Disclaimer: Nothing from "The Labyrinth" or "Choices" belong to me. I am simply doing a Fan-fiction. No money will be earned with this.
Enjoy! :)
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Chapter 2- Old Friends
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"AHHHHHH!" Sarah jerks awake, adrenaline rushing through her veins as she thrashes against her attacker until….she realizes that she's alone in her room.
Sunlight streams gently onto the bed's comforter and onto the carpet, illuminating the dust motes with a golden glow. Everything looks peaceful and serene. A new day. A new life.
The heck? What a messed-up dream. She rubs her forehead, trying to focus her thoughts. A cool breeze sweeps along Sarah's bare shoulders and a shiver works it's way into her body. Looking around the room at all her belongings, her eyes suddenly focus on the open window. What if...
Pain makes her flinch as she gently probes her neck, feeling the fresh bruises there. Oh no. She looks at her knuckles. They have some dark painful splotches too.
"What the-?!" She croaks aloud and then quickly stops talking. This can't be happening. No, no, no... She begins to tremble.
Her phone is on the night stand, as usual. She picks it up…only to discover that it's somehow dead.
"Crap...", she gnaws on her bottom lip out of nervous habit and sits there for a while. Confused. Wondering. 30 minutes pass by, and she's no closer to the answer of what happened than she was before. And nothing has jumped out from under the bed to grab her yet, so...
Sighing, she eventually gets up and tosses her phone into her school bag. She turns to the mess known as her closet and starts to get ready for school. Today is the first day of Sarah's 'Senior-hood'. I need to look good for my adoring fans. Ha. Not.
15 minutes plus a shower later, and she's looking decent.
Grabbing her schoolbag and binder, she hurries down the stairs. Her thudding feet make a faint echo throughout the house. Usually, Sarah loved having the place to herself and all the freedom that it offered. But after last night? The house feels empty. And not in a good way. She snags a banana and heads outside, quickly.
Buttery sunshine softly illuminates her face as she steps out onto the white wrap-around porch. Morning birds chirp with joyful abandon in the treetops. She lets out a sigh of relief, before casting a nervous glance towards the woods bordering the edge of their yard.
Jareth...It's been a long time since she's allowed herself to think his name. Dan couldn't have seen him, could he? That was all just make-believe, right?
As she stands on her porch, pondering again the events of last night, a friendly and familiar voice calls out from the yard next door…
"Morning neighbor!" A man with red bushy hair and a matching red bushy beard smiles and waves.
"Oh, hey Mark. What's up?" She nods to him.
"Just coming back from a walk. Hey, Merlin, look who it is!" He glances over behind him. A blur of grey and white fur crashes out of the bushes that separate the two yards, looking around excitedly. He bounds over to Sarah, trying to wave his non-existent tail and just ends up shaking his entire hind-end.
"Hey boy!" She feels her face light up in a bright smile and just like that…her nervousness and fear evaporate like the morning dew.
Merlin's, in Sarah's estimation, was basically the best dog ever. Mark got him as a puppy about 5 years ago and he had wandered over into Sarah's yard during his first week in his new home. She thought he had been a stray and so she had begged Karen and her dad to keep him. It was only 3 days later, after they both got hopelessly attached to each other, that they found out that he was the neighbor's. Mark had been looking all over for him. Karen was relieved that they had to give the dog back, disliking dogs for their general lack of hygiene. But the "bond had been forged" and Mark even had to start calling him by 'Merlin' because he wouldn't respond to any other name. He had been a good sport about it though, even joking with Sarah about having "co-ownership" of the dog.
Merlin barks and tries to sit on her feet, leaning his back against her legs as he grins upwards, playfully.
He flops down on his back and wiggles happily as she scratches his belly.
"Yeah, it was getting mangy and in his eyes. Had to get him shaved." Mark remarked, sticking his hands into his jeans and leaning casually against a piece of their fence. "Your parents around? I didn't see them out and about this morning."
"Yeah, they're overseas dealing with my great-aunt's estate or whatever. They'll be back in a couple weeks." Sarah shrugs.
When invited to go to Ireland, she had turned it down. Aunt O'Connelly weirded her out. She always was talking about their family history and the meaning of being a Connelly. It was fascinating….until you've heard it a million times. Plus, Sarah wasn't going to pass up the chance to stay home alone for a couple of weeks with all the freedom in the world. Teenager dream come true. After last night though….she was having second thoughts.
Mark looks taken aback, "Hell, that's a long time for a kid to be by themselves, 'specially in a big house like that."
She feels a twinge of annoyance, even though she had just gotten the scare of her life last night. I'm not a 'kid'.
