The Girl Who Died by Ragnar Jonasson (ap literature book list .txt) 📕

try to sleep in sub-zero temperatures tonight? Good luck with that …’ His tone was acid.

‘We must be able—’ Gunnlaugur began but Daníel interrupted:

‘Why the hell’s the hut locked? Aren’t these refuges supposed to be for people in our situation? We’ll die of exposure if we can’t get in!’

‘Calm down, Daníel,’ Helena said. ‘No one’s going to die of exposure.’

Once again, tensions were rising among the group.

From the moment he’d stepped off the plane Daníel had started regretting his decision to take part in this weekend trip, and the feeling had grown steadily worse. He would have given anything to be at home in his little flat in London with his new girlfriend. She was an actress too, fifteen years younger than him, and already more successful than he was, though he wouldn’t admit to the fact in anyone else’s hearing.

‘Should we try calling—try the phone?’ Gunnlaugur asked.

‘We’re in the highlands, Gunnlaugur,’ Ármann said flatly. ‘We’re alone here. Miles from the nearest house—the nearest person. We just need to face up to the fact and sort this out ourselves. No one’s coming to rescue us—or not any time soon …’

‘It’s a bloody pain that there’s no phone signal here,’ Daníel muttered, more to himself than the others.

But Ármann heard and replied: ‘We were aware of that. I mean, wasn’t that the plan? To be in the middle of nowhere together and try to switch off for a while? That was the whole idea, wasn’t it?’

Helena intervened: ‘Just leave it, guys. Look, we need to get this door open, make ourselves comfortable and get some whisky down our throats before bed. So can we concentrate, please?’

‘It’s a pretty flimsy door,’ Gunnlaugur pointed out. ‘We could probably …’

‘We’ll break open the key box. We won’t do anything stupid. Then we’ll buy a new box to replace it. End of story.’ Ármann took the shotgun off his back.

Daníel jumped. It wasn’t that he was actually expecting Ármann to shoot anyone; it was just an involuntary reaction.

‘No need to worry, mate,’ Ármann said with a grin, but in this strange situation Daníel had the feeling that his words were charged with meaning. There was an indefinable smell of fear in the air, among the thickly falling flakes.

Ármann raised the barrel of the gun and started hammering at the box, again and again, until it came loose, then kept on bashing at it until he could finally extract the key.

‘Right,’ he said firmly. ‘It worked. Now we can relax a bit.’

He put the key in the lock and after a brief struggle to turn it, opened the door. They were met by pitch darkness.

‘Well, let’s get inside.’

Helena didn’t wait to be told twice and almost pushed past Ármann.

Gunnlaugur followed behind, in no apparent hurry. Daníel patiently awaited his turn. At times Daníel wondered if Gunnlaugur was only half alive, he was so placid.

Daníel directed his torch in front of him as he entered. It was hard to work out the size and layout of the hut with his friends’ torch beams flashing this way and that, criss-crossing the room.

He put down his backpack in the corner and drew a deep breath. It was chilly in here but a little warmer than it had been outside, and Daníel felt as if he could finally get enough oxygen in his lungs, finally catch his breath and relax a little …

It was then that Gunnlaugur gave a yell.

It was a piercing yell, so disturbing in the darkness and the quiet that Daníel felt an icy shiver running down his spine. There was a confused noise and it took him a moment or two to work out that Gunnlaugur had cannoned into Ármann, sending them both flying.

After that there was dead silence.

Daníel stood rigid with fear for a moment or two, trying to work out what had happened. Gunnlaugur had seen something, that much was obvious.

Daníel walked a little further towards the back of the hut, peering to both sides and illuminating the interior with his torch, but couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Then he shone the beam straight ahead, at the wall facing the front door.

The sight that met his eyes was so unexpected, so horrifying in its simplicity, that he felt as if his heart had missed a beat.

Daníel tried to cry out but couldn’t utter a word, couldn’t move, just stood there, staring.

He felt suddenly cold all over and the shivering spread through his body with terrifying speed.

He had never been so afraid in his life.

ALSO BY RAGNAR JÓNASSON

The Mist

The Island

Rupture

The Darkness

Blackout

Nightblind

Snowblind

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RAGNAR JÓNASSON is an internationally number-one bestselling author who has sold more than two million books in thirty-two countries worldwide. He was born in Reykjavík, Iceland, where he also works as an investment banker and teaches copyright law at Reykjavík University. He has previously worked on radio and television, including as a TV news reporter for the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service, and, from the age of seventeen, has translated fourteen of Agatha Christie’s novels. His critically acclaimed international bestseller The Darkness is soon to be a major TV series. You can sign up for email updates here.

    

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CONTENTS

Title Page

Copyright Notice

Dedication

Epigraph

Map

Author’s Note

Part One: Several Months Earlier

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

Chapter V

Chapter VI

Chapter VII

Chapter VIII

Chapter IX

Chapter X

Chapter XI

Chapter XII

Chapter XIII

Chapter XIV

Chapter XV

Chapter XVI

Chapter XVII

Chapter XVIII

Chapter XIX

Chapter XX

Part Two

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

Chapter V

Chapter VI

Chapter VII

Chapter VIII

Chapter IX

Chapter X

Chapter XI

Chapter XII

Chapter XIII

Chapter XIV

Chapter XV

Chapter XVI

Chapter XVII

Chapter XVIII

Chapter XIX

Chapter XX

Chapter XXI

Chapter XXII

Chapter XXIII

Chapter XXIV

Chapter XXV

Chapter XXVI

Chapter XXVII

Chapter XXVIII

Chapter XXIX

Chapter XXX

Chapter XXXI

Chapter XXXII

Chapter XXXIII

Chapter XXXIV

Chapter XXXV

Chapter XXXVI

Chapter XXXVII

Chapter XXXVIII

Chapter XXXIX

Part Three: Four Weeks Later

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

Teaser

Alos by Ragnar Jónasson

About the Author

Copyright

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this