Sarah managed to get a few of hours sleep. At 5:30 she rose, showered, dressed and waited for the security door on her room to unlatch. When it did she practically shot out of the room and down the stairs.
Mr. Smith was already in the kitchen drinking coffee. He look up as she entered and smiled warmly. "Good morning, Sarah."
"Morning." She mumbled as she grabbed a cup of coffee and sat at the table across from him.
Even with little sleep she could feel an alertness she had been missing the past years, heavily medicated as she usually was. She felt restless.
"What are your plans today?" He asked, trying to be friendly. He needed to engage the girl consistently and he did not have the luxury of time. He had two days get her to leave with him, then a day to travel to the door to the underworld strategically placed by The Labyrinth.
Sarah shrugged as she sipped her coffee. "I will probably clean the house, make sure everything is spotless for Daddy." She said, sarcasm apparent in her tone. "Just stay out of my way. Watch movies or something. Or stay in your room. I'm not going anywhere."
Jareth frowned. "I thought we were on friendlier terms Sarah." He touched her arm and she jerked it back splashing her coffee on the table.
She grabbed a paper towel and cleaned up. "No. Well. Yes, but..I can't I'm sorry. If I like you even just a little it would be dangerous for both of us. So let's just coexist. Please?"
"Sarah I can assure you I can take care of myself. I will not let anything happen to you at anyone's hand." He answered.
She sighed and laid her head on the table, then looked up. The despair in her eyes broke his heart. "I know you mean it now but..." her voice went down to a whisper. "He is dangerous. You are one person. He knows hit men. And all kinds of people who do horrible things. Please, I don't want anyone to be hurt because of me. I'm nothing. I'm not worth it."
"Sarah you are not nothing." He whispered back. "You are a beautiful young woman, stop saying that."
She gave him another sad look and got up, grabbing a muffin and her coffee and going into the other room to finish her food, which she did quickly so she could get to work.
She swept mopped, dusted, scrubbed and shined every surface until it was spotless.
Jareth said little, but moved things around for her to get underneath or around. She just nodded in thanks and kept going.
He watched her closely. She was like a dervish, wearing herself to a frazzle. The house was already as sanitary as a hospital.
He had figured out she did it to keep her mind distracted. She did not like to sit and think about anything. She worked from 6:30 in the morning until the late afternoon. She dropped down on the couch with a glass of iced tea, clearly exhausted.
"Are you hungry?" Jareth asked her in an attempt to make conversation. It was the first real chance he had gotten since earlier that morning when she had first risen.
"I'll make sandwiches." She answered. "What kind do you like?" She went to rise.
He grabbed her arm firmly, yet gently, and guided her back to the couch. She was surprised by the movement but did not back away or jump. "It is unfortunate we cannot order in. I would love a pizza." He answered.
"There are some in the big freezer downstairs..but I don't go down there. If you want one you'll have to go get it." she bristled a little.
"Why do you not go down there?" Jareth asked curiously.
"I don't want to talk about it. It's just not..I'm not fond of small dark spaces." Her mouth tightened at the corners and there was fear in her eyes.
"Alright. I'll go." He offered.
She pointed to the door but stayed a few feet away. He opened it..the door creaked loudly and Sarah was even more unsettled.
He flicked on the light and stomped down the stairs being loud on purpose so she would clearly hear him.
There was little down in the basement. stacks of boxes under the stairs, a few old pieces of furniture. "Aha, the freezer." Jareth announced. He opened it and found one of the pizzas and closed the lid.
He noticed an open box marked "Sarah's old room." and looked inside. "Well well well..."
He picked up the music box he knew had been in her room. It had also been the basis for the dream she had conjured in the Labyrinth. He reached into his pocket and took out one of the small crystals.
Time for a little magic. A reminder of who you once were. Maybe without all the drugs in your system you will see.
He pressed the crystal to the glass. As he worked he chanted in a whisper so she could not hear him.
He took it with him, taking loud steps up as he had coming down.
When Jareth got to the top he handed Sarah the pizza. She managed to come close enough to take it and dart into the kitchen. He turned off the light, shut the basement door and trailed her.
"Sarah...is this yours? It was peeking out at me from a box down there, it's so lovely, why don't you have it in your room?"
