A Well and/or lake that contains microbes that grant eternal life. Published in early-mid 2000's.

[Kaelan]

The book follows a protagonist who returns to their old home and old family, who, respectively, are built by and guard a well and/or lake that holds small microbes who grant immortality. The book MIGHT be set in Louisiana, but is almost DEFINITELY set in the Deep South SOMEWHERE. I believe that the protagonist is gay, and that an antagonistic force of some sort or another intends to claim the microbes for their own use(s), but both of these could be wrong. The cover depicts a dilapidated mansion or plantation house that oversees a large lake, and massive tree branches hung with moss emerge from the upper corners of the book’s cover. The book came out in the early or mid-2000’s.

[Paige]

1. Is this a middle grade book, a young adult book, or an adult book?
From your description I'm guessing it's young adult or adult.
2. Was it a thriller?
3. Was it hard science fiction or soft science fiction?
4. Was it Southern Gothic?
5. Was it religious?
6. Could the lake/well have been a bayou or swamp?
7. Did you read the book in the mid-2000s?
8. When you say they return to their old family...
a) Do they know their family members?
b) Do they live with their family members?
c) Were there a lot of family members or a few family members to return to?
d) Were the family members immediate family or extended?
9. What made you believe the protagonist was gay? Did they have a same sex love interest?
10. The microbes that grant immortality...
a) Do they halt the aging process?
b) Can they heal someone who is hurt/sick?
c) What happens to flora/fauna when it's exposed to the microbes?