Blood ran down the walls.
Daniel stepped backward.
Mara grabbed his shoulder.
"We leave."
Michael shook his head.
"Too late."
The chamber doors slammed shut.
Daniel rushed toward them.
Locked.
He pulled the handle.
Nothing.
"Open it!"
Michael didn't move.
"There's no point."
Daniel turned.
"You better have a reason."
Michael pointed toward the book.
"It's started."
The pages turned by themselves.
One after another.
Names appeared.
Then photographs.
Then dates.
Daniel watched as images of hunters filled the pages.
Some were dead.
Some were missing.
Others were standing in places Daniel recognized.
The church.
The farmhouse.
The motel.
Then Daniel saw one he didn't recognize.
A hospital.
A newborn baby.
His mother stood beside a hospital bed.
His father stood on the other side.
And Mara was holding the baby.
Daniel stared.
"That's me."
Mara said nothing.
"Why was I here?"
"Because you were born here."
Daniel turned toward her.
"You said I was born in a hospital."
"I lied."
"Why?"
"Because your father made me promise."
Daniel stepped closer.
"What happened?"
Mara looked at the photograph.
"You were born during a storm."
Michael interrupted.
"And something came through."
Daniel's expression hardened.
"What?"
"The first Hollowed."
The lights flickered.
A whisper moved through the chamber.
Then a figure appeared at the far end.
A woman.
Pale.
Blood covered her hospital gown.
Daniel stared at her.
"Mom?"
Mara immediately grabbed him.
"Don't go near her."
The woman smiled.
"Daniel."
He froze.
It was his mother's voice.
She stepped forward.
"I've waited so long."
Daniel's eyes filled with anger.
"You're not my mother."
The woman smiled wider.
"No."
Her face changed.
Her skin split.
Her eyes turned black.
"I was there when she died."
Daniel raised his gun.
The creature laughed.
"You were worth protecting."
Daniel fired.
The bullet struck its chest.
The creature screamed.
Mara threw a vial of holy water.
The creature caught it.
Then crushed the bottle in its hand.
Michael shouted:
"She's Hollowed!"
The creature moved.
Too fast.
It slammed Michael into the wall.
Mara fired repeatedly.
Daniel grabbed an iron blade and charged.
He drove the blade into the creature's shoulder.
It screamed.
Black veins spread across its body.
Daniel pulled the blade free.
The creature stared at him.
"Your blood."
Daniel froze.
"What?"
"It remembers us."
The creature vanished.
Michael fell to the floor.
Mara rushed to him.
"Michael!"
He coughed.
"She's not the one."
Daniel looked around.
"Not the one what?"
"The one who opened the door."
The book slammed shut.
Daniel looked at it.
Then the chamber went completely silent.
A new voice came from behind him.
His father's voice.
"You need to stop looking for me."
Daniel turned.
His father stood there.
Not the creature from the farmhouse.
This time, he looked human.
Older.
Tired.
Sad.
Daniel couldn't move.
"Dad?"
His father nodded.
"Listen to me."
Daniel stepped forward.
"Are you alive?"
"No."
Daniel's face fell.
"Then what am I looking at?"
"What's left."
His father glanced toward the book.
"I failed you."
Daniel shook his head.
"You left me."
"I was trying to save you."
"You lied to me."
"I had to."
"From what?"
His father looked at the mark on Daniel's chest.
"From yourself."
Daniel stared at him.
"What does that mean?"
His father stepped closer.
"The night you were born, the book chose you."
"Why?"
"Because you're the only one who can close the door."
Daniel looked toward the cracked floor.
"And if I don't?"
His father's expression changed.
"They come through."
"Who?"
His father looked behind Daniel.
The chamber walls began cracking.
"Everyone who was ever Hollowed."
Daniel turned.
Hundreds of black eyes appeared in the darkness.
His father whispered:
"Run."
Then he disappeared.
The chamber exploded into chaos.