Whispers

One Step Forward, One Step Back

Disclaimer: Meh, same as the previous two chapters, nothing new here. I'll probably end up introducing some new characters and such, but they obviously belong to me. If you plan on suing me, you might end up with a spoon shoved in your eye, so watch me go.

Author's Note: Just me again, 'cause I'm teh coolest. Bad spelling and all, y'dig? Thanks for all the wonderful reviews, they honestly warm my heart and make me happy inside. Thanks to all my friends, too, for inspiring me to continue and whatnot. Shout out to Megs, you party sponge mongoose, you.

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All he could do was stand there, alone in the front lobby of the unfamiliar school, watching as Sarah swayed her hips angrily, storming off down the street. Was he being unnecessarily cruel? Perhaps. Though, in Jareth's vocabulary, 'cruel' took on a much more vicious meaning. This was merely toying with her, an activity that had become rather stimulating, even over the short span of fifteen minutes or so.

"She deserves it," he growled softly to nothing but the passing breeze, eyes following the ever-shrinking figure of Sarah, until she disappeared completely from view. She hadn't changed, it would seem; still the same frightened little girl, naïve and stubborn, who constantly complained about life and its twists and turns. Though over the past few years, Jareth himself could have been accused of doing the exact same thing, especially because of the ever true fact that life wasn't fair. Who knew? As though a breeze picked up, Jareth's hair rustled softly, the silver highlights dancing through it like a fish.

'You have no power over me ...' Those words still struck a powerful chord deep within him. Though they had no meaning in this situation, the fact that she had actually believed such a pitiful thing caused him to chuckle softly. 'I think you'll find, Sarah, that I have a lot more power over you than you assume,' he thought, a grin twisting across his angular face. She had asked him why he was here, and although Jareth proceeded to give a very nonchalant answer, he didn't quite know himself. Revenge was a possibility, as it was always a possibility. Love? Doubtful. He had lusted for her in a time long past, but that was over, swept away in the changing tides. If you had asked Jareth how he felt after she first walked into his life, the answer would have been much different than now. Yes, he thought that it was love.

Though, how can one love with a heart of stone?

Hair thrown about angrily with each step she took, Sarah's face grew increasingly red, probably a close indicator to how incredibly frustrated she felt. Sure, she may have acted childish in the classroom, but what the hell gave Jareth the right to come STROLLING back into her life suddenly? Not only that, but now, he was attending her school. 'Breaths, deep breaths,' she reminded herself slowly, the pace of her footsteps returning to normal as well. Normally, when unexpected, downright lousy things like this happened, Sarah would be the last one to react. But oh no, not this time. This time it hit her directly in the stomach, and Jareth knew it. Green eyes sparking with silent anger, Sarah turned her head upwards to look at the clouds ... anything to keep her mind off of what she had just been through. Why did he pick now to come back and pay a little visit? After all, recently Sarah had found herself feeling alright with everything for the first time in her life.

She had known that he survived from their last encounter. That much was obvious. It was almost as though she had been able to feel the slight glow of his presence in the back of her mind, something that she found both reassuring, and deeply frightening at the exact same time. Never, not once, had Sarah stopped believing in what happened those four years ago. People outgrew things like fairy tales and fantasy, but not her. Sure, Sarah had Aubrey to depend on ... sometimes, but he was always busy entertaining the idea of having six or seven girls madly in love with him, instead paying attention to her problems and worries. That's why her friends in the Underground had played such an important role in her life. No matter how tough things became, Hoggle, Sir Didymus and Ludo always seemed ready to listen and help Sarah to the best of their abilities. Possibly even Jareth had, in his own special way, helped Sarah get over the things in her life that she may not have overcome alone.

It wasn't more than about five minutes until Sarah found a small patch of forest, deserted of course, to collect her thoughts in. As soon as she set foot into the small grove, it was as though all the hustle and bustle of the city just melted away, leaving her alone with all the problems swarming around in her head. Such a pity that life couldn't just be turned off for moments at a time.

What a pity ...

'Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Williams,' a voice inside of her snapped sharply, returning Sarah to her state of unease. 'This is your fault to begin with, you can't blame anyone else but yourself.' Damn. And she was looking so forward to playing the blame game with Jareth, Aubrey, and anyone else who dared cross her path. Maybe if she was lucky, he would just get bored and ... leave her alone? Yeah. Right. Who was she kidding? Jareth quitting torture was just about as likely as Aubrey being gay, possibly even less likely. For once, Sarah was skipping school. Normally when people brought up skipping, when referring to her, it was followed by load, sarcastic waves of, 'Gasp, shock, horror!' That just about said it all. Karen was going to flip, right along with her father, the principal, her teachers, and half the student population. Greeeeat.