"Don't worry, I can take care of myself. I can tie my shoes, and I even know how to make Mack 'n Cheese without burning the house down!" She grins impishly at Mark, still rubbing Merlin's belly. He looked like he was going to pass out on her porch from happiness.
Mark lets out a large laugh and holds up his hands chuckling, "Alright, Alright! You kids grow up so fast these days, sheesh!"
Suddenly, cocking his head, he takes a few steps towards the house and crouches down beside a small pile of loose dirt. "Huh, wonder what this is…" He picks something out of the pile and holds it up…a glossy black stone.
He looks to Sarah, "This yours?"
Sarah stops euthanizing Merlin with her hands and steps off the wooden porch and over to him. He puts the stone in her hand and she examines it. The stone is smooth, like black glass. A strange white rune is etched into it and it glitters menacingly, like onyx.
"Weird…I wonder where this came from?" She murmurs. The stone is surprisingly light in her hand and she moves her thumb along it's smooth texture, tracing the indented white lines of the rune. Her aunt would probably do a double back-flip to see something like this. Looked like something she'd have around that old smelly mansion of hers.
"Beats me. Looks like a paperweight or sumthin." Mark nods and dusts off his hands. "Welp! I'll let you get to school. Just let me know if you need anything, alright? My door's always open."
Sarah looks up at Mark and smiles gratefully, "Will do. Thanks Mark!"
He has no idea how much she appreciated having someone nearby in case of emergency. But how could she tell Mark what happened? Being the ripe age of 18 is a difficult age. You're caught in the space between being technically an adult according to law, but at the same time, you depend on the adults around you for a lot of things. It was very important to her to have the acknowledgement that she was capable of independence. So instead of taking him up on the offer, like she wanted, she remained calm so he doesn't think she's some little kid without her parents.
Mark has no idea the thoughts going through her head and whistles for Merlin. Merlin jumps up to follow him. Once they were out of sight, Sarah looks down at the stone in her hand once again.
If what happened last night was real, this might be a clue. Better keep this safe somewhere.
And with that thought, she pockets the rock and head over to her dad's shed...which is unfortunately right near the edge of the forest. She keeps her eyes on the trees as she tries to open the shed door. It takes a couple of tries. The door's rusted hinges screech loudly with every shove.
Jeez when was the last time someone was in here? She flips the light switch so she can see what she's dealing with. Cobwebs tickle her face as she makes her way over to the empty worktable and sets the stone carefully on top of it's dusty surface. She stands there, looking at the stone thoughtfully as well as the rest of the space. What IS this stone? It can't have been placed there by accident. Could it be...His?
She turns and leaves the shed quickly, needing to get to school on time. She steps back into the yard, shutting the shed door behind her.
A few minutes later, and Sarah finds herself trudging along the black asphalt road running along the edge of the woods. The sunshine filters through the trees changing the plants and vegetation varying shades of emerald green. Sarah feels her fears abate for a moment. She's always loved the woods, even though she keeps her distance. The walk to school and back was the only 'woodsy' activity she really did anymore. Gorgeous tall trees tower on both sides of the road, creating the illusion of a giant twisting corridor, like a Labyrinth. The song from the musical 'Into the Woods' comes to her mind and she hums softly….
The way is clear, the light is good, I have no fear nor no one should. The woods are just trees, the trees are just wood….
The roar of a car engine interrupts her musical thoughts, approaching from behind. Stepping to the side, Sarah glances back and sees a black vintage Camaro. She looks at the driver and pretty blue eyes lock with her green ones. Huh, that guy looks familiar… She instantly becomes wary. What if it's another one of them in disguise? He even LOOKS like Jareth a little! Blonde hair to his shoulders, blue eyes, leather jacket…
He's definitely not bad looking, Sarah admits to herself.
The car slows to a stop and she watches suspiciously as the guy leans out through the open window and asks, "Hey, do I know you from somewhere?"
Sarah halts, surprised, "Uh, I was wondering the same thing actually… Do you go to Westchester High?"
He smirks, "Not anymore. Left that hellhole behind a couple of years ago."
"Oh! Well…lucky you!" She tries to play it cool, but can't help but shift her feet. He used to be a highschool student? I know I've seen him before...
"Hang in there. You'll be out before you know it." He looks her up and down, before meeting her eyes and grinning, "Let me guess…Senior?"
"Yeah, that's right." She allows herself to smile. Definitely not bad looking. She plays with her hair without realizing it, and then suddenly realizes it, and immediately stops herself.
"Cool. Well, I better get to work. Catch you later!" He smiles appreciatively at Sarah. He steps on the gas and the car starts to pull away.
