Author's Note: Hey guys, just wanted to thank all my reviewers out there
for being so wonderful and reading my story and then reviewing. It's great
to have positive feedback after you work hard on something. Just so you
know, this chapter isn't as long as some of the others, but I promise the
next one will be longer. Also, since soccer has started for me (yah rah) I
have been super busy, so I don't know how often I will be able to write,
but I shall try, so fear not. OK, go ahead and read now I'll shut up.
Chapter 10: Twisted Turns
Jareth pushed on through all the cobwebs and skeletons blocking his way down a corridor. He was wet and his long blonde hair kept falling and sticking to his eyes. How he wished he could use his magic to dry himself. He suspected that Sarah was somewhere above him, oblivious to the fact of where he was. A noise to his left alerted his awareness, and he turned in that direction and called out, "Who's there?" All of a sudden a large leathery looking creature with glowing sickly green eyes leapt out at him and went for his throat. As he started to black out his last thought were, 'Please don't let Sarah have come down here.' Meanwhile, Sarah was down where Jareth was, quite unaware of the fact that creatures, hungry, bloodthirsty creatures, were lurking in the dark all around her. They were ready to strike out for the kill. That's what the creatures thought at least. Sarah had an uncanny ability to see in the dark. She had attributed it to the fact that she almost had catlike eyes. She knew the creatures were watching her, and she knew she had to get out of there fast. If only she could find some source of light. Presently, she became aware of the sound of rushing water. She followed it to the left where it seemed to branch off to the outside. This was it. It was her way out. 'But, what about Jareth?' she asked herself. The creatures seemed to be getting restless; she could see it in their crazy green glowing eyes peering out from the dark. Gathering her courage, well, what was left of it at least, she opened her bag and searched frantically for something resembling string. In the pocket in the front she found a thing of dental floss, so she took out a little and attached it to a rock she found beside the stream. Pulling the floss along she went to look for Jareth. A seemingly endless corridor stretched before her and angled down, but Sarah trudged along, hanging desperately on to the floss, her only lifeline back to the outside. She kept glancing about herself to make sure the leathery creatures were keeping their distance. Creeping along silently, she stepped on something that didn't crunch under her feet. It seemed to be breathing whatever it was. She crouched down cautiously and felt around. Her hand came in contact with someone that seemed to be alive. "Jareth!" she exclaimed happily. "Sarah?" Jareth wheezed. "Yeah, I'm here. What happened to you?" she asked as she tried to help him sit up, one hand on him and the other making sure she had a firm hold on the dental floss packet in the other hand. "I was attacked by a creature. It drank some of my blood so I'm a bit weak at the moment. Do you think you could help me up?" he asked groggily. "Oh sure," she said, helping him to his feet. She grabbed him by the arm and started to pull him back the direction she had come, following the floss back. "That's quite clever, Sarah," Jareth remarked. "It's not rocket science. Just a little trick I picked up in girl scouts," she replied sardonically. Making their way back through the corridor, they tripped and stumbled over bodies that littered their way, but made it unscathed back to the stream. Sarah noticed her bag was gone, but at least they hadn't taken the floss. The creatures must have thought the bag was a food source. "Jareth, I know you're weak, but do you think you can swim?" Jareth laughed scornfully. "Of course. I am the Goblin King after all." He dove into the water as soon as the words had left his mouth, and Sarah could hear him swimming towards the outside. She dove in after him before he could get too far ahead of her. "Wait up," she called out after him. "There's no need, the stream runs into a wall. Brilliant plan, love, but now what are we supposed to do?" he asked, treading water gracefully. "Hold on," Sarah said, plunging down and following the wall to the water below. Her hand felt along the coarse rock of the wall. The wall ended abruptly and turned into a narrow opening that was about 4 feet horizontal and 3 feet vertical. Making sure she could fit into it, and finding that there was adequate room, she resurfaced and told Jareth. "But, how do we know how far it is to the outside?" Jareth asked skeptically. "Look, I know that it's a bit risky, but it's the only way out. At least, the only way I know of. Come on," she said, taking a deep breath and letting it back out. Then she dived under to the opening and slid in. Jareth followed sullenly after her. What seemed like many minutes later, Sarah resurfaced outside of the cavern in a large lake surrounded by eerie looking trees. Their gnarled shadows twisted and lighted across the water Sarah was wading in. Jareth wasn't long behind her, and he surfaced just behind her. He looked sorely put out with his hair being wet. Swimming towards the bank, Sarah noticed every time she thought she was getting closer, it seemed the bank kept moving backwards. Perturbed by this change in reality, she turned back to Jareth and asked him if he noticed they weren't getting any closer to shore, even though by rights they should've made it there by now. Jareth replied, "What is that my wise man is always saying?" Sarah thought, it had been a while, then she blurted out as her mind suddenly remembered, "The