A Light Within Darkness
(An Elliot-centric oneshot; believe it or not, this was actually inspired by a dream I had. Elliot chooses to do something good, despite the darkness within. Aadya is my OC, I own nothing else. Rated T to be safe)
NEW DELHI, INDIA, CIRCA 1921
Captain Elliot Spenser was definitely not the kind of man who would sympathise with the plight of another human being.
His role in the Great War, where he had seen friends die and been responsible for the deaths of countless German soldiers, where he himself had been severely wounded, both physically and mentally, had effectively annihilated the man he once was.
Kind, empathetic Elliot was long-dead; the man he was now, cold, unfeeling, hedonistic, was not really a man at all, but a monster. But, as he was to discover, even monsters had their limits as to what they would do.
In India, everything was for sale. Everything had a price. Including human life. Which Elliot, having arrived here from London a little over a year ago, knew only too well.
Prostitution was rife, and he'd partaken of many women in his time here, usually hurting them without a thought for their well-being, then ravishing them, then tossing them aside once they had fulfilled their purpose. Sex had become a meaningless act, his orgasms transient moments of pleasure that faded far too quickly.
He'd tried opium, but while it often had provided intense pleasure, the horrific hallucinations he'd sometimes suffered had put him right back in the trenches, in the midst of all that blood and smoke and screaming...
There were some things he didn't need to relive-it wasn't as if he'd ever forget. So, he'd become an 'explorer of forbidden pleasures', dabbling in black magic and the occult, looking for something, anything, that would, in essentiality, help him feel again. So far, nothing had worked..
On this particular day, Elliot found himself meandering aimlessly through the street bazaar, half-hearing merchants selling their wares in loud, strident voices, women in various states of undress, that familiar look of apathy in their eyes, for sale to the highest bidder. Momentarily, Elliot considered making a purchase-when all was said and done, he was still a man, with certain needs that had to be sated-but then something caught his eye.
Amongst the women milling around, Elliot spotted a grubby-looking man dragging a young girl by the arm, and realized that she was for sale, too. Elliot swallowed the instinctive rush of sympathy he felt. She was a mere child, definitely not the legal age for intercourse, but he quickly decided stubbornly that it was none of his business. However, as he turned his head, out of the corner of his eye he noticed several men approach her, pulling her this way and that with varying expressions of lust.
The girl was tiny, probably in her very early teens, with a mass of straggly black hair and huge dark eyes-and she looked absolutely terrified. The man with her was talking excitedly to the small crowd around them in his native tongue, and Elliot caught snippets:
"...eighteen...a virgin...very willing..."
Elliot scoffed inwardly. First of all, there was absolutely no way this girl was eighteen. And while she might very well be a virgin, the look on her face told him very plainly that she was anything BUT willing. And then, it hit him. One, or several, of these men were going to take this girl away with them. And they would tear her body and her innocence to shreds without a second thought.
Bit hypocritical, aren't you Spenser? He thought derisively. When you're guilty of hurting so many women yourself?
WOMEN, yes. But this was no woman. And he couldn't just stand quietly by and let this happen.
Squaring his shoulders, Elliot marched over to where the man was standing with the girl, scarcely resisting the urge to reach for his gun and shoot every man leering over her. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a wad of notes and shoved it into her 'chaperone's' filthy hands. The man's eyes lit up when he saw the amount of money he had been given.
Pointing to the trembling child, Elliot said simply, firmly, "I want her."
The man laughed, nodding, ignoring the cries of outrage from the small male gathering who had obviously been hoping for first purchase. "Take her, sir." Elliot was told and, waiting for no further comment, he took the girl's arm and led her away, down a dirty alley, a well-trodden shortcut to his Quansett.
There was absolutely no discourse between Elliot and the girl until he locked the door behind them, and immediately walked over to a small locker by his cot, leaving the terrified youngster pressed up against the wall, trembling. Barely glancing back, he said shortly, "You can sit down."
Slowly, the girl obeyed, precariously perching herself on a battered wicker chair in the corner of the hut, still shaking, apparently unable to control it. Again, Elliot had to stifle another wave of sympathy, as he finally found what he was looking for and turned to gaze at her. Her hands were clasped in her lap, her eyes wide with fear and apprehension. This petrified, innocent girl was waiting for him to... Elliot swallowed his revulsion at the very thought. She would be waiting a HELL of a long time.
Approaching slowly, he stood over her until she looked up at him, and he almost smiled at the tiny spark of defiance in her dark brown eyes, while also acknowledging that she was obviously going to grow up to be a very beautiful woman. But he wasn't going to be the one to thrust her into adulthood when she was nowhere near old enough.
