CHAPTER THREE
Abigail awoke to find herself on her bed. Her mind was foggy but slowly the scene came rushing back. Nausea welled up in her throat and she ran for the bathroom, violently throwing up. Afterwards, she cleaned the toilet and sprayed air fresher around the place.
She wobbled back into the bedroom and sat down on her bed. She noticed someone had put a glass of water and wash cloth on her bedside table.
There was a knock on her door. " Come in," she called out hoarsely. She took a sip of the water.
It was Angel, " I came to check up on you," Angel said, " How are you feeling?"
" Better…Angel, there's something I have to tell you. I don't think you know-unless Lorne has already told you."
" What is it?" Angel sat next to her on the bed.
" A few years ago I arrived home one day to find my parents dead in their living room…with their bodies mutilated and limbs gone. Exactly the way Rebecca's mother was found."
Angel stared at her, " No wonder you collapsed…the scene, it was too much."
" It just came rushing back at me," she admitted, " I never found the demon who killed them. I never knew what the demon was called. But the official police investigation states the murder is unsolved and unexplained."
Angel nodded, " We'll start researching this demon…I'll get Fred on it. Then we'll find it…and kill it."
" What if this demon works with others? What if it isn't the same one?"
" That's what we need to find out." Angel said and at that moment, the door opened and Lorne walked in, looking surprised to see Angel and Abigail together talking on his bed.
Luckily for Angel, he wasn't the over-possessive jealous boyfriend-type. But he had noticed Angel and Abigail were talking a lot more since they've all gotten back.
" What's going on?" he asked brightly.
" You're back." Angel said unnecessarily, getting up.
" Yeah…"
" Nothing's going on." Abigail added quickly. Angel looked at her and didn't say a word.
" Lorne, I need to ask if you could read Cordy," angel said, " it might help."
" Sure, if she'll let me." Lorne agreed after giving Abigail a kiss hello.
Later, Angel got Fred researching the demon. It didn't take her long to look it up.
" Got it!" she chirped, as she leaned on the counter to study the book, " It's an putare demon. Latin word meaning "limb" or " limb pruning" and this demon race is nearly extinct with the exemption of one or two still living."
" So we could be dealing with two putare demons," Angel mused.
" Why do they cut of limbs of humans?"
" For trophies I guess. It doesn't really say."
" Does it say where they live?"
" Underground."
" Tonight, we'll find their nest and kill the bastards." Gunn said.
" What are you killing?" Cordy asked warily as she walked down the stairs.
" Demons." Gunn said.
" Oh."
" Cordy, if you agree to it, why don't you let Lorne read you?" Angel suggested.
" Really? I mean…how?"
" By singing." Angel said.
" I don't know…I don't know if I'm really musical."
" Just pick a song. I'm a ballad man myself." Angel said.
Cordy thought about it for a minute. She glanced at Lorne who nodded encouragingly at her. She began to sing the lyrics to " All Creatures Great And Small" extremely off-key.
The group glanced at Lorne. Fred whispered to Gunn, " Does he look green to you? I mean, more than usual?" Lorne was cringing and he did look very green. After a minute, he leapt up.
" All right, okay!" he interrupted, " That was great. It was great. I see um…" he trailed off and practically ran from the room.
Cordy glanced at the three who were left, " Was I really that bad?" she asked.
" It wasn't you." Angel stood up to follow Lorne. " It was the song. It reminded him of uh…" he too trailed off and disappeared.
" Oh c'mon, you guys aren't even good liars. This is ridiculous." Cordy huffed.
Abigail woke up to the sound of violent retching. Someone was throwing up in her bathroom. She knocked on the door, " Lorne? You okay?"
" I'm fine." Lorne replied, " Just done a reading that didn't-" he didn't finish his sentence.
Abigail decided to leave him be. She left the room to find out what was going on with the research when she bumped into Angel.
" Where is he?"
" In our room. What happened?"
Angel didn't answer instead he strode towards Lorne's room.