way forwards is sometimes the way back!" "Right," Jareth agreed. Jareth and Sarah both turned so there back was to the bank, and then swam towards it. It was rather hard swimming backwards because the urge to turn around and look behind them was overwhelming, but when they did they'd have to start all over. It took them several tries, and exhausted from their efforts, they finally made it. Sarah sat down, her chest heaving. "Whew, talk about a work out." The shore was barren except for a few sparse trees here and there. The ground was soft and muddy, but stable enough to walk on without sinking into it. The land itself felt dead to Sarah as she sat on it. Overhead a black bird suddenly flew out of nowhere and landed on a branch and cawed at them, and then cocked its head to the side, which revealed an empty socket where a yellow slitted eye had once been. Sarah grimaced at the bird's misfortune, but before she could ponder it further the bird flew off. "I think the bird has the right idea," Jareth commented, his eyes trailing thoughtfully after it. "I know you're tired, but we must get going," he said to Sarah. Feeling a bit miffed, Sarah stood and glared. "I am not tired, just a bit winded is all, but I'm fine now. Let's go," she said, rubbing the dirt from her still wet pants. After walking around for a while and looking about themselves for any signs of danger, Sarah inquired, "How much further do you think it is?" Jareth shook his head, and put a finger to his chin. "I don't know." Their clothes were still a bit soggy, but not as much as before. Sarah's hair was starting to wave, and she had pushed it so it was contained over one of shoulders to the side. Jareth's hair on the other hand, was starting to look like it always did. For some reason Sarah wasn't surprised. The trees surrounding them were seriously spooking Sarah out, they moved sometimes on their own, even seemingly with the lack of wind. And, not only that, but also they seemed to be moving closer and getting thicker. Sarah pointed this fact out to Jareth, who just nodded his head in contemplation. Then he said, "I think they're just trying to scare us. Just, um, stay here for a moment." With that said, he walked over the closest tree, the gnarled misshapen branches dwarfing Jareth. Removing his gloves, he placed his hands upon the tree, then just as quickly as he had put them there, he took them away. Sarah stood a good distance away just watching. He walked back over to where she stood, and motioned for her to keep walking with him as if nothing had happened. Turning his head towards her, he whispered, "The trees have to see that nothing has changed, but I felt from that tree's life force that there's something in the trees. It's not the trees themselves that are moving them closer." Sarah was puzzled by this new information, and asked him, "What do you mean? I don't understand?" Jareth sighed. "I mean there's something in them, something living. The faster we get through the better." Looking around, Sarah gawked at that last statement. "OK, you're royalness, but how in the hell is that gonna happen when the trees are growing closer together?" "I have an idea," Jareth said, and stopped, and then walked over to a tree with the most branches. Lifting his leg up to the nearest branch, and pulling himself up, he started to climb the tree. Sarah stood below, watching him climb. Jareth looked below himself to see Sarah staring up at him, watching him curiously. "Sarah, love, don't just stand there, come one," he instructed. Rubbing her hands together to get them ready, she hoisted herself up after Jareth. Together they climbed until they got as high as they could go before the branches got too thin to support their weight. "OK, Sarah, I know this is gonna sound crazy, but we're going to jump off at the count of three. All right?" Sarah gave him a look as if to say 'that's right, you're crazy'. He sighed in annoyance. "Look, I can't explain how it works, we just have to do it. Now on the count of three we jump. One, two, three." Sarah watched as Jareth jumped off the tree but landed somewhere below her to where she couldn't see. "Jareth?" she called. Swallowing back her fear, she took a deep breath and then jumped. Somehow, as she was falling, the trees changed direction in front of her eyes, instead of falling towards the ground; she was falling towards the sky it seemed like. Then her feet landed on what appeared to be marble walkway and gravity shifted so she was right side up. Looking around, she was stunned to find what was a road of marble leading in between graves. The markers were obviously gravestones, so Sarah knew she had to be in graveyard. The thought gave her goosebumps. She turned in a circle, while trying to decide which way Jareth had gone. Cursing under her breath, it had suddenly became apparent that she wouldn't be able to figure it out unless he was to find her. A noise behind her alerted her attention, and she turned to find a little golden fox looking at her with interest. The gold color appeared to be radiating from a supernatural light surrounding the little creature. Sarah walked a little cautiously toward the fox, and bent down to show she didn't want to hurt it. "Hi, I'm Sarah, can you talk?" she asked. The fox grinned eerily and then replied in a sharp voice, "Of course I can talk, I'm a fox," he said, as if that explained it. "Oh, OK," Sarah replied, then stood back up. "Well, um, I have to find a friend. You haven't seen anyone around here that's tall, and has blonde hair and two different colored eyes have you?" Once again, the fox smiled a bit mysteriously and he said, "Follow me," and he trotted off past Sarah from the way she was coming. "Figures," she mumbled under her breath.
