Vengeful Nightmares
Chapter 2
Sarah wrapped another blanket around Hoggle as the dwarf hiccuped slowly to an uncertain stop. Her father came into the room with a mug of hot tea that had a nip of brandy in it, and silently offered it to Hoggle. The dwarf looked nervous; if this was Sarah's father, and he knew that it was, he would have a lot of questions…and Hoggle wasn't up to answering them. Not yet. He nodded silently, accepting the tea, and taking a cautious sip. It was good, and he felt his blood finally begin to warm. Remembering his manners, he muttered, "Thanks."
"You're, uh…very welcome. I'm Peter Williams, Sarah's father." He offered his hand, and Hoggle looked uncertainly up at Sarah, who nodded encouragement. The dwarf gingerly took Peter's hand, and gave it a brief shake. "Hoggle." He said a bit too quietly.
"Where's Dinah?" asked Sarah.
"Your mother's upstairs, looking through that book of yours." He replied.
Sarah scowled up at her father. That woman was not her mother! Hoggle looked confused, and seemed to be getting ready to ask about it, but Sarah shook her head firmly. The dwarf looked down into his mug.
"So, what's going on here, anyway?" Peter asked Hoggle, who blanched and shrank back. Sarah came to his rescue.
"Can we talk about this tomorrow? He hasn't slept in days; he's tired."
"Sarah, I think…"
"Daddy…please." Sarah looked him in the face, her eyes pleading, begging him to back off. There was something in her eyes and voice, something he knew he couldn't argue with; his wife often looked and sounded the same. He nodded, and left the room.
"So, that's yer Pop, huh?" Hoggle said.
"Yeah. Don't let him worry you. It's Dinah you'll have to worry about." She snorted indelicately.
Hoggle eyed her curiously, and asked, "Why d'ya call her by her name if she's your Maw?"
"She isn't. She's my stepmother. Toby's her and my dad's son, so he's my half-brother. My mother left us." She set her jaw angrily, and stared into the fire.
"Cor, I'm sorry. I din't know." Hoggle said hastily, putting his hand on her shoulder and giving it an awkward pat.
She shrugged, smiled sadly, "Yeah well…I guess it doesn't matter now. My stepmother isn't all that bad—ugh, did I just say that?" she laughed quietly, and Hoggle chuckled with her. "Thanks, Hoggle." She said, not even knowing what she was thanking him for.
"Well, ain't no use having us both bawlin' our eyes out in one night. Uh, Sarah?"
"Mm-hmm?" she looked back over at him, and saw him turning six shades of crimson.
"Don't tell anyone about how I…ya know…okay? In fact, forget I even…" he stammered, looked away.
"Okay. It's nothing to be ashamed of, though." She smiled gently.
"But I am." He looked up at her, as if challenging her to laugh at him. "So please, just forget it."
She smirked, gave his arm a playful punch, and said, "Sure thing. Your tea's getting cold."
"Oh." He took another sip, smacking his lips. "It's not bad." He said with a sappy grin, "What's in it?"
Sarah brought the mug to her nose, and recoiled. "Thought so. He put brandy in it." She returned his drink, and watched him gulp it down with some amusement. It smelled like there was more brandy in that mug than tea. "Not too fast. You'll be bumping into walls."
"Naw." He shook his head.
"Do you feel any better?" she asked him. He put the mug on the hearth, nodding.
"Then, why don't you get some sleep?"
Hoggle snapped his head up and looked at her in horror, shaking like a leaf. "I…I…No! Don't you understand? He can still reach me here! I can't, I…I just can't, Sarah!"
"But you can't stay awake forever, Hoggle." She told him earnestly.
"Just watch me!" he shot back.
"Hoggle…" she shook her head, "You can try and try, but you still won't be able to. Sooner or later, you'll drop off. I've tried that myself, just to see how long I could stay awake, and by day two, I just sort of…passed out."
The dwarf shook his head vigorously, worked his jaw as he tried to find the words to argue with her.
"Come on, I'll think of something. Just rest for now. I'll stay with you tonight, if you want."
"And tuck me in, I suppose." He sighed, giving in.
"If you like." Sarah gave him a teasing smile.
"Huh! Thanks, but no thanks." He stifled a yawn. Sarah left the room for a moment, and came back carrying a pillow.
"Here. We have a guest room, but it's warmer in here. I think you'll be better off."
Hoggle nodded, started to say something, and yawned again. He gave his head a shake, still fighting it. His head was on the pillow before he knew it, and he was nearly asleep when an ear-splitting wail sounded from overhead. He stiffened, stared wide-eyed at Sarah. "Toby…I forgot all about him. I'll be right back."
Hoggle lay trembling in the semi-darkness, wishing fervently that Sarah hadn't left him there alone. However, she returned in less than two minutes, holding the eighteen-month-old Toby in her arms. "Told you I'd be back. You've never met my little brother, have you?"
