I’m stunned by their lack of interest in my presence. They don’t look at me or at each other as they go quietly about their tasks, and suddenly I see the same scene but with me at its centre – perhaps slicing some bread, dressed in the same clothes with the same level of apathy. It’s a terrifying image.

As Judith turns to the table with the soup, I look once more at her huge eyes and notice that each pupil, black and shiny as coal, almost obscures the brown iris. She looks dazed, and I want to ask which is her room. Is the photograph of Paul hers? How does she know him? I have a feeling she will simply look puzzled, and of course she will know that I’ve been through her belongings.

The older woman, who carries herself like someone in her seventies although I’m sure she’s probably only a few years older than me, comes to the table with the water and a plate of bread, and we all sit down. For the first time, she meets my eyes. I can just tell that her eyes are blue – almost all I can see are twin black orbs reflecting the yellow light of the single hanging bulb.

Finally I have to face something I have suspected for a while. I have been so grateful for the oblivion that I have chosen to ignore the truth. It is time to accept that there are far more than a few harmless herbs in Thea’s infusions, and possibly in all the food that I have eaten since I have been in this house.

For a moment I feel breathless and I fight to control the panic rising in me. I know very little about drugs, but by the look of the other two women I would guess they are on some kind of tranquilliser. I have been free from Thea’s food and drink for a few hours and the effects are fading, but now I crave more, desperate as I am to sink back into a stupor which masks the reality I am struggling to deal with.

A bowl of soup is pushed towards me. ‘You have to eat this,’ Judith says.

I start to shake my head, but I see her eyes dart sideways and upwards. I want to follow her gaze, but something tells me to be careful. I wait a moment and then casually glance around the small kitchen area, my attention not lingering on any particular spot. The room is poorly lit and the tops of the cupboards are in deep black shadow. In the gloom I spot a tiny pinprick of green light.

They are watching us.