She turned and saw what he had in his hand and froze. "I..I..forgot about it. My mom gave it to me right before she...left."
He held it out to her and she took it gingerly. She looked up and met Jareth's eyes, biting her trembling lip before she spoke. "Thank you. Daddy said he gave it away. He knew I wouldn't go..there."
Jareth watch her with intense interest. She sat it on the counter and wound it up, then watched the girl in the glass case dance round and round.
"That song.." She breathed. "I know that song. Do you know what that song is? I could have sworn this thing played "Greensleeves" before, but that's not what this is, it's on the tip of my tongue."
"I am sorry, Sarah. I cannot say." He replied. "Maybe it will come to you."
She stood there, as her fingers touched the glass. She started to hum and closed her eyes, losing herself in the melody.
"What do you see?" He urged, ""In your mind?"
"I see...a bubble? A white sparkling dress...people in masks..A man in a blue coat. He was singing to me. Then...I was scared and I threw something and the wall broke. I was falling..and..NO!"
She jerked back away like she had been scalded. "No. No. NO!" She picked it up and heaved it into the wall, shattering the music box, her dreams. When the box hit the wall she ducked like there had been a gunshot. She dropped to the floor and curled into a ball as if trying to make herself as tiny as possible.
Jareth had been almost hypnotized by the surreal scene of Sarah swaying and talking about her dream. The sound of the music box crashing into the wall, then Sarah's screams jerked him out of his haze.
"Gods. Sarah!" He was beside her in a second crouching next to her on the floor. She looked up at him.
Her eyes were huge and empty. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to break it. Not now, and not then. I shouldn't have...if I would have..."
"If you would have what?" He demanded. She flinched.
He backed off. He got too forward and harsh in his tone. He took a deep breath and started again.
"What did you break? Please, I did not mean to scare you. I'm just concerned."
She squeezed her eyes shut, then rubbed them until the were red. Taking a few deep breaths she came back to herself. "It's doesn't matter. It's stupid. A long time ago, I thought I went somewhere, did something. It's so fuzzy, but I think I went to a masquerade and they played that song."
He stood and helped her up. When she saw the mess she had made she was mortified. "Oh God. I broke that into a million pieces." She went to pick up the pieces and cut herself trying to gather it all.
Jareth pulled her away. "Sarah stop. I will help you but don't use your bare hands you will cut yourself." He grabbed a napkin and wrapped her finger in it. "Now sit."
She sat in the chair and watched him get the broom and as he swept the glass and plastic into a dustpan. Then he found a garbage bag and dumped the pieces into it.
She could think of anything to say except "Thank you." He turned and smiled at her in return.
The oven was warm so Jareth put the pizza in the oven and set the timer while Sarah bandaged her finger.
"You have a cut there too." He pointed out on her wrist. He took it and pushed her sleeve up to help her and she jerked it back from him.
He had already seen, and held out his hand with a stern look.
She reluctantly laid her hand in his and his pushed the sleeve up again. He held out his other hand, she once more laid her hand in his and he pushed the sleeve up to reveal it had the same scars.
His stomach twisted. There were marks. Cuts, some old, so new. She had been wounding herself. The marks on her wrists were layered. She had been practicing. Get up the bravery to cut deeper and deeper.
"Sarah..." Jareth said sadly. "Why? Please. You must talk to me."
"You know why. Why do you care anyway? Why are you being nice to me? You work for him. He is paying you. In one way he's right. I AM damaged. I'm broken. But don't believe him Jay. HE is the one that broke me. I can't." She stopped and took a deep breath. "I'm done. I can't do this much longer. I have to get out. He will NEVER let me go. This is the only way. My only chance to be free. Then he can't hurt me anymore!" Her voice had gotten louder and louder.
"Sit. Sarah." He said in a firm, but not so harsh as before voice. "I mean it. Do not defy me." The timer dinged and Jareth put the pizza on the table and cut it. He encouraged her to eat. She was hesitant at first but he insisted. Sarah, used to doing what she was told, ate automatically.
He didn't feel good about telling her what to do, but he needed her to be sure to eat well if they were to take such a long trek by foot.
They ate in silence, and Sarah cleaned up. She was surprised when Jay held out a hand for a wet dish as he held a towel in the other.
