Part Twenty-Seven
“What did she do to me?”
The question caused Tara to falter in her search for the spell.
She looked towards the Lieutenant, not surprised to see her watching with suspicion. Since Annabelle had left the two of them alone, so she could talk with Angel and Lieutenant Rosenberg’s friends, the Air Force Officer had been watching her like the proverbial hawk.
Lieutenant Rosenberg had monitored every move Tara had made in the last ten minutes. She never said anything, just watched… as though she was waiting for Tara to do something to her.
What was she expecting? A spell? A curse? Who knew? Tara didn’t really think she was waiting for anything in particular… just something, anything.
Willow Rosenberg didn’t trust them.
ANY of them, except her military friends… and she didn’t even try to disguise it.
Or her anger.
You could see her fury whenever you met her eyes.
Though, Tara had to confess, Willow’s distrust and anger was mostly directed towards Annabelle and Angel. When Annabelle and Angel had been in the room with them, she had been so much worse than she was now.
The death glares Rosenberg had given them both had been enough to make Tara’s blood run cold. Tara had never seen such hatred. It was why Annabelle had left Tara with her, Willow’s hatred towards Tara was much milder. Tara, it seemed, was the lesser of two evils. And because of that, it was up to Tara help Willow… but Tara couldn’t see how that was possible.
Willow wasn’t going to listen to her anymore than she would listen to Annabelle.
In any other situation, Tara would have gladly done what Annabelle asked. After all, Tara owed Annabelle a lot, but spending time with someone so hostile towards magic was almost too much to ask.
It brought back too many memories.
Taking a deep breath and muttering a small prayer of strength to her Goddess, Tara turned to face the other woman. “Are you talking about Annabelle?”
Lieutenant Rosenberg nodded. “What did she do to me?”
Tara raised the spell book in her hand. “A healing spell.” She flicked through the pages, searching for the spell. When she found it, Tara held it out to her. “It’s in Latin, but it’s here if you want to read it. There isn’t anything malicious in the spell.”
It was the only way Tara could think to put Willow, Lieutenant Rosenberg, at ease. She was convinced the spell Annabelle had used had done something to her, and no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t convince her otherwise.
Just like Angel, Faith, and Cordelia were having trouble convincing Willow’s friends almost the same thing. They were certain they were hurting Willow in some way, and every time Angel refused to let them near Willow, the more incensed they became.
The more incensed they became, the more agitated and furious Willow became.
Annabelle had stopped Willow, several times, from leaving. It was too dangerous for her to go out there so angry, it would be too easy for her to lose control of her magic.
It was dangerous for her to be in here too.
For both of them.
Tara felt a stab of fear, but pushed it away, and focused once again on Willow, who was reading the book with a stern look of concentration. “Do you know Latin?” Tara asked. “If you don’t, I can translate it for you.”
Not surprisingly, Willow refused. “I can read it,” she replied. “But I’ll get Daniel to translate it for the Major…” She glanced out to the lobby where everyone was standing, fighting. “Once he stops arguing with Angel.”
Which Tara guessed would be the next time the demons attacked. The fight didn’t look like it was going to end any time soon, in spite of Annabelle’s attempts to mediate.
“This is the spell she used?” the Lieutenant wanted to know.
Tara nodded. “Annabelle made some slight variations to it, but nothing - ”
“Slight variations?”
“Yes. Annabelle put in a reference to you, so the spell could work on you specifically. That’s all.” The reference to the Lieutenant wasn’t a term Tara thought Willow would want to hear right now. If Willow was as bad as Cordelia and Faith said, then Tara didn’t want to see how Willow reacted to being referred to as their ‘sister’.
“This isn’t the spell she used,” Willow stated. “This doesn’t explain why I…”
“Why you what?”
“Feel different,” she finished, her voice dangerously cold.
This was she was so dangerous. The anger, pain, and hate coming from her was horrific. Tara hadn’t even felt this much hatred from her Father.
And with this much hatred, Willow was having trouble controlling her magic.
“I feel different,” Willow went on. “My magic… I can feel it. It’s… it’s awake. What did she do to me other than heal me?”
Willow looked like she wanted to kill someone and there was nothing stopping Willow from lashing out with her magic – to do just that – except Willow’s ignorance…
Willow knew no spells. She didn’t know how to properly focus her power unless it was to find someone. Angel had explained to them the extent in which Willow used and shielded her power. Tara hadn’t heard of anyone being able to deny his or her power to such a degree, but Tara was grateful Willow had.
It was because Willow didn’t know what to do with it that she wasn’t blowing up the hotel right now. And she had the power to cause that much damage. Tara had felt her power, could still feel it.
No wonder Willow was so scared, so convinced that Annabelle had done something. She wasn’t used to feeling the full extent of her power.
“She didn’t do anything to you,” Tara said in a bid to calm her down. “Your magic hasn’t awakened, it has always been awake. Annabelle had to break through your shields in order to heal you. What you’re feeling right now is your magic, because you don’t have any shields.”
She shook her head. “No. I’ve lowered my shields before… it didn’t feel like this.”
Willow had lowered her shields before? “Lowering your shields and having them completely destroyed isn’t the same. Even when you lower your shields, they’re still there, now there’s nothing. You’ll have to rebuild your shields from scratch.” Did Willow even remember how to shield magic? It was more than likely that Willow shielded her magic by denying her power’s existence.
