Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: All non-original characters herein belong to persons such as Joss Whedon,
Mutant Enemy, UPN, WB, etc, etc, etc, rather than me, myself and I. No compensation is
received by me, only the pleasure I take in writing it.
Distribution: The Mystic Muse http://mysticmuse.net
Please ask if you wish to archive and I will say "Yes!"
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Spoilers: Season 7 Same Time, Same Place
Author's Notes: A special thanks goes to CN Winters for her permission to use the Red Oyster Bar. Enjoy her most
excellent stories located at: CN's Caldron
Warning: Parts of this story contains scenes of extreme violence. Please do not read if you are underage or
could possibly be disturbed by it. You have been warned!
Pairing: Willow/Tara
Summary: Willow returns to Sunnydale from England and dreams of Tara with unexpected results.
Willow watched Buffy and Dawn stroll through the cemetery. The sisters were engaged in conversation, but Willow could hear no sound except for the wind rustling through the trees.
Buffy? Willow called soundlessly. Dawn?
The walking girls ignored the witch.
Willow felt danger rising from the Earth. She turned and ran ahead of the Summers sisters hoping to head off the threat.
Willow ran through the maze of headstones, trying not to trip. As fast as she ran the quicker Buffy and Dawn seemed to follow. She glanced back and whimpered in terror, realizing she could not prevent what was about to happen.
Willow put on a burst of speed, but a hand reached out from a grave and grabbed her ankle. Willow crashed to the ground.
She tried to catch her breath, but was assailed with a horrible stench oozing from the creature crawling its way out of the grave. She recognized the thing from Buffy's description of the zombie-vampire. Willow wrenched her ankle free and crawled backward away from the thing. It followed Willow as it freed itself from its grave.
The vampire reached for Willow again and raised its yellowed eyes to meet Willow's.
"Sire!" it whispered.
Willow screamed.
"Willow!"
Willow gasped for air and sat up, clutching the blanket under her. She looked at Tara, kneeling next to her and holding her shoulders.
"Tara?"
"Shhh," Tara said and pulled Willow in for a hug. "You're awake. It's okay."
"Buffy! Dawn! They're in danger!"
Tara laughed. "Of course they are. They live in Sunnydale."
"No! You don't understand!" Willow said, pushing back to look at Tara. "They need me."
Tara gave her a serious look, but her eyes were still full of glee. "Willow, my love. We're a long way from Sunnydale, so unless you're planning on teleporting us back to there, then we're stuck here until our business is finished."
"Tara…"
"Willow, do you want to use a spell to get us back to Sunnydale?"
Willow sighed. "No, I'm not ready…no."
"Fine, then," Tara said and let Willow go as she stood up. "Get dressed, sweetie. As good as you look sitting there – good enough to eat, actually – we really must be going."
Willow ran a hand over her face to clear the confusion. She looked at Tara who was clearing up the remains of their nocturnal picnic. Her connection with the vampire was strong and even though she had created Tara and was technically her "sire" in vampire-lingo, Willow didn't think she had enough control over Tara yet to prevent her from wanting to do violence to her family. However Willow believed she was strong enough to stop Tara from doing violence, if it came to that. Tara was powerful, but her magic had been based in light and the vampire had not yet had time to match Willow's level of experience. Tara might be able to manipulate Willow's emotions with ease, but when it came to magic, she just an amateur.
"My clothes?" Willow asked.
Tara threw a bundle into Willow's lap as she passed on her way to the van. Willow dressed quickly and folded the blanket she had been sitting on. Tara grabbed it from her, threw it into the van and closed the door.
"Come on," she said taking Willow's hand and leading them along the horse trail that ran parallel to the creek.
"Don't we need light?" Willow asked.
"No," Tara said brightly. "I can see just fine."
Willow sighed again, dreading the events to come. She had no idea what Tara was planning. Willow had only met Tara's family once and she had always respected Tara's reluctance to speak about her pre-college life. Goddess knows, Willow thought, she had little to do with her own family after she left home and her parents still lived right there in Sunnydale.
