third trip to the well, Felix has to remind himself to slow down again. He understands why he is rushing. He wants to be back inside, where he can look Jules in the face, where the blankets over the windows make him feel safer. Still, he reaches the well sooner than he expects. Slowly, he ties the crossbar rope to the bucket’s handle. Then he pauses.
There are no sounds out here except the voice of Jules, coming from the other end of the rope.
The world, it seems, is unnaturally quiet.
Felix turns the crank.
“That’s one, that’s two . . .”
Jules is talking. His voice sounds far away. Too far.
“. . . that’s six, that’s seven . . .”
Jules sounds anxious. Why did he sound anxious? Should he?
“. . . that’s ten, that’s eleven . . .”
Sweat forms behind Felix’s blindfold. It slowly travels down the length of his nose.
We’ll be inside in no time, Felix thinks. Just fill the third bucket and get the fuck—
He hears the sound again. For the third time.
But now, he can tell where it is coming from.
It is coming from inside the well.
He releases the crank and steps back. The bucket falls, crashing against the stone, before splashing below.
Something moved. Something moved in the water.
Did something move in the water?
Suddenly he feels cold, too cold. He is shaking.
Jules calls to him but Felix doesn’t want to call back. He doesn’t want to make a sound.
He waits. And the longer he waits, the more scared he gets. Like the silence is getting louder. Like he’s about to hear something he doesn’t want to hear. But when no sound comes, he slowly begins to convince himself that he was wrong. Sure, it could have been something in the well but it could have been something in the river, too. Or the woods. Or the grass.
It could have come from anywhere out here.
He steps toward the well again. Before reaching for the rope, he touches the cobblestone lip. He runs his fingers across it. He is determining how wide it is.
Could you fit in there? Could someone fit in there?
He isn’t sure. He turns toward the house, ready to leave the bucket where it is. Then he turns back to the well and begins turning the crank, fast.
You’re hearing things. You’re losing your marbles, man. Get this thing up. Get back inside. Now.
But as he cranks, Felix feels the very beginning of a fear that could grow too big to handle. The bucket, he thinks, feels the littlest bit heavier than it normally does.
It’s NOT heavier! Get the bucket UP and get BACK inside NOW!!
When the bucket reaches the lip, Felix stops. Slowly, with one hand, he reaches toward it. His hand is shaking. When his fingers touch the wet, steel rim he swallows once, hard. He locks the crank. Then he sticks his hand into the bucket.
“Felix?”
Jules is calling.
Felix feels nothing but water in the bucket.
You see? You’re imagining—
Behind him, he hears wet feet on the grass.
Felix drops the bucket and runs.
He falls.
Get up.
He gets back up and runs.
Jules is calling to him. He is calling back.
He falls again.
Get up. Get up.
He gets up again. He runs.
Jules’s hands are upon him.
The back door is opening. Someone else’s hands are upon him. He is inside. Everyone is talking at once. Don is yelling. Cheryl is yelling. Tom is telling everyone to calm down. The back door is closed. Olympia is asking what is going on. Cheryl is asking what happened. Tom is telling everyone to close their eyes. Somebody is touching Felix. Jules yells at everyone to be quiet.
They are.
Then Tom is speaking, quietly.
“Don, did you search by the back door?”
“How the fuck should I know if I did it right, man?”
“I’m just asking if you searched.”
“I did. Yes. I did.”
Tom says, “Felix, what happened?”
Felix tells them. Every detail he remembers. Tom asks him to go over what happened at the end again. He wants to know more about what occurred at the back door. Before he was let in. As he was let in. Felix tells him again.
“All right,” Tom says again. “I’m opening my eyes.”
Malorie tenses.
“I’m fine,” Tom says. “It’s okay.”
Malorie opens her eyes. On the kitchen counter there are two buckets of well water. Felix is standing blindfolded by the back door. Jules is removing his blindfold.
“Lock that door,” Tom says.
“It is,” Cheryl says.
“Jules,” Tom says, “stack the chairs from the dining room in front of this door. Then block the window in the dining room