"I remember how she'd look at me." "There was something about it." "She'd seen something." "Maybe it was because I always wanted to be near her." "She never said anything about it." "She always acted as if everything was fine." "Every time I'd look into the mirror, I knew that someone else was looking at me." "Was I really me?" "Or was I her?" "Who was that girl that looked so much like me?" "TWO EYES STARING" "I have to go again." "Can you take over?" "How was your day?" "Barbara, from the Academy came to the shop. "Is this what you do now?"" "She doesn't know what's she's on about." "You're a mother now." "That's what she said." "I'll be back around 11." "Have fun and don't worry." "If I'll be asleep, pinch me in the cheek." "I'm coming." "Bye, Lisa!" "What are we going to do?" "You had to go to bed early, right?" "No, we were going to Hester." "Of course, you're right!" "But first you'll cook for me, little pipsqueak." "900 ml of milk, two eggs..." "Milk." "Hey, what's happening?" "What's wrong, darling?" "Come." "Stir the eggs." "Yes..." "No, I understand." "I just wanted to know if she's coming too." "Are you sure?" "Who told you that?" "Lisa, honey..." "Leave mummy for a moment." "She's a bit sad." "Her mother, your grandmother, died." "Who?" "We don't know her." "The one who lives in Belgium." "Go play in your room." "Are you alright?" "She was buried a month ago." "That's terrible." "But I'm in her will." "Why don't you turn on the light?" "Darling..." "Oh, God." "How did he know we were coming?" "Let me do the talking." "Chris." "Hi." "Paul." "Hello." "Geert." "Her couse." "Sorry?" "Her cousin." "Ah, ok..." "Well, you haven't changed much." "Neither have you." "Did they tell you I was coming?" "Never mind." "I don't want to know about the family." "This is Peter." "Hello, Peter." "I'll have a look inside." "Are you coming?" "Lisa, come." "Jesus!" "Jesus!" "Her mother never did much about it." "She almost gave it all to the nuns." "Tough luck for the church, right?" "I can have it all removed if you want." "That's up to Christine." "A pity she didn't visit anymore." "Her mother suffered a lot." "Shall we have a look around?" "Great." "Unbelievable!" "It's so big, it could have been an orphanage." "It all has to be done up, but other than that..." "I don't know." "No?" "All this... old junk." "I can fix it up." "I don't understand you." "You've always wanted to have a studio." "No rent." "Away from our tiny house." "I want you to quit your job." "Photocopying all day long..." "Do what you really want." "And how do we do that?" "I don't know." "I'll find work." "Antwerp isn't far." "And neither are Wouters and Hendrix." "And... what's his name?" "Dries van Loten?" "There's plenty." "Before you know it, you're in Paris." "Lisa!" "Lisa!" "I'll only go to Belgium if Hester comes too." "We haven't decided yet." "And you can make new friends here." "Hester's my best friend." "Her daddy and mummy love her a lot too." "They'd be very sad if she suddenly disappeared." "You'll find a new friend." "Do you want to go to the grave?" "No, later." "TWO MONTHS LATER" "Look!" "Peter!" "Hello, Peter." "You can go with him." "It's like in the Netherlands here." "It's easy to make friends." "All the children speak Dutch." "Mummy will pick you up, alright?" "Have fun!" "Park there, please." "There?" "Do you like the house?" "Is it nice there?" "She must have thought:" ""Now that the old woman's dead..." ""I'll show my face."" "Do you realise how long she'd been laying there?" "She was green by the time they found her." "I'm here for the job interview." "Do you know...?" "They'll be ready in a minute." "Paul, answer, please." "They're running very late here." "I can't pick up Lisa and the school's not answering either." "I don't know how long... call me back." "You can come now." "Bizarre." "But very personal." "It reminds me a bit of Broadhurst." "Some things." "Yes, I know her." "Maybe she inspired me once." "But I think Broadhurst's more romantic." "What do you think?" "I think it's pretty good." "Do you know it's not from 9 to 5?" "Yes, but I like that a lot." "And when something's really urgent?" "When we're presenting the collection?" "Do you have children?" "Why?" "Is that...?" "That's almost impossible." "No." "But I have no children." "Don't you want children?" "This is very important for me." "Wait a moment." "Good job, buddy!" "I could watch for hours." "What do you mean, "I'm late"?" "You didn't pick her up?" "No, I didn't see any message." "Yes... alright." "I'll go get her." "Have you seen my daughter?" "Could she still