Maiden of Night, Knight in the Dark

[MykaDreams]

Malena O'Neil

'Run away, far away, leave me behind, no hope for the cold world'

It was warm and bright. When Malena opened her eyes, she found that she was standing in a large field. The soft grass tickled her bare feet, which made her look down at herself. She was wearing a simple white dress with thin straps over her shoulders - it felt very similar to the one she had worn the day after her first shift. Was this the afterlife? She hugged her arms to herself and bit at her lip. Shouldn't she feel content or happy? She had died to bring Carter back and Tyr was there to keep him safe, or so she hoped he was. No, she was not ready. She wanted to be sure that the spell had worked. Too late for second guessing though.

"You're not suppose to be here." A voice spoke up from behind her, although no one was there when she turned to look. The voice echoed for a few moments before speaking again, but louder. Her chest burned where the witch had stabbed her. "Leave, now. You can't be here."

Before Malena could argue, the ground opened up under her and she fell into darkness. It was suffocating and she couldn't breathe. There were voices though, somewhere. She couldn't make out what was being said though. The pain in her chest grew then and she would have screamed, but she could not make a sound.

The morning was nearly over before she stirred. A quick gasp for air which was followed by a state of panic as she gripped at her chest. The wound was closed and healed though, leaving only a scar and dried blood behind. She sat up, breathing deeply and nearly failed to notice that she could see. The light coming through the windows made her squint before she looked around. What was going on? For a moment she feared that she had come back as a ghost, but everything felt real enough. Then she worried that the spell had not worked. Would her death have been voided if the spell didn't work?

[Flygoedla]

xoxoxoTyr Erikson

Carter seemed to register what Tyr had told him, but eventually fell unconscious again. Tyr hadn't gotten sleep that night, and the bags under his eyes were proof. Having kept vigil over Carter, ensuring that he kept breathing. Just as Tyr was nodding off to sleep, he heard movement from the couch. Adrenaline rushed through his system as he jumped up and stared in the couch's direction. He nearly jumped out of his skin when Malena sat up. "What the hell!?" Tyr yelled, causing Carter to stir and cover his ears with a pained groan.

Tyr ran over to to Malena's side. "What, how? How is this even possible?" His jaw hung wide open in disbelief. He saw the wound had healed up through the torn fabric, leaving only a scar as proof. "Carter!" Tyr realized, leaving Malena and jumping over the couch with a graceful movement and headed to the dining table. Still the brunette was breathing, but his eyes shut tightly closed, and his hands over his ears. His body needed to readjust, and everything was sensory overstimulation. "Carter, let's get you upstairs to some quiet." Tyr suggested after getting his attention.

Carter nodded, still keeping his eyes shut. He sat up, primarily all with Tyr's help. Sliding his legs off over the side of the table, Tyr grabbed Carter's arm around his neck and over his shoulder. Tyr then placed his arm around Carter's waist to help support the man's weight. Very slowly, the pair made their way upstairs. Carter tried to help, but his legs drunkenly stepped, barely supporting any of his weight. By the time they got upstairs, Tyr helped him get changed into the clean clothes - and set him to bed.

Later on Tyr trotted down the stairs, holding the filthy burial clothes. Once arriving downstairs, he tossed them into the garbage can and headed over to Malena. "Hey. You look terrible" Tyr said with a smile.

[MykaDreams]

Malena O'Neil

'Run away, far away, leave me behind, no hope for the cold world'

Malena cracked her eyes open to look at Tyr, trying to fight the headache building. Sure she was shocked about being alive, but being able to see was another shocker. She heard Carter groan and looked over to the table. So it had worked? She tried to stand to go to him, but Tyr was faster. Before she knew it, Carter was upstairs and Tyr was throwing away the rotten clothes.

"You're looking pretty great yourself." She replied with a chuckle before she looked down at herself. The blood loss must have been the cause for her dizziness. Malena focused on her hands then, looking them over and rubbing her fingers together. "I'm not a ghost, am I?" Everything felt and seemed well enough. "How did the spell work if I'm still here?"

