While You Slept

by R. J. Parker

  ‘I’ll stay awake when you come to bed. That way, we won’t miss him if he does.’

  Lily nodded. Despite her attempts to misdirect her, Maisie had spent most of the day in the bathroom listening at the wall. ‘We shouldn’t get our hopes up. I’ve told you, it would be better for him if he didn’t come back.’

  Maisie frowned. ‘I still don’t understand.’

  She sat on the bed. ‘The people who want us here will do anything to make sure we stay. If people come, it doesn’t mean we’re going to be rescued. It might just mean they’re putting themselves in danger.’ That was the most succinct explanation she could think of.

  ‘So nobody can save us?’

  ‘Yes, we can save us.’

  That didn’t seem to convince Maisie. ‘But we haven’t done that yet.’

  ‘We’re doing as we’re told. That’s the best way.’

  Maisie’s expression said she thought otherwise.

  ‘Try to sleep now.’

  ‘I will. But wake me when you come to bed.’

  Lily could see how frazzled Maisie was. She glanced at her phone.

  ‘What time is it?’ Maisie yawned.

  ‘Nearly eight o’clock,’ she lied. It was only six fifteen in the evening. It was still light outside but then it usually was when Maisie went to bed. They’d still been up nearly fifteen hours, however, and that wasn’t healthy for Maisie. Lily felt like she was going to burn out too.

  ‘When are you coming to bed?’ Maisie rolled onto her side.

  ‘Just going to make a coffee and then I’ll be in. Want anything?’

  Maisie was already asleep.

  Lily padded from the room, scarcely glancing at the camera, and wondered if they were already getting too used to living under surveillance. She’d hidden the carving knife and hammer under her pillow. They’d know that. Would have seen her do it but she hoped they took it as a warning.

  She made herself a big mug of instant and examined the drinking vessel. She realised it was Ewan’s Looney Tunes mug, that Maisie had bought him, with Wile E. Coyote on the side. At least, it was a mug that looked exactly like it. This one was more pristine though. She thought about what Maisie had said about him knowing what to do if he’d been locked away with them and then recalled what he’d said when Lily suggested they get a mortgage on a place. Ironically, Ewan insisted he preferred to rent because he didn’t want a house to take him prisoner and hold him to ransom for the rest of his life.

  Truth was he probably would have handled what had happened with the bearded man much differently. But however he had, it would have been the same outcome. They were trapped inside their prison with no way out and certainly no way to let anyone in. And if Ewan had encouraged the trespasser, what sort of punishment would he have brought on them? Lily was still unsure if their visitor had escaped or if the man on the phone had been lying to her. She was determined to stay awake the whole night though. She took a big slug of hot coffee. Maybe she’d catch some sleep tomorrow when Maisie was wide awake and could alert her if anyone tried to get in.

  She waited a few minutes for Maisie to fall asleep properly and then crept into the bedroom, positioned the chair in front of the door, got under the duvet fully clothed and then propped herself up on some pillows beside her daughter.

  Lily kept quietly sipping the mug of coffee. After an hour she went and made herself another and settled back into place. She’d get another if necessary. As she slowly drained it, she considered everything she’d learnt about the people holding them. There were at least two of them. And appealing to the woman’s maternal instincts wasn’t going to work. What else? Wherever they were watching from was above them. They knew that she knew that, so maybe it didn’t matter. What was the significance of three hundred and fourteen days? It appeared to reference an episode in the past that he’d hinted at on two occasions. Would he reveal more or was it just further deception?

  She shivered as she contemplated the notion that she’d never find out the reason they’d been imprisoned. Would that be the ultimate torture?

  ***

  Just before two in the morning she was woken by a sliding sound.

  Lily sat bolt upright and strained her ears. Where had that come from?

  Maisie stirred beside her. ‘What is it?’

  But Lily didn’t need to tell her to be quiet.

  Maisie sat up and they both waited for further noise.

  A soft thump.

  Maisie pointed at the door and mouthed ‘That was in the hallway,’ as soon as Lily turned to her.

