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NEVER THE TWAIN? (5/31)
AUTHOR: Zahir
RATING: PG13 (maybe R for adult themes)
COUPLES: W/T (kinda), X/Ay, B/R, F/F (I'll let you figure that one out)
SPOILERS: Through "Where The Wild Things Are" and a few bits from "Angel."
NOTES: This is an Alternate Timeline in which Willow never completed the Soul Restoration Spell on Angelus. From that moment on, things change. Among them is that Faith never worked for the Mayor and Tara is a vampire.
SYNOPSIS: There's a frat part at Lowry House and things get weird. In a surprising number of ways.
ARCHIVING: Just ask first.
FEEDBACK: Oh, please! Pretty please!
DISCLAIMER: The toys I'm playing with belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy, but I'm betting they're so cool they won't complain (I hope) and besides the only payment I get is applause (see FEEDBACK above)..
***
For what seemed like the thousandth consecutive night, Willow was alone. She didn't like it. The dorm room she shared with Buffy was comfortable enough, but at heart it was just a room. Temporarily hers. Right now unoccupied save for her lonesome. Don't do this, Willow nagged herself. You were invited to the party. Okay, maybe just because you're Buffy's friend although Riley likes you just fine and you could have gone. Xander is going. Even Anya is going. It being a party, of course Faith is going. So, why aren't you? Willow got up to get dressed. Then sat down. She'd done this three times in the last hour.
A knock on the door broke her mood. Who might this be? Someone looking for Buffy, most likely.
She swung open the door to a surprise. Tara. The vampire.
"Uh..." what to say what to say "Hi!"
"Hello."
"Buffy's not here."
"I know. May I come in?"
"You see, I don't know about that. Buffy, she'd get upset if I invited a...well, you know...into her home because, with the whole needing to be invited thing and all..."
Tara easily stepped inside the dorm room.
"Hey! How can you do that?"
"Dorms are public places, not homes. Like hotels."
"Oh." So here she was, alone with a vampire. No Slayer in sight. No cross or stake or... But Tara made no move to attack. Then again, she never had before. "Sit?"
The blonde literally sank to the floor, crossing both legs under her in a catlike motion. More awkwardly, Willow sat as well, facing her. The following silence seemed much much longer than it was.
"Welcome back to Sunnydale."
"Thank you. How're things?"
"Well, Buffy has a boyfriend now. His name's Riley."
Tara smiled slightly. "She and Faith didn't...?"
"No!" Willow felt her eyes pop open in embarrassed memory. "That was the spell and once it was gone, they went back to normal--or the way they were. Well, not exactly the way they were. Actually, they've been kinda avoiding each other. Some. I...I made everybody cookies." She said this last with an almost-firm nod. "Would you like some?
"Please."
It took a little of scrambling for Willow, eager to play hostess, to dig out the cookie tin. But when she did, Tara accepted the cookie with good grace, even complimenting her on it.
"So you eat food?"
"I can. I just don't derive any nourishment from food. Still, I can appreciate the taste."
"And you've already...eaten?"
Tara paused before saying anything. "Vampires don't need blood every day. We like it, but one of the reasons so few last is they can't control their hunger. Sorta like an impulse control problem. Of course, we're never more hungry than when we first rise, but that tapers off fairly quickly."
"Really," Willow tried her best to seem nonchalant about this. She succeeded far more than she believed.
"And there's the snob factor."
"What kind of factor?"
"Most vampires look down on animal blood, even though its a lot safer to get. Then again, maybe its a matter of taste."
"You like animal blood?"
"Sometimes. What would be a good analogy--its like comparing hamburger to porterhouse steak. You don't want to have one thing all the time. I don't anyway." This last was said in a lower voice. Willow was reminded of herself for a moment, of trying to explain to fellow students how study could be fun, or the interesting possibilities of certain softwares. She wondered if the society of vampires were really that different from high school? Do they have "in" crowds who are considered "cool?" If so, was Tara the equivalent of a spaz?
Was she like Willow?
Her musing were interrupting by the phone ringing. She picked it up and was anything but surprised at hearing Wesley ask for Buffy.
"Sorry, she's not here."