be inside?" "Hello, little girl." "Shall we go have a waffle?" "Or would you rather take the bus?" "Get on." "Hold tight." "40!" "45!" "50!" "Hold tight!" "And?" "What?" "What?" "I've got it!" "I'm proud of you." "Sorry about all this." "I couldn't say no." "I felt so bad." "It was a drama." "What did she say?" "She said: "Everything always turns out ok." And she's right." "She's got that from her father." "Sorry, I had to." "Don't worry, she's asleep." "Let's celebrate with a glass of wine." "DIARY 1979 CHRISTINE ROMPAEY" "You have red hairs in your whiskers." "Did you know a man's whiskers start to glow when he gets turned on?" "Really?" "Feel." "I wish you were here, Domlook." "DOMLOOK MY DEER FRIENT" "Lisa!" "What a beautiful ponytail." "Will you help me get rid of some old carpet?" "We can destroy it completely." "And the shed needs to be cleaned up." "Maybe we'll find an old treasure." "Well?" "Yes, Christine speaking." "Hello." "Of course, I'll do it right away." "No, no problem." "I'll get to it right away." "Don't worry." "Bye." "Don't look at me like that, darling." "Darling, I'm sorry." "Mummy has to work now." "We'll do it tomorrow, alright?" "See you later." "Who's there?" "Who are you?" "Don't be afraid." "Such beautiful hair." "Alright... the litmus test." "Did you go into mummy's workshop?" "No." "Tell me the truth!" "Mommy's very sad about what you did." "It's very important to her." "I didn't do anything." "Really." "Maybe the girl from the basement did it." "Who?" "The girl from the basement..." "Lisa, listen to me carefully." "Domlook lived with us for a long time, but he wasn't real, remember?" "Domlook pinched chocolates, Domlook broke toys." "You know what I mean." "She's lived here for a long time." "She was here when we moved in." "Shall we cook some food?" "Do you want to sleep in our bed tonight?" "It will be fine." "Isn't mummy coming?" "She has to work." "She'll be home very late." "Shit..." "Two people are celebrating their birthday." "The children have come." "But the girl's laying bent over..." "What is she seeing with her black eyes?" "What's not working here?" "Hello, little girl." "Having fun?" "Dad..." "What's not working here?" "Two people are celebrating their birthday, but a girl's laying bent over." "She has black eyes." "What's not working here?" "I know that riddle." "About the guy in the phone booth, right?" "Her heart?" "Her heart?" "Yes, her heart isn't working." "Didn't you know the answer?" "Are you dead?" "Are you mum's sister?" "I read about you in mum's diary." "You weren't nice at all." "You told her she could cut her doll's hair." "That it would grow back." "She acted like a baby." "She always made sure I got the blame." "Not true." "Is your mother nice to you?" "Do you want me to tell you something about your mother?" "About what she did?" "Something terrible." "No." "Go to sleep." "Give me that!" "KAREN MUST DIE" "Lisa?" "Lisa?" "Don't joke." "It's not funny." "Lisa, come!" "We have a surprise for you." "Wow, a rabbit!" "Can I keep it?" "At least until Christmas." "Of course you can keep it, darling." "What will you call it?" "Daisy." "That's a beautiful name." "Hey, Daisy!" "Come here?" "You're Daisy from now on." "Look, that's Lisa." "And we live there, with Lisa." "That's our little palace." "Daisy..." "You're sweet, aren't you?" "And beautiful." "Now we're together." "Shall I get you a beautiful dress?" "Wait." "Daisy?" "Are you there?" "Daisy, where are you?" "There you are, sweetie." "Daisy..." "Come." "That day, Karen told me the terrible story." ""That's why she doesn't love you," she said." "Each time she sees you, she remembers what she did." "That's what she used to kill me." "Hello." "Hester sent you a postcard." "Mummy?" "Why did we never visit grandma?" "Not now, darling." "I'm not in the mood." "Grandma wasn't very nice." "Why?" "Well..." "I don't really know." "It's hard to explain." "Children don't need to know everything." "Why do we live in her house then?" "Daddy wanted that." "Paul, take your shoes off." "They're dirty, damn!" "What did I want?" "Nothing." "Let's eat." "As she got older, she wanted to forget all about me." "Until you were born." "Each time she sees you, she's reminded of me... and of what she did." "Come on, little girl." "Hey, darling." "Daddy got you something." "What were you doing near the water?" "Are you alright?" "It's all Karen's fault." "Who?" "Karen?" "The girl from the basement." "This Karen..." "How long have you known her?" "Since about a week." "And why is she here?" "Did she tell you?" "Maybe because she's