Pat had no idea how long she had been out cold, but when she woke up again, the first thing she noticed was how much her head hurt, making her grit her teeth as she sat up, looking around as she tried to figure out where she was.
To her dismay, the room she was in wasn't any place she ever had seen before; there were no windows to let her see the surroundings of the house it was in, and she was sure that the only door she could spot would be locked.
"Well, at least it's made of wood", she mumbled to herself while she came to her feet, steadying herself against the wall; she took a moment to make sure that she wouldn't end up flat on her back again, then moved over to the door, pressing her ear against it and listening for any noise that might show her if someone was waiting in the next room to knock her out the moment she'd step through what she'd leave of the door.
When she couldn't hear anything, she smirked to herself, wondering if whoever had knocked her out and had taken her here had underestimated the time it would take her to get back on her feet; then, she let both hands flame up and started working on the door, the wood catching fire a minute later.
"There we go", the demon muttered to herself, her smirk widening as she stepped back from the door and waited for the fire she had started to finish the job; it didn't take long until a hole big enough to let her step through had been burned into the wood, and she quickly moved out of the room, looking left and right, her fists clenched as she anticipated another attack any moment.
Momentarily, she was relieved when none came, and she simply found herself in a long, empty hallway; the world had stopped spinning around her, but she still felt slightly dizzy, making her wonder how hard exactly that last blow had been and if it wouldn't be wiser to demon out so any possible damage could be healed. Deciding that it wouldn't be smart to meet the one who had taken her in her current state, she stopped walking and took in a deep breath, closing her eye as her body changed; as always, it didn't take long until the transformation was done, sharp fangs glistening in the flickering light her flames provided as she smirked to herself when she felt all wounds close and vanish.
Remaining in that form for now, Pat kept making her way down the hallway, after a few steps thinking of toning her flames down until they went out, not wanting to alert anyone who might be around with their flickering light; using skills she had gained during centuries of assassinating people, she moved to the door at the hallway's end without sound, even her breath so quiet that no one would be able to hear it unless they stood right beside her.
To her dismay, the door at the end of the hallway wasn't made of wood like the one before, but of solid steel; preparing herself for the disappointment, she grabbed the handle and pushed it down, surprised when the door swung open a moment later, revealing yet another, bigger room, this one nicely furnished, the demon able to see a table and the back of a comfortable looking leather armchair from where she stood, the sound of a fire burning somewhere in the room reaching her ears.
Automatically clenching her fists, Pat stepped into the room, all senses on their highest possible level now; still though, her left side remained as blind as always, and thus she couldn't stop herself from flinching when the voice came from that side. "There you are at last, and all furry, too."
Snarling, she spun to face the man who had spoken, quickly recognizing him as the one who had knocked her out; she brought up her fists, but to her surprise, he just smirked, making no move to attack her, just remaining next to the fireplace and even turning away from her so he could add another log of wood to the flames.
"I like it warm", he then let her know in a perfectly normal friendly tone, as if he hadn't beaten her up not all too long ago, "I'm sure you agree, even though you're lacking your fire right now. Why don't you go back to your… less hairy form?"
When she didn't react at once, he chuckled and shook his head, folding his hands behind his back and giving her a smile he probably had intended to be charming; thanks to the fact that his teeth were quite uneven and seemed too large for his mouth, this didn't work as he had wanted it to, the demon looking rather nonplussed.
"No worries, Pat – I can call you Pat, right? – I'm not eager to hurt you", he went on when Pat remained the way she was, giving her another wide grin, raising both hands as if to underline his words, "and I truly regret that I had to hurt you back in that bar. I honestly didn't expect you to find me so quickly."
After another moment of silence, the demon finally responded by shifting back to her human form, still eying the man carefully; he smirked, then gestured at the armchair, asking her if she wanted to sit down.
"No", Pat gave back at once, "for some reason I don't quite understand, you seem to think that this is a social call, but it's not. You killed those people, and I'm here to take you out."
"You're here because I took you here", the man replied, unimpressed, "and honestly, I wish this hadn't been necessary. I just would've needed one more, then I would've had all I came here for and would have left."
