Having only just come to be familiar with her room in Charlie's place, waking up somewhere unfamiliar was a shock to Sarah. She'd known something was wrong long before she'd opened her eyes, noticing the feel of the bed itself. Her first fear (which was common upon waking up somewhere new) was that Jareth had spirited her away in her sleep. This was easily discounted as she looked up at the sterile white ceiling. If it was Jareth, she'd be a lot more comfortable. Clearly it was a hospital, though Sarah struggled to remember why she was there.
"… are you sure? She hit her head pretty hard," came a familiar voice faintly. Sarah knew it, but she couldn't place her finger on whom it belonged to.
"I checked her myself, Edward, everything seems fine," assured another equally familiar voice. As muddled as her head was, it took Sarah a moment to realize who they were. If the first was Edward, then the second had to be Carlisle. In which case, it was likely they were talking about her. Sarah listened in.
"You didn't hear her. She wasn't making any sense. I think she was seeing things," Edward argued. Sarah's brow furrowed at that. Seeing things? Admittedly she couldn't remember exactly what had happened after the van had come her way. Yes, Edward had saved her, but why had she been in danger in the first place? At this point it was a matter of pride for Sarah that she had the wherewithal not to need saving. She'd only stopped in the parking lot because something had caught her eye.
Slowly things started coming back to her as Sarah remembered chasing the shadow across the lot as it disappeared beneath her truck. And then, with a crushing sense of defeat, it hit her that she hadn't just been paranoid. After the accident there had been the unmistakable figure of a goblin huddled under her truck. Sarah had seen it and, much more worryingly, it had seen her too.
"Edward," Carlisle said, his tone patient, "you said yourself that she'd been tired all day. Between that and the shock, it's not surprising for her to suffer some side effects. Stress does that to the human body. It's normal." Oddly, other than the headache, Sarah actually felt better now than before. Maybe she'd finally had the chance to sleep without any nightmares. She didn't think to question Carlisle's odd word choice—though later she definitely would.
"You weren't there," Edward said. "Whatever she saw, I think it scared her. She was desperate and I…." Though he would have continued—and Sarah wished he had—Carlisle cut him off.
"We won't know anything for sure until she wakes up," he said and Sarah took that as her cue to make her consciousness known.
"Good thing I'm awake then," she responded before Edward could say anything more. The abrupt silence that followed almost made her laugh, but instead she pushed herself to sit upright, holding a hand to her head. It really did hurt, but Sarah wasn't sure if it was because she'd hit it or just a normal Jareth-themed headache. The two men she'd been eavesdropping on entered her line of sight. Carlisle looked amused. "Sorry to interrupt, but I thought you should know." Even Edward, who looked not entirely certain of her sanity, managed a small smile.
"Indeed," Carlisle said, though quick to get down to business. "We meet again, if not under the best circumstances." He approached her bedside with confidence. Being a doctor suited him well, Sarah decided. With a gentle touch, Carlisle's fingers replaced her own as he pressed into a spot on her head. Sarah flinched away. "I heard you hit your head pretty hard. Does it hurt?" It took Sarah a second to realize he'd misunderstood that her flinch had been because of pain.
"Uh… well… uh…." Carlisle and Edward were watching her with expressions of concern as Sarah flubbed for an answer. Though she'd touched Carlisle's hand before, she was no better prepared for that spark of magic this time than before, and she still felt it lingering deep in her stomach. Yes, her head did hurt, but this unsettling feeling was completely separate from that. "It's not too bad. I've had worse," Sarah finally said. Edward and Carlisle exchanged a look that Sarah pretended not to notice.
"And how do you feel otherwise?" Carlisle asked. "That was quite the scare you had, it's normal to feel some shock. It was a very dangerous situation." It really had been dangerous, but it was hard for Sarah to really accept that. All she could think was that it had been just a van. She laughed.
