The house was empty.
Daniel entered first.
The young woman stayed behind Mara.
Michael searched the kitchen.
Nothing.
Daniel found the black book upstairs.
It sat on a child's bed.
Open.
The pages were blank.
Then the door slammed shut.
Mara raised her weapon.
Daniel looked at the book.
"Everyone stay together."
A child's voice came from the hallway.
"Help me."
The young woman gasped.
"My brother."
She ran.
Daniel caught her before she reached the door.
"Wait."
The hallway lights turned red.
A shadow moved beneath the door.
Then the door opened.
A young man stood there.
His eyes were black.
The woman screamed.
"Jake!"
Daniel raised his weapon.
"Don't."
Jake looked at his sister.
"Run."
She began crying.
"What happened to you?"
Jake's face twisted.
"It's inside me."
Daniel stepped forward.
The entity had returned.
Not the Hollow.
Something smaller.
A fragment.
A piece that had survived.
Daniel looked at the book.
The final page was no longer blank.
ONE REMAINS.
Daniel understood.
The Hollow had been sealed.
But fragments of its power had escaped.
The hunt wasn't over.
It had only changed.
Daniel looked at Mara.
"We don't kill him."
Mara nodded.
"Then what?"
"Separate it."
Michael searched the book.
"There."
A ritual.
Daniel cut his palm.
The fragment screamed.
Jake collapsed.
Black smoke poured from his body.
Daniel grabbed the smoke with his bare hand.
Pain ripped through him.
The mark on his chest returned.
Mara shouted:
"Daniel!"
He held on.
"You don't get another vessel."
The smoke fought.
Daniel tightened his grip.
"I said no."
The fragment exploded.
Silence.
Jake opened his eyes.
His sister ran to him.
Daniel looked at his hand.
The mark was fading.
Mara approached.
"Is it gone?"
Daniel nodded.
"Yeah."
Michael picked up the black book.
The pages were blank.
He smiled.
"Maybe now it's finally over."
Daniel looked toward the window.
Morning light was beginning to appear.
"Maybe."
He had learned not to trust that word.
But for the first time, he wasn't afraid of it.
They left the house together.
The road waited.
There would always be something in the dark.
But there would always be hunters too.