she fought hell and she won

The large kitchen was covered in flour and various ingredients. The spilled flour was Mal’s fault for keeping it in reach and Eden’s for sticking her hand in and throwing it with a mischevious grin on her face. now, Mal grinned at Rafi and held up the vanilla, wrinkling her brow. “I can’t decide. How brave do we feel with this little experiment?”

Mallory was one of the weirdest people he knew, but in a way that was much preferable to the other weird people that Luke had in his life. He was content to let her talk, jumping in with nods and small comments as necessary, and it was only when he finally opened his mouth to speak that he heard the commotion on the rink. The girl rising in the air, the weird echo to her words. Nothing important, nothing unusual for Lethe, even as his grip tightened on Mallory’s hand and his eyes flickered to the figures. They moved across the ice, not solid, not real, not until they crossed the threshold of the rink and their features sharpened. A man stood in front of Mallory, and her words cut off abruptly. Almost. The figure reached a hand out, as if to touch her cheek, and Luke yanked her back several steps out of its reach. “This is your dad?” he asked, narrow-eyed, and then caught sight of a familiar figure over the man’s shoulders. Someone who was most certainly dead, given Luke had killed him several weeks ago. A traitor, or so his mother had told him. “Fuck. Your dad is dead, too, isn’t he?” he murmured, and his grip tightened on Mallory’s. “Mal, we can’t stay here.” The figure of her father was still staring at her, expression icy, and Luke gave her a tiny shake. “Hey, that isn’t your dad.” Or, maybe it was, but Luke didn’t know and didn’t care. “And if he is, he isn’t real. He can’t hurt us.” Or, so he thought, until her father reached out and touched someone running by them. The person froze in place, eyes wild, and then they collapsed into a heap on the ground, whimpering, and Mallory’s father looked… a little more solid. A little less like a shitty ghost on a shitty television show. “Fuck.”

Mal nodded, the movement shaky and unnerved. She slowly followed Luke’s gaze to a stranger and then back to her father. “Y-yeah, no, let’s go.” She looked back up at Luke, her own eyes wild and frightened as she tried to pull herself together. Where was Eden? Had she made it to bed? God she hoped so. She didn’t want her dad, or whatever that was if Luke was right, anywhere near her. “Okay,” she whispered, trying to believe him, trying to get her brain to not feel threatened. But her fight or flight was kicking in, the PTSD was triggered and she could feel her muscles tightening. The feeling only got worse when she saw him grab someone, watched them fall, watched him seem to be strengthened. “Luke,” she whispered. “Oh my god, Luke, we need to go. He is a- He’s a really bad guy, Luke.” How do you fight a ghost? she wanted to ask.

Violet had a fairly good work day, despite dropping a cup behind the counter and breaking it. She apologized, cleaning up the mess and offered to pay for it. She knew it was her own nerves getting to her again, but she had come a long way since moving to town. “ Oh? Thank you” She replied after cleaning up one of the tables. Her nerves got to her again when she was asked to take a seat. Considering her past, the witch only expected the worst. However when she sat down, a sense of surprise hit her when it came to the topic. “ Oh God, I thought this was something bad” She replied giving an awkward smile. “ No I’m happy here. I just get nervous in public sometimes and make mistakes, but I swear I’m happy. It’s been nice to have somewhere where I can be useful”

Mal shook her head, giving a small chuckle. “No, not bad at all. You’re a big help around here.” She smiled softly at the younger girl and said gently, “You’re not making any mistakes that are even notable. I make mistakes and Vik and I started this place. I’m glad you’re happy here though. You know if you ever need anything or want to talk, I’m here. I know moves can be a lot to handle but you always seem so happy and willing to help and it’s definitely noted.”

