The Taking of Eleanor Ainsworth

Chapter 27

Nightfall came quicker than expected and with it came the threat of a storm. Eleanor cast her eyes to the dark sky, her attention held by a streak of jagged silver that ripped the sky in half to make way for the rain. Icy raindrops pierced her skin as they began to run, soaking through her thin clothes and weighing her down.

"We need to get out of this !" Shouted Eleanor, her cries overshadowed as thunder rolled overhead, it cracked the air around them before tumbling down and dissipating into the woods around them. The rolling sound was unsettling and permeated the air as much as the rain.

"MARILYN !" She screamed, as the weight of her clothes dragged her down to the ground. She landed in the mud, her head hung low as Marilyn kept running, oblivious to what was going on behind her.

"MARILYN !" She screamed again, as another bolt of lightning licked the sky leaving a buzzing in the air. Marilyn soon disappeared within the trees. Eleanor scrambled to her feet, slipping as her feet gave way beneath her and she fell to the ground again.

She tried again, using the trunk of a tree to keep herself upright. Her arm ached and she began to feel pins and needles in her hand. She flexed them and began to run, hoping to catch Marilyn. The violent wind whipped her brunette hair around her face and her tears mixed with relentless rain and a numbing coldness gripped her body.

Thunder rolled across the sky again, reverberating around the woods and eerily echoing as Eleanor desperately searched for shelter and Marilyn. She was alone in the dark with no recollection of where she might be. She stopped running and turned around, everything about the woods elevated her heart rate, she couldn't think logically, the denseness of the foliage made her feel claustrophobic. She was about to scream for Marilyn once more when a hand snaked out and grabbed her from behind.

Eleanor screamed and fought against it, but the arm only tightened.

"Eleanor stop its me !" Shouted Marilyn, stepping in front of her. "Where did you go ? I turned around and you was gone." She asked a frown on her wet face, she pulled Eleanor along with her, until they came to a hill.

"Theres a road up there." Marilyn smiled helping Eleanor to get a strong foothold on the rocks and hoisting her up. She climbed up, her arm paining as she used both her arms to pull herself up. She rolled over onto tarmac and a sigh of relief escaped her lips as she laid there, eyesclosed listening to the downpour of the rain and the rumbling of the thunder. She sprung upright as Marilyn ran into the road trying to flag down a car that was driving towards them.

It stopped, the cars headlights illuminating both the road ahead of it and Marilyn. The door opened and Marilyn ran towards it, saying something to the driver. Eleanor struggled to make out what was being said over the sound of the rain but stood up as Marilyn gestured for Eleanor to get in the car.

"He's taking us to the hospital." Smiled Marilyn getting into to the backseat beside Eleanor and putting on her seatbelt. Eleanor looked over at the driver who was staring at the both of them a grin expression lining his face.

"What happened here ? Shouldn't I be taking you both to the police ?" The man asked, starting the engine and releasing the hand brake.

"I'd rather she get looked at first, and from there we will call the police."

The man eyed Marilyn through the rearview mirror and wiped his brow. Creases lining his forehead as he frowned. "I'm Mark. Whats your names ? You both look familiar kinda.... Like those girls that went missing a while back.... What are their names again ..."