Chapter 8 Fae-Lume
Disclaimer: I don't own any of The Labyrinth or any of it's characters. :)
Jareth felt something pulling him. Something tugging him to above ground. He wasn't sure what this feeling meant. It wasn't like the feeling he had when Sarah had
wished away Toby it was different. It felt almost ancient to him. Since Caroline had gone he had met with several of his advisers most of them being centuries older than
he. They had studied the ancient text called the Fae-Lume. It was an ancient tome that had been in existence since fae kin had first set foot in the 12 dimensions.
Jareth had only been allowed to view the book since the threat of The Cleaners had intensified. A priest named Goglim or Gog for short of the high court of the Fae world
was the keeper of the Fae-lume. Gog had become close to Jareth in the past few years, treating Jareth whenever he had a run in with The Cleaners. The Fae-Lume had
many prophecies that foretold of a queen from centuries upon centuries ago to be born reincarnated into the above ground dimension. This queen would come to the
Fae at a time of great need and would save them all from impending doom but only if her heart was pure. If her heart was clouded then evil could lay claim on her and
use her to rule the 12 dimensions. Gog had thought the girl who would save them all was Sarah and Jareth though so as well.
It had been days since Caroline had left the underground. Jareth couldn't shake the feeling that he was supposed to be somewhere. He felt a tug in his chest ever so
often as he went about his daily activates. Until one day when he felt an stabbing sensation shooting through his chest. Jareth fell over, clutching his chest in agony.
"Caroline." he murmured, clawing at his chest with his right hand. He had felt a similar pain the night he had rescued her from The Cleaners in her nightmare. He knew
what he must do now at whatever cost to himself. With a groan of pain Jareth vanished into thin air from his office.
Caroline pulled out a hand of change from her jean pocket. She began rummaging through the nickles, pennies and dimes in search of quarters. Suddenly her hair stood
up on the back of her neck as a cool breeze blew through the vending machine room of the hospital. Caroline instantly dropped the change from her hand then froze in
place, staring down at the floor where her change had dropped. A black swirling portal opened up in front of the closed door of the snack room. She could feel the breeze
coming from the portal. Caroline slowly tilted her head sideways to see the portal opening. There was no way out of the room. The portal was in the only way out of the
snack room. Caroline felt her heart beginning to pound in her chest at the sight of the portal. She knew the black figure would arrive soon. "No, not again." she
breathed, glancing behind her. She slowly began to back up to the opposite side of the room away from the portal. Two black figures slithered out of the portal making
their way towards Caroline. "I told you we'd be back." the toothy smile she had seen before was back. Caroline began to feel sick to her stomach realizing their was no
way out unless somehow she could make a blast of light happened again like she did before. She had no idea how she'd conjured the blast before and right now she was
terrified seeing the two shadow figures move towards her. "Get away!" she yelled, hoping someone would hear her cries. The toothy smiled figure reached out an arm
towards Caroline, grabbing her wrist. Caroline's wrist felt like it was burning under the figure's touch. The second figure grabbed her other wrist. "No powers to save you
now?" the toothy smile teased menacingly. She screamed out in pain but no one could hear Caroline outside the room no one except Jareth. With a poof of smoke
Jareth appeared behind the two figures. "Let go of her!" he ordered. Caroline couldn't believe her own ears. It was Jareth even though she thought she'd never see him
again. "Jareth!" she cried. She wrestled in the shadow figures grips, her skin feeling like it was melting in their hands. Jareth reached out channeling a white light toward
one of the creature, hitting it with a strong blast of magic light. Caroline managed to pulled away from the creature Jareth had hit. The second figure seeing it's
companion injured released Caroline. She quickly stumbled over to Jareth. He pulled her behind him. Caroline looked up at Jareth who looked fearless even though his
nose was dripping a few droplets of blood down his face. "Jareth?" she whispered. Jareth grabbed her hand as the two creatures moved towards them. Jareth began
whispered incoherent words as the shadow figures came inches away from them. In the neck of time Jareth managed to teleport them both out of the room into what
seemed to be an alleyway.
"Caroline. Are you okay?" He stumbled a few steps forward before falling over into a heap beside a dumpster. Caroline held her wrists close to her, both were burned and
blisters began to form on her skin. When she realized Jareth had collapsed she quickly went to his side. "Jareth?" she whispered, touching his arm gently. He looked up
weakly at her. "I'm fine." he assured her. "My magic isn't as strong as it used to be." he admitted. "I'm afraid I can't take us back underground." Jareth looked like a
shell of his former self to Caroline. His hair was a dull color of it's former bright blonde. His eyes looked faded and his skin wasn't glowing like it usually did. Caroline
frowned. "You saved me." she whispered, pulling him gently up to lean on her. Jareth managed a faint chuckle. "Again." he teased. Caroline rolled her eyes. "I have you
know I actually took one of those shadow figures yesterday." she murmured. Jareth slowly began to close his eyes a faint smirk on his face. She gently placed a hand to
his cheek, he felt cold. "Oh no you don't. Keep those eyes open." she ordered. Caroline examined their surrounding realizing they were in an alleyway a few streets over
from her mother's house. She fumbled through her jacket pocket retrieving her phone. "I hope Mom's up." Caroline sighed, pressing one on her speed dial. The phone
light up as the word mom flashed on the screen.
Within a about fifteen minutes Caroline's mother showed up in her black sedan. She quickly ran over to Caroline who was holding Jareth up by his waist. Jareth was
slumped over, resting on Caroline who was much shorter than he. "Caroline what is the meaning of this? You haven't called in two days and now you're in some
alleyway with a-" Caroline's mother paused instantly when she saw Jareth who was still dressed in a cape, a puffy blouse and rather tight pants with knee high leather
boots. "Mom. Please just help him. He's a.. a friend." Caroline begged, tears coming lightly to her eyes. Her mother raised her eyebrows never seeing her daughter in
such a state before. "Okay." her mother finally agreed, helping her daughter get Jareth to the car.
The fifteen minute car ride back to Caroline's mother's house felt like an eternity to Caroline. She had no idea how she was going to help Jareth or even if she could. Gog
was the only one Caroline thought capable of helping Jareth now. "What are we going to do with him?" her mother asked as she helped Caroline drag Jareth up the
stairs to Caroline's old childhood bedroom. "I- I don't know." Caroline admitted. "We just need to get him comfortable." she said, glancing grimly down at Jareth who was
basically unconscious. Once Caroline and her mother had Jareth resting comfortably in Caroline's old bed her mother left her to go get some water for Jareth. Caroline
pulled a chair over to his bedside, placing a hand on Jareth's forehead. He felt less chilled than he had in the alleyway. He stirred to her touch, placing a hand on top of
hers bringing it down towards his lips then kissing her hand softly. Caroline's eyes widened, her heart beginning to pound in her chest. A faint smile came to his lips.
"Sarah." he whispered. Caroline frowned, feeling her heart sink in her stomach at his words but didn't pull her hand away as he rested it on his chest. "Great he thinks
I'm Sarah again." she thought, sighing as she did. Caroline's mother returned with some water, smiling when she saw Jareth holding Caroline's hand. Caroline quickly
pulled her hand away. "He's delirious." she stated, leaving her mom with Jareth before stepping outside her bedroom door. She didn't know what had over come her but
she felt sick to her stomach. This feeling she only had experienced once before when she was sixteen and was rejected by Tommy Barnes at a high school party. She
attempted to shake off the feeling by going downstairs to make something to eat for Jareth hoping it would help him recover.
