(Apologies aren't enough and the list of reasons why I didn't get around to finishing are pointless and endless so...let's continue...)
Chapter XIX
Sarah had fallen asleep, her head resting upon her dressing table. Her other self slept opposite her in that backwards world, yet such a similar one...where both heroines had beat their fists against the sides of the mirror and begged for an answer. As one stirred, the reflection shimmered away and an old face watched with sympathy.
"Sarah, are you's awake?"
The young woman groaned sleepily and pushed back her hair as she sat up, her hands stopping at her ears at the sight of her friend. He stood clearly as though he were in the room with her but she knew that if she turned he would not be there. She gasped, at once becoming flustered.
"Hoggle! Oh, thank God! I thought I'd never see you again..." She trailed off. "Hoggle, what's wrong?"
The dwarf sighed deeply.
"Nuttin' Sarah," he mumbled. "We're fine as always. You's wouldn't be expectin' any less."
"What about Lynden? She-."
"Melted."
"Melted!" Sarah cried out in alarm, immediately hushing herself after hearing the door to Toby's room open. She resumed at a whisper when she heard it close again. "Melted? Then she's not-."
"No. As far as we's can tell, all we's needs to do is wait. Ludo's been watchin' what's there. She ain't dead. Didymus thinks she'll be pulling together pretty soon."
His friend exhaled in relief.
"That's...great. There's no word for it," she smiled wearily. She paused before adding, "And Jareth?"
This time the dwarf fell silent.
"Hoggle?" Sarah asked meekly. "He's okay, right?"
"Sarah, he-."
"What?"
Hoggle closed his eyes briefly and gritted his teeth.
"He was never any good to you's. There ain't no tellin' what he'd've done if e'd 'ad 'is way wid the world." The old dwarf tried to suppress the anger from spilling out. "'E deserved what 'e got! 'E should never've tried to 'urt you's!"
"Let me see him."
"Sarah, there's nothing we could-."
"Let me see him!" she screamed suddenly, having risen from her seat and struck the table with the base of her palms.
Hoggle nodded and replied, "Very well. If it's what you's wish."
The old dwarf stepped aside so that he was no longer visible within the mirror's frame. Sarah was left now with what the glass portrayed, a sight so harsh that her breath feared to escape her lips.
The Goblin King lay with the grace of a sleeping prince, his face ashen, eyes staring open but unseeing. His tattered, regal cloak draped his still form, cradling the pendant that nestled on his breastbone, the light long since faded from its centre. The girl he loved held a hand to her heart as though she thought it would burst, silent tears rolling down her roseate cheeks. She pleaded for her gaze to be returned, flitting between his eyes, his left - brown, the right - blue...
Unbeknown to her, the crystal ornament she had set upon her desk some inches away began to crawl.
Sarah frowned suddenly. Her mind was unclear from grief but something seemed too surreal. His face, she noticed whilst wiping away tears, was not right. Those eyes, they were - wrong. She knew, from looking into them upon so many frightful yet thrilling occasions, the precise distinction. For his left eye to look brown, which she was certain it wasn't, that would mean she was not looking at him at all...but in fact...
"A reflection," she breathed. "No...it can't be..."
Jareth faded from the mirror and Sarah's view was plunged into darkness. She turned slowly on her stool, drowning in hope. Her hand clamped across her mouth to stifle the choking noise that threatened. The Goblin King stood in the centre of her room with his insatiable aura that sought to bend all matter to its will.
"Jareth!"
Sarah forgot for the moment everything she had ever vowed and leapt up, throwing her arms about the ruler of the Underground and burying her head into his swathes of black. Even though the gesture was not returned, there was some sense of submission, a minute glint of compassion within him. He spoke softly.
"Sarah."
There was no reply from the girl he embraced, a simple tightening of her grip against his cloak.
"Sarah..." he repeated more sternly.
"Hmm?" came the answer eventually.
"If you would be so kind as to remove your foot..." he whispered icily.
The two of them glanced down at where Sarah's shoe trapped the hem of his cloak. The Goblin King expected her to move without question, as a matter of instinct but to his surprise, she remained resolute as always. Her angelic face lifted to search his own when she responded.
"Or you'll what?" she asked with bittersweet amusement. " 'Be forced to suspend me head first over your bog?'" She imitated his crisp British.
Jareth did not so much as blink.
"Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of sexual abuse."
The young woman exploded into laughter then bit her tongue when she saw that the supposed joker was not sharing her glee. She watched helplessly as the Goblin King's gloves clamped around her waist, lifted her from the floor and hurled her onto her bed. Sarah froze in terror and opened her mouth to scream. In the same instant, when Jareth launched towards her and the sound of her parents' key in the front door echoed from below, she snapped her eyes shut tight.
When Sarah opened them again, she was met with the predatory stare of a white owl perched upon her knee. Her breath caught inside her lungs when the chilling, autumn voice resonated softly around her walls.
"Perhaps some other time then..."
The owl emitted an eerie hoot, applied a slight pressure to her skin with its talons and then took off. Snatching the creeping scorpion from the desk, it passed into the mirror's molten silver surface and shattered the ambience of her room with a shocking silence.
