Chapter 7 — The Blood Son
They walked further into the endless halls of the estate, their footsteps faint against the marble floor. Kevin couldn't bring himself to speak yet — his mind still tangled in the strange story she'd told him about Eden, Lilith, and the mark of Cain.
Finally, she broke the silence.
"Kevin," she said softly.
He glanced at her warily.
"Did your mother…" she began carefully, "ever tell you about your father?"
Kevin frowned faintly, confused by the question. "…Not really. She never talked about him much. Only… only once. When I was little, I asked her if he was still alive."
He swallowed the sudden lump in his throat, staring down at his hands.
"She said… she said he was the greatest man she'd ever met. But I never saw him. Never even heard his name."
Something strange flickered across her face then — not quite a smile, not quite sorrow.
"'The greatest man she'd ever met,'" she repeated quietly. "Yes… that does sound like something she'd say."
Kevin felt a faint chill crawl up his spine at the way she said it — almost fondly.
She glanced sideways at him, her lips curving into a knowing little chuckle.
"Oh, indeed," she murmured. "Your father was amazing."
Her words unsettled him more than they should have, but before he could press her on what she meant, she seemed to change course entirely.
"Tell me, Kevin," she said instead, almost casually. "Do you know who Cain's wife was in the Bible?"
Kevin blinked, caught off guard by the sudden question. "…No. The Bible never mentioned her. I always thought it was just one of his sisters or something."
Her lips quirked into a faint, cold smile.
"That's because," she said softly, "God never named her. Out of mercy, He gave Cain a woman who cared for him despite his curse. A woman who… chose him. She followed him when no one else would."
Kevin stared at her, his pulse quickening.
"But Cain," she continued, "couldn't have children — not truly. The mark twisted his blood. The woman married him to others so she could have children through them, trying desperately to keep him from despair. But… she herself became infected by his mark. Twisted by it. And in the end…"
Her voice trailed off, her eyes distant.
"…they wandered the earth together. Alone. Watching centuries pass. Watching everyone else build their lives while their own hopes for an heir turned to dust."
She stopped walking, and Kevin found himself stopping too. Her green eyes fixed on him now — sharp, glinting with something he couldn't name.
He swallowed hard. "…Why are you telling me this?"
Her silence stretched. Then, she finally exhaled, a faint, sad smile tugging at her lips.
"Because you deserve to know," she said softly.
Kevin stared at her, a faint ringing in his ears as unease curdled in his stomach.
"…Know what?" he managed, his voice barely above a whisper.
She stepped closer, so close he could feel the faint warmth of her breath. Her eyes bore into his with quiet intensity.
"That your father…" she said slowly, "…is Cain."
Kevin froze.
"…What?"
"You," she said gently, her voice almost tender now, "are the blood son of Cain. The heir he thought he would never have. The only child born of his mark, and his hope. His one mistake — and his one triumph."
Kevin's legs threatened to give out beneath him as her words sank in. His breath came quick and shallow, his chest tight with a cold, unfamiliar terror.
The stories she told… the mark of Cain… the mother of monsters…
And now, her final words ringing in his ears like a curse.
The blood son of Cain.
Kevin staggered back a step, shaking his head. "No. That's— that's insane. That's not… that's not possible."
But her eyes told him otherwise.
And somewhere deep down, in the quietest corner of himself… he already felt like she was telling the truth.