Backwards Into Hell

Part Three: Everybody Dies

Jake's Diary

Saturday 30th October

David woke as the sun began to rise, but he didn't look much better than a corpse. His skin was pale, dragged over his muscles like a sail, and his eyes were little more than hollowed-out pumpkins.

I watched as his eyes fluttered open, having dragged myself from Lily and shutting the dining room door just moments earlier. She played on my mind, but I squashed those thoughts down.

It's Rachel now.

The distraction was gone.

Lottie, meanwhile, had found a chance to take a quick nap. She staggered back downstairs with Caleb after I called for them.

It was clear to even the worst doctor that David had some brain damage and, without anyone with medical know-how left alive, we just had to hope the injuries would fix themselves.

Caleb jumped with joy as David awoke, his head clearly swimming as the boy wrapped his arms around him. I watched this all, sitting with my back against the dining room door while Lottie had taken the lone armchair in the lobby.

She came to her feet. 'David? How do you feel?'

He ignored her, instantly trying to stand. He stumbled and caught the wall, swaying. At that point, I left to find him a walking stick—a branch—from the garden and when I returned, David had stolen the armchair, Caleb on his lap, giggling.

I handed the stick to him, and he took it with a nod.

'What happened?' he asked, words vaguely slurred.

'We stopped him. He's in the dining room.'

Darren nodded and, without missing a beat, handed Caleb to Lottie and struggled to the door. He slipped and almost fell, but it was my turn to catch him before he struck the floor.

This was going to be easy, I thought with a slick smile. With David injured, he was no longer a problem. I had no threats left.

I guided David to the bloodied and broken dining room. David's grasp on my hand tightened when he saw it—the room had been trashed, not to mention the body on the floor and Darren passed out in a chair.

Lottie slipped in behind us, leaving Caleb in the lobby.

'I'll kill him,' David muttered, his hands on me so tight it burned.

'No.' With relative ease, Lottie stood between us.

It was disappointing. If we'd been alone, hell, I would've joined David in wiping that human sweat stain off the Island.

'Leave him for now,' I said. 'If he makes it through the night, we can decide what to do with him tomorrow.'

David backed down, if only because he was so tired, and anyway, Darren was mine.

He'd taken so much from me: Lily, The Lodge, my plan.

He was mine.

***

We buried Lily that afternoon.

With David out for the count and Lottie too weak to dig, we simply used one of the empty graves. No point in making a new one.

The others stood solemnly around the pit, getting damp in the drizzle as I emerged with Lily's disturbingly light body over one shoulder. She was still warm.

She fell into the hole with as much dignity as The Lodge could offer, and we were silent as I grabbed the spade. There were to be no readings at this funeral, no songs, and no outpourings of grief.

All I felt was anger.

As the first grains of dirt fell over Lily's perfect face, I bizarrely remembered Anais. That morning, after finding his body, we'd left the door shut, and for all I knew he was still in there, rotting.

What would we do with him?

None of us cared enough to worry about him anymore. Lily's death was worse. She was innocent.

The others headed inside, escaping the rain as I finished up. Except once the dirt was gone and the grave filled, I didn't feel like leaving. Something was missing still.

So I snuck back in, took the candle from the table and sat in front of the grave, ignoring the water seeping into my trousers, and lit the wick. The candle flickered into life. I played with the flame, running my impervious fingers through it.

Almost without realising it, I began to speak.

'I'm sorry,' I said. 'I should've been better. Killed him earlier.' I sighed. The candle flickered. 'I should've won.'

A short laugh escaped me.

'Everything was planned so perfect, and now... I haven't got a clue.

'You would've known what to do.'

The forest was quiet—no Old Man--and the candle kept burning, small in the rain.

'The others are weak. I'll get rid of Darren first—you'll like that—and then David, he's next. Lottie last. Easy.'

I laughed again. What was so funny?

'Just wait,' I said. 'Give me twenty-four hours, and this will all be over.'

The candle died.