Mara was born to a happy family in London, England. The Lafleurs were always relatively powerful within Tower Society, with Addison being a part of the Board of Leaders and Martin one of the stronger agents. Of course, the children knew nothing of this, they were allowed to have relatively normal lives, believing that their mom was a politician and that their dad was a police officer. Still, Martin always had a smoking addiction that he only kicked once it was too late, once he realized that his smoking was what got little Mara sick and she was diagnosed with Emphysema very young, fated to die unless they found a match for her lungs, but of course for many many years, they still haven't found a match no matter what the family hoped.

When Mara started school she quickly made friends with a Harris Standstead, a quirky kid and the only one to not make fun of her whenever she was given permission to sit out of physical education. While others either made fun of her for being weak, or some even showered her in worry and sympathy when her symptoms became too obvious to hide, Harris was like an oasis of normalcy, not treating her differently at all. And so the two became inseparable friends, vowing to support each other forever, a promise that the children had no idea would spell for the future.

Mara always did excel in school despite her illness, she loved studying and learning new things. But when she was hospitalized and became an inpatient after a particularly bad fit Harris came to visit her, bringing cards. And while it was always fun to play with him, Mara had to admit that nothing was quite as good as the gambling games, trying to figure out what your opponent had based on body language and other such things. Adin, her big brother, was always protective of her, and he never seemed to like Harris at all. Addison was often busy but made time, and Martin, who blamed himself for Mara's sickness, always doted on her and gave her as much love as he could.

Happiness wouldn't last though. Once Mara hit twelve, a series of demon attacks struck London, shocking the city to the core. Martin was killed in the line of fire, leaving his family behind to mourn. Adin became obsessed with justice then, he wanted to make his dad proud, and Addison hardly had any time with her family anymore, always dealing with official Board of Leaders business and Mara was forced to come to terms with her eventual mortality. Gone was the girl was the sunny disposition, even if she seemed as sassy and blunt as ever, there was a deep despair in those amethyst eyes that wouldn't go away. But her family wasn't the only one hit, Harris lost his parents and his big brother, he was all alone. One night he called Mara to apologize and she ran out of the hospital to find him, to stop him from dying, so that she wouldn't lose her only friend. But saving him came with a price - she was now responsible for his life, and so they became a couple, a couple based on poison and resentment rather than love.

Mara's condition quickly worsened after running out of the hospital to save Harris, and Adin was quickly becoming busy with his training to become an officer just like their father was, so Mara clung to Harris. It was a relationship of mutual need, and it was definitely unhealthy for everyone involved. Eventually one night though, a slip of paper found itself in Mara's room, inviting her to join something called the Tower Society. So the girl decided she would make something of herself, so that she would matter before she died.