Every mirror shattered at once.

CRAAAAASH!

Mara Voss screamed and covered her face.

Glass flew through the air.

Thousands of pieces struck the walls, the floor, the ceiling.

But none touched her.

Not one.

When the noise finally stopped…

Mara slowly opened her eyes.

The woman was gone.

The room was empty.

Caleb was nowhere to be seen.

Father Elias had disappeared.

The golden key was still in Mara’s hand.

She looked down at it.

Her fingers were trembling.

“Mom…”

The word escaped her mouth before she could stop it.

The woman had said her mother gave her to the Hollow.

But that was impossible.

Mara’s mother had died when Mara was twelve.

She had been sick.

She had spent months in a hospital.

Mara remembered every moment.

Every conversation.

Every tear.

Every goodbye.

But now…

She wasn’t sure what was real anymore.

A sound came from behind her.

Scratch.

Mara turned.

Nothing.

Another sound.

Scratch.

Something was moving behind the wall.

Mara stepped backward.

“Who’s there?”

Silence.

Then…

A child’s voice answered.

“Me.”

Mara froze.

The voice was familiar.

Very familiar.

She looked toward the broken mirrors.

A small girl stood among the glass.

Eight years old.

Dark hair.

Pale skin.

A red sweater.

Mara’s heart stopped.

It was her.

The little girl from the mirror.

Mara stared.

“Who are you?”

The child smiled.

“You know.”

Mara shook her head.

“No.”

The girl tilted her head.

“You’ve forgotten.”

Mara stepped backward.

“I don’t know you.”

The child laughed.

“You always say that.”

Mara’s breathing became faster.

“Where is Caleb?”

The little girl pointed behind Mara.

Mara turned.

Nothing.

When she looked back…

The child was gone.

Only a small red shoe remained on the floor.

Mara stared at it.

Then she heard a voice.

Her mother’s voice.

“Mara.”

Mara closed her eyes.

“No.”

“Mara, come here.”

“You’re not my mother.”

“Of course I am.”

Mara turned.

Her mother stood at the end of the room.

Alive.

Young.

Smiling.

Mara couldn’t move.

“Mom?”

Her mother opened her arms.

“Come to me.”

Mara began crying.

She wanted to run.

She wanted to hug her.

But something was wrong.

Mara remembered the hospital.

Her mother’s last day.

She remembered holding her hand.

She remembered the final breath.

She remembered the silence.

Mara shook her head.

“You’re not real.”

Her mother smiled.

“You’ve always been stubborn.”

Mara stepped backward.

“Where is my father?”

The smile disappeared.

Mara’s mother looked away.

“Don’t ask about him.”

“Why?”

“Because he knew.”

Mara froze.

“Knew what?”

Her mother looked directly at her.

“Everything.”

The room became cold.

Mara whispered:

“About the house?”

Her mother nodded.

“About the Hollow.”

“And about me?”

Silence.

Mara’s mother whispered:

“Yes.”

Mara felt something inside her break.

“Did you give me to it?”

Her mother didn’t answer.

Mara screamed:

“DID YOU?”

Her mother disappeared.

The room became dark.

Mara fell to her knees.

She cried.

For the first time in years…

She cried like a child.

Then…

Someone placed a hand on her shoulder.

Mara turned.

Caleb was standing behind her.

Mara immediately stood.

“Caleb!”

He looked confused.

“Why are you crying?”

Mara stared.

“Where were you?”

“Where?”

“You disappeared.”

Caleb shook his head.

“I’ve been right here.”

Mara looked around.

The room had changed.

The broken mirrors were gone.

The door was open.

Everything looked normal.

Mara looked at Caleb.

“Do you remember the woman?”

“What woman?”

“The one who looked like me.”

Caleb frowned.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Mara stepped backward.

“You don’t remember?”

“Remember what?”

Mara stared at him.

Something was wrong.

Very wrong.

“Caleb…”

“What?”

Mara pointed toward his hand.

He was holding a golden key.

Mara’s key was still in her hand.

Two keys.

Caleb looked at it.

“Where did this come from?”

Mara’s stomach dropped.

She whispered:

“The house is making copies.”

Suddenly…

Caleb smiled.

Mara froze.

“What?”

He smiled wider.

“You’re finally learning.”

Mara raised her gun.

“Who are you?”

Caleb laughed.

His voice changed.

It became deep.

Ancient.

Not human.

The man standing before her began to shake.

His skin cracked.

His eyes turned completely black.

Mara fired.