@lukyan-sokolov​ Mallory isn’t much shorter than him, and the hug she hits him with is unexpected enough that he takes a large step back, arms sliding around her waist. “Whoa there, you act like I didn’t see you recently. Didn’t I drop off a Christmas gift for Eden like… a couple days ago? Or is it still sitting in my living room?” He asked aloud, thoughtfully, setting her back on her feet. “Can’t remember now.” It had taken ages to find an appropriate gift for her, and several conversations with Emira before they found something. Luke shrugged, knowing his experience with kids was severely limited, but like most things, he knew how to guess until he made it. “Little excited for the festival, are you? Is this your first one? Feel like you and Vik have been here ages, but I guess not. C'mon, I’m hungry, you don’t need anymore sugar, but I want a churro.” Better to talk about casual things. He had been avoiding the conversation about their time sparring for a while now, and he was content to keep following that track, even if he would have to face it sometime. After all, Vik and Mal hadn’t quite accepted his reasons for vanishing off the face of Lethe during the situation with Katia. His head tilted her way as they walked. “Where have you been? For once, I’m not the absent one,” he joked.

Mal laughed and shook her head. “We have been here almost two years now,” she said. “Honestly, I just got really excited with my kid, had a bunch of sugar, and now I’m still really excited.” she tossed an arm around his shoulders as she walked with him. “I’ve been working and helping Rod with the animals. We also got a new employee a couple months ago so I’ve been trying to make sure she’s comfortable cuz she’s a great employee. But you’re right, for once is entirely an accurate statement.”

Walking around the rink, she froze as soon as the voice hit. She wanted to ask if that was Fiona, even though she already knew, but found her voice was frozen in her throat. Then she was on the ground and the figures spread out. Mal reached for Luke’s hand, squeezing it firmly.  “Luke, what the fu-” Her voice caught in her throat as a figure appeared in front of her, her heart dropping right into her stomach. It was the figure that still haunted the worst of her dreams, the one that had made her afraid for her daughter’s life so many times. “Oh my god, Dad?” 

Mal flipped the open sign to closed and let out a small sigh as she stretched. “Alright, thank you, Violet, that was a good day.” Since they had first come to Lethe, almost two years ago, they had come a long way. Now they even had employees, which had seemed like a huge step at first. She looked at the younger girl with a small smile. “Hey, will you sit with me for a minute? Nothing bad, I just.. I just want to make sure you’re happy here. We’d really hate to lose you.” She slowly moved to an empty table and sat down. There was still cleaning to do, but she figured she could take care of it and let Violet go home if she needed to. “You’re a great employee and you’re really nice to have around too.”

The moment she spotted Luke, Mal let out a squeal and raced to her friend, leaping up onto him as she hugged him, her legs entirely leaving the ground. “Luke! Lukyan, my dear, how are you?” She knew she was chirpy today; she had had two sundaes with Eden so she knew the young girl must be bouncing off the walls herself. Rod hadn’t seemed too worried when the four of them had gotten ice cream together, and now he and Nolyn had Eden for a bit while Mal had gone to find Vik or Luke. “Happy event!” She let go and bounced a step back. “I might be a little hyper, which as a grown-ass woman, feels a little weird to say out loud.”

That was how she had ended up with a used, beautiful Karaoke machine that she was fixing up. She had just been testing it out in her garage of the house she shared with Vik and Luke when she heard something outside and looked out the open door with a grin. She set down the microphone and jogged over. “Good afternoon, may I help you?”

“How old’s your kid?” Charlie asked more out of obligation than curiosity. While she knew she was capable of love, she never saw herself as being a mother. “Greyson is a lamia, and it’s a pleasure to meet you as well Mal. Short for… Maleficent? Only kidding.” God she was glad she didn’t have a kid. That movie looked awful. “Why yes I am. I taught at M.I.T and am just finishing up a project in Pittsburgh. It’ll be completed in about four years, I think they projected. Enough about me. Tell me about your beau and the stick figures. You didn’t come to town with him? Or her, sorry to presume. You know how it is.” 

“She’s six,” Mal answered with a smile. It was still dizzying to be able to talk about her, to not keep her buried inside with her grief. “Mallory,” she said with a laugh. “I wish it was as cool as Maleficent.” She smiled at the woman, her expression shifting with the new information a little. M.I.T. That was fascinating. Maybe because for most of her life Mal had been holed up in one small town after another, even if she was able to travel now. “We were actually split until recently. Not for... Usual reasons. I was in a fucked up pack and... I got pregnant, and my boyfriend is a fae and it never would be accepted so I hid it and sent them both away when she was born. Honestly, I didn’t think I’d ever see them again until he walked into my cafe.”

