Dad was no longer Dad. And whether Mom was still Mom… I didn’t know either.
Everything had become mysterious and confusing.
Ever since Dad came back, Mom hadn’t appeared once in half a month, not even a single phone call could get through.
During these two weeks, Dad became extremely gluttonous and terrified of sunlight. He stayed inside the house all day and wouldn’t even step into the yard.
Not only that, his temper became completely unstable. As long as I did anything slightly displeasing, he would suddenly explode in rage. And afterward, he would try to comfort me, patting my head and calling me his sweet Evelyn.
I didn’t know what exactly had happened. All I knew was that every time he touched my head, I smell that foul stench and the stench was getting worse.
When I went back to read the diary again, I discovered that the warning Dad had written to me in blood was the final entry.
After that, there wasn’t a single word more. It was as if my real Dad vanished the moment he finished writing that sentence.
Gradually, my fear turned into numbness. I began to grow bolder.
I stopped hoping that Mom would return and uncover the truth, so I started searching online for legends about Pinehill.
Pinehill was a harsh and mysterious place, filled with strange phenomena that even some scientists had confirmed. In this merciless desert, countless explorers and scientists had lost their lives, yet it still attracted many who were determined to uncover its secrets.
I went through a lot of information, but most of it was similar, repeating those eerie legends. Nothing stood out as particularly useful.
Just as I was about to close the webpage, a message suddenly popped up at the top of my screen.
I clicked on it and saw that the person sending me a message was named “Mysterious Pinehill.”
The message shocked me to the core.
[Did your dead father come home?]
I was stunned for a moment and that person immediately sent me another message.
[I know your dead father came home. If you want to know why, come find me tomorrow!]
Then he sent me a location.
I checked it and it was the address of a small museum.
I saved the location, still hesitating whether I should go.
Just then, I heard a cheer from the living room.
It was Dad’s voice, excited and loud.
"Evelyn, come downstairs quickly, Mom is back!"
I rushed down without stopping and sure enough, Mom had returned.
But her expression was strange and her smile seemed very forced. Her appearance bore the marks of hardship. She was much tanner, her skin dry and shriveled, like she had come back from a drought-stricken land.
Even with makeup, she couldn’t hide the abnormality.
If even I could notice it, Dad definitely could too.
But he didn’t seem to care at all. Instead, he was overjoyed, warmly welcoming Mom and saying he’d cook us a nice dinner so we could reunite as a family.
While Dad was in the kitchen, Mom quietly slipped into my room. She handed me a small packet of ash-gray powder and told me to mix it into Dad’s food or drink later to make sure he ingested it.
I was confused and didn’t know what that powder actually was.
But Mom kept urging me, “Remember this, Evelyn, only you can give it to him. That man is not your real dad. I’m sure you’ve already noticed! He’s been back for half a month. If you don’t give it to him soon, he’ll never leave again!”
I didn’t know who to believe anymore. I could only keep asking Mom over and over again.
“Mom, what is this powder? Will it kill him?”
Mom mysteriously shook her head and smiled.
“It won’t, Evelyn, don’t worry. This thing won’t harm a real human. But if it’s not a human who takes it… then its true form will be revealed! Trust me, Evelyn, trust me! You’ll know the truth tonight!”
Under Mom’s persuasion, I mixed the powder into Dad’s food and drink.
Dad didn’t notice anything. He ate and drank it all.
By 9 p.m., something was clearly wrong.
His face was growing darker and he was becoming more and more agitated, constantly yelling for water.
“Water, water! Give me water!”
I handed him bottle after bottle, but nothing satisfied him. At last, he ordered me to fill an entire bathtub and plunged into it headfirst.
Afraid something might happen, I went to check on him. But the scene I saw through the crack in the door left me frozen in shock.