For a moment she worried about how Carter had seemed moments prior. Was he having trouble adjusting because she was obviously not dead? Malena chewed at the inside of her cheek and rubbed her knees as she stared up at Tyr. He looked worse than she did, or at least the bags under his eyes did. "You want to lay down? I can keep an eye on Carter so that you can rest." She played with the hem of her bloody shirt. "I might need to shower and change first though..."

She could smell her blood in her hair, along with traces of dirt and grime from the graveyard. The last thing Carter needed to see was someone covered in blood, dried or otherwise. Standing slowly, she tested her balance. It was not that bad, only a slight wobble to her stance. She gave Tyr a small smile, still not believing everything had really happened.

[Flygoedla]

xoxoxoCarter Owen Johnson

Tyr smirked when Malena dished back his insult. "Nope, not a ghost!" Tyr thought about her next question long and hard, but couldn't come up with anything that made sense. "It's probably that you cats have nine lives" he joked. Carter was having troubles because his brain was trying to process all the stimuli, when it's done nothing for the past two years. Slowly he would just have to re-learn things, and adjust to noise, light, sounds. Tyr sat down at the kitchen table. "I'd love to lie down. Do what you need to" He said lazily. The longer he stayed still , the heavier his eyelids got. By the time Malena had finished showering, Tyr had fallen asleep in the chair.

Carter was upstairs resting in the spare bedroom. He was too tall for the twin bed, so his legs hung over the edge. The shades were drawn closed, and the lights off. The sun shone enough to at least illuminate the room, but it wasn't overbearing. Barely sleeping, he felt feverish as if he'd had the flu. No position could get him comfortable. Instead he laid on the bed, staring at the cieling. Finally his eyes were adjusting to the dim sunlight in the room, and the noise didn't seem all that bad. Still though, he was running on fumes since he hadn't yet had something to eat.

'I'm still dead, aren't I?' he thought to himself, but he placed his hand over his chest and felt the heartbeat and frowned. It felt weird feeling a heartbeat, it felt foreign. "Hello?" Carter called out, his voice fading and crackly; he'd called out when he heard footsteps upstairs. He was thirsty, but Tyr hadn't left him with a glass of water.

xoxoxoTyr Erikson

[MykaDreams]

Malena O'Neil

'Run away, far away, leave me behind, no hope for the cold world'

Malena ventured down the stairs after she showered and changed, rubbing her hair down with a towel. She shook her head when she noticed Tyr asleep at the table. She grabbed a few things from the kitchen before patting Tyr's shoulder. "You should go lay down, use my bed if you want." Then she heard Carter upstairs. She left Tyr then, dashing up the stairs quickly before balancing the plate and bowl on her arm so she could open the door.

She tried to be as quiet as possible as she shut the door with her foot and moved to set the things down on the table beside the bed. "How are you feeling?" She spoke up softly as she slid a straw into the glass of water. It had been years since he had died, he had to be hungry. Malena sat on the side of the bed and gave him a small smile. At least the spell had done more than she had thought it would. He was only suppose to get out of purgatory, not be brought back to life. She was not complaining though. He was alive, that was all that mattered.

"I have some soup and water, you should get something on your stomach." Malena tried to help him sit up and adjusted the pillows behind him.

[Flygoedla]

xoxoxoCarter Owen Johnson

Carter gave Malena a fain smile as she entered the room, especially after seeing her carry a tray with what he hoped was food. "I've felt better." Carter gave her a sheepish grin, his voice still faint. "It feels weird, and it's difficult to adjust to. It's as if someone turned up the dial on the sound and lights." Carter tried to sit up as she helped him, but he only got in the way. Surrendering, he allowed Malena to help him sit up. Finally he was able to rest against a pile of pillows upright.

