Chapter: 6

Atemu sat next to Tara in the room he was using at Miu's apartment. He was in a chair while Tara was lying in bed with a blanket over her. He slowly nodded off and his chin fell to his chest.

Dream…Atemu was surrounded by darkness. He felt pain, anger, sadness, and loneliness. "Hello?" He called.

The sound of a four-year-old girl crying rang through the darkness. "Mommy!" The little girl's voice sobbed. "Daddy! Mommy! Daddy!"

An image of two adults lying lifelessly on the ground appeared before Atemu. They were covered in blood and their eyes were black.

Atemu's eyes grew wide. "What in Ra's name?" He breathed.

Sekhmet appeared with a little girl. She was leering down at the little girl with a grin. "What is wrong?" She mocked.

The little girl stared up at the female sanguine vampire with moist, bloodshot, pure blue eyes.

Atemu stared in horror. "But…that is Tara!" He cried.

Sekhmet snatched little Tara up and sank her fangs into the four-year-old girl's neck.

Atemu's neck began to hurt. With a trembling hand, he gently touched his throat.

Sekhmet released young Tara and tossed her to the floor. Then she and the rest of the scene disappeared.

"…I wish I could see my guardian angel…" A little girl's voice whispered. The voice sounded about five years of age. "…I believe he's an ancient Egyptian…"

Another scene appeared but this time it was a six-year-old Tara wearing very old, worn out, and ragged clothes. She was filthy, but all the dirt could not hide her flawless features. She was scrounging around the garbage lying in the streets trying to find something to eat. She stopped suddenly and looked over to a small group of older kids.

Atemu looked too and felt confused.

Most were boys between the ages of ten to thirteen. There were three girls roughly the same ages of the boys. All glared at the six-year-old Tara with rocks in their hands. They also wore very old, ragged clothes but this was the hellish world they all lived in.

The young Nephilim looked worried.

"Go disappear, you freak!" The eldest, obviously the leader, shouted and threw a stone at Tara.

She dodged but was struck with another rock that was thrown. She dropped her knees, curled in a ball, and covered her head with her hands as the older kids continued to throw stones at her.

Atemu felt the impacts and did as Tara had done. He pinched his eyes shut and wished for it to stop. Their chanting dissolved in his ears. Then tears streamed down his cheeks uncontrollably. He wanted it to stop.

Screams and an animalistic roar replaced the chanting. Foot falls hurried away and everything became silent. …End of dream

Atemu awoke with sweat beading down his face and he was panting. He still felt the nonexistent bruises where the imaginary stones hit him. He looked at the present Tara and saw that she was still asleep. He caught his breath, reached over with one hand, and gently pushed her brown bangs from her delicate face.

She flinched and tensed as if he had struck her. Tears escaped her closed eyes.

The Pharaoh felt her sadness, and gingerly brushed away her tears. He wished he could do more for the brunet Nephilim. "I am sorry." He whispered. "I should have realized sooner." She had so much pain inflicted upon her. He thought. And Sekhmet was just the beginning of that pain. Now he knew that she was originally from this world, but was sent to another world.

His eyes ached and stung from the tears. The tears escaped and moistened his cheeks. He did not sleep at all, afraid to face another painful memory that belonged to Tara. But mostly he wondered about the little girl's voice, which he assumed was Tara's voice when she was much younger, and why she said, "…I wish I could see my guardian angel…I believe he's an ancient Egyptian…"