"Oh! I never got your…."
But he's already too far away to hear, disappearing around the bend in the road.
"…name." Sarah narrows her eyes. If that was one of Jareth's people, he had been a hell of an actor. He didn't even ask me if I wanted a ride. I would have turned it down, of course, but still...
Shrugging, Sarah continues her way down the winding forest road.
A thin crowd of students trickle across the yard at the school, as Sarah arrives, waving and calling out to friends as they converge on the front doors. The mysterious dude in the Camaro was right, Sarah would be out of high school before she knew it. Sarah feels herself grin, drinking in the energy of the new school year. Finally, she was a Senior, and it felt good to be on top. No more awkward Freshman, Sophomore, or Junior years... Soon I'll be packing all my belongings into my "graduation present", kissing Toby good-bye, and watch this town disappear in the rear-view mirror.
Squeezing through the loud, crowded hall, she finds a familiar girl standing at the locker next to hers.
"Oh! Hey MJ!" Sarah says, surprised.
The Gothic girl glances over at Sarah, bored, then looks back to her locker, "Sup."
Her cocoa-colored skin is sporting a dark black lipstick and thick eye-liner, which are meticulously done. Her dreadlocks are dyed maroon with a couple of dyed blonde ones, some decked out with silver dread-rings. She wears a black shirt with a red skull on it, and black fishnets for sleeves. On her ears, she has a large silver moon with a little silver skull dangling from one side, while her other ear sports a simple silver stud. Sarah wonders briefly if her neck is unevenly stronger on one side because of the constant weight on only one of her earlobes….
"You're staring, Williams." MJ doesn't even look in Sarah's direction.
Sarah is startled out of analyzing MJ's outfit choices, and turns to her locker, "Sorry." she mumbles, embarrassed. As a former drama club enthusiast, Sarah thinks it's cool that MJ doesn't care what people think of the way she dresses. Thinking back to when she played on stage, Sarah had used to wish she could wear her stage props to class for fun.
Sarah plugs her cellphone into the portable battery she had brought from home with her. She tries to strike up conversation, "That hasn't always been your locker, has it? I've never seen you using it before."
"Got reassigned." MJ kicks the locker shut and swings her bag over her shoulder before turning to completely face Sarah. Her black lips turning down into a frown, "Why? Are there going to be any problems?" She glares.
"Oh! No, of course not. It'll be nice having you here." Sarah tries to smile reassuringly at her and says, "I really like your fishnets."
MJ doesn't say anything, just stares at her for a moment. Then her heavy eye-lined gaze slides behind Sarah and she calmly says, "Oh look, it's Emily."
Following MJ's gaze, Sarah turns and see a plump girl, nervously clutching a textbook to her chest.
"Um...hi, guys." Emily says.
Her clothes were what you'd call the exact opposite of MJ's. She has a bow-tie barrette in her curly light-brown hair, given to her by her mom in the 3rd grade before she passed away. She completes the look, wearing a polka dot shirt with a peter-pan collar, and then a green cotton blazer over that. Some people wanted to stay 3rd grader-cute forever, Sarah guessed.
"Hi Emily." Sarah nods at her. "It's been a while. How was your summer?"
"Oh, it was good. I just got done doing a Coding Camp for video games up in Connecticut!" her hesitant face brightens up a bit.
Emily is deceiving. You would never guess by looking at her that she likes to create video games since she looked more like a preschool teacher. She's a technology genius, and a wiz at the computer. Video games at her house were an awesome way to spend a Friday night.
"That's awesome! Let me know if you ever need a play-tester!" Sarah grins, closing her locker.
Emily glances around furtively, lowering her voice. "There's, um, there's actually something I wanted to talk to you about…" Her chubby cheeks are red.
"Sure, what's up?" Sarah watches her, concerned. She seems more nervous than usual.
"I got some really weird texts last night. Did you…?" Emily trails off, looking over Sarah's shoulder.
Again, Sarah is forced to turn, as she follows Emily's gaze to see a beautiful girl strutting down the hallway in our direction, chatting loudly with two friends.
Ugh. Britney.
MJ seems to be thinking the same thing. She mutters, "Oh boy. Just when you think high school might not be the necrotic-sucking chest-wound that you remember…"
Britney's wearing her short cheer-leading outfit, and is enjoying the obvious attention the student body's giving her for it. Her lackeys, Cody and Jocelyn, hang on to every word as the three walk together.
"Oh my god, look, I've been ghosting this guy for, like two solid weeks, and he just asked me out for coffee….again!" She scoffs loudly, aware of everyone listening to her.
