Okay, so, thank you to those of you who read it and reviewed. You make me feel so happy! But, anyway, enough chatter from my part. Here goes the second chapter...
A Terrible Accident
Melissa's head sharply turned to face her mother. "Jareth?" she asked still stunned. "That's his name? Jareth?" When all her mother did was nod very seriously, she burst out laughing. Her mother had been quite a good actress when she was younger and had starred in a few plays, so Melissa had no doubts that her mother was just goofing around. "Alright mom," she said after she had regained control of herself. "Very funny. But I want to know his name." she said, still as persistent as her mother ever had been.
Sarah shook her head slightly and heaved another heavy sigh. "I'm quite serious Melissa. Your father's name is Jareth. He has no last name. It's just Jareth. I wouldn't lie to you about your father."
Melissa's face slowly dropped the happy, playful look it had held before her mother had spoken. It was now replaced by a look that was filled with curiosity and confusion. "It...His name really is Jareth? I thought that was just a joke. Ya know, because of that story you told me when I was younger and that book you gave me and all." She felt a little foolish now after having laughed like that about what her mother had told her.
Sarah nodded and looked briefly over to her daughter once again. "Yes, I could understand why you'd think I was joking." She smiled over at her daughter and noticed the curiosity that filled those mismatched eyes that she had gotten from him. "You have his eyes you know." Sarah looked back to the road. The storm was getting worse and she couldn't afford to take her eyes away again.
Melissa turned to look out her window as a flash of lightning blazed outside her window. "I kinda guessed that. I mean, I don't exactly have your eyes." She smiled, thinking of the man who she had seen earlier that day. The one time she actually sees him, and she doesn't even know it. Irony could be so cruel sometimes.
Sarah wanted to look to her daughter, to see the expression on her face, but to take her eyes off the road again would be too dangerous to risk. "No, you don't have my eyes." She smiled, thinking of what it would be like when she introduced her daughter to the man she had loved for so long, the man who was her father. "Be proud of those eyes Mel. They set you apart, just as they set him apart." Her grin broadened as she thought of looking into his eyes. "I can't wait for you to meet him."
Melissa had been watching her mother since she had told her to be proud of her eyes. She could tell from the expression on her face where her thoughts lie. As her smile widened, her mother truly appeared to be a woman in love; a woman who had been in love since she had first met him, if the stories that were told to her as an infant were any indication. She looks so happy. As she was thinking this, somewhere off in the distance, thunder rumbled once again, but this time it made her jump practically out of her seat. Her mother also seemed to have been startled by the sudden boom, and her face had been cleared of it's once over joyous expression and was now replaced by one of determination, and even a bit of fear.
Sarah's mind was wiped of any thoughts pertaining Jareth after the most recent rolling of thunder. She was beginning to fear what this storm may hold for her. She had never driven in weather this bad before, and she had no desire to try it again anytime soon. But she did recall watching the news earlier and hearing that all day it was going to be sunny and they'd be lucky to get rain by the end of next week. And now her she was, driving in more rain than they had gotten all month. It just isn't fair! She thought inwardly. Inside, she was screaming that phrase over and over and over again. But on the outside, she appeared simply determined. But then she noticed a large white owl, - it was slightly smaller than the one she had seen at her graduation, but still quite large - swoop down in front of their car from what seemed to be out of nowhere. Sarah cursed under her breath, but managed to not hit the bird without swerving too much. Within the next minute they were on the same lane as before and, aside from Melissa holding onto the dashboard like her life depended on it, everything was as it had been before he had swooped in on them. But she could not, for the life of her, figure out why he had done that.
Melissa gripped the dashboard with white knuckles, her arms outstretched in front of her, while she sat there, now more terrified than she'd like to admit. What on Earth was that for?! Just then, she noticed an owl – she could have sworn it was the same one as before, fly past them once more before doubling back and settling in the middle of the road.
Sarah's eyes widened at this and she swerved a bit from the swoop, and then once again to avoid hitting the owl. That's where she made her mistake. The road was so slippery that their car began to spin out of control. "JARETH!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. Melissa looked at her mother in horror as the car went careening out of control. Soon they were flying towards a ditch at a terrifying speed and as the car tumbled down the slight hill, both girls were screaming. Almost instantly after the car had began it's descent down the hill, it hit a tree, and both of their heads snapped forward and back again. After that, all Melissa remembered was her mother saying, "Jareth, I need you." Melissa turned to look at her unconscious mother before everything went black.
Meanwhile, at the castle beyond the Goblin City...
