The church was empty.
Daniel entered first.
Mara followed.
Michael dragged Elias behind them.
The doors slammed shut.
A whisper moved through the walls.
Then another.
Then hundreds.
Daniel looked toward the pews.
People began appearing.
Hunters.
Men.
Women.
Children.
All Hollowed.
Their eyes were black.
Mara raised her gun.
"Don't shoot unless they attack."
One of them stepped forward.
An older woman.
She looked directly at Daniel.
"You don't belong to them."
Daniel frowned.
"Who?"
"The Hollowed."
She pointed toward the altar.
"You belong to what comes after."
Her body suddenly twisted.
Mara fired.
The woman fell.
The others attacked.
Gunfire filled the church.
Daniel fought his way toward the altar.
Iron blades.
Silver bullets.
Salt.
Holy water.
Nothing stopped them for long.
Every time one fell, another rose.
Michael shouted:
"We can't kill them all!"
Daniel looked toward the altar.
"Then we don't."
He opened the book.
The pages turned.
A passage appeared.
THE HOLLOWED CANNOT BE DESTROYED WHILE THE DOOR REMAINS OPEN.
Daniel understood.
"We have to close it."
Mara fought beside him.
"Then find the ritual."
Daniel flipped through the pages.
"There."
A diagram appeared.
Three symbols.
A circle.
A blade.
A hand.
Michael looked at it.
"The blood seal."
Daniel nodded.
"Whose blood?"
Michael stared at him.
"Yours."
Daniel wasn't surprised.
"Of course."
Mara shook her head.
"No."
Daniel looked at her.
"It's the only way."
"There has to be another."
"There isn't."
The Hollowed began surrounding them.
Daniel cut his palm.
Blood dripped onto the symbol.
The entire church shook.
Every Hollowed creature screamed.
A crack opened beneath the altar.
Daniel looked down.
Something moved beneath the floor.
Michael shouted:
"The First Door!"
The altar split apart.
A staircase appeared.
Daniel looked at Mara.
"We go down."
She nodded.
Behind them, the Hollowed began chanting.
All together.
Open. Open. Open.
Daniel descended.
The darkness swallowed him.
And the door closed behind the last hunter.