CHAPTER TWO
She travelled for some time through what could be best described as a void of inky darkness. Sparks of purple and blue flickered past her and there was a terrible coldness that bit through her tender skin; the stinging sensation of pins and needles running up her legs as she drifted there, reaching out to hold onto the devil that so graciously offered his arm to her. Taking no heed of the consequences of her actions, she clung on tight.
It was then that the black void pulled away and she stumbled into the bright, almost blinding, world of a large, open meadow filled with wildflower. Blue bells and St John's Wort brushed up against her leg, the vibrancy a staggering contrast to the darkness she had come from, and from the bleak winter that had taken hold of her village.
"Come quickly." The demon ordered, moving forward, forcing her to stumble alongside him.
She looked up at the mask the demon had taken and thought it an unusual beauty. With sharp cheekbones and cat-like eyes, long blond hair tied into a ponytail, she thought that if he were not a demon she could honestly fall for such a disguise; perhaps pursue him as any girl would with a man who displayed such wealth and charm.
However, Sarah knew him to be a devil and would not fall for such a disguise no matter how often he chose to wear it around him.
They walked for some time until they came across a solid path of small stones, she did not know the name although the demon offered 'gravel', down to a large village made entirely of stone buildings of beautiful yellow sandstone with slate roofing.
'This must be an incredibly wealthy community.' She thought as they passed through the houses, and she felt unusual in her simple attire, more so when she saw the select few people pass her by dressed in attire that she would consider extremely immodest and, frankly, shameful by her standards.
She jumped when she heard the roaring of a beast and saw a man pushing a metal monster down the grass, waving to the demon as though he were any other human. She could not help but stare in wonder before the demon pulled her away.
Sarah had many questions to ask, and so desperately wanted to ask them yet was terribly afraid of seeming dim or just as afraid of angering the demon before her. She said nothing until she was in his house, stunned by the lights above her and how he managed to snap them on with a mere button at the corner of the room. She tried the same, and the lights turned off. She pressed the button again and the lights went back on. She did it again, and again, until the beast pulled her hand away.
"You'll waste electricity."
"Ele-," He pulled her along the corridor before she could ask any further questions. She watched the decorated walls pass her by, and caught a glimpse of a woman in the garden. She wondered if the woman knew that she was living in the same space as a demon before the door she was pushed into a room.
The room was lined with painted baby blue tiles. There were flowers painted onto each tile and she wondered how much work would have gone into painting such detail into each tile.
"What tell is that I see?" She asked, seeing a large white tub in the corner of the room with various metal tubes sticking out of it. Next to it was a contraption that she did not recognise with a tub attached to the wall above it. Many of the devices in the room she did not recognise.
"That is a bath tub." She recognised it immediately after he explained it, although she was used to tubs being significantly smaller and metal, usually residing next to the fireplace. The demon walked towards the bath tub and turned a knob where water began to spurt forth from. Dismissing her fears, she immediately scurried over to investigate the tub, wondering where the water was coming from and, more importantly, how the water was hot. "The water is heated by a boiler which is always burning."
"So, there is constantly a fire that is keeping this water warm? How do you fuel it?"
"I don't fuel it, somebody else does, and it requires something as simple as the very wind itself." Sarah thought it certain to be magic and asked no questions beyond that. There was no point in asking questions about magic; she simply would not understand it.
The demon then filled the bath tub with a strange liquid that was brightly coloured which, when he stirred his hand in, turned into bubbles. She watched with amazement then, after a moment, reached out and pulled some of the bubbles away. It was like touching a cloud and she wondered if they were clouds.
"I imagine you can change yourself?"
"Of course."
"Then step inside. This is shampoo which you rub through your hair then wash out. Do not get the bubbles or the shampoo in your eyes; it will sting." With that, he left her alone and she was left to her thoughts.
It took a moment of courage for her to step fully out of her clothes and step into the bath. Baths were normally once a year for her, if that, so to be able to have one that was able to fully soak her and that was actually hot was a wonderful experience. Once fully enveloped in the water she let out a sigh, letting the water soak through her. She wanted to sleep, she was so exhausted.
However, the demon would surely punish her if she slept there so she made to pour the strange green liquid into her hands rubbing it through her hair before washing it out. Some got into her eye and she yelped; he had not been lying about the sting.
By the time she was out of the bath tub she had completely failed to realise that her clothes had vanished and began to fall into a panic. Surely the demon would not have her work naked? That would be the cruellest torment, as though she were not already extremely self-conscious about her appearance.
"I have left clothes on the chair for you." She heard his voice state from the other side of the door. She bristled, knowing that surely he had been in the bathroom while she was soaking to have taken her clothes away.
'How humiliating…' She thought bitterly, unfolding the clothes and staring at them. 'Surely this is not right.'
She had before her a pair of blue trousers and a button-up white blouse along with a patterned vest. It was the clothing of a man, yet she had nothing else to put on so she put on the unusual undergarments before pulling on everything else, feeling the fabric hug tightly around her legs in a way she was not certain she felt comfortable with.
The demon came in just as she adjusted the vest, buttoning up the final button. She stood ridged before him as he analysed her with critical mismatched eyes.
"Yes, it'll do."
"Master, do you intend to disguise me as a boy?" She asked, trying to not seem pushy as she asked.
"Not at all, this is normal attire for a girl here." He dismissed, waving his hand as he guided her out of the room with the bath.
He then took her upstairs to the end of the corridor where there sat a bedroom.
"This is where you will be staying until I can arrange somewhere more suitable." She nodded, thinking of nothing to say. There was nothing particularly unpleasant about the room with its flower-printed white walls and wooden floor, an oval rug sat at the edge of the bed with a pair of shoes resting on top.
The bed, she learned, was incredibly soft. She simply lay there for some time staring up at the ceiling and the unusual light hanging above her, wondering what sort of magic was involved in turning the flame on and off. She imagined it was possible for everyone whether they were a witch or not seeing as she was capable of turning on the flame with the press of a button as well.
'Unless I was a witch all along.' She thought dreadfully. It would explain a number of things about her, including the beast accepting her as a worker despite him often rejecting others offers. She got up from the bed and made her way to the window, leaning slightly to look outside.
Outside she saw the woman from before. A woman with strange blue hair and a bright red scarf working in the garden without a care in the world. What a strange woman she saw, as blue hair as not even remotely natural so the woman could not be human.
After a moment's thought, she left the room to investigate the woman. She gently creaked down the stairs and towards the door which was, thankfully, open. She ignored all the unusual features of the room she stood in for fear of never leaving, instead focusing on the person before her.
"Hello!" The woman called out with a great, bright smile.
"Hello." Sarah curtseyed. The woman laughed then, leaving Sarah feeling awkward. "Um… how is your hair that colour?" She asked, nervously.
"Boy, Jareth sure knows how to pick them doesn't he?" She stared for a moment, lost. "I dyed it, you silly goose."
"Dyed it? But it's such a vibrant colour!"
"That's what the bleach is for!"
"Bleach?"
"You know… bleach?" Sarah did not understand and the expression she had must have shown this as the woman sighed.
"He really knows how to pick them." She shrugged. "I'll show you another time. When did you get here?"
"Just a few hours ago."
"Right, and where from."
"From Whitepool."
"Well that doesn't sound right."
"What do you mean?" She asked, looking confused.
"You're in Whitepool."