Cody laughs next to Britney, "Yikes. Desperate is not a good look."
"Maybe he's just not scared of ghosts? You could try clowns instead. Clowns are gross" Jocelyn says, flipping her brown hair over her shoulder. Jocelyn should have been a blonde…
Britney looks over at Jocelyn, annoyed at her friend's idiocy as well it would seem, "That's not…Joss, do you even know what ghosting mean—"
"H-hi, Britney!" Emily peeps up hopefully, not seeming to be able to help herself. MJ and Sarah share a quick glance. Here we go again…
The group stops in their tracks, and Britney turns to give Emily an appraising look. "Wow, Emily, great sweater. I didn't know 'Baby Barn' had a quadruple-XL section." She smirks.
Emily looks like she wants to shrink and die, "I…I just wanted to say hello…"
Britney's smirk turns into a scowl, "And I want a red Ferrari for my birthday, but I'll settle for not having to listen to your whiny voice anymore."
Sarah feels herself bristle. Who does she think she is? "Right, because basing your fashion sense on whatever the wannabe models on Pictogram are wearing is waaaay cooler." Sarah wasn't impressed by Emily's clothing choices herself, to be honest, but Emily's value wasn't based on what she wore.
Britney's attention turns to her and her scowl darkens, "News flash, Sarah: no one asked you."
Sarah raises her eyebrows and, like Emily, can't seem to help herself, "Didn't hear anyone asking for your opinion either. How about you take your unsolicited fashion advice to someone who cares?"
"You so do not want to piss me off Williams." She glowers.
Sarah rolls her eyes, "Britney, this gets old. Will you grow up?"
Emily looks down at the floor, hiding a small smile.
Jocelyn tries to come in for the rescue, "Oh yeah? Well—"
MJ cuts her off, "Shhhh…witty comebacks aren't your strong suit, 'track-and-field Barbie'."
"Cross Country." Jocelyn huffs.
MJ rolls her eyes, "I know. I used the wrong one on purpose to piss you off. Try to keep up."
Sarah looks at MJ with admiration.
Cody decides to speak up then, "How about you go haunt some other hallway, freak?", referring to MJ.
He takes a step forward in order to put the three girls in his huge shadow. Sarah feels a tremor of loathing. Cody is a jerk. 100% a bully. And enormous. Once, he had asked her out in 6th grade, but she had just seen him picking on a mentally retarded kid the day before. Sarah told him that she wanted absolutely nothing to do with him. And from then on he began including her in his "bully routine" as well.
MJ gives Cody a long, ponderous look…then reaches up to pluck a stray blonde hair from his shoulder, "You know, I keep meaning to try out this new curse I found on the internet. If you feel a burning sensation in your eyeballs, that's normal."
Cody mouth drops open, "The hell…"
Waggling her fingers, MJ stalks her way down the hallway, "Later guys."
"Later…" Sarah call after her, disappointed that she's leaving her alone with these jerks.
"Bye MJ." Emily also stares wide eyed after the direction MJ took.
"Ewww, Cody! What's going to happen to your eyeballs?" Jocelyn freaks out, looking at Cody's face as if it's going to melt any minute. Cody scowls.
Britney rolls her eyes, "Chill, Jocelyn. That weirdo just reads too many vampire novels. With any luck she'll flunk out and go live in a dirty old shack like 'Pritch the Witch'."
"Yeah! She is just like 'Pritch the Witch'! We should call her, uh….'MJ the Witch'! Haahahahahahahahaha!" Jocelyn clutches her stomach, laughing at her strange joke.
Sarah turns to Emily with her eyebrows raised, not sure if she can handle such stimulating company.
Both Cody and Britney were staring at Jocelyn too, perhaps thinking the same thing. "…Wow. Good one, Joss." Cody deadpans.
Sarah shakes her head, stuffing a notebook in her book bag, "Well, as lovely as all this has been, we should probably go—"
"Oh. My. God. Is that a hickey?" Jocelyn laughs, shocked.
She reaches up, poking the fresh bruises on the side of Sarah's neck. She can't help but flinch in pain.
"Ow! Get off!" She yells indignantly. I'm about to lose my cool here.
"Yeah right," Cody laughs, but his eyes narrow, "Like anyone would want to chew on this social reject…"
"For your information, I got it from your mom!" Sarah grits out at him, furious.
"What!? I thought Cody's mom was in Aspen this week?" Jocelyn asks, surprised. She wasn't being sarcastic. Oh for the love of….
Cody's face turns a purple shade, "You should watch what you say, Sarah. That mouth of yours tends to get you in trouble."