Willow saw a dim glow ahead as the trail turned away from the tree-lined creek.
"That it?" she asked.
"Yes," Tara said. "Home, sweet home."
"Tara, what's going to happen?"
"We're going to visit. They should just be sitting down to dinner right about now, but don't be disappointed if they don't invite us to join them."
"Dinner?" Willow said. "A little late for that, isn't it?"
"Maybe for other families, especially out here in the sticks, but not mine," Tara replied.
Willow looked at her in the dim light. She could see the gleam in Tara's eyes and the reflection from the stars off her very white teeth.
"Why?" she asked.
"Oh, that was a courtesy to me!" Tara said and pulled her along. "By the time I finished with the horses and cleaning out the stables, it was late to be starting dinner. Dad and Donny would very patiently wait until I had it served. I imagine they have cousin Beth serving them these days. Poor thing was always too stupid, even to know when to get out."
Willow shook her head at the mock sympathy in Tara's voice. "You mean they just sat around while you did all the work?"
"Uh huh," Tara said. "By the time I'd finish serving them and cleaning up, it'd be nearly midnight. That's the only time I had to free to do homework."
"They didn't care about your schoolwork?" Willow asked, shocked.
Tara let go of Willow's hand to open a small gate leading through a wooden fence. "Nope," Tara said, the cheer never leaving her voice. "The only reason I was allowed to go to school at all was because the truant officers would come by if I missed more than a couple of days. Dad figured I'd flunk out eventually and they'd stop coming around." Tara waited for Willow to walk through the gate and then carefully closed it behind her.
"How'd you manage to get to UC-Sunnydale?" Willow asked.
"Mother," Tara said, taking Willow's hand again and leading her along the path past a large, but obviously decrepit barn. "Before she got sick and when this was a profitable ranch, she managed to squirrel away a small trust fund for me. Dad couldn't touch it, as much as he tried."
"So when you turned 18, you took off for Sunnydale?" Willow asked.
Tara nodded. "For 18 years they told me I was half demon," Tara said as they reached the house. She looked at Willow, allowing her long bangs to cover her face in that shy look that Willow remembered so well. However, Willow could see the wicked gleam of Tara's grin. "And now, the demon's come home."
The house was an old, two-story ranch house that had seen several years since its last whitewash. A low-watt yellow light dimly glowed by the front door. A wooden deck ran around the perimeter of the house and Willow stopped at the bottom step.
"Tara, wait," Willow said as she looked up at Tara standing on the riser above her. "It's late, and they're probably not even home. I mean, we shouldn't just barge in like this, it's rude to not call beforehand and…and…we don't even have any presents! How can we visit without bringing presents! That's the height of rudeness!" Tara allowed her to ramble on a moment longer. "And besides, you're supposed to be dead! The police…they would have…"
Tara laughed, "Oh, I already took care of that, my love." Tara held up a small bundle of herbs that Willow recognized immediately.
"Oh…" Willow said in a small voice. "They won't remember you were killed."
"Nope, we don't want a little thing like that spoiling our fun, now do we?"
"Tara…" Willow began. "I can't…" Willow was unable to complete the sentence as her thoughts tumbled around in her head like marbles in a glass jar rolling downhill. What if she couldn't stop Tara? What if things got out of control? What if she got out of control again? She had worked so hard with the coven in England to control her magic. She was terrified of losing it again. And if she stepped through that doorway and Tara did something to her family, then Willow would be just as guilty as the vampire. More guilty, in fact. She had created Tara and was responsible for everything that Tara did.
"Willow," Tara said and squeezed her hand in reassurance. "I promise you I won't force you to do anything you don't want to do. I just want you here with me tonight. Okay?"
