Chapter 1 – Stop the Bitch

Tara lay on a pallet of old blankets in the back room of the Moon Goddess Emporium. The quiet, dimly lit room was scented with sage and herbal candles, but the calm atmosphere did nothing to settle the wild butterflies in her stomach. She closed her eyes, trying to think of how to get out of this latest dilemma. Most of the other occupants were already asleep, spread out in a circle, just a few feet from where she lay. There were six of them in total, including Tara. Five of which were being held against their will by that witch-bitch, Antonia Gavilal8;n de Logroño, a vengeful spirit that lived nearly four hundred years ago and now inhabited their coven leader, Marnie Stonebrook's, body.

Like Tara, Antonia had been tortured, raped and abused by vampires. However, she didn't just want to defend humans against the living dead. She was planning to completely, indiscrimately, eradicate the entire vampire population off the face of the planet and would destroy anyone who got in her way. Tara was all for standing up to the vamps and defending herself, but genocide was where she drew the line. Too bad she hadn't left when she had the chance. Now she was being held captive…AGAIN!

Why the hell do I keep getting myself mixed up in this shit? Do I have the words, magnet for crazy, sadistic, supernatural motherfuckers tattooed on my forehead? I should've got the fuck outta Bon Temps with Naomi when I had the chance.

A muted thud interrupted her thoughts. Tara's eyes snapped opened like two tightly round window shades. The noise sounded like it came from the storage room. She counted each of the sleeping Wiccans. All of them were accounted for, except for Marnie (aka Antonia), who was still in the front of the store going over centuries old spellbooks and making her plans for the evening.

Lifting up on her elbows, Tara strained her ear to listen. There were two voices coming from the front of the store, which meant Marnie was talking to a visitor. Then another sound caught her attention. It came from the back of the room, a quick tap-tap-tap that sounded like shoes tiptoeing across tile. Tara slipped her hand under her blanket, her fingertips brushing over the hard, cool steel.

Fuckin' vampire must've gotten loose, she thought, rising from her pallet.

Thank God the gun she was holding was loaded with wooden bullets. As she drew closer to the bathroom where Antonia had stored the spellbound Eric, she heard a familiar female voice. She opened the door and was surprised to find that it belonged to Sookie. Her telepathic friend must have snuck in through the window in the storage room to rescue Eric.

Behind Tara, alarmed shouts filled the air as the others awakened to find they had an intruder.

"Shoot her! Shoot her now!" screamed Roy, Antonia's only willing follower among the small group of Wiccans.

Tara tightened her grip on the gun, aiming it point blank at Sookie. Her heart leaped into her throat. She couldn't just shoot her best friend even if she was a damn fangbanger and lied to her about hiding Eric at her house.

"Tara, don't shoot her!" shrieked Antonia. "This one can be useful to us."

"Okay," said Tara. She turned back to face Sookie, finding it hard to keep her hands from trembling. Eric stood quiet as a statue, staring at the wall as though he was totally oblivious to what was going on around him.

"You comin' here is 'bout the stupidest fuckin' shit I ever heard of…..are you even listening to me?" Tara gave Sookie a cryptic look to be sure she knew just what kind of listening she meant.

We're all being held hostage. Bill is at the Dorchester Hotel. Take Lafayette and Jesus. They're the only ones strong enough to stop Antonia. Charge me, Sookie! Charge me, now!

Sookie ran straight towards Tara, knocking her down as she fled from the room. Tara turned on her stomach and fired two shots, purposely missing her best friend by at least an inch.

"No…no...no," Antonia screamed in anguish, but it was too late. Sookie was gone.

"I'm really fuckin' sorry, Antonia," said Tara, putting on her most contrite face, "but she charged me. Ya'll all saw it."

She breathed a sigh of relief as Antonia stomped out of the room.

***

"Let me get this fuckin' straight," said Lafayette. "That Antonia bitch is holdin' my cousin and Jesus' coven hostage and she plans on using Eric Northman to kill Bill and a whole bunch of folks on live tv at this…uh, whatcha call it...Festival of Tolerance, so that she can start a fuckin' vampire/human race war?"

Sookie gave an emphatic nod. After narrowly escaping the Moon Goddess Emporium with her life, she told her former arch-enemy and now willing accomplice, Debbie Pelt, to drop her off at Lafayette's house so she could relay Tara's message.

"That's pretty much it in a nutshell," she said.

Lafayette wearily dragged his hand over his face and rubbed the stubble on his chin. "This is some seriously fucked up shit."

"Tara said you and Jesus are the only ones strong enough to stop her."

Jesus stood up from the sofa, raking his fingers through his dark hair in an agitated way. Lafayette's stomach curled into a tight knot as Jesus began wearing a whole in his carpet.

"Fuck, man," said Jesus. "We…we gotta do something. We can't let Antonia get away with this."

Here the fuck we go with this superhero shit again, thought Lafayette, rolling his eyes.

There was no way he was up for playing hero, not so soon after his encounter with the dead Creole woman, Mavis, who'd taken over his body to search for her murdered baby. It felt like he was being led around by his balls from one supernatural crisis to another. He actually wished for the days when he was just a small time drug-dealer, selling V and sleeping with senators for money. At least things were less dangerous then. This crazy supe shit was too much for one person to handle, whether he was a medium or not.

Lafayette scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Hold on', cowboy. I know you da man with the Mexican mojo, but I'm just a glorified ass puppet for the spirit world."

"Lafayette, you are way more than just a medium. You have yet to see all the powers you'll possess," Jesus said, lowering his voice ominously. His brown eyes got that hard, intense look that always made Lafayette's heart speed up. "What happened at my abruelo's house and with Mavis was just the beginning, mi amor."

