That night, Eleanor slept fitfully. Madam had dressed her in one of her old silk nightgowns, which felt slippery and foreign against her skin. Her room was small and clean, just like her room back at Aunt Gracie's. She had been given a private room on the west wing of the home, so she wouldn't be disturbed. Although she thanked her host profusely, she was secretly terrified of spending the night alone and apart from her sisters. She couldn't confess to her fear, though, so she accepted the room graciously while trembling in her too-long gown.
Eleanor was on the surface, finally, after all of these years dreaming about the sun. So why couldn't she relax? Madam turned out to be kinder than she had expected, if a little outspoken and gruff. She reminded Eleanor of Dr. Lamb, but there was something distinctly good about her. She was tough, yes, but there was no mistaking the love in her eyes while she played with the little sisters.
Eleanor didn't quite know what to make of this contradictory nature. She thought she had human nature figured out. Father was good and kind, Dr. Lamb was evil and heartless. Her observations of Madam alone seemed to undermine everything she had learned from Rapture. How much more, she wondered, was there to learn about the world? She was clever and smart, and worshiped as a deity down in Rapture, but she was obviously going to have to try harder than that up among the surfacers.
Around midnight, a chirping noise just outside her window startled Eleanor out of her restless sleep. She sat up and leaned against the wall, looking out at the half moon hanging in the sky. The moon, why hadn't anyone ever told her about the moon? In her dreams, there was only the sun, bright and beckoning. As it turned out, the sun was too bright, too harsh on her eyes, which were accustomed to the dimly-lit Rapture. While Eleanor was still in her escape pod, she would retreat to the lower chambers during the day, coming out in the evening to watch the sun go down and the luminous moon take its place. Its presence felt comforting, as Delta's did.
She smiled as she felt a deep slumbering in the back of her conscious which could only be Delta. Although she couldn't communicate with him through words, she felt his thoughts, and he felt hers. At first, she hadn't been sure if the process had been a success. Then, she had felt a sudden inner calm, which she knew came from Delta. During that terrible storm, she and her little sisters were guided to safety by Delta's invisible hand, landing on the shores of this little village.
The man who had let them in later introduced himself as Johnny, and was every bit as kind as he seemed. Maisie turned out to be another resident at the house, only a few years older than Eleanor and startlingly pretty. Down in Rapture, everyone was – or had been, before they began splicing up – a pristine, nonthreatening shade of white. Maisie had a clear, youthful complexion – something Eleanor hadn't seen for a long time while surrounded by grotesque splicers – and beautiful brown skin – something Eleanor had never seen down in Rapture. She looked like she could be one of the dancers that used to be so popular before the war. A halo of black hair surrounded her delicate face, which had broken into an enchanting smile immediately upon seeing Eleanor. She had felt very plain in comparison, but found it difficult not to adore Maisie and her uplifting cheer.
Father, I'll do my best to make you proud, thought Eleanor fiercely. Right now, her responsibility was to keep her little sisters safe and happy. They certainly seemed safe, and were more than happy to be spoiled with Maisie's treats and Johnny's piggyback rides.
Just then, Eleanor heard a loud thump outside of her door. She leapt to her feet and swung the door open to the sound of retreating footsteps. She peered into the corridor nervously, then heard another thump. It had come from inside the wall, there was no doubt about it.
That was it. She slammed the door shut, not caring who it woke up, and crouched in her bed, petrified, for the rest of the night. The door in the room next to hers opened and closed, almost too quietly. As if somebody didn't want her to hear, didn't want her to wake up. Eleanor suddenly felt very cold. She pulled the covers closer to her chin, quieting her breath so she could hear more clearly.
A floorboard creaked, the curtains rustled, a hand rapped at the window. Her heart jumped in her throat. A hand? Had the splicers come for her? No, no, it was just a branch, she uncomfortably assured herself. For a good fifteen minutes, there was no noise at all. It was eerie. Something knew she was listening, and stopped doing whatever it was that it had been doing. To think that someone was thinking about her thinking about them, listening to her, watching her. . . Eleanor stopped herself, shuddering at the thought. Then, just when she thought she would die of morbid anticipation, she heard a loud thump on the wall just by her head, and passed out mercifully out of fear and sheer exhaustion.
A/N: Sorry this isn't longer! I actually had this one finished, and couldn't find a way to stretch it out. You'll have to excuse my shoddy writing. I promise a lengthy third chapter! Until then, read and review please!