Zampsa1975: I hope Tara's plan soon unfolds... And that Tara manages to avoid the slightly dim Slayer...
Hi there. Don't know about Tara having a plan. As for Tara avoiding the Slayer... You'll see what happens. Thank you!
Paint the Sky: Hi, Paint the Sky. You talked about Willow's interior conflict and how Tara could look and have traces of the human, but the demon finally surfaces. Well, let's say that you'll see much more of that.
I wonder at what point Tara will tell Willow that it was her doppleganger that turned her.
Oh, yeah, that will be quite a blow, won't it? (rubs her hands malevolently).
As always, thanks for the feedback & hope you like the next chapter!
Raineh: Hi there. Lol at the moral conflict of leading a happy undead life but having to kill all your friends. We'll see what happens! Thanks so much!
wimpy0729: Hi! I must be doing something right when you find this Tara sexy and scary. That's how I imagine her and intended her to be! You also say that she must be horny, but of course she's hot for Willow no matter the planet or dimension. Although Willow is evidently conflicted, I also want Tara to have her share - as you say, she wants to get to know this Willow, albeit her vampiric nature.
Thanks for the feedback!
11. Red over black
She opened her eyes and sat up on the mattress. Great, it was nighttime again. Having to spend her days in an enclosed space with nothing to do was a bit of a bore, and she wished she had something like the Bronze in her reality: a cell containing a prisoner and a bunch of toys.
That would be nice. Instead, she had resorted to some rest in the basement she’d occupied: the only completely solid structure remaining in a rundown house.
The house hadn’t really been abandoned. Technically, three vampires lived there, but Tara had scared two of them by beating the crap out of them and killing the third one by pushing him against a broken plank of wood. Her hands full of ashes, she’d turned to the other two, who’d looked first at Tara and then at each other before running away. So the place was hers now.
Tara had clapped her hands and wiped them on her shiny pants to get rid of that pesky vampire ash. He was nothing now, just like her Willow. She recalled this Willow’s words: “You won’t make me a vampire,” and the more delicious “I won’t let you do that to me.” Tara knew a lot about strength and its different manifestations, and how the quietest was often the strongest of all. There was a lot going on behind Willow’s green eyes; she pictured a fist, closed very tightly. Willow seemed to be fighting against something stronger than herself.
It’s time for another visit, she mused, taking a last look outside to make sure that the sun had actually descended. Walking to Revello Drive, she wondered if she would run into the Slayer, but the real question was if Willow had told the Slayer about her visit. If she had, then they would be waiting for her; they would try to ambush her. That would be some real action, and she’d have Willow all to herself, no matter which side the redhead chose.
She got to the house and circled it with her hands in her pockets, expecting the attack,
any attack, but none came; everything was embedded in a deadly silence. None of the lights were on either. Were they sleeping? Tara leaped to the roof and walked towards Willow’s window with care. What she saw made her smile. The window was completely open, the white curtains half drawn and blowing slightly, framing the redhead: she was huddled in bed, the white sheet covering all her body except the top of her head. She looked so tiny… Could the open window mean something? Was she going to let her in this time?
“Little Red…” she whispered, hoping to wake the girl.
However, at that moment, she knew that something was wrong. From the shape under the covers, she could tell that Willow’s hands were covering her face, as if she was crying, and her breathing was too fast for her to be sleeping. She wasn’t sleeping! Tara jerked her head towards the right, in time to see the wardrobe’s door swing open and a wooden arrow shoot out straight towards her.
Fuck. The ambush had come and she had been stupid. Wide-eyed, she threw herself to the left, trying to avoid it, but the arrow slashed through the curtain and stabbed her on the right shoulder, making her fall backwards.
Tara gave a surprised cry when she felt the cold, jagged waves of pain climbing down her arm and the warm blood oozing from her shoulder. Unable to hold on to anything, she slid down the roof and landed on the clean cut grass with a thud and a groan. Half-crazy due to the searing pain, Tara grasped the part of the arrow sticking out her front and pulled it out, screaming and vamping out from a mixture of pain and rage.