"Do you speak English?" He demanded of her, and the girl frowned, obviously not expecting any questions or conversation, then nodded slowly. "A little, sir." She replied, then visibly flinched when Elliot suddenly dropped to his knees.
Face-to-face with her now, he asked, smiling sardonically, "So, how old are you REALLY?"
Her gaze locked with his, and he saw that flash of defiance in her eyes again, before she dropped them, and murmured, "I'm fourteen, sir."
"You're a child."
Elliot hadn't meant for the words to come out so harshly, and immediately, the girl cowered against the chair, managing to look both rebellious and scared out of her wits at the same time. "It is not my fault!" She protested. "He cannot tell men my true age, not on the street, I..."
"Do you have a name?"
Elliot's question cut the girl's tirade short, and she frowned again, before responding, "My name is Aadya, sir."
"Aadya." Elliot said musingly. "You do realize that those men back there were probably well aware that you were far younger than eighteen, and didn't give a damn?"
Aadya nodded vigorously, then began to cry, and he was surprised to find that there was still enough of the 'old' Elliot left in him to want to reach out and embrace her, offer comfort, but he was aware that any physical contact he made with the girl at this juncture would be construed as sexual, and that was the last thing he wanted.
With a deep sigh, he then asked the inevitable, but highly discomfiting, question: "Have you ever known a man?"
"No, sir." She replied brokenly. "Never."
Just as he'd suspected-she really WAS innocent. Swallowing his anger-losing his temper now might only frighten the girl further-Elliot continued, "And your parents...where are they?"
Aadya told him they were in the neighbouring village, that the man parading her around the bazaar had abducted her two days ago while she'd been getting water at the river. "They do not know where I am." She added tearfully. "And they...they will not where to look."
Elliot absorbed her words for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Do you know how to get to the train station from here?"
Aadya's eyes widened, apparently completely thrown by this unexpected query, then, when she apparently realized he was sincere, she said quietly, "Yes, sir. It is not far from here."
He nodded, then wordlessly took her hand and pushed some money into it. "That should be enough." He told her. "Go home, Aadya. I'm sure your parents are worried. "
Aadya simply stared down at the rupees in her hand, then gaped up at him incomprehendingly. "B-But I do not understand." She faltered. "Y-You are not...going to...?"
Elliot edged closer, and when his face was close to hers, he said coldly, "I've done things in my life. Things you couldn't imagine. Things you wouldn't WANT to. However, I can safely say that I've never taken the innocence of a child-and I'm not about to do it now. " Exhaling sharply, he went on, his voice slightly more gentle, "You're not old enough to know a man. And certainly not one who's old enough to be your father. Your first time...it should be special. It should be with someone who cares about you, someone who will be gentle with you."
Getting to his feet, he stared down at the child who was staring up at him with gratitude shining in her eyes. One good deed did not immediately invalidate all his past misdeeds, but setting this girl free was a start. "I can't care about anyone, Aadya." He concluded. "And I've forgotten HOW to be gentle." Pointing towards the door of his Quansett, he said, "Now go."
Elliot turned his back on her and walked over to his cot, but froze in his tracks when Aadya, voice painfully soft, asked, "Why do you hate yourself so much, sir?"
Now there was a question he could spend hours answering-beginning with a simple call to arms that had culminated in a bloody and pointless war that had pretty much destroyed his ability to feel anything. But he was not discussing the matter of his self-loathing with this girl.
Spinning around, he snapped, "Are you still here?"
Her eyes widening, her fear evidently returning, Aadya clutched the money Elliot had given her to her chest, nodded quickly, and then fled.
As soon as she'd left, Elliot sank down onto his cot, then picked up a sheet of paper he'd left lying there. A couple of days ago, he'd received information from one of the merchants about a French puzzle box, which allegedly held pleasure beyond imagining within it. Apparently, no drug or woman's touch could compare to the experiences one could discover if they opened the box.
Elliot looked up, smiling slightly. He was glad that Aadya would now be safe, but he'd acknowledged long ago that he was beyond saving. Now, all he wanted was to locate this box, and find his own personal heaven.
Of course, a week later, Elliot did find the box, and opened it-but it wasn't heaven he found...
Aadya, meantime, did get home, and went on to become a schoolteacher-but never forgot the strange soldier who saved her that day...
THE END
(Disclaimer: As I've never been to India, and have no idea if child prostitution would have been so overt in 1921, I apologise if this story is factually or historically incorrect. However, I know it does continue in many parts of the world today. Please R&R!)