"Oh, no, I'm fine, it really wasn't that bad. I'm pretty good with dangerous situations." Sarah smiled at the two of them brightly, continuing to ignore the significant glances that were passing between them. She already had too much of a headache to try and unravel Edward's thoughts. Besides, there were much more pressing things to occupy her mind.
Carlisle shone lights in her eyes and did a few tests until he was satisfied she didn't have a concussion. Sarah put up with it more graciously than normal. When he deemed her good to go, Carlisle wished her well and left—though not without shooting Edward one final look. Edward nodded once and hung back, presumably to see her out. Sarah didn't put up a fight on that either. Jareth could show up at any point now, and having some company was the surest way to delay him. As bold as Jareth was, Sarah didn't expect him to pop up until she was alone.
"Are you sure you're feeling alright?" Edward asked as Sarah shifted her legs to the side of the bed and began to stand. Though Sarah nodded, it was obvious she was distracted. Staying in the hospital might delay Jareth's appearance… or it might not. Jareth always seemed to have a way and means to do just about anything. All that remained now was to prepare herself for the inevitable.
"I'm fine," she told Edward firmly. "I was already pretty tired so the bump on my head didn't help me any, but I'll be fine." There was something about the way his lips pressed into a thin line that said he didn't believe her. It was as true as anything else she'd told him, however, so she pretended not to see his disapproval. Clearly he had things he wanted to ask, but maybe their interaction previously that day told him that she was in no better mood to answer his questions now than before.
"You seem to be doing better than Tyler at any rate," was all he finally said. It was enough to break Sarah from her thoughts of Jareth and she looked at Edward with confusion.
"Tyler?" she asked, tilting her head. What did Tyler have to do with anyth—. Suddenly she remembered. "Tyler! I should… I should probably go check on him, huh?" Once again Edward was giving her that strange look, like he wanted to stare through her until he found all her secrets. Sarah looked back at him unflinchingly. Her secrets were her own and she believed she could keep them to the end of time.
"He's this way," Edward said, a hand on her shoulder as he led her towards another room. The touch was strange, even more so considering she could only think of one other time—that she properly remembered—they'd ever touched and even then they'd pulled away immediately. She didn't know what to make of it, but the pounding of her head warned her not to overthink. There wasn't much chance to think anyway as the moment the two of them stepped into the room, Tyler burst out into an unending stream of apologies. No matter how many times they assured him it wasn't his fault and they were both fine, he could not be stopped.
It didn't take very long before Sarah shot a glance over at Edward, noticing he was looking back at her. She raised an eyebrow and jerked her head toward the exit. Fighting a smile, Edward nodded. Sarah barely suppressed a grin of her own. As frustrating as Edward was, she found him oddly compatible.
"I'm afraid Bella needs to get some rest. I should take her home. Her father is probably worried about her," said Edward smoothly, giving Tyler his most reassuring smile. Sarah smothered a laugh at the sight, not believing in any of Edward's sincerity. She couldn't help the small twinge of annoyance she felt at just how effortless he made things, though. At least things not involving Sarah herself. She prided herself on the fact that he never seemed at ease when dealing with her.
"Oh… oh, right," Tyler said, nodding his head. "I'm glad you're both okay. I couldn't have imagined what I'd do if anything happened to you." The last part was very much directed at Sarah, she noticed with discomfort. "But I really am sorry. I didn't see you there at all, it's like you came out of nowhere and I…." He was still going, but Sarah smiled at him and wished him a speedy recovery; though perhaps not quite as speedy as her exit from the room. The moment she stepped outside, she let out an audible sigh of relief. Next to her, Edward chuckled.
"Came out of nowhere," Sarah repeated, suddenly stopping in the middle of the hallway. Edward froze next to her. Something about Tyler's words stuck in her brain, though Sarah struggled to figure out what. After all, it wasn't as though people could teleport. Well, Jareth could, but ordinary people like Sarah and Edward definitely couldn't, and they'd both been standing by her truck. They'd both been standing…. Eyes widening, Sarah looked over at Edward. She'd seen him just before the accident still standing by the doors to the school. Ordinary people couldn't teleport… so, what was Edward?
