The church doors slammed shut behind the stranger.

The sound echoed through the empty chapel.

Rain poured outside, but inside, the air suddenly became freezing cold.

Lena stared at the man standing in the doorway.

His long black coat was dripping with rainwater.

His face remained hidden beneath the hood.

Only a faint smile could be seen.

“I finally found you,” he repeated.

Father Thomas immediately stepped in front of Lena.

“You shouldn’t have come here.”

The stranger chuckled.

“I wasn’t asking for permission.”

Lena looked from the priest to the mysterious man.

“Who are you?”

The stranger slowly removed his hood.

He looked no older than thirty-five.

Dark hair.

Sharp gray eyes.

A long scar ran across his left cheek.

“My name is Adrian Cross.”

“I’ve been searching for Black Hollow for twelve years.”

Lena frowned.

“Searching for it?”

“Most people spend their lives trying to leave.”

Adrian smiled.

“I didn’t come for the village.”

“I came for the well.”

---

Father Thomas’s face turned pale.

“You should leave.”

Adrian ignored him.

Instead, he looked at the black handprint on Lena’s wrist.

“So…”

“It chose you.”

Lena instinctively hid her arm.

“What do you know about this?”

“Enough to tell you that you have six days left.”

Father Thomas slammed an old book shut.

“Stop frightening her.”

“I’m telling her the truth.”

Lena’s heartbeat quickened.

“What happens after six days?”

Adrian remained silent for a moment.

Then he answered.

“On the seventh night…”

“The well stops whispering.”

“It starts calling.”

---

Lena followed Adrian outside the church.

The rain had stopped, but thick fog covered the village.

They walked toward an abandoned cemetery behind the church.

Ancient gravestones leaned in every direction.

Most were too old to read.

Adrian stopped before one broken grave.

He brushed away the moss.

The name became visible.

Emily Cross

1998 – 2008

Lena looked at him.

“Your daughter?”

Adrian nodded slowly.

“She disappeared near the well.”

“They never found her.”

“So you think she’s still alive?”

Adrian looked toward the dark forest.

“No.”

“I think something worse happened.”

---

He reached into his backpack and removed an old photograph.

It showed a happy little girl wearing a yellow raincoat.

Lena’s heart nearly stopped.

It was the same girl she had seen inside the well.

“The girl…”

“I’ve seen her.”

Adrian looked at Lena so quickly that the photograph slipped from his hand.

“Where?”

“In the water.”

“And inside the church.”

Adrian closed his eyes.

“Then she really is trying to warn you.”

Lena whispered,

“You’ve seen her too?”

“For years.”

“But she never speaks to me.”

“She only cries.”

---

That evening…

The village gathered in the town square.

No one spoke loudly.

Every face looked worried.

Samuel rang an old brass bell.

“The council meeting will begin.”

Lena noticed something strange.

Every family had brought a lit candle.

Even the children.

She quietly asked Samuel,

“Why the candles?”

He answered without looking at her.

“So the darkness knows we’re still together.”

---

The village elder stood before everyone.

“There are six nights until the Choosing.”

Murmurs spread through the crowd.

A young woman began crying.

An old man lowered his head.

Lena frowned.

“What is the Choosing?”

Nobody answered.

Finally, Father Thomas spoke.

“Every twenty-five years…”

“The well chooses one soul.”

Lena laughed nervously.

“You don’t actually believe that.”

No one laughed with her.

---

Later that night…

Lena couldn’t sleep.

The black handprint on her wrist had grown darker.

It now stretched almost to her elbow.

She took photographs of it.

Every picture came out blurry.

Her recorder, however, captured something strange.

She replayed the recording from the church.

Instead of silence…

A little girl’s voice whispered through the speaker.

“He’s lying…”

Lena froze.

The recording continued.

“Don’t trust Adrian…”

Then another voice appeared.

Much deeper.

Much colder.

“Bring her to me.”

The recorder suddenly switched itself off.

---

Unable to ignore her curiosity, Lena quietly left Samuel’s house.

The village was asleep.

Fog covered every street.

She followed the narrow path toward the forest.

Halfway there…

She noticed fresh footprints in the mud.

Large boot prints.

Someone had gone to the well only minutes earlier.

She followed them.

The footprints ended at the ancient stones surrounding the well.

A lantern burned beside it.

Adrian stood there alone.

He wasn’t looking into the water.

He was speaking to it.

“I’ve done everything you asked.”

“Now keep your promise.”

Lena hid behind a tree.

Her breathing became shallow.

The water inside the well began to ripple.

No wind blew across the forest.

Yet the surface moved by itself.

A deep voice echoed from the darkness below.

“One more soul…”

“Then she comes back.”

Adrian lowered his head.

“I understand.”

Lena felt her blood run cold.

Was Adrian trying to save his daughter…

Or sacrifice someone else?

Suddenly…

A hand grabbed Lena’s shoulder from behind.

She nearly screamed.

She turned around.

It was the little girl in the yellow raincoat.

She placed one finger against her lips.

“Shhh…”

Then she whispered,

“Run…”

Before Lena could move…

The girl disappeared.

At that exact moment, Adrian slowly turned toward the trees.

His gray eyes locked onto the place where Lena was hiding.

He smiled.

“I know you’re there.”

End of Chapter 3.