Chapter Six
Summer
Sunday 25th July 2010
“Let’s get this cleaned up,” Rose said, clapping her hands together. I got up to help, to have something to do so I wouldn’t constantly think about my family and what he wanted. Rose washed the pans, plastic cutlery and dishes while I dried them, and Poppy put them away. We cleaned and tidied in silence. I had a million questions I wanted to ask though.
Finally, after the whole place was clean, we all sat on the sofa. The realisation of me helping them meant I was one of them was too much, and I burst into tears. I curled up into a ball and sobbed so hard, my lungs started to burn. This can’t be my life now.
“Oh, Lily, it’s going to be okay,” Poppy said, and rubbed my back.
“N-No. Not okay.” I sobbed harder. Tears poured down my face, soaking my knees.
“Shh,” Rose cooed. “Take deep breaths and calm down. You’re not alone, Lily”
“We’re all in this together,” Poppy added.
I took a deep breath and tried to stop sobbing. “How can he?” Wiping my tears away, my blurry vision cleared. “He’s going out tonight. How can he do all this and still be normal to everyone else?”
Rose sighed. “It’s not a pub he’s going to, Lily.”
“Stop calling me Lily!” I growled.
Rose ignored my outburst. “As far as I’m aware he doesn’t socialise a lot. Most of his time is spent either at work or in here.”
“What’s he doing tonight then?” I questioned. “And how do you know what he does out there anyway?”
“He is quite an honest person. If you ask him something, he will give you a straight reply. Please remember to think about what you ask though,” Rose warned. “Clover doesn’t like certain people and what he does occasionally is…” she trailed off, frowning into the distance.
“Is?” I prompted.
“He…disposes of people that do harm.”
My mouth fell open. “He murders them?”
Rose sighed. “Yes. That’s not quite how he sees it though. The women, prostitutes, are doing harm. Harm to the innocent families of men that use them.”
“Can you hear yourself?” I whispered. “Why are you defending him?”
“I’m not defending him, Lily.”
“Yes you are. You’re making it sound like it’s okay.”
“It’s not, and I’m not. I’m just trying to explain how he did, that’s all.”
“So he spends his evenings out murdering prostitutes?”
Rose frowned. “You make it sound like he’s doing it every night, and that’s not true.” How do you know? Well, it couldn’t be true. He couldn’t kill on a daily basis and still not have been caught. Surely.
I couldn’t believe how calmly I was talking about it. Shouldn’t I be freaking out and clawing at the door? Should I even worry about how I should or shouldn’t think, fell or act? “How does he get away with it?”
“They’re prostitutes, Lily. Most of them have run away from home or have always been alone.” But still, for no one to notice. “ He thinks they’re dirty and represent everything that’s wrong with humanity.” Rose looked at Poppy. “We think something happened when he was younger, no one just starts thinking that, but we’ve never asked.” Of course, they hadn’t. It wasn’t worth their life.
“What does he do with them? How many?” I questioned. This was getting crazier by the second. He was like a character from a horror movie.
“He brings some back here. We’re not sure if he kills more outside,” Poppy replied.
My blood turned cold. “H-he brings them here to kill them?” I was going to have to witness that again. Would he expect me to ‘clean up’ too? There was no way I could place a dead body in a bag and mop up the blood. Scorching tears poured down my cheeks. This isn’t real.
Poppy lowered her eyes and nodded. “Yes. That way no one would find any evidence, or hear her scream.”
“This is crazy! We need to get out of here. We can do it together, I know we can but we have to work together.”
“No, Lily,” Rose said sternly. “We can’t. There is no way out so you need to get this idea out of your head now. You have no real idea of what he’s capable of. He has no concept of what is truly right and wrong. He can be very...brutal and unforgiving.”
A shiver ran through my entire body at her blunt warning. Brutal and unforgiving. I witnessed what he did to Violet. How much worse could it get?
Rose took a deep breath and stood up. “Now I’m going to clean the bathroom and then we can watch a film.”
Wiping the tears from my eyes, I gulped down the rising sickly feeling in my stomach. “I can’t stay here. I need to go home.”
Poppy shook her head and squeezed my hand. “I wish you could, Lily. Please don’t do anything stupid. I don’t want to have to put you in a body bag,” she said, and got up. Her words whirled around my head. ‘I don’t want to have to put you in a body bag.’ My mind instantly conjured the image and it sent bolt of pure horror right to my bones. I shuddered.
“Which film tonight, Poppy?” Rose asked.
Poppy shrugged. “Some old romantic chick flick.” Was this what would happen every night?
Rose put the film and they both sat on the sofa with me. They quickly became absorbed in what was happening on the screen. How could they care about a film when he was out there preying on some poor girl?
