Retired Army Colonel Brenda Hollins Races To Save Her Bruised Daughter From Abuse and Supernatural Captivity, Only To Uncover A $5 Million Blood Covenant That Reverses Everything She Believed
The air in the chapel crackled, not just with the chill of the ancient stones, but with the raw, exposed truth. Maya’s smirk cut deeper than any bruise.
“You really think you could use me, Maya?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper, laced with a pain that went beyond physical. “Your own mother? To destroy a family for a fortune?”
She shrugged, a casual gesture that made my stomach churn.
“You’re a strong woman, Mom. The best. I knew you’d never abandon me. Never let anyone hurt me.”
Her eyes, once so full of feigned terror, now held a disturbing glint of triumph.
“It was a foolproof plan. You’d march in, dismantle the Boudreauxs, scare off Gideon, and I’d be left with the entity’s power and Marcus’s entire inheritance. Without any strings attached.”
My hands clenched into fists. This was not the daughter I knew. This was a stranger, a ruthless strategist masquerading in my child’s skin.
“The bruises,” I said, pointing to her still-visible marks. “Did Gideon do those, too?”
Maya laughed, a harsh, brittle sound that echoed off the chapel walls.
“Some, for effect. Others, I inflicted myself. A little pain is a small price to pay for a $5 million estate and untold power, wouldn’t you agree?”
My mind reeled. $5 million. A precise, chilling figure. This wasn’t just about money; it was about the cold, calculating intent behind every single action.
“The ‘supernatural horror’ at the house?” I pressed, my voice flat. “The shadows? The whispers?”
“All part of the package,” she admitted, a dark pride swelling in her voice. “The entity responds to intent. My intent. It was happy to play along. Gideon helped focus its energy. The Boudreauxs were always too timid to truly harness it.”
She looked around the decaying chapel, her eyes shining with a feverish intensity.
“This isn’t a prison, Mom. This is where I truly become powerful. Gideon only tapped into a fraction of it.”
My gaze fell on the altar at the front of the chapel. Sitting prominently on the crumbling stone, shrouded in shadows, was a small, intricately carved wooden box. It hummed with a subtle, dark energy, a faint, almost imperceptible pulsation emanating from its core. This had to be the spirit vessel Evelyn mentioned. The key to Gideon’s connection, and to Maya’s power.
“You manipulated everyone,” I said, the realization sinking deep. “Marcus. His family. Me.”
“And it worked, didn’t it?” she countered, her voice sharp with a chilling confidence. “You saved me from a phantom threat, only to clear the path for my real agenda. You were the perfect shield, the ultimate enabler.”
The words were a direct hit, a bullet to my core. I, Brenda Hollins, the rescuer, the protector, had been played for a fool. Used as a weapon against the very people I thought I was saving her from.
“This ends now, Maya,” I said, my voice shaking with a controlled fury. “Break this covenant. Confess everything.”
She merely smiled, a cold, predatory expression.
“Why would I, Mom? When I’m so close to having it all?”
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