"Is he dead?"
"No. He is alive, but poor soul what happened to him?"
"Did you say he crawled out of the well?"
"Yes."
"That's impossible."
"It's true mother. I saw him, he looked like a monster."
Lucian could hear the voices but he could barely speak or move. He couldn't even open his eyes to see the people talking about him. Crawling out of the well had taken the last amount of strength that he had left.
"He is breathing."
Lucian could feel someone touching him, even trying to lift him up.
"Help me! We should take him home and tend to him."
"We can't just take a stranger home."
"Are you suggesting we leave him here to die?"
It was quiet for a moment. "I didn't think so. Now help me."
As more hand began to grab him the voices slowly became distant before they disappear completely and he fell into the darkness that he was so used to by now.
***
Light. Light poked his eyes and forced him to open them. He had to blink several times and rub his eyes before he could see clearly.
Lucian looked around. He didn't recognize where he was. He found himself in a little room, surrounded by dark wooden walls. To his left, there was a small table and a chair, and just right above a small window from which the sunlight peeked through. In front of him stood an empty bookshelf and to his right, there was a door and an old cabinet covered with dust.
The bed he lay in could barely fit him. His feet dangled outside the bed and if he tried to turn, he would probably fall down.
Lucian made and attempt to sit up but to no avail. His muscles gave in and he fell back with a groan. Every part of his body ached and he could hear the unsteady rhythm of his own heart. Was he going to die? Because it certainly felt like he would.
Lucian closed his eyes. The pain, the tiredness, the confusion was too much and he didn't have the strength to fight it, so he let the darkness sweep him away once again. After that everything was a blur, he kept falling in and out of consciousness not knowing how many days passed since he came to this place. Sometimes he would hear voices and one day when he woke up he even found a little girl observing him. She had the most innocent eyes he had seen and they widened when she realized he had woken up. Before he could speak to her she had run away.
Another day he could feel someone tending to his wounds. "This man heals very fast." It was a woman speaking. "I mean he had several injuries over his whole body now all of them are almost healed."
"Maybe he is the well-monster." A little girl's voice whispered.
"There is no such thing sweetheart." The woman assured. "It's the dirt that makes him look like this. He could use a bath but he is not waking up."
"Did you examine his head?" It sounded like an older woman.
Lucian tried to listen to the rest of the conversation but his frenemy darkness came to take him and he followed obediently. The next time he woke up he was surrounded by people. Strangers.
"You are awake." A woman to his left said with a smile. "How are you feeling?"
Lucian looked around. A middle-aged man, two young girls, a little girl, and an old woman stared at him with curiosity.