Willow looked into the dark blue eyes flecked with gold from the porch light. She felt like she was standing at the edge of a precipice. If she went into that house and bad things happened…Willow was afraid to complete the thought. On the other hand, if she didn't go into that house, bad things would surely happen. Maybe could prevent whatever Tara was planning. Willow decided. She nodded and followed her lover.
Tara went to the front door and knocked brightly. The door opened a few moments later by a worn, tired-looking girl with blond hair pulled back in a ponytail. Several greasy strands had escaped the rubber band.
"Cousin B-B-Beth!" Tara stuttered. Willow looked at her sharply. Tara's stutter had almost ceased completely by the time of her death and Willow had yet to hear the vampire stutter. Then she realized why Tara was pretending – she needed an invitation.
"Tara!" Beth cried. "You're back!"
Tara nodded. "Yes, I am! Can we c-c-come in?"
"We?" Beth asked.
"You r-r-remember Willow, d-d-don't you?" Tara pulled Willow into the light from the doorway.
"Willow?" Beth said, her eyes narrowing. "Did she drive you back?"
Willow stood there silently, understanding Beth's confusion. The poor girl was so desperate for Tara's return to release her from her drudgery that she was willing to grasp at straws. Willow remembered her intense dislike of Tara's cousin from the time they met in Sunnydale and resented the bullying tone in her voice. She hoped the girl would stop her whining and not let them in.
"Beth, it's c-c-cold out here," Tara scolded. "Let us in."
Beth hesitated a moment longer and then opened the door wide. "Oh, alright, come in. But don't get Uncle upset, he's already in a bad mood and you know what that means."
Tara stepped through the door and Willow followed. "Big mistake, girly," Willow said to the girl as she passed. Beth's brow wrinkled in confusion.
The living room was clean, but like the rest of the house, shabby. Willow guessed it hadn't seen new furniture since Tara's mother was alive. The ceiling was vaulted, with the second story bedrooms running around the opening of the large area, giving it a wide open feel it really didn't have. To Willow, the house looked like a typical southwestern lodge, complete with moose head above the fireplace.
Beth led the way down a hallway and into the dining room. Over Beth's shoulder, Willow immediately recognized Tara's father and brother sitting at the table.
"Beth? Who was at the door?" Tara's father asked.
"Uncle!" Beth said trying to be enthusiastic, but Willow could hear the fear in her voice. "It's Tara!"
"Tara?" Mr. Maclay said and stood up.
"Tara!" Donny also stood up, so fast his chair fell over.
"Hello, boys!" Tara said and strolled into the room pushing past Beth. Willow slowly entered the dining room. She realized that at one time it probably was a warm and comfortable room to share fuzzy moments with family and friends, but time and neglect had taken its toll.
Mr. Maclay looked first at his daughter who flopped down in one of the chairs at the table and then at Willow, standing near the door. Beth moved around the room to stand in a darkened corner, as if to hide herself from any further attention. Donny just stared at his sister with a stupid expression on his face.
"Tara," Mr. Maclay said and Willow remembered the stern tone of his voice. "Why is she here?"
Tara picked up a butter knife from the table and began to twirl it around. "You remember Willow, Dad."
Willow knew the stutter was gone from Tara's voice forever.
"Yes," Mr. Maclay said. "I remember her from that…demon store. She was one of them…those people…witches, demons, degenerates!"
Tara laughed. "Those people, as you call them, were my true family, but Willow is so much more than that. Aren't you Sweetie?"
Willow ignored the hand that Tara held out for her. "Mr. Maclay, a lot has happened since you last saw Tara. She's not the same person she was. Perhaps you should be a bit more careful with your words?"
Mr. Maclay scowled at her. "I don't need some freak witch telling me how to handle my daughter. Now, why don't you just leave? Thank you for bringing Tara home, but we are her blood kin and we don't need interference from outsiders. Donny?"
Donny moved towards Willow, but she stopped him with a dark look. "Touch me, hick boy and you'll never touch anything else again."
Tara chuckled. "I wouldn't try it if I were you, brother. You should see the last guy who messed with her. Not a pretty sight."
