THE CYCLE OF TORMENT

CHAPTER XXVI: ELEANOR

Larson sat by Tabitha's side for the past six hours. They were both being cared for in the hospital. Larson came up with the excuse of them being attacked by an animal in the woods during a hike in order to explain the scratches and bruises. The doctors told him that Tabitha would be fine much to his endless relief. She was only extremely fatigued and had some bruises. They even told him that Larson himself was in much worse shape than she was. The scratches on his body went deep, but nothing he would be crippled from. The cuts would heal, but they would leave scars, not that Larson minded. He was just happy that Tabitha was safe. After he was bandages up, he was allowed to be at Tabitha's side.

Larson couldn't stop thinking about what he saw in that ball pit. Not only did he learn the identity of the Stitchwraith, but he learned... pretty much everything. Eleanor was behind the murders that happened after Afton died. She was the reason why this vicious cycle was still going on. She was the real threat, not the Stitchwraith. He considered telling the chief about it after Tabitha recovered, but that wouldn't help. He would just be called crazy and locked in a looney bin. He needed to find a way to stop Eleanor. He needed to kill her. Of course, he didn't exactly know how to kill a creature made of emotions. He knew he could escape her, but that was only because he was resisting her influence and he had a will to live. Even then, it seemed almost impossible to escape her world.

Tabitha groaned and squinted her eyes as she woke up. Larson was snapped out of his thoughts and immediately focused back on Tabitha.

"Tabitha? Tabitha! It's okay. It's okay. You're awake." Larson said, relieved. Tabitha instantly reached up to hug him.

"Everette, I'm sorry! I'm sorry I didn't believe you! I'm sorry about what I said! I shouldn't have said that, and I didn't know what came over me, and I just... I'm sorry!" She started rambling on. Larson held on to her tightly.

"It's alright, Tabitha. I'm just happy you're okay." They stayed there for a while.

"I... I saw her... the lady in the junkyard you told me about! She... she tried to kill me and... wait, where are we? What happened?" It seemed that Tabitha was beginning to take in her surroundings and finally realize where she was.

"I looked for you. I saved you... from Eleanor." Tabitha adopted a perplexed expression on her face. "Eleanor?"
Larson sighed and looked down as he grabbed her hand.

"I was wrong, Tabitha. I was wrong about the Stitchwraith. It was Eleanor. It was always her." Tabitha seemed to understand what he meant by that. "She... she wasn't natural. I've never seen anything like that before."

"She's not human, Tabitha... and she never was. She's killing people for her own amusement and stealing their emotions, using them to become more powerful." Larson knew it sounded weird talking about this out loud, but there was no better way to explain it. "I don't understand." Tabitha responded. "I wish I did." Larson said with a heavy sigh. "What do we do now? You solved the case... should we..." Tabitha started.

"No. We can't tell the chief. I need to take care of this on my own. I need to find a way to kill her." Larson answered.

Tabitha widened her eyes. "Everette, you can't do this alone! You really expect to be able to kill that... thing on your own?! No sir! I'm gonna help you!" She tried to get up, but she strained and could barely sit up. Larson laid her back down.

"No. You're too tired. I won't let her touch you. Not again." Tabitha adopted a worried expression. "Everette... how can you expect to kill something that's not even human?" Larson sighed, thinking to himself. Tabitha did have a point, how was he going to kill her? Obviously, guns wouldn't work. He could try fire. He then thought back to when he saved Tabitha, and how he used positive memories to break free.