Chapter 3:
Saffron and Willow had just left Riley and Buffy to have some time alone after the psychology class they had just had. Saffron really enjoyed learning about psychology, but she got a strange vibe from the professor who taught the class. Almost as if she could feel her intentions.
"If you're making me go to this witch-stravaganza you're gonna have to let me smoke beforehand" Saffron warned as she pointed at Willow with her cigarette between her fingers. Willow scrunched up her face and stood facing away from her as she lit up. "I'm so glad I can stand on campus without a queue of people trying to ask me out" Saffron laughed and took a long drag of her cigarette, as Willow grimaced remembering the spell she had cast that had affected her friends in different ways.
"Do I have to start baking more cookies?" Willow turned to face Saffron, although still at a distance to avoid the smoke.
"Of course not, Will. At least I know why I pulled the lovers out of my tarot deck, for a moment I thought-" Saffron cut herself off and physically shook her head to get rid of the thought as she quickly finished her cigarette and discarded it in a nearby bin. Willow looked at her confusedly but didn't ask what she meant. Saffron adjusted her trademark ponytail and started to twist the silver ring on her index finger between black painted fingernails. They walked back into the main building towards the meeting area for the Wicca group, as Willow started babbling about her hopes for the group eventually casting spells together. Saffron respected witchcraft and knew that it was very real especially as she had been the brunt of many spells gone wrong, but she just didn't see the need to practice herself. Most people did mistake her for a wicca when they realised she read tarot cards, but to Saffron that had been something that was always a natural part of her life and had nothing to do with casting spells. She didn't know who was more nervous, her or Willow as they walked over and sat down in a circle with the group of girls. They all stared at Saffron as she sat down and joined the circle, her ripped jeans and punk t-shirt made her stand out in the group and she could feel a slight heat rising to her face when she noticed they were all scrutinising her before she had even opened her mouth. One of the girls started speaking then, and as soon as she started talking Saffron knew she wanted to get out of this meeting as soon as possible. She rolled her eyes and slouched back in her chair as someone started droning on about a bake sale.
"Who left candles dripping all over my woman-power shrine?" One piped up as Saffron started to listen to the conversation again and she couldn't help but roll her eyes at their comments as these girls were playing at being witches. They should call themselves an 'empowerment' group and move on. One of the members caught her eye roll and spoke up, "There's also the issue of negative auras and habits affecting the group" she said pointedly as she smelled the air in an over-exaggerated way.
"It's just a bit of smoke. You're telling me you don't smudge your dorm with sage? Rookie error, babe" Saffron replied as she sat up in her chair, giving Willow an apologetic look as she stood up for herself. The girls all looked uncomfortable at her mention of a staple Wicca practice tied to magic which made her even more confused that they called themselves a Wicca group.
"Perhaps we might show some interest in spells you know, as a Wicca group" Willow piped up, taking her chance to try to introduce the idea of casting spells. The others started to make fun of what Willow suggested which started to really annoy Saffron as she could have sworn, she could almost feel Will's disappointment herself.
"Well maybe we could-" a quiet girl spoke up and Saffron noticed earlier that she had seemed to sit up straighter when Willow mentioned real magic. She had dyed silvery hair which Saffron really liked and she seemed to want to back Willow up, so she smiled at the girl encouragingly.
"Yeah Tara? Guys quiet." The rude girl that seemed to be in charge made a scene of embarrassing Tara into not speaking up. This was the last straw for Saff as she stood up and pointed at the girl who had embarrassed the girl that they had called Tara, "You. I will hex your entire fucking family if you do not let this girl speak" they all winced at her cursing, including Willow, Saffron had always had a reputation for her harsh tongue. Maybe swearing sounded harsher in an English accent.
"Oh yeah, a hex, we're like totally scared" Another member of the group spoke up sarcastically.
"And you," She turned and faced the girl that had spoken, "If you don't stop banging on about your women-power shrine instead of actually supporting other women I will personally make sure that your lemon bundt cake will never rise again" Saffron made weird hand-movements as if she was casting a spell before storming off to light up another cigarette in the courtyard. Willow looked around nervously at the others who all looked appalled, but as she met Tara's eyes she noticed Tara was smiling at her and she couldn't help herself smiling back.
xoxoxo
Saffron had slept soundly that night but when her alarm started to blare loudly in her ear, she found it much harder than usual to get out of bed. She looked down at her over sized grey t-shirt and her plaid pyjama pants that hung loosely on her as she tried to sit up in bed. As soon as her eyes had opened, she was hit with this suffocating feeling that she couldn't understand. It was as if there was a large amount of pressure pushing down on her and she felt as if she feared something, but she couldn't understand what. She felt horrible but decided to set about applying her makeup, which took a lot more effort than usual as she found she had to concentrate much harder.
