I bet she deals with it, Susanne thought. She didn't say it, though. Instead, she just shook her head. "Whatever. Maybe you're right, maybe not." She looked at her watch. "At this point, I really couldn't care less. If I'm real, I'm real. If not, I'm not. Either way, I don't hear anyone giving me orders or directions, or even advice. How would it change things if I said, 'I believe you, I don't exist'?" She paused briefly. "I can't see that it would, personally. Now, if you don't mind, I have things to do." She yanked her arm out of Roger's grasp, wincing as the wound on her shoulder reminded her of its presence, turned, and walked back the way she came.

She tried to look relaxed as she walked away, not letting on just how scared she was to turn her back on Celly. But Dionysus still had a grip on her, and something told her to trust him... she was rather reulctant to do this, but he could easily have helped Celly attack her back there... and besides, even if she slipped away from her Guardian, Roger was there. So Susanne walked back to her dorm room.

She ran up to her floor and dropped her bag on her bed, putting her wallet and keys into her jacket pockets, and ran right back out, and down the back staircase.

Roger wanted only to protect her, but she prefered working alone. And she had to get to the bottom of this. She was going to miss a lecture this afternoon, but that was too bad.

She still had the business card Tessa had handed her a few days ago when she dragged Andy away. The address was on Cavendish Avenue, and as she looked at it, Susanne felt foolish.

"Duh!" she said out loud. That was why it had sounded familiar... she still hadn't heard of the studio itself, so it probably wasn't very close, but at least it was a starting place. And she could think of someone there who ought to know. She hopped on the bus to Apple.

TBC...