  Lily nodded, swung her socked feet out of bed and quickly grabbed the carving knife from under the pillow.

  Maisie was open-mouthed as Lily brandished it.

  ‘Wait here.’

  A creak.

  Somebody was definitely out there. But the difference now was that Lily was only going to use the blade if they tried to take Maisie. Even if she injured one, there was still at least one other to deal with.

  ‘I don’t want to do this anymore.’ Maisie was clutching her hands but her whole body was quaking.

  Lily went silently to the door and quickly took her robe off. She tossed it over the camera so it was covering the lens. They would have seen the knife. But she wanted them to. Wanted to signal exactly what they’d be walking into.

  She held the blade high and waited for the door to open.

  Chapter 49

  Lily waited until her arm started to ache. After several minutes more the only sound was their breathing. She deftly shifted the chair from in front of the door.

  ‘Stay with me.’ Maisie clutched the duvet tightly to her.

  Lily shook her head. Despite the camera being obscured their captors knew she had a weapon and was poised to use it. Would the intruder just wait for her to open the door? But there had been no noise since she’d taken her position there. She strained her ears. Could it have come from outside their walls?

  Lily gave it another few minutes before opening the door. But she hesitated with it cracked and listened. A cold draught blew around her feet. ‘Hello?’

  Nobody answered.

  Lily leaned around the edge of the door and quickly took in the hallway. Just opposite the storeroom a small cardboard box had been positioned on the black and orange carpet. She looked towards the kitchen. The room was in darkness. Was somebody hiding there waiting to pounce as soon as she examined it?

  ‘Wait there.’ Lily stepped into the hallway.

  ‘Come back!’

  She closed the door against Maisie’s protest, strode to the kitchen, quickly flicked the light on and simultaneously jumped backwards. Nobody in there.

  Lily stole down the hallway and halted at the box. She pushed on the storeroom and front doors and they were still sealed. The hairs taped across both were unbroken.

  They were using a different entrance.

  Lily tried not to react in front of the camera and knelt to the box and quickly opened it. Inside were several boxes of the treatment she’d asked for. Even the Sevrol. How had they got that if it was prescription only? She took the bottle out of the box and saw that it was only two thirds full. Had they fetched it from Fallstaff Gardens?

  ‘Is it safe to come out?’ Maisie had partially opened the door and had her face at the crack.

  ‘Stay there.’ Lily finished examining the contents and glanced up at the camera over the kitchen doorway. She lifted the box and stood. How had they accessed the hallway to leave it? It was either through Maisie’s bedroom, the bathroom, the kitchen or the hallway itself.

  ‘What’s inside?’ Maisie asked as she walked back into the bedroom.

  ‘Just some things I asked for.’ She closed the door behind her and slid the chair back in place.

  ‘Can I see?’

  ‘There isn’t anything interesting for you in here.’

  ‘But I want to see.’

  ‘In the morning. Back to bed now.’ She swivelled her away from the box.

  ‘But
what if they come back?’

  ‘I don’t think they will. They just wanted to leave us the box. I’ll stay awake. You need to get your sleep though.’

  Maisie climbed back onto the mattress. ‘I won’t be able to sleep now.’

  ‘Close your eyes and see what happens.’

  Maisie put her head on the pillow and Lily dumped the box on the carpet and removed her robe from the camera. She didn’t want there to be a punishment for that. She climbed in with Maisie and pulled the duvet over them.

  ‘Where are you going to put the knife?’ Maisie asked with her eyes shut tight.

  Lily had tried to conceal it behind the box as she’d re-entered the room, but that had been pointless. Maisie now knew where it had been hidden. ‘Back in its place.’ She slid it under her pillow.

  ‘You’ll keep it close to you tonight?’ Maisie kept her eyelids sealed.

  ‘Yes.’ But Lily didn’t want Maisie to think it was normal. ‘You’re never to touch it, OK?’

  Maisie thought about it. ‘Not even if the scary man comes into the room?’

  ‘No. I’ll protect you.’

  ‘What if something happens to you?’

