Chapter Five



Summer





Sunday 25th July 2010

I pushed myself up and wiped my tears away with the back of my hand. I was still in that room. This wasn’t a dream. “Good morning, Lily,” Rose said from the bed opposite mine. Good morning wasn’t what I would have called it. This was a morning from a nightmare – one that I couldn’t wake up from.

I smiled, though I was sure my mouth didn’t even move. What happened next? What was I supposed to do today? I wanted to say something to Rose, but I didn’t know what. I didn’t even know what I was thinking or feeling. Everything was still dream-like and seemed so unreal.

Rose smiled in sympathy and opened the half width wardrobe beside me. “Here, you can borrow some of Violet’s clothes until Clover gets you some new things.”

The blood drained from my face. Rose laid a pair of jeans an oversized lilac jumper on the bed. I shook my head. How could she expect me to wear the clothes of a girl I had witnessed being murdered not even twenty-four hours ago? “No,” I whispered. “I can’t.” My heard hammered in my chest.

She winced and nodded. “Right. Of course. I’m sorry, Lily, I wasn’t thinking.”

“You can borrow some of mine,” Poppy offered, and grabbed me a very similar outfit from her wardrobe.

“Okay, I’m going to have a shower. Poppy, can you explain to Lily, please?” Rose asked, and picked up her clothes and a towel. Explain what? I doubted I even wanted to know what she had to explain.

Poppy waited until we were alone and sat on my bed. “The morning routine,” she said. “We need to have a shower and be ready by eight, every morning. That’s when Clover comes down for breakfast.”

I shook my head in disbelief. “What? We have to dress up for him!” This was too crazy to be real. What the hell was wrong with him!

“It’s not dressing up exactly. He likes us to be clean, dressed respectfully, and have our hair and make-up done for when he comes. He likes us to look nice for him.”

My stomach turned. He was seriously fucked up. “I don’t want to look nice for him.”

“Honestly, Lily, neither do I. Trust me though, it’s better than the alternative.”

I gulped and closed my eyes. The answer to my next question was obvious but I still asked it. “What’s the alternative?”

“You know what happened to Violet,” she whispered, and looked over at the empty bed.

“He’ll kill me if I don’t look nice for him,” I thought aloud.

Poppy sighed. “He wouldn’t kill you for that the first time, but he would punish you.”

My heart stopped beating. “Punish?” I shook my head. Nothing made sense. Things like this happened in movies, not in real life. “I just want to go home.” I sobbed and squeezed my eyes closed, picturing Lewis’ face. “I want to see Lewis.”

“Is he your boyfriend?” I nodded and sniffed. “Do you love him?”

“Yes.” I had been in love with him for ages before we got together. He was so easy going and fun to be around. He could also stress over silly little things and was fiercely protective of the people he loved.

She looked down and played with her fingers, smiling sadly. “That’s nice.”

“He’ll find me,” I stated confidently. Lewis wouldn’t just sit back, he would do everything he possibly could to find me. So would my family.

“Let’s hope so.”

Poppy wasn’t as messed up as Rose. Would she help me do something to him so we could escape? I wanted to fire questions at her right away but I knew I had to find out more. I had to be sure she definitely wanted to get out before I said anything. He would surely kill me if Poppy told him what I wanted to do.

“Anyway, you need to leave your hair natural. He doesn’t like when you mess with it too much, and only wear a small amount of make-up, just a little mascara.” I felt sick. Dressing up for another man – a sick murderer – make me want to throw up.

Rose came back into the room and fussed around, straightening her bed sheets. Would I turn into her after three years? Sighing, I went to the bathroom to shower and get ready. There was no point in having a shower before bed and again in the morning, but I wasn’t going to argue over that. I let the water spray over my body for a few minutes and then got out.

Standing in front of the half steamed up mirror I could almost pretend I was at home, getting ready for a date with Lewis or a night out with friends. I brushed the mascara over my eyelashes and worried how much I should use. Not too much that I looked like a hooker, but enough so my eyelashes stood out. Would he ‘punish’ me for wearing too much or too little? I sighed. Yesterday my biggest worry was which top I should wear to the gig. I dressed in the clothes Poppy gave me and dried my hair. Looking in the mirror, I barely recognised myself. I looked exhausted. The dark circles under my eyes made me look so much older than sixteen.

Dropping my head, I turned away. Looking at myself was too depressing. I hadn’t even been down here one day and I already felt like a different person. Poppy passed me as I walked out of the bathroom. It was her turn to get ready for him.