There was a soft, dull sound beside her, and she turned her body to face the Slayer. The blonde, who was in standing in a pre-combat pose, was armed with a large stake and had a strange look on her face.
Oh, right, Tara thought, her face returning to normalcy.
We were friends.
“Hey…”
What was that stupid name of hers? Oh, yeah. “Buffy. Bad luck, Cupid, you missed the heart.”
“You’re not Tara,” the Slayer said, her voice low.
“Are you saying that to me or to yourself?” Tara shrugged and glanced at her blood-coated shoulder. It was tingling, already starting to heal. “You know, our previous meeting was so short, I’m glad we can catch up now. So, what’s up? What’s new in the fascinating world of nail polish?”
“Shut up,” Buffy shook her head and diverted her eyes towards the window. Following them, Tara saw that there were three people peeking out: a tall man, a skinny woman and the younger girl she’d already seen. They were all holding stakes and/or crosses, but seemed very nervous. And Willow? Where was she?
“So, I see there are no secrets between the Slayer and her friend. She told you about my little visit last night.”
“I said… shut up.”
Why does she keep saying that? Tara tilted her head and observed the Slayer. She was holding her stake firmly, but not quite meeting Tara’s eye. Interesting.
“Do you really think you’re gonna kill me tonight? And don’t tell me to shut up, just so I won’t remind you of who I am. Even Willow took it better.”
“I’ll do what I have to do.” Buffy said.
“Aw, that’s very nice and stoic,” she nodded and pointed at their audience at the window. “Do they think so? What does Willow have to say?”
“Willow’s none of your business. I won’t have you hurting her.” the Slayer seemed surer of herself now, but that was also fun. It meant she was getting her a little angry at last.
“I won’t hurt Willow.”
“Right, just like I won’t hurt you,” Buffy said, raising the arm that held the stake.
“You know, I’d like to put that to a test. In my world, you're dead by a long, long while.”
“But it wasn’t you who killed me.”
“No. But I’d
love to kill you here.”
With that, Tara jumped into the air, fist raised, replaying the movement which had left the Slayer unconscious -only without the brick-, but of course the Slayer was ready this time. She flexed her knees, bent backwards and thrust her arm up, trying to shove the stake in Tara’s chest. However, the vampire was expecting it. Tara smiled to herself, twisted her hips and connected her foot with the Slayer’s hand, sending the stake flying across the garden. She landed on her hands and feet, like an animal, and rolled around to avoid Buffy’s attempts to step on her.
You’ll have to do so much better, she thought, trapping the Slayer’s legs with her own and forcing her to roll on the grass with her.
“Is it just me, or is this getting a little sexy?”
“You keep talking,” the Slayer panted, trying to punch her in the face but only finding the ground.
“Right, so I won’t remind you of your Tara.” she ducked and delivered a kick on Buffy’s chest. “Don’t worry, I’m doing my best to be different. Maybe I'm making a wild assumption, but I'm guessing she didn't kick your ass every night.”
The Slayer was on her feet quicker than thunder, and looked very angry. She sailed across the air, arm outstretched, and hit Tara in the face, hard. The vampire dropped on the ground, tasting the mushy grass and some of her blood. The area of the punch was pulsing with circulating pain, and it was pissing her off, as if her pride -not her face- had been wounded. She felt the vampiric face crawl out, and grinned at the gasp coming from the window. The audience seemed to be affected by that face.
Tara breathed out a small growl and tried to smash her left elbow against the Slayer’s face, but the blonde ducked and delivered another punch, this time on her ribs. The vampire roared as she felt her knees flex weakly, but had time to reach out and grab Buffy’s arm, smashing her elbow against it instead. The Slayer emitted a surprised cry, and pushed her away using her leg.
Ouch, that’s gotta hurt, she thought, touching her own puffed out lower lip. She too had been on the receiving end of the punches and, even if she healed quicker than a human, it wasn’t a bed of roses either. The Slayer was indeed a rough little bitch.