He tried to reach for the spoon, but ended up only knocking it out of the bowl - sending it flying, but it landed on the bed. Carter shut his eyes tightly as he scolded himself for being clumsy. Carefully he reached out and grabbed the spoon, dropping it back on the tray. Hot foods and clumsy hands weren't a good mix. He felt defeated with Malena began to spoon feed him, but his hurt pride was quickly disregarded as his taste buds came to life. Before Chicken Noodle soup would be taken for granted, but the warm salty broth soothed him. Carter teared up a bit, and he wiped his eyes quickly - embarrassed. "It's wonderful" He praised the canned soup. "I'm going to get fat now that I can eat again, aren't I?"

As he eagerly accepted the food spoonful by spoonful, he then realized. "Wait, how can you see me now that I'm alive?"

[MykaDreams]

Malena O'Neil

'Run away, far away, leave me behind, no hope for the cold world'

Malena did not comment when Carter flung the spoon, instead she gave him a small reassuring smile before she began to feed him. She had a feeling that it would take a while before his muscles were capable of doing much of anything. It felt nice helping him too, so she was far from complaining. When he commented on getting fat, she let out a small laugh and shook her head. "I don't think you will...unless you turn into a glutton." She raised her eyebrows at him before getting anotger spoonful. "You are already a glutton for punishment though...taking on two werewolves?" There was bravery and then there was borderline stupidity, but she held that comment back. Instead, she focused on feeding him.

Carter's next question made her pause and look around the room. Having sight was still a shock, but so was being alive. She bit her lip and wondered if Tyr had told Carter what all had happened. Coming back from death was the only thing that she could use as a decent guess as to why she could see. "What all did Tyr explain to you?" She asked, staring at the bowl as she stirred the soup. He didn't need to know the gory details, did he? She peeked at him and tried to gauge what his reaction might be. "I think it is a side effect from the spell." Malena made the statement casually and fed him more of the soup before offering him some of the water.

Part of her wanted to scold him for not crossing over when he had the chance, but she was happy to ser him alive as well. She did wonder if he would try to contact his family though. That was something that would either have a very good or very bad result. Would his family belive that he was back from the dead? Surely he could not tell them the truth, there was no way that they would believe him. His niece though, she would be happy to see him. Malena was sure of that.

[Flygoedla]

xoxoxoCarter Owen Johnson

Carter wrapped the blanket around himself while he smiled at her comment. "Before I used to eat a lot. I was like a Hobbit, first breakfast, second breakfast, brunch, elevensies." He joked but his face went serious after her comment. "Both times there wasn't any choice. Both times people I care for were in trouble, and I would do it again. Although not dying is preferable. It really hurts and sucks overall." His face cringed. "But purgatory..." Carter cut himself off, not wanting to think about that place. Never did he want to go there again. All of this conversation was between Malena helping him eat.

As she fed him, his energy level did go up a bit. "Who is Tyr?" He asked, cocking his eyebrows. His only experience with the werewolf was when they were fighting. The moments between him being resurrected and how he wound up on the bed were a complete blur. He probably would have freaked out knowing that the man who had been nursing him back to health was the same man who had put him in this issue. "Good side effect or bad side effect?" It was purely in Malena's point of view, she'd lived her whole life blind. It must have been a huge adjustment.

Carter was getting sleepy, his chin dropping every now and then before he jerked awake. Desperately he tried to stay awake, falling asleep felt too much like when he died - minus the pain. "Can you stay please?" Carter asked, reaching out for Malena's hand. For once, his hands were finally warm. "I'm nervous about falling asleep. I'm afraid I won't wake up again."

[MykaDreams]

Malena O'Neil

'Run away, far away, leave me behind, no hope for the cold world'

Malena laughed softly at his previous eating habits. He sounded just like a were, their bodies burned calories much faster and required them to eat more even moreso when they shifted. "I guess I will have to buy some healthy food, so you don't snack yourself into oblivion." She joked at him, but fell silent when he went on to explain himself. She looked him over with a sigh, her attempt at not smiling failed. "How about you let me take on the next crazy thing to walk through your door, even if I hope that nothing else ever does. I care about you and I don't want to see anything happen to you, not ever again." She looked up at him when he mentioned Purgatory, her eyes darkened slightly. "Yeah, well, you're not ever going back. I will make sure of that." She stated rather stubbornly.

