Chapter Two
'…Sarah's fists were clenched white. She was thinking frantically. What were her right words? Jareth took a step towards her – he needed her belief in him. "Just fear me and love me," he told her in a gentle voice, "and do as I say and I… I will be your slave," he stretched his hand out toward her and took another step back up the stairs.
Jareth's fingers were close to Sarah's face. She stood where she was and swallowed. "Kingdom as great…" she muttered, "…Kingdom as great…" she saw the crystal spinning in his fingers and felt on her lips the warmth of his outstretched hand. She gasped, and from some inspired recess of her mind, the words came out, blurted out.
"You have no-"…'
"-Ophelia!" a familiar voice brought her careening back to reality leaving her feeling a little disorientated. The noise of the bustling high school hallway filtered passed the peaceful haze she'd previously been enveloped in, wholly lost in one of her favourite fantasies. Ophelia lowered the dog-eared book in her hands, peering around the dented metal door of her locker to see her friend Star skipping her way over with her boyfriend Edgar in tow.
"Star," Ophelia smiled.
"Lost in another fantasy world?" Edgar smirked, gesturing to the book cradled against her chest.
"Oh, yeah…" she nodded, feeling her cheeks heat, abashed that once again her new-found friends had caught her with her head in the proverbial clouds, completely consumed in yet another book. Ophelia couldn't deny nor could she hide the fact that she enjoyed losing herself in fantasy worlds of fiction and she didn't necessarily feel she should apologise for it. However, she was aware that as a seventeen-year-old, making friends while your nose was buried in a book was practically impossible. She had to keep her feet firmly on the ground else she'd end up a social pariah among her peers.
She needed to at least pretend she had an interest in partying and underage sex...
She slipped the treasured book into the pocket of her backpack and slammed her locker closed, slinging her back over her shoulder. "Where're Alan and Millie?"
"Meeting us in the cafeteria," Edgar informed her, his tone mocking, like he couldn't believe he'd had to explain such a trivial fact.
"OK, let's go, I'm starving," she smiled, awkwardly falling into step beside Star.
Ophelia tried to quiet the discomfort she felt as she traversed the rowdy hallway. She'd been in Santa Carla a month now and she still didn't feel like she fit in. The friendship she'd forged with the small group felt superficial at best and she had a feeling that she was on the cusp of being ejected from the clique for good if they caught her with her nose buried in a book day-dreaming one more time.
Star and Edgar walked into the cafeteria with Ophelia trailing behind. She felt like a fish fresh out of water. She was the quiet orphan new-girl who always had her head stuck in a book. She didn't belong anywhere in particular, she was just present, loitering on the outskirts of a solid friendship group hoping that she made a good enough impression to be given permanent status. Ophelia scoped her surroundings, feeling her palms sweat with anxiety while her mouth grew dry as she followed the couple over to the far side of the cafeteria, spotting a familiar mop of brown hair and an abundance of auburn curls.
"Millie!" Star bounded over to the table, wrapping her arms around her best friends' neck, kissing her cheek. "I missed you hon."
"Missed you too beauts," Millie smiled warmly, pulling Star down onto the bench beside her. "Oh, hey Ophelia," Millie added, sounding less than thrilled with her presence.
Millie often made Ophelia feel like she was a mosquito buzzing around her head, constantly swatted by the back of her hand, refusing to let her too close and though Star was a little warmer to her than Millie was, Ophelia still felt like she was intruding, like she wasn't supposed to be there. Yet, at the same time, she had nowhere else to go and perhaps a little naively, she held out hope that eventually, they'd come to like her rather than just tolerating her like they seemed to be doing now.
Perhaps it was a pity friendship? Ophelia internally sighed, plonking herself down on the bench across from the two couples.
Ophelia quickly zoned out of the conversation the foursome were having, absentmindedly chewing a bite of her sandwich as she stared out across the cafeteria, her eyes drifting over smiling faces that were only vaguely familiar to her, faces that she was still becoming accustomed to. It was almost summer vacation and almost the end of her junior year - she couldn't believe that she'd be graduating next year. The thought of college and future prospects always played heavy on her mind leaving her stomach in knots.
