Chapter 6
They had explored the ghost town together, taking numerous photos and witnessing incredible ancient civilizations.
Mom had gone with them initially, but she didn’t want to change their planned route. She and Dad had a huge fight halfway through the expedition and parted ways.]
Mom returned home while Dad stubbornly continued exploring Death Valley.
Soon after, everyone else made it out–except Dad, who vanished in that vast desert.
Uncle Sullivan pulled out a vitamin C pill bottle, explaining it was something my father had been taking since they entered Death Valley. He’d recently discovered it among Dad’s old belongings.]
I found something odd about these pills,” he said, shaking the bottle. “These aren’t vitamin C at all. They’re medication for chronic illness.”
He explained the strange paradox: “If someone who’s actually sick takes these, they’d get better. But if a healthy person takes them…“]
“The side effects would gradually destroy their health–like a slow–acting poison.“]]
After piecing together various clues, Uncle Sullivan concluded that someone had deliberately poisoned my father, which made him a target for the shadow creature as “a dying man.” Dad was doomed from the start–he was never going to make it out of Death Valley alive.
I racked my brain but couldn’t figure out who would want to poison Dad.]
I showed Uncle Sullivan my father’s journal and the photos.
“Uncle Sullivan, did you see this when you were in Death Valley?” I asked, pointing to one particularly disturbing image.
He studied it carefully but shook his head. “I don’t recall this at all.“]
Then his eyes widened as he recognized the female corpse in the photo.
“Isn’t this your mother? She was wearing these exact clothes when she came to Death Valley with your father. I remember it clearly.”
“They had a falling out. Your mother missed you and didn’t want to continue the expedition, so she argued with your father and our team before leaving. They fought bitterly and said some… private things.“]
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This caught my attention immediately. “Private things? Like what?“]
“Your mother was furious. She yelled at your father about ‘that little affair,‘ something about ‘I know about you and my sister,‘ and ‘Charlotte is mine… I didn’t understand what it all meant.“]
His words triggered me a buried childhood memory.]
Mom had an identical twin sister. They had been close once, sharing identical personalities, hobbies, thoughts, even careers. They had a connection that went beyond normal siblings–an almost supernatural bond.[]
Chapter 6
I spent nearly half my childhood at my aunt’s house. She was so loving, often soothing me just like Mom would.[]
When I was little, I couldn’t tell them apart except by their scent. Even as I grew older, I frequently confused them because they looked absolutely identical.
Four years ago, Mom and my aunt had a massive fight for reasons I never understood. My aunt took me away briefly, and then Mom and Dad left for Death Valley.
After Mom returned from Death Valley, I never saw my aunt again. Mom claimed she had immigrated abroad after marrying a foreigner, never to return.[]
She forbade me from mentioning my aunt, saying I should act as if she never existed, criticizing her for “worshipping foreigners.” ||
Whenever I accidentally brought her up, Mom would fly into a rage, so eventually I stopped mentioning her altogether.
Could all of this be connected to my aunt somehow?[]
What was my
father trying to say in his final journal entry?[]
I pondered this for a long time but couldn’t make sense of it.]
Uncle Sullivan urged me to focus on the immediate problem.]
“That thing in your house pretending to be your father needs to go. You need to handle it quickly!”
“The longer it stays, the more human essence it absorbs, and the harder it will be to remove.“]
I nodded and rushed back home.
