Chapter 1: Mourning A Loved One

Willow Rosenberg was sitting in the Bathroom crying as she heard the sounds of Tara Maclay the love of her life packing her things. Willow had made a mistake, she had done magic and erased the memories of all her friends and herself for the entire day. Despite having promised Tara that she would go a week without magic. Now Tara was leaving her. Willow cried until she couldn't cry anymore, and then she cried more.

That's how she spent the next week, whenever she was alone she would cry her eyes out. Her friends were beginning to worry about her. Buffy had told her that if she wanted she could talk to Tara for her, but Willow said no because her friend looked ready to faint. Willow knew Buffy needed sleep after all the slaying she had done earlier that night and sent her to bed.

Willow couldn't get her mind off Tara. Knowing that she needed to clear her head Willow decided to take a walk. Grabbing a couple stakes for the vampires she might encounter she walked out of the house. As Willow was walking she heard something behind her. She discreetly pulled out one of the stakes and continued walking. As she walked she became aware that there were more sets of footsteps than just her and the one following her, many more. Sighing she realized she would have to use magic to try to get out of this one alive.

She stopped and turned slowly in such a way she could scan the tree line of the woods. All around her she realized was fifteen Vampires. "Just curious but whom is the leader of your little coven of vampires?" she asked. Her voice was hollow and didn't feel right to her. A tall Vampire stepped forward. It was a boy about eighteen in looks and well-muscled. His hair was Bronze and he wore a skintight white t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans with a pair of sneakers for his shoes

"I'm the leader. My name is Jonah what's yours?" he asked Willow smirking

"My name's Willow. Yes like the tree." She said as if she had practiced that line for years and was tired of saying it. "Did you and your fourteen friends need something or can I go back to wrestling with my self-loathing?" she asked in a tone that told them that that's exactly what she was doing before they started following her.

"I wanted to give you an offer no one I've asked has refused before." Jonah said smiling kindly

"And that would be? Oh wait let me guess…the chance to become a Vampire like you? Being a rebellious teenager who can't go in the sunlight forever?" Willow said smiling back. It was a fake smile her eyes shone with sadness.

"You'll be Immortal." Jonah said stepping forward a little "Doing and going wherever or whatever you want for all of eternity. Wouldn't you like that? You could get over your self-loathing. And you'll have us with you for all eternity. We'll be like a family."

"You do know you sound like you're trying to recruit me into a mafia or a colt don't you, because you do." Willow stepped back a little. "Besides I wouldn't just get over my self-loathing. I would refuse to. I'm the reason I lost my reason to be rational. I mean I'm normally more rational than to go out at night in a Vampire infested town on the hell mouth. I'm not stupid you know."

"I don't think I'm following. What was your reason to be rational?" One of the others asked

"Tara." She answered simply before looking down and blinking back tears. Once her emotions were under control she looked back at Jonah. "Sorry but I have to go now." She said turning around only to find that they had surrounded her.

"No. No stay. I insist." Jonah said. "Now about this deal, I am offering you the chance to live forever. How could you just walk away from that?"

"I'm not interested in living forever." Willow says. "Now let me leave before I make you regret surrounding me." Willow was not surprised when no one moved to get out of her way. She heard Jonah sigh

"I'm afraid your one of the few who I'm not giving a choice. Your power in my coven is too great a chance to pass up." And with that they all lunged at her. Reacting mainly on instinct Willow staked the first two who came near her before using magic to fight. She set a few on fire, staked a few more, and electrocuted some until they were dust. She dusted fourteen of them before realizing Jonah was nowhere to be seen.

She was just thinking that he must have run away when he grabbed her from behind pinning her arms and putting a hand over her mouth, tilting her head and biting into her neck, after a while of struggling Willow got too lightheaded to fight. She barely registered when he fed her his blood. Her last thoughts before world went black were I'll miss you Tara. And I'll wait for you.

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Her body was found the next day by Buffy. Buffy was devastated as she called the morgue to get the body of her best friend. The only thing Buffy could think about was what she was going to tell Tara.

