Xander's Hospital Room, 0900 hours.
How does one deal with loss?
More specifically, how does one deal with the loss of someone who not only died, but is currently trapped in a Hell dimension with no viable way of getting out? And is suffering unimaginable agony?
This was going through the stunned Xander's mind as he was propped up on the hospital bed while Cordelia was holding his hand. When he had woken up a few hours ago, the dizzy young man groaned when he felt his head throbbing in pain. The sound had startled Cordelia out of her own sleep before she looked up at him from her position with her head and forearms resting on the mattress. Xander saw the young woman smile, but the smile was only on her lips. It didn't reach her eyes. He then looked at Giles, and Jenny, who were fast asleep, and then back at Cordelia again.
He didn't see Willow, Buffy, or Althanea. And his heart raced in worry.
"C… Cord…" whispered Xander as he struggled to speak.
Cordelia got off her chair and reached for a jug of water on the side table. She then poured some of the liquid into a paper cup, placed a straw inside, and then brought the straw to his lips. While Xander was taking in water to quench his parched throat, Cordelia pressed the call-button for a nurse and waited. She then took the cup once Xander had finished drinking, and placed it back on the side-table. The dark haired young woman was afraid of the questions she knew were coming, and it wasn't too long before her fears came true.
"Wh… what happened?" He looked expectantly at Cordelia who was still looking at the cup on the table.
"Buf… Buffy? Will… Willow? Angelus?" he rasped as Cordelia turned to face him with wetness in her eyes before she grabbed Xander's hand. She then told the young man that the doctors needed to see him first to make sure that he was doing all right, and then they would talk.
"Bu… but… Willow… powers…?" His eyes tried to read Cordelia's expression. "What… happ..?"
"Shhh," whispered Cordelia as she stroked the young man's hand just as two nurses walked in, an action that woke up Giles and Jenny. They looked around confused for a few seconds before realizing where they were; they quickly got up off their chairs when they saw the nurses and the conscious Xander. The nurses asked Cordelia to stand to one side while one of them closed the curtain that surrounded the young man.
In was a few hours later that Xander was lucid enough to understand what Giles and the others were saying. He was stunned at the revelation from Giles that Willow had retained her powers and memories of who she had turned into during Halloween. And that she had requested that Giles hide that fact from both Xander and Buffy. Xander covered his mouth in astonishment upon hearing that Willow was Nighthawk, and that she was the one who had fought by Buffy's side all this time.
"I.. I should have known and…" muttered Xander, shaking his head in disbelief while rubbing the back of his head with both hands. However, he still didn't know where Willow was, Cordelia never gave him a straight answer. He looked anxiously at his girlfriend. "Where is she?"
Cordelia and Jenny looked at Giles just as Buffy ran into the room with Joyce and Althanea following close behind her. Giles was surprised to find Joyce with Buffy, he was even more surprised when the Slayer told him that she had told her mother everything before turning to Xander. Giles was stunned as he looked at Buffy, who was standing on the other side of the bed, holding Xander's hand, and then he turned to Joyce, who, he could tell, was still trying to deal with whatever it was that Buffy had told her. He saw that Althanea was gently holding onto the older blonde's shoulder as she looked at him, before looking at the injured Xander who asked everyone if Willow was alright.
"Why isn't she with you?"
It was the first time anyone of them had seen Xander sobbing uncontrollably after he heard what had happened. All the rest of them could do, was to stand around the bed nervously as he covered his eyes with his hands.
Tears went down his face while everyone remained silent.
A few minutes, Giles whispered that he knew people from the Council who could take the statue of Acathla away, and keep it somewhere where no-one would ever find it. He also said that the Council had immeasurable resources at its disposal, and that he was certain that there was a way to bring Willow back.
"I will find a way," whispered Giles as Xander nodded his head. He wiped his eyes, and just looked at Giles. He put the fact that Willow hid things from him, her oldest friend, to the back of his mind, and then turned his head and glared at Buffy with rage in his eyes.
