Vengeful Nightmares

Chapter 17

Jareth opened his eyes when the yammering and jeering was suddenly cut off, and found himself alone once more. Crawling over to his bathtub, he pulled himself into a sitting position and turned on the hot and cold water. There was a time when he could have done this simply by thinking, but no more. It took everything he had just to put the rubber bath plug in place, and the effort caused him to have a brown out. The room faded momentarily to gray, than came swimmingly back into focus.

"Goblins!" he called hoarsely, "Goblins, to my aid!"

The room made a violent tilt, and he lost himself in the nothingness of a full-blown black out; when he came to he found that he had been stripped of his clothing, and six goblins were lowering him into the warm tub with a gentleness that hardly seemed possible.

"They's gone." One of them observed as he pinched his nostrils shut. "You's two guys get ridda the puke. Yer Majesty? What're yer orders?"

"I can't move…get me clean, and put me to bed." He said weakly. He was too ill and miserable to mind the indignities of his situation. The goblins, who as a rule shunned water, went about their task without complaint. One goblin held his head so that it wouldn't sink below the water, and then he found himself in his bed without any memory of having been put there. He was still naked; apparently the goblins hadn't thought to dress him in his nightclothes. He was also alone.

He was almost asleep when he realized why the nightmares had left him. "Sarah, no!"

* * *

I love him…

As soon as the words had left Sarah's mouth, both she and Hoggle found themselves losing consciousness. Hours later, Hoggle awakened to find himself alone and in another part of the city. "Angh…" he groaned as he sat up, his head feeling like it was going to hatch. "Sarah…Sarah!" he stood and turned in a circle as he tried to spot her. "Oh, no…Sarah! Saaaaarrraaaahhh!"

He shook his head, disoriented and confused. How did I get here?

The dwarf leaned against the wall of the round, stone fountain he had woken up beside, and closed his eyes in despair. Sarah, I'm so sorry…if I hadn't wished myself to yer home, this never would have happened. It's all my fault. For all I know, you could be…I failed ya…Oh, why did I do it!

"You got scared, Hedgewart." Came Jareth's voice, sounding weakly amused.

"Hoggle…Jareth?!" Hoggle jumped so suddenly that he slipped on a patch of ice and jammed his wrist as he tried to catch himself. Hissing through his teeth, he clutched his hand protectively to his belly. "Leave me alone, Jareth. I don't need this right now."

"But Sarah needs you. She's in danger."

"No shit." Hoggle snarled mentally. "We're all in danger, thanks to you. You kin do whatcha like to me, but it's true. You started this. You put me in danger, then you put Sarah in danger. An' I don't care if you kill me for sayin' so!"

"I don't want to kill you, Hoggle. You're the only one who can help Sarah, now."

"But I don't even know where she is!" he yelled aloud, tears blurring his vision.

No answer. Jareth was unable to maintain his connection, and had passed out.

"No! Tell me where she is!" Hoggle shouted, clenching his fists. "Jareth! Oh, damn you. Damn you!" he began to run, not knowing where he was going, not caring, as long as he found Sarah.

* * *

Sarah, meanwhile, was just changing to her cougar form, hoping to catch Hoggle's scent. By now she was easily able to identify his scent in the midst of all the others that lingered around her sensitive nose, but his scent had grown cold. She was in the same place where she had lost consciousness, but he had somehow been spirited away.

Sarah padded away from the wall and tested the air, her jaws slightly parted. The city was most certainly not deserted; she could smell the fae behind every closed door, and she had an idea that they were hiding. Pressing her tongue to the roof of her mouth, she curled her lips in a sneer and inhaled. "Cat urine," her nose told her brain, "A tom cat sprayed nearby." Her ears rotated back, and she cast a wary eye at the shadows. She half expected to see green eyes staring back at her out of an orange face; nothing.

"Hoggle," she called, extending mental fingers and hoping that he could answer her. Since she didn't know where he was, she didn't know exactly how to reach him. Jareth, for some reason, was much easier to reach; perhaps this was because her telepathic powers came from him, or it might have been that Hoggle's projective abilities were almost nonexistent. "Jareth. Can you hear me?" She waited. For a moment it felt like she had succeeded in reaching him, but he was either unconscious or worse. No; if he had died she would have felt it. So no help there. "Can someone help me?" she asked, sending to anyone who might hear her. "Allisande? Sister of Shiva, please help me!"

