Backwards Into Hell

Part Two: The LFG

Jake's Diary

Friday 29th October

It was seven am. Six hours after Darren's escape and the hopeful death of Anais.

'Jake?' David's—of course it was David's—voice echoed through the wood. He sounded pretty desperate, loud enough to wake Lily anyway, so I swiftly climbed out of bed, dragged away the chest of drawers and opened the door.

David's eyes were bloodshot. His hair stuck up in messy, electric tufts.

'Darren's gone. You need to come down now.'

I blinked. 'What time is it?'

David shrugged. It was still dark outside.

There was no time to argue further as David set off, and my chest throbbed as we began our silent descent. These late-night trips were becoming all too familiar.

I wiped the sleep from my eyes and we entered the lobby. Bizarrely, everyone else was already up. They stood around the empty space where Darren's chair had been with wide, white eyes. The cut wire formed a circle on the floor that no one dared cross.

Lily ran forward, grabbing my hand as I took it in.

'Why are you all up?'

'I found him,' said Lily, leaning half her weight onto my hand. 'Or not him, anyway, and ran into David in the hall.'

David crossed his arms and nodded. To this day, I still don't know why David was up so early. Perhaps he was fetching a glass of water or had heard the noises, but whatever his reason, it had cost me a precious few hours of peaceful sleep.

'I wasn't sleeping much anyway,' Lottie added. 'The bangs woke me up.'

'I think they woke us all up,' said Darren.

I sniffed, pulling Lily to the centre of the room and tracing my foot over the empty spot.

'Has anyone seen Anais yet?'

It was the question no one else had asked.

'Did you see his room?' Lily answered with another question, and I shook my head.

'We can go up now,' said David. 'It's safer with more of us.'

Everyone nodded and, tension growing in my stomach, we went, one by one, to the first floor. As we did, I wondered where David had left Caleb. The kid was becoming more and more of a mystery. He was often only present at meal times, and whenever I saw David, he wasn't with him.

As we walked, my hand slipped from Lily's, and David turned back to explain in a soft voice.

'There's something else,' he began, just to me. 'The wires were cut. I don't know who by, but it's not hard to guess.'

I nodded solemnly, squashing a grin. Just as I'd expected, Anais was blamed.

When we reached the first floor, I wasn't surprised by what we found—Darren had done his job well. In front of the wood, jamming the handle, was Darren's chair. It stood at the end of the corridor, dark upholstery lightened by the moonlight.

Without so much as a glance at us, David strolled toward the door, holding himself with policeman-like confidence. Lily stayed close behind me as we neared and Lottie kept a safe distance, staying by the head of the stairs.

'Now what?' I whispered.

David frowned, but Lily stepped in.

'We open it.'

David put out his arm.

'Careful. We should think about this.'

'What is there to think about?'