Mag-log inPierce's footsteps echoed on the stairs, each one heavier than the last. Rosa watched him disappear around the corner, her heart still racing. "Mommy, your eyes are pretty again," Elena whispered, touching Rosa's cheek with small fingers. Rosa smiled "Are they, baby?" "They're not scary anymore. They're like chocolate." Rosa pulled her daughter closer, pressing kisses to her forehead. She was so brave. So strong. And she had to see everything. "Elena, I need you to know something." Rosa tilted her daughter's chin up. "What you saw tonight that wasn't really Mommy. Do you understand? It was someone else" Elena nodded slowly. "The bad man was inside you." "Yes. But I'm back now. I promise I'll never let him take me again." "You stabbed yourself, Elena said as she looked at the bleeding scar in her stomach. "You were bleeding so much." How do I explain this to a six-year-old? How do I make her understand without giving her nightmares for years? "Sometimes we have to do hard th
Rosa's legs trembled as she stumbled through the empty streets, Elena clutched tight against her chest. Every step sent sharp pain through her body, the wound in her chest burning like fire, but she couldn't stop. Wouldn't stop. "Mommy, you're bleeding," Elena whispered, her small hands pressed against Rosa's shoulder. "I know, baby. I know." Rosa's voice cracked. "Just hold on to me, okay? Don't let go." "I won't. I promise." The streets blurred around them. Rosa's heart raced “ Pierce. I have to get to Pierce. Please, God, let him be alive. Please.” Her slippers had fallen off somewhere behind them, and the cold ground bit into her bare feet. She didn't care. All that mattered was getting home, getting Elena to safety, getting to her husband. “What have I done? What did Kelvin make me do?” She wondered her heart raced with so many possibilities and memories. The memories were fractured, like looking through shattered glass. Pierce's face, twisted in pain. Her own hands s
The night swallowed them both. Elena’s screams faded into the darkness until the house was silent, too silent. Outside, Rosa walked through the empty streets, coldly licking her skin, her slippers making a sound as they slapped the surface of the earth. She clung to Elena as the baby tried her best to move."Let me go! Mommy, please!” she cried. Silence. Only Kelvin’s steady. The street was empty. Wind hissed around her. Rosa didn’t stop, it was as if she was obeying the call of a spirit. Like they were waiting for her and she had to hurry. All Elena's cries fell on deaf ears. She walked until she got to the outskirts of the town She stopped at a tall, dark, covered house. The abandoned house. The wooden door creaked open before she touched it. They were waiting. Whoever was controlling her was waiting for her to meet them. To sacrifice her own child to them. While her husband lay on the ground back at the house, almost dying. Inside, the air smelled dusty, cold, alive
Pierce's vision narrowed to a blurred view. His fingers clawed uselessly at Rosa's wrists, not the witch's, and that was the cruelty of it. The face he'd loved and who he was so sure loved him tightened her grip around him ready to kill him She's still in there. Rosa's still in there. He tried to convince himself. His lungs screamed for air. The world tilted sideways. "Daddy!" Elena's voice cut through the room as she ran down. Rosa's grip tightened. Pierce felt something crack in his throat. His legs gave out. "MOMMY, STOP!" Elena shouted, and tears rolled down her face. Her voice filled with terror. "Please! Please don't hurt Daddy! What's wrong with you? Why are you doing this?" For a fraction of a second, Rosa's fingers loosened. Just barely. Just enough for Pierce to drag in a wheezing breath. *She heard her. Elena got through. "Mommy, it's me! It's Elena!" The little girl was sobbing now, the pendant clutched in both hands. "Please come back! I need you! I need my mommy
Pierce didn't hesitate. He rushed forward, scooping Elena into his arms just as Rosa's body fell violently on the floor. "Daddy!" Elena shrieked, reaching for what looked like her mother. "That's not Mommy right now, baby," Pierce said, his voice steady despite the terror clawing at his chest. He backed toward the door, and Elena clutched tight against him. "Abel Thomas! Get up NOW!" In the hallway, confusion erupted. Matthew stumbled out of his room, rubbing his eyes. " Pierce? What's—" "No questions. Downstairs. Move!" Pierce's voice carried the kind of authority that echoed around the hallway. Abel appeared at the doorway. He looked across the floor, “Rosa,” he tried to reach, “Stop, that is not your Roa right now. I'll explain later. GO!" Behind them, Rosa's body rose from the floor with a smile on her face. Her voice echoes around the hallway. "The children must come with their mother. The blood moon demands it." Pierce shoved the kids toward the stairs. "Run. Get
The reflection in the mirror showed Kelvin's sharp jawline, his broad shoulders, his calloused hands gripping the mirror's edge. Rosa's scream came out in his deep baritone voice. The woman holding the mirror smiled. She was ancient, she had black skin that could melt with the night, "You're in the in-between, dear child. The space where souls wait while their vessels are borrowed." Rosa stumbled backward, Kelvin's larger frame unsteady under her unfamiliar control. The room around her wasn't really a room at all. Shadows pressed in from every direction, occasionally flickering. Her mind immediately flew to her children "Where are my children?" Rosa asked, but her voice came out deep like nothing had happened. "What have you done to my babies?" The old woman set the mirror down on a table with a smile on her face. A dark smile. "Your children are precisely where you left them. Safe in their beds. For now." She circled Rosa slowly, her bare feet making a wet sound on the ston







