Wednesday, July 28th (Present)
Four days. I had been down here for four days and every single one of them had been the same. In the mornings we would shower and make breakfast. The days were spent cleaning, watching movies, and reading. I’d heard nothing more of the dressmaking and I didn’t want to bring it up in case one of them became suspicious. The weekdays were best—and best was a stretch, nothing down here was good—because we only saw him twice a day.
On Sundays he would take Rose into that room, Tuesdays it was Poppy, and apparently Wednesday—today—was Violet. I knew the time would come when I would have a day, and I still wasn’t sure if I should do something to get myself killed first. Was it already set? They probably knew which day was Lily’s but I didn’t want to know. I didn’t want to know any of it. Perhaps I could switch off enough to survive until I was found? I couldn’t believe that was something I now had to worry about.
So far he hadn’t expressed any interest in me other than a few polite, friendly exchanges. I hoped with every single part of my being that it would stay like that.
Poppy said he didn’t like things being “messy.” He liked even numbers, things that lined up. No one had mentioned what happened four days ago. I didn’t dare bring it up. All I knew was that there were still only four of us.
Yesterday Violet mentioned wanting to get out. She came into the bedroom while I was getting ready for bed, and while Rose and Poppy were doing a final wipe down of the counters—that were already sparkling clean—and said she couldn’t do it anymore. The same words she said to me the night something happened. This time when I asked her what she meant, though, she told me she “needs” to get out. Needs, not wants.
I’ve been trying to speak with her alone since, but it’s hard with Rose and Poppy always hanging around. Violet whispered that we could speak when they were doing lunch today as we passed each other outside the bathroom this morning.
I sat on the sofa, watching Rose and Poppy pull out pans and ingredients from the fridge as they planned to make something for lunch. Violet was in the bedroom, and I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to go in to her or if she was going to come and get me. Which would look less suspicious?
My heart raced in anticipation. I wanted to hear what she was going to say; I hoped she’d have a good plan, but I was also scared that we’d be overheard and that would ruin everything. We literally had one chance at this; if he knew what we were doing, he’d make it impossible for us to try again. We couldn’t risk him upping the security any more; I still had one last hope of him leaving the door unlocked by mistake.
Rose and Poppy moved around the kitchen, sprinkling cheese on slices of bread and heating a pan on the stove. We were having grilled cheese sandwiches? The bedroom door opened and Violet stuck her head out. “Can someone help with my hair, please?” she asked, pulling at the long black strands.
That was my cue. I stood. “I will,” I said, giving Rose and Poppy a quick, innocent smile, willing them to believe I was just trying to fit in and be helpful.
Neither of them said a word, they went back to cooking. My body relaxed; they weren’t suspicious. I closed the door behind me as I walked into the bedroom and leaned against it. Violet pulled her hair into a neat ponytail.
“Tonight,” she said. “We’re getting out tonight.”
My eyes widened in shock. I knew she wanted to escape, but I thought it’d be a well-planned-out escape attempt, not a “let’s just run for it.” “What? Tonight?”
She gulped, her eyes glazed over. “I can’t do it anymore, Lily,” she whispered, repeating the words she’d said to me a few times before. Her voice cracked with a dark, painful emotion that sent chills down my spine. “I can’t shut it off like they can,” she said, nodding her head toward Poppy and Rose in the kitchen next door. “They’re stronger than me; they’ve done this for longer. Poppy keeps telling me I’ll get through it and learn to live down here but it’ll never be living. ‘Be Violet’ is what she says; everything that happens, happens to Violet and not Jennifer. I can’t do it, though I can’t switch me off. Tonight, I have to leave.” Was that why they kept telling me to accept I was Lily? Were they training me to let go of Summer so I could survive what was coming? I bet that was why they never called each other by their real names. “Tonight,” she said.
Tonight before he raped her again. “How many times has he taken you in that room?”
Her eyes flicked to the floor and she blinked rapidly. When she’d composed herself, she looked up. “Three. I won’t let there be a fourth.”