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Feedback little miss 666:I'm glad somebody likes my writing style. i call it my lack there of. Sorry to think of this idea first but i'm make it up too you CEsgirl13: Thanks! i'm working on this whole updating thing, college starting in a week make it hard though. amazonaa: K i'm continuing! pipsberg: I'm glad you like it! i didn't know if i could pull the idea off. DarkChild: I like Vamp Willow stories too, that's why i worte one. *giggles* My favorite would have to be the 'Master Willow' Series. Arron CFF: Glade you like it! willohand: Yup she's still there! alysagoddess85: All i can say is wait and read! Tempest Duer: Nope! just highly drunk! Ok side note: I dO NOT know a lick of Latin. all i got is a Webster's Dctionary so be kind! As always i'm in need of a beta! Ok here we go! CHAPTER 1: THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT Tara MaClay sighed in frustration and allowed herself the satisfaction of slamming the old book close. The resulting cloud of dust that puffed into her face just added to the blond's dismay. Nothing. She'd been searching for the last two years and came up with absolutely nothing! Her twenty first birthday was this fall already and she had no idea how to stop what was to come. ' I can't be a d-demon, I just can't be. I don't feel evil, i-isn't evil at lest suppose to know it's evil? ' The blond grumbled in her thoughts. Since knowing UC Sunnydale would give her a full scholarship, the shy witch had be overjoyed at a chance to finally escape her father and brother. As soon as she was moved in she began an in dept search to to find a way to remove her demon side before it could gain control, but now only the summer stood between her and just that happening.
"Tara?"
The blond jumped in her seat. "Oh, M-m-mr. Giles. Hi."
"Dear child, I didn't mean to frighten you. Have you found anything useful?"
The Englishmen had found himself charmed by the shy blond who had timidly entered the Magic Box and in her soft stuttering voice had explained she was a witch looking for supplies. It soon became habit to find the young woman in the store after classes, sometimes helping with inventory, others times quietly reading in a corner. Giles had offered her a job more than once but she would always politely, if shyly, refuse. However last fall the Englishmen found Tara near tears and, after a bit of tea, finally coxed a confession from her. She explained she was looking for a spell to exorcise a demon from a human, but refused to say from who, only that she had until next fall and had found nothing to help. Giles had grown quit fond of the girl who insisted on calling him 'Mr. Giles' and found himself compelled to help the girl. Tara was given access to his private collection under the condition that no book left the shop and somebody had to be present while she looked through tomb after tomb. Grateful for any help at all Tara had easily agreed.
"N-no, not yet." She sighed in frustration again.
"Well purchase a break would do you good, tea?"
Tara closed her eyes, her shoulders slumping slightly, and nodded. "Yes, please."
Giles stood and began walking towards the counter when the shop door opened, jingling it's small bell. Buffy and Xander walked through the door.
"I'm telling ya she was drunk."
"Come on Buff, Rose?" Xander looked up at Giles. "Can they even get drunk?"
The older man sighed and asked. "Did you find the girl alright?"
Buffy hoped up to sit on the counter as Giles made his way behind to prepare tea on a small hot plate. "Yup, sleeping all snuggled up in the back sit. Took a bit to wake her up. Rose musta done some mojo on her."
"What did you tell her?"
The slayer shrugged. "That we happened to be walking by. She jumped to the conclusion that some night in armor saved her. We let her call some friends on my phone then sat with her until they showed up. "
"Yeah, she was all blushy over the rose, The Rose, left her." Xander smirked.
"Yes, yes, very well." Giles leaned in and lowered his voice. "And the attacker?"
Again Buffy shrugged. "Drained. Dumped him near the docks. He's fish food."
"And good ridden too!" Xander said decisively. The other two looked at him and he shrugged. "He was going to rape that girl, I'm glad Rose was there."
Buffy looked at him disbelievingly. "Xander she killed somebody, a human! "
"She got rid of a rapist."
"It was still a human. She's just another demon. She's evil. They all are!" Buffy's voice started to raise.
"What if that girl had been Dawn!" Xander shot back.