BANG!

The figure disappeared.

Mara ran.

---

She raced through the corridor.

Doors opened as she passed.

Behind every door…

Someone was screaming.

A woman.

A child.

An old man.

A man begging for help.

Mara kept running.

Then she heard Caleb’s voice.

“Mara!”

She stopped.

“Caleb?”

“Help me!”

Mara looked behind her.

Caleb was standing at the end of the hallway.

His face was normal.

His eyes were normal.

He looked terrified.

“It’s me.”

Mara didn’t move.

Caleb raised his hands.

“Don’t shoot.”

“How do I know you’re real?”

He stared.

“What?”

“Tell me something only you would know.”

Caleb thought.

Mara shouted:

“Something about your partner.”

Caleb’s face changed.

He looked down.

“James.”

Mara waited.

“What happened to him?”

Caleb closed his eyes.

“He died because I left him.”

Mara stared.

“That’s not enough.”

Caleb opened his eyes.

“I was afraid.”

Mara’s gun lowered slightly.

“Afraid of what?”

Caleb whispered:

“That if I went back…”

He stopped.

Mara stepped closer.

“What?”

Caleb looked at her.

“…I’d die with him.”

Mara lowered the gun.

“You’re real.”

Caleb nodded.

Mara ran toward him.

But before she reached him…

A hand grabbed her from behind.

Mara screamed.

Caleb shouted:

“MARA!”

Something pulled her into darkness.

---

Mara fell.

She landed on a cold stone floor.

She looked up.

Caleb was gone.

The hallway was gone.

She was inside a small room.

A basement.

There was one chair.

One table.

And a door.

On the table…

Was a photograph.

Mara picked it up.

It showed a young woman.

Mara recognized her.

Her mother.

But she wasn’t alone.

Standing beside her was Edmund Blackthorn.

Mara stared.

“No.”

On the back of the photograph…

A date.

October 17, 1998.

Mara remembered that year.

She was six years old.

Her mother had told her they were moving.

They had moved to another city.

Mara had always thought it was because of her father’s job.

But now…

She understood.

Her mother had been running.

From Blackthorn Manor.

From the Hollow.

Mara turned the photograph over again.

A second line was written beneath the date.

THE FIRST ESCAPE FAILED.

Mara’s hands trembled.

“What does that mean?”

The door opened.

Father Elias stood there.

Mara jumped.

“Father!”

He closed the door behind him.

“Don’t speak too loudly.”

“Where have you been?”

“Looking for you.”

“Caleb?”

Elias shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

Mara stared.

“He’s alive.”

“Maybe.”

“Stop saying that!”

Elias looked at her.

Mara held up the photograph.

“You knew.”

Father Elias stared at it.

“Where did you find this?”

“The house showed it to me.”

He became pale.

“What did you see?”

“My mother.”

Silence.

Mara stepped closer.

“She knew about the Hollow.”

Father Elias nodded.

“Yes.”

“She knew about Blackthorn Manor.”

“Yes.”

“She knew about me.”

Elias closed his eyes.

“Yes.”

Mara’s voice became angry.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because you were safe.”

“Safe?”

Mara laughed bitterly.

“Do you know where I am now?”

“I do.”

“I’m inside a haunted house that wants to eat me!”

Elias looked at her.

“That’s why you must leave.”

Mara held up the key.

“How?”

Elias stared at it.

“Where did you get that?”

“From you.”

“I never gave you that.”

“Then who did?”

Elias looked terrified.

“The Hollow.”

Mara stepped closer.

“What does it open?”

Elias whispered:

“A door.”

“What door?”

“The door to your memory.”

Mara froze.

“What?”

Elias pointed toward the wall.

“Your memories are locked.”

“By whom?”

“Your mother.”

Mara shook her head.

“Why?”

“To protect you.”

“From what?”

Father Elias looked directly into her eyes.

“From yourself.”

---

The room suddenly shook.

Mara grabbed the table.

Father Elias looked upward.

“We don’t have much time.”

“For what?”

“The Hollow is waking.”

“Why?”

“Because the forty-seventh has arrived.”

Mara frowned.

“Ethan.”

Elias shook his head.

“No.”

Mara stared.

“Then who?”

Elias pointed toward her.

“You.”

Mara stepped backward.

“No.”

“The forty-seven people who entered the house were not sacrifices.”

“Then what were they?”

“Keys.”

Mara stared.

“Keys to what?”

“The Hollow has been locked for centuries.”