Do the right thing and please review. I love getting reviews; they really encourage me to keep going. (*Nudge, nudge, wink, wink*).
Chapter 10: Twisted Turns
Jareth pushed on through all the cobwebs and skeletons blocking his way down a corridor. He was wet and his long blonde hair kept falling and sticking to his eyes. How he wished he could use his magic to dry himself. He suspected that Sarah was somewhere above him, oblivious to the fact of where he was. A noise to his left alerted his awareness, and he turned in that direction and called out, "Who's there?" All of a sudden a large leathery looking creature with glowing sickly green eyes leapt out at him and went for his throat. As he started to black out his last thought were, 'Please don't let Sarah have come down here.' Meanwhile, Sarah was down where Jareth was, quite unaware of the fact that creatures, hungry, bloodthirsty creatures, were lurking in the dark all around her. They were ready to strike out for the kill. That's what the creatures thought at least. Sarah had an uncanny ability to see in the dark. She had attributed it to the fact that she almost had catlike eyes. She knew the creatures were watching her, and she knew she had to get out of there fast. If only she could find some source of light. Presently, she became aware of the sound of rushing water. She followed it to the left where it seemed to branch off to the outside. This was it. It was her way out. 'But, what about Jareth?' she asked herself. The creatures seemed to be getting restless; she could see it in their crazy green glowing eyes peering out from the dark. Gathering her courage, well, what was left of it at least, she opened her bag and searched frantically for something resembling string. In the pocket in the front she found a thing of dental floss, so she took out a little and attached it to a rock she found beside the stream. Pulling the floss along she went to look for Jareth. A seemingly endless corridor stretched before her and angled down, but Sarah trudged along, hanging desperately on to the floss, her only lifeline back to the outside. She kept glancing about herself to make sure the leathery creatures were keeping their distance. Creeping along silently, she stepped on something that didn't crunch under her feet. It seemed to be breathing whatever it was. She crouched down cautiously and felt around. Her hand came in contact with someone that seemed to be alive. "Jareth!" she exclaimed happily. "Sarah?" Jareth wheezed. "Yeah, I'm here. What happened to you?" she asked as she tried to help him sit up, one hand on him and the other making sure she had a firm hold on the dental floss packet in the other hand. "I was attacked by a creature. It drank some of my blood so I'm a bit weak at the moment. Do you think you could help me up?" he asked groggily. "Oh sure," she said, helping him to his feet. She grabbed him by the arm and started to pull him back the direction she had come, following the floss back. "That's quite clever, Sarah," Jareth remarked. "It's not rocket science. Just a little trick I picked up in girl scouts," she replied sardonically. Making their way back through the corridor, they tripped and stumbled over bodies that littered their way, but made it unscathed back to the stream. Sarah noticed her bag was gone, but at least they hadn't taken the floss. The creatures must have thought the bag was a food source. "Jareth, I know you're weak, but do you think you can swim?" Jareth laughed scornfully. "Of course. I am the Goblin King after all." He dove into the water as soon as the words had left his mouth, and Sarah could hear him swimming towards the outside. She dove in after him before he could get too far ahead of her. "Wait up," she called out after him. "There's no need, the stream runs into a wall. Brilliant plan, love, but now what are we supposed to do?" he asked, treading water gracefully. "Hold on," Sarah said, plunging down and following the wall to the water below. Her hand felt along the coarse rock of the wall. The wall ended abruptly and turned into a narrow opening that was about 4 feet horizontal and 3 feet vertical. Making sure she could fit into it, and finding that there was adequate room, she resurfaced and told Jareth. "But, how do we know how far it is to the outside?" Jareth asked skeptically. "Look, I know that it's a bit risky, but it's the only way out. At least, the only way I know of. Come on," she said, taking a deep breath and letting it back out. Then she dived under to the opening and slid in. Jareth followed sullenly after her. What seemed like many minutes later, Sarah resurfaced outside of the cavern in a large lake surrounded by eerie looking trees. Their gnarled shadows twisted and lighted across the water Sarah was wading in. Jareth wasn't long behind her, and he surfaced just behind her. He looked sorely put out with his hair being wet. Swimming towards the bank, Sarah noticed every time she thought she was getting closer, it seemed the bank kept moving backwards. Perturbed by this change in reality, she turned back to Jareth and asked him if he noticed they weren't getting any closer to shore, even though by rights they should've made it there by now. Jareth replied, "What is that my wise man is always saying?" Sarah thought, it had been a while, then she blurted out as her mind suddenly remembered, "The way forwards is sometimes the way back!" "Right," Jareth agreed. Jareth and Sarah both turned so there back was to the bank, and then swam towards it. It was rather hard swimming backwards because the urge to turn around and look behind them was