A/N: Huge family issues, haven't been able to write a lot recently outside of them and school. Eternally sorry.
In apology, I will have the next chapter up in a day or two. Promise~.
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Tara felt around her hips, trying her best to map out the terrain of the alien planet. It had been annihilated by many months of war and pestilence, with famine spotting the horizons. Death had long since taken over the body, the four horsemen still rampant in triumph along the narrow, jutting peaks of her pelvic bone. She could feel them, tiny and invisible, moving beneath her skin like vile insects. There were days when she felt like jacking a pocket knife and popping the blade into her skin, freeing the beasts with tides of crimson.
Ages ago, the world had been full of life, with luscious bushes of hair tumbling from her head, generous hills of breasts, and a wonderful, soft tone enveloping her in its atmosphere. When vampirism struck, it had melted off like wax from a candle, fleeing from the passionate flame that could finally accomplish her goal of being noticed. She was left a marred, burnt wick, soot and ash all around her after burning over and destroying the house she had been left to.
Finally, something promising and full of life had reappeared in the distance. Past the char and smoke, there was a visible figure, a petite creature with flaming hair. Tara, despite all her willpower and strength, found herself a tiny kitten against Willow's might, which conquered and claimed her senses.
She had fled her reclusive shell in hopes of finding herself. She had truly discovered what she was, of course, but there was no way she could ever embrace it. Within the shell, she had burned bright with promise, but after the skeletal creature emerged, people recoiled in horror. Glowing eyes truly began to glow with an insatiable hunger. Her face was covered with an eternal scowl. The horsemen had been brought to the surface, hiding beneath a microscopic layer of skin and shining through.
War's rage glared out into the disappearing daylight, haunted and hungering for blood. Tara felt the shifting muscle beneath her skin, the docile human mask giving way to the vampiric face of Famine. Pestilence, weak with disease, would cough and sputter as the allergic reaction to the sunlight drove her back into her hole. So close to Death himself, Tara crawled back between the sheets, listening to her thoughts as she descended into madness.
0-0-0
She was dead. Long past revival. Tara, a stiff corpse, blinked in response to the light rapping at the door.
It quickly grew frantic, and a small scream jolted her to awareness.
The earth had finally finished its painful twist away from the sunlight, and Tara, free at last, burst from her cave. Whatever pathetic little shit had woken her up was about to save her from finally withering from existence, and she would hate them for not allowing her to die…
Willow.
Of course.
Tara grabbed the small redhead by the wrist and forced her into the room, shutting the door with unnecessary force. On the other side of the thin, rotting wood, Tara stood, feeling eyes peering out from the yellow-curtained window almost instantly.
Beneath her, the ground blinked in and out of exact distance, her head spinning. Tara rubbed at her eyes, glancing around again. No nuckelavee, skinned and grotesque, about to ingest her human, or rival vampire, about to get even for stealing his prize last week. Tara felt stupid, her shoulders slumping and a bored expression flashing to her features.
She turned, about to step inside, and felt something pop beneath her foot.
Her face twisted into disgust and she pulled her ratty socks away from the bloodied pulp of a dead frog. She blinked, thinking nothing of it, and stepped inside. "What the hell was the screeching for?" she asked, peeling her ruined clothing off.
"T-t-the frog!" Willow gasped, pointing at a portion of greenish skin sticking to the cotton fabric. "I hate those things!"
A day from dying forever, Tara burst out laughing like it didn't matter. "The frog? I just killed it. By stepping on it. Completely on accident."
"Yes! They're vile!" she retorted, going to hide beneath a pillow. "Throw it out!"
Tara did so without any teasing, going to sit beside the nimble human. She pulled the pathetic excuse for a brick from her face, going to pull her into a hug before pausing. Willow's face was red, a tear trickling down. "There's no reason to cry, dear."
"Yes there is," she mumbled. "I-I always have to look like a little baby. It was a damned frog and there was no reason for me to be scared or anything and now I look stupid in front of you and you'll never take me seriously again!"
Without thinking, Tara smudged the tear away and pulled the helpless person into a hug. "I'll take you seriously. If you're bleeding to death, or if you're pissed, or anything else. I promise."
The hostile tension Willow had dissipated immediately. She moved closer, sighing. "I'm overreacting?" she asked.
"Just a little," Tara replied, the smile in her voice evident. Maybe a lot, Tara kept the thought to herself. "Why are you over here?"
She waited patiently as Willow turned in her arms, wriggling out of the grasp very quickly. "I brought you some blood. It's actually human. You're lucky. There was a blood drive at the community center today, and this lady gave blood even though I'm sure she's got AIDS and all that nasty stuff, and I thought I'd bring it to you since Buffy once said vampires can never contract those because of how hostile the pathogens in your blood are and–"
Tara cut her off with a smirk. "You stole blood for me?" she asked, touched. Despite the fact that it was likely laced with STD's. She was right about the deadly chemicals and acids that ravaged any invading poison at the moment of contact, but the taste was… off. "That's so sweet."
Willow blushed lightly, squirming away and groped for the plastic baggie, pulling out a plastic container overflowing with red liquid. Her stomach lurched. She was so hungry. "Would you mind if I had a bit?"
"By all means," she said weakly.
Willow's eyes bugged as the vial, completely emptied, fluttered to the floor.
Tara, somewhat embarrassed wiped at the smudge of blood near her lip. "What do you have against this… however you pronounce her name?"
The small girl shrugged. "She was a bitch. One of Cordelia's friends. They kinda… pushed me around in school."
If I haven't felt that pain. "You're easy to read. That's how I pulled the mind-reading trick off, you know." There was a slight pause. "You remind me of a human me. Only… much braver."
Willow flushed again. "Brave? You, a vampire, just called me brave?"
Nodding, Tara shifted in her position and grabbed for the bag, stuffing the trash in and tossing it across the room. It fluttered down like a crisped fall leaf, deftly going limp. "You really are. Coming out here. Letting me in in the first place. You're, you know, extraordinary."
Silence filled the room. Willow moved closer, fluttering closer. She placed her head on Tara's shoulder. Tara shifted uncomfortably as her stomach growled again. "You're awesome. I wish there was a way I could feed you, all the time. Morally, that is."
Tara shuffled to open the curtains more, letting in the moonlight. "It's fine. This diet's not going to kill me."
"Yes it is," Willow interjected. "Vamps have to feed once or twice a day to stay healthy. Don't lie to me."
She shrugged. "I'm still here. That's all that matters."
"You're not eating me, are you?" There was an uncomfortable moment of silence. "You've got a dirty mind if that bothers you. Just so you know. And I've got a dirtier mind for thinking about it. I'm shutting up now."
Tara ducked her head, feeling something erupt in her cheeks. "I think I'm going to break into the hospital. Lots of dying people? Maybe end someone's suffering? Or the nursing home?"
"I feign ignorance to your plan. And unless you need anything else, I think I need to sneak out. You know, night's young, you've got some moral hunting to do… By the way, there's a butcher shop near the town square. Lots of blood, tons of animals. Pig, cow, whatever your choice is. If you want to really impress me. That is. Okay bye!"
Just like that, she was gone.
A/N: Sorry it's so short! New update soon!
