Brrrr, it's cold. . I don't like cold. It's not fun. *kills the snow* Anyway, I'm here with chapter 10!!! Thanks for all your support, and I got a particularly good laugh out of "With Dragon and Sarah's comment about things heating up. Sounds like barbecue." Thanks, draegon-fire! ^.^ Dragon will become more important later…and just fyi, this chapter is kinda slow. However, it IS important. Hope you enjoy; on with the show!
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Sarah didn't stop until she reached the school. There, she saw Melissa, waiting for her by the entrance.
"Hey!" She called.
Sarah was too out of breath to answer. Bent over double, she tried to catch her breath and stench the flow of salty water streaming from her eyes. Her hand wiped her face vigorously, but to no avail.
"Sarah? Oh my gosh! Are you ok?" Melissa took the steps nearly 4 at a time to get to her friend. "What happened?!"
"Bryan…and I…got in…a fight…" She panted. Her hair hung drearily in front of her eyes, but she made no attempt to move it. Maybe it would hide her tears from Melissa.
"Why?! Over what?!" Her friend screeched. "If he hurt you, I'll-"
"No no, nothing like that," Sarah reassured her. Air was coming to her lungs more easily now, but her eyes still flooded like a handful of dirt had been thrown in her face. A hiccup shook her entire body. She tried to laugh it off, but it just came out as a constricted whimper.
"Sarah, it's ok, it's ok!" Melissa put her arms around her friend.
People were stopping and staring at the two from all directions. Melissa glared back at them.
"What?!" She yelled. "This isn't a freak show! Move!"
Her classmates slowly started to shuffle away, but most heads were turned and eyes followed them curiously.
"You didn't need to do that," Sarah muttered. She really DID feel like some sort of a freak show.
Melissa snorted. "They only want to watch so they can gossip about it later. What a great bunch of people."
Only a hiccup from Sarah.
"Come on," Melissa pleaded. "Tell me what happened."
Not again…
"Sorry, but I'd…rather not." There didn't need to be any more people sucked into this madness than had already been. She already regretted telling Bryan.
The brunette considered arguing, but she took one look at Sarah and decided against it. "Whatever you say. Hey, do you wanna cut school today? I'll hang out with you, and it'll give you time to think."
"Nah, thanks. My mom would have a fit." Sarah glanced up at her friend with an obviously forced smile. "I'll be alright."
Melissa rolled her eyes, but smiled. "If you say so. But you know, my offer will still stand any time you want…"
"Yeah yeah, I know, I know. You're always looking for an excuse to cut class. I'll see you after school, ok?"
"Sure."
Sarah turned and walked slowly into the building. Her feet seemed to be made of lead, and it took every ounce of strength she possessed just to put one in front of the other. After what seemed like an eternity, she arrived at Mr. Hindenburg's first period English class.
"Gooooood morning, Sarah!" He exclaimed as she tossed her stuff sullenly down on the ground. "How are you?"
"Fine," she grumbled. I hate teachers…
"Good!" With a smile, he turned back to his lesson plan.
Deciding against giving him a rather rude gesture, Sarah sat down on the cold seat, put her head on her arms, and waited for the bell to ring.
The class came in simultaneously, all chatting about this or that. She ignored all the greetings she received and chose instead to fascinate herself with a fleck of eraser dust she found on the desk. Things would get more interesting when Jareth arrived.
Mr. Hindenburg started to take attendance. As usual, Sarah tuned out.
"Alright! We have record attendance today," the peppy teacher exclaimed. "Only three absences; Lindsay, Bryan, and Jareth."
What?! Sarah's dark brown head shot up. She looked around wildly. It was true: they were all missing.
That's right! I went to Lindsay's house yesterday, then HE appeared. Then she…she…KISSED HIM! Where could they be?! WHY IS HE WITH HER?! And Bryan…why didn't HE come to school? I just SAW him! Something very weird is going on…
Abruptly, she stood up, disregarding the stares of her classmates. "I need to go to the bathroom," she announced. Without waiting for the teacher's consent, she got up and ran from the room.
