Chapter 2
Sitting in his throneroom, noisy goblin chatter all around, the King stared into a crystal intently, worry in his mix matched eyes. The crystal showed Sarah sleeping quietly in her room, a puddle of fresh tears on her pillow. He had watched her progress, or rather, regress, since the day she had left his realm. No, he thought with a sigh, since the day he'd lost her. Those thirteen fated hours had twisted the pure heart of the girl he loved and destroyed it. "Oh, my dear, sweet Sarah.. what has happened to you?" he whispered, barely audible.
He slammed an aggrivated fist down hard onto the stone arm of his throne, barely feeling the impact. A few startled goblins looked up and stared at their king in fear, but were ignored. He wanted so desperately to help her, to comfort her, to bring her out of this foolish self destruction she was putting herself through, but he knew that she hated him. She had proved that on the thirteenth hour. He looked sadly over her sickly thin figure, and threw the crystal against the opposite wall, the shards falling down onto a few of his startled subjects. He could not bear to see her this way. He stood and quickly departed the noisy room, seeking a refuge of quiet to contemplate the situation.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Upon awaking, Sarah sat up and glanced at the clock; 6:30 pm. Three hours she was asleep; she assumed her family would be gone to dinner. Good, she thought. She wearily stood, as if it was a terrible pain to leave the bed-her dreaming place-and slowly walked from the room. She headed towards the bathroom, where she kept her sleeping pills hidden-for she knew her father would take them if he found them. She felt lightheaded as she went down the staircase; she got like this on a regular basis now, during the longer periods when her father or Karen couldn't convince her to eat. At one point, they'd had to actually force feed her. Her foot slipped on one step and she had to grab hold of the banister to keep from falling. She made it to the bathroom after 10 minutes of slow steps and holding her aching head; the rumble in her starving stomache had long since become a normal thing, easily ignored.Rummaging under the bathroom sink for her pill bottle, she cursed to find it missing. Her father must have found it, again. No matter; she had more where that came from. She went to Toby's room; her father never thought to look there. Retrieving the bottle from his closet, she returned to her room. She sat on the bed and popped one white pill in her mouth and swallowed. Studying the bottle for a moment, she narrowed her eyes and began to cry again as -his- face popped unannounced into her thoughts. Thoughts of him always made her cry the most; how could she have been so foolish? She loved him, more than life itself, but had been too damn proud to admit it. She held tipped the bottle and poured a handful of pills into her hand, proceeding to take each one of them. She fell back on her bed and dropped the bottle. Maybe now she could sleep again. Ahh, sleep....
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jareth had a feeling something was wrong, that is, more wrong than it already was, and summoned a new crystal as he sat in his private chambers. Immediately Sarah's sleeping form was there, though she was laying more like she had been tossed on the bed. He examined the image more closely, and caught a glimpse of the pill bottle laying on her floor, and the way she didn't seem to be breathing normally. His eyes darted back to Sarah, renewed with fear. He dropped the crystal and was gone in a second, already in his owl form and flown from the window, as fast as his wings could take him, to the Aboveground. He would Not let any more harm come to her.. whether or not she hated him.
Sitting in his throneroom, noisy goblin chatter all around, the King stared into a crystal intently, worry in his mix matched eyes. The crystal showed Sarah sleeping quietly in her room, a puddle of fresh tears on her pillow. He had watched her progress, or rather, regress, since the day she had left his realm. No, he thought with a sigh, since the day he'd lost her. Those thirteen fated hours had twisted the pure heart of the girl he loved and destroyed it. "Oh, my dear, sweet Sarah.. what has happened to you?" he whispered, barely audible.
He slammed an aggrivated fist down hard onto the stone arm of his throne, barely feeling the impact. A few startled goblins looked up and stared at their king in fear, but were ignored. He wanted so desperately to help her, to comfort her, to bring her out of this foolish self destruction she was putting herself through, but he knew that she hated him. She had proved that on the thirteenth hour. He looked sadly over her sickly thin figure, and threw the crystal against the opposite wall, the shards falling down onto a few of his startled subjects. He could not bear to see her this way. He stood and quickly departed the noisy room, seeking a refuge of quiet to contemplate the situation.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Upon awaking, Sarah sat up and glanced at the clock; 6:30 pm. Three hours she was asleep; she assumed her family would be gone to dinner. Good, she thought. She wearily stood, as if it was a terrible pain to leave the bed-her dreaming place-and slowly walked from the room. She headed towards the bathroom, where she kept her sleeping pills hidden-for she knew her father would take them if he found them. She felt lightheaded as she went down the staircase; she got like this on a regular basis now, during the longer periods when her father or Karen couldn't convince her to eat. At one point, they'd had to actually force feed her. Her foot slipped on one step and she had to grab hold of the banister to keep from falling. She made it to the bathroom after 10 minutes of slow steps and holding her aching head; the rumble in her starving stomache had long since become a normal thing, easily ignored.Rummaging under the bathroom sink for her pill bottle, she cursed to find it missing. Her father must have found it, again. No matter; she had more where that came from. She went to Toby's room; her father never thought to look there. Retrieving the bottle from his closet, she returned to her room. She sat on the bed and popped one white pill in her mouth and swallowed. Studying the bottle for a moment, she narrowed her eyes and began to cry again as -his- face popped unannounced into her thoughts. Thoughts of him always made her cry the most; how could she have been so foolish? She loved him, more than life itself, but had been too damn proud to admit it. She held tipped the bottle and poured a handful of pills into her hand, proceeding to take each one of them. She fell back on her bed and dropped the bottle. Maybe now she could sleep again. Ahh, sleep....
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jareth had a feeling something was wrong, that is, more wrong than it already was, and summoned a new crystal as he sat in his private chambers. Immediately Sarah's sleeping form was there, though she was laying more like she had been tossed on the bed. He examined the image more closely, and caught a glimpse of the pill bottle laying on her floor, and the way she didn't seem to be breathing normally. His eyes darted back to Sarah, renewed with fear. He dropped the crystal and was gone in a second, already in his owl form and flown from the window, as fast as his wings could take him, to the Aboveground. He would Not let any more harm come to her.. whether or not she hated him.