"Uh, no…" Hoggle propped himself up on his elbow as Sarah sat down beside him and put the baby down at eye-level with the dwarf.
Toby frowned at Hoggle, stuck out his lower lip, and looked up at his sister. "Amah?"
"It's okay, say hi, Toby."
The little boy looked at Hoggle again, and said quite clearly, "Hi!" The dwarf smiled, and Toby smiled back. "Hi! Hi, hi, hi, hi!" Toby clapped his hands, giggling.
"Cor…he talks already?" Hoggle looked up at Sarah, trying hard to wipe the smile off his face.
"Sort of; he says 'Mama', 'Dada', and 'Hi'. That's about as far as it goes. Look how proud of himself he is, though." She smiled. Just then, Toby reached out and grabbed Hoggle's nose. "Toby, no!"
Sarah put Toby on her lap, and after pouting up at her, he snuggled in for a nap. Sarah kept her attention on Toby for some time, looking up when she heard a snore; Hoggle had finally let himself drop off. Carefully, so as not to wake Toby, Sarah moved from the floor to the couch. This wouldn't be the first time she'd spent the night in the den.
Sarah was getting a little drowsy herself, when she heard her stepmother hurrying down the steps. Sarah tiptoed out of the room, meeting Dinah as she reached the bottom. Dinah froze, fixing Sarah with a glacial stare. "What was Toby doing in there, with that strange man?"
Sarah returned the stare, and deposited her brother into Dinah's waiting arms. "Hoggle wouldn't hurt Toby, Dinah. In fact, he helped me get him back. He's my friend."
"Your 'friend', who gave you that drugged fruit and almost got you killed?"
"How…" Sarah shook her head, incredulous. Dinah shifted Toby so that his weight rested on her hip, and showed Sarah the page she had marked. Sarah glanced briefly at it, then flipped forward several pages. She held up the book, showing Dinah a line drawing of Hoggle sitting despondently by a small campfire in a junk yard, tears streaming down his leathery cheeks.
"Yes, I saw that. The point is, he poisoned you!"
"That's NOT the point!" Sarah snapped, her teeth clicking together on the last word. "Jareth threatened him! He didn't want to do it. He even tried to throw it away! You would see 'the point' if you had had to go through the Bog!"
"This 'Jareth' you mentioned, who is he?"
Sarah glared. "It's all in the book! Now, if you'll excuse me, I promised my friend that I'd stay with him tonight."
Dinah grabbed Sarah's arm, pulling her around bodily so that they were nose-to-nose. "Are you out of your mind? He can't stay here, Sarah! He's dangerous!"
"No he isn't! And he isn't staying long, just for the night. Daddy already said he could."
"Oh, just like that, without even asking me?"
More footsteps. Peter Williams came down, and judging from his red face, he had heard the whole thing. "Honey, let's give Sarah a chance to explain."
"But Peter!"
"Dinah…"
Dinah glared at both of them, angry that her husband wasn't taking her part. "All right, you're both against me, talk! Well, go on, you have my attention"
Sarah sighed. "Explain what? What happened a few months ago, or why Hoggle's here now? Maybe I should explain the last one. I beat Jareth, and for a while everything was fine. Toby was safe, and I could call my friends anytime I wanted to. I still can, but now something's going on in the Underground, and Hoggle came to me for help."
"Oh, help? Huh, no…" Dinah shook her head, and her husband held up a hand and indicated that Sarah should continue.
"It's because of me…Jareth's angry that he lost, and since he can't touch me he's gone after my friends. He's giving them nightmares, which are coming true, and Hoggle wished himself here. If you could have seen his face..."
Peter shook his head slowly, "I'm not denying that he needs help, but I don't know about this, Sarah. I mean, what do you plan on doing?"
"I don't know. He didn't tell me all of it."
"Why not?"
"Well…"
"Never mind, Peter." Dinah sighed, giving her husband the baby and heading back up the stairs.
"We will talk about this tomorrow, Sarah." Peter said firmly before following his wife. Sarah's shoulders slumped. "Right."
She returned to find Hoggle still snoring away on the floor. She absently touched his forehead, drawing back when he grunted and twitched in his sleep. He didn't wake up, however, and Sarah breathed a sigh of relief. Glancing out the window, her eyes were drawn to something that shimmered on the sill.
Sarah's heart turned over, and she felt her feet moving of their own accord. She picked the object up, and saw that it was a book bound in blue leather, with silver letters reading, 'Sarah'; below it was a silver owl inside an open window. Looking up, Sarah saw nothing outside. Drawing the curtains shut, she sat down beside Hoggle and shook with a sudden case of the chills, her face aglow with cold sweat.
"Damn you, Jareth…" she whispered.
"Did I hear my name mentioned?"
Sarah whipped around, but saw no one.
"No, dear one, I'm not in the room with you. I can't come in unless you invite me." The voice was inside her head, she realized.
"Like that's going to happen!" she thought viciously at him.
"Now, Sarah, be nice. Open your book. Read your story."