* * *

A shock wave rippled through the city, shaking foundations and knocking people to their floors. High, triumphant laughter followed the blast, and then all was quiet once more. Cautiously, two fae women sat up and parted the curtains a bit to look out. The younger of the two, who was not yet of marriageable age, turned to the other and said, "Did you feel that, Cousin?"

"Aye," said the other, who was approaching middle age, though she didn't look it. She was tall and rather heavy set, but not fat. Her voluminous robes could do nothing to disguise her muscular stature. She wore her red hair in an untidy braid, which came down to her backside; anyone who had the gall to suggest that she cut her hair was taking his life in his hands. Her expression was so serious that it bordered on severe, and it was sometimes difficult to tell when she was joking or when she was being serious. Like most fae, she resembled her animal form; this was Allisande, the only female fae to take the form of a bear. "It seems the balance has shifted, though not in the right direction."

Reaching into the dish to her right, Allisande crushed a walnut in her hand and picked out the nutmeats, squinting in the lamplight. She and her cousin Sharee sat in silence for hours, the elder cracking nuts for herself and the younger fae.

While Sharee fidgeted and shifted in her seat, Allisande just sat patiently, ignoring her cousin and waiting. Something was going to happen, this she knew, but she also knew that squirming around wouldn't make it happen any faster.

"Does it have to do with this Sarah girl?" asked Sharee, popping a perfect nut-half into her mouth.

"Most like." The other hedged, glancing up briefly. "I touched base with the other sisters, and Shiva has met with the girl. Prob'ly forgot to tell her that she had to tell 'His Royal Crankiness' to his face. Sarah must have confessed her love for him to someone else." She shook her head in disgust. "Leave it to Shiva to get it wrong."

"You don't like her, do you Alley?" Sharee pouted a bit.

"Yes, but that has nothing to do with it. What did I tell you about calling me that?" she raised one canted brow.

Sharee giggled, "Sorry. But what does this mean for the Underground? The dreams have already killed several."

"Not directly. Those people killed themselves. The last to commit suicide was some dwarf named Molger. I understand that his son is traveling with Sarah." She said, sweeping nutshells into her palm, where they quickly caught fire and were reduced to nothing. Not even ashes remained, and Allisande's hand seemed untouched by the fire. "In fact, he found out about his father just yesterday."

"Oh my," Sharee paled, "I hope this stops soon. I don't know how many more crying people I can tolerate."

"Easy, little rabbit." Her cousin smiled; Sharee's form was a cottontail, and she was every bit as jumpy as one. "As for what it means for the Underground…" she shrugged. "All we can do is wait and see."

"You wait and see; I'm going to bed." Sharee declared, heading upstairs. Allisande waved a hand absently, staring out the window. A cougar was crouching in the street, looking nervous and ready to kill anything that surprised it. It could have been Gyre or Roth, or maybe Darien, but she knew that it wasn't. Instinct told her that this was a female, and she had a good idea of who this might be.

"Can someone help me? Allisande? Sister of Shiva, please help me!" a voice cried, and Allisande fought the impulse to cover her ears.

"Wait there." Allisande sent, striding to the door.

"You hear that, Alley?"

"Stay here." Allisande told her cousin, opening the door and descending the steps. The cougar growled at her and she slowed her pace, holding out her hands to prove that they were empty. Instead of growing calm, the cougar snarled and raised one massive paw in case it needed to strike.

"Easy, Sarah. I want to help you."

"Show me your animal form." Sarah sent back, not lowering her paw.

Allisande frowned, but did as she was asked. Her form grew bulky, and in her place was an enormous, cinnamon hued grizzly bear. Rising up on her hind legs, she glared down at Sarah. "Satisfied?" she asked flatly. Sarah's pupils doubled in size, and she crouched back in fear. Allisande turned fae, and held out a hand to Sarah. "Where is your friend?"

Sarah shed her animal form, and stood. "How did you know about him?"

"Shiva told me. I'm Allisande. Come inside." She turned to go, but Sarah balked.

"I have to find Hoggle. I can't find to him with my mind, I tried!"

"Of course you can't. You're still human. You weren't born knowing how to do it. Let me try."

