Lily's Diary
Tuesday 26th October
The thought of making it to breakfast made my insides crawl. Trying to face them, even if I'd done nothing wrong, made my fingers sweat as I outlined the cot.
This piece is going better than the others. I doubt I'll finish it before this dammed holiday ends, but at least it'll occupy me as we wait for the rest of humanity to come back home.
If they come back.
As I finished the edge of a thick black line, someone cleared their throat.
'Hello, Lily.'
At first I thought it was Jake, the dark-haired, awkward-but-cute guy staying across from me, but the voice was too low.
I didn't startle—I've seen too much of this world to be jumpy—and instead took my time, gently rinsing the brush in my water pot and setting down my colours. Then I turned around and saw someone new.
An old-man in a bizarre, medieval-type get-up hovered over my carpet and my heart shivered. I shifted closer to the window and held up my brush like a weapon, a magic wand maybe. He only grinned.
'Relax. I'm here to make you an offer.'
Mother had taught me about the spirits: the good ones and the bad ones, and how you could never tell the difference between them until it was too late. But this spirit's soul was obvious: he was bad. Darker than the rest.
If only Mother was better at spotting them. Then maybe she wouldn't have married Colin.
No. I can't write about that.
'An offer?' My voice was higher than usual.
'I know what you did, and I understand you'd like to get away with it,' he said and leaned against a wall, totally nonchalant.
My throat seized up. How could he know? I'd been careful, so careful. I backed away further, pressing against the window.
'It's simple,' he urged. 'I want the child.'
I paused. 'Caleb?'
He nodded.
'An no one will find out?'
The thought of freedom was running through my mind. I could get a job and buy my own place—a safe place.
'Not a soul.'
I lowered the paintbrush.
'You won't hurt him?'
(Editor's note: The rest of this page has been torn out.)
YOU ARE READING
Backwards Into Hell
Mystery / ThrillerThere's nowhere quite so lonely as an Island. In the North of Scotland, the Isle of Barra is a tranquil place devoid of danger, fear, and crime. That is, of course, until Jake arrives. A week earlier, he lost his Wife in a deadly accident, and now h...
