Thomas Enger: Scarred

It is where he has tended to leave it recently, on the small table next to the sofa where he often sleeps. And he sits down, focusing all his attention on the rectangular box from hell, knowing that it contains an arsenal of weapons and that every single one of them is out to get him.

He realises that he has forgotten to replace the batteries in his smoke alarms, but the moment has passed and he knows it won’t make any difference now. Henning closes his eyes and summons up all the courage he can. Come on , he says to himself, you know what you have to do, just take out a match and strike it.

Henning steels himself before he opens his eyes, shutting out everything but the matchbox. He picks it up and weighs it in his hand before he opens it and sees them lie there, every single one of them. The soldiers from hell.

Henning takes one out; he stares at the slim matchstick, which looks so tiny and innocent between his thumb and index finger. Then he puts the head to the side of the box, holds it there, senses the friction build up between his fingers and spread to the box, but the matchstick refuses to budge.

Henning pauses before he makes a second attempt and this time he feels the matchstick scrape against the strip before he lets go. But there is no flame.

Okay , he says to himself. That’s one all .

He presses the head of the matchstick against the side of the box and again the box nearly wins. But suddenly he realises that the box and the matchstick are no longer in contact. And what he sees next makes him hold his breath.

A flame.

A proud, bright flame.

He stares at the red and orange tongue as it eats its way quietly down the wooden splinter. He can barely believe he has done it. At last he has slain one of his demons. But he still has one lap left. The most difficult. It’s not enough to light the match. His body must feel the flames.

His fingers are starting to hurt as the heat approaches, but he has only one thought in his head and that is to endure. To grit his teeth. Fight his instincts and reflexes, and hold on.

And that is exactly what he does, he clings to the tiny bit of pine that is slowly losing its fight against the flame that creeps ever nearer the end, eating its way towards Henning’s fingers, and he is shouting now, he screams because it hurts so much, it hurts like hell, but he doesn’t let go. Not until the match has burned itself out. And Henning has large, red burns on his index finger and thumb.

He gasps for air. When he opens his eyes again and looks at the shrivelled, pathetic remains of a fallen soldier’s brave fight, it is as if a curtain has lifted and the light shines on a blurred image.

And Henning sees.

He sees .

And now he remembers too.

‘Tore Pulli,’ he mutters as his fingers clench into a fist. ‘You bastard.’

Thomas Enger is the author of Burned , the first novel of the Henning Juul series, which led to him being described as ‘one of the most unusual and intense talents in the field’ ( Independent ). As well as writing, he also composes music. He lives in Oslo.

BURNED

PIERCED

First published in 2014

by Faber and Faber Ltd

Bloomsbury House

74–77 Great Russell Street

London WC1B 3DA

This ebook edition first published in 2014

Originally published in Norway as Blodtåke by Gyldendal Norsk Forlag in 2013

Typeset by Faber and Faber Ltd.

All rights reserved

© Thomas Enger, 2014

Translation © Charlotte Barslund, 2014

Cover photograph © Jessica Islam Lia / Getty.

Match image © Kesu / Shutterstock

The right of Thomas Enger to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly

ISBN 978–0–571–27250–1