Marrissa opened her eyes to an explosion of pain. She coughed out the blood pooling in her chest as she lay on the cold ground. All she could make of her surroundings was a dark gray mist all around. To her left, Buddy laid on the ground with his back towards her, breathing heavily. She surmised they were still within the pocket, but due to his condition, they were unable to connect to another pocket allowing them to exit to safety. They were trapped. Tabitha knelt at her side, with her head buried in Marrissa’s arms.
“Tabitha,” Marrissa weakly said.
“Mommy, you’re bleeding,” Tabitha said through her tears.
“Tabitha, listen to me. I want you to go. There is a place that I found for you that is so beautiful you won’t believe your eyes. I want you to go there and live your life. Go there and grow up to be the beautiful and powerful woman you were meant to become.
Mommy, I can’t leave you!” Tabitha cried.
“Tabitha,” Marrisa said, “Listen to me. We don’t have much time. I want you to leave this place. Leave this place at once, and if anyone gets in your way, I want you to kill them. Do you understand me? I want you to kill them! You do whatever it takes for you to get someplace safe.”
Marrissa weakly reached up to touch her daughter’s face and said, “I want you to make them pay for what they did to us. Kill them all! Let go of your fear, baby. Let it go and make it so that they can never do this to another person ever again. You let them know who you are and what you can do. You send a message to Heaven and Hell that you are coming for them. Can you do that for me? Can you do that for mommy?”
Tabitha nodded through her tears. Marrissa took hold of Tabitha’s hand, and a red light illuminated the child’s skin. It ran down her forearm forming an intricate map tattooed on her inner arm.
Marrissa weakly said, “Here, take this. It will show you the way. You will be safe there. I promise.”
Tabitha continued to weep, “Mommy, I won’t leave you!”
Marrissa looked into her daughter’s eyes one last time and said, “Oh Tabitha, I… love… y…”
With that, Marrissa, daughter of Evelyn, witch to the Coven of the Eastern tribe closed her eyes and felt no more pain.