* * *

Hoggle gagged as a hand grabbed the back of his collar. "Going somewhere?" With a deft twist, Hoggle wriggled free and punched his assailant in the groin. The fae gave a high pitched whine and crumpled to the ground, clutching his private parts. This was a real fae, not a dream; Shiva had been right. He didn't wait around for the man to get up. Turning the corner, he strained to run faster. It didn't matter how fast he ran; he could sense something hovering over him wherever he went. He had been running for ten minutes, and finally he stumbled to a halt. Resting his hands on his knees, he leaned forward and coughed. He fell as someone punched him in the back, and when he looked up he saw his father holding his mother by the wrist.

"Hello, boy."

"Yer not real." Hoggle gasped, still out of breath. "Pop's dead."

The figure laughed as he twisted the woman's wrist, drawing a whimper from her lips as Hoggle recoiled from her punished face. "Well, of course he is, boy! You killed 'im." The man told him.

"No! I didn't kill nobody!"

"You killed me!" his mother cried, "If I hadn't been worryin' about you wakin' up, he never would have pushed me down the stairs!"

"Oh, you gonna cry now?" his father mocked, making a crying face, "Cry fer me, boy! Let me see how weak you are!"

Hoggle turned and ran, ignoring his mother's pleas for help. He knew that she was just a dream, but just the same he felt like someone had ripped his heart out and fed it to him. He had to find Sarah. He had to find Sarah…

"Run all you want, boy. You'll never get rid of us. It'll be so easy, just end it all! Use that knife you keep with you. No more pain. No more…"

"No!" Hoggle yelled, and in his distraction he lost his footing. He had stepped into a hole, twisting his left ankle so badly that he knew he wouldn't be able to get up. Gritting his teeth, he crawled under a bush and tried not to cry in his pain and frustration. He lay there for a good while, unable to move and hardly able to breathe. "Sarah…" he whispered, "You gotta be okay! Please, please don't be dead. Please…"

"Yeah, let's see some tears!" his father chuckled, looking down at him.

"Shut up." Hoggle growled.

"That's no way to talk to yer father, boy." The apparition said darkly, lightly cuffing the dwarf's head.

"You ain't my father." Pushing himself up on his elbows, Hoggle glared. "Whatever my father was, he loved my mother. He never…never hit her when he wasn't drunk. Back then he wasn't so bad. It was the whiskey that made 'im do things. After she died, I think he went crazy. Whatever it was, there's no way you're him. How dare you, passin' yerselves off as my parents! You know what you are? Yer nuthin'! Yer just dreams, so act like dreams and disappear!" He threw a handful of snow in the direction of the dream, but it was gone. Against his expectations, it had left him alone. Alone…now, that was something familiar. He was still up on his elbows, and he heard and felt his knife fall from his vest where it lay glinting in the snow. He stared at it for a long while, and when he became aware that he was actually considering using it on himself, he flung it away and buried his face in his arms.

"Hoggle." a voice sounded in his head.

"Sarah?"

"No, but she's with me. I'm Allisande. Stay where you are, and we'll come get you."

* * *

"There you are!" Sarah dropped to her knees, and helped Hoggle out from under the bush.

"You're all right!" he exclaimed at the same time. He was shaken and hurt, but seemed otherwise all right. He stumbled when she helped him up, and she caught him.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I…I twisted my ankle." He blinked, not wanting to let her see him cry again.

"I mean, how did you get here?" she clarified, sitting him down again so that she could inspect his injured ankle.

"I…I don't…don't know." he sniffed sharply, hiding his face from view. "Damn it! I…I'm sorry…"

Sarah just squeezed his arm gently, and rolled his pant leg back down. "It's not broken. Is the pain bad?"

Hoggle sniffled again. "It's fine."

Sarah saw something shiny lying half-buried in the snow. Leaning forward, she recognized it. "Hey, you dropped your knife." She said, reaching for it.

"Leave it!" Hoggle told her sharply, making her jump. "I…I never want to see it again!" he gave a sharp sob, and rubbed his eyes.

"What happened?" she asked softly.

"I…I don't want to talk 'bout it." He sniffed.

"Okay." She said simply, holding his hand as he took several deep breaths to calm himself.

Hoggle looked up and gasped. Not another one…

Allisande knelt down in front of Hoggle and silently put her hands on his ankle. He looked at Sarah, but she had her eyes on what the fae was doing. Allisande's hands began to glow red, and a gentle warmth soothed his pain and mended the soft tissue that was so strained. He sighed audibly, then became embarrassed when he realized it. He hadn't been able to help it, though; the pain was partly what had had him in tears, it was so bad. The relief was unbelievable. Allisande heard it, and smirked. "Handy little trick, isn't it?"

