his head in his hands. He had no right to hope that she would believe him.
Would I have believed her, if our roles were reversed? He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself, only to feel the spectre of Hofmann creeping up on him again.
Moving quickly across the room, he picked up the glass from the bedside table and hurled it against the wall. The glass shattered on impact, the shards creating a firework of reflected light, falling to the floor, spent and broken. Swiftly picking up the largest splinter from the floor, Michael pressed the point into the palm of his hand, gripping it tightly.
“Michael! What was that? Are you all right?”
Michael fought the pain, but knew it to be a necessary evil.
“Yes, yes, I’m sorry. It was him, he’s fighting me. I had to stop him. The only way I have found is pain. When I am in pain, I become more lucid, and I can keep the upper hand. Lisa, you do believe me, don’t you? Please!”
She thought about it for a minute. What if he has gone mad? What if he is just waiting for me to open the door so that he can stab me with that glass? But what if he is telling the truth? I should give him a chance? I owe him that much, don’t I? It’s a leap of faith, but I have to trust him one last time. She turned the key, the lock clicked, and she prepared herself for the worst.
The door opened slowly around a creaky hinge, to reveal the figure of a man standing in the middle of the bedroom. Lisa stood in the rose glow of the bathroom light, tears running down her cheeks, the top of the white towel she had wrapped around herself stained by makeup. He had never been so happy to see her in his life. Taking a step back to give her some space, he hoped to convince her she had nothing to fear. She looked down at his hand and gasped at the blood trickling through his fingers and dropping onto the cream bedroom carpet, a small puddle of red. He followed her gaze, looking to the floor, but seemingly unconcerned.
I know this man; this man is safe. She had no idea how she knew this, but her body was already relaxing. An involuntary reaction to the man she loved.
“It’s nothing to worry about, darling. It’s how I keep control, the pain helps me.” He said it as if it made total sense.
Staring from him to the shattered glass on the floor, to the messed up bed, and back to Michael, she realised she had to make her choice.
This could be the most dangerous decision of her life. If she was wrong, it could very well cost her, her life.
But without him, I have no life!
“What are we going to do?” she asked.
As she entered the room, Michael moved carefully past her and into the bathroom. Taking a hand towel, he wrapped it tightly around his hand. The tip of the glass shard moved deeper into his fleshy palm, and he welcomed the new burst of pain with a grimace and a grin into the bathroom mirror. When he turned back towards the bedroom, Lisa was sat on the end of the bed. The tears had stopped, and she was waiting for him.
“Lisa, we have to stop them. These are evil men, and they are going to become more proactive if I allow Hofmann to join them. He is the catalyst. I have to find a way of destroying him.”
“And what if you can’t?”
Michael looked her straight in the eyes, his resolution plain to see.
“I can—”
“No, Michael! There has to be another way.”
“There probably is, darling, but I won’t let him use me. Lisa, we have to stop them all, not just Hofmann. Ecker, Reichard and von Klitzing are treating their sons with the virus right now. In a week’s time we will have another three lunatics to deal with.”
“Maybe it won’t work; it didn’t work with you.” Her voice lacked conviction.
“They have so many plans, Lisa. They are moving into politics. It sounds like they already have hundreds of politicians in their pockets. They are going to manipulate the stock markets, bankrupt banks. It will create unrest throughout Europe.”
“Can they do that?”
“They have so much money, so much influence, who knows what they are capable of? They have been getting away with murder for months, probably years.”
“What murder? Who have they murdered? Michael, you’re scaring me!”
“They have been murdering people in their companies, managers.”
“What? Why?”
“They don’t fit, they are not of Arian descent. Lisa, they are killing women and children. Von Klitzing is in charge of it, and I am sure that’s only the tip of the iceberg. There are things going on that they have not told Hofmann about yet, I am sure of it.”
“What will you do? We must go to the police!”
“But what would I tell them? No, we need some proof first. I am going to go back. If I pretend I am Hofmann, I can try to find out exactly what they are planning, get some of their papers, some evidence out of that building.”
“Michael, there was a policeman, here at the house!”
“What, what did he want?”
“He wanted to talk to Britt Petersen, but it was about Meyer-Hofmann. He didn’t want me to tell you because you worked for them. Maybe the police are onto them?”
“Maybe, maybe. But I still want to get some proof before we go to them. Have you got his number?”
“Oh… no. I gave it to Mrs Petersen. She was here the other day, but I remember his name. Müller, Müller was his name, and he was CID, a detective. It shouldn’t be hard to find him.”
“Good. That’s great, Lisa! You are the best. Thank you, darling, thank you for believing me!”
He moved towards her, cautiously at first, but as he saw her move towards him, he almost jumped on her.
For a second, Lisa thought she had been tricked. He was on her so quickly, but now, in his arms, she could feel his warmth, his love, and she melted into him.
“I could try to find out if there has been any wrongdoing in the books. If they are willing to kill people, you can bet that their accounts are full of illegal dealings.”
Letting her go a little so that he could see her face, Michael looked down at her.