Jareth sat lounging on his throne, one leg draped casually over the armrest as his back rested against the other one. He had been thinking about Sarah and Melissa. He knew he was supposed to wait until later on tonight to meet her, but he just couldn't miss her graduation. Twenty-some years ago, he wouldn't have cared about seeing some girl graduating from an Aboveground school, but Sarah had changed all that. She had changed him. But seeing her graduate wasn't enough. He'd just had to meet her. That part in her speech about never forgetting your dreams made him glow with pride. That was his daughter up there, the best in her class, and she was telling everyone there what he'd always told Sarah. He grinned at the thought of finally seeing his daughter and getting to know her better. Sure he'd always watched over her, and he'd spoken to Sarah every once in a while, but that wasn't enough for him anymore. He had become so lost in his thoughts for a moment there that he didn't even notice a goblin enter the room and the first cough to get his attention, but he did notice the second cough. His head shot up at this and he turned to look straight at the one who'd disturbed his thoughts. He relaxed slightly when he saw who was there. "Oh, Hogbrain, it's you. Is everything ready?" he asked, slightly irritated.
Hoggle nodded to the Goblin King and said, "Yes, yer Majesty. We just finished puttin them pictures in her room."
Jareth nodded once in acknowledgement before he heard Sarah call out "Jareth, I need you." He immediately jumped off his throne and conjured a crystal in his hand to see Sarah's car lying in a ditch with his wife and daughter lying in there unconscious. He let the crystal drop and altered his form to that of a white owl and took off to the place where Sarah and Melissa lay in their beat up car. As he flew out the window, Hoggle bent down to pick up the crystal that had caused his king to go flying off so suddenly. When he saw the image that was there, he gasped and staggered backwards, out of the throne room to warn the rest of the goblins.
Back at the car...
Melissa's eyelids opened slowly after a while. She didn't know how long she'd been out, but she did know that she now had a throbbing headache, the likes of which probably meant that she had a concussion. She groaned and looked over to her mother, who still lay unconscious in the seat across from her. Her mother's head was bleeding. With that thought in mind, she reached up and felt the point on her head where the pain was at its sharpest, and surely enough, when she withdrew her hand, blood was on her finger tips.
As she sit there looking at the blood, she saw something coming at them from a distance. Melissa looked up to see that owl that she had seen earlier that day coming at them with an amazing speed. He stopped right in front of their car and, quite to her surprise, a man had risen from the owls place. I guess I'm dreaming. I'm still unconscious and I'm dreaming. But I thought you couldn't feel pain in your dreams. She blinked slowly a few times as the man came around to her side of the car, concern mixed with fear filled his eyes as he looked upon them. He opened the door and carefully undid Melissa's seatbelt and picked her up to lay her on the grass a few feet away from the car. Next, he went to her mother's side of the banged up vehicle and did the same with her. When they were both safely out of the car and lying on the ground, he looked them over with troubled eyes. He touched the cut on Sarah's head and mumbled something which Melissa could not hear. She tried to look over at her mother, but found the strain of moving too much anymore.
After closing up as much of her wound as possible, the man turned his attention to the other woman resting on the ground. Her eyes were open, but they weren't focusing on anything; she just stared into the now clear, night sky. She could feel the wet ground on her back, and wondered if her clothes were wet. She knew she wasn't thinking clearly if all she could think about was whether or not her shirt was wet from the storm that had caused this. But as she gazed heavenward, she saw the man's face now hovering over her. He was saying something, but she couldn't make out what it was. But she didn't have to strain to hear what he was saying for long, because another car had just pulled up along the side of the road and a middle aged man was getting out, drawing the man's attention from the young woman to the other driver who was now asking him questions. But their conversation was not what was going through Melissa's mind. The only thing she was thinking about was the man's eyes. They were just like hers. And then it clicked. This was the same man from her graduation. This was her father. She looked over at him with curious eyes. "Daddy?"
Jareth stopped speaking when he heard her barely muffle out to him. He told the man to call an ambulance as he was walking towards his daughter. "Melissa. Melissa, I'm here. Can you hear me? Melissa?!" But she couldn't hear him; she had fallen unconscious once more.
Melissa could hear someone calling for her to wake up, but she couldn't. She tried to, she wanted to, but something was holding her back. She didn't stop trying though. And eventually, her eyes slowly opened, taking in her surroundings. She was no longer lying on the ground next to her mother, and it was no longer night. She was in a hospital room, a doctor hovering over her, asking her if she could hear him. She nodded and looked around the room she was occupying, trying to go over everything that had happened. It was raining. Mom and I spun off the road and into a ditch. We both went unconscious. I woke up and a man – my father – carried me and mom out of the car and onto the grass. I went back to being unconscious. Now I'm here. In a hospital in the middle of God-knows-where, and I don't know where mom is. Which reminds me, "Excuse me?" she said, her voice almost too hoarse to be heard. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Excuse me, but, where's my mom?"
The doctor looked at her with sympathetic eyes. "Your mother is in the next room. Unfortunately she's not fairing as well as you."
Melissa's eyes grew wide. "What? I need to see her! Is she okay? Where'd my father go? Isn't he still here? Is he in there with her?" She couldn't stop herself. All of the questions just came tumbling out.