  Lily was dismayed by Maisie’s matter-of-factness. ‘Nothing’s going to happen to me.’

  ‘Something happened to the man who tried to rescue us.’

  ‘We don’t know what happened to him,’ Lily lied.

  ‘What did the scary man say on the phone?’

  ‘He didn’t say anything.’ But Lily could tell from Maisie’s silence that she still didn’t believe her.

  ‘But I heard you ask him,’ she eventually said.

  ‘He wouldn’t tell me.’

  Maisie exhaled.

  ‘Sleep. I’ll be watching over you.’

  Maisie opened her eyes. ‘Where should I stick it?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘If something happens to you and he attacks me, where should I stick the knife in him?’

  ‘That’s enough of that.’ But should she tell her? Perhaps preparing for that was exactly the right thing to do. Was Lily fooling herself that she could shield Maisie from their captors? Shouldn’t she put aside that notion and be as pragmatic as Maisie? She’d been effortlessly taken from her once already.

  ‘Should I put it in his stomach?’

  A cold current passed through Lily. Is that what it would come down to? If their captors could use a hidden entrance to get to them anytime they wanted, it was likely that, at some point, they might both need to physically defend themselves.

  ‘Or in his heart? If he was standing up, I’m not sure I could reach that.’

  ‘Shush. We’ll talk about it in the morning.’ But would that be too late? There were still plenty of hours left before daylight and did that matter anyway? They could walk in whenever they wanted. But Lily hoped that the box was a good sign. They wanted them to remain healthy, wanted them to see out the time ahead. Or was all of it just a bluff?

  Chapter 50

  The next day they both rose at five. Mercifully, Maisie had dozed off but Lily hadn’t slept at all and knew she couldn’t sustain it.

  While Maisie ate her cereal, Lily walked into the hallway and switched on the light there. She’d already examined the kitchen over the course of breakfast and hoped she’d done it subtly enough for anyone watching. She hadn’t found any slits in the wallpaper or lino. Besides, they hadn’t heard any noise in the kitchen.

  ‘Where are you going?’

  ‘Just to the bathroom. Empty your bowl before you get down from the table.’

  ‘But I’m not hungry.’

  ‘I don’t care. You need to eat. Empty bowl.’ Lily made for the bathroom, opened the door but padded past it to the storeroom. She slowed her pace and, without moving her head, cast her eyes around the walls and the ceiling above. She didn’t want to make it obvious to the camera behind her that she was examining them.

  Did they access their prison from upstairs? But she couldn’t see any sign of joins in the ceiling wallpaper that could conceal a door.

  Her attention shifted to the black and orange carpet beneath her green socked feet. Maybe the area below it was hollow and there was a tunnel there. But again, she couldn’t see any outline around the large tiles that could hide an entrance.

  She stopped at the storeroom door and confirmed that the hair was still held in place by the tape. It was the same story at the front door. So how the hell had they left the cardboard box? Lily didn’t acknowledge the camera and put her ear to the storeroom door panel as if she might be listening for movement inside. Her face was turned away from the lens, so she surreptitiously examined the carpet more carefully.

  She scanned the black and orange squares below her all the way to the front door and then clocked something she hadn’t noticed before. The edge of the carpet was slightly lifted and overlapping the bottom of the skirting at the base of the wall on the right-hand side of the front door. Had it been like that before?

  Perhaps it was just the way the carpet had been laid and it hadn’t been cut properly; she was sure she would have noticed that before though. The carpet was raised about a quarter of an inch over the skirting base.

  ‘Is there somebody in there?’

  Lily turned to where Maisie was standing in the kitchen doorway. ‘You finished?’

  Maisie nodded. ‘Is there?’

  ‘No. Thought I heard something fall over in here.’

  ‘Why don’t you check?’

  ‘I think I was mistaken.’

  ‘I’ll go and look if …’ she trailed off.

  ‘If I’m too scared?’

  Maisie considered how to answer.

  ‘We need to go in later anyway. Have to get some frozen milk. I just need the bathroom first.’ Lily walked to it.

