Chapter Three: Hidden Side Effects

"It really is you, isn't it?" the woman asked, staring at Willow in disbelief. "I thought you had died."

"Who are you?" Willow demanded, uncomfortable with being recognized by someone she didn't know.

"Laura. Laura Summers, well Maclay now."

Willow stiffened at the name and tried to remember the woman in front of her. She remembered Laura as a child, a small little girl with golden hair and crystal blue eyes. Liam had been so proud of his daughter, and always said how he wished his Mom was still around so she could see and know her grandchild.

"You're Liam's daughter. Buffy's granddaughter," Willow said, looking at the woman before her in surprise.

"Yes. Dad said you knew Grandma Summers, but he said she died when he was just a child. Aunt Joyce was barely three when she passed. How are you still alive? You look exactly the same as the last time I saw you," Laura explained, feeling confused as she stared at Willow.

"You know this demon?" the man demanded, stepping towards his wife.

"Yes. She was always a friend of the family. Always around when we needed her. I only saw her once or twice."

Willow stood there silently until she remembered something that Laura had said before. "Maclay?" she whispered, before turning to the man. "Are you related to Donnie Maclay and Tara Maclay?"

"Tara is my daughter," he snapped, pointing to the blond with her head bowed, hiding behind her hair.

"Not that one. Tara Maclay, born October 16th, 1980. Died May 7th, 2002."

"She was disowned by my great-grandfather and will not be named in my house again. She turned her back on her family and accepted her demon heritage," the man explained, staring at her.

Willow stiffened at the mention of Tara's supposed demon and took a step forward, her dark eyes filled with rage.

"Willow," Angel's voice, pulled Willow out of the darkness engulfing her and she turned her head towards him surprised to see him standing in the open doorway watching her.

"Angel," Willow responded, anger clear in her voice.

"Don't do anything you'll regret. Think about Warren. Think about what Tara would have wanted you to do. Don't let the anger control you," Angel advised, hoping to get through to her enough that she wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

Willow nodded and turned back to the man who was her Tara's distant nephew. "There was no demon heritage. You know that. The men in your family just use that word to describe women. So tell me. Have you ever seen a real demon? Have you seen the look in the eyes of a true monster? I can show you. I've been down that road before. I'll take you on a little tour of the darkness inside of me," Willow offered watching the man pale as he stared at her.

"What are you?" he asked, his voice shaking from fear.

"Human. I'm also a witch. What you see before you is the dark magicks inside of me," Willow explained, smiling cruelly at him. "They once took complete control of me and I killed the man who took my lover from me. He killed her so I killed him, slowly. I tortured him. I slowly forced a bullet inside of him. Showing him what he did to her when he took her life. And you know what? I enjoyed ever second of it," Willow said, stepping towards him as the darkness started taking over.

"Willow!" Angel shouted, knowing Willow was losing herself to the magicks.

Spike came up beside Angel, hearing the concern in his voice and wanting to know what caused. "Bloody hell, Red. Get control of yourself," Spike exclaimed, seeing and feeling the darkness inside her grow.

"Invite me in," Angel said, turning to the older blond closest to the door.

"What?" Laura asked, confused.

"Invite me in," Angel repeated, looking from her to Willow who was slowly moving towards the man. "Invite me in or watch her kill him."

"Um...come in," she said, looking at him before turning to Willow again.

As soon as the words left Laura's mouth, Angel rushed over to Willow and grabbed her shoulders. "Damn it Willow. Do not let them control you. You're stronger than them. What would Tara say if she knew you lost yourself to your magicks not once but twice?" Angel shouted at her, watching as the dark eyes slowly lightened until green eyes were looking back at him.

As green locked with brown, Angel relaxed and looked at her. "You alright?"

"Yeah. Thanks," Willow whispered before turning closing her eyes and take a deep breath. "I need to get out of her. It feels like someone's pulling the darkness out of me, and I have to figure out why."

Angel nodded and grabbed Willow's arm, leading her out of the house and into the streets. They walked silently towards their home and once inside the house, Angel turned to Willow. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure. I kept feeling like someone was pulling at the darkness inside of me, pulling it forward," Willow explained, feeling uncomfortable at the feeling of the dark magicks clawing at her soul.

"Has this happened before?" Spike asked, coming up to stand on her other side, worried for his friend.

"Once, with The First, but it wasn't this powerful. I think it has to do with the curse. Maybe it's another way for Amy to punish me. If I get close to Tara, I lose control?"

"Would she do that?" Angel asked, not knowing much about Amy except what he had been told.

"Oh course she would. The bloody witch was crazy and wanted Red to suffer."

"How can you break the curse if every time you go near her, you become Dark Willow?"

Willow looked sadly into Angel's eyes, her green eyes darkening back into the familiar black that she used to hide her emotions. "I don't."

A/N: I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. My mind kept wandering while I was writing and taking the story to random places that I had to fix. Hopefully the chapter didn't turn out too bad because I didn't have a beta for it. Please review and tell me what you think. I live off of reviews.