Chapter 3: Invitation
913 Words
Year 1996.
December 4th.
It was another day of celebration in the Forbes’ household. As it was their daughter Mia’s fourth birthday. She had started going to preschool and made multiple friends. One of her closest friends was Bianca Dien, a girl that preferred remaining silent but gave a lot of expressions. She gave out all kinds of smiles and frowns. Another was Candice Holmes. She was a beautiful, bubbly girl who loved to talk and was always full of energy. She was the one with whom their daughter had started sharing secrets. Like where she would hide the candies the boys would give her. They had overheard it once but then avoided to hear anything. They were going to respect her privacy.
Today, Carissa and Vincent were taking Mia, Candice and Bianca to the amusement park and then to the house their family has used for rituals and ceremonies. It was also the house where they got married. Beside it was a well which had a tradition with it. At the day of the wedding, the bride would look down at the well and see her husband’s face in it. It was meant to show that he will be one she will look up to, no matter how dire the situation is. It also shows her loyalty towards him.
In the noon, after the girls have had lunch and an hour-nap, they set out for the house. It was in the forest, at the very center. As soon as they reached there, the girls rushed out to the swings nearby. The adults smiled and went inside the mansion. It was well kept and had servants taking care of it. The servants lived in the mansion itself with their families. They went to one of the master bedrooms to freshen up and rest. They asked one the older servants, Leo to keep an eye on the girls. Leo was a 60-year-old man who had served the Forbes family since he was 25. His family had served for as long as he knew and he couldn’t see it changing. His daughter, Lola was the cook in the house.
He went out to see that the girls were still playing on the swings. He kept watching them with a small smile on his face. They were all like his granddaughters. He watched them for hours, ensuring that no one was hurt. They noticed him and asked him to join them. He agreed eagerly, wanting to play with them. They all started playing on the swings, he rocked all the three swings one by one while ensuring that no one fell. Suddenly he realized that the afternoon light was fading. He looked up not expecting what he saw. He had thought that there would be clouds, covering the sky. But instead, there was a solar eclipse happening. He was scared. There was no news about it. He saw some movement near the well and went to inspect it.
“Girls. No moving from here. And in case you hear anything, quickly go inside the house and don’t come out.”
“Okay”
The girls resumed playing and talking while Leo went to check. As soon as he set his feet on the path leading to the well, he fell. He couldn’t move. And slowly the corners of his vision turned blank and he lost his conscious.
It had been fifteen minutes and Mia hadn’t heard anything and Leo was not back. She slipped down and went to the well. Candice and Bianca tried to stop her, but she couldn’t listen them. Because as she was nearing the well, she was hearing a voice in her head.
“come here”
“come here”
“come here”
It was repeating again and again. And she knew that uncle Leo had asked her to go in the house if she heard anything. But going to the well felt right. She reached the path and saw uncle Leo. He was laying on the floor, unmoving. She looked at him and went to wake him up but heard the same voice in her head saying
“come here, Mia”
As soon as she heard that, she began moving forward. She kept walking until she was standing near the edge of the well. The clouds were roaring with thunder and rain droplets were slowly reaching the earth. But she remained unfazed. It was as if someone had hypnotized her. She did not realize when Candice and Bianca had started following her. They were standing behind a tree, looking at her. But she did not notice them. Because there was something else that held her attention. A face had slowly appeared in the water. It was faint and she could see the water through it. It looked like it was the reflection of someone but there was no one around. She looked at the face. It was a porcelain white face of a man. He had blue eyes, the color that she saw of ice on the tv. His jaw was sharp as a knife with light stubble and his lips were pink. He was looking at her and smiling. Then his lips moved to say,
“Mia”
And then there was a splash followed by two screams. Mia had fallen in to the well.
No matter where you are,
you will come back to me,
no matter how weak I am,
I will always protect you.
- Writer
