The Cellar

I had heard that true love is realized after a couple has experienced and overcome something huge.

My mum was right: the longer you were with a man, the grosser they became.

He continued driving, and with every passing second, I started to give up hope. I was going to die. The van finally came to a stop and my body froze. This is it. This is where he kills me. After

Good evening, Flowers,” he said and gave us a charming, this is all totally normal smile. That was how he got away with it. He looked so friendly you just instantly trusted him—unless you were down here, of course. “Good evening,” they replied in unison.

My heart slowed to its normal pace as my brain processed my friend’s face and not the face of the Scream dude or Freddy Kruger. “Not seen anyone. Just got here.” “Damn it. She ran off after another argument with the idiot, and her phone’s turned off!” Ah, the idiot. Rachel had a very on/off relationship with her boyfriend, Jack. I never understood that—if you pissed each other off 90 percent of the time, then just call it a day. “We should find her.” Why?

Lily?” a deep voice called from behind me. I didn’t recognize it. I spun around and backed up as a tall, dark-haired man stepped into view. My stomach dropped. Had he been hiding between the trees?

He pushed me through the gate at the back of the park and then through the field. I tried again to scream for help, but against his palm, I hardly made a sound. He whispered “Lily” over and over while he dragged me toward a white van.

Four vases sat proudly on the side table behind the dining table and chairs; one held roses, one violets, one poppies. The fourth was empty. I

Do you think we’ll ever get out of here?” I asked as I peeled. Rose sighed and it wasn’t in sadness; it was a frustrated sigh. Frustrated with me? “No.” “Do you want to?” “Violet, can you get me an oven dish, please?” Rose asked, completely ignoring my question. That’s a no then. I felt so sorry for her. He had really screwed with her mind. Rose shoved the chicken in the oven dish and put it in the oven. She was pretending she hadn’t heard me, but I knew she would be thinking about it. How could she not? Did she know she was brainwashed? I’d

Poppy lowered her head and bit her lip. “That’s the room where he…” she whispered. Her eyes filled with tears. “What? Where he does what…” I trailed off, realizing what she was trying to say. My blood froze inside my veins. The room where he rapes us. He and Rose were in there now. She went so willingly, no hesitation, no sign of horror in her eyes. “I need to go home,” I whispered to myself more than to them. “You need to stop this, Lily. There is no going home. The sooner you accept that the easier it will be. Trust me. Please?” Poppy said. All I could hear was the sound of my frantic pulse smashing in my ears. Shit. “No.” I sat down and tried to absorb everything. Rose was being raped in a room just feet from me. But was she? Did she want to now? Surely she couldn’t be that brainwashed that she wanted him. I gulped and felt a tear trickle down my cheek. “Lily?