It wasn't that much to ask, right? Passing math class. Check. Successfully not snagging a boyfriend in three years. Double check. Living a normal life. Yeah right. Sarah having a normal life was just about as unlikely as her getting a date to the prom. And for those who didn't already know, that was going to be next to impossible.

Sure, she wasn't bad looking ... she hoped. Though it seemed to be true that your own perception of yourself is completely different than someone else. In that case, Sarah didn't want to find out how everyone at school and around town saw her. Maybe she was like the ugly duckling from that old children's story, who goes from awkward and ugly, to beautiful and graceful, something that she hoped for every day. Insecurities, something that Sarah seemed to be full of. If they did a documentary on how people perceived her, it would've gone probably something like this.

Random Student #1: Oh yeah, that Sarah chick. She's whacked out, y'know? All zoned out and quoting poetry and books.

Random Student#2: She's way weird. Probably a lesbian or something ... or in a cult.

Random Student #1: Dude, lesbians are hot. She's not hot enough to be a lesbian.

Random Student #2: Sorry dude, you're right.

And thus ended the strange workings of Sarah William's mind. Shaking her head slightly from side to side, watching as a few tangled locks fell out of her loose ponytail, she pulled a small leather-bound notebook out from the pocket of her jeans and cracked open the musty cover. Inside, she was able to distinguish slightly faded words lining each page, some of her own, and some of the previous owner, whoever that had been. It had sort of been like her little diary, though without the incriminating details especially handy for blackmail. God knows, Toby had tried. No, it was just something for little notes about her life, perhaps a good quote that she'd heard, or a song lyric ... maybe even a book title.

With a short, stubby pencil, Sarah wrote only four words down on a new piece of paper, diagonally across the page.

Why is he back?

'Why am I back?' he asked himself thoughtfully ... even though Jareth was still sure that he knew the answer. He always knew. Though, walking down the empty hallway back to the classroom, he actually felt confused for the first time in his life. What an awful feeling. And with that, Jareth swore never to feel confused again, though he doubted that it would be possible with what was happening around him. Taking a step inside the buzzing classroom, he turned his head towards Mr. Whyte, and with a shrug, said, "Sorry, sir, I couldn't find her." It was clear that the old fool bought his slight lie, accepting it, and returning to his lazy position. 'Dear God, why did I have to go to school. It would have been so much easier to just torment Sarah from afar.'

Unexpectedly, a sharp bell rang, followed by the loud shouting of "Go to class, and don't be late!" from the front of the room. Three guesses as to who it was. Or not. Walking out the same door he had just entered a moment ago, Jareth stood in the hall momentarily, feeling groups of students brush past him at every angle. Surprising how even during school, people could be rushing by in such a panic. Idiots. Breaking free of the bond that surrounded him, Jareth sauntered off towards his locker, or ... the place that should've been the locker. Of course, without a lock on it, there wasn't much point. So instead, he hoisted the small bag up onto his shoulders and stalked off towards the entrance of the school, another shrill burst of ringing reaching his ears. 'To hell with this, I'm leaving,' he figured, pushing the front doors open silently and walking outside, leaving the dreary school behind him. School would be over in four hours anyway, nobody would miss him at all. Perhaps Jareth would even be lucky enough to not have to go back every single day to that hell hole.

To his surprise, he heard the soft voice of someone from far behind him, turning around to see a shape moving quickly in his direction. "Hey, wait up!" the voice called, nearing Jareth as he stood on the sidewalk impatiently. The shadow quickly took form, revealing Aubrey running towards him. 'Oh joy,' he thought, pondering whether to walk away or just stay and listen. "Hey, Jareth, I guess you have a spare block, too," he asked, slightly out of breath. "Maybe we should go search for Sarah, since we have all this extra time?"

'Of course, because the only thing better than that would be slicing my body with rusty razor blades, then taking a small dip in a bath of lemon juice and iodine. What fun.' But being the kind, caring person he was, Jareth decided not to voice such a thought. "Yes, we probably should, who knows what kind of trouble that girl has gotten herself into," he spoke rather tiredly, as though it had been expected of her. "I don't really know my way around town, so perhaps you should lead the way." Well that was pathetic. Maybe he should have just asked Aubrey if he could hold his hand, too.

"This isn't the first time she's skipped class to run off." Aubrey glanced over at Jareth with a knowing smirk, his gray eyes cloudy, giving the impression of deep thought. "Actually, she's done it more times than I can count on two hands, so I've given up. Sarah's a free spirit, and the man isn't going to bring her down."

"The man?" Jareth asked with slight amusement, relaxing now that he felt more comfortable around the strange boy. "Oh, right," he covered, after receiving a very strange look from Aubrey. 'Note to self, find out who the hell this 'man' is.' Of course, now was not the time to be pondering about such meaningless things, there were other things that Jareth could be wasting his time on instead. The soft clicks of his newly polished shoes were dulled by the roar of passing cars, each one seeming more loud and obnoxious than the last.

