Ch37: The Well
478 Words
The grey city was clearer than ever.
The haze had thinned to nothing, and the buildings stood sharp against the pale sky. Sari could see details she had never noticed before—cracks in the pavement, rust on a window frame.
He was waiting for her.
“The well,” she said. “The one Mbah Ratu uses for her holy water.”
“What about it?”
“The villagers believe it's sacred. They say the water comes from deep underground, blessed by the gods.”
He was quiet for a moment. “What do you believe?”
“I believe the water is poison.”
“Show me.”
She closed her eyes. In the dream, she could see it—the well at the center of Mbah Ratu's compound, surrounded by stones, covered by a wooden lid. The well was old. The stones were black with age. The lid was carved with the same snake symbol.
“It's black,” she said.
“Like the spring.”
“Worse. The spring was dark, but this—this is like ink. Like something dead.”
“What else do you see?”
“The symbol. Carved into the lid. The snake, coiled, tail in mouth.”
“That's Viktor's mark. He puts it on everything he controls.”
“The well is his?”
“The well is her power source. Without the water, she has nothing to give her followers. No miracles, no healings.”
Sari opened her eyes. “So the poison isn't just about money. It's about control.”
“Yes.”
“He gives her the chemicals. She dilutes them, calls them holy, and hands them out to people who trust her.”
“And the more they drink, the sicker they get. The sicker they get, the more they need her healing. The more they need her healing, the more they believe.”
“It's a loop.”
“It's a cage.”
The fog at the horizon shifted.
“How do we break it?” she asked.
He was quiet for a long moment. Then: “We show them what's really in the water. Not the numbers—the bodies. The people who've been drinking it for years. The ones who are sick.”
“The old woman. The one with the yellow skin.”
“Start with her.”
She looked at him—at the shadow where his eyes should be.
“I'll go tomorrow,” she said.
The grey city held.
---
She woke before dawn.
The room was dark. The fan spun.
*The well is the source. The water is black. The poison is a cage.*
*The only way out is to show them the truth.*
*Not numbers. Bodies.*
*The old woman with the yellow skin.*
She dressed and walked toward the edge of the village.
- Writer