"I…I suppose so." He muttered, standing carefully. When he was satisfied that he could put all of his weight on it, he thanked her.

The fae nodded, and indicated the street behind her. Without explaining, she turned and walked away. Sarah told him to follow her, and she explained on the way who this fae was.

"But I still don't understand how we got separated." He said, spreading his hands, "Why didn't they just kill me? The dreams, I mean."

Allisande looked over her shoulder and replied, "Jareth took that ability away when Sarah first arrived this second time. Now all they can really do is scare you half to death, and fill you with notions of suicide."

Hoggle shuddered and looked away, but then he thought of something. "When we first got here, to this city, I mean…" he swallowed, "One of them turned into a cat and scratched me. If they can't touch us…"

"They can still injure, but they can't kill directly. It had something to do with how Sarah felt about you."

"Whaddaya mean?" Hoggle frowned.

"He knew she'd never love him if he'd killed you." she replied.

Hoggle looked away, feeling sick. He looked up when Sarah touched his shoulder, and forced a smile. It looked as fake as it felt. The dreams had almost succeeded in making him kill himself; once by moving his hands for him and stopping at the last second so that he would finish it himself, and once by verbal abuse. Neither time did they do the act themselves. The power was in his hands alone and, truth be told, he was frightened of it.

Allisande led them into her home, and set out a bowl of fruit and a pitcher of water for them. Sarah glanced at the fruits and saw apples, pears and peaches nestled together like eggs. She ignored the peaches and selected an apple. Hoggle, who wasn't hungry, sat back and closed his eyes. While he dozed, Sarah asked Allisande to explain what she needed to learn.

"Maybe you should ask me another question, Sarah. Like, 'how will I be able to save Jareth,' for starters."

Sarah looked down at the tabletop. "Well…I thought that by saying I love him, I could…" she trailed off, embarrassed.

"Close. You have to tell him that to his face, and you have to really mean it. All you did was draw the fiends to you. But as I said, they can't hurt anyone directly."

"But after that, will I have to marry him? I mean, I'm only fifteen!"

Allisande smirked, "That's putting the cart before the horse, but no, it's not a rule. Besides, in the Underground the age of consent for a human is sixteen; You're only a year away, should you decide to marry. If not, there are other ways of showing affection." Her smirk widened into a rare grin, and she winked mischievously.

Sarah cleared her throat, and glanced at Hoggle; the dwarf was asleep in his chair, his chin on his chest. "I'm curious; what's the age of consent for a fae?"

"Ninety-four. For dwarves it's thirty, and for elves…hmm…I'm not sure." Allisande said all this with a straight face, but Sarah got the feeling she was being laughed at. The fae's sense of humor was brusque, but not mean-spirited. In spite of herself, Sarah found herself beginning to like her.

"Now, the dreams…" Allisande prompted, cracking a walnut; the sudden noise made Hoggle jump. The dwarf rubbed his eyes and sat up.

"I jus' fell asleep, didn't I?" he asked.

"Yeah, but you weren't out long." Sarah told him. He blinked a few times, struggling to stay awake.

Allisande stood up. "I'll tell you how to deal with the dreams tomorrow. It can only be done when Jareth is healthy, but it will take both of you. I'll show you where you can sleep tonight."

"Wait…um, Shiva told us not to get separated." Sarah told her.

"I know. It's this way." She led them up the stairs, going slowly so that Hoggle could keep up, and opened the third door on the right. "Choose whichever bed you want," she said, indicating the two twin beds with one hand, "There's a bath through that door, and clothes in the closet. Though, I'm afraid I don't have any men's clothes." She said apologetically to Hoggle, who shrugged indifferently. "I guess that's about it." She left without saying goodnight, but that was lost on Sarah and Hoggle.

Sarah went to the closet, and found a long flannel night gown. It was too big, but she was too tired to care. She asked Hoggle if he wanted to go first, but he shook his head. She went in to bathe, and Hoggle climbed onto one of the beds, namely the one furthest from the window. When Sarah emerged in a cloud of steam she found him already in bed, his shoes on the floor, and his skull cap still on his head. He was so tired that he had forgotten to take it off. Shaking her head, Sarah removed it for him and put it on the night stand. Then she climbed into her own bed, and turned down the lamp. "Night, Hoggle."