Backwards Into Hell

Part Two: The LFG

Jake's Diary

Wednesday 27th October

It was early afternoon when I knocked on Abe and Lottie's door—room two—and lamented that everyone had forgotten about lunch. My stomach was burning for a sandwich, but unfortunately, there were more pressing matters.

I prayed that Lottie would be the one to answer, but there was no such luck. Abe's grizzled face loomed over me as he stepped past the doorframe and swiftly took our conversation into the corridor.

'What is it?' he asked.

Shit. I had to come up with something.

'I need to talk to Lottie.'

He raised his eyebrows, hurt. 'Not about—'

'No, course not,' I said without hesitation. 'It's something else, er, Lily wants to see her.'

'Lily?'

I pulled a face and whispered, 'Women's problems.'

'Ah, right, of course.'

He disappeared to fetch Lottie.

My betrayal would soon become evident, but it didn't matter—all things going smoothly, Abe would be dead once the sun went down.

Voices clamoured inside.

'My hair!' Lottie exclaimed, just loud enough to hear.

'It's fine.'

I meandered up and down the corridor as I waited, my eyes coming to rest on the wide glass window at the end.

Lottie bustled out of the door, smoothing down her hair with her fingers, which, I must say, looked exactly the same as usual: dyed brown with grey roots at the top and a slight curl.

'So,' she said, coming to meet me halfway down, 'where's Lily?'

Ah.

'Can we sit by the window?' I asked, giving her a tepid smile as reassurance.

She followed me with a frown, and we perched upon the dusty sill that looked over the rainy garden and its empty graves. Then she sighed and fixed me with a suspicious glare.

'What's this really about?'

I don't trust him.

'I have to tell you something. About Abe.'

She smoothed out her long, summery dress and took a breath. 'What's happened?'

A few weeks before, it would have saddened me to see such stress on a person's face, but at that moment, it was almost... fun. Like a game. Obviously, I couldn't let Lottie know this. So I shared her expression before giving the news.

'You have a son.'

She blinked. 'I've got a daughter—and she's an only child.' Lottie elongated the last word, working it out. 'What are you getting at?'

'On Monday, when we were heading to breakfast,' I began, 'I caught Abe on the phone, and after a little pressing, he told me about him.'

Lottie looked at the floor and played with the hem of her dress as her chest shivered. I let her break the cold silence.

'Another woman?'

I nodded solemnly. 'Sorry.'

'He can't...' she started. 'He wouldn't...'

Her mind rang as she flicked through women's names.

Who was it?

The corridor looked so long from this end, twenty metres of dark, evil wood that pushed together until you reached the stairs. I focused on it as Lottie sniffed.