While Eleanor got kept in the room, she decided to go back to sleep. The images she had watched the day before had kept flashing in her mind.
She kept turning and turning on the bed as fear engulfed her, even when dreaming. Now it was not the people she saw getting killed but herself in their shoes.
Sweats bathed her, drenching the pillowcase and pillow itself.
She woke up from sleep and sat on the bed. Even though it was still day and the weather was hot, she pulled the blanket over her whole self, tightly as though she was securing herself from whatever was chasing her.
She put her head back on the pillow after a while, this time around, facing the other side of the bed in the hopes of not dreaming about it.
A few minutes later, her thoughts strayed to her childhood- her little sister running through the mud while the rain poured fiercely.
Eleanor was cooking in the kitchen while their father was on the veranda reading the newspaper. Even though her father kept yelling at Scarlet to come inside, they were all joyful. She got drenched in the muck and was giddy.
Eleanor summoned everyone to the dining hall when the dinner was ready.
As they were eating, Eleanor suddenly felt a wave of wind blow into the room. When she reached her hand to hold her sister, she realized her sister was not with her.
And when Eleanor looked around, she realized she was standing on a high cliff, about to be pushed, with none of her family beside her- she was all alone.
Again she woke up, not daring to even put her head on the bed.
Eleanor had lost her mother at a younger age. Her younger sister, Scarlet, was only three years old, and their dad tried to give them everything he could afford for them.
However, one day as he had driven them from school to his workplace, he was attacked by some wild animals and dragged by the leg into the deep forest.
Eleanor got informed of this. She had just turned fourteen at the time. They got moved from one foster family to the next.
Until one day, an aunt came to get them. Things got worse and difficult living with them. Because she had no child and her husband wasn't frequently home, the woman was an alcoholic who could care less about the two girls.
Eleanor adored watching their mother, who was a ballerina. Their mother was showered with affection, presents, and money from her audience, and she had set aside some for her children.
So, many years after her death, her agency finally reached out to her family, and the only person they were able to reach was her elder sister.
That was why their aunt came for the kids because it was the kids that would inherit whatever she had saved.
So she pretended to care for the children and wanted to look after them as if they were her own.
The woman had never failed to remind them that they were orphans living beneath her roof.
The bright scarlet was almost mistaken for a deafeningly deafening girl. Eleanor went around the neighborhood, doing odd jobs for Scarlet and her food supply.
They didn't go to school since they got brought to their aunt's, so she saved some of the money she earned from working so she might one day return Scarlet to school.
She'd sing and dance in her room, putting words together. When Eleanor was younger and would watch her mother dance, she would bring up the fact that she was a gifted dancer but only danced in one style.
Their mother would make her giggle and cuddle her. She constantly promised her mother that she would learn different dances and teach them to her one day.
Eleanor was unable to dance to ballet music as a result of this, but she could dance to almost any other tempo. That was why she loved dancing and continued to do so even after their mother had died.
During this time, their aunt continued to make their life a living hell; she would beat them up for no reason, especially after losing her bet. She had already squandered all the money she got from the inheritance on alcohol and gambling.
Eleanor would clean the house, but her aunt would refuse to feed them. That went on until she discovered Eleanor was working in the neighborhood.
She went inside the room they were in and flung everything from their original positions, hunting for the money Eleanor had earned, with a rage she didn't deserve.
When she couldn't find any, she walked outside and sat on the ground, drinking more alcohol while waiting for them to come home.
Scarlet was the first to return.
"What is good about this evening?" she angrily asked as Scarlet greeted her. "What happened to your sister? What did she do with all the cash? She's been working, according to what I've heard. So, what's the deal? Where is she hiding it? Why am I the only one paying the bills?"
Their aunt continued to yell at her, causing her to cry.
"Can you tell me why you're crying? Useless children!" She screamed at her, "Give me the money," as she pulled her over and checked her belongings.
Scarlet got prevented from entering the residence by the woman.
The woman eventually fell asleep on the floor. Scarlet could hear her snoring: her snore was so loud that it woke the sleeping birds.
Fearful of entering the house, the small girl sat at a distance. The house was enclosed, no one could see them, but passers-by could hear them shouting and weeping because they were so loud.
Eleanor returned home to see her sister curled up on the floor. Her tears had flowed freely.
"Can you tell me what happened?" She only spoke to her younger sister in hushed tones.
The tiny girl made a gesture toward the woman lying on the floor.
Eleanor merely dropped down on her knees and hugged her, saying soothing words into her ears.
She then stood up and took her sister's hand in hers as they entered the room.
They both noticed how messed up the room was. Eleanor rushed to shift her mattress at that precise moment. She had cut underneath it and stuffed all of her savings inside.
"497, 498, 499, 500," she counted the money. She wanted to be sure it was all there. She sighed deeply, thanking whoever was watching over them.
The one and five-dollar bills, as well as the cents, were all present. Eleanor already put aside eight hundred and fifty dollars and eighty cents. She continued to rejoice as she hugged her sister.
Eleanor was unaware that the older woman had hurried into the room.
"Aha!" As she pulled the rubber from her, she exclaimed, "I knew it!"