Once they had arrived at Pat's apartment again, Willow asked her best friend to have an eye on the demon while she'd do what Giles had suggested about her mutterings, namely search the internet for them; as soon as she sat in front of the computer, she had to realize though that her mind had drawn a blank, not a single one of the phrases Pat had used during the day coming to her mind.
For a while, she just stared at the search engine, then gave up; she knew that this was caused by her emotional distress about the whole situation, but this didn't make accepting it any easier, and she grumbled to herself as she made her way to the kitchen, where Buffy was preparing a snack for them and Pat was sitting at the kitchen table, looking distraught.
"Did something happen?" the redhead immediately asked as she noticed the facial expression of her girlfriend; turning to look at her, Buffy shook her head, sounding slightly helpless when she replied. "No, nothing that I know of… She just started looking that way when she sat down…"
Concerned, Willow moved over to the demon and crouched next to her, softly speaking her name; in response, Pat looked at her, still with that dismayed expression on her face, the redhead noticing how her feet were tapping the floor, a movement which was all too familiar to her, her eyes going wide as she realized what it meant.
"Withdrawal", she stated, causing Buffy to look at her again, one of the Slayer's eyebrows wandering up. "Even in that state, she wants a cigarette. Can't believe it."
"Let her have one", the blonde woman suggested, shrugging when Willow threw her a dismayed glance. "What? She's bad enough as it is, no need to make it even worse for her…"
"You're right", the witch had to admit after a moment, sighing to herself before she got up again and made her way to the windowsill, where a pack of cigarettes and a lighter laid next to an ashtray; she made a disgusted face, then lit the cigarette up quickly, coughing to herself while she carried the ashtray to the table and put it down in front of Pat, putting the cigarette between her index and middle finger afterwards.
Just like when she had eaten breakfast, the demon immediately knew what to do with it and how to use it; she took a long drag of it, the distraught expression vanishing from her face, her voice sounding strangely content when she looked at Willow and spoke up. "At the mercy of the cold and hollow, I withdrew into my sanctuary of silence…"
Repeating the words to herself, the redhead hurried back to the living room and the computer there, after Buffy had reassured her she'd take care of Pat so the demon wouldn't burn the house down on accident; hurriedly, she typed the phrase into the search engine, then hit Enter, surprised at the results which came up at the screen moments later. Now finally able to remember some of the other phrases Pat had used, she repeated the process with them, not finding anything different from the first search result though; shaking her head to herself, she returned to the kitchen, shrugging when Buffy gave her a curious look.
"No hidden messages in her rambling", she then sighed, sitting down next to the demon and watching her smoke. "She's quoting metal songs… Should have known that, she's listening to that stuff all the time…"
She sighed again, then carefully reached out and took the cigarette from her girlfriend, since by now, Pat had smoked it almost all the way down the filter; to her relief, the demon didn't try to stop her, merely watching how the redhead put the cigarette out before she started playing with the hem of her shirt, mumbling to herself again, chuckling from time to time for no apparent reason.
With her heart growing heavy again, Buffy watched how Willow reached out and tenderly caressed the demon's hair, no reaction coming from the other woman though; forcing back the urge to clench her fists, Buffy turned towards the snacks she had been preparing again, hoping that whoever had done this really had left town, as he had promised Willow he would, not sure what she would do to him for this if she'd ever get her hands on him.
During the next week, Giles came up with several spells and potions to cure Pat and to give her back her sanity, none of them having the desired effect though; except for one potion, the stuff they gave her to drink and the spells Willow performed had no effect at all, and the only thing the one potion to which the demon did react caused was that she farted heavily for several hours, something which seemed to amuse her greatly, but forced Willow to keep the windows open until the effect had passed.
The only things she kept saying were the quotes from various metal songs, sometimes strangely fitting the situation, sometimes having no apparent connection to what was going on at all; every now and then, she'd start crying for no reason, the redhead always giving her best to comfort her then, even if she had no idea what the reason for her lover's tears was. Just like when Tara had been in a similar state of mind, the witch showed endless patience with her girlfriend, giving her best to always make her comfortable and figure out the needs the demon might have; it was a bit easier than it had been with Tara, since Pat at least could eat and drink on her own, and went to sleep whenever Willow told her to, even if it was in the middle of the afternoon and she technically shouldn't be tired.
The nights passed uneventfully as well, the demon slumbering beside her girlfriend, not reacting to Willow snuggling up to her or to the redhead holding her close; still the witch did this every night, finding herself unable to sleep without at least one hand resting on her loved one's back or with her head on the taller woman's shoulder, the lack of reaction from Pat still hurting her, the young woman telling herself again and again though that the demon didn't mean to hurt her and that it wasn't done intentionally.
Usually, it took her a while during those seven days and nights to fall asleep, her mind always running wild as she laid in bed, pondering what she would do if Pat never would regain her sanity; once she had fallen asleep though, she usually slumbered through the night peacefully, only waking up if the demon moved too far away from her during the night and she had to snuggle closer again.
Thus, it wasn't surprising her when she got torn out of her sleep during the eighth night since she had used the antidote on her lover; at first she thought that Pat simply had moved to the edge of the bed again, sleepily reaching out to pull her back so she wouldn't fall out, her eyes almost flying open a second later though as she realized that the other side of the bed was empty. With her heart suddenly hammering in her chest, she sat up, whispering "Pat…?" into the darkness of the bedroom; outside, a bolt of lightning flashed up, illuminating the bedroom just long enough to let her see the demon standing at the window, looking outside, the expression on her face strangely thoughtful, something Willow hadn't seen at all during the last several days.
