Previously: In Episode #7: The Mark of Binding, Sheriff Jon Carter uncovers Cold Hollow’s chilling origin—a cursed birth, a demonic pact, and a bloodline tied to Elias Monroe. To end the nightmare, Jon must find the last descendant… before it’s too late.
Cold Hollow, Vermont — December 1999
Snow fell like ash from a dead sky. Sheriff Jon Carter stood alone in his office, surrounded by a chaos of books, old family trees, maps, and burned census records. Every candle flickered as if the shadows themselves were breathing. The storm outside hadn’t stopped in days, but this—this was a storm of blood and truth.
He knew what had to be done.
He had to find the descendant.
The one tied by blood to Elias Monroe.
The key to ending the curse.
The one who could kill the General.
And the Lady who created him.
The Search Begins
Jon’s desk was buried beneath a wall of evidence. He flipped open Civil War rosters, Monroe’s war journals, land records.
He traced every family that had lived in Cold Hollow since the 1800s—hunting for anything that would hint at Monroe’s bloodline continuing after his unholy pact.
Then he found it.
A marriage license. 1882.
Elias Monroe Jr. — listed under a different surname: “Elias Crow.”
Jon whispered, “He changed his name…”
The bloodline survived. Hidden in plain sight.
Crow.
Jon scrambled through the town archives. CROW. He’d heard that name before—
His fingers stopped on a birth certificate tucked in an old manila folder, yellowed and crumbling.
Rebecca Crow, born 1971. Mother: Miriam Crow. Father: Unknown.
Jon froze.
His breath caught in his throat.
His hands trembled.
Rebecca Carter.
His wife.
The Truth Burns
Jon stumbled backward, heart hammering in his chest. No. No. It couldn’t be.
But it was there—staring back at him in black and white.
His wife, the woman he’d loved for a decade, the mother of his stillborn child, had Monroe’s blood in her veins.
She had never told him.
But maybe… maybe she didn’t know.
He burst through the front door into the storm, snow whipping at his face, the wind howling like it knew what he’d just learned.
Home
The house was quiet.
Too quiet.
“Rebecca?” Jon called out, voice raw.
She was standing by the fireplace, dressed in a thick sweater, her eyes glistening with something more than just tears.
“I know why you’re here,” she said softly.
Jon stopped cold. “You knew?”
She nodded, slowly. “I always knew.”
He stared at her, rage and heartbreak colliding in his chest. “You’re his blood. Monroe’s descendant.”
“I never chose this,” she said, tears streaming down her face. “But I knew… the day would come.”
Jon’s voice was a whisper. “You’ve been waiting for her.”
Rebecca looked away. “We all wait, in our own way.”
The Final Choice
Jon drew his revolver.
He didn’t want to. God, he didn’t want to.
But the voice from the vision echoed in his skull like a sacred curse.
“Only blood can break the curse. His blood. The first blood.”
Her blood.
Rebecca stepped toward him. “Do it.”
“Stop,” Jon whispered, his gun hand shaking violently. “Don’t make me—”
“You have to. You want to save this town? Save the children? Save yourself?”
He dropped to his knees. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I wanted one life, Jon. Just one… where I was free. Where I wasn’t a weapon.”
Tears ran down his cheeks. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
A pause. The world held its breath.
“Do it, Jon,” she whispered. “Before she comes for me. Before it’s too late.”
Jon rose to his feet, hollow. Broken.
He looked her in the eyes one last time. “I’m sorry.”
Rebecca smiled through the tears. “No. Thank you.”
The sound of the gunshot echoed through Cold Hollow like thunder.
The snow stopped falling.
The trees fell still.
And far away, in the cave of shadows, the Lady in Black screamed.
To be continued…
Stay tuned every week for a new episode.
If you enjoy Horror Stories in Episodes, don’t miss the finished episodic series of the Lake Lady.
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