The Saints Have Fallen: Chapter 11

Ana

I stood to straighten my dress and left Tomai behind in the prayer room. Since Yuri gave me permission for my class, I probably should start by printing flyers to market my service and sticking them around the town. The air in the house felt a bit claustrophobic so I made my way outside. I hadn’t realized how large the estate was only until now. Behind the manor was a dense forest just beyond the neatly cared-for garden. Just before the garden, at the side, I noticed a little well and Yuri walking towards it. He seemed to be fixed upon a thought as his frown was cemented upon his face. Where was he going?

I attempted to call him but as I walked a little closer, I accidentally stumbled due to my undone shoelace. “Drats,” I mumbled, kneeling with one leg down and attempted to loop it back into place. I looked up to notice Yuri standing over the well. Suddenly, he fell in.

“Yuri!” I called out in a panic. Oh my god. He fell in! I rushed towards the red brick well which gave a sudden heavy aura out of it. He must have lost his balance. My god, why would he even stand on top of the edge like that! “Yuri?” I called again into the well.

No answer.

Panic flared through my body. Dear God, was he hurt? Why wasn’t he answering? “Yuri!” I called even louder. What if he fell in and hit his head and he was severely wounded or something? I contemplated whether to run back to the house to get Byron but he was all the way at the end of the estate taking care of the fencing. There was no time. Tomai nor Lou wouldn’t have been much help anyway. Oh God oh God oh God.

He could have been possibly bleeding to his death down there due to knocking his head on a sharp brick or worse yet he could be drowning and not know how to swim!

Stop panicking. Stop panicking, Ana.

Do something.

I mentally slapped myself.

I quickly grabbed the rope at the edge of the well and tied it to the nearby iron pole as securely as I could. Taking a deep shaky breath, I looked in to see that the well had been covered in a vast chilled darkness. How deep was this? It couldn’t be so deep, right? It was only a little well.

 Slowly but surely I climbed in, using the rope as my safe guide. I closed my eyes and pretended I was rock climbing or something close but my heart rate was betraying my positive calmness. My legs ached and the palms of my hands screamed from the roughage of the rope. Why is this well so deep? I was positive now that Yuri must have some sort of injury. My anxiety was now swimming through my blood. Don’t think about this too much. Everything will be fine. I got this.  

I felt something cold slither across my leg when suddenly I slipped.

A tightening chill sucked upon the flesh of my body. The air felt tight around me. This, this wasn’t air. I was cold. I was wet. I forced my eyes open to realize I was sinking in the depths of water. Something was pulling me down. I couldn’t breathe. I didn’t want to die like this. I didn’t want to die in a well.

I won’t.

With all the strength within me that I had at the moment, I gave a hearty kick. Whatever was clutching onto me suddenly released. My foot ached with whatever I kicked. I didn’t want to watch down. Every part of me told me not to. I swam to the surface to take my first gulp of air when suddenly I felt it clutch onto my ankles again, this time pulling me to face it.

My eyes opened in complete terror at the thing before me. I screamed, choking on the salty tang of dirty water. A woman with scales on her face and fangs for teeth ripped the side of my dress’s shoulder, drawing blood from my tender flesh, leaving a clawed wound in its place. She was hissing at me as I tried to escape from her clutches. Quickly, I brought my loose feet towards me and felt with my hand for the small pocket knife I always kept with me hidden in the side of my shoe.

I was losing air. I couldn’t breathe. I had to move fast. My heart was pounding within me. I raised my hand and as she was going to bite into my flesh, I stabbed the knife into her eye. A sudden aching vibration echoed through my ear within the water. I kicked her off. My body ached. I swam as fast as I could to the surface. Air met my lungs. My eyes burned from the water. I dragged myself onto the shore of a place I had no idea about.

Cold slushy mud ate into the corners of my fingers and body as I coughed up water. Where was I? My heartbeat drummed a thousand African drums within my soul. My anxiety and panic were now off the charts. In the far distance, I saw the body of one of the creatures I just kicked away, rotting with a foul stench. Its body was battered and torn. A part of me through up. I shot up, shaking, stumbling as I walked forward.

“Y-yuri!” I screamed, in a panic.

I looked above to see a murky dark sky. There was a green misty fog surrounding me. This place felt evil. I trembled, wounded, but not badly. I was numb. I was lost. And I was confused. I didn’t know where I was. I didn’t know where Yuri was. I didn’t know what that thing I just encountered was. I didn’t know what was happening right now. Could I be dreaming? This was a nightmare. I tried to pinch myself, only to open my eyes back to this same sinful place in a prickled pain. Where was Yuri? Was he alright? Was he alive? Oh God, what if he’s dead? What if I’m stuck here?

I heard a sudden sound come from the lake behind me. My panic flared. I had to move. I had to move. My muscles were in agony. I walked forward, along the dirt trail and yet I felt like I was arriving nowhere. Was I walking in circles? How is that possible? How long had I been walking?

There was a small little trail that led into the forest. Was that the way out? Through the forest? I frowned. Why did I get myself into this mess? And where the hell was Yuri? A sudden thought crossed my mind. Am I in hell? Was I dead? I wanted to sit here and just cry but I pulled myself together as much as I possibly could. Alright, Ana, you can do this. Just like in the movies when the girl is stupidly brave enough to walk into the room after hearing an eerie sound, you can be just as stupid to walk into a forest with who knows what sort of creatures are in there. Quite frankly, it didn’t seem like I had much of a choice as I was walking in circles on this trail anyway.   

Taking a deep breath, I continued my search forward into the foggy forest.  A haunting silence followed me as I deepened into the woods. Could this have been a mistake? Was this a trap? Oh, I wish I were home having a nice hearty warm chicken soup right now. The trees began opening a bit to small clear areas. A small fire stayed lit in the near distance. I cautiously walked forward and hid behind the trees to get a better look. At first, I thought there were humans standing together in a circle around the fire, but as I looked closer, they turned to reveal its body intertwined with flesh and wood. A shiver crawled down my spine. What are those things? I was about to retreat when I heard a cry. At the side, two men sat leaning against a tree with tightened ropes around their wrists and ankles. A tall slender man with black hair around the same height and built of Yuri and a short feeble one. The feeble one whined and cried begging to be let free as he watched as the three creatures which surrounded the fire chanted.

I took a frightful step back when suddenly my back collided with a rough fleshing object. A hand clutched onto the back of my neck. I felt a force push me forward. My heart and feet tumbled in sync and my knees grazed upon the rough soil beneath. I looked up to realize I was pushed before the three creatures by a fourth which had stood behind me.

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