Lena’s entire body froze.

The cold whisper brushed against her ear.

“Don’t turn around.”

Her heart pounded so hard she could hear it echoing inside her head.

She tightened her grip on the flashlight until her fingers hurt.

Slowly…

Very slowly…

She looked back into the black water.

Her reflection was still smiling.

But this time…

It wasn’t alone.

Another face stood behind it.

A little girl.

She couldn’t have been older than eight.

Her skin was pale.

Her long black hair floated as if she were underwater.

Most terrifying of all…

Her eyes were completely white.

Lena spun around.

There was no one behind her.

Only the old forest.

Dark.

Silent.

Empty.

She looked back into the well.

The little girl was gone.

Only her own frightened reflection remained.

“This isn’t real,” Lena whispered.

“There has to be an explanation.”

She took one step backward.

Then another.

Suddenly…

A child’s laughter echoed through the trees.

Not loud.

Not playful.

It sounded distant.

As if it came from deep beneath the ground.

Lena quickly switched off her flashlight.

The darkness swallowed everything.

The laughter stopped.

Then she heard footsteps.

Someone was walking around the well.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Crunch.

But no matter where she pointed the flashlight…

She couldn’t see anyone.

---

A branch snapped behind her.

Lena turned instantly.

Nothing.

Then another branch snapped to her left.

Then another to her right.

Someone…

Or something…

Was circling her.

“Lena…”

The whisper returned.

This time it sounded exactly like her mother’s voice.

Her mother had died three years earlier.

Lena felt tears fill her eyes.

“Mom?”

Silence.

Then…

A soft laugh.

The voice changed.

Now it sounded like a little boy.

“Found you.”

Lena ran.

She didn’t care where she was going.

She only wanted to get away from the well.

Branches scratched her arms.

Roots caught her feet.

Her breathing became heavier with every step.

Behind her…

The footsteps continued.

Never faster.

Never slower.

Always the same distance away.

As if whatever was following her knew she couldn’t escape.

---

After several minutes…

A lantern appeared between the trees.

“Miss Brooks!”

Samuel’s voice echoed through the forest.

“Lena!”

She stumbled toward the light.

Samuel grabbed her arm.

“What were you thinking?”

“I saw someone.”

“A woman.”

“She led me here.”

Samuel’s face became pale.

“Wearing a white dress?”

Lena nodded.

Samuel immediately made the strange symbol in the air.

“The Watcher…”

“What?”

“We need to leave.”

“Now.”

He almost dragged Lena back toward the village.

Neither of them spoke until they reached his house.

Samuel locked every door.

Closed every curtain.

Then placed a small wooden cross on the table.

Lena watched him carefully.

“Who is the Watcher?”

Samuel poured himself a cup of tea.

His hands were shaking.

“No one knows.”

“Some believe she was the first victim of the well.”

“Others say…”

He hesitated.

“Say what?”

“They say she isn’t trying to kill people.”

“They’re already dead.”

---

The next morning…

The village looked normal again.

Children played outside.

Women swept their front yards.

Men repaired old fences.

If Lena hadn’t experienced the previous night herself…

She would have believed everything had been a nightmare.

As she walked through the village, people stopped talking.

They watched her silently.

One elderly woman stepped forward.

“You went to the well.”

Lena nodded.

“How do you know?”

The woman pointed toward Lena’s left wrist.

A black handprint had appeared on her skin.

It looked as though someone had grabbed her in the darkness.

Lena rubbed it.

It wouldn’t disappear.

“What is this?”

The woman slowly stepped backward.

“The well touched you.”

---

By afternoon…

Lena visited the village church.

It was the oldest building in Black Hollow.

Inside, hundreds of candles burned beneath ancient wooden statues.

Father Thomas was arranging old books when Lena entered.

“You’ve met the well.”

It wasn’t a question.

It was a fact.

Lena rolled up her sleeve.

The priest looked at the black handprint.

His expression became serious.

“It has chosen you.”

“I don’t believe in curses.”

“You don’t have to.”

“It believes in you.”

Lena frowned.

“What does that mean?”

Father Thomas opened a large leather-bound book.

Inside were dozens of old drawings.

Every drawing showed the same black handprint.

Some pages were over two hundred years old.

“Everyone marked like this disappeared within seven days.”

Lena laughed nervously.

“So you’re saying I have one week to live?”

The priest didn’t answer.

Instead…

He turned to the final page.

There was only one sentence written in faded ink.

On the seventh night… never look into the water.

A cold breeze suddenly swept through the church.

All the candles went out at once.

Darkness filled the room.

Then…

The church bell rang.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

No one was pulling the rope.

Father Thomas whispered,

“It’s never done that before.”

A child’s voice echoed through the church.

Soft.

Clear.

And frighteningly close.

“Lena…”

She turned toward the sound.

A little girl stood near the altar.

The same girl she had seen inside the well.

Her white eyes stared directly at Lena.

She smiled.

Then slowly raised one finger…

Pointing behind Lena.

Again.

The exact same warning.

“Don’t let him touch you.”

Before Lena could react…

The church doors slammed open.

A man stood in the entrance.

Tall.

Wearing a long black coat soaked by rain.

His face was hidden beneath the shadow of a hood.

He looked directly at Lena.

Then smiled.

“I finally found you.”

End of Chapter 2.