I had never seen Axel's mother look afraid before.
Angry?
Absolutely.
Suspicious?
Constantly.
Terrifying?
Usually.
But afraid?
Never.
Until now.
"Who is Elara?" I asked.
Nobody answered.
The voice upstairs disappeared.
The silence afterward felt heavier.
I looked at Axel.
They looked at their mother.
Their mother looked at the ceiling.
Finally, she said,
"Someone we should have left buried."
"That's not an answer."
"No."
She turned toward me.
"It's the only one you're getting right now."
I crossed my arms.
"That's becoming a habit."
Axel almost smiled.
Their mother didn't.
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"Elara Voss was the first vampire we knew to survive the Hollow."
"Survive?"
My mother—no.
Axel's mother shook her head.
"That's what we called it."
"What actually happened?"
"She came back."
"From where?"
"The Hollow."
That answer made my stomach twist.
Axel stepped closer.
"Mom."
"I know."
She looked at them.
"I know."
She walked toward a cabinet in the corner.
For several seconds, she searched through old papers.
Then she pulled out a photograph.
She placed it on the table.
A woman stood in front of an old house.
Dark hair.
Pale skin.
Sharp eyes.
Beside her stood a man.
Human.
They looked happy.
Too happy.
I recognized the symbol carved into the wooden door behind them.
The Hollow.
"That's Elara."
Axel nodded.
"And Thomas."
I looked at the photograph again.
"What happened to them?"
Axel's mother hesitated.
"The Hollow took Elara apart."
"Like you said?"
"Not exactly."
She sat down.
"At first, she forgot small things."
"The song Thomas used to sing."
"The way he laughed."
"His favorite food."
"Then bigger things."
"Why she loved him."
"Why she trusted him."
"Eventually, she couldn't remember what love felt like."
I stared at the photograph.
"Then she killed him."
Axel looked away.
Their mother nodded.
"That's what we believed."
"Believed?"
She didn't answer.
I felt a chill.
"Why are you saying it like that?"
"Because we were wrong."
Axel looked at her.
"What?"
Their mother looked between us.
"Elara didn't kill Thomas."
The room seemed to shrink.
"Then who did?"
"The Hollow."
I stared at her.
"It used her body."
Axel's face went blank.
"It made her watch."
Their mother lowered her voice.
"She remembered everything afterward."
"Everything?"
"No."
She looked at the photograph.
"Just enough to understand what she'd done."
I felt sick.
"And Elara?"
"She disappeared."
"Where?"
"We don't know."
A floorboard creaked upstairs.
Everyone froze.
Then a woman's voice whispered from above.
"That's not true."
Axel went rigid.
Their mother whispered,
"Elara."
The voice came again.
"You never looked for me."
Axel stepped toward the stairs.
I grabbed their arm.
"Don't."
They looked at me.
"It's her."
"You don't know that."
The voice laughed softly.
"He's right."
I froze.
The voice changed.
It became Axel's.
"You don't know anything."
Then it changed again.
My own voice.
"Neither do you."
The lights went out.
Axel grabbed my hand.
Their mother whispered something in a language I didn't understand.
Then the lights came back.
The stairs were empty.
But the photograph on the table had changed.
Thomas was gone.
I stared at it.
"Axel."
They looked.
The woman was still there.
The house was still there.
But Thomas—
He had vanished from the photograph.
And beneath Elara's hand, written in dark ink, were four words.
I REMEMBER HER NOW.