Just as Sarah was about to push him over the edge with another 'your mom' comeback, Britney steps in, "Whatever. Fascinating as this convo is, I need to go get ready for the pep rally."
She grimaces at Sarah, before jerking her head to the side and strutting away. The others follow. But not without Cody first giving Sarah a shoulder-check as he walks by, knocking her hard against a locker.
"Ow!"
"Hey!" Emily cries, shocked.
"We'll catch up later, Sarah." Cody calls cheerfully back over his shoulder.
Wincing, she rubs her shoulder where it slammed against the locker, glaring after the bullies. Gosh dang, don't I have enough bruises for one day?
"This school year's already off to a great start, huh?" Sarah asks, glancing over at Emily, who's still standing there with her mouth open.
"Should we report them to the office, or…?"
Sarah, chuckles bitterly, as she hefts her school bag onto her shoulder and responds, "Sure, millionth time's a charm, right? Maybe this time they'll actually get in trouble."
Emily smiles ruefully as the two of them join the crowd of students shuffling towards the gym…
Music blares over the gym speakers, and the newly polished wood floors gleam. A rush of panic hits Sarah as she's jostled every-which-way by the crowd, her mind flashing back to the night before.
"Sarah? Are you ok?" Emily snaps her out of her thoughts, staring at her. Sarah wonders what her face looks like.
"Y-yeah, just, uh, kinda crowded in here. You see anywhere to sit?" Sarah glances around, looking from the shiny wooden basketball floors to the shiny wooden bleachers.
"Not really…" Emily glances around too, "Looks like there's a couple of seats up there next to…Oh, never mind. That's MJ's spot."
Sarah looks up to where Emily's indicating.
In the top row of the bleachers, MJ sits scribbling in a worn sketchbook. As Sarah watch, a couple of freshmen move to sit beside her…
"HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS…" She bares her teeth at them, hissing like a cobra.
The freshmen trip over themselves, scrambling to get away from her. It makes Sarah want to laugh a little. She knows she's not a witch like everyone says she is. Mary-Jane Adams just knows what she likes and she doesn't care if other people like it or not. When they all hung out together as kids, she was more or less the same way. Then, as she grew older, she shut herself away from everyone.
MJ glares after freshmen for a while…then notices Sarah watching her. Her face becomes a radiant smile, and she nods to the empty seat beside her. Sarah blinks at her sudden transformation.
"Is…is she inviting me to sit beside her?" She asks Emily, dumbfounded.
"I…I think she is!" Emily's just as dumbfounded as Sarah is.
A sudden thought comes to her. Maybe I could talk to MJ about the dream I had last night? She knows about all kinds of supernatural stuff…plus it'd be nice to tell someone who'd actually believe me. We haven't caught up in ages. She looks at Emily apologetically, but Emily waves her away.
"You go ahead…MJ kinda…um…scares me a little." Emily ducks her head shyly.
"You sure?" Sarah doesn't want to leave her alone.
"Yeah, I think I see a spot next to Mr. Cooper." She nods over to where the teachers sit, "Oh! And thanks for your help earlier Sarah." She looks up at her, grateful.
Sarah nods, "Anytime. See you later.", and she begin her long trek up the mountain of bleachers.
She climbs to the top of the bleachers and sidles her way over to MJ's corner. She points to the empty spot right next to MJ, "Hey, anyone sitting here?"
"Just my ghost friend, but he's incorporeal so it doesn't really count." She deadpans, watching her reaction.
Sarah laughs, until she realizes that MJ's not laughing too.
"What." MJ asks, deadpanning.
"Uhh, nothing." Sarah raises her eyebrows innocently, not sure how to react, "Sorry, I just can't tell if you're messing with me."
"It's all part of my mystique."
She looks at the bench and then back at MJ's expressionless face. Sit right next to MJ? Or leave space for the ghost? She chooses to sit next to MJ.
"Bold move, sitting in someone's lap before you're even introduced." MJ smiles at her then, a twinkle in her eye.
She passed the test it would seem.
"Maybe the ghost and I can grab a coffee later." Sarah jokes back with a grin.
The two of them sit together for a few minutes in silence. MJ scribbles in her sketchbook.
MJ breaks the silence first, "So are you going to tell me what you're so freaked out about? Or are you having fun dismembering that poor bench?"
"Huh?" Sarah looks down, realizing she's been picking splinters off the edge of the bleachers. She sighs, "I do want to talk about it. It's just…it's kind of a weird story." Her eyebrows pinch together as she contemplates how to bring up what happened.
"Sarah. Look at me. Weird is my middle name."
"Really?" She asks her hopefully, wanting to make sure that she could actually get this off her chest without judgement.