"Hey… Edward?" Sarah said, shooting him quick glances, but unable to hold his gaze for long. "About the van…." Her eyes flicked up to his face again, but Edward's expression had turned dark. The shadows on his face shot a shiver through her spine. It was similar to that day in the office. The little survival instinct she had warned her to run. Sarah swallowed. "If I asked… you wouldn't tell me, would you?"
"You think there's something to tell?" Sarah thought Edward was trying to keep his voice level, but she could hear hints of hostility.
"Hypothetically," she said, choosing to back down a little. "Hypothetically speaking only, you'd probably want to keep it a secret, right?" Edward eyed her warily.
"You have a very suspicious mind." Edward's expression was softening, but Sarah still saw enough dark undertones to warn her against pressing much farther. Maybe it wasn't even that she was afraid, thought Sarah after a moment. Even when Jareth scared her, Sarah had held her ground, but Jareth had been her enemy. Edward…. Sarah didn't know what Edward was, but she believed he was more friend than enemy. She didn't want to see him so upset.
"Maybe that's something you know a bit about?" he continued. "Secrets?"
"I don't know what I'm talking about. Head trauma, remember?" she suggested, tapping her head. Edward's lips quirked.
"Bella!" Charlie's cry took both of them off guard as he rushed over to Sarah's side. Other classmates were there too—Mike, Eric, Angela, even Jessica—and, in the mob, she hadn't noticed Edward quietly disappear.
"I never even thanked him," Sarah said to herself once she noticed. No matter how she tried to look for him, he was gone. Gone, but not forgotten.
That night Sarah's mind alternated between sitting in cold dread while waiting for Jareth's inevitable appearance and puzzling over the enigma that was Edward Cullen. Since there was nothing she could do about the former besides waiting for a time that suited the Goblin King's schedule, Sarah devoted most of her energy to Edward. Sometimes she wondered if she was overthinking because she wanted there to be something interesting about Forks. But, no, Edward's reaction to being questioned earlier mirrored her own intense discomfort. Sitting down at her desk, she pulled out a piece of paper and scrawled 'Edward Cullen' in the fanciest script she could manage. The script itself was for her own amusement and yet another in a long list of distractions she was attempting. Below it she put to pen all the things she'd been making note of in her mind.
1) Rapid changes between cold and friendly.
2) Ability to move quickly. Also very quietly.
3) Denied contacts, despite eye color changes.
4) Stopped a speeding van?
When Sarah reached the fourth point, she paused and stared at it. How had Edward saved her anyway? She'd been so caught up in the idea of a goblin in Forks that Sarah hadn't devoted much time to considering how Edward could have stopped the van. There was something weird about that, wasn't there? She hadn't even asked if he was hurt, Sarah had just assumed he wouldn't be. It had now reached a point where she couldn't pretend she didn't see it. Edward was different; she'd always known that. While he wasn't exactly the same as Jareth, both left her with the unmistakable feeling of otherworldliness. Yes, there was much more to Edward than he let on.
A sound outside her window caused Sarah to jump harshly enough to slam her knees into the bottom of her desk. Her first instinct was to hide the paper, shoving it into one of her desk drawers as though being caught in a crime. Grumbling a bit, she moved to where the window had been left open a crack and hesitated. She'd been too nervous to have it all the way open after getting home. Despite having been alone for hours, there was still no Jareth. What was he up to? Thinking that she'd almost prefer it at this point if he showed up rather than leaving her in suspense, Sarah took a deep breath and flung the window open. The noise immediately stopped. She leaned out and scanned the yard, noticing the shadowy figure of a bird sitting in the tree facing her. For a moment the two stared at each other. Her heart was pounding in her chest the longer she looked. Was it him? Part of her wanted to call out, but she found herself tongue-tied. The fear that even so much as saying Jareth's name would bring him immediately caused her to hesitate. Slowly, she took another deep breath.
