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.
YOU ARE READING
The Cellar
HorrorFor months Summer is trapped in a cellar with the man who took her - and three other girls: Rose, Poppy, and Violet. His perfect, pure flowers. His family. But flowers can't survive long cut off from the sun, and time is running out...
