AN: Wow, I got lazy again, shame on me! =) Anyway, review, yell, let me know ya'll
are still reading.
~Kei
************************* Take Me Away: Chapter Four **************************
It was cold in her mind. Sarah realized that first as she drew her arms protectively
across her chest. The ground beneath her was snow that crunched under the heels of shoes
she never thought to see again. Her full skirt rustled in the sudden chill breeze as
silk fluttered behind her in a trail of youth. It smelled like a forest, with trees and
damp, moist earth, but it was more of a Fun House, with hundreds of mirrors forming a
twisting corridor that refracted broken parts of her image endlessly into darkness.
It was dark too, night, and when she looked up she could see the stars shining faintly
against the perfect blackness of the sky of her dream. An owl hooted softly in the
background and she shivered as she stopped in front of one mirror.
She was dressed as she had been the last time she had truly dreamed, so long ago, in a
dress, a ball gown of illusion and fancy. Her fingers drifted up against her will to
rest on the surface of the mirror.
Sarah didn't even flinch as Jareth appeared in the mirror behind her image. He stared
out at her real form from his prison, gaze inscrutable but curiously soft. "Sarah, what
is this?"
She ignored the question and stepped closer to the mirror, close enough to study her own
brown eyes and the circles beneath them. "I look sad," she finally said as her hand fell
back to her side. Sarah broke the stare with herself to look at Jareth who was watching
soberly. "Why do I look so sad Jareth?"
He stepped closer to her reflection and put a ghostly hand on one elaborately embroidered
shoulder. "Tell me Sarah. I can't read minds and, no matter how often I think I have
you figured out, you constantly surprise me."
Sarah bit her lip and backed slowly away. "I… I don't know."
"I think you do. Why did you call me Sarah? Why did you wish yourself away?"
"I don't, I don't want to know… I don't want to remember!" Sarah continued to back away
until she bumped into the mirror behind her as Jareth stepped forward, forward, until he
was pressed against the mirror's glass on the other side, trapped with Sarah's receding
reflection, his hands helplessly trying to reach the woman who was crumbling before his
eyes.
The calm confidence, the dry wit were gone like the thin veneer they were. The Sarah
beneath the façade was a desperately vulnerable woman. The Goblin King didn't know if
this comforted, or frightened him.
Sarah started to run, from what he couldn't fathom, and he turned to run alongside her,
the mirror between them as Sarah labored, weeping, crying, attempting frantically to
escape from the memory of what had driven her to his arms and absolute power.
She ran. He ran. The mortal woman and Goblin King ran the pathways of her mind until
she collapsed in the snow, breathless, winded, her face red and tear streaked. Jareth
knelt at the edge of his side of the mirror. "Sarah?" he asked tentatively even as he
wished he could bridge the distance between them.
She seemed to be ignoring him as she fiddled with her hands as she sat in the snow, her
immense gown gathered in a torn and tattered train around her, a sea of pearl and gray
and silver dark against the white of the scuffed snow.
Sarah Williams looked up at the Goblin King and it was his turn to shiver as the
absolute desolate vacancy in the gaze. "I've had a very bad thirteen months."
"Sarah, tell me!" he commanded, tiring of his ignorance and the fragility of the woman
who was not the girl who had bested him so many years at a game she had barely
comprehended.
She swallowed and flinched at his tone but he did not soften his demand. Instead she
seemed to collapse inwards until she curled into a ball of sobs. The world around them
broke, shattered, like the dream, the nightmare it was.
Jareth ignored the glass and stepped forward to Sarah's side where he knelt, gloved hands
stroking her cheek. "Sarah… Sarah…"
**************************************************************************************
"Sarah… Sarah…"
Sarah woke with a start, jerked herself up in an instant and blinked, frightened,
confused, to find herself in an open and airy bedroom with stone walls and a fireplace
roaring to provide a steady source of heat. She was in the middle of a huge four post
bed, buried under piles of covers, and the Goblin King was sitting delicately at the
edge.
She processed it all in a moment, remembered her dream, and quickly sank back into the
pillows. "I really hate peaches. Really, really hate them."
"You never enlightened me and I'm running low on patience."
She groaned and started to sit up again before blanching, feeling sick, and lowering
herself weakly down once again. "Not now Jareth."
He snorted, content in his resumed superiority, but wary of this woman who was so full
of surprises. "You've become rather commanding in your advanced age."
Sarah sighed and rubbed her forehead. "My head hurts, REALLY hurts."
"I can't imagine why," the Goblin King replied dryly, "with all that going on inside it.
My head would hurt as well." He tapped his crop on her nose and she jumped with the
contact.
"Stop that," she snapped crossly. Jareth grinned, almost enjoying the turn this
unexpected visit was taking. "You don't have to be so damn smug."
"I'm going to be more smug when I find out exactly what you're up to."
"The only thing that's going to be up is my dinner. Some space would be nice. And some
tea."
"Green or decaff?"
"You're a cretin."
"Sugar?"
She shrieked as he laughed, cackled, almost like the Goblin King of old, from her
childhood, as he disappeared, leaving the smell of snow and winter forest behind. A tea
tray appeared on the edge of the bed where he had been, complete with green tea in a
saucer and two lumps of sugar on the side.
Sarah smiled despite herself but when she reached for the cup her hand still shook.
She wasn't sure if she had made the right decision, coming here, and it was a bad time
to start questioning herself about it because Jareth wasn't going to let her go now.
