The clock chimed the midnight hour, and the frozen air swirled as Sarahs eye lids snapped open, her heart racing as she hastily propped herself up on her elbows.
Her eyes darted around the room and she caught sight of the open window, the stars winking at her in a friendly manner as a shiver trickled down her spine. Some thing crawled across her skin akin to suggesting some thing along the likes of a presence watching her, But the dark room hid no apparent strangers, and so cautiously she climbed out of bed, drawing her warm flannel robe over her night gown and adjusting her feet in to her slippers.
Approaching the moonlight drench window seat, her hand reached out and closed the window, with a gentle thump and click of the lock, after which she replace the key to the chain on her neck for safe keeping.
Some thing about the peace of the world as it lay sleeping captivated her and she found her legs buckling over the edge and her body drop softly on to the cushioned ledge, listening to the sound of nothing and delighting in the Ludo like roaring in her ears.
"My, what a pretty dove we have here, rather late though for your kind to be awake though I must say precious," a baritone voice whispered from the shadows. The little hairs on the back of her neck rose, along with her graceful silhouette as her eyes sought him out, and found him leaning against the wooden cuckoo clock on the left wall.
"How strange, you have never once been this silent in my presence, pray tell, precious, what has your tongue?" a wicked gleam filled his eyes, as he crossed one leg over the other, his arms following suite as his eyes drunk in her moon lit form.
"H-how… Why?..." she managed to get past her chattering teeth, to which his response was to cluck his tongue in disapproval and remove his cobalt cape, draping it around her shoulders, and despite herself she snuggled in to the satin material, absorbing the warmth with gratitude pouring from her eyes. At her reaction, he couldn't help but smile, the corners of his lips barely turned up, but all the same forming dimples in his high cheek bones and small laugh lines around his mismatched eyes.
Sarah was the first to break her gaze, "What are you doing here Jareth" she managed to state. She was not asking, she was demanding her answer.
He sighed, mentally groaning at his stupidity for not being nearly cruel enough to state that he did not answer to her or any one. But still, his own stupidity was losing his heart to a mortal maiden but four years previously, when she had reached the middle of his labyrinth, hence metaphorically finding his heart, and making him hers and her equal eternally from that point onwards, but of course he could never respond with that, that answer would never please her. To her he was no dream weaver, only dream stealer and catcher of children. To her he was the dealer of games.
"Why my dear must you always assume I have purpose?" he questioned, his eyes seeking her lowered lids. "Am I not allowed to call a visit upon my beautiful champion every so often?" his voice was low and emotionless, she could not tell whether his words were flattery or lies shrouded in elfin mischief.
"You have never visited before" she mumbled, turning from him back to the window, to gaze upon the tree out side, her interest switching from the gentle rows of the wooden floor panels to the branches dancing on the breeze.
His breath was on her shoulder and she shivered again. "That's because you never called" was his smooth response.
She turned to him confusion evident upon her pretty fore head, creased in concentration as she tried to recall this call to him he suggested she had made, but none came to mind.
"I have not called you since my journey through the labyrinth, I learnt my lesson" panic suddenly flamed in her eyes like wild fire " I have not wished any one away so please, do not take them, take me, none of them have done any thing wrong"
He smirked at her panic stricken face and breathed soothingly "Relax Sarah, I have not come with intention to take any one back to my kingdom just yet," he smiled, his pointed canines showing sharply in his smile, but Sarah did not reciprocate, she remained still, only relaxing her posture slightly when he claimed not to be here for the life of any one, and that her tired form did not have to run the deserted and never ending labyrinth of so long ago again.
"Why must you always expect the worst in me? Or assume I am here with intentions to take some thing or give only to receive?" he demanded incredulously but, she simply smirked at him as he so often did to her.
"You haven't answered my own question yet, and I believe it was proposed first in our little conversation" she dared, her sharp tongue daring him to say some thing to rekindle that anger he only knew so well from her battle to reclaim her brothers right to freedom.
