Chapter 8
The goblins returned and began planning how they should get the hair from Sarah. "There's no way we can take it without her knowing," one said.
"I suppose we should just go up and ask her then?" said another sarcastically.
"Alright." The dumb goblin said and started after her.
"No! You idiot!" Another goblin grabbed him and hammered him on the head.
The smartest goblin in the group looked around the dimly lit room. All that was lighting it were some torches along the walls. "I have a plan," he told the others, so they all drew close and listened.
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Sarah walked slowly through the room. She was burning with anger towards Jareth. But wasn't it partly my fault, after all, I let it happen? I encouraged him. I shouldn't have laid one finger on him. She was so distracted by what had happened that she didn't notice the room was getting darker until it was too late. She was engulfed in complete blackness. She whipped around frantically, straining to see. She heard strange screeching and clanking noises that were getting louder. She tried to run but she couldn't see where she was going. She tripped and fell. The sounds were getting closer until she felt something pull at her hair, ripping some out in the process. She cried out and threw her hands over her head, but what ever it was that had attacked her was leaving now.
Sarah sat in the darkness for a moment, regaining her nerves, then she got to her feet. She held her arms out in front of her and started to walk cautiously forward. After about ten steps her hands brushed against something she realized was a wall. She walked along it to the right until it gave away to a passage. She thought she could see light ahead, so she walked down the passage and to her relief there was. She reached the light of a corridor and the next challenge that faced her was which direction to take. She remembered Hoggle asking her would you go left or right? when she entered the Labyrinth for the first time. That was the question now.
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The group of goblins who had taken the hair cheered as they reached the castle. They ran straight into their leader. "You idiots!" he snarled.
"But boss," the dumb goblin began. "We got the hair."
"What?" he said, shocked that such insolate fools could be capable of pulling it off. "Let me see."
"Show him the hair," the others said.
"Duh . . ." the goblin hesitated.
"You didn't lose it, did you?" the leader whispered threateningly.
"Duh . . ." he tried frantically to remember what he had done with it. "Oh, yeah," he said with relief. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a long dark hair.
The leader took it and examined it. "Excellent!" he cried, then tied it a loop. "Now to slip it around his neck."
"Who's neck?" the goblin who had just given him the hair asked.
"The Goblin King's!" shouted another goblin.
"Quiet!" hissed the leader.
"I know, we'll wait until he gets distracted by something, then we'll sneak up behind him and slip it around his neck." suggested one.
"Yeah, how about when he's looking into one of his crystals and we're all gathered around?" another agreed.
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Jareth looked deeply troubled. He was sitting sideways on his throne staring off into space with a gloved hand on his chin. He wore tight green pants, a fancy white shirt with a black leather vest tied tight at the front, and his black boots. His shirt hung half open allowing his necklace to rest on his bare chest. A group of goblins were gathered around him. A couple were polishing his boots. The silence was making them nervous. No matter what I do I only seem to drive Sarah away. What can I do to make her stop hating me? I should not have pushed -
"Your highness . . . ?" one of the goblins said cautiously. They all wondered silently what was wrong with their King. He wasn't acting like himself. He seemed preoccupied.
Jareth snapped out of the trance he was in. "What is it?" he asked in a distracted voice.
"Nothing." the goblin whispered shyly. He was expecting the Goblin King to yell at him for disturbing him for no reason, but he didn't. He always yelled at them. Something was definitely wrong.
"Let's see how Sarah's doing, shall we." Jareth said pretending to be his old self. He spun his hand around and a crystal appeared. He gazed into the crystal and there was Sarah. You're beautiful Sarah. If only you knew what you do to me. What you put me through.
The goblins noticed Jareth's trancelike behavior as he stared at Sarah. If there were any doubts as to whether or not they should do what they were about to, they were all gone now. They crept close behind him and the Goblin King didn't even notice them. One goblin took Sarah's loop of hair, holding it high over his head, he inched towards Jareth. Just then a gust of wind blew the King's long blond hair and at the same time, almost blew Sarah's dark hair right out of the goblin's hand. There was no time left. They had to act quickly. He regained a proper grip on the hair and slipped it over Jareth's head. The spell was activated. The hair expanded at first, then, as it hovered around his neck, the wind seemed to lift the Goblin King's hair out from inside the ring. Sarah's hair tightened around his neck. It became invisible and unbreakable. Jareth's hair settled down around it. All this happened in the blink of an eye.
Jareth shot out of his throne, not really sure what had happened, but he knew something was wrong. He seemed to have no control anymore. The crystal, which normally could stay on the tip of his finger, if he so chose, lost its magic. It fell from his hand to the floor and shattered into millions of tiny pieces. What's happening to me? He felt as if the energy was being drained out of him. Jareth dropped to the stone floor. The tiny specks of crystal crunched beneath his hands and knees. Everything was getting dark . . .