In the morgue that night the mortician was getting ready to go home when the door to the morgue opened to reveal Jonah the vampire who sired Willow. "A girl came in here earlier a redhead. Where is she?" he growled

"O-o-over there, s-s-sir." The mortician stuttered pointing. Jonah grinned and began to step closer. The mortician's body fell to the floor a few minutes later completely drained of blood

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Buffy had news to deliver to Tara. Buffy told herself it was necessary to tell Tara before the others. She deserved the heads up. Sighing, Buffy knocked on the door to Tara's room. Her roommate answered. "Is Tara in? I need to talk to her. Tell her it's about Willow." Within a few minutes she was in the dorm with Tara sitting in front of her, her roommate left them to talk. Sighing again Buffy began to speak. "Before I say this I want to just say that it's not your fault at all. Don't blame yourself after I say this. Ok?" Buffy said

"Ok now you're scaring me. What's going on?" Tara asked seriously sounding very worried "Is Willow ok? You said this was about her! Oh my goddess she's hurt isn't she?"

"Tara…Willow…she's…" Buffy struggled to get the words out "This is hard to say. Willow's…well…I f-found her today." Buffy was now holding back tears "I-in t-the cemetery. I g-guess she t-t-took a midnight walk t-to c-clear her head and…she was s-surrounded and covered in dust so she must have gotten into a f-fight" some tears escaped as she choked out the words that Tara was dreading and hoping wouldn't come "s-s-she's…" Buffy let out another sigh "s-s-she's d-dead Tara." Tara gasped holding her hand to her mouth

"N-n-no!" she exclaimed "No it can't be! S-she c-can't be d-dead! S-she c-can't be!" Tara curled into a ball. "I-I should n-never h-have left h-h-her." She said looking heartbroken "s-s-she d-died t-thinking I didn't want her."

"Just remember…she loved you. She wouldn't want you to blame yourself or anyone for that matter." Buffy said "I'll tell the others tomorrow." Buffy went home and went to bed

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In a large crypt the next morning the new vampire woke up. She sat up gasping for air before realizing she didn't need to. She looked around confused where was she? It took a minute to remember the fight oh she thought Willow stood up and quickly found out how her sire planned on making sure she couldn't get her stakes. They sat in the open, right where the light from the sun shone through a small window. The first thing she really felt was power coursing through her. Then longing for Tara to be there.

Jonah must have thought she wouldn't risk getting set on fire by the sun just for a stake. He was right. Willow didn't reach for it. She floated her stakes to her, hiding the stakes in her sleeves to surprise Jonah when he comes. She didn't have to wait him it looked as if she had tried to reach for the stakes and failed (she put up a glamor to make him think they were still there.)

"Good you're awake." He said smiling at her "I bet your thirsty aren't you?" Seeing the blood bag and cup he was holding she slowly nodded causing him to grin and hold them out to her. Slowly she walked up to him once she could reach them she grabbed the blood bag and cup and pulled them away from him. She smelled it a little before pouring it into the cup and drinking it. "Better?" he asked

Willow nodded bowing her head. To him it looked as if she regretted killing the others but really it was to hide her smirk at how trusting he was. "Follow me Willow. I'll show you around. You killed everyone but that can be fixed in time. People come here once a week to be turned. This is where the runaways of Sunnydale come. All the runaways know about this place. Humans are a strange species."

After the tour he turned his back on her completely relaxed. Once she was sure his guard was down she staked him in the back whispering in his ear "You thought I'd forgive you for killing me? Really?" as he turned to dust. Willow then went to a bookcase and took out a book. She spent the rest of the day reading

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The Scooby's were all sitting in the magic box looking at Buffy in shock. "You're sure she was completely dead?" Anya asked buffy and the others looked at her confused seeing this Anya rephrased. "Are you sure she's not a vampire?"

"Don't even say that! I can't bear to think about Willow being the thing I'm supposed to kill" Buffy exclaimed. "And besides Willow without a soul would terrify me, you remember her doppelganger right?" Everyone except Tara who had never met the other Willow shivered.

"I can't believe she's gone." Zander said in shock before the first of many tear began flowing. Tara cried more than the others but everyone cried not noticing the Redhead watching through the window. She really loves me. Was circling through her head