And yet, she was in no hurry to accomplish the task at hand, either.

She drew in a deep, shaky breath as she entered her bedroom, and her gaze fell on the wooden trunk at the foot of her bed.

It had been months since she had opened it.

Ignoring her apprehensions, Tara knelt on the floor in front of the trunk and opened it. The familiar, comforting scent of the incense and various herbs inside wafted upward, mingling with the sweet fragrance of the cedar wood that housed it, and Tara closed her eyes for a moment, breathing deeply of the aroma that always made her think of home...back when it was her home.

Back when Mom was alive...

Tara shook her head emphatically in a vain attempt to clear it of the devastatingly beautiful memories that suddenly flooded her mind unbidden - memories of softly strong arms that held her when she cried, arms belonging to the only person in the world who had ever both really known her, and loved her just as she was.

I miss you, Mom...and I could sure use your help right about now...

She blinked away her wistful tears, with an effort focusing her thoughts on the suffering vampire downstairs who was waiting for her...needing her to be strong. As she rifled carefully through the items in the trunk, selecting a few and setting them aside, she heard her own thoughts in her mother's voice, methodically reciting the ingredients she would need for both spells she planned to perform.

Each was relatively simple, and Tara had watched her mother do them dozens of times during her childhood. She was confident that she remembered the proper ingredients and the right words to say, but she highly doubted that she possessed the same level of magical power her mother once had.

But in his condition...any help you can give him...any way that you might be able to spare his dignity...

A vivid mental image of the damaged vampire, blind and naked and utterly helpless, cringing away from her and making a pitiful attempt to cover himself with his one functioning arm, filled her mind...and Tara's decision was final.

This will make it easier for him...this is what I have to do...

"I'm on my way back...I'm coming down the stairs..." She called out to the vampire as she began to descend toward the living room again, not wanting to startle him. "I'm almost there. Just a second..."

Her heart ached within her as she watched the vampire huddle back against the sofa at her approach, clearly still fearful that she would force him to submit to her attentions, however well-meaning they might be. He was positioned just as she had pictured in her mind, his body half turned away from her, one painfully thin arm cast weakly across his bare, damaged groin in a desperate but futile attempt to hide his vulnerability.

"It's okay," she soothed him as she knelt in front of the couch, cautiously extending a hand to rest on his. "I'm not gonna hurt you...not gonna touch you unless you want me to...okay?"

He flinched, but did not pull away from her touch; and after a few moments of patient waiting on Tara's part, he gradually seemed to relax a bit, some of the tension going out of his shoulders as he seemed to understand that she was not going to hurt him, not going to try to touch him any more than she already was. Still, she noticed with some dismay that he kept his barely recovering gaze focused downward, as if afraid to risk eye contact of any kind with her.

"Good," she encouraged him gently, putting as much approval in her voice as possible. "That's good, Sweetie..." She hesitated a moment before venturing softly, "Now...I want to try this spell...to h-help you be calm. It's n-not gonna hurt. I promise. It'll just make you...kind of sleepy...okay?"

The vampire had already agreed to allow the spell, but Tara still waited in patient silence for his response. He was very still and quiet for a long moment, before he finally gave her a slight nod.

"Thank you," she whispered, her voice softening with affection for the vulnerable, almost child-like creature before her, and the fledgling trust he was venturing to give her. "Now...I'm not going to touch you...th-there, or...or try to do anything more to get you cleaned up...I'm just g-going to touch your head...very lightly...it won't hurt...I just n-need to...to sprinkle some of these h-herbs on your head...and s-say the words to the spell...and they'll help you go to sleep. Okay?"

Once again, he nodded slowly, his breath hitching slightly in his throat, as he struggled visibly to calm himself. Tara picked up several small plastic packets of dried herbs from the floor, reaching inside each to gather a bit between her fingers and then mixing them together in an empty packet. She cautiously reached her other hand up to rest on his upper arm, steadying him, as she rose up on her knees, leaning forward so that the hand holding the herbs could reach above his head.