The clean up was was also silent. Sarah felt nervous. She felt a sense of foreboding, like something was about to happen.
When they finished Jay laid a hand softly on her elbow and guided her out of the kitchen.
"We will go into the living room." He told her. She went ahead and he followed.
He sat across from her, and Sarah stared at the floor while Jareth stared at her. He finally spoke. "You will NOT take your life. You are NOT nothing. How did the doctors not notice these injuries?"
"He is paid well. The one that sees them. He just bandages me up and leaves. The other doctor, she doesn't see them. She checks me for other things. Like making sure I.." She blushed.
"You what?" Jareth snapped. Another flinch. He softened his tone once again. He needed to remember to not be so demanding.
"That I haven't..either by someone else, or myself..that my virginity is in tact."
"I see." His rage was probably apparent to her, but there was little he could do about it.
He went over in his head all he had read in the man's journal and it became very clear.
He was sell her virtue to the highest bidder, or turning her over to someone that would to pay off his debts.
Some depraved fiend would lay his filthy hands on his Sarah, rape her to take her innocence, do Gods knows what else to her poor body, and destroy whatever was left of her spirit until she was dead or an empty shell.
Robert Williams needed to die. They ALL needed to die. He would be the one to do it. Gladly.
Sarah was staring at him and he realized why, his fist was pounding on the arm of the chair.
He stopped and flexed his hand, trying to relax. Then he stood up and paced around the room trying to burn off energy.
"I am going to help you, Sarah. We are going to leave this place." He said.
Her mouth dropped open. "You are...how? She was shocked. "To leave this house is impossible. I have to call the outside for them to unlock the doors. There are cameras in my room. On every door and window."
Jareth stopped and turned to face her."I will figure it out. We will be gone be the time your father returns in two days. Be ready. Have a bag packed with whatever you wish to take."
"What do you want for doing this?" Sarah asked him as she rose. She pulled herself up to stand straight and tall as she could, looking into his eyes, searching for something to tell her this man was really offering to help her.
"I want nothing but to see you happy." He said softly. He touched her face, and for the first time she did not flinch from him. There was something in her eyes, a shimmer. Brief, but it was there. Life. Fire. Sarah.
"He might kill us both." Sarah pointed out.
He smirked at her. "He can try. I have confidence I can stand up to him. I've faced far worse."
Her eyes got sad again. "I don't want anything to happen to you because of me. Just offering..well..that's more than anyone else has done. Thank you. Jay."
"It is not just an offer. I will do it. What your father is doing is unconscionable." He answered.
Sarah stared at the floor for a moment. The met his eyes again and smiled, unshed tears present in her own. "I believe you." she whispered, a tinge of hope coloring her words.
"Let's try to relax tonight. Get some rest." Jareth suggested.
Sarah got them both a glass of iced tea and put in another movie but neither one could concentrate. Jareth was formulating a plan, and Sarah was letting herself have just a glimmer of hope deep down that maybe Jay could get her out. She didn't care about taking much. Her mother's locket, The small stuffed bear she had given Toby, and a few pictures. The rest of this living tomb could burst into flames.
She looked up at the clock. "It's almost 10pm." She said with no emotion in her voice. She didn't know what to think anymore. Worry, hope, fear all raced around in her brain.
Jay walked her up the stairs and she stood inside the room looking at him across the doorway. "Remember Sarah, do not speak out loud about this in your room." He reminded her. "Get some sleep."
"I'll try. Goodnight." She answered, nodding.
The alarmed sounded as the door slammed and shut between them.
The last thing either of them saw before it closed were each others eyes.
They each had things to do and plans to make.
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Not much else to say this time. Enjoy everyone! I've thrown my planned schedule out the window at this point and posting when I post haha. It seems my mind just cannot function that way. Thank you MyraValhallah, comical freaka, labyrinthlover30, tmwillson3, Loving Neko, MissMillyMolly, Magiconesgirl for your reviews which as always made me very happy! Thanks to all reading following and favorite-ing! PS-yeah I know there were typos. Hopefully I fixed them all now. Sometimes when I upload and or publish for some reason bits will disappear. Does this happen to anyone else? Weird.