THIRTEEN

s o l a c e

ELEANOR had been wandering aimlessly for hours. She had no idea where she was, she felt exhausted. Her sullen eyes were fighting not to droop shut, and she hardly had any strength to trudge forward.

Then, as if God himself was at her disposal, a small creek came into view. Hesitantly, she moved towards it, eyes watering at the putrid stench that invaded her nose.

Throughout the thawing winter water, decaying bodies floated motionlessly, no longer inhabiting any humanity.

She looked around in disgust. There was so much death, torture and destruction in the place.

How deceiving to someone walking by- what appeared to be an averagely scenic area, was something far more dark and twisted.

She inhaled deeply through her mouth, willing herself to stay calm.

Seconds later, she choked on her spit, appalled by the smell of rotting flesh and old skeletons.

Eleanor stared back to the woods in regret of her decision. She was surrounded by bones and brutality; the only living soul among the dead.

It was an endless abyss of murky water and fights that'd evidently been lost.

Her eyes darted around as it all seemed to close in on her.

She stood before the filthy water, unable to comprehend the width of the seemingly endless boundaries in the world while trapped in such a terrible place.

Her palms sweat, cold and clammy from a lack of warmth. Eleanor felt unable to hold onto anything- not even a gaze, had another person been with her.

Claustrophobia, paranoia, and another unknown feeling injected her body, like the first needle shot at the doctor's office.

Eleanor shook her head as if to reassure herself and stood up, causing wild, wavy strands of her hair to go out of place.

She stood rigid for a second, then froze, gazing at the shadow on the water's reflection.

She gulped and slowly looked up, afraid of what- or who- she'd see. As she turned around sharply, there was nothing to be seen.

Lips parted, she went still, attempting to listen for even the slightest of noises. It astonished her to notice how heavily she, a mortal, had to rely on her senses. Wolves and the like of them had no idea how lucky they truly were.

She examined the land carefully, breath hitching as a presence made itself known in her vicinity, engulfing her with its shadow. The arms of the unknown being wrapped around her, pressing tightly against the length of her body.

The rough, cool hands found their way around her neck, snaking around it as if they were an old friend making themselves at home.

She struggled to breathe, to speak as she heard a voice far from human speak her name.

"Eleanor..." The guttural, familiar tone sent her waves of comfort and pleasure despite the end that was surely near.

She lifted her head in submission, feeling salivated canines open the smooth skin on her neck. Her vision grew hazy, but her focus remained on her blood dripping onto the dirty ground.

As the life left her, her name was spoken yet again.

"Eleanor..."

The volume rose, and an instantaneous flash of white brought her back.

The girl in question opened her heavy eyelids to see her grandmother staring at her in concern.

Her mouth felt abrasive as she wet it with her tongue, the sensation bringing her fully into reality.

"I walked in and you were thrashing on your bed, dear. It was one of the those nightmares again, wasn't it?"

She sat at the edge of Eleanor's bed, forehead wrinkled with worry as she placed a hand atop hers. A couple of weeks ago, Evan and a pretty brunette- Ashton, she believed her name was- found her wandering at the edge of a forest, almost directly going into the oncoming traffic.

Whether it was intentional or not, they hadn't bothered to ask.

Something within the once delighted girl had changed, that much was clear. If she planned on elaborating on her weeks away anytime soon, she certainly wasn't showing it.

She was practically normal aside from her lack of vocality. She still read all day, brows furrowed in concentration like she wanted to fully immerse herself into her stories, away from all things palpable.

Lately, she'd been reading up on fairytales. Sometimes, she requested that Evan and her grandmother read to her.

Her small, though faithful family asked no questions, for it seemed to be the only time Eleanor would willingly interact with either of them as of late.

Aside from her strange new affinity for bedtime stories, all they had to go by were her frequent nightmares and daytime trances.

Her early morning whimpers had the Atwood's restless and worrisome- with the exception of Eleanor, ironically enough. They were trying to be patient with her, but her behavior was causing a strain on the normal, stable lives they'd worked so hard to hide behind.

Finally, Eleanor gazed back at her grandmother with dazed silence, saying,

"No, it was far from a nightmare... it was wonderful."

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DOWN AT THE STATION, WEEKS AGO

AS Eleanor was escorted out of the back of the cop car, Evan attempted to rub her back reassuringly.

She dodged his touch, eyes flailing around in front of her. Nothing could hold her focus for long.

He frowned, taking her to the sheriff's office for questioning.

