Daniel stared at the final sentence.
HE BURIED WHAT WAS INSIDE YOU.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
The church was silent except for the sound of rain beginning against the broken windows.
Daniel slowly closed the book.
"What did my father bury?"
Mara looked at Michael.
Michael shook his head.
"Not here."
Daniel turned toward him.
"I'm done with people telling me what I can and can't know."
Michael stepped closer.
"Then you're going to have to hear the whole truth."
"Good."
Michael glanced toward the church entrance.
"We don't have much time."
Daniel looked around.
"Where's my mother?"
"We don't know."
"She was standing right there."
"And then she disappeared."
"That's not good enough."
Mara stepped forward.
"Daniel, listen to me. Your mother may not have been real."
Daniel looked at her.
"I saw her."
"I know."
"She spoke to me."
"I know."
"Then how could she not be real?"
Mara's expression hardened.
"Because the thing in the book can create memories."
Daniel looked down at the black cover.
"It used my mother."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Michael answered.
"To get you to open the final page."
Daniel looked at the book.
"I didn't."
"Not completely."
Michael pointed toward the final page.
"Every time you interact with it, the barrier gets weaker."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"So I've been helping it."
"Yes."
Silence.
Daniel looked toward the destroyed altar.
"Then we stop."
Mara nodded.
"That's what your father was trying to do."
Daniel looked at her.
"You said he failed."
"He did."
"Then how do we succeed?"
Mara pulled an old key from around her neck.
Daniel stared at it.
"What is that?"
"Your father's."
"Where did you get it?"
"He gave it to me the night he disappeared."
Daniel took the key.
"What does it open?"
Mara looked toward the floor.
"The grave."
Daniel frowned.
"My father's grave?"
"Yes."
Michael shook his head.
"That's not what she means."
Mara looked at him.
"You weren't supposed to tell him."
"He needs to know."
Daniel stepped between them.
"What grave?"
Mara sighed.
"Your father was never buried in a cemetery."
Daniel stared.
"Then where?"
"Under the farmhouse."
Daniel's expression changed.
"The farmhouse."
Mara nodded.
"He built a hidden chamber beneath it."
"Why?"
"To keep something contained."
Daniel looked at the key.
"What?"
Mara's voice dropped.
"The part of the entity he managed to remove from you."
Daniel's blood ran cold.
"What?"
Michael stepped closer.
"Your father found a way to separate the entity's influence from your body."
Daniel looked at his chest.
"But you said it was inside me."
"It was."
"And now?"
Michael pointed toward the key.
"Your father removed part of it."
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
"When?"
"The night he disappeared."
Daniel remembered the photograph.
His father.
The farmhouse.
The blood.
The book.
"That's why he disappeared."
Mara nodded.
"He didn't abandon you."
Daniel looked toward the church doors.
"Then let's go."
They left the church before sunrise.
The drive back to the farmhouse was silent.
Daniel sat in the passenger seat, staring at the black book.
It hadn't moved since they left.
Mara kept one hand on the steering wheel and the other near her weapon.
Michael sat in the back.
Nobody spoke.
Then Daniel noticed something.
The book was open.
He hadn't opened it.
A new page had appeared.
A photograph.
His father standing beneath the farmhouse.
Beside him was a young Daniel.
But the photograph had been taken years after Daniel had supposedly left the farmhouse.
Daniel stared.
"Stop the car."
Mara hit the brakes.
"What?"
Daniel held up the photograph.
"Look."
Mara glanced at it.
Her face went pale.
Michael leaned forward.
"That's impossible."
Daniel looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because that's the night your father disappeared."
Daniel stared at the photograph.
His younger self was standing beside his father.
But something was wrong.
The child's eyes were completely black.
Daniel's stomach turned.
"That wasn't me."
Mara shook her head.
"No."
The photograph changed.
The child's eyes returned to normal.
Then another line appeared beneath the image.
HE WASN'T THE FIRST.
Daniel looked at Mara.
"What does that mean?"
Mara didn't answer.
The farmhouse appeared through the trees.
They stepped out of the car.
The front door was already open.
Daniel raised his gun.
"Someone's inside."
They entered.
The house was exactly as they'd left it.
Except for one thing.
A trail of muddy footprints crossed the floor.
They led toward the basement.
Daniel followed them.
Mara tried to stop him.
"Wait."
He ignored her.
The basement door opened with a long creak.
Daniel descended the stairs.
At the bottom was a wall he'd never seen before.
A large metal door.
The key fit perfectly.
Daniel inserted it.
Turned.
The lock clicked.
The door opened.
Cold air rushed out.
Inside was a small stone chamber.
At the center stood a glass container.
Something black moved inside it.
Daniel stepped closer.
His mark began burning.
Michael whispered:
"That's it."
Daniel stared at the thing floating inside the glass.
"What is it?"
Mara answered quietly.
"The piece your father removed."
The black mass pressed against the glass.
It formed the shape of a hand.
Then a face.
Daniel stepped backward.
The face looked exactly like his.
The creature smiled.
Daniel raised his gun.
The glass cracked.
Mara shouted:
"Get back!"
Another crack appeared.
Then another.
The creature inside whispered in Daniel's voice.
"You're finally home."
The glass shattered.
Darkness exploded across the room.
Daniel screamed as something slammed into his chest.
The mark burned white.
He dropped to his knees.
Mara fired into the darkness.
Michael shouted:
"Don't shoot him!"
The darkness disappeared.
Daniel remained on the floor.
He slowly looked up.
His eyes were completely black.
Mara froze.
"Daniel?"
He smiled.
But it wasn't his smile.
The voice that came from his mouth was ancient.
The door is open.