Shaddyr's Eclectic Collection > Pretender Fanfiction > Trading Places
Trading Places
Part 5, by Ce'NedraDisclaimer: "The Pretender" and all that goes with it do not belong to me but to NBC. So don’t go calling a lawyer to sue me ‘cause I got no money. I use the characters for plain and simple entertainment.
The phone rang in a high pitched tone for the umpteenth time and Jarod finally lifted his head from the pillow. With a deep-throated grunt he reached over and answered.
"There better be a damned good reason why you're waking me up at 3 in the morning."
"I got nothing to do, so I thought I’d call you."
Jarod recognized her voice and sat up.
"Mariska, If your lonely, call a 900 number…"
"Don’t put the phone down Parker you know I’m gonna call you back. And you can’t leave it off the hook or the Center will be at your door if they can’t reach you"
"What do you want?"
"What does everybody want?"
"I don’t have time for this labrat."
"Oh yes beauty sleep. I forgot about that." She laughed.
"Mariska what did I ever do to you to deserve this?"
"It’s not what you did. It’s what you do. Why don’t you just let me be Parker? Just give up and let me go. I’ll disappear, vanish without a trace."
"Something baffles me about you."
"What’s that?"
"If you so much want to disappear, to vanish as you say, why do you keep throwing the breadcrumbs?"
"With out my crumbs Parker you will be of no use to the Center. And you know what the Center does with things they don’t need…."
He laughed.
"So you trying to tell me you are doing this for me?"
"Parker without me you die. And as much as I hate to admit it if you die a part of me goes with you, and I can't afford to loose another piece of my puzzle."
"You are clutching at straws"
"No Parker I’m just remembering the good parts of my spoon-fed reality."
He never answered her. She spoke again.
"We were close friends once Jarod. I hope that someday we will get a second chance at our friendship."
The line went dead and Jarod slowly replaced the receiver then slammed his fist into the pillow.
"Why does she always have to bring up the past with me!"
Parker looked up to see Sydney offering her a drink.
"What’s this for? Don’t you want me to quit?"
He smiled at her.
"You look like you need it."
She took the glass from him and raised it to his.
"Salute"
She took a sip of the vodka and walked over to the couch. She sat down tucking her legs beneath her. Sydney joined her sitting at the other end.
"When did the dreams start Parker?"
"About a month ago. It’s a different one each time and honestly it is starting to get to me."
"I can see that."
"And him calling and being so concerned doesn’t help either."
"Are you having a change of heart Parker?"
She took a deep breath and looked at him.
"I don’t know Sydney. It’s weird. In the dreams he is so much like me but he has violent edge to him. I mean the dream I just told you about goes on.
After the call I find myself in the Center. What I was doing there I don’t know. And all of a sudden he’s there and he is chasing me. And no matter what I do I can’t get rid of him. The halls just seem to go on forever and every turn I take is a dead end and I end up in the lobby.
Everyone is there. You, Broots, my father, Raines, Lyle, Jarod and myself as kids, Debbie, Sam …all of them…. even my mother."
Sydney saw her struggling to keep her composer and laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"In the other dreams he would be funny and light hearted with me. Other times he'd be just like me - all businesslike - but in this dream he was so violent…. He beat the shit out of me Sydney. He was shouting at me telling me that it was my fault that his life was stagnating and if I hadn’t ran away he wouldn’t be there. I shouted for help but you all stood there, looking at me with condemning eyes as if to say what the Center was doing was right and I had no right wanting a life of my own."
Sydney watched her shut her eyes, forcing back her tears. He rubbed his chin processing what she was telling him. She turned to look at him.
"Why aren’t you saying anything?"
"Sometimes Parker, it helps more to just listen"
She nodded and took another sip of the vodka.
"I don’t know why these dreams are affecting me like this. I mean I have dreamt that I was in Jarod’s situation before, running from Center discovering "life" for the first time."
Sydney looked at her with a fair amount of surprise.
"Don’t look so surprised Sydney. It was a long time ago but I dreamt it"
"Maybe they are affecting you like this now because you know that you and Jarod share similar traits."
"You mean the fact that I’m as much a pretender as he is?"
"Yes" he nodded in agreement.
"The 2 of you are more a like than you’ll ever realize Parker. Connected in a way we won’t understand."
She blinked as Sydney’s words reverberated in her mind. He laid his hand on hers.
"Parker sometimes talking about problems do help people but ultimately they are the ones who have to work through it themselves."
"I don’t think I can do it on my own Syd."
Sydney smiled and squeezed her hand in assurance.
"I’ll be here with you every step of the way and I’m sure I won’t be the only one."
Neither Sydney nor Parker saw the shadow that moved out side at the window or heard the car door that slammed a while later.
Jarod sat in the car a few meters away from Sydney’s home. He came there to find out how Parker was doing but instead found her and the reason for her being there. His better judgement told him to get away but his overwhelming need to help her over powered his thoughts.
"It’s time Parker…"
He nodded to himself.
"It’s time.’
He started the car and drove off into the night.