Jack had to admit his experience with kids and what they liked was rusty. He had lost his sons over twenty years ago so essentially his window of knowledge was relatively small. However in this case Jack knew he could at least be somewhat helpful in the moment. “ I mean I’m a little rusty, but yeah this is something I can definitely help with. “ He replied giving a pretty confident smile. “ What do they like? Or what are they like”

Mal smiled gratefully at him. “She’s six- I think I said that I’m sorry. Uh, she likes animals a lot. Her uncle works with horses so she lives on a whole farm with a bunch of cats and dogs. She... Honestly I only just got back in her life,” she added with a smile lined with sadness. Sadness that she had missed so much time. “She’s a really sweet kid though.”

I don’t want you to die. Well, he can count the number of people who want that on one hand with some leftover and its the reason he humors her, that shuffles back into position to take her next punch with only a slight attempt at dodging it. It doesn’t land, but its close. Luke thinks trying to keep him alive is a fruitless endeavor, not when it seems like a thousand odds are against him. “I’m not porcelain, no, but maybe glass. I have glass legs and paper skin, Mallory, and you’re bruising it,” he replies with a half-smile. Luke nods, relieved, not wanting to put someone else on his To Beat Up When He Has Free Time list. “So you have him your daughter to keep her safe. Takes a lot of strength to do that, not a lot of mothers give two fucks about what happens to their blood.” His doesn’t and it makes him like Mallory a little more to know that she isn’t like her. Not that is any possibility, his mother is a league in her own. Luke’s so caught up thinking it that he ducks under her next punch, one hand sweeping out to fling her fist away and the other reaching out to tap against her jaw. Not a punch in the traditional sense, but a pulled punch is still a punch. He draws back several steps, a frown on his face, and he brushes over the mistake with a question. “So are you going to see her again? She’s here and there’s no pack to hold you back.”

Mallory watched him for a moment before wetting her lips and nodding. “Yeah,” she said quietly. “It took a lot to do it. It broke my heart every day, but I couldn’t let on so I learned to hide it. But, god, I felt like I was dying every day.” Even in Lethe. She paused, startled, as shw realized that he just moved quickly, trained. He knew what he was doing. “Luke, oh my god, do you know how to fight? Dude, if you can fight, what the hell are we doing?” she asked, half amused. All she had wanted was to know that he was prepared to defend himself, that he was able if necessary. If he could do that they could stop right now, but why lie to her about it? “But no yeah. I’m gonna keep seeing her. I’m... I’m actually involved with her dad again too. It never ended out of lack of love, just... It really was the only way I could keep them both safe. But I’d like you and Vik to meet them.”

“Anything I could do to make it faster, or do you only trust me with, well, one thing?” he chuckled against her skin, finally pulling away to look up at her. “I um, may have split a chicken breast with Rod. I mean, it was a dud, and I wanted a taste, and his fork was already in it and you know how us brothers can be–” he cut himself off, smiling at her. “I’m not in trouble, am I?” he asked innocently, batting his big blue eyes. Nolyn hopped off the table and pointed to one section of tables and chairs. “Can I do these?” he asked. 

Mal laughed. “Baby, I eat at work all the time. I don’t care if you eat before I get home.” She pressed a kiss to his cheek before glancing at him and handing him her rag before going to grab another one. “Sure baby. Thank you.” The truth was this part of the job was almost muscle memory. She’d done this as a teacher as well, at the end of each day. “How was your day? How was Eden?” She could never get tired of listening to things about Eden, about her day and her everyday things. Things some people might find repetitive or boring. But she had never been able to be a part of them before.

It wasn’t surprising to hear, even when Mallory was joking with her, Viktoria knew that she was a stubborn person. When she believed something, she was loyal to it and stuck with it. When Viktoria put her mind to something, nothing was ever going to get her to change her mind. There were some things from her past she wasn’t proud of, thing she stuck through and saw to the end for her pack when she had gone through a disillusioned stage. “Me, stubborn? Why I never!” She gasped in false mockery and pushed back the dark memories that wanted to haunt her. She wouldn’t let them, not when she was enjoying herself with Mallory. “Why should you even have healthy options? We’d have a lot more customers if all we served was dessert and burgers and fries and alcohol.” She smiled at Mallory. But all at once her mood changed and Viktoria was now on the edge waiting to see what caused this sudden change in Mallory. She seemed nervous, and even Viktoria could smell the waves of nerves coming off of her friend. It was a lot to take in as Mallory started to ramble, but Viktoria kept telling herself she wouldn’t react until Mallory had finished and said exactly what she needed to say. She would hear her friend out to the end. “What happened?” She prompted, sensing that Mallory was starting to stall, to let the nerves get the best of her without finishing. Though the ex was news to her and was already rattling around her mind, she sensed there was something more. 