"You," hissed Xander as Buffy looked away after releasing Xander's hand, "you did this.. you.. you wanted to trust Angel, you… you killed Willow, you sent her to Hell.. this is your fault, your fault."
"I know," whispered Buffy as she wrapped her hands around her body, and took a step back, while Joyce, who could feel the blonde's guilt, walked over to her and placed her hands on Buffy's shoulders.
"Stay the hell away from me," he rasped as Buffy looked back up at him with tears in her eyes, "stay the hell away from me."
"I…." mumbled Buffy.
"Stay away!" he yelled in anger before he coughed as Buffy turned and walked away, with Joyce behind her. Xander then looked down at the bed while Giles rushed out the door, and placed his hand on Buffy's shoulder. He turned her around gently, and looked into her eyes.
The two of them then hugged each other tight while Buffy cried, and Joyce stood by with her hands clasped together. Giles glanced over at Joyce, telling her that he'll explain anything else that she wants to know about Buffy and what had happened with Willow. Joyce nodded her head before Giles told Buffy to give Xander some time. That they had all gone through something traumatic, but they had to hold it together.
"For Willow's sake," whispered Giles, his voice threatening to break again, while Buffy nodded her head, "she'll need us to bring her back."
The Rosenberg Residence, several hours later.
Ira and Sheila Rosenberg walked into a silent house, the only sound was coming from the door as it closed behind them. They had only just returned from Rome, and had gone directly to the Sunnydale Police Department after renting a car from the airport. They didn't want to wait for a cab that would, in return, have to wait for them outside the station with their luggage. They wanted their own car since they wanted… they needed to get to the police station first.
They had to find out what happened to their daughter.
Ira and Sheila were told by Detective Kennedy what had happened, and that Giles was the last person to see their daughter. She told them that Giles was badly beaten as well during his rescue attempt of Willow, and that he had seen things that he wished he could take back. The couple was then taken to a private room where the detective read out Giles' statement. Ira held on to Sheila's shoulder while doing everything he could to hold back a rasp f breath that would have made him cry while Detective Kennedy told them about the torture that Willow received at the hands of the assailants. Sheila collapsed into Ira's body sobbing, her face twisted in agony, as Detective Kennedy stopped mid-way between describing what happened to Willow in terms of the torture, and then the rape. Sheila sobbed for a few minutes while Ira, with tears streaming down his cheeks looked at the table, his body shaking, while imagining his daughter calling out for him. The detective then told the couple after some time that they were doing everything they could to find Willow, with the first thing being to send her picture to every law enforcement department in the United States.
"We'll be checking Sunnydale and its surrounding areas too." The detective said gently as Ira held on to Sheila tightly while nodding his head, "we'll do everything we can to find her."
That was a little more than an hour ago.
Ira and Sheila, who was wiping tears from her eyes, walked up the stairs slowly. Once they reached the top, Ira led Sheila slowly to Willow's room, and then opened the door before he looked in and held back a gasp. He saw Willow lying down on her stomach while typing at her laptop, and then he saw Willow looking back up at him, and giving him a toothy smile.
"Willow," whispered Ira as his voice broke and he covered his mouth with his hand. Sheila held on tight to Ira's hand as she watched Willow at her desk studying. She saw the image of her daughter look up from her books, and then turn to her.
"Hi, mom," greeted the redhead, "just studying you know… yep, just studying... so…. How was your day?"
Their respective visions of Willow lasted for a few seconds before they vanished, leaving the Rosenberg's feeling alone in the room. Sheila trudged, with Ira holding to her shoulders, to Willow's bed and sat down with her husband right next to her. She reached back for the redhead's pillow which was laying across the middle of the bed, took it in her arms, and then started to sob while she hugged it and took in Willow's scent. Ira teared up as he placed and arm around his wife's shoulders, and was holding her tight. He looked around the room and noticed that everything was as they knew Willow would leave it.
