It was a cold night, not too cold but just enough to send a little shiver down your back. The moon was shining a full bright circle, giving that much needed light as they walked silently through the old city streets.
It was a quiet town. A small village on an island that people named the silent city. Not many people lived there and most of the people knew better than to go through the city streets at night.
Andy and Eli didn't believe the stories they heard. They wanted to go around at night in one of those ghost hunting tours that people give. They didn't really believe in anything supernatural, they just thought they'd have a good old laugh.
Everything about this place was strange. It sure looked old, with the wooden balconies chipped paint, the large wooden door and huge brass door bangers. The street was not made of cement or tarmac but gravel and there was not a single car parked anywhere. There was no electric light anywhere in town and the only light there was came either from the moon or from lamp post with little candles and lanterns lighting up.
"Let's take a turn." Eli said, stopping suddenly and grabbing Andy's arm and turning him around. She was whispering and giggling like a little girl.
"Eli I think we should stay with the tour. We don't want to separate and have ghost chasing us do we?" he asked jokingly but her excitement was getting the better part of him so he nodded.
The tour leader had given them a strict rule – nobody is to go wander off alone. They couldn't care less so they stayed behind a corner and watched while the tour group continued to go straight ahead.
Andy and Eli were walking hand in hand as they took a right down an alley. There were more wooden doors and only one lamp post. They could barely see each other, more over anything else. As they walked they could see the doors close by. Doors that seemed to haven't been opened in a long, long time.
"Is it me or did it just get colder?" Andy asks but Eli just laughs, thinking it's one of his usual jokes. "I'm being serious Eli. I don't feel comfortable." He says.
"Oh come on, stop being such a wimp. Let's go this way." She instructs as she leads him to an open piazza. Eli lets go of his hand as she looked around.
There was this huge church that looked rather strange. Eli knew it was Gothic with its top pointing up, almost reaching to the night sky. There were beautiful carvings across the wall and doors. The most surprising thing was that there were vines going up and down all over the walls and doors. It looked abandoned. Eli couldn't help but take a step closer.
There was a wooden notice board. It was old and battered but the writing on it, in clear black, capital letters was clear.
BEWARE THE DEVIL'S WELL.
Eli read it out loud and she was half laughing and half getting uncomfortable. The tour guide had said that strange things had happened here, more than once. People disappearing and others going mad.
She turned around but couldn't see Andy anywhere.
"Andy!" she whispered but no reply came back. She was suddenly feeling very afraid. The air seemed to have just turned icy cold. She could even see her breath. The wind seemed to get louder and the moon seemed to be teasing her as it hid behind the clouds. "Andy!" she called out, daring to call a little louder.
She was frozen in place, unsure where to move. Where had he gone. "Andy if this is your idea of a sick joke you're gonna regret it." She said, her voice breaking.
She wrapped her hands around her, lowered her head and tried to walk straight. Something on the ground attracted her attention. She hurried next to it, bent down and tried to see what it was.
It was Andy's bag lying on the ground. "Some joke." She muttered to herself as she picked up the bag and threw it over her shoulder. She straightened herself and that's when she saw a figure in the distance, walking slowly but surely.
"Andy?" She called out quietly but he didn't turn around. She knew it was him, there was nobody else here. She tried to look to see where he was going and that's when she saw the well.
The warning came back flashing before her eyes.
BEWARE THE DEVIL'S WELL.
"Andy stop! Andy!" She screamed, not caring where she was going. He had reached the well and was climbing on the top of it. Eli was running and shouting. "ANDY!" She yelled but it was too late.
One moment he was there, the next he wasn't. She reached the well and looked in. She couldn't see him or hear him. "Andy! Andy!" she was calling out.
She heard footsteps behind her and she turned around quickly. "Help me, help … he fell into the well." Eli cried out to the old woman. She was short, her back hunched a little. Her face was all wrinkly and her hands looked bone and skin. She was pale and her eyes an icy blue that were scaring her. She was wearing a long black dress. Her snow white hair tied back in a neat bun.
"You won't be seeing him again." She told her.
"No, no, what are you talking about?" Eli said. She was crying and fiddling in her bag trying to find her phone. "Andy hold on." She yelled again but there was no answer. She found her phone and tried to call but there was no reception. "Damn it!" She yelled as she slammed the phone on the ground.
She stood back up again and looked in the well. Ice, cold air seemed to be coming from up there and foul smell of death.
"Beware the devil's well. Beware the devil's well. Beware the devil's well." The old woman was singing. Eli's hair was raising as the old woman kept singing and repeating the same warning.
"Why?" Eli asked.
"Don't you know the story dear girl?" the old woman asked. Her voice sounded sweet but also deadly. She was like Death itself, mocking her.
"No." Eli replied.
"Well long ago, there were husband and wife. They were happily married or so the wife thought. One day, he took her for a stroll in the middle of the night and when they reached the well, he pushed her in so he could live with his lover. She haunts the well and every man that approaches she takes down with her. They're never seen again." The old woman says.
Eli shook her head, not ready to believe what the woman was saying. She's just an old fool she kept saying to herself. She was peering over the well and calling out. "Get help, please." Eli said but no answer came.
She turned around but the old woman had disappeared into thin air. There was no trace of her. She would have heard her go, she was sure.
"BEWARE THE DEVIL'S WELL!" A shrill cry was heard. It was so loud that Eli had to cover her ears and kneel down.
"Leave him." a woman said from behind her. She could feel someone touching her shoulder. She turned around and saw a figure, in a dress and blood covering half her face. Eli screamed and started to run and not look back.
She saw people looking out of their windows but nobody came out to ask her what happened. She kept on running and running and screaming and screaming. "HELP!" She screamed but nobody came.
She finally reached the rest of the tour who looked like they hadn't heard one single scream in that silent city. "Oh good heavens did you get lost?" The tour guide asks.
"Andy! He fell into the well! Help us." She asked but she saw the tour guide's face change before her eyes.
"Andy? Who's Andy?" He asked.
"The guy I was with." Eli replied infuriated.
"I don't know what you're talking about child. You were all alone." He replied. Her eyes went wide, not believing what she was hearing. How could he say that?
"Beware the devil's well. Beware the devil's well." The same voice of before said and Eli was turning around, trying to block her ears from hearing. But the voice penetrated still and she could see the woman strolling by the man here, as if to look for her next victim.
"There! She's there!" Eli cried out but nobody seemed to hear. She was crying, and rocking and screaming. All the sounds seemed to be amplified and she couldn't stop hearing the same words over and over again. She hadn't realized it, but she had gone mad.