"Well, no, it's actually Dolores. But if you tell anyone that, I will go to your house and hide eyeballs in your food." Her lips turn up at the side, but besides that she looks dead serious.
Sarah smiles dubiously, "Where would you even get—"
"Next time you go to pour a bowl of cereal? Bloop! Eyeballs."
Sarah laughs, she can't help it. Her laughter makes a few people turn to look at her. MJ is so weird. She made Sarah feel…normal.
"Duly noted." Sarah calms down, then sighs and furrows her eyebrows, "So…what would you say if I told you that last night I saw some kind of…demon?"
"Depends. What'd this demon look like?"
"Well… he looked like Dan, at least at first."
"Woah! Plot twist! Keep going." She excitedly gives Sarah her full attention.
"Once I figured out it wasn't actually Dan, it attacked me." Sarah swallows, remembering him lunging for her and slamming her onto the floor to keep me from running. Now that she thought about it, her back ached a little too. "Then I put my necklace on him, and it melted his face to reveal…a handsome man with strange markings around his eyes."
"Double plot twist! Markings around the eyes?" MJ states, looking thoughtful, "That's strange. Handsome? Could it have been a 'fae'?"
"Uh, I don't know? Iron burned him, so I guess so?" Sarah ponders. Her aunt always talked about fae, but that was just Ireland for you. "The weirdest thing is that I woke up the next morning and he, or it, was gone. Why would he just attack me and then leave?" Sarah finishes, feeling so confused.
MJ smirks and leans towards her conspiratorially, "Full disclosure? My knowledge of the fae is like sixty percent Wikipedia and forty percent this dude named 'MagicStan75' who I met on a warlock forum." MJ's smirk widens at Sarah's dubious expression. "Maybe whatever power allowed him access to you was only temporary? Maybe it wasn't his mission to harm you? Or maybe it was all a dream?"
Sarah shudders, reaching up to feel her neck, "Definitely not a dream. Dreams don't leave bruises."
"They can actually. There are beings who can enter or even effect your dreams. One of those could probably use your dreams to hurt you." She taps her mouth with her pencil, thinking aloud, "You could also be under a curse or something. I've read a lot about cursed dreams."
Umm, remind me again why she studies about cursed dreams? Sarah thinks about what she said for a moment, and then, "I let him in through my window, so maybe that gave him power… maybe that was my mistake?" She ponders aloud. MJ raises her eyebrows at her as if that was a no-brainer.
"What? It was 3 in the morning and nothing makes sense to me that early!" She protests defensively.
"Maybe you just ate some bad meatloaf." MJ smirks.
Sarah snorts and rolls her eyes, smiling. "Mac and Cheese, actually."
MJ chuckles, and Sarah looks over at her, "Thanks MJ. I really needed to talk to someone but I didn't think anyone would believe me."
"Hmmm. Jury's still out on me believing you. You could be making this all up to screw with me." She gives Sarah an appraising look.
"Do…people do that to you?!" She asks, surprised.
MJ flashes her teeth at her, relaxing, "They try, but my 'Kung Fu' is strong."
"Well," Sarah smiles, "then thanks for listening to me without immediately dismissing me." Sarah feels as if a huge weight had been lifted from off her shoulders and she sighs, feeling calmer, "It helps a lot."
"Cool. Glad to help." Then MJ sits up straighter, "Okay. I think I'm done now."
"Uh, done with…?"
"Being nice. See, I've got this whole 'bitter misanthrope' thing going on. If people see us being all friendly, they might think it's ok to talk to me."
Sarah chuckles, "Can't have that."
"No. Indeed we can't. I would literally die." She smirks.
Sarah picks up her stuff and starts edging towards the stairs.
"Hey, Sarah." She calls.
"Yeah?"
"You're not as big a tool as most people." She nods at her.
"Coming from you, MJ, that means a lot." Sarah grins.
"Yes. Yes, it does." She turns back towards her sketchbook, ending the conversation.
Sarah makes her way down the bleachers as they continue to fill, looking for any place she can squeeze in…
Finally, she spots one empty seat…next to a familiar figure with long greasy hair and a dirty beanie on his head, slouching in the second row…
Taylor Cunningham.
Aww, crap. Anywhere but there! She quickly turns around, desperately scanning the crowd for another open seat, any seat but that one. But there aren't any. She had talked with MJ for too long. Sarah considers trying to sneak back out the gym doors, until someone shouts at her from a few rows up.
"Hey Sarah! Sit your stupid a** down, unless you wanna watch from the garbage can!" Cody glares at her threateningly.
"I…" She looks around, desperate. Maybe the garbage can would be better?
