The shouting had been impossible to ignore. Jack crept through the darkened halls of the estate, his bare feet silent on the polished wood. The door to the study was ajar, and from within, his adoptive parents’ voices rang out—his father’s sharp and furious, his mother’s cold and venomous.


    “You’re insufferably blind, Bryan!” Mrs. Blackwood hissed. “You’ve coddled those children into weakness.”


    “Coddled?” Mr. Blackwood’s voice thundered. “I taught them to survive! Everything I have done—everything—has been to ensure they could protect themselves. You wouldn’t know, Audrey. You’ve been too busy hiding behind your phantoms to bother with them!”


    “I was protecting this household!” she shot back, her voice razor-sharp. “While you wasted their potential with your pathetic lessons on blending in, I prepared for something greater—something beyond your comprehension.”


    “You prepared nothing!” Mr. Blackwood spat. “You abandoned them! I taught Jack and Jackelin how to harness their glamour, how to live among humans without fear. Where were you when they needed guidance, Audrey? Where were you when they needed a mother?”


    “I was preparing them for power,” she said coldly. “Power you were too weak to understand. And tonight, I will show you why you were never fit to lead them.”


    Jack’s breath caught as he peered through the crack in the door. His father stood tall, his fists clenched at his sides, while his mother stood with a terrifying calm, her hands clasped in front of her.


    “Power?” Mr. Blackwood sneered. “Is that what you call it? Your obsession with the dead? Your neglect? You’ll ruin them, Audrey, and you’ll destroy yourself in the process.”


    “No,” she replied, a faint smile curving her lips. “I will elevate them. Watch, Bryan.”


    She raised a hand, and the temperature in the room plummeted. The gaslights flickered, and an unnatural chill settled over the space. Jack pressed himself closer to the door, his heart pounding as a shimmering form began to materialise behind her.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    The phantom took shape—a tall, spectral figure with hollow eyes that burned faintly with a sickly light. Mr. Blackwood froze, his face twisting in shock.


    “What… what is this?” he demanded, his voice faltering.


    “This,” Mrs. Blackwood said, gesturing to the phantom, “is the power I will teach Jack and Jackelin to wield. This is their legacy.”


    “They are Ringers, Audrey,” Mr. Blackwood said, his voice rising in fury. “They don’t need this madness. They need guidance. You’ll destroy them—”


    “You’ve made them weak,” she interrupted coldly. “But I will make them unstoppable.” She turned to the phantom. “Show him.”


    The phantom moved forward, its spectral hand outstretched. Mr. Blackwood stumbled back, his face pale but defiant.


    “You will never control them,” he said, his voice trembling with fury. “Not as long as I live!”


    “Then,” Mrs. Blackwood said softly, her voice dripping with finality, “you will not live long.”


    She gestured sharply, and the phantom lunged.


    “Stop!” Jack burst into the room, his voice breaking through the tension.


    The phantom froze, its hollow eyes turning toward Jack. Mrs. Blackwood glanced back at him, startled but quickly recovering.


    “Jack,” she said gently. “This is not something you should see—”


    “You’re killing him!” Jack shouted, his wide eyes darting between his parents.


    “No,” she said calmly, though her expression betrayed her irritation. “I am freeing you from his weakness.”


    Mr. Blackwood fell to his knees, clutching his chest as his breathing grew laboured. Jack hesitated, torn between stepping forward and running.


    “Jack,” his father rasped, his voice weak but determined. “Don’t… let her… win.”


    Jack’s hands trembled as he looked at Mrs. Blackwood, her face serene, her eyes cold.


    “Don’t listen to him,” she said softly. “He wanted to keep you small, Jack. I want to make you powerful.”


    Jack’s hesitation lingered for a moment too long. The phantom struck again, and Mr. Blackwood crumpled to the floor, lifeless.


    The silence that followed was deafening. Jack stared at his father’s body, his own chest tight with something he couldn’t name.


    Mrs. Blackwood stepped closer, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You see now,” she murmured. “His world was too small for you, Jack. But I will teach you to rise above it. You and Jackelin can be so much more.”


    Jack’s jaw tightened, his emotions warring within him. His father’s voice echoed in his mind, but so did the allure of his mother’s promise. Power. Control.


    He nodded slowly, his voice barely audible. “Teach me.”


    Mrs. Blackwood smiled, triumphant. “Good boy.”


    Jack opened his eyes, staring into the fire as the memory faded. His hands clenched the locket tightly. He told himself he had chosen the only path he could, that his father’s lessons had been noble but inadequate.


    But deep down, he knew the truth. He hadn’t just been pulled into his mother’s orbit—he had wanted the power she offered.


    For better or worse, he had chosen his mother’s path. And there was no turning back.