She kept running until she got all the way to 31st street. The neatly polished wood groaned under her weight as she ran up the steps to Bryan's house and hammered on the door.
No answer.
"Bryan!" She shouted. "This isn't funny! If you're in there, come out! NOW!"
Still no sign of life from the house.
Sarah waited, hoping for one of Bryan's parents or he himself to come to the door. However, she couldn't imagine why his parents would be home; they both worked long hours.
"UGH!" Sarah turned on her heel and bolted down the road towards Lindsay's house. A few minutes later, she was at the cheerleader's mansion.
"Lindsay! Come out! I want to talk to you!"
The door opened, and there stood Mrs. Marrin.
"Why Sarah, what a surpise," the plump woman said. "But aren't you supposed to be at school-"
"No time. I need to talk to Lindsay."
Mrs. Marrin gave her a sidelong look. "Lindsay's at school, is she not?"
Oh man! Sarah thought. Even SHE doesn't know! Ok, Sarah, time to act like you've never acted before!
"Uh, oh yeah, heheh…I guess I forgot about that." A sheepish grin spread across Sarah's face. "I'll see her in school then, I guess."
"I'm sure you will." But Sarah was already down the street and out of sight.
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Sarah didn't go back to school. Instead, she had gone straight home. All her neighbors had gone on to work, so she was alone once more.
"What's going on?!" She screamed to the empty road. "Good lord, will someone just give me a clue?!"
"I will, if you wish it so."
Sarah whirled.
Jareth stood about two paces behind her; she could have reached out a hand and brushed his cheek, he was that close. She just stared at the Goblin King, mouth opening and closing.
He laughed at her comical expression. "Why the face?"
"You…you did this, didn't you?"
"You could say that."
"Where are Bryan and Lindsay?" She demanded. "Please, give them back!"
Jareth sighed. "I do believe we've had this discussion before. And if I said it once, I'll say it again. What's done is done, Sarah, and there's nothing you can do to reverse it."
"But I did before!" Her stubborn streak was definitely getting the better of her.
Abruptly the space between the two of them decreased dramatically. Jareth was so close now that Sarah could feel his soft breath on her face.
"Before, there was much less on the line, and you were not completely at fault for your actions. But now…now, two of the lives of the ones you hold dear are at your mercy. Not mine, not anyone else's, yours. We'll see how you react as the world really does start to fall down around you."
****
Lindsay watched impatiently as Dragon carefully examined the Labyrinth. He had been pointlessly poking around for nearly 15 minutes, and she was growing restless.
"Would you hurry up already?" The edgy feeling that something had gone horribly wrong had nagged at her ever since she had shook this new acquaintance's hand. Not to mention the fact that every sound made her jump as if a lion had seized her by the neck.
"Patience. The Goblin King may be a fool, but he's not one to be taken lightly. I am on enemy territory at the time, thus need to take all the precautions of an adversary." He leaned back, judging the height of the surrounding wall.
"Wait. You didn't say you were Jareth's enemy."
Dragon hissed and spun to face her. "Don't say that name in my presence," he growled, making the young girl shrink timidly back into silence.
A few minutes later, however, she got up the nerve to ask another question.
"Why are you helping me, then? I mean, I want…plan, rather…to be Jareth's consort. You know this, right? You seem to know everything else about me," she added dryly.
For the first time, Dragon didn't seem to have a snappy comeback. He stopped examining the wall of the Labyrinth for a while, then slowly turned to face her.
"Because things are not always what they seem, and neither are people. Maybe I'm not in this for Jareth." He turned back to the his task without a word.
Lindsay stared at him. "Oh, God, don't tell me YOU'RE in love with Sarah too!?"
Dragon flinched. "No," he said after a time. "But it's something like that."
Just then, the door to the Labyrinth sprung open, and Dragon bowed extravagantly to Lindsay.
"Welcome to the Labyrinth."
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I can't believe I've gotten this far! ^_^ What is Dragon talking about? O.O oooooh…intriguing! Lol, sorry couldn't resist.
