CHAPTER FIFTEEN
She stood on the edge of the cliff and stared down.
" Abigail," a voice said behind her and she turned.
" I know," her shoulders sagged and she faced the portal again. It had gotten bigger and the demons watched from the end of the cliff.
" Abikins, you were born on this earth for a reason…to save it." He put his arms around her and drew her to him, " I'll always love you, no matter what."
Something passed through her then, realization. If she jumped into the portal, she wasn't coming back. Ever.
" It's time for me to go," she said with hesitation. She was scared, she didn't want to die but what choice did she have? " Lorne, you have to promise me something."
His red eyes saddened, " What?" he asked softly.
" That you won't wait me for me because we both know I won't be coming back. If you find someone else, love her like you loved me."
" That won't be possible. There won't be anyone else."
" I love you," she said before kissing him. The world disappeared for a moment as the kiss turned passionate. She ended the kiss and smiled up at him.
" I'm sorry," Lorne said his voice breaking.
" For what?" she asked but gasped when she felt a searing pain. She looked down to see a knife embedded in her abdomen. Blood poured out as Lorne yanked the knife out. " I'm so sorry but I have to be sure." Lorne said.
.
Abigail opened her eyes and found herself staring into the worried face of her boyfriend. He smiled and touched her cheek. The dream came rushing back at her and she flinched at his touch.
" You're awake," Lorne said, " How do you feel?"
Her neck throbbed, " Like someone took a big bite out of me," she said as she tried sit up. Lorne arranged the pillows behind her and she relaxed against them.
" So…you remember?"
" Every bit of it." She said, " Angelus wanted to kill me."
" You were very lucky the guys arrived when they did." Lorne told her.
" Yeah." Her brow furrowed, " I had the strangest dream. I was supposed to save the world and in the end…I was killed."
" Killed? By saving the world you mean?" he frowned. Maybe it wasn't a dream? Sam did say that The Powers That Be had plans for her.
" No…by you."
Lorne stared at her surprised at this. " It was only a dream then," he said, " Because in reality I would never do that."
" I know…but right now there's more worrying things to…worry about."
" Angelus,"
" I won't sleep a wink now that he's loose. Lets hope we can find his soul and put it back before he kills us all."
Two days later, Angelus killed someone, but not from the gang. Lilah Morgan, his arch enemy. Abigail went downstairs to find Wesley in the foyer, he had just killed Lilah by beheading her.
" Are you…ok?" she asked him. She knew-the whole gang knew-about his affair with Lilah. It was a stupid question, he had just killed the woman he had been involved with.
" No, I'm not. I've got an idea on how to defeat Angelus though," Wesley replied as he put several books on the counter, " How are you?" he asked, noticing the bandage on her neck.
" I'm fine, better than you." She took in his scruffy appearance. He looked exhausted also.
" What's this idea you have?"
" To bring in a Slayer," Wesley explained.
" A Slayer? Are you telling me they actually exist?"
" You know of vampires, demons but not slayers?" Wesley asked.
" My dad told me about Slayers but he always thought they were a myth."
" I can give you some books about Slayers. There are currently two active Slayers, one is in Sunnydale, the other…"
" Where?"
" Prison."
While Wesley went to get Faith Lehane, Lorne called up his old friends, The Furies. He got the idea to perform a sanctuary spell on the hotel, to keep the violence down to a minimum. It won't stop Angelus from making a visit, but anything was better than nothing. After gathering some ingredients and lightning candles, Lorne began to do the spell.
" Violence restrained, demons disarmed. For mortals within these walls, no harm. Protection and safety this charm doth endow to make this shelter a sanctuary now!"
Everyone looked around, waiting for something to happen.
" That it?" Gunn asked.
" Well, if we followed the recipe...should be cake. A demon violence-free zone cake." Lorne replied.
" I don't know, Lorne. It doesn't feel like anything's different," Fred said.
Connor walked away to sit down on the couch " Cause it's not. Like every other lame spell you people try, it didn't work. It never works. I've pretty much concluded that magic sucks. I mean, if I were you guys, I wo—"
Lorne snuck up behind Connor and tried to hit him with a candlestick, but a force field stops him and sent him backwards.
" See? It works sometimes. Oh. It also smarts like the dickens. " he groaned and leaned against the desk in pain.
Connor is upstairs practicing sword-fighting on the balcony. Gunn is in the lobby loading his crossbow. Lorne and Fred and Abigail are also in the lobby looking over books about Slayers.
" Oh, relax, boys. The spell's working. And I still got the slight migraine to prove it." Lorne said as he took a sip from his Sea Breeze.
" Yeah, maybe so, but if Angelus shows up, I wanna be ready." Gunn replied.
At that moment, Wesley and Faith walked in through the front doors.
" We are now," Wesley said.
