Chapter 55
LENA
My eyes open and I glance down to see that I’m laid out on a narrow bed.
There isn’t even a sheet on the stained mattress.
I sit up groggily; my whole body feels as though I’ve just run a marathon and my head is spinning.
The room is small but I recognize it instantly as the Morgans’ attic.
From the narrow windows I can make out the apricot-streaked sky. Soon it will be dark and then what?
How long have I been here? I must be in some nightmare. I can’t believe this is happening. The last thing I remember is being in that room with Marielle and the syringe. She must have injected me with something.
I picture the fake baby and Marielle’s pretence at having a grandson. Having children. Why? And all the lies. I don’t understand what’s going on.
All of this has something to do with St Calvert’s. With Hugh and Simone. But why me? Why me, when I worked there for just six weeks nearly three decades ago?
Marielle’s words come flooding back.
You, Lena. You were the plan.
Now that I’m here, what are they planning to do with me?
A rush of adrenaline and fear gives me the energy to move.
I need to call someone. Charlie, Jo. I scan the room, frantically, but then I remember: I’d left my phone at home.
I reach down and tap my pocket, relieved when my fingers make out the shape of my key.
Thank goodness it’s still there. Although that’s not much help when I’m stuck here.
I think of Rufus, returning home tomorrow to an empty house and wondering where I am.
What if the Morgans decide to hurt him next?
I can’t allow those fucking psychos to harm him. I need to do something.
My mouth is so dry I’m finding it hard to swallow.
I swing my legs out of bed and try to walk but they buckle and I end up crawling across the dusty floorboards, wincing when my knee scrapes a protruding nail.
I stay on all fours until I get to the door and then I reach up and try the handle, but it’s locked.
I don’t have the energy to scream and shout. I slump against the door in defeat.
I should have stayed away from them. My nosiness is going to cost me my life.
Why do you think we moved in next door?
And yet I can’t see how this would have ended in any other way. It was obviously their plan from the very beginning.