"Dear God, she hasn't gone to that gathering at Lowry House has she?"
"The party, yeah. C'mon Wesley, she deserves some time off. We all do."
"Unfortunately that isn't the point! Listen. I've been doing some research on the history of the campus and came across something that, well, is rather disturbing."
"Disturbing? How disturbing?"
"Lowry House used to be the equivalent of a private orphanage. Quite above board in its way, but just to be thorough I checked on the lives of those who'd been raised there. They numbered nearly two hundred. Forty had committed suicide, twice that number tried. Approximately half have been hospitalized in mental institutions for various lengths of time. Thirty three have had their children removed from their care by social services. Only twelve marriages have not ended in divorce."
"Uh, Wesley, that's plenty icky but I don't see..."
"Listen to this, then! One is in prison for nine counts of attempted rape. Attempted, because he found himself unable to--well, perform. Another tried to become a Nun, but never made it through her novitiate because she thought the convent too
licentious an environment! They had to get a restraining order to keep her away. Over a dozen of the girls drifted into pornography, mostly of the sadomasochistic kind."
"Statistically, that is odd. Very odd." Willow's mind was racing, the pattern Wesley described taking an ugly shape.
"Then there's the manner of suicide. One housewife locked herself in a sensory deprivation tank to starve. And one of the men cut off his own
genitalia."
"Oh my god!"
"Plus there's a remarkably high incidence of abuse, both receiving and giving. And that's merely the public record! Something happened in that house, something that warped the souls of those who lived there."
"Wesley? Isn't this the Night of Dislitu?"
"The demon of frustrated desires, exactly! A frat party, in that house, on this night, so close to the Hellmouth..."
"I'll get over there and warn her." Willow hung up and instantly grabbed her coat. She looked at Tara. "You heard?"
The vampire nodded. "I'm going with you. Lets just hope no one's having sex."
"Why?" Willow was startled enough to actually stop mid-stride.
"Sexual energy can be tapped as magical energy. It can even act as a lens, focusing
and making stronger something that's already present."
That took about a quarter of a second to sink in.
"Lets go!"
* * *
Tara really didn't think she was being wise. From what she'd gathered, she and Willow were headed into what could easily be a supernatural disaster area. And as they neared the fraternity, she stopped having any doubts. Yes, this was a danger zone. And no, this was not wise.
Vines sheathed the house, choking every window and door. A few party-goers were still running away. As the vampire and the witch approached, a pulsing heat seemed to emanate from the house.
"Do you feel that?" asked Willow.
"Like a drumbeat on the inside of your skin," Tara nodded. She concentrated her senses for a moment. "Willow? Its growing."
"Great." Tara briefly wondered if Willow might be persuaded to flee from danger. She doubted it. "But, if its growing, that means something is feeding it, right?" Willow went on as Tara nodded in agreement. "And that something is probably...well..."
"Sex."
"Yeah. What happens if we--interrupt?"
Tara considered this. "Assuming we survive, that should break the circuit. Of course, the house probably knows that, or senses it on some level, and would try to stop us."
"Uh huh. I was afraid you were going to say that." Willow was nearly hyperventilating. But she hardly hesitated before heading for the front door.
I should let her go, thought Tara. Let her walk into the flames alone if that's what she really wants. Willow wasn't even a demon, much less a fellow vampire. Just human. But then, The Apostate had plans. And his plans needed the witch or at least might need her if the Prophecies said what he believed they did. Letting her die could not be an option then.
She caught up with her at the front door. The vines were not giving way, so Tara lent a hand--one with superhuman strength. Which seemed to work. Barely. At least she managed to create enough of an
opening for them to squeeze inside.
The interior of the Lowry House looked...bizarre. Remnants of the party were scattered everywhere, but vines reached like tendrils over the floor, wall and ceiling. Half-muffled moans (or were they sobs?) echoed from all directions at once. Tara wondered if Willow could hear them? And the lights continued to flicker.
"Okay. Now what?" Willow sounded terrified.
"We find whoever's powering all this. Probably in one of the private rooms upstairs."
"Any idea about which room?"