"All you came here for?" the black haired woman repeated, raising an eyebrow; still smirking, the man took his time to answer, digging through his pockets first until he found a pack of cigarettes, the demon frowning slightly when she saw him light one of them up the way she usually did when no one who didn't know about her nature was around to see her.
"Yup", he then finally gave back, after blowing a cloud of smoke towards the ceiling, "I've been doing this for a long time, you know. Two girls and two guys in every town where I stop… and if you've ever burned a human alive, you know what I need."
"I have no idea what you are talking about", Pat icily replied, fighting down the urge to light up a cigarette as well, not wanting to give him the feeling that she wasn't still ready and eager to take him out.
"I'm shocked", the man now stated, not sounding very shocked though, raising an eyebrow as well as he spoke on. "You really never did that? You definitely should. They give off these wonderful waves of fear and pain and terror, it's so refreshing."
"You're one sick puppy", Pat let him know, crossing her arms over her chest, raising an eyebrow again when he let out a chuckle in reply.
"We're two sick puppies then", he informed her, laughing once more when all she could do was stare at him in reply. "You didn't notice yet?" he went on after a moment, running his free hand through his messy, bright red hair, "you and me, we're one of a kind. I have a more furry appearance too, you know. The only big difference is that I haven't been tamed by some random chick, but other than that, we're like brother and sister."
He laughed at the shocked expression on the demon's face, then finished his cigarette and threw it into the fireplace, immediately lighting up another one.
"I'm nothing like you", Pat finally regained her ability to speech, pressing the words out between grit teeth, "and if you mention my girlfriend once more, I'll quit the talking and start the punching."
"Wow, protective, are we", the man replied, "and that even though you've had such a nasty fight. Sorry about that, but thanks to your presence, that's one of the few towns where I can do my thing without needing to worry about anyone trying to interrupt, I'm sure you'll make up soon."
"How did you do it?" the demon demanded to know in reply, glaring at the guy, annoyed when he laughed again, then raised his hands and gave her another one of his horribly non-charming smiles.
"Just a bit of magic", he then let her know, "a little sleeping spell I used on you so I could get what I needed. Sorry I had to mess your hair."
Snarling, Pat gave him another glare, now cursing herself for not telling her friends about the fact that every night someone had been killed, she'd fallen asleep on patrol for at least an hour; she hadn't been able to believe that this would happen to her back then, but now, it all made perfect sense.
"I think we've talked enough", she pressed out between grit teeth, clenching her fists, "it's time to take you out."
"I don't think so", the man replied, his smile suddenly changing, not charming anymore, but malicious, his eyes glinting the same way as he went on. "You know, I was hoping we'd team up and wreck havoc together, but that chick really put a leash on you, huh? Too bad… But I'm afraid you don't know the whole picture yet."
Even though she wasn't sure she wanted to know, Pat couldn't help herself, but had to give him a questioning look; in reply, his smirk widened – before he stepped to yet another door close to the fireplace and opened it, the black haired woman's good eye going wide when she saw what had been hidden behind it.
In the middle of the tiny room the door led to, a room which probably had been intended as a storage room when the house had been built, a chair had been put up; and on that chair, Buffy half sat, half hung, held on it by the thick ropes which had been wrapped around her upper body and legs, her hands bound behind the chair's backrest.
"She came here even though she's not in the best shape", the guy informed the shocked demon helpfully, "seems as if she caught on to me, as well, too bad. And too bad for her that she's been sick or something, it was really easy to take her out… Knocking out the Slayer will give me extra cred among my peers, ya know?"
He laughed, then grew serious again within a single moment, the malicious glint entering his eyes again as he spoke on. "And you know what's really interesting? She didn't come here alone… Probably thought some magic would provide a proper backup for her weakened friend…"
"Where is she?" Pat pressed out, fighting down the urge to just rush at the guy and break his neck, something which became considerably harder when her opponent let out another chuckle as an answer.
"Wouldn't you love to know that", he then teased, "but it'd be boring if I'd just tell you where the holder of your leash is, right? And if she's even still alive… Maybe I killed her already."
Those words, and the nasty, buck-toothed grin on the man's face, were enough to take all of the demon's self-control away; with a loud growl, she launched forward, bringing up her fists as she let her rage take over, eager to finish this once and for all.