"Leave me alone."
"Don't you want to know what's happening to your little friends?" He asked pleasantly; she could imagine him smirking at her.
"Please, leave me alone!"
"Look at you. You're begging! Shame on you, my dear." That laugh!
Hoggle began to thrash about in terror, and Sarah saw a diaphanous nightmare creature hovering over him. It was a gigantic version of the fairies that lived near the labyrinth's gate. The sight of it made her stomach churn, the sheer malice in it's shining eye sockets striking something deep within her, a primal fear and the urge to run. In the Underground the creature would have had substance, but Jareth's power wasn't as vast in Sarah's home.
"Leave him alone!" She ground out, protecting the sleeping dwarf with her arms so that the creature backed off.
"Read your book!" Jareth snapped back angrily.
"Fine!" She opened the book, a note fell out into her lap.
"Good girl." The voice whispered sibilantly as it faded.
"Sarah?" Hoggle murmured, sitting up. He saw Sarah looking at a piece of paper, saw the book, and began to shake. "Sarah…what…"
"A gift from You Know Who." She whispered back, not looking up. She read aloud,
'Dearest Sarah,
I am very hurt by your rejection. Never before has anyone dared to defy me.
You are a strange one, Sarah. I have yet to figure you out. Last time we did things your way.
Now it's my turn. You can stop all of this by giving yourself to me, but as that probably
won't happen, I anticipate a deeply enjoyable game coming my way. Come back to the
Underground, play my game. The book will tell you all you need to know.
X's & O's,
Jareth'
"Hoggle, please don't cry again." Sarah implored, touching his shoulder.
"I ain't cryin'," he protested, shaking her off. She backed off, knowing what his moods were like. She glanced at the book; the silver letters winked at her as if to say 'read me'. Hoggle had managed to keep himself under control, and looked back to see her staring down at the book. "Sarah, you ain't thinkin' about readin' that thing, are ya?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. I can guess what you would do with it." She replied, glancing meaningfully at the fire. The same thought had occurred to her, but now she didn't dare.
"So, why don't you?"
"I think you know the answer to that, Hoggle."
The dwarf snorted sarcastically, "Sure, yer crazy."
"No, Hoggle, I'm not crazy. He talked to me. He told me to read the book, and when I told him to back off he gave you that dream. I saw it, Hoggle! I don't know what to do, but I can't destroy this." Her voice broke, and she let her head fall into her hands. She didn't see Hoggle's jaw go slack, or his look of sheer helplessness. He looked like he wanted to escape, but where could he go? He rose somewhat unsteadily, hesitated, and smoothed back Sarah's brown hair with one hand while the other hand scratched the back of his neck.
"I'm sorry, Sarah. I wasn't thinkin'. I knows you ain't crazy, I don't know why I said it."
Sarah rubbed her eyes and looked up at the dwarf, whose look of relief was so comical that she almost smiled. If his tears had made her feel uncomfortable, she could only imagine what hers did to him. "It wasn't that, Hoggle. Not you at all." She took his hand and gave it a brief squeeze. "I'm just worried about you guys, that's all. Hoggle! Do you know how Ludo and Sir Didymus are? Are they all right?"
He grunted and shook his head. "We went our separate ways after that business with Jareth. Ludo went with Didymus and that dog of his. I don't know where they went to." He shrugged apologetically. Sarah's posture sagged a bit, but she sat up almost at once, and seemed to be thinking. Hoggle sat down again, but he knew that sleep was now impossible.
Sarah opened to the title page, and saw a line drawing of the Goblin King himself staring back at her. The drawing winked at her, and the border began to glow. The drawing turned into a window of some sort; the scene was moving, reminding her of that Stephen King movie, 'It', where the killer clown Pennywise was on the warpath. In the movie, It could make any number of things happen to feed its insatiable appetite for raw child flesh. One thing It did was make an old photograph come alive, in an attempt to scare the 'Losers Club', the group of seven kids who eventually defeated it, into submission. She closed the book, and muttered, "Tomorrow."
"What?" asked Hoggle.
"I'll figure this out tomorrow." She replied. She put the book down on the coffee table, and asked Hoggle if he would like something to eat.
The dwarf nodded, "I'll go with you; that book's givin' me the creeps." He got to his feet, and followed close behind her. Both were dismayed when they got to the kitchen; Mr. Williams was sitting at the kitchen table, eating a cheese sandwich. He looked up to see Sarah standing in the doorway, and Hoggle half eclipsed by her right leg. "I thought you'd be in bed by now." Sarah said by way of a feeble explanation.
"Ditto. Come on in, have a seat."
Sarah looked down at Hoggle, nodded in the direction of the table, and headed for the fridge. Hoggle had no trouble getting into the chair, which was rather big for him, and he nodded politely to Sarah's father. Sarah placed a ham sandwich and a glass of milk down in front of Hoggle, and got an apple for herself.
"So, tell me about this Jareth guy."