Of course, what they didn't know was that Cordelia, Althanea, and Jenny had come by earlier that day to remove all evidence that they were there last night performing a spell. In addition, they had taken away everything they had found related to Nighthawk on the carpet in her room.
The three of them left everything else alone.
And then they left before Ira and Sheila returned to the States.
It would be later that night Giles, Jenny, Althanea, Buffy, Cordelia, and Joyce would come to Willow's home. They told Ira and Sheila the same story they had told the police, while hiding the real truth from the two of them.
"Don't lose hope," said Jenny as Ira and Sheila nodded their heads, wiping their tears from their eyes while Giles held on to Sheila's hand.
"I'm so sorry I couldn't have done more." Giles tightened his hold on Sheila's hand as his voice broke, and all she could do was break down again and nod her head, "I am truly so very sorry."
Ira and Sheila remained in Sunnydale and taught at the university. They swore that they would stay in the city until they got Willow back; in fact, they were going to forego their conferences and special invitations just so that they could stay in Sunnydale and wait for their daughter. Giles had heard many things about Ira and Sheila from quips that Willow would make, and his expectations were dashed as he saw how upset they were at that moment.
'She's their daughter,' thought Giles to himself, 'of course they would be upset. They're human… they'd be upset. They'd be upset.'
Ira and Sheila would keep Willow's room as it was when they found it. Even the pillow was exactly how Willow had left it. Her books, her computer; that room was going to be just as it was for their daughter when she was found.
They changed nothing at all.
Los Angeles, Six months later.
Six months.
That's how long it had been since Angel left Sunnydale for Los Angeles. His memory of what he did to Willow, a girl who was only good to him while he was ensouled, burned in his mind. He saw images of the redhead wherever he went, all were looking sadly at him while he searched for a way to get her back.
That was what he promised Buffy in a letter he had sent her a few weeks after leaving Sunnydale. It was a letter that had Buffy's eyes tearing up since not only had he not said good-bye in person, but he was the one who caused Willow to open the doorway to Acathla's hell, and then there was Willow's rape that made the Slayer sick to her stomach. She asked Giles about it… she heard Angelus implying it during his taunts to her back in the mansion, and it was implied again at the hospital when Giles couldn't finish what he wanted to tell the detective about what he saw being done to Willow.
Buffy just wanted confirmation. So she asked Giles a few days after Xander was released from the hospital.
The Slayer vomited when Giles told her the truth of what had happened that day.
As she read the letter, Buffy wanted to tear it apart and just die, but all she could do was sit on her bed, alone, while imagining that Willow was sitting right next her.
"I'm sorry, Will," whispered Buffy as she looked at the letter that she had crumpled up into a ball, and then looked at the image of Willow, who faded away.
Buffy never wrote Angel back.
And Angel never expected to be written back. Many of his underground contacts led him to other contacts, who knew certain rituals and spells for opening gateways to other dimensions. Angel left people alone so that he could concentrate solely on bringing Willow back.
He sent a heartfelt apology to Giles via a letter as well. He wrote that he sent one to Buffy, and like what he told Buffy, he didn't deserve forgiveness. All he said was that he was working on bringing Willow back to Earth. Angel would get a letter from Giles months later saying that the Watcher hated him for everything he had done, that he single-handedly destroyed an innocent girl in every way possible; he destroyed her physically, he destroyed her spirit, and most importantly, her innocence. Angel read that Giles wanted to find him, and kill him… but that would not bring Willow back. Giles reluctantly admitted that he was doing everything he could to search for a way as well, but he was hitting one wall after another.
It would be later that Angel heard about the Powers That Be from a half-human, half-demon man named Doyle. Doyle joined Angel and Lily Houston, a woman that Angel saved during the incident with Ford and Spike trying to lure Buffy to a club where the patrons had romanticized views about vampires. He had saved her again three weeks after coming to Los Angeles, and since then, she had been by his side; both as thanks, and because she had no other place to go. It would be within a week of meeting Doyle that Angel found out her had a direct line to the Powers that Be in the form of visions, and these visions were of people that Angel needed to help.
