Poppy sighed. “I don’t know why exactly, but he says flowers are pure and beautiful. Nature is beautiful and clean. I think that’s why he’s doing all this.” She waved her hand around, gesturing to the prison we were trapped in. “This is his idea of a perfect, pure family.”
“Locking four girls and four bunches of flowers in a cellar?”
Poppy half smiled. “I’m not saying it makes sense. Not to us anyway, and it’s just my theory.”
“I think it’s an accurate theory,” Rose said.
I shook my head. “What’s wrong with him?”
Rose scratched the top of her head. “I don’t know, Lily.”
“Summer,” I snapped. Rose flinched, and I instantly felt guilty. It wasn’t her fault. “Sorry, I just don’t like being called that.”
“You are Lily now. I’m sorry. I’m only trying to help you. If you keep holding on to who you used to be, you’ll go crazy. Accept this life. It’ll be a lot easier once you do.” Rose got up and walked into the bedroom. I dropped my head to the floor. I would never accept this life, not ever.
As soon as Rose took her clothes into the bathroom to shower, I sprinted for my bed. I didn’t want to talk to her again tonight. Poppy followed me and sat on the end of my bed. “Lily, you need to shower first.”
I got in bed and pulled the cover over myself. “How the hell will he ever know? Screw the shower. It’s ridiculous.” I didn’t want a bloody shower. I wanted to go home. At the very least I wanted them to be normal and make it a little more bearable down here. Violet was murdered, right in front of me, and neither of them had mentioned it beyond the little “It’ll be okay” remark they’d said right after they cleaned up her blood.
They either didn’t care or they really had managed to shut everything out. I couldn’t do that. Every time I closed my eyes I saw her lifeless body on the floor. I could still hear her scream as he stabbed her. She tried to get us out because not only could she not do it anymore, but also she was concerned for me. She didn’t want me to go through what he had already done to her three times.
I felt sick with guilt. I should have been stronger and told her we would shut ourselves out and be Violet and Lily together until we were found, then maybe she would still be here. I missed her much more than I should miss a virtual stranger, but I felt like I’d known her ages. She let me in and told me things about her that she clearly didn’t speak about; she tried to help me escape. I felt so alone without her.
Friday July 30th (Present)
I woke up in complete darkness. The quilt covered most of my head, making me uncomfortably hot. I threw the cover off and sighed. Last night I dreamed of Lewis. He was here too, only we weren’t trapped, and I wasn’t scared of him. Lewis and I were lying on that sofa watching movies. He was playing with my hair, the way he had done a million times before. Clover wasn’t here, but Rose and Poppy were. I wanted it to mean that Lewis would find us. I wished it were a sign that we were going to be okay.
I forced myself to get out of bed, and seeing the small, obsessively clean, matching room made me realize how far away from home I was. My room was messy, really messy to a point that when I tidied, I didn’t know where anything was anymore. Taking a deep breath, I tried to stop myself crying. I was tired of crying and feeling exhausted. It wasn’t getting me anywhere. I needed to focus and stay strong if I had any chance of getting out of here. I had to play family.
The bedroom door flew open and Poppy walked in. “Oh good, you’re up. You need to—”
“Shower and get ready,” I said, finishing her sentence. “Yeah, I know.” Poppy gave me a quick, fake smile and walked out of the room, probably to clean for the millionth time this morning. I wondered what he would do if he came back and the whole place was a mess, if we smeared food on the walls and emptied the trash on the floor. Violet should have been in the room too, running around getting the final things ready for breakfast. Rose and Poppy didn’t even seem to notice; they picked up the slack as if Violet—Jennifer—had never even been here.
***
I emerged from the bathroom exactly how I was instructed to look and dress, and sat down on the sofa. How had they not gone insane by now? Years of doing this every single day and they were still sane. I couldn’t imagine what I’d be like if I was still stuck in three years’ time.
“Want me to do anything?” I offered.
Rose turned and smiled warmly, seeing me for the first time. “No, thank you. We’re all done. Why don’t you have a seat? He’ll be down soon.” She said everything in such a matter-of-fact way. Open your eyes, Rose.
I sat down and played with my fingers—waiting. The seconds ticked by on the clock, and I tensed. He was coming soon, but I didn’t know how soon. That noise I feared so much rang through my ears, and the cellar door was unlocked and pushed open. Now. I held my breath and my heart hammered in my chest.