TB: Mallory and Sara

Orphanage for supes children, Kitchen, 3 PM

The kitchen was empty save for one of the orphans who sought refuge there. It was Sara. the teenager needed a break from the bullying she was a victim of.  She decided to cook herself a dish she liked, something that could bring her some sort of comfort.  She was wearing a pair of denim jeans and a large t-shirt, and she tied her hair in a loose ponytail as she cut clean some cabbage.  Sara was focused as she didn't want to cut her fingers. She hummed happily when she heard a faint noise at the door. Suspicious, she grabbed the kitchen knife and walked towards the door.

"Who is this?" She asked calmly.

<Boizhe Moi! Sara! You can't even recognize my footsteps?>  -The voice was familiar but faint.-

Sara relaxed and opened the door to a vision of horror. Mallory was standing there, covered in blood. Her white pale hands were literally soaked with the crimson liquid and it appeared to be a mix of both her own blood and someone else. She was dressed in her usual hoodie and sweatpants. Her blonde hair was a mess, soaked with blood, saliva, and brain particles but it was her face that horrified Sara. That pretty face that made her heart soar was beaten up pretty badly. Cuts were visible on her swollen lips,

and cheeks. Her eyes were swollen and her jaw was stiff.

The blonde teen sat on a stool in the kitchen and coughed a little bit of blood. Sara took some raw frozen meat from her freezer and handed it to the blonde teen who applied it on her eyes. She winced and groaned at the pain but relaxed as the cold meat was starting to soothe her. Tonight was a dreadful night. You didn't need to be a genius to realize it and Sara was already starting to wonder what happened to her dear friend, that afternoon. A dark chuckle escaped from the lips of the teen and she mumbled.

« Sara ?... » She asked as if she was holding back her question.

« Yes ? » replied the black-haired supe with a curious look on her face.

« Do you really believe in the killer instinct? » Her thick russian accent echoed through the kitchen and the genuine question sent a shiver down Sara who didn't expect to hear it. She often wondered if she was the product of the training or if she had it inside of her all along. It should not be complicated to figure out, she thought,

Mallory and Sara were trained from a young age to become the next member of the Seven. They were taught to become violent, harness their powers, and find the most efficient way to take down an enemy, therefore it couldn't come from deep within. It shouldn't come from deep within. Mallory looked at her friend and nervously grabbed a knife she threw in the air and caught to distract herself. The blonde teenager became Sara's confident and genuine friend at the orphanage. They quickly dated before Sara realized that her friend had a much darker past than her.

 Mallory was unstable, she was addicted to drugs to cope with her traumas. She was very protective of Sara and always looked after her. Sara realized that the blood she had on her body came from the bullies who hurt her earlier today.  Mal probably just went after them and taught them a lesson. Sara found herself conflicted about it, wondering if her tormentors were killed in the fight or if they were just heavily injured. Mal shrugged, probably already drugged up before she showed up at the kitchen.

« A killer instinct? I don't think it exists » She tried to sound casual, but Sara failed and Mallory perceived the change of tone, the nervosity in her answer. « What about you? »

« I don't know babes... I don't. Part of me wants to believe that all I'm doing is because... It's because I've been taught that. That those are muscular memories and not who I really am. Yet...every time I grab a knife, I want to stab my enemies. Every time I grab a gun, I want to pull the trigger. It's in me! It's.... inside of me! festering like a disease... » -She sounded disgusted as if she realized she was sick with a nasty disease.-

« Mal... »  -Sara winced as her bruises were hurting her-

.

« Don't you feel it at times? When they bully you?» She asked, removing the cold meat from her eyes and staring at her girlfriend. Sara was staring at the other teen with eyes transfixed with fear and anguish.

« Every time. » The brunette admitted with a sigh. « .... I feel it every time !» She put her knife on the counter and grabbed the bottle of beer near the counter. « But, I know that  I am not a killing machine. I know, I know we've been taught to fight and even to kill to save lives. I know we've been taught to compete with the others so we would be the best.....But we were very young and it was all we ever knew! »  -She then walked towards her girlfriend and sat on a stool right next to her. Mallory rolled her eyes and put the meat back onto her face.