Presently, however, she seemed to be in trouble. Using her right arm to cradle the damaged one, Buffy walked towards the house and stopped before Willow’s window.
“Throw me a stake,” she commanded.
“Are you sure? You alright?” the young man asked. He had a boyish voice, Tara noted.
“Yes. I'm fine. Go load the crossbow.”
“’Kay,” he said, and disappeared inside the room.
Fucking crossbow, Tara thought, stroking her wounded shoulder.
“Buffy…” the younger girl had a tearful voice.
“Dawn, throw me the damn stake.”
“But look at you, you can’t-”
“Anya, give me yours.”
The skinny woman obeyed immediately, while the kid named Dawn covered her face with her hands. By then, the man with the boyish voice was back, holding the crossbow.
“You’re not gonna catch me again with that thing,” Tara scoffed.
“We’ll see about that,” the Slayer said, her left arm now dangling limply at her side. “Xander, point at her. Don’t lose her.”
So, that was Xander, the Master’s other favorite. Tara was unimpressed. As a human, he looked fidgety and clumsy. As a vampire… who knew? The so-called Xander was indeed pointing the weapon at her, but she didn’t feel the least endangered.
“Are you serious?” she shook her head. “Okay, I’ll give Brave Boy his chance. Go on, shoot me. Let’s see if you can kill your friend Tara.”
Xander glanced at Buffy, but the Slayer had her eyes fixed on Tara.
Probably trying to guess where’s the trick, she thought, waiting with her hands on her hips. At last, the Slayer nodded, and Xander rested the crossbow on the window frame to stabilize it.
However, when he was about to pull the trigger, someone came from behind and shoved him, making him shoot the arrow into the bushes.
It was Willow. Every head turned to look at the redhead, whose face was all crumpled up and shiny with tears.
“What the…? Willow? What are you doing?” the Slayer asked.
“Willow, I had her-” Xander began to protest.
“You can’t… You can’t kill her. I won’t let you do it.”
“What?”
The Slayer was about to say something more, but the redhead plainly turned around and disappeared from Tara’s viewpoint.
She tried to save me, she mused, frowning at the startling scene developing before her. Even if she hadn’t felt the least menaced by the crossbow, Willow had still felt the need to reach out and push Xander. It had to be important, that Willow believed she was saving her.
“Where are you going?” she heard the one called Anya yell.
Oh, this is great. She smiled and approached the house, enjoying the confusion and worry in those people’s faces. The Slayer in particular seemed quite lost, and her expression morphed into shock when she saw Willow coming out the front door, running.
Oh, this is getting much, much better. C’mere, Little Red. Buffy lunged for her, much like a football player, but Willow glided across the grass, managing to avoid her.
The redhead positioned herself between Tara and the group. Wide-eyed, she paused before Tara for a second and then turned around to face the Slayer. The others had come down and were also in the garden.
“Buffy, stop!” the redhead lifted a warning arm.
“Willow, what are you doing? Come back here right now!”
“No. Stay there, all of you.”
The foursome was giving tentative steps towards them, but receding every time Willow shook her arm. This was amazing. Tara tilted her head and smiled at Willow, waiting until she got the redhead’s attention. Finally, Willow’s trembling green eyes did focus on her, and they were afraid.
“Are you protecting me, Little Red?”
“I… I’m not sure,” Willow ducked her head. “Your face…”
“My face?”
Oh…Tara prodded her forehead, realizing she was still in vamp mode. “Yeah, well, I was fighting… You know how these things go.”
Buffy stepped closer, carrying the crossbow. “Willow, you’re not well.”
“Do you mind?” Tara asked, dryly. “We’re talking.”
“Will, please.”
Willow raised her arm again to make the Slayer stop, but seemed to waver. She was clearly conflicted, a deep frown scrunching her forehead.
“Buffy, stop,” she said, this time gently, and then turned to Tara. “Are you badly hurt?”
“It’s nothing,” Tara shrugged.