alone." "But now you have Daisy..." "It's all Karen's fault." "She pushed me." "She told me that mummy..." "What?" "And?" "She says you killed your sister." "What?" "I don't have a sister." "Have you been through my things?" "No." "This is the last time, Lisa." "The last time." "Mummy?" "What's wrong?" "It's me." "Lisa." "Lisa, are you there?" "Ah, there you are..." "Shall we clean up together?" "Let's clear out the crates." "Are we talking today?" "You can come now." "She didn't do anything, Paul." "She just looked." "I understand you're upset, but you're exaggerating." "She must have been scared." "This is different from that situation with Domlook." "I want to get out of that house." "I want to move back home." "What does that have to do with it?" "Mrs Doncker?" "You only have a slight concussion." "But we'd prefer to keep you for observation for a couple of days." "Yes." "Thanks." "What do we do now?" "Have a look around." "Peter lives here." "Maybe he wants to show you his room." "I'm here because..." "I wanted to ask you a few questions." "About the family... the past." "About Karen..." "What?" "Well..." "What can I say?" "Those two..." "Everybody thought it was strange." "Suddenly, they didn't get along anymore." "And ever since it happened..." "Yes, it was sad." "Chris was sent to a boarding school." "Her mother was upset about it." "She didn't show it... but if you'd have known her... you'd have seen it." "That's why she gave you the house." "Yes, and Karen..." "There are ghosts here." "Sometimes, it feels like they touch you." "See that door?" "No one has opened it for 20 years." "They're afraid to go in." "Go have a look." "No." "Don't go there!" "Let go off me!" "Let go off me, asshole!" "Let go off me!" "Lisa, what's wrong?" "What happened?" "This is where she died." "What a freak!" "It's ok." "It's ok." "Are you asleep?" "Darling, I..." "I've always told you ghosts don't exist." "When people die, that's it." "In the brain, electrical connections are made." "When that stops, you can't think anymore and you don't exist anymore." "Everything we see and imagine, comes from our mind." "I think she wants me to die." "Karen won't come between us, Lisa." "You're very strong." "We can handle this, you and me." "And Daisy." "Yes, and Daisy." "Come here, little rascal." "Is she here now?" "I mean..." "Normally, she's in the basement." "Let's go have a look together then." "Is she here?" "There?" "She's looking at us." "There's nobody here." "Nobody." "Let's go." "Yes, I understand." "I'm sorry too." "But I thought if you could..." "Yes, I should have told you earlier." "I'm sorry, but..." "Yes, but..." "Yes..." "Hello?" "She's reading a bit." "Are you alright?" "Yes, I'm alright." "You sound a bit sad." "They fired me." "Just now?" "Over the phone?" "Assholes!" "Oh well, who cares..." "Just keep looking for something else." "I saw..." "Geert the day before yesterday." "We were in the area, so I thought..." "He told me you did have a sister." "No, I don't want to talk about this." "I don't want to have anything to do with that part of my life." "I don't have to..." "It's just that you said you didn't have a sister." "She's dead!" "If I had a sister, she's dead now!" "End of story!" "Checking things behind my back, while I'm in hospital." "And with Geert!" "If she's dead, it's even more bizarre that you've never mentioned her!" "Everything's easy for you, isn't it?" "What do you mean?" "A few disagreements in the family... about certain opinions." "You rented your own room and everything was solved." "So what?" "I don't understand." "You're hiding half your past from me?" "No problem, I'm only your husband." "Sometimes you need to make a cut." "Total destruction." "I didn't kill anybody." "Moving here was a bad idea." "Hi." "Turn on a light." "KAREN MUST DIE" "Dream." "If you let me into your dreams, everything will be alright." "I'm sorry about earlier." "For me... it's in the past." "Do you understand?" "I had to close that book." "Or there would be no room for me." "Maybe we should return to the Netherlands." "Hey, Doncker!" "Yes, alright!" "I'll go back to work!" "He quit smoking last week." "It's not about you." "It's ok." "I'm not doing that well either." "It happened to me too, when I quit." "I've become a lot more serious." "Smoking..." "It's also bad for the children." "Do you have children?" "A girl." "She's 9 years old." "Do you smoke?" "She's not doing well lately." "Is she ill?" "No, but..." "No." "Strange things are happening." "Go ahead." "Is she sensitive to..." "these kinds of things?" "I mean..." "Does