overwhelming, but when they did they'd have to start all over. It took them several tries, and exhausted from their efforts, they finally made it. Sarah sat down, her chest heaving. "Whew, talk about a work out." The shore was barren except for a few sparse trees here and there. The ground was soft and muddy, but stable enough to walk on without sinking into it. The land itself felt dead to Sarah as she sat on it. Overhead a black bird suddenly flew out of nowhere and landed on a branch and cawed at them, and then cocked its head to the side, which revealed an empty socket where a yellow slitted eye had once been. Sarah grimaced at the bird's misfortune, but before she could ponder it further the bird flew off. "I think the bird has the right idea," Jareth commented, his eyes trailing thoughtfully after it. "I know you're tired, but we must get going," he said to Sarah. Feeling a bit miffed, Sarah stood and glared. "I am not tired, just a bit winded is all, but I'm fine now. Let's go," she said, rubbing the dirt from her still wet pants. After walking around for a while and looking about themselves for any signs of danger, Sarah inquired, "How much further do you think it is?" Jareth shook his head, and put a finger to his chin. "I don't know." Their clothes were still a bit soggy, but not as much as before. Sarah's hair was starting to wave, and she had pushed it so it was contained over one of shoulders to the side. Jareth's hair on the other hand, was starting to look like it always did. For some reason Sarah wasn't surprised. The trees surrounding them were seriously spooking Sarah out, they moved sometimes on their own, even seemingly with the lack of wind. And, not only that, but also they seemed to be moving closer and getting thicker. Sarah pointed this fact out to Jareth, who just nodded his head in contemplation. Then he said, "I think they're just trying to scare us. Just, um, stay here for a moment." With that said, he walked over the closest tree, the gnarled misshapen branches dwarfing Jareth. Removing his gloves, he placed his hands upon the tree, then just as quickly as he had put them there, he took them away. Sarah stood a good distance away just watching. He walked back over to where she stood, and motioned for her to keep walking with him as if nothing had happened. Turning his head towards her, he whispered, "The trees have to see that nothing has changed, but I felt from that tree's life force that there's something in the trees. It's not the trees themselves that are moving them closer." Sarah was puzzled by this new information, and asked him, "What do you mean? I don't understand?" Jareth sighed. "I mean there's something in them, something living. The faster we get through the better." Looking around, Sarah gawked at that last statement. "OK, you're royalness, but how in the hell is that gonna happen when the trees are growing closer together?" "I have an idea," Jareth said, and stopped, and then walked over to a tree with the most branches. Lifting his leg up to the nearest branch, and pulling himself up, he started to climb the tree. Sarah stood below, watching him climb. Jareth looked below himself to see Sarah staring up at him, watching him curiously. "Sarah, love, don't just stand there, come one," he instructed. Rubbing her hands together to get them ready, she hoisted herself up after Jareth. Together they climbed until they got as high as they could go before the branches got too thin to support their weight. "OK, Sarah, I know this is gonna sound crazy, but we're going to jump off at the count of three. All right?" Sarah gave him a look as if to say 'that's right, you're crazy'. He sighed in annoyance. "Look, I can't explain how it works, we just have to do it. Now on the count of three we jump. One, two, three." Sarah watched as Jareth jumped off the tree but landed somewhere below her to where she couldn't see. "Jareth?" she called. Swallowing back her fear, she took a deep breath and then jumped. Somehow, as she was falling, the trees changed direction in front of her eyes, instead of falling towards the ground; she was falling towards the sky it seemed like. Then her feet landed on what appeared to be marble walkway and gravity shifted so she was right side up. Looking around, she was stunned to find what was a road of marble leading in between graves. The markers were obviously gravestones, so Sarah knew she had to be in graveyard. The thought gave her goosebumps. She turned in a circle, while trying to decide which way Jareth had gone. Cursing under her breath, it had suddenly became apparent that she wouldn't be able to figure it out unless he was to find her. A noise behind her alerted her attention, and she turned to find a little golden fox looking at her with interest. The gold color appeared to be radiating from a supernatural light surrounding the little creature. Sarah walked a little cautiously toward the fox, and bent down to show she didn't want to hurt it. "Hi, I'm Sarah, can you talk?" she asked. The fox grinned eerily and then replied in a sharp voice, "Of course I can talk, I'm a fox," he said, as if that explained it. "Oh, OK," Sarah replied, then stood back up. "Well, um, I have to find a friend. You haven't seen anyone around here that's tall, and has blonde hair and two different colored eyes have you?" Once again, the fox smiled a bit mysteriously and he said, "Follow me," and he trotted off past Sarah from the way she was coming. "Figures," she mumbled under her breath.
Do the right thing and please review. I love getting reviews; they really encourage me to keep going. (*Nudge, nudge, wink, wink*).