"Is that you?" she asked into the night, not sure what kind of response she was expecting. The owl gave a hoot, but did nothing else. Sarah squinted suspiciously at it. "If that's you then just come out already," she cried out, glaring at the bird. "I'm not a moron, you know!" The bird gave another hoot and flew off, leaving Sarah looking at the tree. "Or maybe I am," she muttered to herself, sinking down to rest her elbows on the window frame. It was then that she caught a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye towards the ground. No matter how long she continued watching, however, Sarah saw nothing else. She eventually managed to drift off to a more relaxed sleep than she would have thought possible. All problems could be dealt with in the morning, Sarah decided.
The morning arrived anticlimactically. As soon as she remembered yesterday's events, Sarah leapt out of bed as she expected to find Jareth lounging there as well. She was alone. Unable to believe it, Sarah checked in the closet, under the bed and everywhere she could think for a man to hide. But, in the end, she was simply and wonderfully alone. After going through her morning routine as usual, Sarah found herself brightening up over the prospect that maybe Jareth wasn't coming at all. Maybe he really didn't care that much… though the fact he'd sent goblins to hunt her down seemed to say otherwise. Or, perhaps, he'd accepted that she wanted space…. Well, no, Sarah didn't believe that one. There was no way Jareth could have found her without feeling the need to lord his victory over her. At the very least, wouldn't he want to question her about her disappearing act? Sighing into her breakfast, Sarah admitted that she had no idea what Jareth was thinking. She never did.
Then came another thought: what if the message hadn't been relayed at all? Not heartless enough to wish terrible things on a goblin that was just doing its job, Sarah didn't pursue that line of thought very far, but she kept it in her head as the solution she was searching for. It was the only one that let her be both sane and safe from Jareth's grasp. If it were true, she'd be safe and could enjoy her freedom a bit longer. Humming to herself, Sarah decided that she wasn't going to come up with a better idea and didn't want to tempt herself into trying. She grabbed her school bag and moved to the door.
Apparently no one had thought to drive her truck home. Sarah had almost forgotten about the accident altogether in the light of her panic over Jareth, which meant that she hadn't considered sending out a call for a ride either. All she could do was stand on the steps and look at the spot where her truck ought to be. She felt a bit like a fool. As small as Forks was, it was too far to walk if she planned to make it to first period not drenched in sweat. Charlie was long gone, assuming she would have taken a sick day. She didn't want to stay home. Staying home meant another day of staring at the clock and waiting for Jareth to show up, whether or not he knew about her location. Thinking about this, a frown started to overtake her features, one that quickly washed away with surprise as a silver Volvo pulled into the driveway. Edward, of course.
"Need a ride?" he asked, looking smug about it all. Honestly Sarah found herself more convinced of her outlandish theories all the time. Edward seemed to have a knack for being in the right place at the right time, she thought to herself, shaking her head. Not knowing her thoughts, Edward took her head shake as refusal. "Were you planning to stay home after all?" His gaze moved up and down her appearance, taking note of the bag on her shoulder and the book in her hand. His eyes defied her to argue with him.
"No, no, I'm coming," Sarah said. The ride to the high school wasn't long, but it might just be enough time to try and find out more about her suspicions. If nothing else, it was definitely private. Moving to the passenger side, Sarah paused with bemusement as Edward quickly opened the door for her. After giving him a dubious look, she got in and sorted through her thoughts as she waited for him to do the same. She could hardly come right out and ask if he had some kind of magical powers, could she? That was the quickest way to wind up in some kind of institution. As he climbed in and started the car, Sarah stared at him wordlessly, causing him to shoot a few curious glances her way as well.
"Something wrong?" he asked, looking almost embarrassed under the scrutiny.
