"I could have taken her…" Jesse was barely able to control Jane as he pulled her from the bar. It wasn't the first bar fight he'd seen, but Jane had jumped from nowhere and everyone had been surprised at the sight. He took her into the Tank and signaled for Trent. The male Lane sibling was helping Effy with Tom, who had been in the way of Jane's sudden homicidal tendencies. He was clutching his broken nose, and leaned against both of them.
"Tom I'm so sorry…I really did not mean for this to happen.." She grasped him tightly and looked between him and Trent. "I really did not mean for this to happen…I just wanted to see everyone…"
"Look, Janie isn't ready to see you…maybe you should come back to the apartment and we'll figure things out…in..different cars." He turned around and looked at Daria, who was watching the whole scene with a rather confused expression. Her eyes wandered over Effy and then back to Trent. He looked at her a moment and reached over to touch her when she gracefully threw up.
Daria woke up and rubbed her forehead. The familiar sting of a hangover fell all over her as she sat up in her bed. There was something wrong besides the hangover, she rolled over and felt the empty place beside her. She sat up and looked at where she always found Trent still asleep, and smelled coffee. She was always the first awake, and never was there coffee unless she made it herself. She found her glasses on the bed stand and walked into the living room as slowly as she could. It was a hard thing to manage, but she turned into the kitchen and leaned against the wall.
The girl from the night before, Effy, was sitting on the kitchen counter staring into her coffee like a pouting child. She stirred it with her finger for a moment and glanced up at Daria with a small smile. In return the brown haired girl made a noise of disgust and sat down. Effy came and sat across from her at the small table, giving her a cup of coffee.
"So, hoping that somebody gave you any idea of the kind of bitch I can be with a hangover,…who are you and why are you here?" Daria murmured rubbing her forehead.
Effy gave a little noise, it was almost a feminine chuckle. She brushed the hair from her face and looked Daria over with a satisfied smile. "You're just like Trent said…."
"Where is Trent anyway?"
"Hard to tell…he and Tom went to conference with Jesse after you were put safely away. I'm really sorry about crashing over…Trent said 'Bed', and instantly I was here." She smoothed her hair back and lifted her coffee cup. She took a quick sip and closed her eyes. "So, where to begin.."
"How do you know Trent…through Tom or something?"
Effy put the coffee down and fumbled into her wallet. She pulled out a picture and pushed it towards Daria. She pushed her glasses up her nose and examined the children in the picture. There were two of them, both with short cut black hair. They both wore black tank tops and jeans, the young girl holding a toy microphone. The young Trent was holding a guitar against himself tightly. "Trent's my twin brother. Seven minutes after he came into the world..there I was.."
Daria blinked stupidly at the picture. She knew all of the Lane siblings, she'd seen them at one point or another. Why had Effy not been mentioned? It was hard to imagine that the Lane clan could have a black sheep.. She looked up at the woman before her, taking in the Lane bone structure. It was horrifying and she took a drink of the coffee raising an eyebrow.
"Eff…are you awake?" Trent walked in and stared at the two women. He stared between the two women as if he could sense the tension his expression reflecting the flight or fight instinct too clearly. Effy took a long drink of her coffee and stood up.
"I just never slept. Easier to do that then try to sleep and force myself up.." She gave a little noise of exhaustion and put the mug down tilting her head towards Daria. "I'm hurt…no family pictures of us hanging around…and even your girl isn't aware of who I am….you do a damn job hiding me."
Trent watched her and opened his mouth but she gave a chuckle shaking her head. "Not that I hold that against you…I'd have done the same..anyway what have you done with Tom?"
"He's outside on the phone with his mom or something.."
Effy grabbed her mug and handed it to Trent patting his head. "Good then, you talk with the little Missus, and I will go and hunt my boy down.." She headed out of the apartment and once the door shut he took her place across from Daria. She watched him, rubbing her head as she squinted at him.
"Look Daria…"
"Look at what, the fact you and Jane have a closet sister who just appeared out of nowhere?"
"It is really complicated.."