"I think I might be able to tell." Willow obviously wanted to ask how, but didn't. The vampire headed upstairs, the witch behind her. Each step was deliberate, slow. Both kept checking for anything--literally. It would be nice to think the house hadn't noticed them yet. Tara didn't expect anything like that kind of luck.
"Thank you."
"Hm?"
"For coming in with me. Thank you."
"Don't mention it."
"Okay. For now. I'll tell Buffy and the others later, though. Hope you don't mind."
"Knock yourself out."
Tara barely had time to register the feel of the vine around her ankles when they began to tug. Swept off her feet, she tumbled down the stairs! A rib broke on the way down. Vaguely, Tara
realized she'd nearly knocked over Willow. But then her attention was elsewhere. At the foot of the stairs, a dozen vines or so snaked towards Tara. Each moved surprisingly fast. Tara was faster. Unfortunately, there were more vines than she had arms.
Willow began pulling the vines off Tara. Must have run down after me, the vampire thought to herself. I wonder why? Not that she had much time to think of such as still more vines writhed their way towards her.
Now they were grabbing Willow. Damn!
Even thrashing with all her might, Tara couldn't prevent herself from becoming wrapped up in the ropelike vines. As they began to lift her off the floor, she saw Willow was already aloft, one arm and both legs bound with what looked like green tentacles. Tara let her demon face show and went into a frenzy. The vines snapped. Some of them, anyway. Not enough.
Snarling, Tara was raised up, left dangling less than a yard from Willow. But she
didn't stop struggling.
* * *
Willow managed to control her own panic by watching Tara's struggles. They were titanic. In fact, more and more vines in the room were needed to hold the vampire at bay. Meanwhile, Willow noticed the vines were no longer tightening over her. Likewise, there was no effort to bind up her other arm.
She had an idea.
Perhaps not an idea so much as a guess. But it felt right. Very right. Now if she could just find a way to make it work.
"Tara!" Although no longer squeezing, the vines still held Willow tight. She couldn't raise her voice very loudly. "Tara," she called again.
At last the vampire responded. She looked across at Willow, who was extended her hand.
"Your...hand...now" she gasped. "Hurry."
For a terrible few moments, Willow feared Tara hadn't understood. Or worse, thought Willow was crazy. Then, she began using her strength to free one arm. The arm nearest Willow.
It took nearly a minute. But once done, she reached out with no hesitation. Willow did the same. Their hands met. Fingers intertwined.
Willow concentrated. She'd been filling the long lonely nights since Oz left with study. Classwork took too little of her energies so she'd redoubled her efforts at witchcraft. Now, for the first time, she hoped to put them to
effective use. Months before, she'd managed to rewrite reality on a small but impressive scale. That had been by accident.
This wasn't.
She could feel Tara's support for her, a willingness to trust and aid. Unexpected in a vampire, but then Tara was an unusual example of her kind.
Energy flowed. In her mind's eye, Willow could nearly see it. From herself, a river of blue. Tara's was red, a deep and dark red. Logical. More importantly, their rivers met and merged. Like two floods meeting to create a tidal wave. And that was exactly what it felt like--a slow motion tidal wave taking place somewhere deep. Willow floated on the purple waters. She was a ship, a schooner upon the waves. And she was not alone. Beside her sailed another ship, a blood-red one. And Tara stoop upon the deck, looking at Willow. Energies swirled around them, as if they were inside an aurora borealis. Yet she could feel the light like a caress. Aching loneliness rose up for a moment, a sudden swell that threatened to swamp her ship. It hurt. Memories--of years spent alone, hoping for love that never came. Then hope rewarded, betrayed, dashed. Night after night of even more aching loneliness, that of love lost.
But Tara's hand clasped hers, not letting go. The vampire's hand was warm, even though she herself was cold. And the feel of her touch was an anchor to Willow. It allowed her to concentrate on the dark cloud that surrounded them. Bolts of lightning crowned that darkness, while emitting thunder. The thunder sounded like wailing. Willow gazed into that maelstrom and felt a pang of recognition.
Loneliness. Hunger. Anger. Pain.
Willow knew these emotions. She understood them. And so, she sensed, did Tara.
YOU...
A voice make up of voices, dozens, hundreds. Children's voices.