“No, you’re wrong,” Willow refused to believe her answer. “Annabelle did something to me. I felt my power stir when she was doing the spell.”
“It stirred because you denied your magic so much. Once it was free, it immediately sought out Annabelle’s power – and mine – because it had the opportunity. It’s like releasing a wild animal after being in captivity for years. It ran wild. That’s why you were healed like you were,” she explained. “You have no scars on you now, not even from the demon attack, because your magic boosted Annabelle’s. And it’s why you feel different. You’re feeling your power… as well as mine and Annabelle’s powers. Our powers combined with your during the healing.” Tara could still feel some of Willow’s power in her.
“If that’s the case, which one of you is evil then?”
Tara stared at her, stunned. “W-what?”
Willow studied her through narrowed eyes. “Which one of you is evil? Or are you both evil?”
Evil? “Lieutenant Rosenberg, neither one of us is evil. Annabelle and I stay away from the dark magics. All members of our coven are forbidden from using them.”
Willow was unconvinced. “One of you is evil, I can feel it.” She thought for a moment. “It has to be Annabelle, she did the spell. Isn’t it against some law to go against a person’s will? Annabelle went against my will by doing the spell. I said no, but she did it anyway. I’m right aren’t I? It is against a law? I remember reading that when I first started learning magic.”
“Well, yes, but Annabelle didn’t break the law because she wanted to hurt you. She broke it because she wanted to save you… and you saved me.” A fact that Tara had yet to deal with. The events in the past few hours hadn’t sunk in yet. Actually, Tara hadn’t had time to think of it. After healing Willow, things had gone crazy.
Tara hadn’t even thanked Willow yet… though, now probably wasn’t the best time.
Not when Willow was accusing them of being evil.
“Maybe she wanted something? My power? Knowledge?” Willow suggested, more to herself than to Tara.
Tara shook her head. “Annabelle isn’t evil. She’s… she’s the farthest person from evil you will ever meet. The only thing Annabelle wanted was for you to be healed, and to help Angel. That’s all. If we were evil, would we have come here to help Angel and the others? No. She’s - we’re - not evil, Willow. I know you don’t like magic, but I assure you, neither one of us have any ill intent towards you. It’s against everything we believe in.”
Willow stood up then and walked towards her, stopping when she was less than a foot in front of her. “Well then explain to me why I feel evil, death, darkness, whatever the hell you want to call it, all around me.”
Tara frowned. “You feel evil all around you?”
She nodded. “Not just all around me, but closing in on me. I can feel it, creeping towards me and I can feel others things as well, pulling at me. It’s stopping me from erecting my shields.”
“You feel evil closing in on you?” Tara’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Maybe you’re feeling the evil here in LA. I felt it when I first arrived, it took me a while to get used to it. Or, it could be your anger. Willow, you’re angry, upset, and your magic is free. You don’t understand magic, you could be misinterpreting what you’re feeling.”
It was like talking to a wall.
Tara hesitated before asking the next question. “Would you like me to teach you some of the basics? Help you understand? Maybe then you could…” Tara let the question fall away when she saw the look on Willow’s face.
She looked like she’d prefer a horde of demons to attack her, rather than learn about magic.
The Lieutenant took a step towards her. “It’s not anger I’m feeling, and it’s not because I’m upset. I know what I’m feeling, Ma’am. I know evil. It’s surrounding me, coming closer. I can feel it, I’ve been feeling it ever since I woke up. It’s closer now than it was when I regained consciousness…” A thoughtful expression crossed Willow’s face. “It’s closer…”
Closer? How… oh! But that was good! “Annabelle’s further away from you!” Tara pointed out with barely concealed relief. “And I’ve been in the room with you the whole time. It’s not us.” As soon as she said it, Tara frowned once again. The magic Tara felt when she landed in LA wasn’t the kind of feeling Willow described.
Something wasn’t right here.
“It’s not you,” Willow repeated, taking a step backwards. “It can’t be. It’s closing in on me… on all of us. It feels kind of like something I’ve felt before.” She thought for a moment. “Kind of like a multiple…” she trailed off, her eyes wide with confusion.
“Willow, what is it?”
“It’s can’t be,” she shook her head in disbelief. “It’s too strong, they’re too many. Far too many.”
“Willow? What’s wrong?”
Willow shook her head and backed away from her, stopping in the middle of the office. When she stopped, Willow held her hands out by her sides, turned her palms forward, and closed her eyes.
A sound from outside the office caught Tara’s attention and she turned to see everyone watching them through the doorway. Annabelle gave her a questioning look and Tara shrugged in reply.
She had no idea what Willow was doing.
“Rosenberg?” Major Kawalsky called to her from outside the office, a concerned look on his face.
Willow ignored him, she was completely focusing on whatever she was… oh god! Tara gasped in surprise as she felt magic surround her. Magic that was coming from Willow!
She… she was doing magic?
But that was impossible! Faith said Willow couldn’t do any spells, the only thing she could do with her magic was find people. But…
Willow wouldn’t be trying to find people, would she?
Tara studied Willow carefully and when Willow opened her eyes, fear unlike any other filled her. The look on the Lieutenant’s face… Tara hadn’t seen anything like it and she found that she didn’t really want to know what had put the fear in Willow.
“Willow?” one of Willow’s friends, Daniel, called out to her. At the sound of his voice, Willow turned towards the door. “Willow? What is it?”
“They’re coming.”