"Tara!" Mr. Maclay began. "If you have not come to your senses and have come home for good, then why are you here?"
"It's time you answered for Mother," Tara said and Willow shivered at the tone of her voice.
"Your mother?" Mr. Maclay began. "What are you talking about? She's long gone."
Tara nodded. "Long gone, perhaps, but she didn't have to be. Did she?"
"Your mother died from cancer!"
"Yes, but where were the doctors? Where were the treatments?"
"Tara you know we didn't have the money for that!" Mr. Maclay protested.
"That's not true, and even if it was you had resources. You could have sold some land, perhaps even worked a bit harder and earned some money for insurance. There were also government and state agencies that could have helped."
"No!" he said, emphatically. "We don't need outsiders. We take care of our own. We always have and always will!"
"But that's just it, Dad," Tara said and tossed the knife back on the table as she slowly rose from the chair. "You didn't take care of your own. Whenever she could get an appointment with a doctor I had to drive her, you were always too busy doing nothing to do it. The only reason she lasted as long as she did, was because of the magic we were able to do, but she was so weak and I was so young and only one person. She needed more."
"She didn't need that evil magic of yours!" Mr. Maclay said advancing on his daughter. "If anything, that only hastened her end! And ensured she's now burning in hell!"
Tara jumped towards her father and grabbed the man by the throat, demon face bulging in anger. She flung him against the wall and hissed in his face, "Which is where you'll be before this night is over, Dad!"
Donny rushed past Willow on his way to his father's aid, but Willow reached out a hand and grabbed him by the arm. He spun around and raised the other hand to strike her, but then it stopped in midair, his eyes bulging in terror.
"Wha…?" Donny whispered staring into Willow's black eyes.
"What did you do?" Willow demanded. "You bastard, what did you do to her?"
Tara looked at her lover from where she was holding her father against the wall. "Why don't you take a look, my darling?"
Willow looked into Donny's frightened eyes as his pupils grew wider and wider until Willow felt like she was falling through them into another dimension. She watched through Donny's eyes as the stuffing from a teddy bear gleefully flew about a small, little girl's bedroom. She looked up and saw a weeping Tara, no more than 6 years old, her dirty blond hair falling across her face as she tried to put the stuffing back into her other shredded bears.
Willow held up a small pen knife in her dirty boy's hand and growled, "Shut up or I'll put your eyes out like this!' She took the knife and with two quick flicks cut the eyes off of the bear she was holding.
"No, Donny. Please!" Tara begged as Willow reached for another bear and laughed at her sister.
"Don't you tell, Tara! Don't you dare tell!"
Fast forward, this time to a beautiful spring day as she raced along, the horse beneath her straining as she urged it faster by smacking its flank with the crop she was holding. She laughed as the wind brushed against her face and she saw Tara on her own horse trying to outrun her. Tara looked back in terror as Willow quickly gained, realizing she had no chance on the smaller mare.
Willow raised the crop as she drew even with Tara and brought it down across Tara's back in a vicious swipe. The young girl, not even a teenager yet, cried out in pain, spooking her horse who, already panicking from the chase, spun off quickly, causing Tara to lose her seat. A moment later, the girl crashed to the ground and the mare raced off.
Willow slowed her horse and brought it around in a big circle to where Tara lay on the ground, clutching her arm. Willow could see it was bent at an unnatural angle.
"Donny, help me," Tara begged.
Willow laughed. "Don't you tell, Tara! Don't you dare tell!"
She yanked on her reins and turned away from the weeping girl, leaving her to make her own way home.
Fast forward, this time walking into the barn to look for Tara to tend to their mother who had asked Willow to fetch a cool drink. Willow resented the whining old woman and hoped she'd hurry up and die already.
Over the sound of the cicadas buzzing in the dry heat and the soft murmur of the horses, Willow heard another sound, one she did not recognize right away. But then she heard a soft girlish giggle coming from one of the empty stalls and strode over to it, kicking through the loose hay with her boots.