Chapter XIX
Sarah had fallen asleep, her head resting upon her dressing table. Her other self slept opposite her in that backwards world, yet such a similar one...where both heroines had beat their fists against the sides of the mirror and begged for an answer. As one stirred, the reflection shimmered away and an old face watched with sympathy.
"Sarah, are you's awake?"
The young woman groaned sleepily and pushed back her hair as she sat up, her hands stopping at her ears at the sight of her friend. He stood clearly as though he were in the room with her but she knew that if she turned he would not be there. She gasped, at once becoming flustered.
"Hoggle! Oh, thank God! I thought I'd never see you again..." She trailed off. "Hoggle, what's wrong?"
The dwarf sighed deeply.
"Nuttin' Sarah," he mumbled. "We're fine as always. You's wouldn't be expectin' any less."
"What about Lynden? She-."
"Melted."
"Melted!" Sarah cried out in alarm, immediately hushing herself after hearing the door to Toby's room open. She resumed at a whisper when she heard it close again. "Melted? Then she's not-."
"No. As far as we's can tell, all we's needs to do is wait. Ludo's been watchin' what's there. She ain't dead. Didymus thinks she'll be pulling together pretty soon."
His friend exhaled in relief.
"That's...great. There's no word for it," she smiled wearily. She paused before adding, "And Jareth?"
This time the dwarf fell silent.
"Hoggle?" Sarah asked meekly. "He's okay, right?"
"Sarah, he-."
"What?"
Hoggle closed his eyes briefly and gritted his teeth.
"He was never any good to you's. There ain't no tellin' what he'd've done if e'd 'ad 'is way wid the world." The old dwarf tried to suppress the anger from spilling out. "'E deserved what 'e got! 'E should never've tried to 'urt you's!"
"Let me see him."
"Sarah, there's nothing we could-."
"Let me see him!" she screamed suddenly, having risen from her seat and struck the table with the base of her palms.
Hoggle nodded and replied, "Very well. If it's what you's wish."
The old dwarf stepped aside so that he was no longer visible within the mirror's frame. Sarah was left now with what the glass portrayed, a sight so harsh that her breath feared to escape her lips.
The Goblin King lay with the grace of a sleeping prince, his face ashen, eyes staring open but unseeing. His tattered, regal cloak draped his still form, cradling the pendant that nestled on his breastbone, the light long since faded from its centre. The girl he loved held a hand to her heart as though she thought it would burst, silent tears rolling down her roseate cheeks. She pleaded for her gaze to be returned, flitting between his eyes, his left - brown, the right - blue...
Unbeknown to her, the crystal ornament she had set upon her desk some inches away began to crawl.
Sarah frowned suddenly. Her mind was unclear from grief but something seemed too surreal. His face, she noticed whilst wiping away tears, was not right. Those eyes, they were - wrong. She knew, from looking into them upon so many frightful yet thrilling occasions, the precise distinction. For his left eye to look brown, which she was certain it wasn't, that would mean she was not looking at him at all...but in fact...
"A reflection," she breathed. "No...it can't be..."
Jareth faded from the mirror and Sarah's view was plunged into darkness. She turned slowly on her stool, drowning in hope. Her hand clamped across her mouth to stifle the choking noise that threatened. The Goblin King stood in the centre of her room with his insatiable aura that sought to bend all matter to its will.
"Jareth!"
Sarah forgot for the moment everything she had ever vowed and leapt up, throwing her arms about the ruler of the Underground and burying her head into his swathes of black. Even though the gesture was not returned, there was some sense of submission, a minute glint of compassion within him. He spoke softly.
"Sarah."
There was no reply from the girl he embraced, a simple tightening of her grip against his cloak.
"Sarah..." he repeated more sternly.
"Hmm?" came the answer eventually.
"If you would be so kind as to remove your foot..." he whispered icily.
The two of them glanced down at where Sarah's shoe trapped the hem of his cloak. The Goblin King expected her to move without question, as a matter of instinct but to his surprise, she remained resolute as always. Her angelic face lifted to search his own when she responded.
"Or you'll what?" she asked with bittersweet amusement. " 'Be forced to suspend me head first over your bog?'" She imitated his crisp British.
Jareth did not so much as blink.
"Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of sexual abuse."
The young woman exploded into laughter then bit her tongue when she saw that the supposed joker was not sharing her glee. She watched helplessly as the Goblin King's gloves clamped around her waist, lifted her from the floor and hurled her onto her bed. Sarah froze in terror and opened her mouth to scream. In the same instant, when Jareth launched towards her and the sound of her parents' key in the front door echoed from below, she snapped her eyes shut tight.
When Sarah opened them again, she was met with the predatory stare of a white owl perched upon her knee. Her breath caught inside her lungs when the chilling, autumn voice resonated softly around her walls.
"Perhaps some other time then..."
The owl emitted an eerie hoot, applied a slight pressure to her skin with its talons and then took off. Snatching the creeping scorpion from the desk, it passed into the mirror's molten silver surface and shattered the ambience of her room with a shocking silence.