Chapter Two

Her mouth dropped open as she listened. As soon as the boy in front of her finished, with a few cut-ins from the others, she stood up. Putting a hand to her head, she snapped her jaw shut. The muscle there throbbed as she gritted her teeth. Pendragon could see flames in her eyes, but he could also see that it was drowning as she saw his serious expression.

"What do you think I am, dumb? You dragged me halfway across the country for this!" she exclaimed. "No way! Impossible. You're pulling my leg and I know it. Not a chance." She started towards the stairs to go back up and leave, contemplating how she would explain to her parents why she was gone for so long and where, especially without having told them.

"It's true!" Spader answered, putting a hand on her shoulder just as he had earlier. She hesitated, but steeled herself and kept walking. He tightened his grip. She snarled in frustration and was just about to flip him over her shoulder when Pendragon got up and fixed her with a steely gaze.

"It's true," he confirmed. She pursed her lips and tensed her muscles, then forcing them to relax. She searched her mind for a good reason to leave right then and there. She knew it was right there, but it kept eluding her. Something kept her there.

She let out a ragged sigh and plopped down on the couch again. "Okay, okay," she said, fists clenched. What had come over her? Why was she being so dumb all of a sudden?

Mark sighed in what seemed like relief. "Now that that's over, do you believe us?" he asked, eyebrows raised inquisitively. He seemed nervous. Maybe he thought she would decide to take out her anger on him.

"We'll see. I'll need proof, though," she replied. He nodded slightly and held up his ring. She furrowed her brows and noticed that Spader and Pendragon had the same thing, a gray stone with ten small symbols etched in the silver around it. She blinked.

"What does that prove? That you think I'm that gullible?"

Pendragon sighed. "She'll need more than that, Mark. We'll show her in the morning. Right now we all need some rest. Of course, some food would be good, too." He turned to Courtney, who nodded.

"Oh," he added, "when are your parents coming home? I don't want them to find us here." She laughed.

"No chance. They're off on some second honeymoon in the Keys." Ho nodded in approval.

"Okay. Let's get to that food, then."

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After Courtney had put in a few frozen dinners, TV dinners as she and her family had dubbed them, they sat eating in silence. Finally, unable to bear the discomfort, Dacia spoke up.

"Mark," she asked, "you know that music you had on in the car? The rock?" he nodded. "Is it possible we could listen to it now? For some reason it always helps clear my head." He grinned and went to get the CD's. Courtney grimaced and turned to her.

"Why do you encourage him?" she whined. "And how can you possibly enjoy the stuff! I never find it head-clearing, but mind-numbing!" The black-haired teenager across from her shrugged.

"I'm just into that kind of stuff, I suppose. I go more for the lyrics than the rhythm, to tell the truth, and the rhythm just kind of keeps me from spacing while listening to it…sometimes." The brunette across from her shook her head in bewilderment but took another bite from her dinner as Mark came back in with a pack of CD's in his hand.

"Which one?" he asked, handing it to her, oblivious of Courtney's disapproval. Dacia flipped through them as quickly as possible and selected a CD.

"This one. Best ever, no? Hmm…or maybe Trapt…. What the heck, put in the Skillet CD." Mark grinned even wider, glad there was someone else who had his taste in music, and slipped the disc into the stereo system at the other side of the room.

When it started, Dacia's expression didn't change, but Pendragon noticed a hint of shock and regret in her eyes. She took another bite and her white-green orbs glazed over. She mouthed the words, but only so slightly he could barely see.

"In the dark with the music on

Wishing I was somewhere else

Taking all your anger out on me"

His brows furrowed as he saw her gulp. But it seemed hard, as if her throat was tight. Her expression looked as if she was trying to escape a memory.

He was about to say something but decided not to. What would he do? Maybe he was imagining it, considering none of the others seemed to notice. A small sigh escaped his lips as he tried to ignore it.

"Somebody help"

He shook his head slightly and finally managed to ignore her. When the song stopped, Dacia blinked a couple of times and finished her meal with her lips set in grim expression. She excused herself to rinse off her plate and silverware. When she was alone in the kitchen, she bit her bottom lip so hard it left an indent.

She rinsed the plate off with tense muscles and jerky movements as her eyes flashed with anger, but a single tear welled up in the corner of her eye. She wiped it away, angry at her own weakness, and took several deep breaths to calm herself, like she had been taught in Karate class. A part of her wanted the others' story to be true so she could escape everything, including her memories, and leave everything behind, start a whole new life. She wouldn't put up with things she had put up with before. She would never look up to someone again, either, she knew.

She sighed and returned to the living room. Mark had chosen a movie for them to watch, and she was careful to keep her expression blank because she couldn't make herself smile when she was remembering her past. No one noticed. She almost wished they did. Pendragon did look at her oddly now and again, but he never said anything. She wished he did.

Courtney went to go pop some popcorn as the movie started. She didn't seem too keen on watching Spider-Man, but she was willing to humor the others. Spader seemed in awe of the television, his eyes slightly wide as watched the film. Well, if he was from a completely different territory like he claimed, then, hey, there was no big surprise that there were no TV's there.

It ended with the typical dramatic teenager-movie ending they went to sleep. It was hard for Dacia, on the couch with a pillow and blanket. But that wasn't the reason; the dang memories wouldn't leave. Open Wounds by Skillet kept going through her head, but she finally managed to push it out of her head and fall asleep, blocking out her overwhelming emotions and forcing herself into the meditation state between sleeping and waking.

Her odd behavior had left Pendragon's mind after she had returned to normal during the movie. He needed rest for the next day, he knew. Because the next day he would be going to Quillan. Tomorrow he would be showing Dacia her true territory. He would be flinging her across the universe and into a completely unknown world. But for some reason he had a feeling she would be able to handle it. Possibly even better than he had. But he really didn't expect that she would see it as a thrill like Spader had.

But, that was for tomorrow.

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NOTE

I wanted to go on, but figured this was a good place to stop. Next update most likely won't be this quick; I'm going to try and make the chapters of my other Pendragon fanfics. One of them being a Pendragon/Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix crossover, another being a Stargate SG-1/Pendragon crossover, and the other simply being Pendragon. When I get them up, I would appreciate it if you would read and review.

Please review!