A forsaken husband with a sick daughter bought a dilapidated house in a small town, but after hearing strange sounds from an old well, he decided to descend. What he saw made his hair stand on end…..

And her laughter echoed off the walls in a hundred voices: «survived.» «Oh, I didn’t survive. I died here.

Long ago. But death… Death in this place works differently than elsewhere.

Here it’s not release. Here it’s…» Continuation.

Nicholas froze, holding the rope. Every word from the girl confirmed his worst fears. But now he had gone too far to just turn and leave.

«Don’t worry,» Olivia said, noticing his state. «I won’t harm you. I just want to get out of here.

Want to see the sun again, feel the wind. And also… Also, I want not to be alone.

So tired of loneliness.» In her voice was such longing that Nicholas felt pity for her, despite the horror of the situation. Whatever happened to this girl, she was definitely suffering.

«Okay,» he said, tying the rope around her waist. «Just hold on tight.» Olivia nodded and gripped the rope with her hands.

And Nicholas saw her fingers were too long, and her nails more like claws. Ready, she whispered, and a strange fire lit in her eyes. «How long have you been here?» Nicholas asked, helping Olivia stand.

«I don’t know. Days blend into one. Maybe a week? Or a month?» Her voice trembled.

Nicholas wanted to ask how she survived without food and water, but decided questions could wait. The main thing now was to get out. He tied the rope around her waist and showed how to hold on.

Olivia nodded, but her movements were strangely slow, as if underwater. «I’ll climb up first and pull you up,» he explained. «Just hold the rope tight.»

The ascent was harder than the descent. Olivia was light, but it seemed some invisible force pulled her down. The rope tightened as if he was lifting not a slim girl, but something immensely heavy.

Finally, they got out. Olivia fell on the grass and lay there, breathing heavily. In the moonlight, Nicholas examined her better, and a strange feeling overcame him.

The girl was beautiful, but her beauty was unearthly, almost ghostly. «Thank you,» she whispered, rising. «You saved me.

Let’s go to the house.» «You need to warm up and eat,» Nicholas suggested. But Olivia shook her head: «No.

I can’t go there. I must go.» «Where? Where do you live? Maybe call an ambulance?» «No need to call anything.

I just… will go.» She took a few steps to the yard’s edge but suddenly stopped and turned. In her eyes, Nicholas saw something that made him step back.

«Do you live here alone?» she asked. «With my daughter.» «But she’s asleep.»

«Daughter.» Olivia smiled that same wrong smile. «What’s her name?» «Sophie.»

«And why do you?» He didn’t finish. Olivia turned and quickly headed to the house. Her movements suddenly became sharp and purposeful, not at all like an exhausted person’s.

«Stop!» Nicholas shouted, rushing after her. But Olivia had already vanished into the darkness, as if dissolved in air. Nicholas searched the yard with the lantern, looked behind the shed, in the bushes, but Olivia was nowhere.

She disappeared as suddenly as she appeared. The only proof it wasn’t a dream was the rope still tied to the tree by the well. But there were other traces.

On the ground near the well were strange prints—not quite footprints, but something blurrier, as if someone didn’t walk but glided over the surface. And another alarming fact—the grass where Olivia passed was covered in a thin layer of frost, though the night was warm. Nicholas returned to the house and checked Sophie.

The girl slept peacefully, but as he approached her bed, he noticed something strange. On the window by the bed was a film of moisture, as if someone breathed on the glass from inside. And on the windowsill lay a small puddle of water.

He touched the water with his finger; it was icy and had a strange salty taste. Seawater? But where did seawater come from here? Sophie’s skin was cool but not cold, breathing even. Everything seemed normal, but Nicholas felt something had changed.

In the room’s air hung a barely perceptible smell, that same sweetish, nauseating aroma he felt in the well. Sleep wouldn’t come. He lay in bed replaying the strange encounter in his head.

Every detail seemed more sinister. Olivia’s too-pale skin, her strange movements, ability to disappear. And mainly—her interest in Sophie.

Daughter. She repeated then, and in her voice was such greed. By morning, Nicholas decided.

He must learn the truth about what happened. And start with the locals. First, he went to Aunt Vera, but the old woman wasn’t home.

A neighbor said she went to relatives and would return only in the evening. Then Nicholas decided to talk to other town residents. In the local store, behind the counter stood a middle-aged woman with a tired face.

When Nicholas asked about the well and possible accidents, she noticeably paled. «Why do you need to know?» she asked suspiciously. «I live in the house next to the well.

Hear strange sounds at night.» The woman crossed herself and looked around, as if afraid someone was listening. Sounds.

Yes, everyone knows about the sounds. But no one talks. Because talking is dangerous.

Why dangerous? Because she hears. Olivia Parker. The drowned one.

They say whoever mentions her, she comes to them. Nicholas felt a chill in his stomach. So he was right in his suspicions.

«Tell me about her. It’s important.» The woman was silent long, then sighed: It was 15 years ago.

Olivia was a beauty, smart. All the guys chased her, but she chose Victor Kowalski. Rich guy from the city.

Promised to marry, build a house. Olivia believed him, even… Well, believed in everything.

She fell silent, clearly struggling for words. And then? And then this Victor ran off with another. A week before the wedding.

Olivia found out by chance—saw them in the nearby town. Came home white as a sheet, said nothing to anyone. And at night, she left.

To the well? Yeah. Started searching in the morning, but it was too late. Found only a scarf on the well’s edge and a note.

Wrote she couldn’t live with such shame. The woman wiped her eyes with her apron edge. Searched for her then.

Even called divers. But that well is strange. They say the bottom is rocky, with caves underneath.

Strong underground current. Probably carried her away. And when did the sounds start? Right away.

That same night. At first thought it was wind. Then realized—not wind.

And Olivia didn’t rest. Calls someone. Waits.

Nicholas asked for Olivia’s parents’ address, but it turned out they died long ago, couldn’t bear the grief. Their house was sold; new owners didn’t live long either. Olivia scared them, the saleswoman explained.

Came to them at night. Said she wanted home. They moved out in a month…