“Can we get normal TV?” I asked. Would I be on the news? I must be by now.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Poppy shake her head. “No.” Of course not. We were literally cut off from absolutely everything and everyone. We were totally reliant upon him. I wished I had never gone out that night. I should have listened to Lewis and my family’s worries and let one of them take me. Every time one of them went on about it not being safe to walk alone at night I would brush it off or tell them to stop being stupid. Why didn’t I just listen!
“We need to start dinner,” Rose said, and switched the TV off. “Do you want to help, Lily?” Summer!
Did I have a choice? I sighed and nodded. It was better than sitting down and thinking all the time. Although I did like thinking of my family because it took me away from here, I needed to stop sometimes and do something that would distract from how much I missed them. I would have given absolutely anything just to talk to them.
“What do you want me to do?” I asked. They had already gotten everything out and were filling two pans with water. They worked perfectly together. It looked like they were colleagues in a restaurant kitchen.
“Would you peel the carrots and potatoes?” Poppy handed me the peeler, which was plastic apart from the blade in the middle. It didn’t look particularly sharp, but it was a possibility. Could it do enough damage though? Knowing I was probably being watched by one or both of them, I looked away from the peeler and grabbed a potato.
“Do you think we’ll ever get out of here?” I asked as I peeled.
Rose sighed. “No.”
“Do you want to?”
“Poppy, can you get me an oven dish please?” Rose asked, completely ignoring my question. That’s a no then. I felt so sorry for her. He had really fucked with her mind. Rose shoved the chicken in the oven dish and put it in the oven. She was pretending she hadn’t heard me, but I knew she would be thinking about it. How could she not?
I finished peeling and chopping, so chucked them in the water and turned the electric rings on. The atmosphere had turned tense, and I knew it was because of my question. Someone had to say it though, Rose needed to re-realise what he was doing was wrong.
Staring at the water in the pan slowly start to bubble, I shook my head. I had just helped make him dinner. I had never even made Lewis dinner before. I smiled at the memory of the one and only time I offered. Lewis laughed and made a joke about not wanting to be poisoned. I was notoriously bad a cooking.
The time he would be back was getting close. I could tell by the way Rose and Poppy fussed around double checking everything was clean and tidy. My heart beat faster in anticipation. I didn’t want him down here but I almost wanted him to walk through the door so I wouldn’t be so on edge waiting for it.
I debated pretending to be ill but I didn’t want him to check up on me. Just eat dinner and keep to yourself until he leaves. This was something I would have to do twice a day on weekdays and three times a day at weekends. Please find me quickly.
Finally, that sound I had quickly come to dread echoed through the room, the cellar door unlocking. My hands trembled and my heart was in my mouth. “Good evening, Flowers.” He greeted, and gave us a charming smile. That was how he got away with it. He looked and seemed so friendly you just instantly trusted him, unless you were down here.
“Good evening,” Rose and Poppy replied in unison. I busied myself with draining the vegetables, but made sure I kept an eye on where he was. “Is it almost ready?”
“Yes, just serving now,” Poppy replied. I carried over mine and Poppy’s plate, leaving Rose to sort out herself and him.
“Let’s eat then,” he said cheerfully, and tucked into the huge roast dinner.
I managed to eat a little but every mouthful made me feel more ill. I didn’t look up from my plate once. All I wanted to do was to fade into the background and not catch his attention. “How was your day, Clover?” Rose asked.
“Very good so far, thank you. I got a lot done. What about you?”
“Good. We’ve watched a few great films.” What else are we going to do!
He nodded. “Well, let me know when you’re ready for more.”
“We will, thank you.” I wondered if Rose realised she spoke so much like him whenever he was down here. They were so formal and polite to each other. It was eerie. “Poppy and I were wondering if we could have anymore dress patterns. We’d quite like to make a few summer dresses. My head snapped up immediately. They made clothes? You needed scissors to cut fabric…
“Would you teach me?” I piped in.
Clover smiled triumphantly, as if he thought I had finally come around to his sick way of ‘living’. “That’s a wonderful idea, Lily. I’m sure Rose and Poppy would love to teach you, would you, girls?”
“Of course,” Rose agreed. My heart leapt with hope. A plan was already forming in my head, almost by itself. I managed to eat a little more food.
Once dinner was over I expected him to leave, but he took Rose’s hand and led her into a room that I hadn’t been in before. It looked half under the stairs and couldn’t be very big at all. I assumed it was a cupboard. What was going on? “What are they going? What’s in there?” I asked Poppy, looking at the closed door.
She lowered her head, and bit her lip. “That’s the room where he...” she whispered. Her tears filled with tears.
“What? Where he does what…” I trailed off, realising what she was trying to say. My blood froze inside my veins. The room where he rapes us. He and Rose were in there now. She went so willingly, no hesitation, no sign of horror in her eyes. “I need to go home,” I whispered, to myself more that to Poppy.
“You need to stop this, Lily. There is no going home. The sooner you accept this the easier it will be for you. Trust me, please.”
“No.” I sat down and tried to absorb everything. Rose was being raped in a room just meters from me. But was she? Did she want to now? Surely she couldn’t be that brainwashed that she wanted him. I gulped, tears streamed down my face.