He sighed for the one millionth time that evening and leaned his head back against the wall, rolling his eyes back in his head trying to remember where their conversation had been wandering previously, this question asked so recently by Sarah that he had already seemed to have forgotten.
How she intoxicates you his mind whispered suggestively, but he continued with his train of thought, before the question returned clearly in his mind, but a few moments later.
He pushed off from the wall, and Sarahs eyes became emotionless as he began to prowl around her still small frame. He loved how she did not cower, ever a warrior her stance did not fall, and she remained brave even though her fearful aura was evident to his all seeing eyes.
"Are you familiar with the works of a Mr. J. M. Barrie?" Jareth asked curiously, almost as though this was the conversation of two friends in a coffee shop, discussing old memories over a shared mug and a few muffins. Of course though, this conversation was far from a normal pleasant reunion.
"Im sorry?" Sarah asked puzzled, to which he restated his question.
"I have not heard of this man, though you should know that one you still have not answer my question and also, two, you may not be aware of that fact, but medieval authors are not widely popular in reading material up here."
And so Jareth explained the story of the classic author, who wrote stories for children on the world of neverland and Peter pan, the stories of the childrens adventures themselves when they found themselves with this immortal free spirit who took them to the land of dreams and allowed them to live their stories and realities for what seemed an infinite time, before the eldest child Wendy realised she was forgetting her own home, and after a series of events managed to get her and her brothers home safely, promising Peter that she would try her best not to grow up which, of course in the end she had to.
Sarah listened to his speech, and watched him once he had finished waiting for him to expand on this with some thing more, but Jareth simply continued walking in smaller and smaller circles around her, his closeness making her heart beat in her chest like a hammer against cloth.
"I still don't see what this has to do with me, or my calling you for that fact" she whispered, in awe from his clear passion in this story that some one had written of his world and their belief in it.
"You remind me of Wendy you know Sarah, so naive and even in adult hood willing to believe in a place that to others is but a figment of colour and imagination" he smiled, but hid it with his signature smirk before she could see.
Sarah held her breath in anticipation, biting her lip in order to stop herself from blurting out an insult she so badly wanted to hurl in order to get a response, but she needed to remain calm.
"Get to the point Jareth" she stated simply instead, in a seemingly bored and tired fashion. In response, he was by her side, his hands on her shoulders, causing electricity which she tried to ignore, and failed in her first attempt, a blush smothering her face.
"My point is Sarah, that before Peter left Wendy he stated this one fact very clearly: that in between the space where there is sleep and yet still being technically awake, where he could still remember dreaming, her would think of her, in that precious God like space, where he could recapture any thing and every thing in the world he chose her, so that he would not forget though he knew she would" some thing of affection had crept in to his tone, as his hand moved slowly, his finger tips tracing her cheek bone, to which Sarah sighed contentedly.
"That's… Nice I guess, but what does that have to do with your being here?" she enquired to which he pulled back his fingers slowly and inhaled through his nose as her blindness to all he had just shared with her.
"My point is Sarah, this evening when you resided to slumber, for the first time in years you opened up your senses and were not afraid to dream, in fact you wanted to dream of your favourite place in the under world, my world, the labyrinth I created and all its inhabitants."
"My dreams are always of that world and my time there" she responded confusion darkening her eyes.
He smiled radiantly back at her, as her eyes widened with shock and she mouthed an "oh" blinking as she tried to reclaim her train of thought.
His heart beat sped up alongside hers as he spoke what he knew was not necessary.
"Yet Sarah, despite your many dreams of your home you have never included me not once" the hurt crept in to his tone, to which she hung her head in defeat.
"But this evening, for some reason you and I are still yet to uncover was different from every other"
His voice was cooing now, almost like an adult to a baby they found adorable.
"For this evening, in your precious moment where you could dream of any one and any thing, you dreamt of me, you asked for me, when dreams and reality were at the point of togetherness"
His eyes lit up at this fact and Sarah stared blankly at him, shell shocked.
"And you spoke your wish"
He leaned forward, whispering in her ear
"I must always obey the wishers commands"
