Prologue
The forest was quiet with a warm, midsummer breeze rustling the leaves to compliment the sweet songs of the birds. Squirrels scurried across the forest floor, foraging for nuts to prepare for the coming winter. Deer grazed at the edge of the valley, keeping their distance from the tiny shack located a little further down, a well only a few feet away.
Suddenly, a piercing scream split the air and the birds ceased their singing to squawk in terror, shooting into the sky as fast as their wings would carry them. Squirrels abandoned their collection of nuts to sprint to their burrows and the deer fled into the forest as the door to the shack burst open.
"Let me go!" the young girl screamed as she was dragged from the shack by her hair. The man snorted at her and increased his grip as she struggled against him.
"Not this time," he scoffed, yanking at her hair and she felt a few strands rip free from her skull. "This is your punishment!"
"No!" she pleaded. "I swore never to do it again!" She tried to pry his hand open, to release her hair in hopes to escape, but his grip was much too powerful. He dragged her across the parchment and the young girl glanced up, her heart fluttering with panic when she saw the well. She knew it was pointless to scream for help; nobody would hear her.
"You've told me that more than once," she was reminded. "I have tolerated it up until now. This time you're going down there and you will atone for your actions."
"No, please," tears streamed down her face, her eyelashes sticking together in clumps. She tried to dig her bare heels into the ground to stop herself from being pulled any further, but the brick pavement only scraped against her skin and blood began to bubble from the fresh wounds. Her eyes widened when the man pushed her against the well and she could smell the foul stench coming from within.
"Half an hour," the man told her cruelly. "It will give you time to think about what you've done."
"Please, don't do this," she begged. "Please!"
He ignored her pleas and released her hair to grab her around the waist. She yelped as she was hurled over the edge of the well and she quickly grabbed the ledge, her fingers almost breaking from having to take on the sudden weight. Her legs dangled freely and she glanced over her shoulder to try and see the water below, but it was too dark to see a thing. Panic made her throat close up and a whimper escaped her. She choked on the horrid fumes that rose up from below and fear made her tremble.
"Sorry, dear," the man stood over her, placing his hands over hers with a look of malice in his eyes. A smirk seemed to grow on his face when he clearly saw the terror reflected in the girl's hazel gaze. "You won't learn otherwise."
"I'll drown," she sobbed and yelped as her fingers started to slip. "I can't swim!"
"You should have thought about that before you decided to be a naughty girl," he chuckled and her eyes widened as he pushed her hands away from the edge. He let her go and she screamed as she plunged down into the depths of the well, the light above her shrinking in size. Her scream was cut short as she hit the water and she forced herself to kick her legs, to propel herself back up. She broke the surface and gasped for air, choking as the stench filled her lungs like smoke. She desperately tried to keep herself above the water and she looked up, seeing a light slowly being lowered into the well by a rope, stopping just above her reach. She saw the man's face peeking over the ledge at the very top with an evil grin.
She tried to reach the light, grabbing at the bricks to grope for a handhold, but the walls were too smooth. Her hands scraped against the bricks and she winced as they tore open her skin. She treaded the thick, stinking water, trying to keep herself afloat. The air was almost too thick to even breathe and her lungs ached with the effort. Her legs burned with the strain of keeping her head above water and she grabbed at the bricks again, but it was no use.
"Let me back up!" she screamed at the man. Her legs failed her for a second and she began to sink, her head submerging. She kicked furiously and broke the surface again, coughing and spluttering as she choked on the water.
"I said half an hour," the man hollered.
"Let me back up!" she screeched again, gasping for air. "Dad, please!"
He shook his head and disappeared from view, probably to go and sit in the shack and wait for her time to be up. She grabbed for a handhold again, wondering if her father would return later to find a lifeless corpse. Was that was he was hoping for?
She reached her arm up but froze when the small glow of light allowed her to catch a glimpse of her skin. Her heart fluttered like a trapped bird when she saw the crimson color staining her arm, dripping down her elbow. Her legs continued to ache with the effort of keeping her head above the surface and she gasped as her panic only increased. Her fear took hold of her and she finally realized what she was swimming in. All this time, she had never known what was in the well, and now she regretted ever being curious. It wasn't water that she was swimming in, and it certainly wasn't wasted red wine! Her father wasn't the type of person to waste a single drop of alcohol.
Please, God! She thought as she struggled to stay afloat. Please don't let me drown in blood!