Back when her life had been much simpler, she'd dreamt of a career in teaching but a few months ago both her parents had been killed by a drunk driver and her whole world had been turned upside down. She'd been flown all the way out to California to live with her uncle Joe, the only real family she had. Ophelia knew that it wasn't her uncles place to pay for her education, it wouldn't be fair, so she'd decided that college was unfortunately destined to remain out of reach, for now at least.
Lost in her own mind, she soon found herself fantasising, yearning for the ability to wish for the Goblin King to come and take her away to his castle beyond the Goblin City where she could live out the rest of her days as an immortal concubine indulging in erotic displays of sensuality with handsome fae and playing toss the chicken with grog-drunk goblins. Or, alternatively, another of her fantasies was that the Goblin King would fall in love with her and unlike young Sarah, Ophelia wouldn't turn him away. He could have all the power over her in exchange for the title of Goblin Queen.
She sighed wistfully, forcing herself back to the present and the fact that there'd be no consorting with the fae king anytime soon, she had Phys-Ed next period.
Bah!
"I can't wait for Friday and this shit-stain of a year to be over with – roll on senior year and graduation, hasta la vista Santa Carla High," Alan huffed, tossing a crumpled wad of plastic into the trashcan a few feet away.
"Do we really have to talk about graduation?" Millie rolled her eyes in exasperation.
"Are you still on a mission to neglect the fact that it's our senior year next semester? You need to grow up Anderson," Edgar retorted snarkily.
"Shove your opinion back up your ass where you pulled it from Frog," she countered haughtily.
"Guys time out-" Star held up her hand, "-there are more important things to discuss, remember?" she implored, fixing her three friends with a knowing smirk, her big brown eyes glittering conspiratorially.
Alan turned his attention to Ophelia, a sly smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Do you know what today is Ophelia?"
"Friday?" she frowned, confused and Millie scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"Well yeah, it's Friday but it's also forecast to be a full moon," Alan clarified.
"Do you know what happens during the full moon Ophelia?" Edgar grinned.
"It depends... there are legends..." she mumbled.
"Do you believe in those legends?" Edgar cocked his head, arching an eyebrow in question.
"I'm not sure..."
"How would you feel about seeing those fantasy stories of yours come to life?" Star smirked.
"I don't understand... are you making fun of me right now?" Ophelia's frown deepened, her stomach twisting nervously.
"Though it wouldn't be very hard to do, no," Millie interjected and Alan nudged her arm in warning which only heightened Ophelia's suspicions about the groups intentions.
"Listen, here in Santa Carla, there's this legend, right? And the legend states that there's a cave down at Hudson's Bluff that holds some kind of passageway to the realm of the Underworld and on every full moon, the veil between the worlds -the Underworld and the Overworld- is lifted. With the veil lifted, those from the Overworld -which is us- can enter the Underworld and the creatures from the Underworld can travel through to the Overworld but only from dusk till dawn. When dawn hits, the veil is back in place and no-one can cross back between worlds," Alan explained.
"Oh, so it's like Beltane and Samhain?" Ophelia perked up with intrigue, eliciting incredulous looks and muted snickers.
"I have no idea what you're talking about right now-" Edgar shrugged, "-we just thought that seen as you're such a fan of fantasy and getting lost in make-believe worlds, we figured that you might like the opportunity to see one of those fantasies you cream over in real-time," he added.
"Our plan is to stay at the cave for the night. That way, we'll be able to see first-hand if anything comes through," Star exclaimed.
"You can even look for the passage if you want, just make sure you're back before dawn if you do," Millie smirked.
"But do you guys actually believe in the legend?" Ophelia inquired.
"All we know is that every full moon, random people go missing or turn up mutilated-" Alan shrugged, "-could be a coincidence, could be down to the crazies or it could be something else. I guess tonight we'll find out once and for all, huh?"