It would seem that after about ten minutes, the two boys had given up hope, until a flash of raven hair caught Jareth's eyes. At first, he wondered if they would be better off to just forget about finding her. Especially because of the fact that his head hurt just thinking about how she acted towards him, not the most refreshing situation to be in. Pity that Aubrey seemed to have followed his gaze, his eyes lighting up at the sight of his familiar comrade. "Sarah!" Aubrey called out, hoping to catch her attention before the distance between them grew any larger. "Sarah, back here!" But, to no avail. She seemed intent on keeping her nose buried in a book of some sorts, nothing new there, annoying as it may have been.

'Perhaps,' Jareth thought, 'She'll respond to me, whether that's a good or bad thing, I don't know.' Either Sarah was purposely ignoring the two of them, or she was more of a bookworm than he has assumed at first. "Sarah," rang the crisp, polished sound of his voice through the mild wind. Just as he had first suspected, her head began to turn around. Then, as she seemed to recognize the voice, her face was once again pressed into the book. "Maybe we should run," he suggested, although the tone of his voice said something more along the lines of 'Why bother.' After all, if she wasn't going to make this easy, he would play the same game. That's how it went between them, wasn't it? "Yes, that's right, just walk away, Sarah. You do that so well," he muttered under his breath, just low enough that Aubrey wouldn't be able to catch any of it.

'Why can't they just leave me alone?' Sarah wondered to herself, quickening her steps to gain that extra distance from Jareth and Aubrey. If that lovesick couple hadn't asked Sarah to leave their 'special spot', perhaps she'd still have a nice, peaceful place to sit. Of course, now she was reduced to wandering the streets with a book in her face, narrowly avoiding several pedestrians sharing the sidewalk. At least she knew the streets like the back of her hand, allowing her to not bother looking where she was walking. If people really wanted to walk ... they would just have to learn to avoid Sarah. Using one free hand, she held the back of her hair down against the crown of her head, the wind picking up strands, flapping them back on Sarah's face annoyingly. The distorted sound of the two boy's voices still reached her ears, though she chose to ignore them, as she often did while trying to concentrate on a particularly interesting chapter. "A Wrinkle In Time," one of her favorites, even after reading it over a dozen times.

Did the shadow fall across the moon, or did the moon simply go out, extinguished as abruptly and completely as a candle? There was still the sound of leaves, a terrified, terrifying rushing. All the light was gone. Darkness was complete. Suddenly the wind was gone, and all sound.

If only all the wind and sound would vanish from her own world. Chapter four, one of her favorites, was just commencing as the faint sound of footsteps still trailed her, their sound growing dimmer and dimmer, just like the moon in the story. Oh, who was she kidding. It was just a book, nothing more. With a small grin, Sarah listened for the sound of oncoming traffic. Nothing. Now it was safe for her to cross, and a road would separate her from Jareth, though it was hardly enough.

Halfway out onto the street, the sudden screech of tires was heard, though it was too late! Snapping her head to the side, Sarah only had enough time to gasp, before everything went black. Only black, no sound.

"Sarah!" Aubrey yelled, running as fast as his legs could carry him to the road. He had seen the entire thing, unable to do anything to prevent it. Kneeling down beside the limp figure of his best friend, Aubrey found himself full of rage. Hatred even, towards the driver of the run-down car. The man had begun to get out of his car, and it was immediately apparent that he was drunk; senses dulled and mind slowed almost to a stop. "Didn't you SEE her?" he screamed at the short, balding man, who had a look on his face that suggested he hadn't seen much for the entire day. "Oh God, we have to get an ambulance. Jareth, take my phone and call 911."

As he was tossed the small gadget, Jareth just held it in his hand for a moment, one eyebrow lifting skyward as he glanced from Sarah and Aubrey, and back to the phone. Perhaps this would work in his advantage if he just left her there to die ... Though, what was the fun of revenge if you weren't able to act it out yourself? Flicking the phone open, Jareth's nimble fingers dialed 9-1-1, placing the cold metal up against his ear. "Yes ... I'd like to report an accident on," he glanced at the street sign, "Tenth and Rosewood, drunk driver I'd assume ... we need an ambulance." Small nods were given to no one in particular as the operator hung up, leaving him only the empty promise that someone would be there soon enough to help her. "Is she hurt?" Jareth asked nonchalantly, tossing the phone back to Aubrey, who now had Sarah's head placed upon his jacket.

"I don't know ..."

Author's Note: Man, I am SO sorry for taking this long to actually post up a new chapter, but school was being a bitch and the teachers decided to give us mundo amounts of homework and projects. Hopefully next time, it'll be up within the week, not three weeks later than I promised.

Stay cool!