Mal pressed her lips together and closed her eyes, trying hard to remember how to breathe. “I fell in love with him. His name’s Nolyn Barrett. And... I got pregnant. I carried out the pregnancy, mostly staying at his place and avoiding my parents. I managed to keep it secret. And... I had the baby. And I sent her away with him, for her safety. I knew my parents would kill them both if they knew.” Her voice was cracking nearly on every word, bringing her to finally stop speaking and cover her mouth for a moment as she stubbornly blinked away the tears. Vik was one of the few people she could cry in front of, but she was still hesitant to do so in public. “Her name is Eden and she’s six. And... I finally get to be her mom. It’s... It’s amazing and I can’t wait for you to meet them both. I just- I know I should have said something but I tried so hard not to think about it, you know? It was too hard. Every day I felt like my heart was being ripped out without her. And when we had to run away, I had to leave all the pictures, my phone... Any way of contacting them. She was sick and I didn’t even know if she was alive until now.”

The thing was that she had no idea what to get a six-year-old. With the money in her pocket from her bet with Emira, Mal walked into TriBeCa, a shop that she was pretty sure was new? Or at least remodeled. “Hi,” she said politely to the man working. “Is there any chance you can help me pick something for a six-year-old? I’m a bit out of my range of experience.” Boy wasn’t that the truth. She had never thought she’d see her baby girl again, and had figured that if she did manage it, Eden would be an adult. She was, of course, thrilled to gain the extra years but had hardly allowed herself to think about it being a possibility through time.

“Oh?” Now Emira was intrigued. There was more to charger girl than she thinks. “A daughter? That’s so fucking…adorable! Congratulations!” When it came to children, the vampire held a neutral stance on them. Most times she can’t stand them, but others tend to make her realize that they’re not always little demons running around. “How old is she?” She then waved off the bet, but still handed over a few bills to Mallory. Consider it her daily act of kindness—she tries to do one good deed a day to blend with the locals. So far, she hasn’t been consistent, but in her defence, many of these people don’t deserve her kindness. “Fair enough Mal, I’ll let it slide. Since you have a little kiddo, go buy her some candy or toys. Personally, I’d buy them an iPad, but that’s just me.”

Mal laughed lightly and smiled at the other woman beside her. “Thank you. I’m really happy, she’s amazing. I’m so lucky that I found her again.” She had to work not to let herself think too much about it or else she’d get emotional again. “She’s six now,” she said. She chuckled a little as she took the bills. “Thanks, Emira. I’ll talk to her dad and figure out what to do. Her uncle spoils her with everything under the sun so it gets complicated trying to think of things.”

@mallorycastella

Rafi bent down to pick up one of the kittens nipping at his feet. The property was a big one and he didn’t know where to park in that giant driveway. Goddamn, like a fucking parking lot almost. The door opened and it was a bearded man, grinning and saying something along the lines of ‘You must be Rafi.’ He came in to give him a one-armed hug and Rafi froze in place, surprised and delighted. 

The man pulled a blonde-haired girl out the door, about waist-high, and she waved bye to Rafael and Mal, who was coming to the door. “That’s a very pretty family,” he said quietly, then turned back to her and smiled. “Pictures didn’t do that dude justice, Mal. Wow. Oh, are cats allowed in the house? I dunno if I can put this little boy down, he’s so adorable.” 

Mal grinned after Nolyn and Eden as they went outside, waving after them lightly before turning her attention to her friend. “Thanks, Rafi,” she told him warmly. She gave a small laugh at his words, throwing an arm around his shoulders. “I know right? He’s something else.” In every way that there is, she thought to herself as she watched him with their daughter. She let go of Rafi and looked at the cat with a grin. “No worries, they come inside all the time. There’s dogs too. It’s a zoo.” And it was fantastic.