"Are you in Ophelia? Or is running a Labyrinth more your thing?" Millie mocked and Ophelia's patience started to dwindle.
She'd had enough of Millie's barbed comments and callous attitude.
"I'm in," Ophelia stated resolutely, her answer as much to irk and defy Millie as it was due to her curiosity though she couldn't help but think about the age-old adage – 'curiosity killed the cat.'
"We'll all meet back here at 10," Alan gesticulated, motioning to the sand dusted wooden steps leading down onto the beach.
"I don't get why you can't just sack off work for the night," Millie pouted, shooting Ophelia a look of contempt.
"The later we get there, the better anyway-" Star interjected, "-we'll be there all night, a few hours past sunset isn't gonna matter when we'll be there for sunrise. If anything came out, we'd see it going back in."
"Star's right," Edgar concurred, drawing his girlfriend against his chest, his arms wrapping around her petite frame. "Just be there for 10 with whatever you need for the night – do you have a flashlight?" he asked Ophelia.
"I don't think so… unless my uncle has one?"
Millie scoffed and rolled her eyes, an action that was occurring increasingly more often and was beginning to grate on Ophelia's last nerve.
"We've got a spare-" Alan chimed, diffusing the situation, "-see you at 10 Ophelia," he smiled as he slowly backed away, turning to head towards the comic store his parents owned further up the boardwalk.
"See you," Ophelia sighed, her brows knitting together in a frown. She had a negative inclination that whatever she'd signed up for wasn't necessarily what had been advertised and she couldn't shake the feeling that the group had something planned specifically involving her. Ophelia knew that they weren't doing this out of support for her interests, nor were they doing it out of their own curiosity. If their curiosity was truly the case, why wait until now if the legend had been around for years? Curiosity surely would have gotten the best of them long before now.
No, she knew they had an ulterior motive but for the life of her she couldn't figure out what it was nor could she come up with a plausible excuse to get out of it, especially since she'd already tried the work commitment route and all that had achieved was a change of timing. With another heavy sigh, she shook off the negative thoughts clouding her mind and made her way back up the boardwalk towards her uncle's diner.
David paced the width of his throne room like a caged animal, the echo of his heavy boots thumping against the marble floor, the repetitive sound looming ominously in the heavy silence. His slender fingers longed to tear into soft, warm flesh while his mouth yearned to ravish the bleeding wounds as the glorious metallic tang of blood trickled down the back of his throat, soothing the painful itch of the cursed thirst.
The immortal king exhaled sharply, his nostrils flaring as he willed himself into a state of serenity. He placed his crown on the plush velvet seat of his throne and combed his fingers through his tousled platinum blonde hair. He removed his hooded cloak, draping the luxurious velveteen cotton fabric, it's colour akin to the deep purple skin of a ripe eggplant over the high back rest, replacing it with a charcoal grey, heavy wool military jacket that bore the stains of past exploits in the Overworld.
David sensed Dwayne's approach before his friend had the opportunity to announce his presence. "Enter," he hollered, turning up the collar of his jacket. The heavy wooden door swung open on creaking hinges as Dwayne strolled into the room with two blondes in tow. "Ah, Paul - Marko, how nice of you to join us," David glared, his tone laced with sarcasm.
The trio bowed before their king before stepping further into the room.
"We know we haven't been around much sire, but the latest additions to the harem have been keeping us rather busy," Marko smirked impishly, his cherubic features alight with mischief.
"Yeah dude-" Marko nudged Paul hard in the ribs, "-I mean, your majesty-" Paul flustered, "-those women are something else."
"So, you neglect your duties as the palace guard to run off and fornicate with the Underworlds harlots, is that what you're telling me?" David sneered, his blue eyes flashing with ire.
"We were still performing our duties sire, it was only in our free time that we divulged in the sins of the flesh," Marko clarified and Dwayne coughed a laugh, staring down at his feet as he tried to hide his amusement at his two friends' antics.
