The walls collapsed.
Daniel, Mara, and Michael ran through the underground passage as stone crashed behind them.
Something screamed in the darkness.
Then another scream answered.
Michael stumbled.
Mara caught him.
"We're not making it out."
Daniel looked ahead.
"Keep moving."
They reached the stairs.
The church above them shook violently.
Daniel climbed first.
Mara followed.
Michael struggled behind them.
A black hand reached through the wall.
Daniel grabbed Michael and pulled him upward.
The creature missed by inches.
They burst into the church.
The building was burning.
Flames climbed the walls.
Daniel stopped.
"We didn't start that."
Mara looked behind them.
"No."
The underground chamber was glowing red beneath the floor.
Michael looked at Daniel.
"The door is opening."
Daniel grabbed the black book.
"What do I do?"
Michael shook his head.
"You can't close it yet."
"Why?"
"Because you don't know what you're closing."
Daniel looked at Mara.
"You know."
Mara hesitated.
"I know part of it."
"Tell me."
She looked at the burning church.
"The book was created to imprison something."
"What?"
"An ancient entity."
Michael stepped closer.
"Not a demon."
Daniel frowned.
"Then what?"
"Something older."
Mara continued.
"The first hunters who found it believed they could use its power. They created the book as a vessel. Every spell, every creature, every ritual they discovered was placed inside it."
Daniel looked at the book.
"And the entity?"
"It was sealed inside the final page."
Daniel remembered the warning.
DO NOT READ THE FINAL PAGE.
He looked at the book.
"So that's why."
Mara nodded.
"Your father discovered that the final page wasn't a warning."
Michael finished the thought.
"It was a prison."
Daniel stared at the book.
"Then why does it want me?"
Mara looked at the mark on his chest.
"Because your blood is the key."
The church doors burst open.
A wave of black smoke entered.
Daniel raised his weapon.
Figures appeared inside the smoke.
Hunters.
Hundreds of them.
All Hollowed.
Mara raised her gun.
"We have to go."
Daniel shook his head.
"No."
She looked at him.
"No?"
"We've been running."
He looked at the book.
"That's what it wants."
Michael nodded slowly.
"He's right."
Daniel opened the book.
The pages began turning.
They stopped on a photograph of his family.
His father.
His mother.
Him.
Behind them stood the same faceless figure from the old photographs.
Daniel looked closer.
There was writing beneath it.
THE FIRST FAMILY.
Daniel stared.
"What does that mean?"
Mara's expression changed.
"Your family wasn't chosen because you were hunters."
Daniel looked at her.
"Then why?"
"Because your family started this."
Daniel's face hardened.
"My family?"
"Your ancestor was one of the original hunters who created the book."
Daniel looked down.
The mark on his chest burned.
Images flooded his mind.
A man standing in an ancient chamber.
A black book.
A circle of hunters.
A ritual.
A screaming creature.
Then a woman.
The first woman in his bloodline.
She stepped into the circle.
And the creature stopped screaming.
It looked at her.
Almost like it recognized her.
Daniel gasped.
Mara grabbed him.
"What did you see?"
"My ancestor."
"What about her?"
"She didn't imprison it."
Michael's face went pale.
"What did she do?"
Daniel looked toward the final page.
"She made a deal."
The book slammed shut.
A voice echoed through the church.
AT LAST.
Every Hollowed creature turned toward Daniel.
The flames stopped moving.
The room became unnaturally still.
Then the black book opened.
The final page turned by itself.
Words appeared.
THE DEBT MUST BE PAID.
Daniel stared at the page.
Then another sentence appeared.
ONE BLOODLINE. ONE VESSEL. ONE DOOR.
Mara whispered:
"Daniel..."
He looked at her.
"What?"
She pointed toward the church doors.
A figure stood in the flames.
Tall.
Faceless.
Surrounded by darkness.
The same figure from every photograph.
The entity spoke without moving its mouth.
YOUR FAMILY PROMISED ME A VESSEL.
Daniel looked at the mark on his chest.
The creature continued.
YOU ARE THE LAST PAYMENT.
The book flew from Daniel's hands.
It landed open at his feet.
The final page was no longer blank.
A name had appeared.
Not Daniel's.
His mother's.
And beneath it:
SHE WAS THE FIRST TO BREAK THE BARGAIN.
Daniel looked at the creature.
"What did you do to my mother?"
For the first time, the entity smiled.
ASK HER.
A woman's voice whispered behind Daniel.
"Daniel."
He turned.
His mother stood in the burning church.
Alive.
And crying.
"Run."
The doors slammed shut.
The final page turned.
And the real story began.