22. Hunt the Darkness
⟡ Maximilian Demands Evidence — Operation: Mother's Protection
After ending the chaotic call with Chloe and Aiden,
Maximilian's eyes hardened again.
The warmth faded.
The CEO returned.
He pressed the intercom.
Maximilian:
"Kyron.
Bring me the full surveillance report.
Every file. Every timestamp.
And the results of the investigation I ordered last night."
Kyron's voice came immediately, serious and tense.
Kyron: "Yes, President Brooks. I have them ready."
Within seconds, Kyron entered the office carrying a thick secured folder, a tablet, and a sealed evidence drive.
He placed everything on Maximilian's desk with both hands.
Kyron:
"Sir… we reviewed all hospital surveillance,
your mother's room,
the visiting logs,
and the entire Brooks Mansion security system."
A beat.
Kyron swallowed.
Kyron:
"And the… presence you encountered last night…
we analyzed that too."
Maximilian leaned back in his leather chair.
A shadow passed over his face.
Last night…
That cold air.
The flickering lights.
That almost invisible silhouette standing near his bed.
The whisper he couldn't understand.
He clenched his jaw.
Maximilian:
"Start with my mother.
What did you find?"
Kyron nodded and opened the tablet.
---
⟡ Hospital Surveillance Report
Kyron:
"Your mother's condition didn't decline naturally, sir."
Maximilian's grip tightened.
Kyron:
"There were unexplained energy fluctuations in her room.
Electrical interference.
Temperature dropping for five seconds.
Cameras glitching at precise intervals—
always when she was left alone."
Maximilian's eyes darkened dangerously.
Maximilian:
"Show me."
Kyron tapped a video.
A hospital room.
His mother asleep.
At 03:17 AM—
the lights flickered.
Then a black blur moved behind the curtains.
Barely visible.
Not human.
Maximilian's pupils shrank.
Maximilian:
"…It followed me from the hospital."
Kyron looked shaken.
Kyron:
"Sir, the same energy signature appeared here.
In your bedroom."
---
⟡ Mansion Surveillance — Last Night
He pulled up the second video.
Maximilian's room.
Dark. Silent.
At 2:41 AM…
A shadow shifted near the windows.
Then—
a faint figure beside Maximilian's sleeping form.
Long, distorted, almost humanoid
…watching him.
The lights blinked.
Then it vanished.
Kyron's voice trembled.
Kyron:
"This entity doesn't appear on normal cameras.
The security system only caught fragments."
Maximilian exhaled slowly, expression cold, emotionless.
Maximilian:
"It wants something from me."
Kyron looked worried.
Kyron:
"Sir… do you want to increase protection?
Assign guards?
Call exorcists? Paranormal—"
Maximilian raised a hand.
Still calm.
Still terrifying.
Maximilian:
"No.
Guards will only die in my way."
Kyron swallowed hard.
He knew Maximilian wasn't joking.
Maximilian:
"Strengthen surveillance around my mother immediately.
Triple her protection.
No one enters her room without my approval."
Kyron:
"Yes, sir!"
Maximilian:
"And prepare everything we need to track this entity.
I will handle it myself."
Kyron bowed.
Kyron:
"Understood."
---
Maximilian leaned back, eyes cold and burning with a silent vow.
Maximilian:
"I won't lose my mother again.
Not to humans.
Not to fate.
Not to monsters…"
A low, lethal whisper escaped his lips:
"I swear on my blood—
I will protect her.
Even if I must hunt the darkness itself."
---