“Lily?” Poppy put her hand on my shoulder making me jump. “Sorry. Are you okay?” I shook my head and stared ahead at nothing. There would be a time when he would want me to go into that room. Could I survive that? I would rather die that have him near me. If I did die though, I would never see Lewis or my family again. It was an impossible choice: stay alive in the hope of being reunited with my family, but be raped. Or die never having said goodbye to the people I love, but die pure of his evil.
I wasn’t sure how long I sat as still as a statue while they were in that room, but it didn’t seem that long. The door opened, and I quickly curled myself up in a ball.
“Good night, Flowers.”
“Night, Clover,” Poppy said from beside me. I couldn’t talk to him, I couldn’t even look at him. Disgusting, sick bastard!
Rose sat down and flicked the TV on. There were no tears, no acknowledgment of what had happened. I didn’t dare say anything. Pressing my side into the arm of the sofa, I turned my head so my hair fell in my face, hiding the tears that fell for Rose.
We watched two films and then it was finally late enough to go to bed. I wanted sleep. I needed the escape. “Lily, do you want to shower first?” Rose asked, and I nodded. Actually, I didn’t want to shower at all. “Okay.”
Without hanging around to talk, I grabbed the pyjamas from ‘my’ bed and went in the bathroom. Why was I even doing this! My second shower of the day lasted longer. I let the hot water cascade over my body and wash away what felt like inches of dirt.
Yawning, I switched the shower off and quickly dried myself. Even though it wasn’t really late – only ten at night – I was exhausted. My mind had been working overtime and desperately needed a break. It was strange to think I was looking forward to sleeping here. I would actually like to sleep the entire time I would be down here.
As I walked between the bathroom and bedroom, I glanced back at the stairs leading to the door.How the hell am I ever going to get out of here? I didn’t believe it was impossible, like Rose and Poppy thought, but I knew it wasn’t something I could just do. I had to go along with everything down here until I could figure something out, and get Rose and Poppy on board.
I got into bed and pulled the quilt over my head so I was completely hidden. Closing my eyes, I stupidly tried to contact him. I prayed that by some odd miracle he would hear me. But of course, he wouldn’t be able to. Please come, I begged Lewis in my head, and started crying silently.
Something in the main room made me jump awake - a loud bang, followed by a high-pitched scream. My heart leap into my throat. What was that? I threw the cover off myself and sprinted to the door. I slammed into Poppy, who grabbed my arm and shoved me back behind her.
He was hovering above a skinny young woman lying at the bottom of the floor. “Filth,” he spat. “Fucking filthy whore!” Grabbing the girl’s hair, he yanked her up. She screamed in protest, gripping her long dark hair.
“Let me go. Please, let me go,” she begged, and sobbed violently.
“Shut up,” he screamed, and slammed her back against the wall. “Filthy whore.”
My heart beat so loud I could barely hear what he was saying. “Poppy,” I whimpered, pressing my body into hers.
“Shh,” she hushed.
He pinned her against the wall and she cried out in pain. “No, please.”
“Shut up, just shut up!” She cried and turned her head to the side as he leant in. “People like you make me sick.”
“Please let me go. I won’t say anything.” Tears streamed down her face, making her make-up run.
“You’re disgusting. You’re all disgusting.”
“I-I’m sorry. Please, let me go.” He shook his head and pulled a knife out of his pocket. I gasped. No.
I watched the scene in horror, unable to look away. Her eyes widened and she sobbed loudly. Her shook violently. “Please, no, please.”
We should do something. I went to step forward but Poppy pushed me back. “No,” she hissed.
He pulled her hair again, making her scream and thrash around as she tried getting out of his grip. Without hesitation, he plunged the knife into her stomach. I gagged at the same time she screamed a deep feral scream. Closing my eyes, I shrank back behind Poppy.
In place of my vision came surround sound like hearing. Everything was amplified. His deep ragged breaths and her spluttering and gagging. Within seconds her noise stopped, and after a thud to the floor, his noise was the only thing left.
I didn’t dare open my eyes. I was too scared of what I would see. “Clean this now!” His loud angered voice cut through me, making me jump.
Poppy leapt forwards, causing me to jerk forwards and my eyes flew open. He ran up the stairs and slammed the cellar door. Very slowly, I looked down and almost threw up. My body shook in fear. Rose and Poppy gathered the cleaning things and got to work. I would have loved to be inside their heads when they were cleaning up a murder. They didn’t give much away.
Within minutes, they had cleaned up the pool of bright red blood and put her body in a bag. We didn’t even know her name. Did she have a family? Children? She was a person and she had a life. He just took it as if it were nothing.
I turned around slowly and walked back into the bedroom, closing the door behind me. I didn’t want to see him come back for her body or watch Rose and Poppy act as if nothing was wrong. I climbed into bed and cried into the pillow.