Noah's eyes burst open.
He finds himself in the midst of an open green space. A kind of forest without a single tree in sight, a kind of garden without a single flower between the endless grass.
Unfamiliar thoughts fill his head. He looks up at the ocean blue sky: no clouds. He turns in a circle around himself: the horizon shows nothing but more grass beyond. The only things he noticed was Hitori standing beside him, a puzzled expression on her face, and a black stone-made giant well, with spiral stairs built on its walls, leading to the edge where you are able to see what's inside. The mysterious well is about a hundred meters from the children. It is hard not to miss it, for it's the only black thing on the horizon.
Noah had a strange impression. Like he has always been here. He struggled to remember exactly what they were doing before coming to his place. The memories were on the tips of his consciousness, but they quickly disappeared, leaving him all the more confused.
The only thing crystal clear in his mind is his name, his age. Where did he live? What was his purpose in life? He suddenly thought that was all insignifiant, for the presence of the giant well drew him in, calling him to discover what lay in the depths of its darkness.
Hitori points a finger at it. "Shall we go?" , she says, with a voice as dead as rocks.
She has always lived here too, just like me. Noah realizes.
We have no past, we have no future. We only have the present, and it is this place. This time of day. This well before our eyes.
They walk slowly, both of them not uttering a sound, as if the only conversation they ever needed must be about the black stone circle and the stairs around it.
It doesn't take them too long to climb to the top.
On the edge of the well lies a small bucket, the size of a human, almost perfectly so, as if it's made to get people down the depths of the well. Noah inches closer, standing on the tips of his feet to see what's inside.
The first thing Noah noticed was that the inside of the bucket was filled to about a quarter of its height...with blood.
Leftover blood.
This well isn't for water.
It's an underground graveyard to hide the bodies of the murdered.
Hitori looks inside the bucket as well, and after a moment of silence, she gasps, the truth of this place finally sunk in.
"What do we do now?" , she asks.
Noah hesitates, then speaks in whispers, almost afraid that the Dead will hear him. "Someone before us, someone alive, rode the bucket down there. You saw it too, didn't you?"
Hitori nods slowly, her face contorted with worry.
The only memory that remains.
The black silhouette who waved at them, then disappeared in endless darkness.
"I don't see any other option. There could be a serial killer down there, but if this was only meant for the Dead, then I see no point in going down. Whoever did, is looking for something else inside the well. Something other than cadavres. Something we ought to find too."
But how in the world are they supposed to ride this bucket if it was only meant for one person? How a well functioned is quite simple: One had to hold the rope, the rope will slide on the wheel pulley, making the bucket go down bit by bit, then that same person has to pull back the rope so that the full bucket will go up again, and one only has to take it out, using the water inside for whatever mundane purpose.
YOU ARE READING
The Voodoo Doll
Fantasy[COMPLETED] Noah is a boy who was raised by demons all his life. He has the ability to commit perfect crimes by using voodoo dolls and killing with them. He was taught ever since he was young to show no mercy to his enemies. Yet, because of his unu...