"It's a means for your redemption." He told Angel in private a few hours after the first vision.
"I want a meeting with them."
"Who?" Doyle asked while Lily was taking a shower in a motel room that they were using in the meantime, "you mean the Powers?"
"They want me to help?" Angel leaned forward on the table with Doyle seated right opposite him, and scowled, "then I want their help."
"It doesn't work like that, Angel."
"I… don't… care," hissed Angel, keeping his voice low, not wanting to concern Lily, "they want me to help others? All I'm am asking for is this one favour. A meeting."
"No promises."
Doyle frowned as Angel leaned back on his chair.
Angel never told Lily what he did back in Sunnydale before leaving. Instead, he told her that he needed to save a friend he had hurt badly. It would be months later, after receiving Giles' letter, that Angel, with the help of Doyle, met with the Powers That Be in a secluded cave.
That meeting was unsuccessful since the Powers didn't see Willow as their Champion; not like how they saw Angel and Buffy.
"I am no Champion," bellowed Angel at a flickering light.
The Powers didn't budge, saying that it was Willow's choice to do what she did. She had chosen to take up arms by using her powers in secret against the darkness by helping Buffy. Everything that happened was a result of choices she had made on her own free will.
"She did not open the doorway to hell out of her own free will!" bellowed Angel while he turned and glared at his surroundings, his voice echoing in the chamber, "she was forced to open the doorway. I forced her to open the doorway; I will take her place."
"No." that one word uttered by what seemed like hundreds upon thousands of men, women, and children; all speaking in unison, which made Angel put his hands up and yell.
"I demand…."
"You demand nothing! Vampire!" The chamber shook as the voices roared while Angel tried to maintain his balance, "you made your choice! She made her choice in battling the darkness with our champions, you and the Slayer! She knew the risks, and now she has paid the price!"
"Please." Angel's voice broke as he fell onto his knees, his shoulders slumped forward while he looked up at the ceiling and weakly cried out, "help me save her. Please, help me save her."
"She is not our champion, vampire." The voices spoke out calmly as Angel looked down at the ground, tears falling from his eyes to the ground, "her life or death, to us, is inconsequential to the grand scheme of things. She has fallen, others will rise in her place; and you and the Slayer Buffy Summers, our chosen Champions, will have allies to fight the coming battles."
"She is not inconsequential and…."
Angel stopped talking while he looked up at the ceiling of the chamber, with his brows furrowed, at what he just heard. He was sure that the voices claimed Willow was someone else's champion; and the vampire repeated what the Powers had just told him.
"Yes, she is the champion of another."
"Then why doesn't this… this thing make him or herself known," asked Angel as he hurried to his feet, "I'm sure that…"
"There are reasons that you do not need to know vampire," said the voices that were all around him, "she is not important."
"But she is to me; she is my champion," said a female voice as Angel turned around, only to find himself looking at what he thought was a woman, from the silver and cream dress she was wearing under a white cloak, her head covered with a hood that covered her face in shadow. Not even the flickering light of the torches on the walls, or the flickering flame on the pedestal that separated the two of them, could penetrate the darkness covering her face.
"Then save her!" cried Angel at the unknown woman.
"I cannot interfere," replied the woman. Angel could hear the regret in her voice as she seemed to turned her head around, and look over her shoulder. Angel looked behind her, and wondered if she saw something that he didn't, and then looked back at the hood covered head that turned to face him again, "I am being watched. The location where Willow lies would require a great deal of my power to bring her forth, the others will sense that power being used to interfere in these planes of existence. And I have no intention of being punished by spending my time in Hell, I have my own future… a future I have seen. Alternative futures where the Earth is destroyed if I do not do what I am meant to do, but that does not include helping Willow."
