Everything happening around her was a blur of movement and distant screams.
She could vaugely hear Lettie Mae's dramatic cries and broken pleas, begging "oh please jesus help my babay girrrrl!". She wasnt sure how she felt about what had transpired between them a few moments ago, she definitely was not ready to forgive the woman by any means, but she wasnt about to let her die. No she would get her and Willa out of here and take Lettie Mae home.
The big bald h-vamp sped towards her grabbing her by the throat with both hands. His weakend state gave her the upper hand strengthwise given he was atleast a few decades older and his blind hunger blurred his judgement because Tara immediatley brought both her hands in between his arms and broke his grip around her neck and delivered a knee to his face, knocking him on his ass. She looked around frantically as he recovered, for something to use as a make shift stake. Apparently he had the same thing in mind because when she looked up he was hurling his body in her direction with a peice of a broken barstool in hand.
She attempted to dart to the left but before she had a chance he was on her again pinning her in the dirt with the stake held high above her chest. "You shoulda listen to yo mama little one" he taunted and Tara sneered. Before she could open her mouth to tell him to fuck himself sideways, his face contorted and he was frozen for a split second and then he exploded in to bits of blood and gristle all over Taras lap. What the fuck?!
Her mother was screaming again. She distantly heard a loud siren and the remaining h-vamps began to flee. She knew she should be gathering Willa and Lettie mae and fleeing as well but she was frozen. Paralyzed. Her world had been rendered eerily still by the sight of her savior. Standing just a few feet away from her, blood soaking her body and face, was her maker.
For a moment the two women just stared at one another. Tara was still in shock at the sight of her, given the fact that she had long since given up hope she might return to her. She had been fairly certain that the day she watched the blonde fly off into the bright Louisiana sky over six months ago would be the last time she saw or even heard from the woman.
Pam was silent and still. She had thought about this moment in very intricate detail for months. Now that it was happening however she had no ideas what to do or say to her childe. She could feel Taras emotions beating in her chest via the bond they shared .There were alot of them and not too many were pleasant. Shock and confusion were the most prominent, anger and hurt following closely behind.
"Hi." Pam breathed cautiously.
In an instant a mature looking Willa sped to Tara's side in a panic. "Tara...are you okay?" She breathed, then her eyes widened as she followed Tara's greif stricken gaze and let her eyes land on her estranged vampire sister. "Pam?!" Willa murmured looking dumbfounded.
"In the flesh" the older vampire managed to rasp, tossing aside the sharp ended branch responsible for her progeny's attackers messy demise and smoothing her hand down the material of her ruined shirt. She started towards them, briefly acknowledging Tara's terrified mother who was leaning against the bumper of a blood spattered caddilac, when Tara sped to her feet and turned to Willa.
"Im gonna make sure Lettie Mae gets home safe, I want you to get your shit and head straight to the house, got it?"
Shocked by her indifference Willa started to protest but Tara cut her off. "GO Willa, now!"
The girl started obediently towards the entrance to the bar and grill to retrieve her purse and then ran off towards Shreveport.
Tara turned to Lettie Mae then, purposely avoiding Pams piercing stare and hurriedly helped the shaking woman to her feet.
"Cmon mama im gonna take you home." Tara assured her but she pulled out of Taras grip and addressed Pam. "You saved her!" Tara rolled her eyes. "You saved my baby girl, are you a friend of Tara's?"
Pam looked like she would vomit if she could. She looked at the woman, ready to introduce herself, when her progeny cut her off.
"She's nobody." Tara said venomously, her words so full of hate and brutality they effectively stunned Pam into silence once more. Tara got a decent grip on her mother and sped off towards the church in Bon Temp where her Lettie Mae and Reverend Daniels resided next door, leaving Pam standing in her cloud of dust.
Xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxXxxxxxxxxxxxx
Pam had known that this wasn't going to be easy. In fact she fully expected her progeny to go completely bat shit crazy on her both verbally and physically, and she had every intention of letting her.