David shook his head in amusement, stifling a smirk of his own. "You know, you should count yourself lucky that I consider you two to be friends for if you were merely palace guards, you'd be strung up by your balls in the dungeons for leaving your post in favour of consorting with women of questionable morals."
"Maybe if you consorted a little more often, you wouldn't be such a grouch-" Paul quipped, "-your majesty," he quickly tacked onto the end of his statement.
Dwayne and Marko both let out a strangled laugh while David threw so much shade in Pauls direction, his ire could have been used to eclipse the sun. "Three strikes and you're out Paul, I suggest you heed that warning, you're on strike two," David snapped as Paul breathed a sigh of relief, knowing he'd escaped punishment by the hair on his arse.
"It's approaching dusk sire, we should make our way to the passage, the veil will soon be lifted," Dwayne spoke, running his fingers through his silky, obsidian mane.
"You may lead," David motioned for both Paul and Marko to file out of the room with himself and Dwayne following close behind.
"Ophelia, are you sure you know what you're doing?" Ophelia's uncle Joe frowned, wiping his hands on the grease-stained apron tied around his waist.
"Yeah, it's just a camp out in some cave – what could go wrong?" she shrugged, trying to down play how anxious she really felt.
"A number of things could go wrong Ophelia. You could get lost or you could fall and hurt yourself for a start-" Joe retorted worriedly, "-but my main concern is that damn cave, none of the stories I've heard about the place are good kid, maybe your little fieldtrip isn't such a great idea?"
"I promise I'll be careful-" Ophelia gave her uncle a reassuring smile, "-I'm a little nervous myself after hearing the stories buts that's all they are, isn't it – just stories?"
Joe rubbed his jaw with discomfort, he didn't want to scare his niece, she'd been through enough heartache in the past few months without him trying to step on her toes and crush her friendship prospects. However, he couldn't ignore the blaring siren in his mind that screamed at him to forbid her from stepping foot in that cursed cave. Everyone around town knew that the best thing to do on the night of a full moon was to lock yourself indoors and if you did happen to be out, then you should avoid empty places like the plague. It was no joke when the days following the full moon brought news of missing people and mutilated bodies washing up on the beach or corpses drained of blood being found in random spots around town. His worst nightmare was to hear that his niece was one of those missing people, or God forbid, one of the unidentifiable corpses.
"Ophe-" he was cut off by a loud crash coming from the kitchen, "-ah shit…" he cursed, excusing himself apologetically.
Ophelia stared after her uncle with a small smile. She knew that he wasn't comfortable with her planned escapade and part of her wished he'd forbid it. Yet, at the same time, she knew that if she did cancel, then the only friends she did have -no matter how superficial the kinship- would cast her aside. The sound of the bell hanging over the diner's door chimed loudly, coaxing her out of her confused reverie, bringing her attention back to the present, the new customers a welcome distraction from her own conflicting thoughts.
Ophelia fished out her small notepad from the pocket of her apron along with her apparently leaky blue ball-point pen. "Seriously?" she pouted, rubbing the blooming puddle of blue ink staining the pocket of her apron in vain. Acknowledging that she was only making the stain worse, she glanced up over the counter, searching for the new arrivals.
Her eyes drifted over the sea of conversing patrons, the sound of metal cutlery scraping against porcelain plates punctuating the buzzing drone of multiple conversations. She surveyed the bustling diner until she spotted a group of four unfamiliar faces huddled in a booth at the back of the restaurant, ducking out from behind the counter and made her way over to the table, frowning when with every step she took towards the table, the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck stood on end.
Her instincts were warning her that danger was imminent but what was so dangerous about a group of hungry teenagers? Granted, they didn't look like your average teenagers from around town, with their out-dated attire and their eerily handsome good looks, yet nothing really screamed dangerous about them. Shrugging off the unsettling sensation, she tried to focus on her job and not the way her stomach roiled nervously.
"Hey guys, can I get you any drinks?" she chirped in her best customer service voice, plastering on an unassuming smile.