"You're not in trouble, Elliekins. We just need to make sure you're alright."

He gently placed his hand on her shoulder, hurt when she flinched from his touch yet again.

Eleanor nodded curtly at Evan, still avoiding his gaze. She spun her hair around her shaky fingers. A guilty frown etched onto her face as he left, shutting the door behind him. Before she had time to reflect on how aloof she'd been with her twin, an officer made their way into the room.

"Can you tell me who you are, Miss?" The sheriff asked, analyzing her with a questioning stare.

"I know who I am." Eleanor spoke darkly, voice coarse from her lack of speech.

The sheriff, though she tried, failed to hide her shock at the sudden aggression from the frail looking young woman.

"Your name, please." She spoke slowly, as if she was incapable of comprehending English.

"My name is Eleanor Atwood. What's yours?" she responded, playfully cold as she stared back at her. Eleanor hid her amusement at the officer's continued unease, maintaining a blank face as she spoke.

"I am Officer Mays. Please try to cooperate with me as we conduct this interview, Eleanor. I'm well aware that you were cut off from civilization for a while, but understand we just want to uncover the truth."

"Okay." Eleanor said, voice cracking.

"Why were you in the woods?" Officer Mays' had an intrusive voice, nothing like the patient tone of her brother.

"I crashed my car, then I got lost." She spoke simply, placing her hands in her lap.

Officer Mays raised an eyebrow at this, judgmental eyes nearly causing Eleanor to fold into herself.

She was there in the room, perched in the worn leather chair, yet so far away from herself and everything else.

"What about a cell phone? You didn't think to call somebody?" She asked rather accusingly, spiking Eleanor's anger further.

"I don't own one. We could never afford anything more than a landline, especially after paying my tuition." She responded brusquely, sneering at her.

Officer Mays faltered, clearly surprised by her answer.

"I see. You had to have had a sufficient source of food and shelter. It's getting quite cold out."

Suddenly, the officer's voice was coated with concern; or a damn good portrayal of it, anyway.

This was when Eleanor's composure began to shatter.

She couldn't go in depth about her time outdoors. Not only about the wolves, but more importantly, what happened to her.

She'd either be declared insane, or risk exposure of Jack and his kind.

She thought over this with extreme caution as she said,

"There was a... fixture. Deep within the woods. I was wandering for hours before it even came into sight. I kept going in and out of consciousness during the first few days. By the second week, I was peeing myself for warmth, until I found firewood. I placed it inside the fixture, curled into the fetal position and drank the snow as it melted."

The officer wrote to the pace of Eleanor's words, looking up at her with focus.

"What did you eat?"

"Lucky for me, I always carry snacks. I had five granola bars in my pocket. They were kind of wet and mushy from the snow, but I didn't care. I didn't feel hungry until maybe the third or fourth day. I allowed myself a few bites per day to ration it. That wasn't the first time I've had to go without food."

"Yes, I've read up on your family's file."

For a moment, Eleanor thought she saw something in Officer Mays' gaze.

Sympathy.

As fast as it came, it left, and then it was back to business.

"What made you crash, Eleanor?"

"Some wild animals ran out onto the street, coyotes maybe. I didn't want to hit them, so naturally, I swerved away as fast as I could."

The sheriff nodded, as if defeated in some way.

"How did you manage to get away from them outside of your car? Surely you were injured from the impact of your fall."

All Eleanor could see was Jack's bloodied face, her limp leg hitting his body as he carried her.

"My leg was sore, but I managed to crawl behind a tree until they left me alone."

Eleanor lied, maintaining eye contact with Officer Mays.

"Thank you, Eleanor, I have what I need. I am glad we found you." Officer Mays wrote some more, looking up at her with an encouraging smile.

The only person who would've been able to hear what she said next was the man who was not truly a man.

"I'm not."

She whispered quietly as Evan ushered her out and into the car.

It was too bad the sheriff didn't learn whatever she was hoping to find out; they wouldn't get a betrayal out of Eleanor yet.

She'd much sooner find solace in her sorrow than live falsely under the attempts of everyone around her.

For the first time in forever, she felt nothing- not even the red eyed gaze that brought her there in the first place.

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Literally my only excuse for not updating is a lack of motivation (aka laziness LMAO) Hopefully this chapter makes up for lost time... I lost inspiration for awhile, but it's definitely coming back and now that I've had time to strengthen my writing, it'll benefit you, the reader, and me, the writer. Between you and me? I'm already working on the next chapter (; Love you guys. Are you even still here?? I hope so hahahaha