  ‘Will you teach me then?’

  Lily paused at the bathroom doorway. ‘Teach you what?’

  ‘Where I need to put the knife.’

  ‘No more talk like that.’ But should she tell Maisie exactly what to do when they were next brushing their teeth?

  ‘I want my own.’

  ‘No,’ Lily refused flatly. ‘You’re not sleeping with a knife.’

  ‘I do already.’

  ‘I keep it under the pillow. My pillow.’

  ‘Lots of kids carry knives.’

  Lily couldn’t believe she was having this conversation with her five-year-old, even under their circumstances. ‘You’re not having a knife.’

  Maisie pouted and plodded back into the kitchen.

  She sighed and quickly went into the bathroom. She needed a pee but as she sat down she was devising a way of getting at the skirting. She could cover the hallway camera, as she had in her room, but wondered if there was going to be a penalty for that.

  Could they block its view another way while Lily pulled up the carpet? She had to be so careful about this. If there was a hidden way in it was also an exit and she couldn’t afford to let them know she’d spotted it. She wouldn’t tell Maisie. Had to sit on what she’d found until she’d decided what was the best way to use it and when. If there was a door there.

  She quickly washed her hands and looked at herself in the mirror over the sink.

  Stay calm.

  But she’d already thought of a way to find out if she was right.

  Chapter 51

  ‘I’d like to try something tomorrow,’ Lily whispered over the running tap as they brushed their teeth that night.

  Maisie’s eyes lit up. ‘What?’

  ‘We’re going to move a big stack of boxes from the storeroom into the kitchen.’

  Her gaze dimmed again. ‘What for?’

  Lily turned the cold water on harder, so the flow was noisier. ‘I can’t tell you just yet.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘You’ll soon find out. Just trust me. We’ll move the boxes after breakfast.’ It would look suspicious if they started shifting stuff when they were meant to be going to bed. And Lily n
eeded to psyche herself up.

  ‘Which ones?’

  ‘It doesn’t really matter.’

  ‘Choca-Pops?’

  ‘OK. We’ll move some of those but we’re going to have to do it in a particular way.’ Lily sucked some water from the tap and spat. ‘Get right to the back with that brush,’ she said louder then leaned in closer to Maisie and told her exactly what she wanted her to do when they rose the next day.

  Lily didn’t sleep again that night and watched over Maisie while she did. The plan she’d outlined would hopefully conceal her search for an entrance at the skirting at the end of the hallway. If it wasn’t there, they would carry on with their stock up and leave their captors none the wiser. She hoped.

  ***

  Maisie woke just after seven and Lily told her to get dressed.

  ‘Why do I need to? I’m not going out.’

  She still hadn’t told Maisie about the skirting. She knew her daughter wouldn’t be able to resist looking at it and Lily couldn’t have her doing that while their captors were watching. ‘I don’t want you to catch a chill.’

  Maisie harrumphed while she slipped on jeans and a sweatshirt that looked like they’d just been taken out of a packet.

  Lily pointed at Maisie’s socked feet. ‘Slippers as well. Your toes were freezing last night,’ she lied and didn’t look up at the camera.

  Maisie obeyed. ‘You have to get dressed too then.’

  ‘OK. Fair enough.’ She was glad Maisie had insisted. Now it looked natural. But Lily wanted them to be properly clothed. Was there really a chance they’d end up outside? She’d laid out jeans and a bottle green sweater the night before, on top of the carving knife. She picked up the blade the same time and, blocking the activity from the lens with her body, furtively slipped it into the back of her jeans while she dressed. ‘Let’s eat then.’

  Lily mechanically chewed cereal with a dry mouth and only managed to swallow it by taking big glugs of coffee.

  ‘Are you OK?’

  Lily focussed on Maisie. ‘Yes, why?’

  Maisie examined her uncertainly. ‘Looked like you just fell asleep.’

  She blinked and sat up straight. ‘No, I’m fine.’ Lily took another swig of coffee. When had she last slept? She was sure she’d nodded off a few times in bed but her ears had been straining for noises in the hallway.