« I know.... » She then put her hands on her lap, wincing again at the pain she was experiencing. Sara gasped and quickly left the stool to go pick up a first aid kit, some towels, and a basin of hot water to cleanse her wounds. « Sara? »

« Yes? » -She replied as she was gathering the items.-

« You keep saying that we shouldn't give in to our instincts.. but you were taught to fight, to hurt, to kill... I know that you've thought about retaliating to the violence your bullies put you through but you have never acted on it. Have you ever... killed someone? Did you try to... kill your folks? » Sara dipped the tip of the towel into the hot water before she lifted her girlfriend's shirt and cleaned the cuts on

her belly. It made Mallory hiss but she simply shut one eye.

« I think of the lives I want to save instead of...those I want to take. I don't want to take lives. I feel relieved when I'm able to save innocents... that's the feeling I'm looking forward to. But if I'm being honest, I wanted to kill yeah... I wanted to kill my parents. I wanted to kill my bullies... I dreamed about it... I really did. What do you feel? What happened today? It's unlike you to be this beaten up. »

« ........ » A loud sigh escaped from Mallory's plump lips and she shrugged. « You were badly hurt today. I warned them to stop hurting you but they kept going on. I decided I would teach them a fucking lesson. So I did. I taught them a lesson. » She paused for a brief second and then shrugged. « I had to make sure I wouldn't end up killing them. I was this close...I wanted to. I felt the urge boil in my veins. I didn't even need a weapon, my hands were itching. That's why I'm asking you all of these questions. I don't know if I acted that way because I was taught to, or because It's who I am. » Her voice faltered and she took a deep breath.

She was scared of the answer, of her possibly being dangerous to people around her. Her swollen eyes couldn't see well given the meat that covered them but she felt Sara's gaze upon her and heard the shift of breathing pattern. Sara was calmer than before and a little more relaxed. The brunette realized that her friend was going through the very same ordeal she went through. She had so much blood on her hands that she was wondering how she could wash it away and if it was possible. She chewed at her bottom lip before finally removing the meat from Sara's eyes.

« Look at me. Look at me very closely. You are /not/ a monster! You are not a MONSTER! Tell me, if you were, why would you try NOT to kill these idiots? Why would you let them beat you up and cut you open? Why would you even try to protect me? You did it for me, didn't you? » Mal was staring at her, eyes wide open from the shock of Sara's sudden change of attitude. It did sound like she was talking for both of them but the blonde teen couldn't really grasp it just yet. She just felt her eyes fill themselves with tears. « MAL! Mal, please! Say something! » Sara's lips were trembling as she was inches from her girlfriend. « You did it for me, didn't you? You were thinking about my safety first when you took on those guys, didn't you? Mal! Answer me! »

« Yes...I did. » She managed to say, eyes finally crying the tears she was holding back. « I did... I did !! I did it for you! I did it for you! I just... I just... I'm not. I'm not a monster. I just... » She could barely speak and started to sob her heart out. Sara nodded and kept cleaning her wounds with the towel. « I'm not a monster! I'm not a monster, I'm not a monster, I'm not a monster... »

<See? I told you.>  Sara said in Russian before sitting on her chair once again. She helped her girlfriend clean her wounds up, take a bath, and then went to finish preparing dinner for the both of them. She knew that it would take more than just a conversation for Mallory to actually recover from the years of conditioning and torture she went through and even more to deal with the deaths she was responsible for.  Sara knew that Mallory wanted to atone for her violence and although she had to fight against her first instincts and the brainwashing she suffered from, she still made progress. 

Today she didn't kill regular people who attacked her girlfriend. She could have given in to her urges but decided to fight against and maybe that was how things truly were. Maybe they would never be able to completely move on from their past and would have to battle their darkness every day. Maybe they would forever need to check on each other and make sure that none of them would take a life for the wrong reasons. She didn't know but she decided to trust tomorrow and let it come.