But this was not what she had planned on. She figured Tara would have plenty to say to her upon her return and she was willing to stand in front of her and take every last insult and physical blow her progeny could deliver before attempting to explain herself to her bullheaded offspring. She hadnt expected however, for Tara to have no reaction at all.
She hadnt spoken a word to her. Other than the cold dismissal of her identity that is.
Tara was an exemplary vampire for her young age and she had surpassed even Pams high expectations long before she had been a mere month out of the ground. That being said she was still just that...young.
Pams progeny was brilliantly intelligent, beautiful, compassionate, and scrappy as hell in a fight, all very useful qualities in a great vampire and it made Pams life much easier when it came to raising her. She seemed to lack that annoying air of baby vampireness that always plauged new vampires, not going away for what seemed like decades, and for that, Pam was immensely thankful. She despised babies.
As smart as Tara was however, she was still very naive to alot of things that made up vampirism. She had no idea what it was like to be literally the other half of a whole for over an hundred years. One cannot just "let that person go" or " deal with it" . It takes time, even if the bond is severed. That being said Pam was aware that Tara would most likely not understand why she did what she did and went after Eric for many years to come, and she was ok with that. But she would understand someday. She would also forgive Pam. Probably not today, but she would eventually.
She had followed her progeny's scent for miles and was disgusted at where her nose had led her. She walked up the sidewalk and steps that lead to the front door of the small duplex appartment on the outskirts of Shreveport. She knocked twice. She wasnt surprised when it was Willa who greeted her on the other side of the door.
The younger vampire peered at Pam through the crack of the chained door with a nervous look on her face. Pam rolled her eyes.
"Willa I know she's here, open the fuckin door." Pam sighed. She was nervous enough to deal with Tara and she really was in no mood to argue with the "protective BFF baby vamp"
"I really think you should leave...she doesnt wanna talk to you..." the younger vampire said curtly, but with a slightly scared look on her face.
"Listen closely little one...I did not come here to argue with you or to hear your opinions about what you think I should or should not do in reguards to MY progeny...now open the door and step aside before I break this fucker down...comprende'? " Pam said in a low growl and Willa gulped. Just before she could say anything further, Tara's disembodied voice floated towards the front of the house. "Let her in" her progeny said in a monotone voice.
Pams stomach jumped at the sound and she was suddenly hit with extreme anxiety.
She shook it off and pushed past Willa and entered the small appartment through the newly unlocked door. She looked around for a moment. The place was in a shitty part of town but it was pleasantly quaint on the inside. There was a sectional suede couch and another chair in the corner all facing a flat screen television. The other walls had several bookshelves that were full of all sorts of literature. Still there was one thing missing...she looked around but didnt see Tara anywhere.
"Last door to the right...good luck." Willa stated plopping down onto one end of the couch, throwing her feet lazily over the top and turning on the tv. Pam grunted in response as she took an unnecessary breath and started down the small hallway to the room Tara was in. She could hear Willa turn up the volume on whatever program she had decided on.
By the time she got to the door to her progeny's bedroom her stomach was in complete knots. She was certain she had never been this nervous about anything in all her hundred and fourty years on earth. Her childes wild rage of emotions shooting through their bond definetly wasn't helping her.
She gathered what was left of her composure and brought her hand to the door to knock.
Her hand was left hanging in mid air when the door to the bedroom was jerked open revealing to her her seething progeny.
They stood on opposite sides of the door, their eyes locked. Their maker progeny bond was on fire with so many different emotions. Pam had yet to loosen her end since her return. She had kept ot tightly restrained over the last six months, mainly for her progeny's protection.
They stared at each other a few beats longer Taras expression cold and unforgiving while Pams was much softer void of any emotion.
"Well...you got somethin you wanna say?" Tara snapped . "Or did you fuckin follow me all the way here just to say hi again?!" She finished in a mocking tone. With that she turned on her heel and Stomped deeper into the room, stopping near a dresser crossing her arms with her back to Pam.
Pam entered without a word and closed the door behind her with a quiet snick.
She walked slowly to the other side of the room and leaned against the wall. She shook her head slightly as she studied her pouting child and wished she could wrap her arms around her and just hold her until the hurt went away. She knew, however, that even though she could feel Tara's emotions were not all hostile and angry, that any type of physical contact would be unwelcome at the moment, so she kept her distance.