Now that the ball was in his court.
are still reading.
~Kei
************************* Take Me Away: Chapter Four **************************
It was cold in her mind. Sarah realized that first as she drew her arms protectively
across her chest. The ground beneath her was snow that crunched under the heels of shoes
she never thought to see again. Her full skirt rustled in the sudden chill breeze as
silk fluttered behind her in a trail of youth. It smelled like a forest, with trees and
damp, moist earth, but it was more of a Fun House, with hundreds of mirrors forming a
twisting corridor that refracted broken parts of her image endlessly into darkness.
It was dark too, night, and when she looked up she could see the stars shining faintly
against the perfect blackness of the sky of her dream. An owl hooted softly in the
background and she shivered as she stopped in front of one mirror.
She was dressed as she had been the last time she had truly dreamed, so long ago, in a
dress, a ball gown of illusion and fancy. Her fingers drifted up against her will to
rest on the surface of the mirror.
Sarah didn't even flinch as Jareth appeared in the mirror behind her image. He stared
out at her real form from his prison, gaze inscrutable but curiously soft. "Sarah, what
is this?"
She ignored the question and stepped closer to the mirror, close enough to study her own
brown eyes and the circles beneath them. "I look sad," she finally said as her hand fell
back to her side. Sarah broke the stare with herself to look at Jareth who was watching
soberly. "Why do I look so sad Jareth?"
He stepped closer to her reflection and put a ghostly hand on one elaborately embroidered
shoulder. "Tell me Sarah. I can't read minds and, no matter how often I think I have
you figured out, you constantly surprise me."
Sarah bit her lip and backed slowly away. "I… I don't know."
"I think you do. Why did you call me Sarah? Why did you wish yourself away?"
"I don't, I don't want to know… I don't want to remember!" Sarah continued to back away
until she bumped into the mirror behind her as Jareth stepped forward, forward, until he
was pressed against the mirror's glass on the other side, trapped with Sarah's receding
reflection, his hands helplessly trying to reach the woman who was crumbling before his
eyes.
The calm confidence, the dry wit were gone like the thin veneer they were. The Sarah
beneath the façade was a desperately vulnerable woman. The Goblin King didn't know if
this comforted, or frightened him.
Sarah started to run, from what he couldn't fathom, and he turned to run alongside her,
the mirror between them as Sarah labored, weeping, crying, attempting frantically to
escape from the memory of what had driven her to his arms and absolute power.
She ran. He ran. The mortal woman and Goblin King ran the pathways of her mind until
she collapsed in the snow, breathless, winded, her face red and tear streaked. Jareth
knelt at the edge of his side of the mirror. "Sarah?" he asked tentatively even as he
wished he could bridge the distance between them.
She seemed to be ignoring him as she fiddled with her hands as she sat in the snow, her
immense gown gathered in a torn and tattered train around her, a sea of pearl and gray
and silver dark against the white of the scuffed snow.
Sarah Williams looked up at the Goblin King and it was his turn to shiver as the
absolute desolate vacancy in the gaze. "I've had a very bad thirteen months."
"Sarah, tell me!" he commanded, tiring of his ignorance and the fragility of the woman
who was not the girl who had bested him so many years at a game she had barely
comprehended.
She swallowed and flinched at his tone but he did not soften his demand. Instead she
seemed to collapse inwards until she curled into a ball of sobs. The world around them
broke, shattered, like the dream, the nightmare it was.
Jareth ignored the glass and stepped forward to Sarah's side where he knelt, gloved hands
stroking her cheek. "Sarah… Sarah…"
**************************************************************************************
"Sarah… Sarah…"
Sarah woke with a start, jerked herself up in an instant and blinked, frightened,
confused, to find herself in an open and airy bedroom with stone walls and a fireplace
roaring to provide a steady source of heat. She was in the middle of a huge four post
bed, buried under piles of covers, and the Goblin King was sitting delicately at the
edge.
She processed it all in a moment, remembered her dream, and quickly sank back into the
pillows. "I really hate peaches. Really, really hate them."
"You never enlightened me and I'm running low on patience."
She groaned and started to sit up again before blanching, feeling sick, and lowering
herself weakly down once again. "Not now Jareth."
He snorted, content in his resumed superiority, but wary of this woman who was so full
of surprises. "You've become rather commanding in your advanced age."
Sarah sighed and rubbed her forehead. "My head hurts, REALLY hurts."
"I can't imagine why," the Goblin King replied dryly, "with all that going on inside it.
My head would hurt as well." He tapped his crop on her nose and she jumped with the
contact.
"Stop that," she snapped crossly. Jareth grinned, almost enjoying the turn this
unexpected visit was taking. "You don't have to be so damn smug."
"I'm going to be more smug when I find out exactly what you're up to."
"The only thing that's going to be up is my dinner. Some space would be nice. And some
tea."
"Green or decaff?"
"You're a cretin."
"Sugar?"
She shrieked as he laughed, cackled, almost like the Goblin King of old, from her
childhood, as he disappeared, leaving the smell of snow and winter forest behind. A tea
tray appeared on the edge of the bed where he had been, complete with green tea in a
saucer and two lumps of sugar on the side.
Sarah smiled despite herself but when she reached for the cup her hand still shook.
She wasn't sure if she had made the right decision, coming here, and it was a bad time
to start questioning herself about it because Jareth wasn't going to let her go now.
Now that the ball was in his court.