"The guy downstairs? He's the one..." she trailed off and tried to determine the best way to handle things. "Tyr is a werewolf...more specifically, the mate of the one you fought and killed - and the same one that sent you to Purgatory." She winced at her own words, before she tried to soften them. "He helped bring you back, I think he felt guilty for what he had done. You have to understand, when we loose a mate...nothing else matters, life has no purpose. We basically become a shell until we die. Honestly, the flea bag isn't too bad - if you can get past the smell." Malena grinned at him, her eyes shining slightly from excitement at his question. "Good side effect, it will help me make sure you don't get yourself into any more trouble. I didn't get knifed for nothing." She joked the final bit, but hoped he wouldn't ask. Odds were, he would.

The spoon dropped onto the tray, when he took her hand. Staying with him was the least she could do. After setting the tray on the nightstand, she leaned her elbow on the bed and propped her chin in her hand. The other hand never let go of Carter's, her thumb rubbing his warm skin. "As if I would be anywhere else." She smiled at him, before removing some of the pillows to make him comfortable. Once he was situated, she smiled again and lraned against the bed. "I promise that you will wake up. Get some rest, you body needs it. Trust me." As if to prove that she was not going to leave, she crossed her arns over the side of the bed and rested her chin on them. "Sleep Carter, no worries, just sleep."

[Flygoedla]

xoxoxoCarter Owen Johnson

Carter couldn't help but feel betrayed when Malena explained that Tyr was downstairs in his house. He stared wildly at Malena until she explained further that Tyr had also helped bring him back. As he calmed down, he listened and tried to understand the pain a Were feels when they lose a mate. It all started with his brother in law, who fought dirty by enlisting the help of an unwitting Were. Carter would have never killed someone by will, but in the moment it was kill or be killed. Even still it wasn't a decision he liked, because he still died. His expression softened into a sleepy smile when Malena called him a fleabag. "So different kinds of Were's aren't friendly?" There was a lot he had to learn about the supernatural world that shared his own now. Carter chucked softly until he heard her mention being knifed, this caused some alarm - but something in her expression told him 'don't ask.'


It felt good to lay back down, he rested on his side facing her. The twin sized bed was crowded with his large body, it looked comical. Carter still tried to fight falling asleep, every few minutes he'd inhale sharply and open his eyes. Eventually he tired out and surrendered to sleep.

-

Over the next few days his strength came back, and he was mobile again. The first thing he did was take a long shower, get all that nasty grime off. With Tyr's help, his boxes of belongings had been moved down. Carter was too polite to admit it, but he wanted his old room back and the house felt too small with Tyr in it. However, Carter accepted that he had died - and it was Malena's name on the lease. She was the Queen of the house, and it was up to her what the arrangements were. Obediently, he unpacked his belongings in the spare bedroom that his niece once slept in. Carter kept changing clothes, primarily because he could. Two years he spent as a ghost, he'd been stuck in his pjs. He be damned if he didn't make the most of it!

Early one morning the house filled with the smell of food. Carter had trouble sleeping, so he was down in the kitchen cooking. On the stove was a pan of eggs scrambling, a griddle with pancakes cooking in bacon fat - and bacon sitting on a plate cooling off. There was enough food there to feed a small army, and empty paper grocery bags on the floor. He had gone down to the gas station in the middle of the night to get food.

He smiled as he heard movement upstairs, the Were's were waking up to the smell. Tyr was the first to come down, messy hair and bags under his eyes.

[MykaDreams]

Malena O'Neil

'Run away, far away, leave me behind, no hope for the cold world'

Malena shrugged her shoulders at his question about unfriendly weres. "There are bad eggs with weres just like with humans. Mostly it is the species difference that causes problems. We might be weres, but typically cats and dogs don't mix well together. When it comes to hunters though, weres will fight for a common cause. I have even heard rumors about vampires helping, but that might just be a rumor." She had never crossed paths with a vampire and she did not really want to either. Everything she ever learned said that they were dangerous and not to be trusted. A were's blood was stronger and more tempting to them and she was not too keen on the idea of being bitten.

