The Taking of Eleanor Ainsworth

Chapter 11

"Heavenly father, I am your humble servant, I come before you today in need of hope.

There are times when I fell helpless, There are times when I feel weak. I pray for hope.

I need hope for a better future. I need hope for a better life. I need hope for love and kindness.

Some say that the sky is at it's darkest just before the light. I pray that this is true, for all seems dark. I need your light, Lord, in every way.

I pray to be filled with your light from head to toe. To bask in your glory. To know that all is right in the world, as you have planned, and as you want it to be.

Help me to walk in your light, and live my life in faith and glory.

In your name I pray, Amen."

Eleanor looked up from her feet and turned her gaze to India who was gesturing the sign of the cross.

"That was a nice prayer." Eleanor whispered. India snapped her head up, and smiled weakly, shrinking back into the darkness, where she felt safest. She had spent all her life building up walls, creating a little sanctuary for herself, she was reluctant to open the doors to her safe-haven just yet. India had a dark past, maybe even darker than Theo's, and if she did eventually find a friend in Eleanor, then India did not want that past to come to light.

She did not want the pity that came with it.

"Prayers are all I have." India responded, lacing her fingers together. Eleanor was never religious, she had faith and was optimistic about the world but she never followed a religion. She believed in Heaven and hoped that when her life does eventually come to an end, that she will be accepted. But with Heaven comes Hell. A place she prayed she would never end up. She would rather stay in limbo than be tortured for an eternity.

But here she was, having been deprived of food and sunlight, Eleanor began to feel like a dying rose, her smooth red petals turning brown and rough, withering away with the slightest touch.

"Do you believe in God Eleanor ?" Asked India, shuffling closer.

"Yes, I do." Eleanor responded, leaning against the cold wall. Eleanor could only imagine what India was going through, the girl was frightened to get close to anyone who showed her an ounce of kindness, let alone speak. She was fragile and Eleanor was too scared to engage in a conversation with her, in fear of saying something that will tip her over the edge.

"I'm guessing you do ?" She asked.

India nodded and got up to sit beside Eleanor.

"I do. But i'm starting to think, he isn't listening anymore." India hung her head and looked at the wound on her arm, Theo had come down hours after the incident to stitch her arm back up, deliberately forgetting the pain killers and making India sit through half an hour of more pain.

"What can I say." She laughed "Mother always said God doesn't listen to the damned."

Realising she had slipped up, India shrunk back into the darkness and began to build the walls to her sanctuary even higher, she couldn't let anyone in, no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't. She strangely enough trusted Eleanor but trust was a strange thing. She trusted Theo and look where that landed her. In a hole underneath his shed.