back to the end - English version

back to the end

"... The gardener said the words she'd heard those years ago. She willed it with everything she had. 'You, me us. Us'. 'Take me with you,' she cried in her heart. 'Take me, drag me like you did the others'. But the lady in the lake was different now. The lady in the lake was also Dani. And Dani wouldn't. Dani would never. In fact, no one would be taken. And no one has been taken to this day".

Jamie, the gardener, swam to the edge of the lake and screamed with the pain that lacerated her lungs and throat. Before diving into the cold, fetid waters of the lake at Bly Manor, for a second of deceptive illusion she believed she would not find Dani at the bottom. She simply disbelieved that she could be there, perfectly still like a heavy porcelain doll. But the shock of seeing her in the same place she feared did not soften, but became even more exorbitant.

No dismay cried out by Jamie was able to bring Dani to the surface. It did not matter the intensity of her pain or her love. There are things, after all, that do not depend on love or justice. There are things that spontaneously happen without any justifiable reason. Jamie knew that. She refused to accept it, however. And it was not her pain or her love that changed the course of this outcome, but her stubbornness.

•••••••

The funeral, evidently a closed casket due to the lack of body, took place the following week, and brought together old friends, family, and new friends. Like a robot, Jamie received condolences from the most unusual people. Some florist's clients, distant relatives of Dani, her ex-mother-in-law. Words of comfort were whispered in her ear as tight hugs were exchanged. The florist's reaction was always the same: a polite, short thanks, and the lack of a smile.

It was only when she saw the familiar face of Owen, a former cook at Bly Manor and now owner of his own restaurant, that her thoughtless reaction finally changed. The man appeared before her, offering her a sad smile hidden by a thick black mustache, and opened his arms for the standard hug. His condolences, however, meant much more than the others'. Jamie hugged him tightly, finally suffering the agony that evacuated her chest. She cried endless tears, groaned, screamed. Owen held her with all the support that their common past could offer, and slowly guided her out of the establishment.

It was raining and the sun was setting. The lights on the streetlamps, so yellow and flickering, now took on an orange glow, blurred and clouded by the insistent rain. But Owen and Jamie were protected by the upstairs balcony that allowed them to stay outside without getting wet.

"I didn't expect you to come," Jamie said, wiping tears from her eyes with the sleeves of her black coat.

"You two mean a lot to me," Owen replied. "And I know what it's like... losing someone dear"

Jamie nodded. Owen subtly removed a metal flask from the inside pocket of the wool coat he wore and offered it to the florist.

"Owen, you really are a savior", she took the canteen, turned the lid to open it, and took a huge sip of the alcoholic drink it contained.

"Do you think I would come empty-handed? I didn't bring drugs because they would arrest me at the airport. But nobody cares about gin, apparently".

"How are you?", Jamie handed him the canteen, and he also took a sip of the gin.

Owen shrugged.

"How can I be. Business is great. I can cook whatever I want, and there are days when I don't even cook, I just organize everything. I think I can call myself an 'entrepreneur' today"

"I'm happy for you"

"I think of her every day"

The two looked at each other with regret, and Jamie leaned her back against the wall. She knew he was talking about Hannah Grose, the former housekeeper at Bly Manor.