Elias continued:

“Every person who entered Blackthorn Manor became part of the lock.”

Mara shook her head.

“Then why did they disappear?”

“They weren’t taken.”

“They were…”

“Added.”

Mara stared at him.

“Added to what?”

“The door.”

A deep sound echoed beneath them.

BOOM.

Mara looked down.

The floor cracked.

Father Elias grabbed her.

“Run!”

They escaped through the door.

---

The hallway was changing.

Walls moved.

Doors disappeared.

The ceiling stretched upward.

Mara followed Father Elias.

“Where are we going?”

“To the heart of the house.”

“Why?”

“To find Ethan.”

“Why?”

“Because he is the only one who can stop it.”

Mara stopped.

“What?”

Father Elias turned.

“Ethan is the forty-seventh.”

“I thought I was.”

“No.”

“Then why is my name on the wall?”

Father Elias looked at her.

“Because you’re the one who opened the door.”

Mara froze.

“I didn’t.”

“You did.”

“When?”

Father Elias whispered:

“When you were six.”

Mara’s heart stopped.

A memory appeared.

A dark room.

A little girl.

Mara.

She was standing beside her mother.

Her mother was crying.

A man was standing in front of them.

Edmund Blackthorn.

He was holding a golden key.

Mara remembered him now.

He had placed the key in her hand.

“Open it.”

Her mother screamed:

“NO!”

Mara had turned the key.

A door had opened.

Darkness had poured out.

Mara’s mother had grabbed her.

They ran.

But something had followed them.

Something had entered Mara.

Mara gasped.

“I opened the door.”

Father Elias nodded.

“Yes.”

“That’s why it knows me.”

“Yes.”

“That’s why my name was written.”

“Yes.”

Mara looked terrified.

“Then what is inside me?”

Father Elias whispered:

“The Hollow’s first breath.”

Mara stepped backward.

“No.”

“Yes.”

Mara shook her head.

“Get it out.”

“I can’t.”

“Then who can?”

Father Elias looked toward the end of the hallway.

Ethan stood there.

His eyes were black.

But he was crying.

Mara stared.

“Ethan.”

He whispered:

“Don’t come closer.”

Mara stepped forward.

“Ethan, we can help you.”

He shook his head.

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s using me.”

Mara looked at Father Elias.

“What does that mean?”

Ethan screamed:

“RUN!”

The walls exploded.

A black creature burst through.

It had long arms.

No face.

Only a mouth.

The Whispering Man.

Mara ran.

Father Elias grabbed her.

Ethan disappeared.

The creature chased them.

---

They ran through a massive doorway.

Inside was a library.

Thousands of books filled the walls.

Mara slammed the door.

The creature hit it.

BOOM!

Father Elias pushed a bookshelf against it.

“It won’t hold.”

Mara looked around.

“Then what do we do?”

Father Elias pointed toward the center.

A single book lay open on a table.

Mara walked toward it.

The pages were turning by themselves.

She looked down.

Her name was written there.

MARA VOSS.

Underneath…

A story.

Her story.

Mara began reading.

Mara Voss was born on March 3, 1992.

She froze.

That was her birthday.

She turned the page.

At the age of six, she opened the first door.

Another page.

At the age of twelve, her mother died.

Another.

At the age of twenty-eight, she returned.

Mara’s hands shook.

Then she saw the final line.

It was still being written.

Slowly.

One letter at a time.

AT THE AGE OF TWENTY-EIGHT, MARA VOSS WILL BECOME THE HOLLOW.

Mara dropped the book.

“No.”

Father Elias looked at her.

“What?”

Mara pointed.

He read the page.

His face went pale.

“No.”

Mara stepped backward.

“What?”

Father Elias shook his head.

“That isn’t possible.”

“What isn’t?”

“The Hollow doesn’t possess people.”

Mara stared.

“Then what does it do?”

“It replaces them.”

Mara’s blood ran cold.

“Replaces?”

Father Elias nodded.

“The Hollow doesn’t want your body.”

He looked into her eyes.

“It wants your life.”

The door shook violently.

The creature screamed outside.

Mara whispered:

“How do I stop it?”

Father Elias looked at the book.

“There is one way.”

“What?”

“You must destroy the first door.”

“Where is it?”

Father Elias pointed downward.

“Below the house.”

Mara stared.

“We were already there.”

“No.”

He shook his head.

“That was the second door.”

Mara felt sick.

“How many doors are there?”

Father Elias whispered:

“Three.”

The door exploded.

