Tara stole a pair of shades to cover her eyes. She made her way passed strangers ducking from the ones she felt were looking at her too long. It was just like Sookie to fuck up a good thing for her. She couldn't stand the idea of Tara moving on. It was a physical pain for the blond to accept happiness for other people. Tara stopped in an alleyway and held her hands on the hard brick. She needed to calm down. She already looked like a freak. She needed to appear human and remain functional until she got to where she was headed.

Holding her hands in her pockets she sped forward. Pam loved her. It was a strange concept to wrap her head around, but the ring had chosen well. She was beautiful and smart and a great lay, and if not for her charade as Sophie she might not have ever thought of the vampire that way.

Vampires, she frowned at the thought. She worked for them, but she had always promised herself she wouldn't give up more than she needed to. They were leaches that lived forever. She hated it, but they were a constant and reliable source of income for the thief.

She entered a side entrance to a brick building with a sign that read palm reader and a large ornate eye with purple eye shadow on the sign.

"We're closed," she heard a voice from the inside.

"Then you probably shouldn't keep your door unlocked," Tara offered as she walked beyond the beaded curtains to the older woman sitting at the table smoking a cigarette.

"I need your help," she stated.

"Go to a doctor."

"I need a witch."

"There are no witches, they don't exist."

"Just like vampires and fairies don't either?"

The inhaled smoke instead of answering.

"I need you to make a binding spell. I'm turning into something and…"

"You'll be big bad and hairy pretty soon…" the wild haired woman interrupted, she fingered her cards rigidly. "You'd be surprised how many times people come in here with this same ailment." She looked up from the cards on the table. "Who did you piss off?" she asked offhandedly.

"A woman."

She blew out smoke on the left side of her mouth.

"That sounds about right," she chuckled cruelly. "How does that saying go…hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."

"I didn't come here for a lesson I came here for a spell."

"You still think witches exist."

Tara leaned forward taking off her glasses and showed off her extra teeth.

"With a face like that you'd believe anything wouldn't you," she murmured crushing her cigarette as she stood beckoning the dark skinned woman to follow her. She was short with a compact frame Tara assumed since her gown covered her body loosely. "You've tamed the beast before?" she chose her words carefully. Tara stopped in a bedroom that doubled as a study with books as the dominating focal point and accessory.

"Yes, it was broken and now I'm changing."

"Hm….," she looked through books thumbing through novels as she wet her finger to pick up the particularly stubborn pages. You'll need one thing and for other ingredients I have them with me.

Tara frowned.

"I didn't need anything last time."

The smaller woman glared at her testily. "That was a different binding spell. Every witch has her preference. My magical preference leans more to permanence. I don't like seeing the same faces over and over again. If the moneys right, which I think it will be, you won't need to be tethered to anything in this living world to keep your other half at bay."

"What does that mean?"

"It means no trinkets for this type of magic. The bond isn't easily as accessible as a jewel if it's inside where no one can touch or see it. The only person that breaks it is the only person who knows it's there," she sold.

Tara liked the idea. The cost didn't matter and she told the witch as much.

"Good."

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Exiting the witch's lair she promised she would return with the last and vital ingredient. Tara looked down at her phone. She answered the unfamiliar number that had been calling her for the last half hour.

"Where the fuck is you?" she heard Lafayette say.

"Nowhere," she stated side stepping a couple holding hands.

"Pam's got me out her bored as hell. Sookie's hysterical, and Bill and Eric went to go meet Andre."

"Where'd Pam go?" the dark immortal stopped walking as if it helped her heighten her hearing.

Lafayette shrugged as he answered, "some hotel," he answered. "A late night meeting that you might want to come here and handle because the bitch was looking fierce for business."

No sooner had he given Tara to the entrance. Lafayette did a double take, "is that you?" He got out of the car still holding the phone to his ear. "Do I look like a pissed off bitch standing at the entrance of this expensive ass hotel?"

Lafayette joined her closing his phone, "yea," he answered slowly.

"Cause I am. Who's she meeting?"

The dark skinned man shrugged. "She told me to wait until she was finished."

"Why is she here?" Tara was talking to herself as she started inside. She caught her smell and started toward the elevators.

Lafayette watched, but felt like he should at least try to calm Tara down, before she completed her transformation accidentally. "She likes you a lot."

"What do your vibes say?"

"What the fuck you wanna worry about my vibes now? You sure as hell didn't worry about 'em when I was right about you fucking her," he shared.

Tara looked at him pointedly, "but you were right Lafayette. What do your vibes say? Business or pleasure?"

"I have been known to be wrong."

"Lafayette…"

"Pleasure," he admitted slowly.

"Yea," she turned away glaring her reflection. She was too angry to stop her teeth from coming forward this time and Lafayette watched her mouth change as well as the texture of her skin.

"Tara baby you need to calm down."

"I'm calm."

The dark man was unconvinced, "said Pinocchio as his nose grew fucking longer and longer."