Daria however was not able to take Trent's slow and patient tone. Between the frustration and the hangover she pushed her own mug off letting it break with a satisfying crash against the floor. "I've known you and Jane for years, and somehow this is put away in some secret place? We're supposed to tell each other basic things like this…."
Jane had barely slept. It was the same nightmare she had relived several times, but she had never spoken it aloud to anyone. Jesse was noisily moving around the kitchen, trying to be quiet most likely. It pissed her off, everything pissed her off. She pushed the blanket off of her and wondered if she felt like even seeing him. She was still mad he had held her back, she hadn't even gotten near Effy. He walked in and she met eyes with him, wanting him to make some remark. It would allow her to let out some more frustration, as if the accidental attack on Tom were simply the tip of an iceberg waiting in the black haired woman's mind.
"Why is she here?" Her voice did not ring with anger, it was the sound of exhaustion. Where that exhaustion came from she hardly understood, but there was no reason to scream yet. She sat up and pressed a hand against her forehead as if trying to sort the answer out. "The last time anyone said anything, she was with Dad in British Columbia taking pictures of trees or something. Did you and Trent.."
She blinked as she tried to imagine Trent keeping anything from her like that. No, surely he had no idea either. Jesse gave a nod and sat beside her. His warm form was almost comforting and so she allowed him to lay beside her on the bed the ceiling painted with stars; each with a different emotional face. None of them matched how she really felt however.
"We didn't know. Trent took her back to his place, but I don't know how long she'll stay."
"Jesse.." She looked at him a moment, and took in the dopey expression. She felt the rise of emotions again and pulled the pillow over her head. "Just…call Daria for me…I want to make sure my fighting skills didn't leave her incapacitated as Tom.."
Trent stepped outside of the apartment and watched the forms of Tom and Effy. She seemed rather annoyed by something and turned her back on him allowing him to drive off. She watched him go and looked back at him, her eyes meeting his. It was a look he hadn't considered in a long time.
They were six, hiding in the gazebo. Anyone looking would have seen two scrawny dark haired children. The only obvious difference between the twin children was the bracelet the little girl was wrapping around her wrist. There were blankets and towels hung around them and he was turning a flashlight on and off pointing towards their house. Effy was staring at him, and he finally looked back at her raising an eyebrow.
"What?"
"Mom and Dad have lots of kids."
"I know…we live with them."
"Trent, even though we're twins, am I still special? I want to be special.."
"Like, super hero special or…"
"No just special."
"Mom says we're all special.."
"Mom uses milk cartons to make baby toys." The little girl sighed and stared at her toes.
She walked up the stairs and they looked at each other. He watched her fingers nervously twitching as she held herself, her eyes seemed heavy with something he had seen before. She looked at the apartment door and slid her back against the railing. "She mad?"
"Yeah, but Jane wouldn't tell her…and.."
"I was a shitty person Trent…still am."
"Mom said you were staying with Dad. How'd you end up with Tom here?"
The young woman fumbled in her pocket, and finally pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. She lit the cigarette carefully and inhaled, all the while her fingers shaking. She exhaled and closed her eyes as if bringing it all to mind. "I told him, I wanted to stay with Penny in Kenya for the summer. Sold the tickets after showing them to him and disappeared. I met Tom in a bar a couple weeks ago." She opened her eyes and looked at him. "Pretty crazy coincidence huh…"
Trent watched her and tried to think of what to do. He wasn't going to tattle on her, he never told on anyone. Besides that, the elder Lanes were never sure what to do with her besides 'set her free'. How they had managed to keep Effy distracted so long was a surprise to him. Still, he knew better than anyone that something had to be done. He tried to think of how a good older brother would act, but he got distracted as his phone began to vibrate. He fumbled in his pocket and pulled it out. "Jesse's calling…"
Effy didn't wait to respond just took his phone and held it to her ear inhaling another drag. Trent could hear his friend's voice and watched as his sister gave a small smirk. "Nope…sorry this is Ef. No. Yes. Maybe. Look I'm not going to eat her.." She dropped the cigarette and handed her brother back the phone. "She won't talk to me. Jane wants to talk to you."
