The Taking of Eleanor Ainsworth

Chapter 22

"Happy birthday son"

His father whispered, untying the blindfold from Theo's eyes. He blinked, his blue eyes adjusting to the dull lighting in the room.

"What am I meant to be looking at ?" He asked, staring into a room full of empty boxes and clutter. His father sighed spinning Theo around to face the corner of the room, his eyes widened in surprise as a grin spread across his face.

"You shouldn't have."  He beamed, taking a step closer into the room.

"Anything for my son. Be careful with it, this one looks fragile." His father said, backing up towards the basement steps. Theo took another step forward but hesitated as the girl shuffled back into the corner. He could see what his father meant by fragile, she was frail, with high cheekbones protruding from her face and little to no fat on her bones. Her auburn hair was matted and her brown eyes were dull and lifeless.

Despite this, Theo still thought of her as beautiful, he could see the beauty that she once hold and that only made him more excited. He took a few more steps forward before crouching down in front of her.

"How do you sleep at night." She hissed, moving away from him. He followed her retreating figure, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Quite well in fact." He smiled "I have a kingsize bed with a duck feathered duvet and pillows, its bliss actually, i'd invite you to join me if I wasn't about to kill you." He grinned, rolling his eyes as his father mumbled something about playing with your food in the background.

Theo stood up and cracked his knuckles, hovering over the girl he kicked her backwards watching as she fell onto her back crying. He then placed a boot on her neck and applied his weight, grinning as her windpipe crushed underneath his sole.

"Happy birthday to me."

****

She laid there, staring aimlessly up at the cracked ceiling, her stomach growling in protest. She ignored it, much like everything else. She ignored the wind outside beating hard against her window outside and she ignored the steady drip of the leaky tap in the adjoining bathroom. She ignored it all, and continued to stare up at the ceiling, her mind on another planet.

She thought of her future plans. She wanted to graduate from university and become a nurse, she found she had a natural gift at human interaction. Although she was quiet and introverted it would only take a simple hello and she would start a conversation, talking for hours on end, she loved making others happy and they loved her. She was never given the opportunity to show off her gifts at college, teenagers could be mean and she experienced that first hand.

Eleanor sighed, thinking about her life beyond her career choice.

She wanted children, two girls and a boy, Aaron, Anastasia and Emilia she already had it all planned out. A flat in central London overlooking the Thames, a cat named Nala and a dog called Buster. She smiled as she imagined her would be future and smiled even wider when Matthew appeared in that scene. She wanted it so badly, she was close to getting it but that was all ripped away from her in one night.

She sighed again as her dreams came  crashing down like a ton of bricks weighing heavy on her heart. Her once bright and hopefully future turned dark and all she could see was inky blackness. She sighed and rolled over on to her side, a stray tear falling down her cheek.

"God, I hate this place." She whispered, sitting up and roughly wiping the tear away. "I hate him." She sighed, standing up and walking over to the door. "I bloody hate him." She hissed, trying the doorknob and grinning as it swung open.