Daniel stood completely still.
His eyes were black.
Mara slowly lowered her weapon.
"Daniel?"
He tilted his head.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then he blinked.
His eyes returned to normal.
He looked around the room.
"What happened?"
Mara didn't answer.
Daniel looked down at his hands.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Michael stepped backward.
"Because for about ten seconds, you weren't yourself."
Daniel looked at him.
"What did I do?"
"You opened the door."
Daniel frowned.
"I didn't touch anything."
Michael pointed toward the broken glass container.
"The thing inside it did."
Daniel turned toward the shattered glass.
The black substance was gone.
Mara immediately moved toward the doorway.
"We leave. Now."
Daniel followed her.
They reached the basement stairs.
A sound came from behind them.
A soft laugh.
Daniel stopped.
Mara looked back.
"Don't."
Daniel listened.
Another laugh.
This time, it sounded like a child.
Then a man's voice.
Then a woman's.
Then dozens of voices speaking together.
"Daniel."
He looked toward the chamber.
Something was standing inside it.
A silhouette.
Tall.
Faceless.
Daniel recognized it immediately.
"The entity."
Mara raised her gun.
The figure didn't move.
It simply pointed toward Daniel's chest.
The mark began glowing.
Daniel dropped to one knee.
Pain shot through his body.
Images flooded his mind.
A dark forest.
A burning house.
A hospital room.
His mother holding him as a newborn.
His father standing over a circle of hunters.
Then a door.
A massive black door covered in symbols.
Something stood behind it.
Daniel heard his father's voice.
Don't open it.
Then another voice answered.
He already has.
Daniel opened his eyes.
He was standing in the basement.
Mara was shaking him.
"Daniel!"
He looked at her.
"I saw it."
"What?"
"The door."
Michael stepped closer.
"What did you see?"
"A place."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
Daniel looked at the black book.
"It was inside the book."
Michael's expression changed.
"That's impossible."
"No."
Daniel shook his head.
"It wasn't a drawing."
He looked toward the broken container.
"It was real."
Mara looked at Michael.
"Can the book create a doorway?"
Michael swallowed.
"Not a doorway."
"What, then?"
"A passage."
Daniel stared at him.
"To where?"
Michael answered quietly.
"The other side."
The lights went out.
Mara immediately drew her weapon.
"Stay close."
A whisper moved through the basement.
Then something knocked on the metal door.
Three times.
Daniel stared at it.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
The door slowly opened.
His mother stood on the other side.
Daniel stepped forward.
"Mom."
Mara grabbed his arm.
His mother shook her head.
"Don't listen to it."
Daniel stopped.
Her eyes filled with tears.
"It's using my face."
The figure behind her moved.
Daniel raised his gun.
"Who are you?"
His mother's face changed.
Her skin darkened.
Her eyes turned black.
The creature smiled.
Your father asked the same question.
Mara fired.
The creature vanished.
The metal door slammed shut.
Daniel stared at it.
"That wasn't an illusion."
"No," Michael said.
"It was something from the other side."
Daniel turned.
"Then we go there."
Mara shook her head.
"Absolutely not."
"We need answers."
"Going through that door could kill you."
"Staying here could kill everyone."
Michael looked at the black book.
"He may be right."
Mara stared at him.
"You're actually agreeing with him?"
"The entity is already reaching through."
Daniel picked up the book.
"We need to find my mother."
Mara looked at him.
"And if she's already dead?"
Daniel's expression hardened.
"Then I find out who killed her."
The book opened.
A map appeared across two pages.
Daniel recognized the location.
The abandoned church.
But beneath it was something else.
A second location.
A cemetery.
Michael leaned closer.
"That's the original burial ground."
Daniel looked at him.
"Whose?"
"The first Hollowed."
Mara shook her head.
"That place was sealed."
Daniel closed the book.
"Then that's where we're going."
Mara looked toward the broken glass.
"Daniel."
He turned.
The black substance was moving again.
It crawled across the floor toward the wall.
Slowly.
It formed letters.
Three words.
HE IS AWAKE.
Daniel stared.
Michael whispered:
"Who's awake?"
The wall cracked.
A deep voice came from beneath the floor.
I AM.
The entire house shook.
Daniel tightened his grip on the book.
Mara raised her weapon.
And somewhere beneath them, something began climbing the stairs.