She threw open the stall's door and there, pressed up against the rear of the stall, her head thrown back in passion, was her sixteen-year-old sister. Holding Tara upright, hands working their way under her sister's tee shirt was the Forrester girl, her dressage blouse unbuttoned and her lips pressed to Tara's neck.
The girls froze in place, unable to move as Willow laughed at the sight. "Well, lookit this!"
"Donny! N-n-no!" Tara begged.
"Oh Tara, this is gonna be so much fun!"
Willow flashed quickly through events, from sharing the gossip at school until it reached Mr. Forrester's ears, who pulled all of his horses from the ranch to gleefully watching her father as he dragged Tara into the barn away from the prying ears of her dying mother and mercilessly beat the girl with the horse whip for losing them their biggest source of revenue to joining in with her friends in the endless daily torment that was Tara's high school life.
Fast forward, this time again walking into the barn to look for her sister. It was nighttime, with the few remaining horses quiet in the early evening and the only sound the soft swish, swish of the broom and Tara's gentle weeping for their mother, barely cold in the ground.
Tara looked up at Willow, wiping a hand across her face to dry her tears. "W-w-what?" she asked.
"Dad and I are gettin' hungry, girl. Ain't you done yet?" Willow said, strolling over and peering in the wheelbarrow where the used hay from the stalls waited to be rolled out to the compost pile.
"N-n-not yet," she said. "S-s-soon."
"Well, what the hell is taking so long?" Willow snarled. "Not like we've got a barn full of horses here to take care of. Not since you and your little friend scared 'em all off."
Tara hung her head, her face flaming red in the fluorescent overhead lights.
"Things have gone all to hell cuz of you, Tara!" Willow yelled, walking up to Tara and yanking the broom from her hand. "First you chase off all of Dad's boarders, then Mom dies and we're left with no insurance and a pile of funeral bills and now Dad has to spend good money to get that trust fund of yours released."
"N-n-no!" Tara said, looking at Willow with determination. "That's for c-c-college. Mother wanted m-m-me to go to college."
Willow sneered. "You ain't goin' nowhere! You know they don't let demons into college."
"I'm n-n-not…" Tara began, but stopped as Willow backhanded her across the face.
"Don't you sass me, girl! You know damn well I have every right to put you down," Willow warned.
"Donny, p-p-please," Tara begged. "I just want to f-f-finish my chores and go to bed."
Willow grunted. "Yeah, I bet you do. Tell me, Tara, you missing that girlfriend of yours?"
Tara remained silent, hidden behind her bangs, a small trickle of blood dripping from her cut lip.
"Know what you need Tara?" Willow said, reaching for her sister. "You need guidance. You need someone to control that demon of yours, with its unnatural tendencies."
"Please, just l-l-let me f-f-finish and I'll g-g-get dinner r-r-ready."
"Not right now, Tara! It's lesson time!" Willow brutishly pushed Tara into the same stall she had found Tara with the Forrester girl. Tara tripped over the sill and fell heavily, striking her head on the bare boards.
Willow stalked into the stall and dropped to her knees, straddling her sister. She pulled out her buck knife from its sheath at her belt and smoothly cut away Tara's tee shirt, revealing the girl's full and lush breasts.
Tara, stunned from the blow to her head, struggled weakly, but Willow laughed at her efforts and held both of Tara's hands in her strong grip of one hand, as she pressed the point of the knife to Tara's throat with the other.
"Don't you fight me, girl!" Willow snarled into Tara's face, hot breath brushing back Tara's bangs. "I'll stick this knife in you faster than you can realize. And don't think anyone would blame me for killing a demon. Everyone knows how evil and disgusting demons are. You should be grateful!"
"No, Donny, please!" Tara begged
"Shut up, demon!" Willow snarled and stuffed the torn shirt into Tara's mouth, cutting off her cries.