she think about these things a lot?" "The body is a house, like the soul." "When a room becomes empty, who will move in?" "She's not possessed, alright?" "That's not it." "Maybe I've got it wrong." "I have an aunt who's a nun." "She saw things when she was a missionary in Congo." "She saw a man who was possessed by dead people go into a trance." "And he was taken." "I know someone." "I know a man you should see." "I'll call him." "Don't leave her alone, even for a second." "I don't remember much of the rest of the afternoon." "Your eyes are my eyes." "Everything in my head became vague." "Your nose is my nose." "Your voice is my voice..." "Was I really me?" "Or was I her?" "Who was that girl that looked so much like me?" "But I remember drops." "Karen said we were like drops of water, but that sometimes one is bigger than the other." "Think about what you did!" "Mum, let me out!" "Let me out!" "You don't have to be in so much pain." "Go away!" "Please, go away!" "It's not your fault." "It's her fault." "She's always been like this." "Like Snow-white's evil mother-in-law." "It would be better if I were you." "Then you wouldn't feel anything." "I'm already dead anyway." "Sleep well." "If you let me into your dreams, everything will be alright." "That's it." "Sweet dreams." "Licence, please." "Competing with a hare?" "What was that?" "Are you competing with a hare?" "You're driving rather fast..." "I'm sorry, but I have to go home fast." "My girl's not doing well." "Dutch, I bet." "Open your coffers!" "Coffers?" "It's not your fault." "She's always been like that." "You can come out." "Go to your room." "We'll talk about it when your dad comes home." "And don't forget to clean up your room." "Karen?" "Lisa?" "Mummy?" "Come, we'd better go back." "Go to sleep." "Don't worry." "They'll recover from their injuries." "Your daughter and wife were lucky... that the rooms are big here." "Thanks." "She's gone crazy, Paul." "She's sick." "She killed the rabbit." "What?" "She opened the gas." "She opened the gas, Paul." "She tried to kill us." "I hear you!" "What do you want?" "That I call the police?" "She's sick!" "You don't know that." "How can you be sure it was her?" "That it was her fault?" "You think it's true, don't you?" "Of course not..." "Of course not." "Shall we go?" "No, not yet." "Will she wake up?" "No, this time it's for real." "Now, she's with me again." "Don't cry." "It's good." "There was no other way." "Go home now." "Daddy needs you." "I CAN'T GO ON" "REST IN PEACE, DEAR SISTER" "I'll be right back." "Stay in the car, alright?" "Geert..." "You shouldn't." "It belongs to the family." "Certain things belong to Karen..." "Thanks for everything." "We're going back tomorrow." "You don't have to thank me." "We'll see each other again, I guess." "Do you really want to give me this?" "Absolutely." "I don't think she wants them back after what happened." "Who?" "Karen." "Karen?" "Bad memories, I think." "Isn't she dead?" "What made you think that?" "No, no..." "She lives 15 km from here." "Where are we?" "Stay here." "Paul?" "You're Paul, right?" "Come." "I avoided you at the funeral." "I thought the family wouldn't like it." "Christine certainly wouldn't have." "We did everything together." "And then it became intolerable for her." "She said I was stealing her personality." "I couldn't handle that she wanted to be different from me." "We were one soul." "We both knew it would be better if the other one was dead." "One day, she cut my hair off." "That hurt me deeply." "To revenge myself, I stabbed her with a fork." "The next day, she brought me liquorice water." "I thought she wanted to apologise." "It was rat poison." "If she had put in a bit more, I would have been dead." "They told me I had been lucky." "She was sent to boarding school and then to Holland." "Our mother couldn't handle the thought of never seeing her again." "It felt like I got the blame, because I was the one who stayed." "And now she left us forever." "We'd better start packing." "And go home." "Sweetie, we've all been confused." "I'll tell you everything later." "Don't blame yourself for mummy's death." "It's not your fault." "Come." "I'll show you something." "This was mummy's." "She always had it with her." "All her life..." "It's yours." "I'll close the door." "Everything we see and imagine, comes from our mind." "I know you're there." "You're no longer allowed in my dreams!" "Maybe the girl from the basement did it." "Domlook took the chocolates, Domlook broke the toys..." "You know what I mean." "Don't cry, sweetie." "It's not your fault."