"Pat?" she tried again, getting out of bed and moving over to her, tenderly touching her arm, not wanting to startle her; surprisingly quick, the demon looked at her, her voice serious as she replied, her words making the redhead's heart beat even faster. "I hear the storm outside… First drop just hit the roof…"
"Yes, there's a storm", Willow agreed, not sure what to think of this – even if the words of the demon sometimes had been strangely fitting during the last week, it never had been like this.
"Do you want to go outside…?" she thus added, ignoring the fact that by now, it had started to rain rather heavily; in response, Pat looked out the window again, all at once sounding heartbroken and lost as she replied, her words clenching up the redhead's heart. "I'd die to see the rain… but I can't… move…"
"Of course you can", Willow reassured her, asking herself if this was the moment she had been hoping for, some sort of breakthrough the potions and spells hadn't been able to accomplish. "Come on", she added, tenderly leading the demon away from the window and to her wardrobe, "let's get you dressed and then we'll go outside… Okay?"
"Time stays still", the demon replied, obediently putting on the clothes Willow was handing her, "only I can feel when the darkness will appear… Please, please take away my fear…" Is she talking about how it felt when she was locked in that statue? Willow wondered while she helped the demon into her leather coat, to keep at least some of the rain away from her; once she had gotten done with this, she quickly got dressed as well, then grasped Pat's hand again and, without allowing herself to doubt if this might really help or was just another bout of madness, led the demon out of the apartment, trying to ignore her racing heart as they made their way down the stairs, something deep inside telling her that the reason for this sudden strange behaviour was more, had to be more, than just insanity.
Once they were outside, Pat just stood on the sidewalk, the by now heavy rain falling down on her and wetting her coat and hair; feeling protective of her, Willow tried to make her step underneath the umbrella she had brought, the demon moving away from her thought, a few steps down the sidewalk, obviously not minding the rain beating down on her. In the distance, Willow could see someone approach, but paid them no mind, moving after her girlfriend and tenderly grasping her hand, trying to capture Pat's gaze with hers, her voice soft when she finally had succeeded in doing so and spoke up. "Is this helping you…? Will you come back to me now? Please, come back to me…"
From the corner of her eye, she noticed that the approaching figure had stopped several meters away, but paid them no mind, figuring that whoever it was probably was wondering what the two women were doing outside on such a night, standing on the sidewalk, one of them underneath an umbrella, the other one right in the pouring rain.
"If you can hear me in there, come back to me", she went on, reaching up and tenderly caressing the by now wet cheek of her loved one, her voice trembling as she continued to speak. "Please… I know you're strong enough, please come back to me…"
"So your threats of painful death and torture were for nothing", the figure close to them suddenly spoke up, making the witch jump as she twirled around, her eyes going wide as she recognized the man who was responsible for all of this. "You got her back, but now she's crazy", he went on, smirking to himself as he took a few steps closer, Willow almost automatically moving in front of Pat, not wanting this man to hurt her even more than he already had. "Too bad…"
"What are you still doing here?" she snapped, hoping that he wouldn't notice how much of her bravado was an act – after the spell she had done to gain the strength she'd needed to deal with him, she hadn't dared to do any magic this powerful again, knowing that she might end up addicted to it again quicker than she might think, and she wasn't sure if she had regained enough strength to fight this guy, should he decide to attack her or her loved one. "I told you to leave town."
"Oh, I was planning to, really", the man reassured her, smirking at her cruelly, "but then I heard of the unfortunate fate of your girlfriend here… And a new plan came up in my brilliant mind."
"And you're so modest", Willow muttered, making him laugh before he shrugged, giving her another disdainful smile. "Just knowing myself well. I admit, my first plan didn't go so well, but this new one… It'd be a shame if Buffy lost her best friend, right? Especially if she lost her best friend due to the woman said best friend loves, who unfortunately lost her mind… and burned a certain cute redhead to a crisp…"
"There's nothing you can say or do to make Pat do that", Willow gave back, even though she wasn't sure that this was what the man was aiming at; he chuckled and shook his head, stuffing his hands into the pants of his pocket, the smirk on his face now cruel as he replied. "No… She won't do that, that's true. But my little pet here will."
And with those words, he let out a shrill whistle; moments later, an ugly, misshapen creature came rushing down the street with long, animalistic looking jumps, a shriek escaping the redhead when a burst of flame left its mouth and hit the sidewalk, the puddles of water there immediately drying up. Telling herself that she couldn't panic now, that she had faced much worse things and had done well, and that she had to protect Pat, Willow forced herself to calm down as she brought up her hand; before she could voice the spell though, the creature had reached her, delivering a powerful backhanded swipe which sent her to the ground, another cry escaping her as pain welled up in her body.
Dimly, she heard the laughter of the man responsible for all of this while she tried to dodge another hit, the creature this time hitting her shoulder instead of her face; the pain was still tremendous, and she cried out again, her gaze falling on Pat moments later, the demon standing where Willow had left her, watching the scene with an indifferent expression on her face. She won't snap out of it, forget that, Willow told herself, groaning when yet another hit landed, this time aimed at her lower back, you'll have to deal with this yourself…
She took a fourth hit, holding back her cry this time, taking in a deep breath as she forced herself to focus; the spell she managed to throw against the creature wasn't one of her strongest ones, but enough to send it flying a few meters away, giving her some time to sort her thoughts and come up with stronger magic – or so she had thought, the voice of the monster's master coming up again before she could figure something out. "Enough playing around! Fry her! Burn the witch!"
He laughed at his own – rather lame, Willow dully thought to herself – pun, his laughter underlined by the shriek the creature let out in response; then, it opened it's mouth again, and flames appeared, the redhead squeezing her eyes shut as she waited for the searing pain to start, her cry fading away unheard.