"Ya know ...you really should be more cautious of the gatherings you attend." Pam stated. "An open buffet of humans outside in the middle of the woods is probably not a wise place to be with more than half the states vampire population is infected with the virus..." Tara shot her maker a glare. "Just sayin" Pam continued with a raised brow. "Your lucky I showed up when I did, you almost met the true death Tara." She finished with a shiver and looked at the floor.
"Wow." Tara sighed incredulously. "You've got to be joking. "
"Exuse me?" Pams eyes popped up.
"You fuckin heard me bitch!" Tara snapped. "I said wow." Tara turned all the way around to face her maker then.
"Last time i saw you, you flew off to chase your sulking asshole of a maker...who happens to be a thousand years old...just in case that slipped your fuckin mind...leaving me here, with nowhere to fuckin stay or go, and a two day old baby vamp to look after, but not before you threatened to release me if i protested, and now you think you can just swoop back in after six months and play maker, lecturing me and shit, acting like you give a holy fuck what happens to me?!" Tara ranted, clenching her fists at her sides, glaring murderously at Pam.
Pam looked at the floor for a moment trying to gather up a bit of the composure that she lost due to the sheer amount of venom in Taras words, before raising her head and locking eyes with her childe.
"Im not playing anything, this isnt a game Tara,, and I AM your maker...like it or not." Pam managed to get out before Tara cut her off again.
"My maker?!" Tara scoffed. "Oh please!" She laughed bitterly. "My maker has been MIA since I broke her ass outta jail and HER misogynistic fuck of a maker showed back up and turned her into some codependent battered bitch from a country song."
Pam pursed her lips. That one definitely hit below the belt, but she chose not to retaliate as she realized Tara was angry and had every right to be. No matter how badly the comments stung, she told herself she deserved all of it and was determined to remain calm and let Tara vent.
"Are you done?" She asked in an exasperated tone, her face morphing back to as stoic as possible.
"Go fuck yourself!" Was all she got in return and she rolled her eyes and pushed off the wall and began to approach her childe slowly.
She stopped just about a foot away from Tara And crossed her arms, she could feel how pissed her progeny was, and decided against touching her just yet.
"K...well when you are let me know...id like to explain myself, Im aware i dont deserve it, but I hope you'll give me a chance anyway." Pam murmured and she could feel Taras resolve start to crumble, though she remained silent. She reached out her hand and cautiously brushed Taras hair off her shoulder. Tara immediately slapped her hand away and spun around.
"DO NOT fucking touch me! She spat viscously rubbing the spot with her hand as if Pams touch had burned her.
Pam held her hands up in front of her in surrender and took a step back.
"Im sorry" she apologized quickly.
Tara just glared at her.
"Tara...Im sorry" she tried again, her words held a double meaning this time. She was apologizing for everything, for the last six months of pain, confusion, fear,and anxiety. For everytime Tara lay in her coffin at dawn, wondering if she would ever see her maker again, hear her voice, or smell her unique scent of lavender and vanilla bean, or feel her touch, the same touch she had recoiled from just moments ago.
Tara face softened a second, then immediately morphed back into a glare once she realized it happened.
Pam opened up her end of the bond then, and for the first time in six long months, she let her progeny feel her, all of her, half a year of emotions slammed into the younger vampire like a freight train and it nearly knocked her down, taking her metaphorical breath away.
Tara had turned her back on Pam again and she could feel the crimson tears stinging her eyes as she felt Pams onslaught of emotions rush through her. It was too much, she had finally started to feel normal again without the bond, and now she could feel Pam again. It was a strange feeling and it nearly broke her.
Then she felt her makers cool arms embrace her gently from behind and she lost it. She jerked around and shoved Pam as hard as she could. The blonde flew into the opposite wall and her head connected with it harshly cracking the plaster before she slumped to the ground, clutching her ribcage
She recovered quickly though, and was on her feet in front of Tara in a second. "GET THE FUCK AWAY!" Tara shouted, trying to will away the tears that threatened to fall.