"Shut the fuck up bitch before I eat you," she stepped out of the elevator. She smelled the air and she knew this was where Pam got off. Her sense of smell was leading her to a truth she might not want to see, but she couldn't stop herself from continuing. Tara needed to know. Pam's phone call from earlier weighed on her psyche and if she didn't find answers she'd go insane. Her feelings were irrational, another perk of being an unstable impulsive beast.

She looked at each door curiously until she found the door she was looking for. Lafayette eyed her and then the door and then her again. "Let me go in first."

Tara stepped back and began pacing. Whatever might be happening on the other side of the door she had a strong feeling she wouldn't approve. She kept her fist inside the jacket pocket. She could her nails lengthening. With a curt nod she stepped away from the line of sight of the peep hole.

Lafayette looked at her oddly then knocked on the door. He waited the he heard the handle work until A beautiful red head opened the door. "I didn't order room service," she smiled curiously. "But you do smell delicious," she grabbed Lafayette pulling him in. Tara would give him five minutes. She continued to pace trying to kill the images of Pam and that voice moaning in tandem.

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Lafayette entered warily. He hated coming around new vampires since they always looked as if they wanted to have him for breakfast. It was disconcerting to be seen and accepted as food. Pam eyed her dark helper in an open unkempt blouse and no shoes. "Yes?" she eyed him expectantly as she put her earrings on.

Lafayette's eyes widened. She was putting her on her clothes he was too late and Tara was outside waiting, her calm ruined by the uncertainty of Pam's true intentions for being here.

"You need to tell me that you didn't spend the last thirty minutes fucking red riding hood," he looked at Sophie-Anne with horror as she smiled at him with amusement.

"I like him," she stated, "can he stay and play?"

"Stay and...pl…," she stopped himself rushing forward, "Tara's outside pacing a whole in the fucking for getting scarier every minute and you're in her fucking her brains out."

Sophie-Anne put her legs under her as she crossed and rested her forearms on the back of the dark plush couch. "My brains intact," she noted needlessly, "Oh, truth or dare," the younger looking vampire practically bounced.

"Dare," Pam stated.

Lafayette was flabbergasted.

Sophie-Anne pouted, "I wanted you to choose truth."

"Dare," Pam repeated firmly.

The red head pursed her lips turning her body slightly to Pam, "if you choose truth I promise I won't say truth for at least five more tries."

The vampire aware of how persistent the older vampire can be gives in.

"Truth or dare," the vampire repeated excitedly.

"Truth," she responded her tone full of boredom.

"Have you ever fucked anyone's brains out?" Sophie asked with genuine curiosity inspiring the question. It seemed physically impossible unless some one's head was following the rhythm of thrusts and that head happened to be hitting a stone wall in the process. It sounded so messy. Sophie-Anne smiled at the image she had conjured from the phrase.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Lafayette interrupted.

The door crashed to the wall and Tara stepped over the debris. "Pam," she called out pointlessly. When she turned the corner to the sitting area Pam's shirt still looked unkempt.

Sophie-Anne frowned at Tara smelling something decidedly unpleasant. "Am I the only one that smells that?"

Pam steeled her disgusted response seeing as Tara was already upset. She didn't think her truthful reaction to this new Tara would go over well. "This is a side of you I haven't seen before," she hummed as she pushed her shirt in her skirt.

"Tara…Pam was just explaining to me how she was not having sex up here with her."

The red head laughed. "Sex?" she got to her knees now holding herself up by the back of the couch as her knees sank in the cushions. "With Pamela?" she started in on another fit of laughter.

Tara glared, but before she could do anything Pam jumped in, "we didn't sleep together…we don't sleep together."

Sophie-Anne was having fun now, "Pam likes dark meet. No no no….she likes her women like she likes her coffee…..oh no a better one….Pam went black one century and she hasn't gone back. My favorite one the blacker the berry the sweeter the juice!"

Pam rolled her eyes at the red heads antics. She had never had her type so thoroughly exposed in such a humorous way before. Lafayette looked at his cousin whose breathing had stilled a little.

"I like black women."

"She loooves black women," the young looking vampire corrected drawing love out.

"Look at you Pam. You sure know how to get a girl bent out shape," Sophie-Anne teased, "literally."

Tara withdrew, but there were no shadows she could hide. Pam sent an bored glare to the other vampire before she sped directly in front of Tara before she could make it out of the door. The dark skinned woman tried to pull away Pam grabbed her forearm to keep her there.

"I look hideous."

"And you smell hideous."

She saw her lover's jaws clench.

"And yet I still can't take this fucking ring off."

Tara's lowered head rose a little meeting Pam's indulgent smile.

"I feel like there's a very interesting story to with all this," the red head said still on the back of the couch watching the lover's converse.

"You wouldn't believe it," Lafayette scoffed. "I got front row seats to the motherfucka and I still don't believe it."