Chapter 9: The Man Everyone Buried
We drove through the night without speaking.
The photograph remained open on my phone.
Michael Blackwood.
Alive.
At least, that's what the image claimed.
Damien sat beside me.
He hadn't looked away from the screen for almost ten minutes.
“Your father disappeared twenty-five years ago,” I said quietly.
“Yes.””
“You believed he was dead.””
“Yes.””
“Evelyn believed he was dead.””
“Yes.””
“But now he's sending messages.””
Damien finally looked at me.
“Someone is pretending to be him.””
“Why?””
“To control me.””
“Why would someone want to control you?””
“Because they can't kill me.””
I frowned.
“That sounds arrogant.””
“It is.””
A faint smile touched his mouth.
Then disappeared.
We reached a secluded estate outside the city just before dawn.
I expected something enormous.
Instead, it was an old stone house surrounded by trees.
Damien opened the door.
“You can sleep here.””
“I don't think I can sleep.””
“Neither can I.””
He walked toward the kitchen.
I followed.
He poured two glasses of water.
Then he placed one in front of me.
“Your mother is upstairs.””
“Is she okay?””
“She'll be safe.””
I nodded.
“Damien?””
“Yes?””
“If Michael is alive…”
“I know.””
“He's my father.””
“Yes.””
“And your father.””
“Yes.””
I swallowed.
“What does that make us?””
“Half-siblings.””
The word sounded strange.
Damien looked away.
“I spent twenty-five years hating my father for abandoning me.””
He stared out the window.
“Now I don't know what to feel.””
I sat beside him.
“You don't have to forgive him.””
“I don't.””
“You don't have to hate him either.””
He looked at me.
“You're very calm for someone whose entire life just changed.””
I laughed weakly.
“I'm not calm.””
“What are you?””
“Exhausted.””
That made him smile.
For a few seconds, the house felt almost peaceful.
Then the lights flickered.
Damien stood immediately.
“Stay here.””
I sighed.
“I'm beginning to hate that sentence.””
He walked toward the hallway.
A gunshot came from upstairs.
I screamed.
Damien ran.
I followed.
My mother's bedroom door was open.
The bed was empty.
The window was broken.
A rope hung outside.
My heart stopped.
“Mom?””
Damien searched the room.
Nothing.
Then he found a note on the pillow.
He opened it.
His face changed.
“What?””
He handed it to me.
Three words.
*Bring Hannah alone.*
Underneath was an address.
And a final line.
*You have one hour.*
I looked at Damien.
“No.””
“I'll go.””
“No.””
“Hannah—”
“You said I decide.””
He went quiet.
I grabbed my coat.
“I'm going.””
He stared at me.
“You don't know what you're walking into.””
“Neither do you.””
“I can protect you.””
“I know.””
“Then let me come.””
I shook my head.
“They asked for me alone.””
“They're expecting that.””
“Then we'll surprise them.””
A faint smile appeared.
“That sounds like something I'd say.””
“I've had a strange teacher.””
He looked at me for a long moment.
Then nodded.
“Fine.””
We drove to the address.
An abandoned church.
The doors were open.
Inside, candles burned along the aisle.
My mother sat in the front pew.
Alive.
Untied.
Beside her stood a man with silver hair.
I stopped.
Damien stepped out of the car.
The man turned.
“Damien.””
His voice was older.
But unmistakable.
Damien froze.
“Father.””
Michael Blackwood smiled.
“You grew up.””
Damien's hand went to his gun.
“You're alive.””
“Barely.””
“Why?””
Michael looked at me.
“Because of her.””
I stepped forward.
“Me?””
He nodded.
“I hid everything in your name.””
“Why?””
“Because I knew they'd never look at a little girl.””
Damien's voice was cold.
“You abandoned me.””
“I protected you.””
“You let me believe you were dead.””
“You were safer.””
“Safer?””
Damien laughed bitterly.
“You call that safe?””
Michael's eyes filled with regret.
“I watched you from a distance.””
“You watched?””
“Yes.””
“Where?””
“Everywhere.””
My stomach turned.
“How long?””
“Your entire life.””
I stared at him.
“You watched me too?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because you were the last piece of your mother's legacy.””
Evelyn stepped from behind the altar.
“Michael.””
He looked at her.
“I failed both of you.””
Damien raised his gun.
Michael didn't flinch.
“If you want to kill me, son, do it.””
Damien's finger tightened.
I stepped between them.
“No.””
He looked at me.
“Hannah.””
“I need answers.””
Michael nodded.
“You deserve them.””
He reached into his coat.
He pulled out a small black box.
The same size as the one my father had given me.
My heart stopped.
“I thought Brandon had the original.””
“He did.””
“Then what is that?””
Michael opened it.
Inside was a key.
And a photograph.
A photograph of me as a baby.
In my mother's arms.
Daniel stood beside her.
And Michael stood behind them.
On the back, Daniel had written:
*She is yours. But she is my daughter.*
I looked at Michael.
“What does that mean?””
He took a breath.
“Biologically, you are my daughter.””
He looked at Damien.
“But Daniel was your father in every way that mattered.””
I started crying.
Michael continued.
“Daniel raised you because I couldn't.””
“Why?””
“Because I made a deal.””
“With whom?””
Michael's face went pale.
“With the person who ordered your father's murder.””
My breath caught.
“Who?””
He looked directly at Brandon's mother.
Then at Evelyn.
Then at Damien.
And finally at me.
“The person who has been controlling Brandon all these years…”
He stopped.
The church doors slammed shut.
A woman's voice echoed from behind us.
“You took long enough.””
We turned.
My mother screamed.
I knew the woman standing in the doorway.
She was the woman from the restaurant.
The woman who had called Damien.
The woman whose voice had told me not to trust him.
She smiled.
“Hello, Hannah.””
Damien raised his gun.
She laughed.
“Put it down, Damien.””
Then she lifted a remote.
“I planted explosives under the church.””
Nobody moved.
She looked at me.
“You want your mother alive?””
I nodded.
“Then come with me.””
She pressed the button.
A red light began blinking beneath the altar.
May you like
Michael whispered one word.
“Run.””
