FATHER: An Occult HorrorThriller by Zachary Greaton

Author:Zachary Greaton [Greaton, Zachary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Greaton Publishing
Published: 2025-03-02T00:00:00+00:00

VIII

Asoft, broken sob stirred Jess from the depths of unconsciousness. The sound wove through the haze in her mind, tugging her back to the surface. Her cheek was pressed against the damp earth, the faint tickle of dew creeping across her skin.

Her eyelids fluttered open, and the world spun—dark shapes shifting and tilting as she blinked the blur away. The crying grew louder.

Jess pushed herself up on trembling arms, her palms sinking into the cold, brittle grass. She turned toward the sound to see Helen a few feet away. Her body curled in on itself as she knelt beside the blackened, smoldering remains. The faint glow of embers still clinging to Dan’s charred remnants.

“You didn’t have to do it,” Helen choked out, her voice barely audible through the hysteria. “I’m so sorry, Dan. I’m so sorry.”

Then, as if sensing Jess’s eyes on her, Helen stiffened. Slowly, she wiped her face with trembling hands and glanced over her shoulder.

Their gazes locked.

Before Jess realized it, she was scrambling backward. Her palms slipped against the wet grass as she moved, stopping only when her back collided with the surface of a headstone. She pressed against it as though it might shield her from Helen’s approach.

Helen rose slowly, unsteady on her feet, her eyes still glistening with tears. She took a hesitant step toward Jess, but Jess shrank down further.

“Stay back,” Jess snapped, her voice trembling with anger and fear. “Don’t come near me.”

Helen froze, her lips parting as if to speak, but no words came out. She lifted her hands slightly, palms out, a gesture of surrender. “Jess,” she said softly, her voice raw. “I’m not here to hurt you.”

Jess’s body tensed, her fingers gripping the edges of the headstone behind her as if bracing for an attack. “Not here to hurt me?” she hissed, her voice rising. “You think I’m supposed to believe that? After everything you’ve done? Dan is dead, Helen. My sister is trapped in God knows what kind of hell. And now you’re here like—like I should trust you?”

Helen flinched as if the words had struck her, her shoulders sagging. “I know,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “I know I’ve lied to you. I know what this looks like.” Her voice trembling, she wiped a stray tear from her cheek and pressed on. “But I swear to you, Jess, I didn’t want this.”

Jess’s laugh was cold and sharp. “Didn’t want it? You’re part of this, Helen! You helped make this happen!”

“I didn’t have a choice!” Helen’s voice cracked, and she took a step closer, though Jess pressed harder against the headstone in response. “I never had a choice. They told me this was my purpose—that I was part of something bigger. And for so long, I believed them.”

Jess’s fear collided with the simmering rage bubbling beneath it. “Then why the hell are you here now? Why bother with me?”

Helen hesitated, her gaze dropping to Dan’s charred remains. “I wasn’t supposed to stay. They sent me here to unlock the gate for you.

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