CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Lorne arrived home and went upstairs to his bedroom and found Abigail sitting alone in the dark.
" Why are you sitting in the dark?" he asked her turning on the light.
" Why did you lie to me?" Abigail demanded him. She looked furious. He halted, had she somehow found out about the spell?
" Lie to you…about what?" he asked cautiously.
" Who's this Jasmine woman?" she asked throwing the piece of paper at him. It fluttered to the ground and he never felt so relieved.
" Oh Jasmine. She's a wonderful person. I've met her two days ago when you were with Fred and Gunn in Silverlake. She's with Connor and Angel now."
" So…you're actually having an affair with her?" Abigail said, looking confused.
" What? No! Why would I have an affair with her? I already have someone I love. I want you meet her, when she comes back. You'll be glad you did." Lorne said confidentially.
" Oh,"
" I hope you trust me on this."
" I do. I was just…surprised to find that note. That's all."
" Once you meet Jasmine, you'd feel the same way." Lorne said nodding.
Later, Jasmine returned home and Lorne came downstairs with Abigail in tow. She stared at the beautiful cocoa-coloured woman in awe. Lorne was right. This woman was…magnificent.
" Abigail," Jasmine knew her name straight away and she felt incredibly happy because of this.
" It's so nice to meet you Jasmine." Abigail said flustered.
" And you." She touched Abigail on the arm and smiled, " You and Lorne make a lovely couple. I've never met anyone who loves you as much as Lorne does. He's very devoted to you."
" I know. I'm very lucky to have him." Abigail said her eyes brimming with tears. These were tears of joy and happiness. She was saved. All of them were.
" And Lorne, you are lucky to find someone as special as Abigail," Jasmine told the green demon, " She's important to the world."
Lorne glanced at Abigail, " Uh. Yes. She is." He agreed hoping Jasmine wouldn't give too much away. Jasmine seemed to notice this and changed the subject.
" Lorne?" Jasmine asked Lorne later that evening. The green demon turned to her. Abigail was in bed and it was late.
" Why are you keeping her destiny from her?" she asked.
" Uh…" he stared. How on earth did she know?
" Don't worry I won't judge."
Lorne told her his reasons. " I wouldn't worry Lorne. She will fulfil her destiny. Even if she doesn't want it."
Upstairs, Abigail went over the conversation she had with Jasmine. Something wasn't quite right, it was things people kept saying about her lately.
" She's not a nobody and an outsider. She's an integral part of the team and is part of something huge. Angel had assured her it was only a figure of speech but now Jasmine had said something similar and just as confusing. What did it mean?
Lorne found her upstairs having a drink of bourbon. " Hey. Any left for me?" he asked peering into the bourbon bottle. He poured himself a glass. " Jasmine's something isn't she? I've never met a perfect human being."
They talked some more until Lorne left to do a reading. Abigail looked around their room and realised it needed some tidying up. She hummed to herself as she worked when a small card fell out from a stack of magazines. It landed at her feet and she picked it up and read it. It was someone's business a card, a woman named Samantha Porter and she was a psychic. It must be one of Lorne's connections. She worked at a magic shop not far from the hotel. With her curiosity piqued, she pocked the card and decided to pay this psychic a visit.
She found the shop and opened the door, a little bell signalling her arrival. She found the shop to be empty, no customers, no one.
" Hello?" she called, " Anyone here?" she walked in further. The counter was deserted but she could see a back room. She headed towards it and peered inside and gasped.
A blonde haired woman was lying on the floor, her eyes wide open and staring. Her neck looked…broken.
" Oh My God," she whispered kneeling down beside the woman. She went back to the front of the shop and called Lorne.
* * *
Lorne entered the magic shop with a feeling of dread. He found Abigail kneeling next to his dead friend and he sighed, " Oh Sam," was all he could say.
" You've known her long?" Abigail asked without looking at him.
" About five years," Lorne replied as he gently closed Sam's eyes. " Since I can exactly read myself, she normally does my readings,"
" Do you have any idea why anyone would kill her?" Abigail asked.
" No, I don't." Lorne replied, " What are you doing here anyway? How did you find out about Sam?"