"Leave Dawn out of this!" The blond stomped to the training room and slammed the door, holding back just enough to not break it.
Tara shot up at the door slamming. "Um...I-i-i, um, I sh-sh..g... I need to go." The blond was out the door before Xander or Giles could call her back.
Xander placed his hands on the counter and bowed his head. "Well that went well."
Giles removed his glasses and began cleaning them. "Indeed."
***
Outside Tara rapidly walked, not paying much attention to where she went. The raised voices, the yelling, and the bang of the door had been too much, too close to home so to speak. She needed to get out of there, get away, hide. The sound of of her father's voice rang in her head but with Buffy's words, ' She's just another demon. She evil. You're evil. ' The memory of pain, of hiding in her closet hoping her brother wouldn't find her invaded Tara's mind, blinding her to where she was going.
Finally the blond managed to calm the panicked reaction enough to stop walking. The shadows seemed to mock her, laughing at her. Fretfully she looked around to find herself lost. Growing up her whole life in the country had left the girl overwhelmed by cities, even one the size of Sunnydale. Even after two years Tara still found herself getting turned around and at this moment she didn't recognize anything around her.
' O-ok MaClay, calm down, j-just turn around and retrace your steps back to the Magic Box. No p-problem.' Nodding at her plan she turned and came face to face with a pale redhead. Tara let out a scream. Emerald green eyes widen in surprise as the blond tried to turn and run at the same time, tripping over her long skirt and falling with a thud.
"Whoops!" Rose said quietly. "Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" And she really didn't. The vampire had meandered around downtown waiting for her head to clear. When she saw the most beautiful girl seemingly standing and staring terrified at nothing she had walked up behind her. She had only wanted to asked if the blond needed help, she hadn't meant to frighten her.
"It's, um, o-ok. I, um...just d-didn't hear you approach."
' Of course you didn't. If the prey hears the predator then the games up! No Wait, no hunting, We're not hunting her! ' The spark flared. The demon snarled, but having fed earlier, let the spark take led, for now.
"Still. I'm sorry I scared you. I didn't mean too, which is of course, I didn't mean too, cuz that would just be mean, I mean, who really MEANS to scare someone, only mean people who are mean and I don't want to be mean, and ah, Hi, I'm Willow!" The vampire held out her hand to the still sitting blond.
It took Tara a second or two to catch up with everything the redhead had said but when she did she shyly took the offered hand. It was cool to the touch but the temperature had dropped recently so the blond didn't think anything of it.
"T-thanks, I'm, um, Tara. Nice to meet you." She hid behind her hair and gave the slim girl a shy smile.
Willow was sure if her heart was still beating it would have stopped in the face of that smile. ' My Goddess, she is an angle when she smiles. Hmmm and she reeks of virginity . Oh Do Go Away! ' Willow swore her inner demon mentally stuck it's tongue out at her.
"Sooooo. What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this." ' I CAN'T believe I just SAID THAT. ' And it showed on her face. If Willow could have, her pale skin would have matched her red hair. The demon was now laughing at her.
Tara, however, giggled. "Um, a-actually I'm, uh, kinda lost."
"Ooooow. Bad part of town to be lost in. Don't you know things go bump in the night around here." The redhead smirked.
"Like you?" Tara asked backed.
Willow shrugged. "Depends on your definition of 'bump'." She quirked an eyebrow and watched a blush crawl up Tara's neck until even the tips of her ears were red. ' Ahh now I embarrassed her, dang it! He he, but it was fun! ' The redhead relented that it was but she should really get the blond out of here. "Look, It's not safe. Where are you trying to get to? Maybe I can point you in the right direction?"
Tara hide behind a curtain of blond hair and mumbled about trying to get back to the campus.
"Hmm the UCS campus? That's pretty far away from here. Why don't I walk a ways, ya know, strength in numbers and all that?" Willow tried to look as innocent as possible while standing in neck to toe leather. Tara gave the slight form before her a long hard look. Willow quickly remembered to appear to be breathing.She didn't know why but the redhead felt like she wanted, no needed, Tara to let her walk her home, to approve of her.
