Hitting the lights she missed the blood streak her fingers left behind. In the artificial light she took in the full damage of the Fae King. It was enough to make her sick, his shirt. The shreds that made it up that was, were blood stained. As she ripped away the last of the fabric she had to look away. He had been whipped, that much was obvious, and many of his wounds were infected. Running back to her kitchen she set a kettle of water to boil, pulling her glove off she buried it under some trash. Thrusting her hands into the sink she began scrubbing the dried blood from her arms and hands. Finding clean towels and rags she prepared to play nurse Sarah. Once the whistle alerted her to the steaming water she poured it into a bowl and returned to Jareth's side.
By the time she finished her water was cool, and it was blood red, after dumping it and rinsing the bowl Eve and Evan made their way through the front door.
"Miss Wills! Can we ask you…?" Even began.
"You don't look so good. Are you feeling ok?" Eve enquired, cutting of her brother. Sarah poured herself a mug of tea and filled a second with chicken soup.
"Peachy." She murmured, knowing that the only three that would know the meaning were dead. "Could you two keep it quiet? There's soup on the stove and you have free rein of my video collection. All I ask is that you keep the noise down." Both nodded and she returned to her now shared room. Pulling a chair next to the bed tried to prop the Fae up. Bringing a spoonful of broth to his lips she endeavored to get him to eat something. She was able to get nearly half the mug down his throat before he stopped swallowing anymore. She finished the now cold soup off and drank the rest of her tea in silence. She couldn't let herself feel the grief; she would scare the kids if she did. She would make Morvid pay for the murder of her friends. Leaning forward she laid her head in her arms on the unused portion of the bed. There was room for two but she had no intention of chancing accidentally hurting him in her sleep.
Eve looked to her brother as the door shut. 'She didn't look so good.' She whispered, pouring herself some soup and taking a seat at the table.
'And I really wanted to as her. Do you think she could be her?
Looked enough like her, except for the scars. It makes sense though; she's rich and says she lives off her savings. Lets look for that movie.' Neither child could believe that the 'Miss Wills' they had befriended could be a movie star. But the 'Sarah Williams' that had graced the preview to a movie they didn't see looked an awful lot like her. Just without the damage from the car wreck. They spent the rest of the night looking for movies with 'Sarah Williams' in them and they had quite the pile stacked when they went to bed. After the first few discoveries that had noticed one key thing. All of the videos Sarah had been in, had never been opened.
Jareth winced as the light struck his eyes. Turning his head he felt it sink comfortably into the pillow. It was only then that he took a deep breath, the pain that laced the action brought the recollection of his imprisonment. Eyes shooting open her felt confusion take control; he was in a small bedroom. The rising, or was it setting? Sun was shining from a window; he pretended to be resting when a door opened. The soft steps of bare feet on a smooth surface approached and he began to wonder if this was another of Morvid's illusions. A cool hand touched his brow and the sound of falling water met his ears.
"You are one tough cookie." A feminine voice whispered. Opening his eyes he had to squint at the sun behind her head. Allowing his to view only her darkened silhouette. The god awful herbal brew met his nose as she wiped his chest down with the scented liquid. "It's been a long time Goblin King." She whispered.
"Sarah?" He croaked, knowing that it had to be another nightmare, but some part of him wanted to believe.
"You remember me? I'm flattered."
"This is another illusion." He growled, he wouldn't not be fooled a second time.
"Sorry, you're wrong. This is real. You are out of that torture chamber. You are no longer in the Underground. You are in my bed. And you are being tended to by me." The laughter of children outside her door reached their ears and her head tilted in that direction. She had had children, the thought made his heart break, she had born the heirs of another man. She had been striking at sixteen; he could hardly wonder what she looked like now. Kids eventually would have been in the outcome. "I'm beginning to wonder about those two." She muttered suspiciously to herself. "In front of the TV all day." He could hear in her voice of her knowledge of young ones, he was sure she was a good mother. "Are you hungry? I've given you broth 'til now and I don't know what you can handle."
"Famished." His stomach emphasized his point with its announcement. She laughed softly, a soothing sound to ears that had only heard cruel laughter for so long.
"Here then, I was going to eat it myself but you woke up." He handed him a tray and the only thing he recognized was the bowl of fruit. "It's milk, grilled cheese sandwich, and fruit. I promise, if you eat it you won't end up in a masked ball." His lips curved at her wry humor and he popped a pear into his mouth. The soft knock at the door reminded him of the children.
"Miss Wills? I think we broke the VCR." A boys voice came from behind the wood.
"Sorry!" A young girl called from somewhere. Sarah shook her head and glanced to the ugliest bracelet he had ever seen, on her wrist.
"I don't care, I think it was just overheated. Go outside and play for an hour. Then baths and bed you two." He heard the mock groans and then the noise from the window of children running. Sarah closed the shutter and window and left for the door. Pausing she turned slightly, giving him a view of the left side of her face. "I have to clean the kitchen, I found you something you can change into. I'd rather you not use any magic in my home if you don't mind. The bathroom is the first door on the right." She almost left but stopped one last time at the door. "Your chest may have healed a lot since I brought you here but its still not fully healed." She slipped out of the room after the 'don't do something stupid' warning. Shaking his head he decided it was best to indulge in a cleansing. Avalon only knew what would happen next, and even then he wondered.
Took a LONG time I know but tonight I am in the writing mood so you'll just have to wait and see what I do next. REVIEW. Love it hate I don't care tell me and tell me WHY.
Oh yes someone asked if I got the scar idea from some book or something. The answer is no, tho not truly an original thing I didn't get it from any one place. I thought it would make for a different story. I think it has. REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
~BUM~