The Whispering Man entered.

Mara and Father Elias ran.

The creature followed.

They reached a staircase.

They descended.

Down.

Down.

Down.

Until they reached a giant iron door.

Father Elias stopped.

“This is it.”

Mara stared.

“What?”

“The first door.”

The door was covered with symbols.

At the center…

Was a golden keyhole.

Mara held up her key.

It fit perfectly.

Father Elias grabbed her wrist.

“Wait.”

Mara looked at him.

“What?”

“If you open this…”

“Yes?”

“Your mother will return.”

Mara froze.

“What?”

“She isn’t dead.”

Mara stared at him.

“What did you say?”

Father Elias whispered:

“Your mother escaped the Hollow.”

Mara couldn’t breathe.

“Where is she?”

Father Elias looked at the door.

“Inside.”

Mara stepped backward.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“She’s behind this door?”

“Yes.”

“Alive?”

Father Elias nodded.

“Yes.”

Mara’s eyes filled with tears.

“Then I’m opening it.”

Father Elias grabbed her.

“No!”

“She’s my mother!”

“She’s not the same woman anymore!”

Mara froze.

Father Elias whispered:

“The Hollow changed her.”

The iron door began shaking.

A woman’s voice came from behind it.

“Mara.”

Mara’s heart stopped.

Her mother’s voice.

“Mara, it’s me.”

Mara stepped toward the door.

Father Elias shouted:

“Don’t!”

The voice cried:

“Please!”

Mara touched the keyhole.

“Mom?”

Silence.

Then…

Her mother’s voice whispered:

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

Mara began crying.

Father Elias grabbed her.

“Listen to me.”

Mara looked at him.

“Your mother didn’t escape the Hollow.”

Mara froze.

“Then what?”

Father Elias whispered:

“The Hollow escaped through her.”

The door exploded.

BOOOOOOM!

Mara was thrown backward.

The golden key flew from her hand.

The door opened.

Darkness poured out.

And standing inside…

Was Mara’s mother.

Her face was pale.

Her eyes were black.

She smiled.

“Hello, my little girl.”

Mara couldn’t move.

Her mother stepped forward.

“I’ve missed you.”

Mara whispered:

“Mom.”

Her mother opened her arms.

“Come here.”

Mara took one step.

Father Elias shouted:

“MARA, DON’T!”

Mara stopped.

Her mother smiled.

Then…

Her skin began to crack.

Her mouth stretched.

Her body twisted.

And behind her…

Something enormous moved in the darkness.

Mara screamed.

Her mother whispered:

“You were always mine.”

The creature behind her opened its eyes.

Two enormous black eyes.

The Hollow.

Mara stepped backward.

Father Elias grabbed her.

“RUN!”

They ran.

But the Hollow followed.

The house began collapsing.

Walls shattered.

Doors exploded.

The ceiling cracked.

The entire manor screamed.

Mara and Father Elias raced upward.

Behind them…

The Hollow crawled through the house.

Its voice echoed everywhere.

“MARAAAA…”

Mara ran faster.

“Where is Caleb?”

Father Elias shouted:

“I don’t know!”

“Ethan?”

“He’s gone!”

“Then we’re alone!”

Father Elias looked at her.

“No.”

Mara stared.

“Then who is with us?”

A voice answered from behind them.

Caleb.

“Me.”

Mara turned.

Caleb stood in the hallway.

Blood covered his face.

Mara ran toward him.

“Caleb!”

He smiled.

“Finally.”

Mara stopped.

Something was wrong.

Caleb’s eyes were black.

His mouth opened.

The Whispering Man’s voice came from him.

“You opened the first door.”

Mara stepped backward.

Caleb smiled.

“Now…”

The house stopped shaking.

Everything became silent.

Caleb looked toward Mara.

“…open the second.”

Mara looked at Father Elias.

He was gone.

Mara turned back.

Caleb was gone.

Only the Whispering Man remained.

He pointed toward a door behind Mara.

A door that hadn’t been there before.

On it…

Was a single name.

MARA VOSS.

The door opened.

Inside…

Mara saw herself.

Standing in a dark room.

Holding the golden key.

And beside her…

Was a little boy.

Ethan.

But he wasn’t eight years old.

He was six.

Mara stared.

“Ethan?”

The little boy looked up.

“No.”

He smiled.

“I am the first.”

The door slammed shut.

And the entire house whispered:

“REMEMBER.”

Mara screamed.

Then…

Everything went black.

TO BE CONTINUED…