Chapter 4

*********** (A/N: If this were actually been seen- the reader/viewer would see Daria as normal)

Daria watched Jane and Trent shrink into the distance as the Mustang drove away. She turned, slumped into her seat and caught a glimpse of her reflection in the in rear view mirror; a stranger stared back with a mirroring expression of bewilderment. Of all the things that dying entailed, this freaked her out the most.

They shared the same eyes, but there were many discernable differences. The mirrored girl's chin was more angular, her cheekbones a little more prominent. Daria's lips remained although she seemed to have been blessed with Quinn's nose.

"Freaks you out, doesn't it?" George turned back to Daria briefly as she drove.

Daria removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes in exhaustion, then looked up at George and Mason. She realized that she was able to see without her glasses quite easily. She sighed and placed them back on the bridge of her nose defiantly before she addressed her two companions.

"Who decides what we look like?"

"Mason once told me it's what you're inner child would have looked like if they were to have grown up into an adult." George smiled. "Mine looks like a crack whore; looks like you lucked out, she's pretty."

Daria glowered slightly and opted to ignore the last comment; she hadn't spent eighteen years ignoring the fashion industry, to be snuffed out by oversized grooming paraphernalia and replaced by a fashion-fiend clone.

"So, do I see you as you were or what you are now?" Daria asked slowly, her brow furrowed slightly as she tried to get things straight in her head.

Mason turned from the front passenger seat and smiled. "As we were, only the living see us like that." He pointed to the rear view mirror.

"So, that's why Jane could see me? Why she was so mad? She thought I was just some chick dressed up like me?" Daria asked her eyes widening with the realization, Mason nodded.

"No wonder she looked so confused..." Daria mused softly to herself, as she turned her attention to the passing Lawndale scenery.

***

"Hey Janey, are you okay?" Trent asked quietly, as he approached her.

Jane jumped the sound of Trent's voice snapped her out of her stunned silence. "Did you know that guy?"

Trent shook his head slowly. "Nah, but he had some good weed..."

"You're high?" Jane voice squeaked in disbelief.

"Hey," Trent started defensively. "If I have to console Mr. M. I need some assistance... So anyway, who was that chick? Is everything okay? You were screaming like a banshee." Trent repeated his question and looked at Jane with concern.

"I don't know, she said something..." Jane trailed off, as she watched the red Mustang turn the corner out of sight.

"I figured as much...Hey, I scream like a banshee, coz you said somethin' to me...hmmm, nah." Trent shook his head and smiled warmly at Jane. He slung an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a hug. "Come on, Daria's dad showed me where he hides his stash. I'll get you a drink." The two Lane siblings walked into the Morgendorffer house together.

"Maybe two, I've had a weird day." Jane replied.

***

Jane stood and scrutinized Daria's bedroom door. She halted slightly as she slowly turned the handle, and then willed her arm to open it. She inhaled deeply and pushed, the door breezed open with a slight creak and Jane entered the room. She surveyed its contents. Everything was just as it had been three days prior when she had last visited Daria; a few books lay strewn across the floor, a forgotten sock under her computer desk, an empty glass next to the idle computer. The power still connected, Jane could hear the faint hum of the computer's fan as it sat on standby. She slowly inched her way over to the desk and flicked the mouse, the black screen flashed to life. A white document page emblazoned the screen with a short paragraph at the top:

Melody's faced hardened as she observed the lifeless form in front of her; she kicked out at his feet eliciting a small groan.

"Thank God," she sighed. "He's only worth half the ransom if he's dead."

Jane smiled fondly as she read Melody's unfinished foray. She turned and eyed the unmade bed in the opposite corner. She walked over and knelt beside it, pursing her lips as she looked at the small gap between the floor and the frame with anticipation.

"Come on Lane, just reach your hand in feel around; prove that the girl was a complete nutcase." She exhaled loudly, and reached her hand out; it faltered inches from the gap. "But...what if she's right? What if... Oh hell."

Jane bent down on all fours and stuck her hand under the bed. She felt around for a box like object. After several moments, Jane felt the search was fruitless and the girl was truly full of it. She prematurely breathed a sigh of relief; as she began to withdraw her hand, she heard the door creak open once again. She jumped slightly at the thought of being caught, shoulder deep, under Daria's bed. She froze as her hand brushed the corner of a small shoebox.

Quinn entered the room and glanced around furtively, before her eyes rested on Jane still frozen in place on the floor.

"Oh, it's just you." Quinn walked into the room and sat on the bed. "I thought one of the guests was creeping around in here." She explained and laid her hands in her lap. She picked at her thumbnail absently and directed her eyes to Jane.

Jane pulled the box out from under the bed and sat beside Quinn. She cradled the battered cardboard shoebox on her lap and her fingers idly tapped the sides.

"What's that?" Quinn asked, as her nose screwed slightly.

"A shoebox." Jane replied simply, Quinn raised her eyebrows and shot Jane a look of annoyance.

"The Montana Cabin fund, I guess?" Jane replied earnestly.

"So, she really was hoarding all her money. I thought she was kidding." Quinn said.

"You...you didn't know about this, or where she had it hidden?" Jane asked apprehensively.

Quinn shook her head in return.

"Daria's wardrobe-- her clothes, do you know how many sets of clothes she had?" Jane asked quickly, as she walked to the cupboard and threw the doors open.

"Four...now, she had five but..." Quinn replied uneasily.

"But...but, what? Where's the fifth set?" Jane asked frantically, as she counted the items that hung in Daria's cupboard.

"The fifth set...The fifth...that was set she wore to school that day." Quinn's voice cracked and she inhaled deeply to calm herself.

Jane turned and looked at Quinn. Jane's arms hung limp at her sides, as she slid to the floor. "I'm sorry, I...I...I don't know, I think I better leave. I've got to work through a few things." She said, as she rose to her feet. She handed the box to Quinn as she walked to the door. Quinn raised a hand to it and pushed it back.

"You keep it, I got a feeling she'd have wanted you to have it anyway." Quinn smiled as she stood and the two girls left the room.

***

Jane was confused; her expedition into Daria's room to confirm her suspicions had raised more questions than answers. The girl she had spoken with bore many similarities to the Morgendorffer/ Barksdale clan; a long lost cousin or forgotten sister maybe? But that didn't excuse her audacity to show up in Daria's attire. How had she known the location of the money or of its existence? Her mind wandered back to the encounter and she recalled the surprise shown on the girls face as if she hadn't expected to be seen...

Jane collected her boozy brother from the lounge and she and Trent walked home in a contemplative silence. Jane resolved to find the girl and have her questions answered.