She kept to her word when Carter fell asleep, staying beside his bed. Sleep did pull her after a few hours though. She kept her head propped on her arms though, with her head turned to the side. With her head beside his chest, she was able to listen to his heartbeat - which was strangely comforting.

---

While Carter's strength returned, Malena had taken time to get use to being able to see. Which meant she spent a good amount of time reading. With her sight, she was pleased that she would be more prepared to protect herself from hunters or ego filled males. The downfall of feline weres was the old tradition of males taking on multiple mates for the sake of keeping stronger families in power. Such a tradition was one that she did not agree with or want to participate in. One thing she made sure of was to wear shirts that did not show the scar on her chest. Even if he had not asked, she had a feeling that curiousity would eventually win.

She felt a little guiltt when Carter moved his things into the spare bedroom. I was his house after all and she planned to fix that problem. She was small enough to sleep on the twin bed and she did not have that many belongings to speak of, so she had made up her mind on that. It had been her intention to talk to him about it but she had fallen asleep with her nose buried in a book.

Food summoned her down the stairs though as she wiped the sleep from her eyes. Seeing Carter cook made her pause and grin to herself. Someone was obviously feeling a little better. She moved around him to fix a cup of coffee, ignoring the temptation to steal a piece of bacon. Instead she motioned to him as he cooked. "I thought you said you survived in this house without cooking? Or was that for meals after first breakfast?" She grinned at him over the brim of her coffee mug as she took a sip, She took care of the empty bags next, the empty bags put away into the trash.

"You know..." she began after sitting down in a stool. "You're more than welcome to have your room back. This is your house." Malena smiled at him and focused on her coffee again. With a sideways glance at Tyr, she tried to hide her grin. He obviously was not a morning person.

[Flygoedla]

xoxoxoCarter Owen Johnson

Carter had dished a plate up for Tyr before the blonde even stepped over the threshold of the kitchen doorway. Tyr graciously accepted the food, and pulled up a chair and began stuffing his face. Carter straightened his posture as Malena snuck behind him, as he dished up a plate for her. "I said I survived years without using the stove, and that was during my college years. I quickly learned that ladies love a man who can cook" He flashed a crooked smile as he reminisced about those days. Even though he was freshly back from the dead, he did think about getting back into the game. Human interaction was nice, cuddling even better. "Now then, here you go." Carter handed Malena a plate of breakfast before dishing one up for himself and joining the pair at the table.

"Are you sure?" Carter asked, touched by Malena's offer to have his old room back. "You do know this place is yours, possession is 9/10ths of the law. Mi casa is technically su casa." Carter explained, in between mouth fulls of food. As much as he didn't want to complain, it was uncomfortable to sleep on the small bed. "But I'm not going to lie, it would be very nice to have that room back."

Tyr rolled his eyes at the pair. "Why don't you two just get a room?" Carter froze mid bite and stared wildly at the werewolf. Carter had to clear his throat from the food that stuck midway his throat from Tyr's revelation. "C'mon, since I've gotten here it's all been this weepy teenage 'take care of him!' or 'watch over her' C'mon"

[MykaDreams]

Malena O'Neil

'Run away, far away, leave me behind, no hope for the cold world'

"Thank you." Malena took the plate with a smile and began eating, nodding to Carter's comment about men that could cook. "I think that might be a human thing and maybe among weres that aren't brought up in the old ways." She commented casually. "I think any male in my clan that admitted he could cook would have been shunned." She had been raised just as any other female. Cook, clean, look pretty, find a mate, raise children. Those were the tasks that had been drilled into her mind, although she did not put much credit into her old life. She was far from home and would have had it no other way.

"Yes, I am sure. You might have died, but you were still here when I moved in." She grinned before eating some more. "Cats can sleep anywhere anyway." That comment was made with a small laugh and shrug of her shoulders. It might have seemed like a big deal to Carter, but it was nothing to her. By all means, she had technically invaded his territory when she moved in. She had not known he was there, but that hardly mattered. "I can move my things today."