" I found her business card." Abigail replied shrugging, " so I decided to get a reading done. I thought there was no harm in it,"
* * *
Things have been going good the past week. People starting coming in droves to the Hyperion Hotel to worship Jasmine. Every room was booked and Abigail drew the line sharing her bedroom with a stranger.
" But we're not strangers, we all share something in common," a sixty-something woman pleaded, " We all love Jasmine."
" I'm sorry but we are all booked to the hilt. There's nothing I can do. Tell you what, why don't you leave me your phone number and when there's an available room I'll call you."
" Oh thank you." The woman turned to see Jasmine talking to her followers, " I just want to be near her. You are lucky to be living with her."
" Every day is wonderful," Abigail smiled and got the woman's name and phone number. She wrote it down in a log book and turned to Lorne, " This place is starting to look…small." She told him as they went into the office.
" I know what you mean. But look around you. There's so many happy people. And a lot of them will need to be read too. I'm going to have my work cut out for me the next few days." He paused, " Which means we won't be spending as much time together-"
" We will try and make time," Abigail told him, " Will you be home tonight?"
" I should be." Lorne said as he kissed her.
* * *
" We are just excited head over teakettle about this entire event. I-I just can't even believe…" Lorne looked up to see Fred enter the hotel. She had been gone for hours. " Hey, hey, hey, pumpkin. Where've you been?"
" Out." She looked at Wesley, " I kind of need to talk to you." She and Wesley walked away as Abigail headed over to Lorne.
" What's wrong?" she asked frowning.
" Nothing buttercup. Can you believe all this? Standing room only. I've got an act coming up. Jasmine wants me to sing."
" Really? I've actually never heard you sing in front of people before. This should be cool." Abigail smiled.
" You known him for three years and haven't seen him sing?" Connor asked dubiously.
" Well, I've heard him sing but I never did get to see him in action at Caritas. The place was burned down before I got a chance to see him." Abigail explained. Lorne watched the two of them and his heart swelled of love for Abigail. Ever since Jasmine arrived, she and Connor have been getting along. They've put aside their differences and became friends. They all headed upstairs together.
Fred watched as Wesley walked up to Gunn and told him something. They both stared at her. Wesley continued up the stairs and whispered to Angel, Connor, and the woman. Fred watches all this from the lobby floor. She backed slowly toward the weapons cabinet and opened it while the others talk about her—she grabbed a dagger and a crossbow. Connor and Angel looked at her and see Fred arming herself. Fred pointed the crossbow at the woman, who is flanked by Angel and Connor.
" I'm sorry." She said and pulls the trigger.
* * *
Fred shoots the crossbow at the woman, but Angel jumped in front of her, taking the arrow in his shoulder. Connor jumped down after Angel, both landing on the lobby floor. Connor pulled the arrow out of Angel's shoulder and helped him stand. Wesley rushes downstairs.
" Fred! Are you crazy? What— I mean—" Lorne shouted at Fred. Fred grabbed Lorne and puts the dagger to his throat. " Fred!" he yelled again.
" Don't come near me!" she warned Connor and Angel.
" Put down the knife, Fred." Angel ordered.
" I'll kill him!" Fred insisted, pressing the knife deeper against Lorne's throat.
" You don't know what you're doing," Gunn said.
" I'll kill him Charles!" Fred screamed.
" Easy, kiddo, huh?" Lorne managed to gasp out.
" Put down the knife Fred. You don't want to hurt him." Abigail pleaded.
" There's nowhere you can go, Fred. My love will follow you everywhere." Jasmine told Fred calmly.
Fred pushed Lorne forward into the others and rushes out the front door.
" Hey!" Lorne protested angrily. They stopped him from sprawling to the ground as he watched her go. Fred was one of his dearest friends. How could she turn on him so? Abigail ran to him and hugged him.
" You ok?" she asked and he nodded.
" Let her go. Now is not the time. We are all gathered here in peace. Let's not let her take that away from us." Jasmine told the group.
" I can't believe Fred's evil," Wesley sighed after they assessed Fred's behaviour.
" Should have seen it coming." Gunn agreed.
" Nothing like a homicidal maniac to put a damper on an impromptu spiritual gathering," Lorne shook his head.
" What they saw tonight—it's not what I would have wanted, but now they all understand the reality of what hatred can do to a person." Jasmine said.
" The reality is…we need to find Fred." Angel said.