Saffron's usual shiny brunette hair appeared dull and coarse and when her grey eyes scanned over her face it looked sunken and much paler than usual, even though Buffy often joked that her skin tone hadn't caught up to the Californian climate. She had prominent dark circles around her eyes although she had slept well. She was sat at her desk which she turned into a vanity table in the mornings to apply her makeup, although today her normal routine was interrupted abruptly when her roommate, Hayley, slammed the door shut and she rushed in moving her mouth as if she was trying to scream. Saffron felt her scream as if she had been slapped across the face and she physically winced before she tried to ask what was wrong. But nothing came out of her mouth as she started to ask. Hayley burst into tears and silently sobbed in the middle of their shared room before Saffron managed to go over and put her arm around her to try and comfort her.
Her roommate had jet-black hair, that hung just above her shoulders and was naturally curled. Her face was peppered with freckles, and today, tears as she held onto Saff who didn't know how to comfort her without her voice. Saffron was confused, although she kept trying to speak and it felt like it did when she usually spoke, no noise was coming out of her mouth. She decided it must be some kind of Hellmouth shit and she needed to find Buffy and Willow as soon as possible. She tapped Hayley's shoulder to indicate she needed her attention. She grabbed her notebook and a Biro and quickly wrote, 'Stay home today, I think it's that virus going around'. Hayley sniffed and brought her pink sleeve up to her eyes to wipe away any stray tears and nodded as she lay on her bed on the other side of their room. Saff didn't know if Hayley had bought her excuse but maybe she needed to hear someone give a simple explanation. She waited a while until Hayley seemed to have fallen asleep in her bed after she noticed that the sniffling had stopped for now, she ran down the corridor and up the steps and frantically knocked on their door. It swung open and they were both there, obviously as confused as everyone else.
Saff mouthed the word 'Magic?' at Willow to see if this could be some kind of spell. She shook her head and shrugged, indicating it wasn't one she had heard of. Buffy looked at her cousin, noticing something wasn't right. Her face was as white as a sheet and she looked very tired, she decided to keep an eye on her as the big cousin. She hugged Saff while Willow waited her turn and moved in to hug her. They sat in silence for a while, the worst part for Saffron was that it gave her too much time to think which meant she was lost in her own thoughts before she was brought back to the present by Buffy waving her hands in front of her eyes. They had decided that their best bet would be to make their way to Giles' to stay together as a group and try to find some answers.
xoxoxo
Everyone was gathered in Giles' living room. Xander had even brought Spike over to join the rest of the gang as they tried to silently figure out what was going on. Giles had hugged each of the girls as they walked in to try and comfort them. Saffron appreciated the gesture and was suddenly really grateful for Giles as the father-figure in her life. She moved her hand to his arm and squeezed it to say thank you before she moved away from his hug and further into the crowded living room. She sat herself in the corner of the room as Xander leaned in to turn up the volume on the tv.
"News from Sunnydale, California. Apparently, the entire town has been quarantined, due to an epidemic of, as strange as this may sound, Laryngitis. It seems the town has been rendered unable to speak. There's no word yet what might have caused this or what other effects might be seen." Saffron switched off as the presenter continued to talk, she felt numb with the fear as the feeling had been so strong all day.
She felt completely drained and moved to put her head in her hands as it felt too heavy on her shoulders, "We'll bring you more on that as it develops" the reporter concluded as Saff started to lift her head up, she felt another wave of fresh fear run through her, she tried to stand up because this feeling was making her feel ill and then, just as she had shakily got to her feet, she completely blacked out in the middle of Giles' living room. The whole room was panicked, as Xander and Buffy rushed to pick Saffron up and lay her on the now vacant sofa as everyone had sprung up when they saw her drop to the floor. Spike, who had been stood at the back of the room out of everyone's way had been enjoying the panic from everyone until he saw Saffron fall to the floor. His brows furrowed in concern, and he couldn't stop himself from moving a step forward as he saw her fall to the floor. He realised that he was showing too much concern, so he leaned back against the door frame and let the others pick Saffron up. He crossed his arms over his chest, although he didn't take his eyes off her as she lay there. He didn't understand why he felt the way he did about her, there was something different about her. He had felt it since the moment they had met on parent-teacher night but for the most part he tried to avoid thinking about it.