Willow cut at Tara's jeans and panties with the knife, then tossed aside the shredded garments. Tara struggled, and Willow smacked the blond across the face again, slamming Tara's head into the floor, stunning her nearly unconscious.
Willow fumbled at her belt and jeans until she was able to free herself and then roughly shoved Tara's legs open. She lowered herself and brutally entered Tara, ignoring the girl's faint whimpers through the gag.
"Goddamn demon," Willow grunted, thrusting into Tara again and again. "It's all your fault! Everything is your fault! Think you're gonna get out of here and go to college? I don't think so! I don't care how smart you think you are, you ain't going nowhere! You're gonna stay right here and take care of Dad and me the rest of your life. We're the only ones who can control your demon, girl!"
Willow thrust a final time and screamed as her climax ran through her body. She collapsed on the semi-conscious girl under her and rested a moment, catching her breath, ignoring the weeping girl.
Finally, Willow got up, adjusted her clothing and said to the naked girl huddled on the floor of the horse stall, "Don't you tell, Tara. Don't you dare tell!"
Willow found herself staring into the frightened eyes of Donny Maclay. With a snarl of disgust she threw the young man aside. Tara was still looking at her, holding her father by the throat against the wall. Beth was sitting in the corner, huddled in fear. Nothing had changed, no time had passed.
"Did he know?" she asked the vampire, nodding toward Mr. Maclay.
Tara looked at her father and backhanded him with a vicious blow. The man crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Willow glanced at the man and could find no sympathy in her for him. All she felt was the rage that was filling her being.
"Of course he did," Tara said, a note of cheer in her voice, but the demon face still visible. "He's the one who found me in the stable, naked, crying and Donny's cold spunk mixed with my blood all over the floor. I had to clean it up the next day."
"He did nothing to this piece of garbage?" Willow looked at Donny who was trying to crawl out of the dining room on his hands and knees. "Contineo!" she said and raised her hand. Donny froze in place.
Tara smirked. "Donny said my demon tempted him, forced him to do what he did. Dad punished him by taking away Donny's car privileges for a week. After that, everything was back to normal."
"Oh Tara," Willow whispered. She went to Tara, who hugged the redhead in a fierce grip.
"Tara, I'm so sorry. Why didn't you do anything? Go to the authorities? Run away?"
Tara shrugged. "The authorities around here are very similar to those in Sunnydale; they turn a blind eye on family squabbles. As for doing something, well, Mother taught me that all things come back in time. Karma would take care of Donny's crime and Dad's indifference."
Willow leaned in to give Tara a deep kiss, marveling at the new sensation of the vampire's fangs against her lips. Willow broke the kiss and looked into Tara's yellow eyes. She understood now. Tara was still manipulating her, but Willow accepted it and embraced it. Leaving Sunnydale and coming to this house was only an inevitable step in the journey she had begun the day Tara was murdered. The horrors that Tara had suffered at the hands of her family needed an answer and Willow was willing to provide it. When it came to Tara, the rage could not be denied.
"What do you think?" Tara asked, the knowing smirk on her lips pulling them into a pout.
"Karma's here," Willow said, and turned to Donny. "Come on, hick boy. Willow's got a special treat for you. Want you to meet someone special." Donny jerked to his feet, and moved toward the doorway like a puppet on a string.
"What about her?" Willow asked, pointing to Beth.
"Poor thing," Tara said. "I'm afraid the lights are on, but no one's home. Don't worry, I won't hurt her, but I want her to see the ending of what she's been a part of all these years. She knew what went on here, she blamed me for it and for her sorry lot in life."
Willow recognized that Beth was beyond help and turned back towards Donny.
Tara grinned. "I need to fetch some things of Mother's from the attic. Don't start without me."
"I won't," Willow promised. "It'll take a bit for him to get here. Don't be long, though. I wouldn't want you to miss the show."
Tara laughed, "I wouldn't miss it for all the blood in the Red Cross!"
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