Trent took the phone and held it to his ear. He agreed to come by after a while, and after he hung it up he watched his sister staring at the cigarette she'd dropped. She met eyes with him and he reached out to almost hug her. Instead she poked his forehead with her finger. "You should go and talk to her. Tom will get over his pride and come back."
"Janie'll come around…..stay here though. Stay." He repeated the last word carefully and as if talking to a child. She stuck her tongue out and he smiled. They wrestled around both almost ready to burst out laughing when he took her arm and froze. She pulled her arm back and fell back against the building. Daria walked out and brushed past Trent.
"Daria…"
"Not right now. The hangover mixing with the anger slowly eating away at my brain has caused my tolerance levels to fall below their normally low level." She walked past and he watched as she left. He watched her go trying to think of something to say.
"Don't worry..she'll come around like Janie..." Effy murmured getting up. As they met eyes again she stuck her tongue out and smoothed down her top. "I'll hang around the apartment til you or Tom get back. I'm not the Effy I used to be."
Trent heard Daria's car driving away and he gave a slight sigh. Things were going to be more complicated before they made sense. He stared at his sister, and wondered if she was right after all. If he could tell Jane that the old Effy was gone and could be forgotten instead of relived in nightmares.
"I want answers Lane." Daria knocked on the apartment door again. She knew they were in the apartment and she was already too worked up to walk away without speaking her mind. Jane finally opened the door leaning against it with an eyebrow raised.
"Hola….hung over or just pleased as a peach to see me?"
"That woman slept over."
"I doubt she slept…the undead usually don't." Jane watched her and when she got no reaction she gave a small sigh and brushed her hair back from her face. "Alright then…let's go inside so the neighbors don't gossip."
"As if you care what your neighbors think.."
"They give Jesse free cheese whip if he looks pitiful enough and complains about my cooking. I keep their opinions high on my list Morgendorffer."
Daria followed her in and they sat on her bed. The sound of the television in the living room was the only noise for a while as they seemed to take in the night's events over again in their stared at each other in silence and finally Daria broke the ice.
"Where did she come from?"
"Well, one crazy night of tribal artwork and boom....my parents felt the pull of nature.."
"You know what I mean."
Jane watched Daria and exhaled carefully. "She switches between our siblings. Penny and Willow most often. She and Summer never did get along so…"
"Why?"
Jane closed her eyes and went blank for a while. Daria reached out and touched her, but Jane seemed to be somewhere her friend could not reach. Jesse walked in and stared at the two of them for a while. Finally he gave a cough.
"Trent doesn't even talk about it."
"Why the secrecy then? I mean being a little off isn't exactly a reason to hide someone. Otherwise I'm sure Quinn have been put into a basket and sent down river a long time ago…I mean Jesse what.."
There was a knocking and Jesse went to answer it. Daria could hear Trent's voice and wondered what had become of the mystery woman who had occupied everyone's mind so much. Jane sat up and seemed to be back to herself and looked at Daria.
"Trent should be the one to tell you. It was a long time ago back when Effy and Jesse were together.."
Tom stared at Effy as they sat alone in Daria's apartment. She was on the bed with her arms holding herself. He reached out and touched her face but she shrunk back closing her eyes tighter. He put his arms around her and she spoke quietly though her voice cracked.
"I just don't want to be alone anymore Tom…everyone is mad at me….Daria even hates me.."
"Daria acts like that to everyone.."
"He doesn't have any pictures of me around. Like I'm dead. You know, I never expected Janie to forgive me…but…Trent was the only one who even tried to get me."
"We could go back. You don't have to force yourself to make amends to anyone Effy."
"It makes me laugh."
"What does?"
"That look you make sometimes." She rolled over and stared at the ceiling clutching her arm carefully. "It makes me think of a song I used to know...Jesse wrote it for me.."
"Should I be jealous?" He laid beside her watching her carefully.
"Oh no...he compared my love to the black plauge.."
A/N--Wow this has been very fun to write. Most of my characters are so....like tragic females that I want Effy to be almost non-chalant in her troubles. Reviews are like fuel to the idea fire..bwahaha..
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Shiva The Sarcastic--Thanks I do hope you keep enjoying it. It came from a very odd thought I had after watching an old episode and click there it was.