Saffron eventually came back around, Buffy noticed first as she had been knelt in front of her cousin's spot on the sofa. She helped her sit up and went to get Giles to show him that Saffron was awake. Willow and Xander both looked up as they saw Saff slowly sit up, they rushed over and tried to show their concern silently as Saffron looked embarrassed that she had fainted in front of everyone. Giles came and sat down next to her and handed her a glass of water, she crossed her legs to make herself more comfortable on the sofa as she silently apologised to him. He put a hand on her shoulder to show that they were all just worried about her, before moving back to his desk. She felt slightly better as she finished her glass of water and started to look around the room to see how things were going. Everyone seemed pretty dejected, Xander was sat on a chair staring up at the ceiling, with Anya sitting in front of him on the floor, filing her nails. Willow was looking through Giles' bookshelf, but she seemed really distracted as she passed another volume to Giles who was busy reading through a large pile of books to try and figure out who the gentlemen were. Giles' Scouse lover was busy in the kitchen, probably staying out of everyone's way, as Buffy walked in from another room to check on her cousin. Spike was slouched on a chair opposite the sofa Saffron was still sat crossed legged on, his eyes were on her while she was scanning the room and their eyes met when she made her way to see what he was doing.
He made a slight movement with his head, as if to motion her to follow him. Saffron just stared blankly back at him and he rolled his eyes before getting up and walking out of the room anyway. Saffron didn't know why she got up, especially considering their past and Spike's indifference when she had mentioned he had almost killed her; but before she knew it, she had made her way to the hallway where Spike was stood playing with the lighter in his hands. He silently offered her a cigarette and she took it while they walked to the front door and stepped outside. Spike didn't know why he offered her that cigarette, he knew she smoked, and he had hated to see her sad. No, he didn't care about any of the Scoobies, he tried to convince himself again. He debated himself the entire time they were stood there together as he was not able to say something hurtful to her that would put his mind at ease. Saffron was deep in thought as well, although it was not so much about Spike's gesture. She had told herself she would build up the courage to ask him why he would bother when he had only ever tried to kill her before, that was if they ever got their voices back; but she had been more concerned with the recent feelings she had been having and the blackout. She had been affected by different emotions a lot more lately, and this worried her. Saff's head was still aching from the fear that was surrounding her, and she was willing herself not to blackout in front of the others again. They both smoked together, in silence, until it was time to go back inside.
xoxoxo
The deserted lecture room had been taken over as Scooby HQ. While Giles set up the projector as the others gathered in the seats, still spooked about not having their voices. Anya had settled in with her popcorn and was excitedly chewing as she waited for the show to begin, her fascination with chaos still alive since her vengeance demon days. Xander was staring at the front as Giles knocked over his pile of acetate slides and struggled to put them all back in the correct order and Will was writing in her notebook. Buffy had her arms crossed impatiently as she waited for the presentation to begin, she was ready to slay the gentlemen and get her voice back. She was also impatiently waiting for her cousin to arrive, she hadn't managed to speak to Saff about what happened at Giles' because, well, none of them could speak. It didn't stop her worrying about her cousin though, as nothing like this had happened before.