The doctor held his hand up. "Shhh. Calm down. One thing at a time. Your mother is still unconscious. She has a lot of internal bleeding, but we're doing everything we can right now. As for your father, well, there was an oddly dressed man who rode with you on your way here in the ambulance, but after we wouldn't let him in to see you or your mother, well, he took off." Seeing the hurt expression on her face, he tried to soothe her once again. "I'm sure he'll be back soon. Since you're awake, he'll be able to visit you now. Oh! Speaking of visitors, I'll be right back." And with that, he left the room.
She sat there in silence, comprehending everything that he told her. A few minutes later, Rachel and Allan, Melissa's boyfriend, walked into her room, leading a few of her other friends as well. Rachel immediately ran over to her and threw her arms around her hospitalized friend. "Oh, I was so scared for you, Mel. The doctor called your grandparents and they called me and told me about the accident, and I couldn't just sit at home and not do anything, so I called Allan and he called Tiffany, and she called Kelly, and we were all so worried so we came here and they wouldn't let us see you and I was just so scared!"
Melissa listened to all of this while her friend hugged her, with her eyes wide. "Wow. I'm glad I didn't worry you." She said sarcastically while her other friends chucked at Rachel's display.
She pulled back and looked at her friend in horror. "Mel, didn't you hear a word I just said?! I was terrified! We didn't know if you'd live or die or just stay unconscious for the rest of your life!"
Now it was Mel's turn to chuckle. "I know Rach, I was kidding."
Allan stepped up to her and maneuvered his way around the now crying Rachel to where Melissa lay on the hospital bed. He handed her a get well soon card and some flowers as he kissed her on the forehead. "I'm glad to see your okay."
Rachel started ranting again about how she was NOT okay, that she had just been in a 'car accident for crying out loud,' and when she said this Kelly looked over at her and said. "Yes, you are, aren't you?" and once again they all laughed at the reference to the girls ranting while Rachel just blushed and mumbled that she was just worried.
Melissa smiled at her friend who was finally calming down. "It's okay Rach, I'm glad you were worried about me." Then she turned to face the others who were in the room as well. "And thanks you guys, for coming to see me, I mean."
They all smiled and nodded or shrugged. Then the doctor came back in again to tell them that they should start saying their goodbye's because Melissa needed her rest. The four of them came over to her and gave her hugs and said goodbye, but when it was Allan's turn, he just waited for the other three to leave, before bending down to kiss her on the lips. As they pulled apart, she noticed something that resembled a bruise on his neck, only that was no bruise. Her smile quickly vanished, realizing that that mark on his neck was not the result of spending time with her. "Where'd you get that?" she asked, nodding towards his neck.
He pulled back and quickly covered the hickey. "Oh...uh...well...It's, it's nothing." He sputtered out.
Melissa nodded, a tear now rolling down her cheek. "Well, whoever she is, give her my regards. You can just tell her that while you two were making out your girlfriend nearly died and you just had to come by to give her your best as she ended the relationship."
Allan looked like she'd just stuck him with a knife. Melissa was crying worse than Rachel had been. "Just go. I don't want to see you anymore," she managed to get out. He looked genuinely hurt and sorry.
"I'm sorry, Mel. I'm really sorry." Once that had been said, he walked out of the room to join Melissa's friends once more. She could see Rachel look into her room one last time before quickly turning back to Allan and demanding to know what he did to make her so upset.
She lay there sobbing, as someone else slowly opened the door. She didn't even look up, thinking it was Allan again, coming to try to apologize one more time. "Go away Allan!" she shouted.
"I'm not Allan," a man's voice said quietly from the doorway. It was the man who had pulled her mother and her from the car; it was her father. "My name's Jareth. I believe your mother told you about me."
Melissa looked up and nodded at him. "You're...you're..." she couldn't bring her self to ask him if he was her father or not. But apparently she didn't need to.
"Yes, Melissa, I am your father." He said, now walking towards her.
She sniffled once and looked to his eyes. They were just like hers. Upon seeing them, she smiled, thinking of the expression her mother had worn while telling her about those eyes. He smiled back at her as he approached the hospital bed. He then wiped a tear from her cheek and she noticed that his eyes were filled with concern. "How's my mom?" she asked him.
At just that moment, as if on cue, the doctor walked in, a look of deepest sympathy spread across his face. Melissa looked at him hopefully, her father giving the man an identical look. "I... I'm sorry, Melissa," he said. She didn't like the tone of his voice. "Your mother...we did everything we could, but there was too much internal bleeding. She's gone." He managed to get out, almost crying himself from the looks on their faces.
Melissa looked from the doctor to her father. A look of pure horror was spread across Jareth's face as a tear trickled down his cheek. Melissa started crying from where she lay as well. Her mother had died.