Flash Fiction Anthology

The well

"Crow's Nest," she muttered as she typed in the name, jumping when Nox, attracted by her voice, scared her again as he suddenly hopped on her bed, purring.

"Fine... just sleep here..." she told the cat distractedly, scrolling through the first results of her search.

The house, apparently a 'Listed Building', had had quite a few owners, then remained empty for years, before it was rented again, the tenants changing often.

She added the year when it was abandoned next to the house's name and tried again-- and there it was. A series of mysterious disappearances in the neighbourhood, in nineteen hundred and one. All those missing people were children between five and ten-years-old. There were supposed to be at least twelve  who vanished and never returned, and only one body was found... in a well in the back garden of the Crow's Nest.

Helen shivered, letting go of the phone. Was this why the garden flat was so cheap? She needed a drink. She stood up and put her slippers on, realising only now that Nox had vanished again.

Could that recording she had seen before on tv be connected to this case? Was that corpse the child found in the well? she mused as she reached the kitchen.

Attracted by a sudden sharp, creaking noise, Helen noticed that the door leading to the back garden stood open. As she approached it and peeked cautiously into the garden illuminated only by the faint light of distant street lamps, she saw a dark shadow moving swiftly across the lawn.

"Nox!" She called, realising that she must have forgotten to close the door when she took the rubbish out, and if the cat got out, and got lost in the neighbourhood he didn't know properly yet, it would be her fault and Jessica would never forgive her.

Taking a deep breath Helen stepped into the large garden of the old house, and walking in the direction she saw the cat follow before, she reached a part she had not been to yet.

Guided by a faint moonlight and even weaker streetlights barely reaching this remote spot, she moved carefully through the tall grass swaying in the light wind, the whisper of its stems brushing against each other disturbed by the silent, occasional hooting of an owl. She wanted to turn around and walk back towards the house, when she spotted Nox appearing out of nowhere and vanishing behind the only, huge tree growing in the garden.

"Silly cat, come here!" She called, knowing that his owner would not be pleased at all if she let her beloved cat spend the night outside, even though Nox deserved it.

Seeing that the animal would not return of its own will, Helen followed him hesitatingly. And there, behind that tree, she discovered an ancient looking well.... the well she had seen on the television.

"It's all just an... urban legend, be reasonable." She ordered herself, voice shaking and heart pounding painfully against her ribs, even as she saw Nox's fluffy tail disappearing in the well's black hole.

"Oh no, Nox don't do that!" She whined, torn between the urge to try to help the cat somehow, and the instinct compelling her to run back to the house and lock herself in.

Hyperventilating with fear morphing quickly into panic she approached the black hole of the well.

"Nox?" She asked weakly, looking into the depth, watching the faint moonlight glitter as it was reflected by the deep water covering the bottom of the well. The water... was not still. It was disturbed and moving, judging by how the moonbeams distorted and multiplied when they reached it.

Something stirred at bottom, rushing quickly out of her sight as she repeated tentatively, "Nox..."

"He is mine now." A hoarse whisper replied, making her run back towards the house, stumbling over the long grass trying to grasp and hold her shaking legs, keeping her prisoner until whatever might climb out of that well could follow...

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This story was written for Imagine this... Writing workshop, prompt n. 12