"Aw, fuck nah!" Lafayette said, backing away. Jesus grabbed him by the hand and placed it on the center of his chest. Lafayette swallowed hard, feeling the steady beat of his lover's heart under his fingers and through the thin material of his nurse scrubs.

Lafayette met Jesus' fixed stare and tried to keep his voice leveled. "How the fuck is we gone go up against a pissed-off witch from hell and a thousand year old vampire all by ourselves?"

"I don't know, but we have to try, Lafayette. People could die, including Tara if we just stand here and do nothing."

Lafayette looked away, not wanting to admit that Jesus was right. Tara was the only family he truly cared about. If there was any chance he could help her, he had to try. She would do the same for him.

Sookie cleared her throat. Both men turned to look at her. Sookie planted a hand on her narrow hip in exasperation. "What the hell am I? Chopped liver? I got my own powers too, Lafayette. Granted I ain't fully in control of 'em yet, but they seem to always work at the most crucial moments. Besides, we ain't got much time, so whatever you plan to do, you better do it fast. We need to get to that festival and warn Bill before it's too late."

Lafayette glanced over at his partner, fear and uncertainty lodged a lump in his throat. Jesus had become his rock, his touch stone, and a constant source of moral support. He gave Lafayette a reassuring smile that told him that no matter what he'd have his back.

"Let's get the fuck outta here," Lafayette said sternly, "We got some savin' to do."

***

As soon as Antonia, Eric and Roy had left the Moon Goddess Emporium, Tara attempted to take the quickest way out; through the front door. She soon learned, rather painfully, that Antonia had not only sealed the doors and windows with magic, but turning a doorknob or opening a window pane, was like touching red hot coals.

Tara screamed as she felt the heat burning through her flesh. It was the most excruciating pain she had ever experienced in her life. Her eyes watered, staring down at her trembling hands. Most of the tender skin on her palms was burnt away leaving red, pussing blisters and rough patches of black skin. The rancid smell of burned flesh made her stomach roil.

"Lemme see your hands," demanded Holly, gently turning them up for a closer inspection. "Amy go get my purse." She instructed the young brunette to her left.

A tremor went through Tara's body as she watched Holly take a small plastic sack of green herbs out of her purse.

"Holly, I know that marijuana is suppose to help with pain and all, but you gone need a lot more of that shit if you gone help me deal with this."

"It's not marijuana. It's my own concoction," she said, sprinkling the herbs over each of Tara's palms. She then pressed her own hands on top of Tara's. Pain shot through Tara so intense that she cursed and tried to snatch away from her.

Holly gripped her wrists. "Don't move," she commanded sternly before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "Oh, Mother Goddess, I call upon thee, to work your healing power through me. Give me your guiding hand and gentle spirit. Make thy flesh whole again."

Tara felt a tingling sensation spread from her fingertips down to the soles of her feet. When Holly removed her hand, Tara was astonished to see that her palms were red, but the searing pain was gone and her skin showed no signs of ever being burned.

"How…how did you do that?" she asked in awe.

Holly gave her a wide, toothy smile. "It's sorta my thing. My mama was a healer and so was my granny, so I guess they just passed it on to me."

Tara lifted her hands close to her face, not sure if what she was seeing and feeling was truly real. "Wow, this…is… fuckin'… amazing."

"Hey, that's great and all," said Nina, the red headed Wiccan. "But we still need to find a way out of here."

Tara stared at the wide storefront window. "We can't touch the doorknobs or window sills, so we'll just have to go out a big enough exit that we won't have too." She picked up a chair and flung it through the window with all the strength she could muster. As soon as the glass shattered the burglar alarm shrieked.

"Hurry," she screamed at the group. Everyone rushed towards the window. Each of them took special care not to touch anything while stepping over the window pane and the shards of broken glass. Once outside, they all ran to their cars parked in the back of the building. Tara could hear the shrill sound of police sirens in the distance. She knew the cops would come asking a lot questions. She had no intention of being anywhere near the Moon Goddess to answer them. "We got to get to the Dorchester to stop Antonia," she said.

"Sorry, Tara, but this ain't what I signed up for," said Amy, getting into her blue Mazda. "I'm done with this Wiccan shit. I'm converting to Judaism." She started up the engine and sped away into the night.

Tara turned to the three Wiccans remaining. "What about y'all?"

None of them would meet her eyes, except Holly. "I'll go," she said, stepping forward.

"What about your kids? " Tara asked, feeling a little relieved, but at the same time worried for Holly's sake. Afterall, she had been the one to persuade Holly to join Antonia's cause against the vampires in the first place. The guilt of that weighed heavy on Tara. She was afraid Holly's kids would become orphans if their mother got dragged any deeper into this mess. "Your kids need you, Holly."

"Who's to say that once Antonia is done with the vampires, she won't come after us and our families next," said Holly. "I'm doing this for my kids."

Tara considered her for moment then let out a heavy sigh. "Alright," she said in acquiesce. "Let's go."

Holly ran to the passenger side of Tara's convertible and got in.

"Do you think we'll make it in time?" asked Holly, once they were on the road and heading towards downtown Shreveport.

"Don't know. I told Sookie to go to Lafayette and Jesus for help. Hopefully, they're already there."

"So what's your plan?"

Tara tightened her hands on the wheel and swerved as she ran through a red light and barely missed colliding with a minivan at the intersection.

She glanced at the rearview mirror to make sure the police weren't following. "My plan," she said grimly, "is to stop the bitch."

To be continued...