Promises are made to be kept. That was something that had been drilled into Tara from a very young age. Where she'd grown up a person was only as good as their word. Most of the families in the area had been living there for generations and after a while it became so that reputation and name meant more than a person's individual qualities. It was one of the reasons Tara never really had any friends growing up.
The Maclay legend had been perpetuated by years of hushed conversations and sidelong glances. The word "demon" was rarely used out of the Maclay household and the church, but it was not unheard of for mothers to warn their children about hanging around the Maclay girls. They'd just say that there was something…off about them. Something different.
As a child, Tara been quiet, shy, and tended to avoid crowds whenever she could help it. Not a lot changed as she got older, but as a kid she at least had her mother. If she had a bad day or if the teasing was too much or if her father said something to make her cry, she knew that all she had to do was crawl into her mother's lap and listen to her sing. Helena Maclay had a lovely singing voice and whenever Tara would hear it, she'd imagine that her mother was an angel sent down to comfort her. It made the days her father forced her to church bearable to be able to listen to her mother sing in the choir.
"Baby girl, whenever things get bad just remember that I love you," Helena would say to her daughter, "No matter what happens or what you do, I promise to always be there for you." Then she'd kiss Tara on the forehead or tuck her into her side and Tara knew without a doubt that she was safe.
In the end, it was the only lie her mother ever told her.
