I carefully took out my phone from my pocket, tapped the screen, and turned on the flashlight function.
A bright beam shot out, and I aimed it into the depths of the well. The darkness below was pierced by the light, but the scene at the bottom was still unclear.
As the light flickered, I thought I caught a glimpse of something moving in the corner of the well.
My heart raced, unsure if I had really seen something. "Amelia, did you see that? It looked like there was someone down there."
I turned to Amelia, my voice tinged with uncertainty.
Amelia frowned deeply, remained silent for a moment, and then replied in a low voice, "It looked like a girl."
Her voice trembled slightly in the night breeze.
I peered down the well again, shining my phone's light to confirm what I thought I'd seen.
I was sure I hadn't seen wrong.
"There's definitely someone down there," I spoke with certainty.
Someone in the crowd suddenly whispered, "Isn't that Jeremy's granddaughter, Sable Wright?"
"Yeah, it really looks like her," another voice quickly responded.
I was shocked. Sable? Jeremy's missing granddaughter.
"We need to figure out how to get her out of there," I said urgently, looking around for tools to use for the rescue.
A villager who lived nearby immediately suggested getting a rope.
One villager quickly ran home, brought back a rope, tied one end to a sturdy tree trunk nearby, and carefully made a loop with the other end, ready to secure it around Sable.
I stood at the edge of the well and shouted down, "Sable, stay calm and try to tie the rope around yourself. We'll pull you up right away."
"Help me..." Sable's voice echoed from the bottom of the well, weak but laced with fear and desperation.
With everyone's concerted effort, after a few minutes of tense but orderly rescue, we finally managed to pull Sable up.
When she appeared at the edge, we could see she was drenched, her skin wrinkled and pale, and she looked extremely weak.
Her eyes were vacant, and she kept repeating "Help me," seemingly still immersed in fear.
Jeremy, seeing Sable in such a pitiful state, was heartbroken and almost speechless. He hurried forward, holding her tightly, tears streaming down his face.
Jeremy choked out, "Sable, how did you end up down there? Where have you been these past few days? Grandpa was so worried."
However, Sable did not respond, her eyes vacant.
Seeing her like this, it was clear she had been severely frightened. I softly said to Jeremy, "Maybe it's best not to ask her now. She looks really scared. She needs rest and food."
A few strong young men volunteered to carry Sable back to Jeremy's house.
Someone in the crowd whispered, "This well really has a problem! We've heard some strange stories about it before, but we didn't think it was this serious."
I stood aside, also wondering how Sable had managed to survive down there for days. The dark, damp, and lonely environment would be unimaginable torture for a child!
Back at Jeremy's house, the four of us gathered around the table to discuss our plan.
Howard spoke up in a deep voice, "The strange happenings in this village probably come from that well. To catch whatever is in the water, we need to lure it out."
"How do we lure it?" I asked, frowning.
"Given the disappearance of those dozen or so girls, we can guess that it likes young girls," Wesley spoke, his gaze falling on the only two girls present.
I looked at him in disbelief. "You want us to be the bait?"
This wasn't a joke. I immediately objected.
"We don't even know what that thing is. What if it's really powerful and you can't handle it? What if it kills me? No way, we need another plan. I can't do it..."
I was naturally timid and didn't have the guts to be the bait. It was absolutely impossible.
Amelia volunteered, "I'll do it. I'm not afraid of that thing. I can barely protect myself, and I believe you guys can catch it."
I frowned. "How can that be? I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving you alone."
Gritting my teeth, I said, "How about I go with Amelia? Having someone with me might help ease my fear."
"No," the one who objected was none other than Howard.
He looked at me with deep eyes, filled with an emotion I couldn't quite read. "This task can only be done by you."
I didn't know when I'd become so capable.
He continued calmly, "I told you before, after signing the contract with me, those things would be very attracted to your body, so you are the best bait."
I felt tears welling up. "But I really can't do it alone. I'm scared."
Amelia jumped in to spoke up for me. "How about this? Let me go with Karena. At least she won't be as scared."
Howard spoke indifferently, "What are you afraid of? I'll protect you."
If I said I didn't trust him now, would he be angry?
"It's settled then," Howard interpreted my silence as agreement, and made the decision.
I was almost in tears but had no choice but to agree.
Amelia looked at me worriedly, gently patted my shoulder, "Karena, it's okay. We'll protect you."
I nodded. I had no choice but to trust them now.
We told Jeremy about our plan.
Jeremy looked at me with concern, clearly uneasy. "Miss, are you sure you can do this? If anything goes wrong, we can't take responsibility."
I wanted to say I couldn't, but I had no choice. My teammates believed in me, so I had to step up.
"It's fien, Jeremy. Tonight, just act like nothing happened and rest as usual. Leave the rest to us."
"Okay, I'll arrange rooms for you."
"No need to arrange mine. I'll stay with her," Howard's words were music to my ears, making me feel felt a wave of relief.
With him by my side, I wouldn't be as scared.
After sending Jeremy off, we returned to the room. Howard looked around at the decor and suddenly said, "You'll sleep here alone tonight. If I'm here, it probably won't show up."
Panic shot through me at the thought of being left alone, and I grabbed his sleeve. "What will I do if you leave?"