...YOU...UNDERSTAND...
They pressed against Willow like heavy winds. Whispers louder than screams.
...HELP...US...
"What do you want?
...GIVE...US...
"What? Give you what?"
The darkness creped closer and closer, like fog. A living fog. Or was it alive? It didn't feel alive, really. More like remnants.
...WE...NEED...WE...WANT...GIVE...
*Willow* It was Tara. Out of the fog her single eye shone. Somehow she reached out to touch Willow's mind. *Willow*
"Tara?"
*Listen to me* Her voice was firm. *These are echoes* Echoes? *Shadows of what happened here.* Interesting. Tara seemed able--at least here--to read her thoughts. *Yes* Oddly, she didn't feel threatened by this. *They have no will* No will? Of course--if the shadow was nothing but a reaction. *We need to focus*
Willow nodded.
...WE ...NEED... WE...MUST...HAVE...GIVE...US...
Together the witch and the vampire concentrated. All around them the darkness tried to close in. Yet a strange light emanated from the pair--a glow that proved fierce in the face of the hunger that surrounded them. The darkness didn't act like simple shadows. It seemed to drink the light, sucking at it as if parched and the light was water. Brighter and brighter they glowed, and the darkness drank deep.
Too deep.
* * *
With effort Tara picked herself off the floor and checked for Willow. The redhead lay sprawled next to her, groaning slightly. Tara sniffed. No blood. She placed her fingers against Willow's
carotid artery. Good. Her pulse was steady if a little low.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Tara looked up to see Buffy racing down the stairs--axe in hand. She hastily stood.
"Checking her pulse. She seems fine."
The slayer's eyes were full of threats as she neared. "If you did so much as..." she growled. Tara didn't dream of
interfering as she knelt to check on her friend. Soon enough she seemed satisfied as Willow stirred, eyes flickering open.
"...Tara?" Odd. How her own name became music when the right voice spoke it. Willow glanced around, seemingly focusing on her surroundings again.
"Wil? Are you okay? What happened?"
"Buffy...we came here after Wesley called. How did you get out?"
Riley joined them from the stairs. His clothes, ripped and stained green, matched those of Buffy. The machete in his hand was mostly relaxed. Interesting--he didn't know what she was. Tara's sire had become aware of the Initiative, which Riley belonged to--a government effort to control demons. Had he known what she was, he'd be far more alert. Indeed, everything about both Buffy and Riley (her boyfriend?) suggested the aftermath of a battle.
Tara wondered how long before either learned they'd had allies distracting the force inside the house?
"We ran about the time the weirdness started," Riley explained. "After a quick consult with Wesley and Giles, we headed back here."
"Yeah," echoed a woman's voice from above. Tara glanced up. Faith, the other slayer, was headed down. She was also in the last stages of putting her clothes back on. Well. One half of the house's sex battery identified. "I'm still not sure if I should thank you or not."
"Faith," said Buffy, "you might have died."
"But what a way to go!"
Also from above, a well-muscled young black man emerged, slipping on a t-shirt. Like Faith, he wore no shoes.
"Maybe," said the newcomer, "but I think I'd prefer lots of practice first."
Faith laughed. Riley grinned. Buffy looked tolerant, probably pleased that the house seemed quiet now. Tara noticed, however, the flash of pain across Willow's face as she listened. Yes. Being alone in a crowd is in many ways worse than being just alone.
Then, the redhead's eyes met Tara's. For a moment the memories of hands clasped and searing energies of joy eclipsed all others in the room. But only for a moment.
"I'm glad you're alright, Willow."
"Yeah, me too. I mean, I'm glad you're alright too."
"Excuse me," interrupted Buffy. "Anybody gonna tell me what happened with you two?"
As loaded a question as ever Tara had heard. She looked at Willow again, saw all kinds of things going on behind those eyes. But what she didn't see was what she found herself fearing--disgust.
"I think" said Tara "Willow can best explain. Meanwhile, I need to be going."
Without another word, the vampire named Tara Maclay headed away. She fancied she could feel Willow Rosenberg's eyes on her back, but was just a little too nervous to check.
After all, what if she was wrong?