"Then why are you here?" cried Angel as he smashed his fist onto the pedestal in the middle of the cavern that held the flickering light.
"To tell you to continue the search," said the woman, "this is your time to gain redemption, Liam O'Conner."
"How… how do you know my name?" asked Angel shaking his head in disbelief, "I… I never…"
"The Powers are right," said the woman as she looked up at the ceiling, and then back at Angel, "you and Buffy Summers are their champion, and Willow is mine. Please, help her. I will give you one piece of advice, help the helpless… and continue the search. Eventually, everything will come together. Save my Champion."
Angel saw the woman vanish in a flash of bright white light, and he was alone again with the voices of the Powers.
"Leave now, Vampire," said the voices, "you have heard what you needed to hear. Fulfil the promise you made to us to do our bidding. Now go!"
Wordlessly, Angel strode out of the cave, knowing that he'll gain no more information by pushing the Powers that Be. However, he did wonder about the woman; who was she? And why was Willow her champion? He made a mental note to send a letter to Giles about what he learned from speaking with the Powers, and the mysterious woman.
As agreed with the Powers that Be, Angel started to help the helpless. He, Doyle, and Lily helped the people in Doyle's visions, the first of whom, ironically, was Cordelia. She was surprised that Angel was in L.A, but told him that she was furious at him about what happened to Willow. Angel was thankful that Lily wasn't there as Cordelia laid into him; in the end, he agreed with everything that Cordelia said.
"I have a friend who…" Angel was interrupted, before he could finish what he wanted to say, when Cordelia asked what he was doing at the party. The former Sunnydale resident continued to say that one of the party-goers was a producer her Uncle had introduced her to by phone, and she was here to meet him.
"This guy's involved with the biggest names in Los Angeles," said Cordelia." So.. please, just stay away from me, Angel."
But Angel didn't stay away. Later that night, he saved Cordelia from being fed on by the producer and his henchmen who happened to be all vampires. While Cordelia was grateful for the rescue, she told Angel that he had a long way to go before he got on her good side.
"Not saying that I have a good side," she said looking at Angel after the rescue, "but… you said this friend of yours gets visions to help people? Then keep on doing that. Maybe one day things will change, but for right now? Sorry, Angel, I'm trying to live my own life."
"I understand."
"Take care, Angel,"
And then Cordelia walked away from Angel. He would find out a month later that she had gotten her first big breakthrough into television, a part in a commercial. And then then two months later, she got her start in a day-time soap opera. All Angel could do was wish her good luck.
Acathla's Hell, three hundred years later.
As Willow hung by her hands, swinging over the slick floor, a floor made slick by her blood being spilled over many years. Willow lost track of how long she had been down here, all she remembered was the pain of her heart and other organs being ripped out of her body, she'd die, and then she'd come back to life once again; her whole body intact.
But she'd feel the pain.
She bowed her head and looked at her blood drenched naked body, while trying to dig into her mind for the memories she would always play. Memories that were pushed own to the deepest regions of her mind because of the intense pain she found her in after every 'session'. She remembered a yellow crayon and crying when it broke, she remembered a white light out of the corner of her eyes when she was in the kitchen years ago, she remembered an old man in a library, a blonde with a wooden stake, and dark haired young man.
But she couldn't remember their names. Willow opened her mouth to speak, but her lips were dry and they cracked; making the young woman hiss in pain. A few strands of white hair come down her face while her head was bowed, she barely remembered what colour it was when she came in the cell. She remembered being in the same cell, tortured, beaten, and then had her organs ripped out every single day.
At least she thought it was days. Willow didn't know if the demon with the antlers came in every hour, every twelve hours, every day, every week, or every year. She didn't know how long she had been here. But Willow knew she was here for a long time. She looked to her left and saw a hung pile of hearts, half eaten hands, feet, lungs, every organ was taken out and then eaten up by the demons outside.
She had never been outside.