Finally Tara shrugged slightly and nodded shyly. "Ok."
Willow smiled brightly and the two girl began walking down the street. The night air was turning bitter and Tara, in a simple peasant blouse crossed her arms as she began to shiver. "Are you cold?" Willow asked then smacked her forehead. "Well duh Willow! She's shivering, of course she's cold. Silly question. Here." The redhead removed her long leather trench and wrapped it around Tara. This left the vampire in just a skimpy red buster.
Tara absently noticed the coat held no warmth from being against the redhead's body, but the thought quickly fled at the sight of Willow's bare shoulders and arms and encased... ' Oh My! ' The blond blinked trying but failing to not stare at the other girl's breast which were pushed up to show pale freckled skin and tantalizing cleavage. Tara could feel her ears burning red again. "Ummmmm. T-t-thanks. B-b..um, but aren't you c-cold, uh too?" The blond finally drug her eyes from Willow's chest to her smirking face.
The redhead stretched her arms above her head, silently laughing at the Tara's audible gulp and replyed. "Naw, I'm use to the cold."
Tara threw her a disbelieve look but managed to return her eyes forward, snuggling in the the leather coat that was fast warming up to her body. But her thought were in a whirlwind. ' Why do I f-feel drawn to this girl. She's looks no more than 16, t-though without the l-leathers she's probably c-closer to 14. W-Why do I feel like I need to k-keep her near? Like I'm safe w-with her? '
Likewise the redhead was having a fight with her demon. ' Can we eat her yet? No! How bout now? No! When we get to the campus? For the love of... NO! We are NOT eating her! DEAL WITH IT! Then why are we here? To keep her safe. Why? Because...because I feel like I need to protect her. Why? Because I feel stronger near her, complete...yeah I feel complete. Why? Becau... Oh I don't know! ... Why? Grrrr! Of all the demons to be reborn with why did I have to get stuck with the most annoying, childish, single minded demon on the Hellmouth! Hey! Demon here! I resemble that remark. Oh your worst then Xander ... Can we eat her yet? AHHHHHH! '
"Um. are you ok?" Tara asked. "You l-looked like you w-were miles away."
' Oh now look what you did! You started it by not letting us eat her. Whatever! Just... behave and I'll let to scare little children later tonight, ok? Hmmmm, alright. ' The demon went quiet.
Willow stumbled to answer. "Ahhh, just, uh, a lot of , um, heavy thinking tonight. So, uh, what were you doing out this late?"
Tara thought about whether or not to tell the truth. She was a horrible liar so Willow could probably pick up on it if she tired.
"I was at the, um, M-Magic Box. There was an argument between two friends a-and, uh, the s-store owner. I had to l-leave quickly and kinda, um, d-didn't watch w-where I was going."
Willow looked both surprised and please at the answer. "The Magic Box? So you're a witch? I mean, not a witch like, grrr, Halloween green faced witchy with a pointed hat riding on a broom stick witch, or ya know a witch like as a really mean person but...ahhh, I'll shut up now." Willow stopped when she heard the blond giggling.
"Um, n-no, no pointed hats, and I'm not, uh, green unless I'm on a b-boat...uh, and I don't think I'm mean."
"Oh you're not! Your nice! Really really nice!" Willow's eyes widen as she watched Tara once again blushed. The two girls walk in silence as they left the darker side of down town and near the campus. Willow began to fidget, she didn't want to leave Tara, but once they were at the campus there would be no reason for her to continue to protect her.
Finally Tara stopped outside of her dorm building. "Um, t-this is my stop, I, uh, g-guess. T-thank you for, um keeping the b-baddies away." She smiled lopsidedly, tucking hair behind her ear.
Willow smiled brightly in return. "No problem. I'm here to service you, I mean serve you! Uh, protect you! Yeah, protect you! Like batgirl! or, or Catwoman! Yeah! Defender of the innocent upholder of justice." Tara bit her lip trying to keep from laughing outright at the fluster redhead. Willow sighed. "Ok yeah, I hung around my friend Xander and his comic books too much."
