Daria had two things scheduled for today. Lunch with Jay, to tell him her decision, and then coffee with Jane to debrief. She showed up to neither. Both Jane and Jay became worried when she didn't show up. They both decided the best thing would be to stop by her dorm room to check that everything was alright.
They both went to knock on the door at the same moment, but then noticed each other.
"Hi, you must be Jane" Jay suggested
"I must be, and I guess that would make you Jane"
Jessica heard the exchange and went to open the door.
"Oh hey. I know who you two are. I've been looking forward to meeting you"
They then explained why there were there.
"Why don't we try calling her cell phone?" Jay suggested
"She lost it a few days ago. Let me call campus police" she suggested
"Before we do, we should try to find her ourselves. It could be nothing more than a miscommunication" Jay said
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"Okay, don't panic. When did each of us last see her last see her?" Jessica said
"When I walked her back from the Anarchist meeting" Jay said
"She stayed at my place a few days ago" Jane explained
"Well, I definitely saw her leave this morning" said Jessica "And I saw her out the window"
"Then that's where we start. Do we have a picture of her?" Jay asked
"Her student ID?" Jane suggested
"She lost her wallet yesterday"
Jane realised this wasn't like Daria, but decided to put the thought to one side.
"I think I have one on my phone. I can transfer it to my computer and use it to make a flyer" Jessica said
"Good thinking. My brother knows someone who works for the campus printing service. I'll see if we can get a mass run done ASAP" Jay said
"And I'll make a phone call of my own" Jane said
"Okay, meet back here in one hour." Jessica suggested, and the others nodded in agreement.
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After some introductions, Jane, Jay, Joe, Jessica, and Jane's friend Allison started handing out flyers in the courtyard in front of the dorm building. At first, it was a frustrating process. They had many false leads. However, they eventually discovered that she had been seen in front of the library, the main campus eatery, and then finally at the Sophomore Women's dorm. In the latter case, they got more and more people recognising the photo. Daria's outfit was so distinctive, it stood out and helped them immensely.
Finally, they found a few witnesses that swore she entered an empty dorm room, with another woman. However, the descriptions of that woman varied wildly. They knocked on the supposedly empty dorm room and got no answer. The door was locked, which was strange. If there was no one in the room, it should have been unlocked. At this point, they decided to speak to Campus police.
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When Daria came to, the first thing she realised was that she was restrained. Her midsection was tied the back of an office chair. Not so tight as to suffocate her, but tight enough that she couldn't move. She tried to move her arms and legs, only to discover there were handcuffs attached to her wrists and ankles, with the other ends attached to the chair. Daria tried to piece together how she had…
Chloroform. She had been chloroformed. As she opened her eyes, she took a few moments to realise what she was looking at. Her Gothic lit textbook, some photos of her (this was getting creepy), some quotes of hers, such as "I have low esteem for everyone else", "How come even in my fantasies, everyone's a jerk", "hardly interested" and "Hi, I'm Daria, go to hell – Jane Lane".
There were also drawings of her, her student ID, her cell phone (so that's where those went), figurines that appeared to be of her, a candle, with a stain glass style etching on the side with the words "Our lady of Angst".
The final thing Daria noticed was a lock of her hair. This was a shrine. A shrine to her. Who would construct such a thing. There could only be one answer.
"Hello, Daria" A voice came from behind her
"Oh god, don't tell me…" Daria groaned, and the chair she was on was spun around.
"Well, what do you think?" Amelia asked
"I think you need a new idol" Daria stated
"But Daria, how could I ever look up to anyone the way I look up to you?"
"Amelia, you have obviously spent a lot of time studying me. But you don't know me."
"What do you mean, Daria?" Amelia was genuinely confused
"You obviously look up to me because you think I'm something I'm not. You think I'm the sort of person who stands up to authority. You think I'm a comic genius, bad-ass, and superhero, but I'm none of these things"
"Then what are you?"
"I'm just a mouthy kid with a lot to learn about life. So, if you're not going to rape me..."
"Rape you? But Daria, why would I do that? I'm not a lesbian"
"So, you're not in love with me?"
"Not romantically. My love for you is strictly platonic hero worship"
"But its not me you worship. Its the idea of me you've built up in your head"
"Daria, why are you telling me this?"
"Because, deep down, somewhere inside of you is an individual. One who is capable of thinking and acting for herself"
Amelia started crying, when there was a knock at the door. Amelia instinctively placed her hand over Daria's mouth. When the knocking stopped, Amelia returned to crying.
A few minutes later, the door was unlocked, and into the room burst Jessica, Jane, Jay, Joe and Allison, along with the campus police. They managed to free Daria from her restraints, and handcuffed Amelia.
"Let her go!" Daria exclaimed loudly
"But…" one of the officers said
"I said let her go!" she repeated, and the undid her cuffs.
"Joe, Jay, you guys have some experience with mental health matters. Could you..." Daria began
"We'll make sure she gets the help she needs" Joe said
"And then you and I need to talk" Daria said, addressing Jay.
"But first, Jane. I'm sorry I missed out coffee appointment today" Daria explained
"Well, you have a good excuse" Jane observed
"Do you want to make it up now?" Daria asked
"Sure" Jane said
"Are you going to join us? Daria asked Allison
"Sure" she said
"I'll see you back at the dorm" Jessica said, and then she left
"We'll send your possessions back to you, when we're done processing everything" one of the officers said
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"So are you two, a couple?" Daria asked, awkwardly
They answered together
"Not really" Jane said and "Not exactly" Allison said
"We're just two people hanging out together, enjoying each other's company" Allison said, confidently
"And you're over that incident…?" Daria trialled off, thinking what am I, a couples therapist?
"Jane has set me straight, so to speak. I won't be doing anything like that again" Allison said, looking into Jane's eyes
"So, Daria" Jane decided to change the subject "That was quite the gesture back there. I never expected you to be so, well, forgiving"
"Well, I figured if you could forgive me over, you know, the Tom thing, I should learn be forgiving too"
"Are you alright?" Allison asked, empathically, deciding to address the elephant in the room
"Not really, but I will be" Daria said, stoically
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Just as Jane returned Daria to her dorm, there was yet another knock. It was campus police, true to their word, with a box filled with the contents of Amelia's shrine. Most of it was hers, some of it wasn't, but she could deal with that another day.
"Sign here please, Miss Morgendorffer." She did and he handed her the box with both hands. It was quite heavy. Just as she'd placed it on her bed, there was yet another knock.
"Hi, Daria" it was Jay
"I guess we never did finish our conversation" Daria remarked, and the two of them left to find somewhere to chat, by themselves.