Read When the Devil Holds the Candle for Free Online

him into a corner. I've hung an old potato sack over the window. A bare bulb hangs from the ceiling. He's lying on his back with his arms at his side. He's no longer handsome. As I've said so often, physical beauty is a fragile gift. I myself have little to lose. I know that I'm ugly. No one has ever said as much out loud, but I can see it in people's eyes when I meet their gaze: that dead look they give me. "Why can't you fix yourself up?" Runi asks me, annoyed. It scares her that I don't fight back. Let the young people be sleek in peace, is what I think now. Like Andreas—he's young and sleek. Well, not anymore. My thoughts are with him; it's not as if he's been forgotten. He'll never be forgotten. But as for myself, I'm not so certain.

Chapter 4
    Andreas smoked Craven A cigarettes, not Prince or Marlboro, like other people. Every time he was out of smokes he'd go to a kiosk, lean forward and say "Craven." And behind the counter they would nod and search the shelves. Not many people bought that brand. He sought attention wherever he went, but as soon as he got it, he rejected it. Zipp himself was not fussy, in fact, he had no specific preferences about anything. He couldn't really tell the difference between a Prince and a Marlboro, or between Coke and Pepsi. He had to look at the name on the label. He wondered if other people were lying, or if they actually were more canny than he was. Maybe even Andreas was lying—he wasn't altogether trustworthy. Something was lacking. He could never say "One time last year" or "Last Saturday" or "Dammit, Zipp, guess what happened yesterday!" He never talked about anything in the past. Only about the present moment, or what was to come. And it wasn't because what had happened in the past was too awful to talk about; that wasn't it. Zipp ought to know—they'd been hanging out together for eleven years. But had he ever heard Andreas say: "Do you remember that time?" No, and that would never happen.
    "In 2019," Andreas said, "we'll be thirty-nine years old. Have you ever thought about that?"
    Zipp shrugged. No, he hadn't, and he didn't feel like doing the arithmetic, but it was probably about right. Almost forty.
    "So what?"
    Andreas studied the pavement ahead. "By then human beings will have colonized several of the planets. All of the animals on earth will be extinct. The air will be lethally polluted, and the first replicants will be living among us without our knowing."
    "You've been watching too many videos," Zipp said. "We need money, man!"
    Andreas read aloud what it said on a poster on a wall: "Saga Sun Trips. Clean air, crystal clear water. I know," he said. "Drive over to Furulund."
    He issued the order in a gentle manner, as if Zipp were many years his junior. It did not occur to Andreas that Zipp might contradict him, at least not with any seriousness.
    "Furulund? Why there?"
    "It's quiet out there."
    "But what about the money, Andreas!"
    "Just so," he said calmly.
    Zipp made a U-turn, and Andreas pulled a comb out of his pocket and started grooming his unruly hair.
    "Out to get the ladies?" Zipp teased. "Someone younger for a change?"
    Andreas struggled with his curls. "Shut up and drive."
    Zipp drove the Golf as fast as it would go, past Dynamite Industries and along the fjord. Andreas remained alert. After five minutes he told Zipp to slow down. A cyclist was coming in the other direction, a man on a racing bike. He wore a touring backpack, a helmet, and cycling gloves, and he was moving at quite a speed. Andreas dismissed this possibility and stared through the windshield. They were approaching a public park, made up of a decent swimming area, tables and benches, and several large permanent barbecues that were always in use during the summer.
    "Turn right," Andreas said.
    "There's just a lousy kiosk down there, and it's closed for the autumn," Zipp objected.
    "There are people here," Andreas said. "It's a tourist area. If we're lucky, we'll find an old lady with a