Saffron opened the door so wide that it slammed on the wall and echoed around the room, making everyone jump at the sound, she shot an apologetic glance around the room before descending the stairs. She quickly ran down the steps to sit next to Anya, giving her a small smile while she put her hand in Anya's bag of popcorn and took out a massive handful. Anya liked Saffron because she spoke her mind more than the rest of the Scoobies, she could understand her easier, so she let her take the popcorn without argument. Half of it went over the floor as Saff tried to fit the popcorn from her hand into her mouth by tipping her head back awkwardly. The others stared at her with their mouths open, except Anya who didn't think anything of it, and Giles who was busy setting up. She winked at them all and tried to grin like she usually would, although it looked more like a grimace. Saff then shifted her position in her chair and stared at the screen as Giles started his presentation about the Gentlemen. Their faces creeped Saffron out, even in cartoon form and she started to bite the skin around her fingernails subconsciously as she thought about one of them trying to take a heart. The image in her mind had become too graphic and she had started bleeding, she rolled her eyes when she noticed and locked her hands together to try to stop herself from showing her nerves. She felt drained from the fear that was surrounding her and she had started to get another headache, as she struggled to concentrate on the slideshow. It had felt as if Saff had simply blinked and then the presentation was over. She had her orders to help research with the others whilst Buffy patrolled, but she felt numb now as she was so tired from feeling what seemed like everyone's fear as well as her own.
xoxoxo
Saffron was wearing her favourite leather jacket, it was so worn she was surprised every time she put it on that it didn't disintegrate in front of her eyes. She had got the jacket the week she had moved in with Joyce and Buffy in Sunnydale, Buffy took her shopping and they had bought each other something they thought the other might like. Saff was sat in the corner of Giles' living room, with her legs crossed under her and a book balanced on her lap. She had barely moved since they had got in, except to occasionally turn the page, and Spike seemed to be the only one that had noticed. His eyes hadn't left her form since she had sat down in the corner of the room and he couldn't help noticing that her usual glow had drained from her face and her eyes were glazed over as if she wasn't really in the room with them. His eyebrows furrowed in thought as he considered what this meant for him, before he shrugged and sauntered into the kitchen to grab a mug full of blood. He changed into his game face as he thirstily gulped down the thick, red liquid. Saffron looked up as he changed and couldn't help but stare as he continued to drink. His ridged forehead and fangs made him look animal-like and emphasised his dangerous nature. It still fascinated her though, to see him like this so close and not need to run for her life. She couldn't stop staring, and she briefly noted that he still seemed vaguely attractive even with the bumpy forehead but shook that thought out of her head as she reached to the mark on her neck where he had bit her years before.
While Saff was still staring, her right hand was hovering just over the side of her neck, as Xander burst into Giles' living room. Without missing a beat he had run straight at Spike and started punching him. From her seat in the corner, she had realised that Xander had thought that Spike had bitten Anya, and she smiled to herself fleetingly realising that Xander truly cared for the ex-vengeance demon. Saff didn't think, she just ran and rugby-tackled Xander as Anya had been tapping him to try and show him that she was okay but with no luck. Saffron had landed on top of Xander and Anya quickly rushed in to pull her off him with a glare, before Saffron put her hands up in surrender to show she only meant to stop him from hitting Spike. Anya accepted this and quickly turned her attention to Xander, where they kissed passionately, Xander shrugged at Spike as a sort of apology as Spike rolled his eyes and Xander went back to kissing Anya, who then suggested they go and have sex before they ran off hand in hand. Saff couldn't help but smile despite the way she had been feeling as she adored the couple and was genuinely happy that they were together. Spike had been watching Saffron closely since she had stopped Xander from hurting him, he was surprised that she would do that, and he tried to stop himself from feeling a small glimmering feeling of something suspiciously close to hope rising in his undead chest. He watched her smile with a slightly bemused look on his face and wondered why the boy and his bird going off for a shag would make her so happy.
xoxoxo
Saffron was relieved to hear that Buffy had killed the Gentlemen. She had never been so pleased to hear the loud neighbours in the dorm next door before, although her relief it didn't last long. Hayley was walking around carefree as if nothing had happened as she skipped out of the dorm, waving and breezily saying her goodbyes to Saff, who had been doing herself a Tarot reading on her bed. She had felt much better since everything had returned to normal, and she had wondered whether the way she had been feeling meant something big. She didn't want to involve Giles or anyone else in case what she was feeling wasn't real, another Sunnydale trick.
She had pulled the page of cups from her deck, she closed her eyes and visualised what the card meant to her. She knew the meanings behind each card, but she often waited for further hints before she tried to decide for herself. The Page of cups is asking for you to trust your intuition, there are intuitive messages all around you. These messages may affect your emotions and the way you view those around you. There shall be a big change in the way you feel about yourself and others. Wider connections on many levels can and will be formed. The voice in her head was her own, although she knew what she was thinking came from somewhere else. She knew she needed to trust the cards, and the messages they brought.