Malena had to cover her mouth in order to keep from spitting out her coffee, choking slightly in the process. Tyr could not have said what he did. "W-what now?" Then he had to go on and explain, making her cheeks grow warm. "Carter is the closest thing I have to a clan mate, of couse I wanted you to make sure he was alright when I died." She snapped her mouth shut when she realized what she had said. Foo. She stabbed a piece of pancake with her fork and took a bite, growling slightly. "Mind your own business, mutt." Was all she could muster.

[Flygoedla]

xoxoxoCarter Owen Johnson

"Hm, sounds like the men in your clan suffer from small egos." Carter raised his eyebrows, holding his index and thumb an inch apart while smirking - mocking the size of the Were-Lynx. Tyr snickered at the comment, naturally Werewolves and Werelynx were rivals - so any joke made at the others expense was great. Carter however reached over and smacked the back of Tyr's head. "Like you're one to laugh." he scolded the blonde.

Carter relaxed in his chair, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. The thought of getting his old room back was wonderful, and the fact that Malena gave it so willingly. His love of that room was more of a familiarity aspect, nothing close to a territorial need. "Thank you, I do appreciate it. I can even give you a hand."

-
Carter hit his own chest with a closed fist to help the bite of food go down. He and Malena had the same reaction to Tyr's comment, although what she said next caused him to want to melt into the floor. A mate? Did she use that word actually? Carter sat there with a horrified look on his face, his mind running at a hundred miles an hour. Did she mean mate as in the Australian way, as they were best buds? Or did she mean that in the animal form, as she saw him as a partner? Still his train of thought was derailed when she mentioned she'd died.

He looked from Tyr towards Malena. Died? Confusion was plastered all over his face, his eyebrows knit together in frustration. "Died?" Instinctively, he reached across the table and grabbed her hand. She was warm, there was no way she could be a ghost. "What's going on here, what aren't you guys telling me?" His voice was desperate, color draining from his face. Carter swallowed hard, expecting this to be another level of purgatory - and that he'd never been brought back at all.

[MykaDreams]

Malena O'Neil

'Run away, far away, leave me behind, no hope for the cold world'

"That would not be entirely inaccurate." Malena laughed softly before shooting a glare at Tyr. She could not help but giggle a little when Carter hit the back of his head. It was strange to see a human so at ease with being around two weres, but not a bad thing. She had to give credit when it was due, he was brave. "Laughter coming from someone that is all bark and no bite."

At the comment of him thanking her and helping her move her things, she simply smiled and nodded in his direction. She was much more interested in the food than his thanks. It was nothing to swap rooms, at least to her anyway.

-

Malena noticed the look on Carter's face and immediately tried to explain herself. "No, no...ah...clan mates are just people that are in the same clan. Friends, family, things like that. Since I don't have a clan anymore and we share this house...well, you feel like a clan mate anyway." She frowned for a moment, unless he did not want her thinking of him like that. A sigh was given before she drank some more of her coffee, feeling the need to do something. Logically, mating with a human was impossible anyway. There was no point in considering him as anything more, even if...

"Yes, died." She bit at her lip when he took her hand and glanced at Tyr. She just had to let the cat out of the bag. She focused on Carter again and tried to calm him down. "The spell that the necromancer did, someone had to die in order to bring you back. I offered myself, you had gotten sent to purgatory while trying to protect me. It was only fitting that I did something to get you back." After she explained herself, she leaned back in her chair and sighed. "All I know is that I died and somehow I came back. Tyr seems to think that I have nine lives, but I don't want to test that theory." Malena smiled at him then, hoping what she said had made him feel a little better. "Don't look like that, evrything is alright."

She stood then and took the empty plates to the sink, refilling her coffee as well. Once that was done, she patted Carter's shoulder with a soft smile. "Don't worry so much, Carter." Then, she retreated upstairs to start moving her things. Suddenly it had become rather difficult to sit in the same room as him while he was looking at her like that.