16. Eleonor 's past
The Truth From Eleanor's Past
Maximilian's voice was razor-sharp.
"What happened to my mother before I was born?"
Uncle Adrian didn't answer immediately.
He looked down at his intertwined fingers—
knuckles pale, trembling.
Aunt Liana gently squeezed his hand, urging him to speak.
Then finally…
slowly…
he began.
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"Your mother survived something no human should."
Adrian inhaled shakily.
"This was long before you were born. Before the Brooks fortune, before the empire… back when your parents had just married and moved to Hollowmist."
Maximilian leaned forward, jaw tight.
"What happened?"
Uncle Adrian's eyes darkened with a memory that clearly still haunted him.
"A haunting.
A curse.
A presence that lived in Hollowmist long before any of us came here."
Maximilian frowned.
"Be specific."
Uncle Adrian nodded.
"I will. But you need to prepare yourself… your mother never wanted you to know."
Adrian swallowed hard.
"It started on a night just like tonight… with Eleanor feeling restless, uneasy, unable to sleep. Your father said she was hearing whispers—"
"Whispers?" Maximilian repeated, remembering the hospital.
"Yes," Adrian said.
"At first faint… but each night louder."
Aunt Liana shivered visibly.
"Eleanor said something was calling her name from outside the window," she added.
"At first we thought stress… or exhaustion."
"But it wasn't?" Maximilian asked.
Adrian shook his head.
"No. Because one night… it came inside."
Maximilian's blood ran cold.
"What came inside, Uncle?"
Adrian's voice dropped.
"A shadow.
Not a person.
Not an intruder.
A shape.
A darkness that moved like smoke… but had weight.
And eyes—white, glowing eyes."
Aunt Liana murmured, "I still have nightmares about it…"
Maximilian's heart clenched violently.
"What happened to my mother?"
Adrian closed his eyes, remembering.
"We heard her screaming from the bedroom. When we broke open the door… she was suspended in the air."
Maximilian froze.
"In the air…?" he whispered.
"Yes," Adrian said quietly.
"Like invisible hands were holding her up."
Aunt Liana's voice cracked, tears forming.
"She was choking… her feet not touching the floor… her body bent backwards unnaturally…"
Maximilian's hands curled into fists.
"And my father?"
"He ran toward her," Adrian said, "but the moment he reached the shadow… it threw him across the room."
Aunt Liana wiped her tears.
"He hit the wall so hard he lost consciousness."
Maximilian's eyes darkened—
cold, lethal, furious.
"And my mother?"
Adrian inhaled slowly.
"The shadow spoke to her.
Through her."
Maximilian's heart stuttered.
"What… did it say?"
Adrian's voice trembled.
"It said…
'You will not escape me. Not in this lifetime. Not in the next.'"
Aunt Liana whispered,
"And then… Eleanor collapsed. Her heart stopped for almost a minute."
Maximilian's breath caught.
"They revived her," Adrian added quickly.
"Your father fought to bring her back. And somehow… she survived."
Aunt Liana continued softly,
"But Eleanor refused to speak about it again. She said…
'If I acknowledge it, it will return.'"
Maximilian leaned back slowly, hands shaking despite his iron control.
"And now…" Adrian said quietly,
"it has returned ".
Maximilian stared at the floor, the weight of the truth pressing down on him.
All these years—
his mother wasn't just battling illness.
She was fighting a curse that started before he was even born.
Adrian placed a steady hand on Maximilian's shoulder.
"Max… you must understand. This thing… it nearly killed her once."
Maximilian looked up, expression icy and terrifyingly calm.
"And now it wants her again."
"Max—" Aunt Liana whispered.
He stood abruptly.
"No. I won't let it."
His voice was quiet, but carried the power of a man who destroyed empires effortlessly.
"It touched my family once.
It touched my mother again.
Now… it wants to touch me."
His eyes sharpened—
CEO mode blending with something darker.
"If this curse thinks I'm the same terrified child from twenty years ago…"
A cold smile touched his lips.
"It is gravely mistaken."
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