Darkness swallowed the hallway.
Daniel fired.
The muzzle flash briefly illuminated the figure standing outside the bedroom.
His father.
Or something wearing his father's face.
The bullet struck its shoulder.
The figure barely moved.
Mara grabbed Daniel and pulled him backward.
"Move!"
Daniel stumbled into the bedroom.
The creature stepped through the doorway.
It smiled.
"Still shooting first."
Daniel froze.
That voice.
That exact voice.
His father's voice.
Mara slammed the bedroom door and shoved a dresser against it.
The creature didn't try to break through.
It simply stood on the other side.
Waiting.
Daniel stared at the door.
"That's him."
"No."
"You don't know that."
"I know exactly what that thing is."
Mara pulled a small vial from her jacket and poured a circle of liquid across the floor.
"What is that?"
"Holy water."
"That's not going to stop it."
"It doesn't have to."
She pulled a lighter from her pocket and ignited the liquid.
A thin blue flame crawled around the room.
The scratching on the other side of the door stopped.
Mara exhaled.
"We have seconds."
Daniel looked toward the window.
"We jump."
"Second floor."
"I've survived worse."
"So have I."
They climbed through the window.
Daniel landed hard on the ground below.
Mara followed.
They ran toward the tree line.
Behind them, the farmhouse remained silent.
Too silent.
Daniel glanced back.
His father's figure stood in the upstairs window.
Watching them.
It raised one hand.
Daniel stopped.
The figure slowly placed a finger against its lips.
Then the window went dark.
Mara grabbed Daniel's arm.
"Keep moving."
They reached the forest.
Rain began falling again.
Daniel leaned against a tree, breathing heavily.
Mara looked back toward the farmhouse.
"We can't stay here."
Daniel looked at her.
"You said you watched my father die."
"I did."
"Then tell me what happened."
Mara hesitated.
"Your father discovered the book wasn't just recording supernatural cases."
"What was it doing?"
"Calling them."
Daniel stared at her.
"Calling what?"
"Creatures. Spirits. Demons. Things that don't belong in this world."
"Why?"
"We don't know."
"That's not good enough."
"I know."
Daniel stepped closer.
"You knew my father. You knew about the book. You knew I'd eventually find it."
"I knew your father was trying to keep it away from you."
"Why?"
Mara looked toward the farmhouse.
"Because he knew what would happen if you touched it."
Daniel's expression hardened.
"What happens?"
Mara didn't answer.
The black book suddenly appeared on the ground between them.
Daniel stepped backward.
Neither of them had carried it outside.
Mara stared at it.
"No."
The book opened by itself.
Pages turned rapidly.
Then stopped.
A new entry appeared.
Daniel's name was written at the top.
Beneath it were three words.
THE BLOODLINE CONTINUES.
Daniel crouched.
"What bloodline?"
Mara shook her head.
"Don't touch it."
Daniel ignored her.
He turned the page.
A photograph appeared.
His father.
Standing beside a woman Daniel had never seen before.
She was young.
Maybe twenty-five.
She was holding a baby.
Daniel stared.
The baby had a small crescent-shaped mark on its chest.
He recognized it.
His own birthmark.
His breathing became shallow.
"Who is she?"
Mara looked at the photograph.
Her face changed.
"That's impossible."
"Who is she?"
Mara whispered:
"Your mother."
Daniel stared at her.
"My mother is dead."
"Your mother died after you were born."
"That's what I was told."
Mara looked at the photograph again.
"Then somebody lied."
Daniel turned the page.
Another photograph.
His father.
The woman.
The baby.
And four other hunters.
One of them was Mara.
Daniel looked at her.
"You were there,"
Mara said nothing.
"You knew my mother."
"I knew her."
"You knew me."
Mara's eyes filled with something Daniel couldn't identify.
"I held you."
Daniel stepped backward.
"You held me?"
"The night your father disappeared."
The forest became completely silent.
No insects.
No wind.
No rain.
Nothing.
Mara continued.
"Your father wasn't hunting a demon that night."
Daniel waited.
"He was protecting you."
"From what?"
Mara looked directly at him.
"From the thing that is hunting you now."
A branch snapped behind them.
They turned.
Nothing.
Then another branch.
Closer.
Mara pulled her gun.
"Don't move."
Daniel raised his weapon.
A shape moved between the trees.
Then another.
Then another.
Three silhouettes.
Human-shaped.
Their eyes glowed faintly in the darkness.
Daniel whispered:
"Friends of yours?"
"No."
One of the figures stepped forward.
Its face was pale.
Its mouth stretched into a smile.
"Daniel Cross."
Daniel fired.
The figure disappeared.
Mara fired at another.
It vanished into the trees.
The third remained still.
It lifted its hand.
The black book flew from the ground directly into its palm.
Daniel stared.
The figure opened the book.
"Your father tried to destroy it."
Its voice sounded like several voices speaking at once.
"He failed."
Daniel raised his gun.
"Give me the book."
The figure smiled.
"You're going to take it."
The creature snapped its fingers.
Pain exploded through Daniel's chest.
He dropped to his knees.
The mark on his skin burned.
The same crescent-shaped mark he'd had since birth.
Mara shouted his name.
Daniel couldn't breathe.
Images flooded his mind.
A burning farmhouse.
His father screaming.
His mother crying.
A circle of hunters.
The black book covered in blood.
And something standing behind them.
Something enormous.
Something without a face.
Then Daniel heard his father's voice.
Not from the creature.
Not from the forest.
Inside his own mind.
Don't let them open the final page.
Daniel's eyes opened.
The pain stopped.
The creature was gone.
So were the others.
Only Mara remained.
She was staring at Daniel's chest.
The mark was glowing beneath his shirt.
"What?" Daniel asked.
Mara slowly lowered her weapon.
"You have no idea what you are."
Daniel looked down.
The black book was gone again.
Then a whisper moved through the trees.
Not one voice.
Hundreds.
All speaking at once.
The Hollowed are coming.
Mara's face went pale.
Daniel stood.
"What does that mean?"
Mara looked toward the darkness.
"It means we're already too late."
Far away, something screamed.
And another voice answered.
Then another.
Then dozens more.
The forest was waking up.