"It's all right," she soothed him gently, her heart touched with compassion by the tremors of his body under her hand. "Just relax, Sweetie...I'm not gonna hurt you..."

Keeping her voice hushed and gentle, she uttered the Latin words of the spell as she sprinkled the herb mixture over the top of his head.

Suddenly, Tara's hands at his arms were rushing to catch him, as the vampire's weary body slumped forward, and he would have toppled forward, his damaged face planted in the rough upholstery of the sofa, had she not caught him and pushed him gently back against it. His head lolled against the back of the couch, as he collapsed, as completely relaxed as she had ever seen him...unconscious.

Tara rose cautiously to her feet, her gaze never leaving the sleeping vampire as she absently sealed the bag containing the mixture of herbs and gathered the remaining other supplies in her arms. She just stood there for a few moments, taking in his still, resting form with a sense of relief and tentative satisfaction.

For the first time since she had found him, the vampire seemed to be completely at rest.

After a moment, Tara shook herself out of her reverie and made her way slowly up the stairs, her supplies in hand. She had performed the calming spell she had just used many times before, and was confident that it would hold for a few hours. It was a simple spell, really, requiring little in the way of power or skill.

The healing spell she was planning next, however, was a bit more complex.

Tara walked into the bathroom, turning on the light and taking in her surroundings with a critical eye. She immediately began to arrange the candles she carried in her arms, setting some out along the counter, and positioning the others in a half-circle around the bathtub, careful to leave herself enough room to maneuver around them when she brought the vampire upstairs. Once the candles were lit, she turned off the light and assessed her work. There were enough candles to fill the room with a warm glow, free of the harsh effect of the regular fluorescent lighting.

Next, Tara sprinkled some of the herb mixture into the bottom of the tub, murmuring in Latin as she reached to turn on the water, carefully adjusting it to be sure that it would not be too hot for the vampire. He had no natural body heat of his own, and she was fairly certain that would make him far more sensitive to heat than she would be.

Once the preparations were in order, Tara went back downstairs to where the vampire was lying peacefully on the sofa, fast asleep. She was careful not to jar his injuries as she lifted him into her arms, uncertain whether or not he would be able to feel pain in his state of magically induced sleep.

As she passed the kitchen doorway, she heard faint scuffling and sniffing sounds - Mac's paws against the door, his nose pressed up against the baseboard from inside the kitchen - and she felt a sense of guilt for neglecting her best friend of the last four years.

I'll make it up to you, Mac...I promise...I just haven't got a choice right now...

Negotiating the stairs with her light but cumbersome burden was a bit of a challenge, but with a slow, cautious effort, Tara managed to get the unconscious vampire into the bathroom, and lay him gently down in the bathtub, now nearly full with comfortably warm water. The air was filled with the fragrance of rosemary, and Tara found herself relaxing under the sensation of peace she felt, no doubt generated by the healing magic she had created.

We'll see how healing it actually is...

Tara grimaced as she knelt beside the tub, carefully positioning the vampire so that his head and shoulders were safely above the water, her heartbeat quickening slightly with a momentary return of her nerves.

Can I do this? I'm not...not her...I don't have her power. Will I be able to help him at all?

She tried to put her nagging self-doubt out of her mind, aware that the less focused she was on the spell, the less likely it was to succeed. She closed her eyes for a moment, breathing in the warm, sweet scent of the steam that filled the air, inhaling and exhaling in a slow, steady rhythm as she tried to focus her energy on the spell and quell her anxious thoughts. She could not remember the last time she had eaten, and she felt dizzy and weak as she focused her strength on the injured vampire in front of her.

Time for that later...right now, have to...do this...

When she felt ready to go on, Tara opened her eyes and gazed down at the still form in the tub, her expression softening with sympathy at the countless marks that covered his body. The livid burns and jagged cuts, the bruises from brutal beatings that had been inflicted upon him were just barely beginning to heal with the blood she had given him, but were nowhere near healing completely. Each individual injury was much more clearly visible now that he was stretched out in the tub, still, no longer huddled and cowering, attempting to hide himself.

