The Well House

They immediately shifted their focus before them and immediately Caleb reached out to grab his wife with fear clear in his eyes. At this time Sarah had already gone into shock and there was not much of a reaction on her face other than blank dead eyes.

Caleb tried to drag Sarah behind him but the figure before them whispered something and Caleb immediately lost consciousness. Meanwhile, Sarah stared in horror trying to open her mouth to speak but her voice was too faint.

Her vision kept getting blurry and the figure which was in form of a shadow before her blew out what looked like pale blue smoke which enveloped her completely that she could not see anything and suddenly everything turned pitch black.

The next time Sarah opened her eyes, she had a baby in her arms. The baby was so peaceful and she looked at it with both fear and excitement in her eyes. There was something very calming about the baby and yet so chilling.

The people that were after them disappeared without a trace. And when Caleb who had passed out got up, he took his wife and son and fled the town since it seemed somebody wanted them dead.

Neither of them really remembered the events that occured in the woods clearly, and neither did they ever want to speak of it. All they knew was that something protected them and their son Leo.

As he recalled all this, Caleb looked at his son now and hoped he would see past his uncle's big smile and manipulative words because he could not shake off the feeling that Anthony didn't hold their best interest at heart.

"Aah nephew there you are," Anthony walked across the living area with his arms wide open to meet Leo halfway. Leo gave a slight smile and hugged his Uncle. He looked at him and saw his grey eyes searching him curiously.

Anthony was younger than Caleb but he looked rather older. His tall stature and additional of little trails of gray on his hair made him look far much grown than he actually was.

"What a fine young man you've grown into, if you need any assistance with a little history about the tower I can be of great help." Anthony paused and acknowledged his brother Caleb who gave him a slight nod with an equally forced smile.

Anthony then shifted his gaze towards Leo and continued, " your father's memory might be a little rusty since he moved away from around these walls," he remarked patting Leo on his back with a forced laugher.

Anthony had dropped by earlier when Leo went out and he claimed to have a few errands to run within the town so he was going to stay in the tower for a few nights.

The tower having over twenty floors was big enough to accommodate quite a number.

After a little chat with his uncle during dinner, Leo got up to retire to bed and his uncle Anthony noticed him leaving the room. He quickly got up and follow behind Leo and caught up with him before he could walk further. Leo noticed him and reduced his pace.

"Can I see it?" Anthony said in a low tone. "All these years and not even once have I ever set my eyes on the weapon the tower forged," he continued with anticipation in his eyes. Leo looked at him and concluded that there was no threat that his uncle could possibly pose.

Leo unsheathed the weapon and hesitated just when he was about to hand it to Anthony. Anthony noticed his movements and held out his hand to Leo, "can I?" Leo gave a slight nod and Anthony ran his fingers across the handle, "an atheme, who could have imagined."

He gave it back with hesitation but he could not take his eyes off the inscribed patterns. He then breathed heavily and gave a contented smile to Leo. Leo went up the stairwell that led to the top most floor where only he occupied. This floor was also out of bounds for any other person other than Leo.

Leo freshened up and got ready for bed. He was quite exhausted, so the moment he laid down, he was fast asleep. Not long after he had fallen asleep, Leo begun breathing restlessly and abruptly opened his eyes and sat up, "forest fairy?"

Leo had a very vivid dream about Lily or perhaps it was a vision. He saw Lily right in front of the gates of the tower. What was troubling was her appearance. Her skin was rather pale than how he remembered and the way she stared at the tower raised so many questions.

'I didn't even get her name and now I'm dreaming about her,' Leo thought to himself feeling embarrassed. Before he could recollect himself again, he heard something, and he remembered pretty well what it was.

It was the same voice that called out his name when he was in the woods. And now it was calling him again. This time it was more clear almost as if he could trace where it was sounding from.

Leo got up and switched on the lamp on his nightstand. Reaching out under his pillow, he pulled out the atheme and headed towards the huge bedroom windows. At this point Leo did not understand why he was heading towards the window instead of the door. He just followed his instincts.

He slowly pushed the windows open and without warning, a strong force pulled him outside and his body rushed in the air falling from the 23rd floor and just when he was about to hit the ground, he landed on hiis feet firm on the ground and a little crater was formed.

Leo stared in disbelief, was any of this real? Or perhaps he was still dreaming. He kept looking around on the now devastated ground that he landed on. He looked at his feet if at all anything was broken but he was as good as new. He then noticed a slight glow that was now disappearing from the atheme that he gripped tightly on his right hand.

"Very impressive I must say," that chilling voice resounded in the air once more. "Over here," the voice said again. Leo looked a few yard ahead from where he was standing. And there it was, a very old well house.

The well house looked so old yet it was in perfect shape. He moved closer and when he was just a few steps from the entrance that was made of metallic bars, he saw pale gray fingers that had long pointy claw like nails slowly scratching along one of the bars making a slight ring in the air.

Just as Leo was reaching for the atheme, the figure stepped out of the darkness. "You cannot kill me, at least not with that," the figure interjected sharply releasing a cold chill in the surrounding.

A humanoid figure stepped out of the shadows and held onto the bars. Leo immediately took a fighting stance and was ready to attack regardless of whether he would kill the creature or not.

"You need to understand that I am no threat to you Leo," the figure continued. Leo moved carefully ensuring he did not take his eyes off the figure. "Reveal yourself," Leo ordered.

The figure stepped out of the well house and stood a few steps from the entrance. A creature with a black silk dress and bare feet that were wet and moldy and slightly darker than it's pale grey lean body revealed itself.

Its head was bald and when Leo looked keenly into its face, he was shocked to see that the creature had no face features at all. It's face was bare grey skin that looked like it was tightly molded. Just when Leo was wondering how the creature could speak to him, he heard it's voice again, as if it could listen to his thoughts.

"I've been held prisoner here for a very long time, maybe my loyalty to the guardians of the Tower will not go unrewarded this time." The creature moved a few steps closer to Leo and every step it took, left trails of slimy black liquid.

Leo was very alert at this point. As the creature moved closer one more step, Leo unsheathed the atheme and the moment that the blade was revealed, the gemstone that was built within the handle glowed red.

Leo felt the sudden warmth that was originating from the handle spreading to his hand. And as if in sync, his eyes turned white at once. It did not stop at that as his hair also transformed from the normal short dark brown to long white hair that gave an icy feel.

The red light immediately spread to the blade and coated it with a dark red smokey appearance. As if the creature had seen what was happening, it moved back a few steps. It has no face features but the fear it felt could be detected in the atmosphere.

Leo swang the athame directly towards the creature and deep red flames formed on the blade. The flames scattered onto the ground and scorched every place they dropped onto.

The moment a single spark of flame dropped on the creature, it released an ear piercing shriek and the skin tore on the place where it's mouth would be located revealing an extremely wide scream and sharp discolored micro teeth.

The creature crawled back into the well house and trails of dark liquid dripped from the corners of its now healing mouth. It let out a loud hiss from the darkness where it was hiding. Suddenly roots begun shooting from the ground beneath Leo's feet.

Leo did not bother to look down on the ground and instead remained standing on the same spot grinning. The moment the roots reached his feet, they suddenly froze in place without any movements and like burnt wood, they scattered into ashes.

Leo transformed back into his normal self since he knew the commotion would soon wake everyone in the tower. Releasing his aura, he tightened his grip on the atheme once more and another red glow appeared on the athame.