It wasn't too long, while her body was swinging in the air, the antlered demon having removed her bindings to the floor long ago, that the wooden door opened. Willow looked up and saw a man walk into the cell, and then close the door behind him. Willow, whose shoulders were burning, looked ta the man who was dressed smartly in a black suit and trousers, with a white shirt underneath, complete with a red tie. She saw that his eyes were fiery red, as was his hair, and his shoes were black.
Willows eyes were drawn to the bottle of clear liquid in his left hand. She licked her lips while looking at the water, but the cracks made her wince as she closed her eyes in pain.
"Willow Rosenberg," said the man as he walked up to Willow who opened her eyes and looked at the man. Willow had no more resistance to offer, all she could do was look on as the man caressed her cheeks with his hand. She looked into his eyes as he brushed his hand against her bare neck, and then to her chest. He brushed his hand on the outline of her left breast, and then brought the finger, which was smeared with Willow's blood, to his lips and closed his eyes in ecstasy. He then opened them and tilted his head with a smile, "simply delicious."
Willow looked at the man as he turned around and walked to the pile of hearts in the corner of her cell, his shoes making 'squish' sounds while stepping in the blood all around them. She saw him pick up a heart, turn around, and then with his hand dripping with blood... he bit into it.
Willow closed her eyes and looked away. She could hear the man walking back towards her, telling her to open her eyes.
"Or I will rip out your throat," said the man, "and I will never come back with this deal of a lifetime."
Willow gulped, opened her eyes, and then looked at the serious look on the man's face. A serious face that suddenly formed a smile as he threw her heart to the floor. He then used his bloody hand to open the bottle cap before he brought it to his lips while watching her watch him. He smiled before he took a swig of crystal clear water from the bottle, and then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
"So my deal?" said the man as he slowly paced the floor in front of Willow, "listen to what I have to say, and then I'll let you have a drink of this oh-so-crystal clear water. Understood?"
Willow nodded her head at the man, who grinned.
"My name is Borzan, I'm one of Acathla's lieutenants," said the man, "now… I know how much pain you've been in, and I know how much your soul-enhanced meat-bag of a body is coveted by all of the demons in this realm. Here's my deal… you're going to continue to be a source of meat; as are the other humans we have down here. Oh.. did you know that more come? Especially those who swear by Acathla.. it's pathetic, really. Anyway, they're a great source of meat… but yours? Yours is special… you have a soul. So, you'll still be carved up and served, but…. But, I can take away the pain in exchange for…. Are you ready? Nod your head, if you're ready to hear the deal of a lifetime."
Willow nodded her head. She knew there was no other choice.
"I take away the pain," said Borzan, "in exchange for you torturing human beings."
Willow eyes opened wide at the choice she was given.
"I want an answer now," whispered Borzan as he leaned in, "yes, or no? I take away the pain, in exchange for you causing pain. You'll be given on the job training and all, don't worry about that. You'll also have the freedom to be creative about how you want to torture the poor idiots; and in return, you have no more pain. But you'll still be a prime food source. Well?"
Willow's eyes teared up as the implications of what the monster in front of her was saying; destroying other human beings in exchange for no more pain. Willow started sobbing as Borzan cooed at her before saying that her time was almost up. Willow knew she was going to have to live with her decision, she hated the monster in front of her, she hated herself for the decision she was about to make.
Borzan gave her a sip of the bottled water; something that cleared Willow's parched throat. Once the bottle was taken away from her, Willow bowed her head.
"Yes," she whispered as tears ran down her cheeks before looking up at the smiling creature before her, "yes."
"Good," said Borzan, "I'll be back later, you'll have so much fun."
As Borzan closed the door behind him, the demon smiled to himself while he walked away from her cell, the entire hallway being filled with screams of the damned.
'This is the ultimate torture for you,' he thought to himself, 'the destruction of your humanity, you just don't know it yet.'