She wondered again at what had happened to him, who could have done such terrible damage to someone so clearly helpless to defend himself. She found herself desperately hoping that she could help him to recover, not only physically but emotionally as well, from the horrific ordeal through which he had obviously been. As she reached a hand down to break the still surface of the water, she focused on those desires, those feelings, and began to softly chant the words of the spell.

As she spoke, she passed her hand slowly through the water, an inch or so above the vampire's arm, not actually touching him at all, and watched with fascination as the marks that covered his pale skin gradually faded, but did not disappear entirely. Encouraged by this partial success, Tara moved on to the other arm, pleased to see that her efforts were met with the same results, with the exception of the single, deep laceration that ran the length of his forearm, which barely seemed to have healed at all.

Tara's breath quickened slightly with the power of the sensations the spell was causing in her...the relief and satisfaction at its success, as well as the peace and tranquility from the scent of the herbs she was using.

But it was more than that.

She gradually became aware of a sense of power, an almost electric tingling that began in her fingertips and spread slowly to her hands, up her arms, throughout her entire body...and her fears were momentarily forgotten.

She could do this.

Her mother had possessed tremendous power, more power than Tara herself could ever dream of wielding...but there was no reason not to believe that some of that magical energy might have been passed on to her.

She moved her hand slowly over the vampire's legs next, watching in amazement as they slowly seemed to straighten, the dark bruising and broken places in his skin fading away and closing up before her eyes. As with his arms, the injuries did not heal completely, but showed tremendous improvement.

Tara took a deep breath, then repeated the same process over his stomach and groin, watching as the deep purple bruising that circled his abdomen slowly faded away, before bracing her arm behind his shoulders and, with some effort due to the awkward angle, gently turning him over to reach the injuries on the back side of his body. She winced in an instinctive reaction of sorrow and disgust at the brutal damage she found there, torn, bruised flesh that was undeniable evidence that the vampire had been not only beaten and tortured, but violently raped as well by whoever had held him captive.

Blinking back tears, Tara bravely fought through the words to the spell in a trembling voice, as she slowly passed her hand through the water over the surface of the wounds, immensely relieved as the torn flesh and bruises gradually faded, as well as the countless lash marks that covered his back and the backs of his legs, though they did not seem to be healing nearly as well. They faded quite a bit, but did not seem to be responding to the magic as well as the other injuries.

A frown creased Tara's brow, as the lash marks faded...and in the process, revealed something to her sight that she had not noticed before. Her eyes widened in surprised confusion as they were drawn to a single wound that did not seem to be healing at all - a distinctive pattern of swirls and angles that had been deeply burned into his flesh.

At the very sight of the strange symbol, Tara felt a vague sense of unease, a fine, cool sweat breaking out on her forehead, her throat going dry with an unexplained fear. Something about the symbol spoke to her instincts, leaving her with the impression of darkness and evil, though she had never seen the mark before, and had no idea what it might mean.

She only knew that she wanted it gone.

Hurriedly, she passed a trembling hand over the mark on the vampire's back, closing her eyes and swallowing hard before continuing the Latin chant.

Before she could get more than a couple of words out, the tingling in her fingertips became a violent jolt of electric pain that sent her toppling backward onto her back on the floor, thrown away from the subject of her attempts at healing. Suddenly acutely aware of the circle of candles on the floor around her, Tara lurched forward again, clutching her hair in one hand and pulling it back over her shoulder, out of reach of the tiny flickering flames. She fought off a sense of blind panic, as she was abruptly overwhelmed by the feeling of a violent, malevolent darkness in the room with her, emanating, pulsating from the ominous mark on the vampire's back.

Tara staggered to her feet, stumbling backward, gasping for breath, her eyes wide and focused on the mark in stunned horror. She held a hand over her chest, her heart pounding wildly with terror, a single thought reverberating over and over in her mind.

Dear Goddess...what *is* that thing? What have they done to him?