But then, the most astounding thing happened. Willow brought a hand to her face and touched her lower lip, the one that had been wounded by Buffy’s fist. The tips of her fingers were less than an inch away from Tara’s animal-like fangs, but that didn’t stop the redhead. In fact, it was the first time that Willow had touched her, and it was thrilling. It did something to her; Tara was unable to determine what, but it was enough to return her features to a human state.
Willow dropped her eyes and her hand, focusing on Tara's shoulder. Her expression suddenly transformed into something else, something completely different. Was it the sight of the blood strewn across her shirt?
“Little Red, look at me. Up here,” she said, as softly as she could, placing a finger under Willow’s chin. “I’m okay.”
“Hey!” she heard the Slayer yell. “Don’t touch her!”
“Oh, shut up and learn some manners. You’re a very rude girl.” her eyes returned to Willow, who seemed to be a little better.
“Willow, I’m coming to get you,” the Slayer said, approaching them.
“Buffy, she’s not going to hurt me.”
The redhead turned to Buffy, again positioning herself between the crossbow and Tara.
“You don’t know that. Believe me, I understand you, but she’s not your Tara. ”
“Where’s the harm?” Willow asked, her voice sounding teary. “I just… I just wanna talk to her. Buffy, please…”
“Where’s the harm? Will, she’s a full-blown vampire! And you know what vampires do. Maybe she won’t hurt you, which I doubt, but what about others?”
When Willow’s eyes focused on her, Tara shrugged and placed her hands behind her back, acting innocent.
“I know,” Willow said, “I’m not stupid. And I don’t think there’s room for more dead people in my conscience.”
“Will, if you do this, you’ll fall so deep… You just came back to us, we can’t lose you again. I understand what you’re going through, but you need to be strong now, maybe stronger than ever. This is a vampire, a demon. She’s not Tara.”
Tara frowned. Whatever could they mean with all that talk about conscience and losing Willow
again?
“But…” Willow covered her face with her hands and stepped closer to the Slayer, hugging her, even if she couldn’t hug her back.
“Tara will always be inside you,” Buffy went on, pressing her cheek against the side of Willow’s head.
“Wow,” Tara said, making Willow look up and surely ruining the special moment for the Slayer. “You really touch my heart…” She paused dramatically, placing a hand over her wounded shoulder. “Not literally, though.”
“I need to say goodbye,” Willow said, receiving an approving nod from the Slayer, who pointed the crossbow at the vampire.
The redhead detached herself from the Slayer and went to her. There was a mysterious glint in her eyes, which Tara couldn’t place, but she didn’t mind too much if it meant having Willow so close.
Goodbye? No way. Tara couldn’t get enough of that beautiful face, and wanted more. She wanted to touch.
Then, as if her wish had been heard, Willow’s body pressed against hers. Her eyes opened wide for a second, as an overpowering sensation rushed through her body. It was as if the touch penetrated her skin and possessed every particle and every sense. The rightness of feeling Willow’s silky hair brushing her cheek and her arms around her waist was overwhelming, but she couldn’t understand it. She understood none of it. All that she knew was
this was why she had done the spell and traveled to another dimension. To find this: something she had only guessed; something she was experimenting now.
And she was fucking turned on by Willow’s body, of course. But not only that. There was more. There was the strange rightness too.
She moved her hands up to Willow’s hair and rubbed several strands between her fingers. Suddenly, she felt a sharp prick on her back and pushed the redhead, thinking that it was a stake. But it wasn’t. It had been too sharp, like a needle. She brought a hand to where it hurt, under the right shoulder, and felt her way to a thin, pencil-like object stuck in her back.
“What have you…?” she managed to ask, before her knees felt weak and the world turned black.
by Raineh » Mon Aug 04, 2008 4:47 am 
for that.
and have my happy undead life 
-of course i wouldn't do it then again 'cuz i do have a conscience and i dont think i could live with the knowledge of killing my friends-
yesssssssssssss! update yessssss!
now i just want to know what happens next! They got a unconscious vampire hmm wonder what they will do. It's really going to be something once this vamp Tara finds out of her double in this sunnydale. Well 