"Um, Hellooo!? You're blocking our view. And there's a spot right there!" Jocelyn snarls, pointing to the spot next to Taylor.
Wincing, Sarah turns back around to see Taylor looking right at her.
"Um, hey, Taylor. Do you mind if...?" She worries how he'll respond.
"Knock yourself out." He says, uncaring. Sarah wonders for a brief second if he meant literally, until he scoots over. She squeezes in beside him.
She tries to strike up conversation to avoid feeling awkard, "So…uh, what's been up with you? We haven't really talked since…" She trails off, not sure how to finish that sentence.
"Yeah…I know." He ends the discussion there.
They sit, neither of them saying another word. Down on the floor of the gym, a tall handsome guy with glasses walks up to the podium and grabs the microphone.
"How you doin' Westchester Hiiiigh!?" He bellows, grinning. He raises a hand in the air.
The students roar in response! The bleachers rumble and shake as the crowd pounds their feet on the wood.
"Woah…" Sarah says aloud, surprised, "When did Luke get so…" Hot? "…Popular?"
"Shortly after hitting six feet and discovering hair gel, which was shortly before getting elected as student body president.", Taylor sighs. He seems bored with the whole thing. He leans back and kicks his legs out as much as he could. He finishes his bored look by folding his arms.
Luke waves to the cheering crowd, flashing a movie star smile. "Welcome back, everyone! For anyone who doesn't know me already, I'm Luke Thomas, your student body president. I know everyone is a little salty that summer is over—"
Sarah scoffs a little on the inside. When did the expression 'salty' become a thing?
"—but trust me…this is going to be one school year that you'll never forget. And on that note, let's kick this pep rally off, Westchester Wolf-style!"
At Luke's signal, several cheerleaders jump up from the bleachers, bouncing and waving their pom-poms in the air.
One of the girls shines brighter than the rest. "You can do better than that!" She yells, beaming at the crowd, "Let's hear it!" The crowd cheers louder.
"Looks like Stacy's doing pretty well too…" Sarah says to Taylor. They watch their old friend as she pulls off an effortless roundoff into a backflip, drawing thunderous applause from the rally. One by one the cheerleaders tumble across the gym, showing different moves.
"Woah! That's incredible!" Sarah can't help but get involved and start cheering with the rest of the student body.
"Yay. Go team." Taylor says, unimpressed.
Beaming, Stacey looks back at the rest of the cheer squad, her smile suddenly fading as she locks eyes with Britney. Britney glowers at her, and raises her eyebrows.
With a sad look on her face, Stacey turns… and suddenly trips over her own feet, sprawling.
"Ahhh!" She cries as she falls, smashing her face into the ground in a way that looks painful.
"Stacey!" Sarah jumps to her feet, and descends the two rows, hurrying to help her up.
"Are you okay?" She asks her confused, "What happened?"
"Nothing…" Stacey looks at Sarah sadly, "I'm just a klutz I guess."
Sarah stares at her, sensing something off, "You think you're a klutz? Stace…you just did a freaking backflip!" Sarah beams at her, brushing off the imaginary dirt off her uniform.
Stacey looks at her with something akin to gratitude, "I—"
"Hahahahahaha! Did you see that?! She was all like, 'Ahhhhhhhh' WHAM!" Jocelyn's obnoxious voice calls out from the bleachers. Sarah grits her teeth.
"Please tell me the school news-nerds got that on video." Cody crows like an immature teenager. Oh wait… he is.
Blushing, Stacey rejoins the rest of the cheer squad. Sarah goes back up to her spot and sits down as, at the other end of the gym, Britney steps forward with a smug smile.
"Check this out…" She yells to the crowd.
Britney takes three running steps, then flies into a no-handed cartwheel. The crowd roars as she sticks the landing. Now it's Sarah's turn to be unimpressed. She leans back and unconsciously copies Taylor's exact stance as she crosses her arms with a scowl.
"Ugh! Why do people like her so much? They've got to know how horrible she is." She asks no one in particular.
Taylor scoffs and rolls his eyes, "And? She's hot and she can do flips. We can't compete with that."
They both glower together at the scene identically, looking almost like brother and sister, and Luke finally takes the spotlight once more. He grins from the podium and the cheerleaders return to take their seats, "Well, now that the cheer squad is done totally blowing our minds…let's give it up for the Westchester Wolves basketball team!"
More applause sounds as a group of guys in basketball jerseys form up in front of the podium, howling like wolves.
"Huh." Taylor says to himself, and Sarah glances at him, "Sean made the team this year." She looks back and sure enough, there was Sean, howling with the rest of the team.