"Tara...please." Pam begged, her own eyes rimmed with red. "NO!" Tara cut her off harshly,"I don't wanna talk anymore." She squeaked, her voice sounding defeated.
"Just leave me alone" she whispered weakly.
"No" Pam said determinedly. "I wont"
Tara shook her head and smiled bitterly. "why?"
"Because your mine, Tara." Pam said it with conviction but Tara scoffed at her maker.
"I belong to NOONE but myself..."
Pam sighed in exasperation. She put a hand on her hip and looked back at Tara, shaking her head as she spoke. "You wanna be pissed off for awhile?" Taras eyes dropped. "Thats fine, you can be pissed at me as long as you want, weve both got plenty of time." Pam said softly crossing her arms, her eyes staring holes into her progeny, who still wouldnt look at her.
"However, i refuse to stand here talking to myself." Pam said , struggling to scrounge enough heat into her words. She was gettimg nowhere with sympathetic, so perhaps bitchy would do the trick. "I know you have plenty to say to me, so fuckin say it!" "I came to apologize and try to fix things, not for you to ignore me."
Tara stomped over to Pam and got right in her face, so close that their noses almost touched. "Well then dear maker, feel free to get the FUCK out!" She sneered. "This...she spat, gesturing between the two of them, "theres no fixing this!"
Then she thought of something, and even though the thought of it terrified her, she chose to voice it.
"I want you to release me." She said with a shaky voice, her eyes cold and unforgiving as they bore into Pam.
Pam felt her own heart break instantly. It wasnt evem the fact that Tara had asked her to sever their bond that hurt, because she could feel that Tara didnt really want her too, it was the fact that she could feel what her progeny felt as she spoke. Fear. Fear that Pam would actually do it and leave her for good.
Pam didnt speak, she couldnt. She just looked past Tara and stared at the wall, desperately trying to fight of the tears welling up in her eyes.
"No" she managed finally after a moment.
"Do it." Tara whispered staring at the floor. "NOW!" She screamed suddenly.
"No." She said again, a little firmer this time. Tara looked absolutely crushed when she looked up at her, but her maker could feel the wave of relief that surged through her at the refusal.
"Why?"Tara asked quietly.
"Because I don't want to Tara, and I know you dont either." Pam tried to reason with her childe."I can feel that you dont want it." Pam explained and Tara kept her eyes down. "Can you feel me Tara?" She asked calmly. "Im here...okay?" "I came back, I hate myself for the way I handled things before, but I can't change what happened." Pam sighed.
"Please can we just talk about this calmly?"
For a moment the room was completely quiet and both vampires remained totally still, watching each other intently. Tara was the first to move her complete frustration getting the best of her. She let out a wild scream and threw her fist in the direction of her maker. It landed against Pams jaw and her head snapped sideways with the force and blood spurted from her busted lip.
The wound healed quickly and as Tara attempted to deliver another series of blows, Pam sped out of dodge and restrained her from behind, her arms locked in a death grip over top of Taras pinning them to her body.
"GET THE FUCK OFF ME! "LET ME GOOO" Tara screamed and growled, kicking her feet and arching her back, desperately trying to free herself from Pams grip., but her makers superior strength gave her the advantage.
"No," Pam spoke calmly, but keeping her grip on Tara firm. "I wont." Pam said softly, but firmly in her childes ear. "I will NEVER let go."
Tara kept trying to wiggle away, but she became less aggressive as she finally lost the battle she had been fighting with tears since she first layed eyes on Pam earlier that night. Crimson began seeping from her eyes and she began to sob quietly as her body went limp in her makers arms.
Pam pulled Taras body closer and hugged her tightly from behind.
"NOOOOOOO!" Tara wailed, the word drawn out and broken thanks to her sobs. "Let me go!" Pam just held her tighter. "Get off of me I hate you...!" Tara blubbered almost incoherently as she finally stop resisting completely and placed her hands on top of what she could reach of Pams arms and began to sob uncontrollably and Pam carefully lowered the both of them to the floor. For awhile they simply sat there, eventually Tara relaxed into her maker, and Pam let her cry. Soon her childs sobs slowed down a bit and she began to speak gently.