"X-xander? Xander Harris? Your friends with him?" Tara looked surprised.
"Um, Yeah, or, or at lest I used to be. Why?" For a brief moment Tara saw soul wrenching pain cross the other girl's face before it was gone again.
"Um, w-well it's just that he and B-buffy never mentioned you. D-do you know M-mr. Giles and Anya?"
Suddenly Willow got a deer-in-the-headlight look. The Magic Box. Argument between friends and the store owner. Buffy, Xander, and Giles. "Oh Shit! Oh shit! Ohshitohshitohshit! I gotta go! Bye!" Willow turn and fled into the darkness.
Tara stood blinking before realizing she still wore the other girl's coat. "Wait! Your j-jacket!" Tara took off after the slim girl but she was nowheres to be seen. Tara stopped and looked into the shadows trying to find the red head. The blond jumped when she heard movement to her left. "W-w-willow?"
A tall broad figure stepped into the light of a near by lamppost. "Not quite." Demonic yellow eyes twinkled as the vampire bared it's fangs. Tara spun around as five more vampires circled her from behind and on the sides. She was surrounded, so Tara did the only thing she could think of. She screamed.
***
Willow stopped running on the edge of the campus. 'How could I be so stupid! She was a witch at the Magic Box! Of course she would know Giles and the others! She probable could have dusted me at anytime. Buffy had to have told her about Rose! about me! See? I told you we should have ate her. Now she'll tell the slayer! ' Willow shook her head. ' NO! Tara's sweet and innocent! Maybe she doesn't know about the Scooby world. Maybe, maybe she's just a witch, maybe we could still be friends. Ha! We're a vampire! A monster! We eat her kind to survive. You think she wants to be friends with something that might eat her? Your old friends abandoned you because of what we are! Why would she do anything different! Because..because...' The redhead slumped against the tree behind her. ' Your right. Beside I'll probably never see her again anyways. '
The thought of that made vampire's non-beating heart ache like it had been torn out. She was just about to start walking away when her sensitive hearing picked up a faint scream, Tara's scream. Rose was running before Willow even realized her feet were moving.
***
Tara knew of the dangerous night life of Sunnydale. Though she wasn't close friends with Buffy and the others she had learned long ago if she sat silently and still, others forgot she was there and didn't censer their talk. She knew all about Buffy being the Slayer, and Giles being her Watcher. But as of yet Tara had never had to face a real vampire, until now.
The blond scream in fright, but even as she did she was raising her hand, multiple fire spells racing through her mind. One of the vampires that had tried to approach her from behind grabbed onto her arm. Tara removed a stake that was hidden in her clothes and staked him. The vampires stared at the pile of dust that was once one of their own.
"Big mistake little girl." The lead vampire, who looked to once have been a football player, growl menacingly at her. Tara swallowed hard as she kept twisting around with her hand out stretched, never letting any one vampire get close to her. "You can't keep this up forever witch, and we don't tire out, do we boys!" The lead demon chuckled. The other vampires laughed as they continued circling.
Suddenly and screeching howl, like a banshee, cut through the air as a red and black blur slammed into one of the larger vamps. Rose sat up and snapped the vampire's neck with a snarl. The redhead stood up and glared at the three remaining demons as the body below her poofed, dust rising up to cling to the girl's legs.
The leader glared right back. "This is our kill Rose, back off!" The redhead heard Tara gasp and the spark let the demon have full control as fury built inside of her.
"Leave." She spat out. Rose went from shaking from the rage within her to calmly standing, arms hanging gently at her sides.
"No. Why do you care? Finally want to try innocent blood?" The demon threw the redheaded vampire a look of disguise. "Hah! Go back to your wretched Rose, this one ours."
Rose's demon snarled at the insult and growled out "Leave now, or die."
"No. The bitch killed one of mine. I'm going to turn her. She'll make a great toy as a lowly fledge." The vampire smirk.
