~BOOK 4/PART TWO~ Paranormal: The Battle's Only Just Begun (Multi-Bandom FanFic)

"Link!" Rachael exclaimed, stepping forward and hugging him. "Hi!"

He hugged her back. "Oh my god, you've grown up so much since the last time I saw you!" The witch pulled out of the embrace and was going to say the same, but he looked just like he did when she knew him nearly a thousand years ago. He was still at least a half foot taller than she was and still had his kind blue eyes, thick-rimmed glasses sitting on the bridge of his nose, and longer dark brown hair that wisped out at the ends. He gave off a very "dad-like" vibe. "How have you been?"

"I've been better," Rachael retorted honestly, rubbing the back of her neck and asking, "What about yourself?"

"Oh, you know, I traveled here and there for a bit, then I came to North Carolina and decided to stay for a bit," He replied, "But we have plenty of time to talk about me, who is this beautiful young lady?" He motioned to the girl standing behind the witch who looked like she'd rather be dead than there.

"Oh, um, that's Ashley-"

"Halsey," She grumbled, glaring at her mother, "I go by Halsey now."

Rachael heaved a sigh and continued, "That's Halsey, my daughter."

"I have a granddaughter!?!" His face was priceless and so was Halsey's once he pulled her into a hug. "I have a beautiful granddaughter!"

"Mom, who is this fucking guy and why the fuck is he hugging me?" She asked, her body tensing up and her eyes twice their normal size, "Make it stop. Please."

Link took a step back and grinned widely at her. "She's so beautiful! Just like her mother." He looked back at Rachael and smiled. The witch blushed in response before he gasped and apologized, "Oh gosh, I'm so rude. Please, please come in." He didn't even give us a chance to respond before entering his home and leaving the door open for the two of us.

Rachael turned to Halsey and finally answered her question, "He's my step-dad, so...your step-grandfather."

"Why is he so nice?" She questioned while stepping into his home and looking around.

The witch shrugged my shoulders and followed after the hybrid. "I don't know. I asked myself the same question years ago. He'll eventually grow on you."

"Yeah...I rather he didn't..." Her voice trailed off as she wandered upstairs, venturing through the residence on her own.

"Rachael!" Link's voice echoed through the house, peeking his head around the threshold between the foyer and living room and waving her in. She approached him and noticed the man sitting at the desk in the corner of the room, his fingers gliding across the keyboard of a laptop, filling the room a melody of clicks. He had dirty blonde hair and a scruffy beard.

"Who's your friend?" Link's stepdaughter inquired, clasping my hands behind my back.

"Oh him? That's Rhett. He's a human, but I created a potion for him that makes him do whatever I ask him to." He leaned in and whispered, "It's in the beer, so don't drink it, okay?" She nodded her head in understanding. "Anyways, I mostly use him to find out things about the paranormal community," He went on to say, "You know, keep in touch."

Rachael swallowed hard. "So I'm assuming you heard about what happened in New Orleans."

"Yeah, demons. Tricky, tricky little rascals." He admitted, "But not as tricky as children."

"Tell me about it," The witch agreed, slipping her hands into the pockets of her pants and wandering over to where Rhett was, looking over his shoulder to see what he was working on, "You had it easy though. Nat and I were only witches." Rachael suddenly gasped in pain as she felt her teeth growing longer, Patrick's genetics making their appearance in her system. She pressed her lips together to keep them from showing.

"So I'm assuming Patrick's the father," The wizard commented, rolling his eyes. "I always knew you two would make a great family."

"I'm really loving the sarcasm, Link."

"Sorry, I guess I just never got over the fact that he took one of my girls away from me." He playfully pouted while pulling Rachael in for another hug.

"Our mom took us away from you long before Patrick took me away," She mumbled, glancing up at him.

"Yeah, but you stopped seeing me in secret when you started seeing him. You were the only family I had besides Natalie, and she hates me."

Rachael chuckled."She hates everybody."

"Kind of like Ashley?"

The witch heaved a sigh. "I'm afraid Ashley only hates me." She stepped out of the embrace and turned towards him. "Hey, um, I know we haven't talked in a long time, but I was hoping you'd maybe let me and my daughter stay here for a while."

He smirked. "You didn't even have to ask. Of course you can stay with me. In fact, stay as long as you'd like! We can catch up and I can get to know my granddaughter."

"Well that's not going to happen because we're not staying here long." The two looked back and saw Halsey standing in the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest and a scowl on her face.

"I know, but you both can stay here forever if you want. You can even consider this your second home."

"I don't have a home, nor do I need one," The hybrid sneered, turning around and disappearing again. Rachael shook her head.

"She certainly is like her aunt," Link commented, swaying back and forth on his feet.

"She wasn't always like this," The witch murmured, sitting down on the couch the wizard had in the room and heaving a sigh, "She was actually pretty good up until...until-"

"Rachael, what happened?"

She shrugged her shoulders and met his gaze. "It's a long story I really don't want to go into, and I know once I tell you, you'll think differently of me. I guess the only thing you need to know is that I made some pretty bad decisions that kind of fucked up my whole life."

"Rachael," He walked over and sat down beside her, wrapping his arm around her back and pulling her closer to him, "I can't and I won't judge you for the way you live your life or the way you decided to parent. Because, truth be told, when you're a parent, you sometimes make mistakes. My only hope is that whatever you've done, you've done for Halsey's-" He stopped short and corrected himself, "I mean, Ashley's sake."

"But that's the thing, Link, I'm not so sure I did it for her sake," Rachael thought aloud, "I mean, that's what I told myself and Patrick, that I was doing it for her, but what if I was really doing it for myself? Or him?"

"Oh, I can help you with that one." Halsey popped up again. "You hid everything from me because you and Dad are both a bunch of cowards."

"Hey," Link spoke up for Rachael, "That's your mother. No matter what she's done, she still deserves respect."

"She's the world's shittiest mother," She spat, waltzing into the room and jumping over the back of the couch to plop down on the cushion next to him, "I don't think you know who you're talking about, Mr. Link. This is Rachael we're talking about here - the bitch who lied to her daughter for more than a thirty years, the witch who made a vampire lose everything vampire about him because he was 'in love', and the psychopath who thought it was a good idea to bring a witch-vampire hybrid into this world to wreak havoc. Not some little girl you helped raise because you thought her mother felt the same way about you that you did about her." Her cold words hit both of them like knives, the smirk on her face fading away. With that, Halsey marched out the front door, slamming it in the process. Link and Rachael both jumped at the clamorous sound. The witch covered her head with her hands, and took a deep breath trying not to let the hurtful words get to her.

"I was wrong," The wizard murmured, "She is exactly like Natalie."

"I know," Rachael admitted shamefully, keeping her head hung low. She let out a long breath before sitting back up and looking over at him. "But she's not going anywhere." A smirk appeared on the witch's face. "Not anywhere far, at least."