"Wow! Good for him! I can't wait to see him play!", she says, excited.
Sean is the only Asian in the School of Westchester, New York and he has tried for the past 3 years to get onto the basketball team. He never made the cut. It looked like his hard work was finally paying off though. It was his life-long dream to be a basketball player. Strange dream for an Asian, but a dream isn't limited to color or race. He looks like he's gained a lot of muscle!
"Make sure you don't pass to the Asian! He can't see anything!" Both Taylor and Sarah flinch as Cody's voice breaks through the general applause.
Sean's head snaps in the direction of Cody's voice, his face twisting with anger. "Hey! Why don't you come down here and—"
He takes one step towards the bleachers, but stops himself as Luke calls the team captain, Ben, up to the podium, "Thanks Luke. What's up Westchester High?" Ben smiles as everyone whoops and stomps in response.
"We've got our first game coming up in a couple of days, so you guys had better be here to watch us crush it! Not gonna lie, we've got a couple of rookies on our team this year, but I'm not gonna let that stop-"
The shouting and applause pauses as the gym lights suddenly begin to flicker.
"Huh?" Ben looks confused.
A tendril of cold fear slips from Sarah's heart, down into her stomach. Oh no. Flickering lights…?
Luke's voice calls out over the speakers, drowning out the nervous chatter of the students.
"Everyone stay seated! We don't want anyone to fall from the—kkkkkssssshhhhhhkkkkkkkkkkkkk!"
A burst of static cuts him off, and the music stutters, fading in and out as if it was a radio on the wrong station. The lights flicker eerily some more.
With a loud BANG!, the gym doors are blown open by a frigid gust of wind.
The lights flicker more rapidly, and Sarah nearly jumps out of her seat as Taylor suddenly grabs hold of her arm.
"Gaah! What are you-" She screeches, panicking.
"Shut up! Do you hear that?!" He stares at her, wide-eyed.
"Hear what?!" Sarah plays dumb. This isn't happening. It's another dream! I'm dreaming! I don't want to hear any-
"Shhhhh!" Taylor hisses at her, scowling.
They both listen. And she does hear it…Just barely on the edge of her perception, airy whispers and quiet giggles.
Goblins?!
"No…..Not here…." She whimpers, terrified.
Sarah looks around, picking out the faces of her former friends…
Sean's face reflects his shock. Luke looks about ready to faint. Stacey's mouth hangs open. MJ looks like she really does see a ghost. And Emily's eyes are tearing up, "N-no way…" Emily whimpers.
The music sputters and dies as the lights shut off completely, a few of the students scream dramatically, but Sarah can still hear the voice. A voice that is at once horribly alien…and horribly familiar. It comes only in pieces though, as if the frequency is off on a radio station...
"My friends...long...time...", the voice chuckles. The sound raises goosebumps over Sarah's entire body from head to toe. "I look for...finish...what started... rules by...dear Sarah...apply…"
Her breaths start coming in shuddering gasps.
"Everyone…plays…together…"
And then it's gone.
The lights come back to normal, and the speaker system is functioning again. The only signs that 'All is not what it seems...' are the 7 students with their faces ashtray white, and the blown open doors that were still gently banging in the cool breeze.
"He's back." Taylor breathes. He and Sarah look at each other with unconcealed terror...
.
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Super long chapter, this. Sorry about that. Character development can get tedious, and whenever I'm reading a story I always want to be drawn in by the action, not the seemingly pointless details. So, if anyone gets annoyed by the character development… I understand your pain, lol. Let me know how to improve! Sometimes I feel like it lags and pulls at the story, but at the same time it feels like an unnecessary evil because if I kill off any of the characters, I want you to be able to FEEL something instead of it just being a lifeless, black and white character. You know? AND DON'T WORRY! That blond guy in the black Camaro is NOT Jareth in disguise. Not every handsome blonde-haired man is Jareth you guys, sheesh! Lol. But Sarah DOES know him from somewhere...
FUN FACT: Connelly is generally considered to be an Anglicized form of the Old Gaelic O'Conghaile. It means "fierce as a hound." The name consists of the Gaelic prefix "O" indicating "male descendant of," plus the personal byname Conghaile. Con, comes from a word meaning "hound," and gal, means "valor."
Connelly was originally an Irish clan from Galway on the western coast of Ireland. Connelly families also settled in County Cork in the southwest, County Meath just north of Dublin, and County Monaghan on the border of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
So, I decided to use Jennifer Connelly's real name for Sarah's ancestors. Pretty cool, eh? Jessica's last name, Cunningham, will have an interesting meaning as well.
As always, please leave a review! Reviews mean the world to me!