Sarah lay down on her bed after seeing the last of her friends through the mirror-portal. Tired but happy, she fell asleep thinking of the next time she'd call them.

An owl's wings beat against her bedroom window, the mighty blows threatening to break the glass.

Sarah got up to open the window, feeling as if someone else was controlling her body. Her mind ran frantically, "No, that's Jareth! I don't want to see him, I BEAT him!" but her body just kept walking.

She watched her hand reach out to the clasp, and open the window.

The control of her body was released, but all she could do was duck her head and close her eyes'not wanting to see the man who'd almost won.

He stood right in front of her; white feathers billowing in mage-born winds, and beautiful face sporting the usual haughty expression, but only for a moment.

He reached out to place gentle fingertips underneath her chin, and lifted it so that she was looking at him. As her eyes met his, his face softened, became full of longing. "Sarah, I need you, I love you. Please come back to me."

Before she could even begin to think of a response, he was gone.

She woke up gasping for breath, sitting up in bed, and eyes full of tears she didn't understand. She reached blindly to her bedside table to grab a tissue and flip the switch on her little lamp.

Laying back against her pillow, she thought she'd have trouble getting back to sleep. When she closed her eyes, all she could see was his face.

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"Sarah!" Karen called up the staircase, waiting for her step-daughter to come to her summons. "Sarah!" She turned to look at her husband, and frowned. "Why isn't she coming down? She knows I need her to look after Toby.

"She's probably still sleeping. I'll go wake her." He walked up the stairs, wondering if his wife and daughter would ever get along.

As he got to Sarah's bedroom door, he knocked gently. "Sarah, honey? You need to get up now."

He waited for a few moments, but when Sarah didn't reply, he opened the door.

She looked like she hadn't slept in weeks; her eyes had black bags under them and her skin looked almost transparent.

He backed out quietly, and walked downstairs to talk to his wife.

"Karen, we need to get a babysitter for Toby today."

"Absolutely not! We can't afford it right now, and it's Sarah's responsibility to watch her baby brother. She knows that, and so do you."

"Look, she's exhausted. You need to lay off her for a day so she can rest."

Furious, Karen stomped up the stairs and threw her step-daughter's door open. Stalking across the room, she pulled the comforter from Sarah, and began shaking her shoulders.

Bleary-eyed, Sarah woke up to see Karen's angry red face above her. "Wha? What's going on?" she managed to ask.

"You have to get up now! You're just a lazy teenager! How could you sleep in when you know I need you to watch your brother? He's about due for his bath, and your father and I need to go to work so we can support you." Fuming, she stood back to watch Sarah get out of bed.

Stumbling, Sarah managed to climb out of bed and wake herself up enough to talk to Karen. "I'm awake. Go to work, I'll give Toby his bath."

Karen just stalked out the door, while Sarah's father stood there looking at her with a slightly pitying expression on his face. He reached out to touch her face, gently tracing his fingertip over the dark bruises under her eyes. "Are you sure you'll be ok to watch Toby?" he asked, doubtfully.

Sarah smiled, knowing that her dad would pay for a babysitter and catch hell from Karen when she found out about it. "Yes, Dad. I'll be fine."

He turned to look at her as he walked out the door. "I'm sorry Sarah."

Five minutes later, Sarah had her brother in one hand, a breakfast shake in the other, and she was running the water for his bath. She sighed as he started to cry, and set the shake down so she could undress the baby.

She absently ran a hand under the faucet to make sure it wasn't too hot or cold, and set Toby in the tub.

White wings flapped around her head, and his beautiful face floated in front of her. "I need you, Sarah."

She shook her head to clear her vision and looked down at the tub so she could continue Toby's bath.

Toby was floating; his little face blue.

With a cry of horror, she lifted her baby brother out of the tub and ran downstairs to call 911.