Daniel couldn't move.
His mother stood across the burning church.
She looked exactly as he remembered her from the photographs.
Dark hair.
Tired eyes.
The small silver pendant around her neck.
But there was something different.
She looked afraid.
"Mom?"
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Daniel."
Mara stepped between them.
"Don't."
His mother looked at Mara.
"You kept your promise."
Mara's face tightened.
"I tried."
Daniel looked between them.
"What promise?"
His mother stepped forward.
"Your father made her promise she would never tell you the truth."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"Then tell me now."
His mother looked at the black book.
"You were never supposed to find it."
"I already did."
"I know."
"You were supposed to be dead."
"I was."
Daniel stared at her.
"What?"
She touched her chest.
"I died the night you were born."
The fire around them suddenly disappeared.
The church became silent.
Daniel looked around.
The flames were gone.
The broken pews were gone.
The ruined walls were gone.
For a moment, the church looked brand new.
Then Daniel saw people sitting in the pews.
Hunters.
Dozens of them.
Watching.
His mother looked at them.
"This is where it started."
Daniel turned toward the altar.
A younger version of his father stood there.
Beside him was a woman Daniel didn't recognize.
The woman was holding a black book.
His mother continued.
"Your father believed the entity could be controlled."
"And you didn't?"
"I knew better."
Daniel watched the memory unfold.
His younger father placed his hand over the book.
The woman beside him began chanting.
The room filled with darkness.
Then a voice came from the book.
I CAN GIVE YOU WHAT YOU WANT.
Daniel looked at his mother.
"What did he want?"
She hesitated.
"Your father wanted me back."
Daniel's expression changed.
"He made a deal to bring you back?"
"Yes."
"What did it ask for?"
She looked directly at him.
"A child."
Daniel's breathing stopped.
"No."
"Your father agreed."
Mara closed her eyes.
Daniel looked at her.
"You knew?"
Mara couldn't meet his eyes.
"You all knew."
His mother nodded.
"But I changed the deal."
Daniel stared.
"What did you do?"
"I offered myself instead."
The memory changed.
His mother stood inside a glowing circle.
His father was screaming.
Mara was holding newborn Daniel.
The entity appeared behind them.
His mother looked toward the baby.
Then toward his father.
"Take me."
The entity reached for her.
His father tried to stop it.
But she pushed him away.
The darkness swallowed her.
Daniel watched in horror.
"That's when you died."
His mother nodded.
"I thought it was over."
"What happened?"
"The entity took my soul."
She looked at him.
"But it couldn't take me completely."
Daniel frowned.
"Why?"
"Because I was pregnant with you."
Daniel looked down at the mark on his chest.
"The mark."
His mother nodded.
"The entity's power passed through me into you."
Mara finally spoke.
"That's why your father couldn't destroy the book."
Daniel looked at her.
"He couldn't destroy it because it was connected to me."
"Yes."
His mother stepped closer.
"He spent years searching for a way to break the connection."
"Did he find one?"
"No."
Daniel's eyes hardened.
"Then why did he disappear?"
His mother looked toward the back of the church.
"Because he found another way."
A figure appeared behind her.
Daniel's father.
He looked older than he had in the previous vision.
He was holding a silver knife.
His mother turned toward him.
"No."
His father whispered:
"I'm sorry."
He raised the knife.
The memory vanished.
Daniel stared at his mother.
"What did he do?"
She looked away.
"He tried to kill me."
Daniel froze.
"Why?"
"Because he believed killing the vessel would destroy the entity."
"Did it work?"
"No."
"Then what happened?"
His mother touched Daniel's cheek.
"He discovered the truth too late."
"What truth?"
Her eyes moved toward the black book.
"The entity wasn't inside me."
Daniel's stomach dropped.
"It was inside you."
His mother nodded.
"It had been inside you since the night you were born."
Daniel stepped backward.
The mark on his chest began glowing.
The black book opened.
The final page filled with fresh ink.
THE VESSEL REMEMBERS.
Daniel grabbed his chest.
Pain ripped through him.
His mother screamed.
"Daniel!"
The church disappeared.
Daniel was standing somewhere else.
A dark room.
Chains covered the walls.
A figure stood before him.
Faceless.
Waiting.
Then it spoke.
Not with one voice.
With thousands.
YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN MINE.
Daniel raised his weapon.
The figure laughed.
Your father knew.
Images flashed around him.
His father burying the black book.
His father drawing the same symbol over Daniel's bedroom door.
His father watching Daniel sleep.
His father crying alone.
Then another image.
His father standing over a grave.
The name on the stone was Daniel's.
Daniel stared.
"That's impossible."
The entity stepped closer.
He buried you before you were ever born.
Daniel's gun lowered.
"What does that mean?"
The entity reached toward him.
Ask your mother.
Daniel turned.
His mother was standing behind him.
She was crying.
"Daniel..."
He looked at her.
"Tell me what my father did."
She opened her mouth.
Before she could answer, the world shattered.
Daniel woke on the church floor.
Mara was kneeling beside him.
Michael was holding the black book.
His mother was gone.
Daniel sat up.
"Where is she?"
Mara looked toward the empty altar.
"She disappeared."
Daniel looked at Michael.
"Give me the book."
Michael didn't move.
"Daniel..."
"Give it to me."
Michael slowly handed it over.
Daniel opened it.
The final page had changed again.
A single sentence appeared.
YOUR FATHER DIDN'T BURY YOU.
Daniel stared at the words.
Another line appeared beneath it.
HE BURIED WHAT WAS INSIDE YOU.