Seven

Joy studied her surroundings in silent contemplation. Too many thoughts were racing through her mind for the vision to register clearly. She didn't know where she was or how she got there. In fact, the very breath in her lungs suddenly felt completely alien. The rapid rising and falling of her chest felt like a massive effort. The feeling of a thousand pinpricks ran up and down her legs as they came to slow life.

What was going on?

Cautious, alarmed, Joy pulled the edges of her consciousness together, weaving the torn scraps of the fabric. As her eyes focused, they took in the cracked, grey, fungus lined bricks enveloping her from every direction. Her body jerked in shock, the movement sending her now alive legs into furious paddling.

Paddling?

Her arms moved through the dirty water, as she looked down into the endless abyss of the well. Weeds entangled with her legs, momentarily pulling her under. She gulped the dirty water, its taste foul, making her sputter and cough as she resurfaced. The water moved restlessly for a moment, before settling. Dead. Again.

"Hello?" She shouted, trying to peer into the darkness above. It must be a moonless night, she thought, cursing loudly at the lack of light. "Can anybody hear me? Hello?"

Her voice echoed.

She felt a tickle on her right cheek. Raising her pruned hands, she swiped at the source, encountering something crawly.

Her shriek rang out loud, echoing endlessly within the interiors of the wall. Her heart thudded erratically, her breath quickened and she scrambled towards the wall. With a huge heave, she braced her hands against the brick, and pulled her soaked body up, trying to crawl her way out. She was fit, she ran everyday, she could do this.

Her hand found purchase and with a small prayer, she began climbing. She could do this.

She had no choice.

"What are you doing?"

Joy looked up, towards the mouth of her nightmare. A metallic torch pointed at his own face stood a man. A crazy, grinning, toothless old man.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm trying to get the hell out of here."

His brows snapped together. "Why?"

"What?" This man was clearly missing more than just teeth. "I don't plan to die in this well. I tried calling for help. Now I'm taking matters into my own hands."

"Why?" he asked again, the light of the torch still pointed at his own face. He looked like a kid at a camp fire, telling ghost stories. Except this kid had a tad too many chocolates and didn't believe in dentists.

"What do you mean why? Are you crazy?"

"What?"

An angry snort. "You're not helping and on top of that, you're wasting my time."

"You can't escape," he muttered.

She concentrated on climbing the wall. "Why not?"

"You saw the video?"

"Huh?" she asked, distracted.

"You saw the video. The one from the dvd store. From my dvd store."

Something about his tone of voice made her halt. "What?"

He pointed a veined finger at her. "You rented the dvd. You saw it."

She scanned her memory. "You mean the Ring?"

His eyes widened in fear. "Yes. You saw the dvd."

She was confused. "So?"

"It's been seven days." His voice was ominous, the light from the torch suddenly extinguishing, leaving her in darkness.

She looked up, his form still visible. "What?"

"Its been seven days. You saw the dvd. She won't travel to India, its too far. I must continue her work."

Fear suddenly gripped her. "You're kidding, right? Help me out."

He shook his head. "Its been seven days...."

Her movements quickened, desperation flooding her system with adrenaline. "Don't. Stop."

A boulder, round, much like in the movie, covered the mouth of the well, shutting out everything.

The sound.

The air.

The weird, mad, toothless man.

Six hours later, her parents tracked her to the well, the homing device in her cell phone pointing to her direction. Seven hours later, the toothless man was arrested.

Seven hours.