Gone (pt.2)

Within those three hours of wait Eleanor cleaned the house, Peter watched the TV and Mrs. Carrigan just read a book. When the door rang, Eleanor was the one to head to it, wiping her sweaty hands on her thighs and then unlocking it. She peeked through the peephole and then opened the door to look at her husband. The dark haired male dropped the bag on the floor and brought his wife to a hug, kissing her head, glad that she was okay. 

Outside, people were already talking with the neighbours, some of them crying about the disappearance or the death of family members, others were quiet, choosing not to talk, like that would make the monsters come back. 

Eleanor allowed the man to walk inside the house and then closed the door. Peter ran to his father, they looked alike, they both were very innocent and cheerful, even in the worst moments. Eleanor envied that. 

"Is Michelle still sleeping?" The man talked, pulling Eleanor out of her trance. She looked at him and then motioned for the couch, telling him to sit down. Once they were all there— All but Michelle—, Eleanor talked. "Richard, they took Michelle." She said, looking away until her husband didn't reply, and then saw him cry for the first time in the ten years they had been married.

He cried, they all cried, holding each other. Mrs. Carrigan was the one to speak and break the cycle. "Crying won't make her come back," she said quietly. They knew, however, it was the only thing they could do at that moment. 

Eventually Eleanor stopped too, wiping her eyes and then rubbing her husband's shoulder. He sighed as he watched his son, glad that at least Peter was still there. The boy had apologized for a very long time, just like he did the previous night, but had been assured it hadn't been his fault.

By that time people outside were calmer, back to their usual schedules and work. That was the sign that life went on and that they had to keep going. Eleanor let Peter with her mother in the living room, and she headed to the room with her husband, to help him unpack and to talk about how it happened without applying more pressure on Peter's wound.

"He said he heard him go upstairs, but she wasn't there, and his window was open." She told him, sitting on the bed while she picked at the skin on her nails. That caught Richatd's attention, and he looked at her for a couple seconds. "It was probably just a casualty, he probably heard Anbur and he needed air." He said, sounding convinced. Eleanor wasn't but she didn't say anything and just nodded. 

Her husband sat beside her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "You know better than anyone that there is nothing we can do, we need to make sure that Peter doesn't blame himself, even if it was a bit his fault." He spoke and then squeezed her gently. 

Eleanor hoped that whatever took her daughter would kill her, because if she came back, she knew she wouldn't be the same, and she didn't want Michelle to live knowing that they hadn't gone out to look for her and that her brother had locked the door without knowing she was still outside. 

After that, Richard and her went back down, he offered to walk Anbur and she stayed inside with Peter, watching Spongebob on their TV. Even with what was going on, life continued, the line, water,electricity… She didn't Know how it was possible, but it was, and they didn't have to pay nearly as much as they had to before everything started.  They didn't have the best economy, so it was a relief that it brought something good, as selfish as it sounded. They weren't the only ones that thought that way.

Richard once explained to her that some families had even left their grandparents or parents outside. It was an easy way to commit murder without it actually being considered murder. And now, in Eleanor's eyes, it seemed that they had done that to get rid of her. It was true that things had changed a lot, and for worse in a lot of cases, people had killed themselves when they had realized what would happen if the creatures grabbed them, others had tried to run away just to be grabbed and never seen again. The cops didn't get close to the forest, even if it meant saving lives, they were all too scared and when the truth came down to being able to risk their lives for others, it showed that justice was not what they needed.

Eleanor didn't want to go outside anymore, the idea of having to see those eyes...she told Richard when he came back, but he said he hadn't seen anything. However, he believed her. It was hard not to believe when it had been proved that nothing was normal anymore. She had explained how they watched her and followed her home and she asked if it had been her fault for guiding them there. Richard replied that no. She couldn't have known that things would go that way. Even if she could, there was no promising on how things would have turned out at the end. Those creatures wanted blood. "And to watch us suffer." Was the addition she made when Richard finished talking.