"You know, you're a very confusing person," Sarah told him, surprised to see that it caused him to snort. Of all the reactions she'd expected, laughter was not among them.
"You're one to talk," Edward responded. "I'm not sure I've met anyone as hard to read as you are." He was doing it again, Sarah noted. She'd started trying to talk about him and found him pressing into the subject of her instead. It felt a lot like they were at war, the goal to wring out all the secrets of the other while losing as few as possible of their own. In that way it was almost fun, frustrating though Sarah found it at times.
"I don't know about that, I'd say you give me a run for my money." She wasn't about to let him win if she could help it.
"Is your head alright?" Edward asked in response, causing Sarah to believe she'd won that round. It didn't matter if he wasn't aware that they were having a contest, she was still going to win. Smiling pleasantly, Sarah nodded, the accident still far from her mind.
"It's fine. Char—dad was fussing over me for most of the night anyway." There it was, a mistake. Of course she'd been bound to make one eventually, but she wondered why of all people it had to be in front of the the person who'd notice it the most. Sarah decided it was best to distract him from it, especially given the look in his eyes that seemed eager to question. "It was really lucky that you were there, I was pretty sure that was going to be the end for me. I wasn't thinking clearly. I could have sworn I saw you all the way on the other side of the lot just before it happened. That's impossible, right?" Her conversational tone and self-effacing laughter were her best acting efforts at work. Mostly she wanted to see what kind of reaction he'd have. It would be the confirmation she needed to reject or accept the theories she'd been working on. The way his hands gripped the steering wheel tighter and the annoyed flash in his eyes told her exactly what she'd expected.
"Very lucky," he responded, clearly trying to match her tone but not quite doing it. He looked frustrated again. Sarah was fairly certain she had never frustrated anyone as much or as consistently in her life. "You were seeing things though. You were talking to something that wasn't even there." It was Sarah's turn to look frustrated. At least until she fully processed the ramifications of what that could mean. Perhaps the goblin really was nothing more than a cruel figment of her sleep-deprived and adrenaline fueled mind. That would explain a lot.
"Not my finest moment," she remarked. Regardless of whether the goblin was real or not, there was no point in trying to argue that it was. Edward, even if he had some kind of magic, would never believe her. Even so, Sarah couldn't help the torrent of 'what ifs' that filled her mind. Suddenly she wasn't focused on playing their little game so much and she needed to know how much of her memory she could trust. Edward looked like he was about to say something, but Sarah beat him to it.
"There really wasn't anything there?" Her voice was quiet and serious, eyes shifting to look outside the passenger window, though through the reflection she could see that Edward was looking at her with surprise. Perhaps he'd never expected her to admit that she had been seeing things, but all Sarah wanted was to hear him say it one more time. Even if he thought she was crazy, she just wanted confirmation that at least there were no goblins.
"No, Bella," he said. Sarah didn't look at him, not even in the reflection. She didn't want to see what his expression looked like or to know what question he was gearing up in his mind. She never doubted for a moment that he always had more questions, Sarah just didn't want to hear them right then.
"I guess I was more tired than I thought." She spoke to prevent him the opportunity. They were pulling into the parking lot and Sarah realized there was probably a chance for one more question, but—not just because of their game—her own sanity wasn't up to the challenge of whatever he had up his sleeves. Edward's questions always seemed a little too on the mark. This was a case of the truth being impossible no matter what kind of spin she put on it. How did one explain goblins to someone who didn't even know the story? The story!
"Oh, I forgot," Sarah cut in before he could ask whatever question was coming next. Apparently she had his attention as the question didn't come. Sarah reached into her bag to pull out an extra copy of the script, handing it to Edward. "Since you were curious before, I thought you might want to give acting a shot." The suggestion came with a bright smile as she waited for him to take the pages from her hand. When he did, she unbuckled and let herself out of the car before he could say anything to stop her. Poking her head back through the window to look at him, she smiled. "Auditions are a week from Tuesday if you're interested."