Chapter 8: The Brother Who Came Back From the Grave
My father refused to tell us the name.
Not at first.
He stood in the hallway, staring at the note like it had burned his hand.
“Dad,” I said.
He looked at me.
“I need the truth.””
His shoulders fell.
“The person who sent this…”
He swallowed.
“Was my brother, Michael.””
My mother closed her eyes.
“I knew it.””
I stared at my father.
“You thought he was dead?””
“Yes.””
“And now he’s alive?””
My father nodded slowly.
“But I don’t understand.””
Maria picked up the note.
“He wants something.””
My mother looked at the memory card in her hand.
“He wants this.””
We returned home with security around the property.
Nobody trusted anyone anymore.
Not even family.
That night, my mother and I sat together for the first time in years.
Neither of us knew what to say.
Finally, she whispered:
“I kept every birthday letter I wrote you.””
I looked at her.
“What?””
She smiled sadly.
“I wrote one every year.””
“Where are they?””
She looked away.
“Evelyn destroyed them.””
That sentence hurt.
Not because it surprised me.
Because it showed how much she had lost.
“I hated you,” I admitted.
She nodded.
“I know.””
“I thought you abandoned me.””
“I know.””
“But I don’t anymore.””
She cried.
And for the first time since she returned, I hugged her.
It wasn’t forgiveness.
Not completely.
But it was a beginning.
The next morning, my father received an envelope.
No address.
No name.
Inside was a photograph.
Of me.
Taken yesterday.
At the old house.
Someone had been following us.
The second item inside was a USB drive.
My father connected it to the computer.
A video appeared.
Michael was sitting in a dark room.
Older.
But alive.
“Daniel.””
My father stared at the screen.
“You took everything from me.””
Michael smiled.
“You got the company. The money. The perfect family.””
He leaned closer.
“But I got something better.””
The video showed another person entering the room.
Evelyn.
My blood went cold.
She was alive.
Of course she was.
My father immediately stood.
“Where is she?””
The video continued.
Evelyn sat beside Michael.
“I told you he would find the card.””
Michael smiled.
“I knew he would.””
They were working together.
Still.
After everything.
Evelyn looked directly into the camera.
Almost like she knew we were watching.
“Hello, Daniel.””
My father stepped closer.
The video felt like a personal attack.
“You always believed you were the smartest person in the room.””
Evelyn smiled.
“But you never asked why your daughter was the only one who survived that night.””
I froze.
My father looked at me.
“What does that mean?””
The video ended.
The screen went black.
Nobody moved.
Then Maria whispered:
“There’s something they’re not telling us.””
I looked at my father.
He looked terrified.
Not confused.
Terrified.
Because he knew.
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He knew what happened that night.
And he had never told me.