Rose smirked right back, only her's look much more deadly. "Die it is." Her hand shot out and the leader found himself picked off his feet by an invisible hand around his throat. He kicked and struggled but could break free, thankfully air wasn't an issue. With a flick of her wrist Rose tossed the leader fifteen feet away.
She then turned, grabbing the punch one of the demon's threw at her. Rose ducked under his arm and pulled his hand up behind his back. She didn't stop until her heard a satisfying crunch and the vampire screamed in pain. The redhead conjured a stake the appeared floating before the demon. The stake shot threw him piercing his heart before dissolving, the vampire following suite shortly after.
One of the remaining demons nailed a solid punch to the cheek knock the redhead to the ground. The other proceeded to kick her in the rib as hard as he could. The redhead vampire was flung up into a tree branch, breaking it off as both crashed to the ground. The vampire
"Hey!" Tara shouted from behind them. A rock hitting one of the vampires in the back of the head accompanied the shout. The both turned to look at the blond, another rock in hand.
"Rocks don't hurt us girl!" One vampire snarled.
His buddy smacked him in the arm as he rubbed his head. "The hell they don't!" The vamps glared at each other and growled.
"Umm. H-hello?" Tara tentatively interrupted.
"What?!?" Both barked at her.
"Catch." Tara tossed the rock at them. They both catch it on reflex.
Tara softly spoke. " Rocca sol. " The rock rapidly began heating up while at the same time starting to glow. The goons tossed it between themselves like a hot potato before finally the vampire Tara had hit in the head threw it at his buddy and dived for the safety of the bushes. No sooner was he clear then the rock bursted into a blinding miniature sun, turning the demon to dust.
As the light faded Tara didn't get a chance to think about her accomplishment in a new spell for she was grabbed in a bear hug from behind. The lead vampire had made his way back and now held the blond in a crushing hold.
"You die now witch!" he began to lower his fangs towards her neck when an enrage bellow drew his attention. The remaining vampire had stumbled from the bushes as was staggering towards them, but behind him Rose rose to her feet, the Tree branch in hand. With a bellow of rage she thrusted the jagged broken end of the branch into the vampire's back. He turned to dust as she stumbled forward towards Tara and the lead vampire.
"Let. Her. Go." Each word was bitten off with pain.
The demon hissed and turned back to the blond's neck. Tara, however, went completely dead weight, surprising the vampire enough to loosen his vice-like hold. She then rammed her elbow into the vamp's groin with all her strength. Letting out a high pitch squeak of pain the vampire released his hold altogether and Tara duck and rolled away from him. The was enough for Rose.
Hissing in pain she heaved the branch at the demon a shouted. " Infernus Stella!" The branch pierced the vampire's stomach and he stagger. However from deep inside an inferno started, slowly burning away the demon from the inside out. It gained in power and brightness as he scream and howled, rolling on the ground. Rose pulled herself up from the ground and ducked behind the tree as his cries of torment reached a climax, the vampire bursting with light and fire from the inside.
As dust showered down on her, Tara rose to her feet looking for the redhead. Running to the tree she found the vampire gone. Intensely she searched the ground finally sighing in relief when she found no pile of dust.
' Why am I happy about t-this? She's a vampire. She evil. R-right? But she walked me to the campus, and, and she came to my r-rescues. Why? Why d-did she save me? ' The blond frowned. She had in her bouts of eves dropping had heard all about the enigma that was 'The Rose'. She knew Rose use to be one of Buffy's and Xander's friends. ' "Ok yeah, I hung around my friend Xander and his comic books too much." It makes sense now. Willow is Rose. R-rose is a vampire, so Willow is a vampire and n-not to be trusted. But I feel like I can trust her c-completely. Like she'll never hurt me. She's evil. Like I am evil? Or w-will be? Maybe, maybe there's hope, for me, f-for us both... ' The blond looked into the shadows and whispered. "Thank you Willow." She slowly made her way back to her dorm hall. 'I wonder if I'll see her again? ' She belated realized the redhead had ran off a second time without her jacket. Tara smiled and snuggled into the leather that smelled faintly of rosemary and sandalwood and smile.
TBC...?
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