Willow was released from her bonds later that day, after having her pain removed. She would still have her heart and other organs ripped out, but she felt no pain. For the next hundred years, Willow felt no pain, while at the same time, she tortured humans sent to Acathla's hell. All the while Borzan looked on with glee as Willow ripped apart one human after another with blades, hammers, various weapons of war, and even her bare hands. They would heal again, and then Willow would start their torture all over again. They would scream while Borzan watched Willow destroy them.
And then later, he would watch as Willow was ripped apart for her flesh, organs, and bones.
Willow could feel her humanity slipping away. She tried to hold on to as much as she could, but where the first few times had her retching on the floor after she made the first cut on her victims; every subsequent time she tortured humans made it easier for her to handle herself. The warmth of her soul was still within her, but she felt as if she was losing something.
After hundred years of torture, Willow was barely holding on. She was trying to fight, but she felt that she was losing herself.
She was losing hope that the blonde, in her fading memories, wasn't coming for her. Neither was the old man.
In her hundredth year of torturing, she heard whispers in the hallways from other demons. A portal from which the human souls are brought to this Hell existed.
'A way out,' thought Willow to herself over the screams of her victim, the same one she had been slicing, cutting, injecting, chipping, and chopping, among other methods of torture, for twenty years.
She would continue to listen to the whispers, and eventually found out where the portal was located. It was two floors down; the way out of Hell was so close. One day, she was led away from her latest torture victim by a demon. She looked over her shoulder at the young woman, and then at the table of jagged knives and stakes. Screaming, Willow grabbed a knife, turned, ducked underneath the demon's arm, and dove the large knife into its crotch. She then ran out of the door.
She was being chased by demons as she ran through the hallway. She could hear thuds behind her as she fell down the stairs, before getting up at one of the landings. She then quickly got up and ran; she ran as fast as she could. She entered a hallway, dodging one demon after another while she looked straight ahead.
Then Willow saw it.
A square, shimmering blue portal hovering in the air.
She kept on running when suddenly a blur of black and red hit the side of her face, and she slammed onto the floor… skidding backwards for a few feet. Willow felt herself being lifted up by her throat, and since her body didn't feel any pain, she didn't wince at all form what was sure to be a very painful impact with the floor.
"Open your eyes," commanded a familiar voice. Willow opened her eyes to look at Borzan holding her up effortlessly with one hand. She looked at the blue portal, and then heard Borzan snap his fingers, and the portal vanished, "did you really think that an important portal would be kept here? Did you!"
Willow's bottom lip trembled when she saw his eyes turn red, she felt her heart racing as a chill went up her spine.
"This was a test, I wanted to see what you would do," said Borzan, "I gave you a good life in hell… you had freedom, and a pain-free existence. And you betrayed me."
"No," Willow's body trembled as she struggled to speak, "please, no."
"Your pain will return a hundred fold!" bellowed Borzan, "I will destroy everything you are until you are a mindless creature, a broken human with no shred of humanity left in you. Until all you are is food. You will be reanimated in your cell, and you will hurt… you will hurt when we tear your flesh, when we suck the marrow out of your bones, and when we pound you to dust. You will feel the pain during, and after.. and I will enjoy it."
"No," Willow begged as her eyes teared up, "no… please."
Borzan touched Willow's forehead with his free hand, and mumbled a spell.
Willow screamed out loud as pain returned to her body. She couldn't hear anything but her own scream. The pain hit her as if she was hit by a meteor. All the beatings and torture she endured from the time her pain was taken away, until she was slammed to the floor, and then picked up just a few seconds ago… all the pain rushed back to her.
All she did was scream as she was thrown onto the floor. The demons and Borzan watched her as she curled up into a foetal position while she continued to scream in pain.
"Eat her," hissed Borzan as the demons that surrounded her, leaped onto her. The redhead released louder screams, which soon vanished after the white-haired young woman was ripped apart, leaving only a puddle of blood on the floor. Borzan smirked before turning around, and walking away.
TBC.s