Chapter: 7

Tara woke up and found herself in an unfamiliar room. She saw Atemu with his head tilted back as he sat still in a chair. She closed her eyes, trying to pretend that she was asleep, and sighed.

Atemu tipped the chair onto the back legs and rocked it back and forth. He had been awake all night staying with Tara. He was exhausted and he still felt the physical pain from Tara's memory. He let the chair fall back to all fours and lifted his head up.

Tara sat up abruptly, swung her hand, and slapped him across the face without any warning.

Atemu was knocked out of the chair from her inhuman strength and hit the floor with a loud and audible THUD. He was dazed as he heard the chair fall and Tara on her feet.

She picked up her katana and tied it to her belt. "I'm wasting time." She murmured bitterly.

Atemu regained his thoughts and scrambled to his feet. Just as Tara was struck with an agonizing feeling in her chest and fell, he caught her.

Tara's heart had stopped unexpectedly, and she was going to need blood. She could hear Atemu's heart beat, smell his sweet, strong cologne, and feel his worry coming off in waves. She could not risk losing control now. She shoved him away as her blue eyes turned crimson.

Atemu stumbled back a few steps. "We need to get you to a hospital." He said.

"No." Tara snapped as she glared at him. "They can't explain my unnatural heart murmur." She dropped her knees and clutched her chest over her non-beating heart. No. She thought. Any time but now. She groaned in agony. She bowed her head. Not now.

Unnatural heart murmur? Thought Atemu. He saw her crimson eyes. "Vampire." He breathed.

"I'm not a vampire." Tara spat. She let out another groan.

Atemu walked up to her, calmly, yet cautiously, knelt down, placed one hand on her shoulder, cupped her chin with his thumb and index finger and lifted her head up to look into her eyes.

Tara could see a powerful, ancient Egyptian Pharaoh in his amethyst eyes. She knew she could potentially drown in his gaze, so she averted her eyes. Her whole body began to tremble uncontrollably.

"Tara" Atemu whispered.

She tensed. She had often heard someone say "Tera" and she would have to correct him or her by saying, "TAR ah." She even had to correct the Japanese teachers, who somehow managed to mispronounce her name, by saying "TAH rah." This was the first time she had ever heard someone pronounce her name correctly.

"Tara." Repeated Atemu.

Tara looked at him with sadness.

The Pharaoh was handsome and he truly did look concerned for her. He was not going to harm her at all. In fact, he wanted to help her.

Tara closed her eyes, almost wanting him to kiss her. She felt his arms wrap around her and she felt him pull her in. She opened her eyes and knew how close she was to his neck. She felt the pain strike her chest again. She was hesitant on draining the Pharaoh.

Normally, she would drain someone's blood without a second thought if they were too close, but now it was different. She felt her emotions change every time Atemu was near her. She felt shy, calm, but always guilty.

"I am not going to stop you if you do." Atemu said softly.

Tara closed her eyes. "But you better make sure you do stop me when it gets to be too much." She warned.

Atemu nodded understanding and she sank her fangs into his neck. He flinched and tensed as he struggled not to scream. He clenched his teeth tightly together and screwed his eyes shut.

It hurt a lot more than when she had first bit him. The pain eventually subsided and left behind a twisted pleasure, completely opposite from his normal character. It made his grip loosen, but he still tried to not let out a noise—like a groan.

Tara finally released his neck, opened her eyes, and slipped free from his hold. Her crimson eyes changed back to pure blue. She stood and left the room.

Atemu's head was swimming for what felt like endless hours. When he regained all his thoughts, he slowly rose to his feet and went to the bathroom. After finding bandages, he hid his wound with a band-aid and covered it with his black collar. He wanted to protect Tara, despite her dark and lonely attitude.

Most of all, he wanted to save her from a dark hole that she has been trapped in for eight years (give or take), and open her heart.

Tara wandered the filthy alleys of Domino City in the morning sun. She was trying to protect Atemu by shoving him away. It truly surprised her to see that he wasn't staying away and he even permitted her to drink his blood. It was like—she was becoming emotional towards him.

Emotions weren't something that could be useful in fighting monsters that go bump in the night. Becoming emotional was a sign of weakness and a distraction that could lead to death.

Tara grew up not using most of her emotions and never desired people. She only knew revenge, anger, rage, and sadness, the only emotions she grew up with.

She stopped and listened to the sounds of the lively city of Domino. In truth, she was trying to locate the very vampire who called her by her angelic name. She scoffed, "Dammit all."