Sun streamed into Eli's room through his shuttered window, waking him back up with a groggy groan. Sitting up in his bed, he felt his forehead. His fever had broken.
The church bell began to ring outside, signaling the beginning of morning worship.
Eli quickly got up and got dressed, hurrying back out of the orphanage to the church.
He inched open the door and quietly slipped inside. The church was packed with people from the town. The door creaked closed behind him and he slithered off to the side wall, leaning against it. He could feel eyes watching him as he settled into his spot, standing as far back as possible. As usual. He ignored the stares.
Eli had a complicated relationship with the people in town.
"Devils child"
They called him.
"Unwanted whores spawn."
Most just gave him a cold glance and went on with their days, some treated him kindly out of pity. But always keeping a far distance. A few, unfortunately, took it upon themselves to torment Eli. Some days could be a living hell if he wasn't careful. When Reuel was still around, he was able to fight off attacks from truly bad people. But it had been a couple years of himself being alone.
He brushed his hand over his right shoulder, wincing. A reminder.
Thankfully not everyone was so bad. The father of the church was a kind man who never judged another. The women and men who helped out around the church and ran shops nearby at the market were kind to Eli. He often helped them out on busy days when his health wasn't too bad.
The father stepped up to the alter and began prayer, Which Eli tuned out. His eyes searched over the benches and pews, trying to find Reuel. After a few minutes of scanning around, he concluded his friend wasn't there.
The father began reading scriptures.
"hm.."
A voice next to Eli caught his attention. He looked over and saw no one there. Another noise beside him, a shuffle, made him look down.
OH. There was a child beside him.
The Childs features were strangely ambiguous, making it hard for Eli to tell if they were a boy or girl. He had never seen them before.
They leaned against the wall next to him, crossing their arms over their chest.
"Do you believe any of this stuff?" The child asked Eli, their eyes glued ahead on the father reading from the book of scriptures.
Eli smiled softly. "Honestly.. I cannot say."
Eli found it hard to have a connection with the scriptures words like the other people of the town did.
Maybe they were right about him being a child of the devil.
The words of the scriptures were almost like law to these people.
The child laughed softly, just enough for him to hear.
"Good. These are all wrong anyways. The scripts have been falsified for ages."
Eli blinked at the child who glanced up at him with a smile.
From their height and appearance, they couldn't be any older than ten years of age. Yet they spoke as if they were a wise elder.
"Have you read accurate scriptures?" He asked curiously.
The child shook their head, fixing their eyes back onto the father reading aloud.
"I can't read their writing."
Eli said nothing, assuming they couldn’t read. That was common around the town. The privilege of reading and writing was saved for the wealthy scholars. Most families were too poor to afford schooling for their kids, and everyone brought into the orphanage wasn't given a chance.
Eli himself barely knew how to read and write, his memory of what Reuel had taught him over the years were hazy.
The child stood with him for the rest of worship, their eyes glued to the service.
When the father ended, Eli snapped out of his head, checking to see if the child already left. They were still next to him, stretching their arms above their head.
"That was interesting." They said, looking up at him.
As the church cleared out, The child made their way up towards the alter, plucking their fingers along the tops of the pews as they walked.
The church had emptied out quickly, soon leaving only the two of them inside.
Eli followed, sitting down at the front pew as he watched the child walk around the alter in circles.
"I don't think I've seen you before." Eli said, attempting to start a conversation with them.
The child nodded. "I'm not from here. I'm an orphan from another town."
"you travelled here on your own? Is that safe?"
They shrugged, continuing to walk around the alter in a continuous circle.
"I do well to survive on my own."
"But you're so young.. Surely its dangerous outside of this town.."
"It is."
The child said nothing more after that short statement, leaving an awkward air around them.
After a moment, the child stopped circling the alter and began walking down the center aisle down towards the exit.
"Where are you going?" Eli got up, trailing after them. "if you're an orphan, The father wouldn't mind taking you in and caring for you."
The child reached the door and shook their head at Eli.
"That’s okay. I'll be around."
They opened the door and slipped outside.
"Wait!", Eli called out, following behind quickly. "What's you name-"
He reached the door just as it closed and opened it again, running face first into Reuel.
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