"Im sorry Tara" she place a soft kiss to her progenys hair.
Pam kept a tight grip on her child as she spoke, "The bond between a maker and their progeny is sacred, its more concrete than any marriage, stonger than any human bond, and deeper than any connection you could ever imagine." She whispered gently, but with conviction.
"It only gets stonger as the time goes by." She added carefully.
"I know it hurt you when I left, Tara, believe me, I felt every bit of it, and I cried myself to sleep many mornings wishing I could be here with you, to make it all go away, but Eric needed me, and he is my maker , and active bond or not, there is nothing in this world will ever change that." She said with a slighlty sad voice.
"Just like nothing in this world will ever change the fact that i am YOUR maker." She said reassuringly.
"He is my father...my brother, my friend...my hero."
Tara didnt say anything. She just stayed snuggled into Pam, but she was listening, hearing.
"Nothing and Noone will ever be able to replace him. Tara tensed a bit in her arms and Pam rubbed her back.
"You...Tara Thornton...are my progeny." She nuzzled the top of Taras head with her nose, Taking in her unique scent, an aroma she had missed immensely over the past few months. "My child, my sister, my friend, my daughter...my lover." She dropped a kiss onto Taras cheek and forehead with each declaration.
Tara was suddenly overcome with emotion again. Her heart swelled with the love and sincerity she felt from her maker, and she tilted her head up to look at Pam for the first
Time since she began speaking.
Pam gazed back at her lovingly and gently touched her cheek. "And NOONE could EVER replace you... they'd be stupid to try."
The tears that had briefly paused were streaming down Taras face again but instead of hiding her face like the last time she sucked in an unnecessary breath and smiled at her maker.
It was a small, weak smile, but it made Pams heart soar. She leaned in then, almost shyly and brushed her own lips to her childes quivering ones. It was nothing like the kiss they had shared at the authority, or the one on the beach, it lacked any heat but it was soft and sweet and slow, full of promise.
Tara was the first to pull away and she looked at her maker through teary eyes and began to speak finally.
"Im still pissed that you left me the way you did...i mean six months is a long time...you couldve let me know what the fuck was going on...this is 2011 ya know...cell phones and shit...but I do get why you did it I guess..."
Pam couldnt help but smirk a little, she was estatic that Tara was actually speaking to her rationally ,but she kept looking at her intently. "You do?"
"I mean...I still think you need to stop letting him walk all over you all the time, that shits more than a little fuckin ridiculous...but...hes is your maker...and...I guess...well I cant say I wouldnt have flown off and chased your ass around the world, had the situation been reversed." She admitted.
"If I knew how to fly, that is." Tara joked lightly.
The elder vampire readjusted her self so that her back rested more comfortably against the wall and pulled tara towards her so that she was bridal style in her lap.
"Youll be able to fly soon enough my dear." Pam assured her, "it runs in the family."
Suddenly Pams expression was serious again and she brought her hand under Taras chin and tilted her face upward so she was looking at her. "I need for you to understand something Tara."
"We are bound to each other by invisible ties for the rest of eternity, which in case you haven't realized yet, is a really long time." Tara arched a brow at her maker, but Pam continued on, "there are undoubtedly going to be times where we have to spend time apart, ideally this wont happen often, but it will happen, it is inevitable when were talking about forever, but I need you to know that no matter where either one of us are, no matter how many miles or continents seperate us, or whatever the reason may be that we have to be apart, you will NEVER , ever be alone Tara." Pam whispered gently stroking her progenys face again. "Im in your blood baby, and your in mine, forever." Tara peered up at her from where her head rested on her shoulder.
"I will always be with you Tara...always... right here." Pam took Taras hand and place it above her left breast where their bond was buzzing contently and placed her hand over Taras.
"Always"
XxxxxxxxxxxXxxxxxxxxx
Ok so I revised this chapter a little as well as posting another to make it seem more complete...hope yall like it...im off to work on my multi chap now reviews are appreciated! Muah