I stopped in the living room area and watched Rose frying bacon and eggs on the cooker. She worked so efficiently, humming as she turned the bacon rashers over. The scene reminded me of my mum making the full English breakfast on a Sunday morning. My heart squeezed. What would Mum be doing now? Not cooking, that was for sure.

Rose grabbed a silicone spatula and flipped the eggs over. Everything in the kitchen had been chosen carefully. In fact, everything in the whole cellar had been chosen carefully. There was nothing sharp or dangerous. Nothing we could use to escape or hurt him with. The only thing I could think of was poisoning him. There was plenty of cleaning products. But how could you not smell the powerful scent of bleach? And, even if we did poison him there was no guarantee he would die down here. If he died in the house, we would eventually starve to death down here. It seemed hopeless without Rose and Poppy on my side.

I sat down on the sofa and curled up in a little ball. We weren’t too far away from my village, we didn’t drive for too long. Surely, the police would check this place out?

The bathroom door opened, making me jump and my heart race. Poppy smiled briefly and went to help Rose dish up. The food smelt good and I was hungry, but the thought of eating made my stomach turn. That same noise from cellar door echoed through the room and I froze.

He’s coming. I took a deep breath and clenched my shaking hands together.

“Morning flowers,” he said, and smiled warmly as he came down the stairs. He was holding a beautiful bunch of white calla lilies. I sank back into the sofa as he approached me. “For you, Lily,” he said, holding the flowers out.

I looked to Rose and the Poppy, pleading with them to help. Rose nodded towards the flowers once, and I knew I had to accept them. Just play along, Summer. I stood up and slowly reached my trembling hand out and took the lilies from him. “Thank you,” I said quietly, and stepped back, hitting the side of the sofa.

“You don’t have to be so shy, Lily. We’re a family. Why don’t you put those in water now.” He frowned and his eyes darkened. “I don’t want them to die.” Rose and Poppy looked away quickly went back to preparing the breakfast. What was that?

So I wouldn’t make him angry, I grabbed the empty vase and filled it with water. It was made from plastic, but was a very good glass imitation. Unless you held it you would never tell. I threw them in the vase and placed it between the weltering red poppies and pink roses. The violets that were there yesterday had gone, and so had the vase. What did that mean?

I sat in the seat I was at yesterday, opposite him. Every muscle in my body ached where I had been tensing up. The physical pain was actually welcomed, it was almost a distraction from what was happening.

“Let’s eat then,” Rose said.

The fried food did nothing to settle my stomach. I wanted to puke. I could feel his eye on me. It made my skin crawl. My mind quickly flicked back to Lewis. I wondered what he was doing. Usually he would still be asleep, but I doubted he would be now. My parents always sat around drinking endless cups of coffee on weekend mornings before they did anything. Would they have made a flask up while they searched for me?

“Lily?” Someone called, snapping me out of my daydreaming. He, Rose and Poppy were all staring at me.

“Sorry,” I whispered, and moved my food around on the plate to look like I was doing something with it. Did all attention have to be on him?

“So Clover, what have you got planned for today?” Rose asked, as if this was a normal situation. How could she ask him things like that so casually? I wasn’t even sure if she was afraid of him anymore. Was she too lost to see what he really was?

He smiled at her, almost lovingly. “After I’ve caught up with a few things for work, I’ll be going out.” He worked? Well of course he did, he must have to work to support five people. He didn’t seem like a particularly social person though. Where would he be going out? To find someone to replace Violet? I wanted to cry for the next girl, whoever she was.

“Why don’t you tell Lily about your job? She looks a little confused,” Rose suggested.

His eyes flicked to me and he smiled. My stomach churned. “I’m an accountant for a solicitors in town.” I nearly laughed. He worked for a solicitors so he must have been familiar with the law. How ironic. The other side of him – his job – it all seemed so normal. No one would guess that this well dressed, polite accountant led a secret sadistic second life. He must sit at his desk every day, chat with his co-workers and do his job, then go home to the women in his cellar.

“You should eat now, Lily. We don’t want you getting any slimmer.”

He stared at me for a second, daring me to disobey him. Gulping the fear away, I cut off a small piece of the sausage and popped it in my mouth. I didn’t want to make him angry like Violet did so I forced the food down and prayed I wouldn’t be sick. The food slid down my throat making me gag.

“Right, Flowers, I need to leave for work. Have a good day and I’ll see you for dinner. Roast chicken tonight, Rose.”

“Yes, Clover.” She agreed, and nodded her head.

He stood up and kissed Poppy and Rose on the cheek. Please not me, please. My heart was beating out of my chest. “Goodbye, Lily.” He walked up the stairs and I breathed a big sigh. What was I going to do if he ever did try to kiss me?