When No One Else Was Looking
Chapter 11: Like Fire, Like Ice
Sarah opened her eyes slowly to the sunlight pouring through her window. She gently turned off the alarm clock and pulled the covered away. She shivered in the cold air that danced through her room and grabbed a robe from on the floor nearby. She wrapped it tightly around her and made her way to her bathroom; she paused by her vanity and glanced in the mirror. The necklace rested gently between her collar bones, the metal always cold no matter what she did.
She had tried to take it off, twice, but every time she tried her skin where the necklace had been would turn red and start burning leaving her no choice but to return it to its place. It wasn't like she minded; she loved the necklace and what it reminded her of. But the memories no longer brought sadness, nor did they bring happiness, just contentment. Somehow she knew she'd be with him again…. Someday.
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Using the side of her wrist, she wiped the fog from the mirror and looked at her reflection. Her skin was clear and glowing softly, she looked like she had just walked out of a spa. She glanced over at her makeup and then back at her reflection, deciding with a smile that she wouldn't need it today.
She wrapped a towel around her hair and quickly got dressed, in jeans and a simple peasant blouse that hugged her curves but flowed loosely around her arms. She let her hair fall from the towel and again looked into the mirror in surprise. Her hair had already dried, falling straight over her shoulder. It only took her a few seconds to pin the front back the way she wanted it and it cooperated like never before.
She smiled a little, "I guess it'll just be a good day… Now where's that jack-" she turned and stood face to face with the leather jacket she had been looking for hanging on the hook. "Et…. I could have sworn that was in my closet." She said shaking her head a bit before she gently grabbed her jacket and hurried out the door.
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She had a sneaking suspicion that something odd was going on after waking up 3 weeks in a row to perfect hair, perfect skin, perfect everything. Her eyes seemed to sparkle; she seemed to always be clean and beautiful no matter what. It was starting to get on her nerves.
Whatever she was looking for she would immediately find if she uttered its name. She thought that maybe it was the necklace that had something to do with it, but she had no way of experimenting with the theory seeing as she couldn't take the necklace off. She sighed and sat back against the seat of the bus she was riding home from work.
Her fingers gently danced with her necklace, the cold metal making her skin sting. A red shadow of the necklace was stained into her skin, but she didn't mind. The metal would warm one day, she knew it would. It would warm when she was happy, when she was home.
Sarah began to hum, while she stared out the window. An old song whose words had long escaped her. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, letting her voice and the music inside her mind engulf her and return her to her memories that were never quite clear anymore. She didn't notice the young girl sit beside her.
"Miss?"
Sarah opened her eyes and looked down, "Yes?"
The little girl, red pigtails framed her face and freckles were sparkled around her pale skin, stared at her for a moment or two before she leaned in, "I know what you are."
Sarah looked at her, confused, "What I am?"
The little girl waved her closed, Sarah obliged and bent down so her ear was level with the child's, the red head cupped her hand over Sarah's ear and whispered, "You're magic."
Sarah sat back slightly, "What makes you think that?"
"You don't belong here." The little girl whispered, looking into Sarah's eyes, "You should go home."
"I am going home."
"No! Your real home."
"What's your name?"
"Emily."
"Well, Emily, You have a very active imagination."
The little girl scoffed, "So did you." She mumbled a little.
"What was that?"
"Nothing." The little girl said shaking her head, "You need to go home, they need you."
"Who needs me?"
"Your subjects."
"What are you talking about, Emily?"
"That necklace you're wearing, it's the symbol of royalty in the Underground."
"How do you know about-"
"It's not important. Suddenly, things seem to work out too easily. You know things that you shouldn't know. It's knowledge of the only other Queen to wear that necklace."
"Emily, I'm not."
"This is my stop," Emily said as she stood up, "They need you, Sarah. He needs you, and I do too." The little girl said before she hurried off the bus, taking her mother's hand. Sarah sat back and shook her head, that hadn't made a bit of sense.
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The bus hit a bump, making Sarah sit up from the uncomfortable position she had been sitting in. She rubbed the side of her head that had hit the window she had been using as a pillow until the bump woke her up. She didn't remember falling asleep, but assumed she must have.
She sighed and rubbed her eyes, it had been a long tiring day, "Oh, I wish I was home."
Sarah felt like the bus hand made a donut and opened all the windows slowly, so the wind over took her from the top of her head to the tip of her toes slowly. The air smelled different and felt damp. She opened her eyes slowly and looked around, "What the hell?" she asked as her feet touched soft grass and a small waterfall poured into a tiny pond before her.
Sarah.
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The necklace felt like it was burning, but Jareth couldn't remove it from his neck. His temper had grown shorter, but he didn't have the energy to use it. So instead, he glared at the floor and at the Goblins running amuck. Hoggle knew better than to bother the King when he was like that.
Thoughts of Sarah that used to bring him comfort, now only brought a bitter emptiness that he could really do without. He growled slightly and stood from his thrown, stalking to his quarters. "Fire." He demanded, and the fireplace lit itself, "Window." The window opened like it had never been shut, "Book." He said and the book rested on the side of the couch and awaited him.
He sighed and sat down, looking at the red leather book that had decided to make an appearance, "Not That Book." He growled, though it didn't disappear, "That isn't funny." He said again, but still the book remained, "Fine I'll just get another." He said as he stood and walked towards the small bookcase that decorated a wall, before the red leather book flew off the couch and hit him in the back of the head.
He turned with a deadly glare, "That was uncalled for." He said before he knelt and picked up the worn out copy of the book, "Fine, but I don't know why you're so determined to have me read this stupid thing. It's not like I don't have it memorized." He said as he plopped down, rather gracefully, onto the couch and opened it.
He froze when he read the first page, Property of Sarah Williams, Jareth remembered his lungs needed air and took a shallow breath before turning a page to find her elegant handwriting scattering the pages. Notes of this and that, underlining specific lines and even a few sketches that Jareth didn't think were too bad.
He spent an endless amount of time flipping through the pages, reading what she had written and laughing at some of the comments. He wondered who she had been writing to, her brother perhaps. Maybe she intended on giving the book to him when he was old enough, or maybe she was writing to herself. Keeping track of the knowledge she had gained during her run and from her friends. One particular sentence made him laugh, "You Need To Eat Peaches More Often."
His favorite one, though, was written after The Goblin King offers the Princess a crystal and read, "I don't know why he offered me a crystal. I knew my dreams; I didn't need to see them. But what I wish, and dream, now more than anything is to thank you for letting me live them. Besides, if he really wanted me to have my dreams he would have just given me another Peach."
He turned the page, expecting the ending to be there but found nothing. The pages had been ripped from the spine and the ending was missing. He sighed and looked up at the fire, swearing he saw a flash of green eyes deep within the depths of the flame. Jareth stood and approached the fire, raising an eyebrow slightly.
A cool wind, drenched in her smell, over took him and his necklace cooled briefly. Oh I wish I was home, the exasperated whisper wrapped around him like her arms and he closed his eyes. Her presence suffocated him for a brief second before the wind vanished and his necklace began to burn with a fury. "Sarah." He whispered, before turning on his heels and running.