Chapter One
A Girl and Her Owl
"OH BLOODY HELL!" Sarah shouted sitting up from her book "what now?" Something had been screeching bloody murder for the last five minutes. At first Sarah thought it'd go away, that perhaps it was just a cat's sad attempt to sing, but now she was beginning to worry something was being skinned alive. She managed to get into her backyard, following the wails that came from Karen's rose bush. She pushed back the hedges and there was a pure white barn owl, ensnared by vines and thorns. The poor thing was crumpled in a withering mess on the ground. It halted its cries upon seeing Sarah and she knelt down. Reaching out her hand in an attempt to help it she was only rewarded by a frightful hiss. She pulled back quickly and sneered at the creature.
"Stay still," she snapped at it and tried reaching for it again. This time it managed to poof itself up and screech at her. She fell back, surprised at its reaction. Upon glaring at the stubborn bird she noticed something… it had two different eye colors. She looked closer, thinking that she was seeing things but no, it had mismatched eyes. "Is that anyway to treat someone that's trying to help you?" She reached under the bush and the owl howled. She pulled back a few inches only to keep going. She got hold of the wriggling mess and pulled it out from under the bush. It glared at her and hissed again.
"Wow," she breathed noticing that it wasn't just tangled in vines and thorns, but in a trash bag and covered with blood. "Stay still," she whispered and sat down cross legged on the ground. She started untangling the creature and it kept still, to her relief. "What did you do to yourself?" she murmured "looks like you flew into a wall." She untangled it from the trash bag and tossed the vines aside. The thorns on the other hand, were trickier. She made the mistake of pulling out a large branch of thorns from the creature's wing and it let out a loud screech and snapped at her. "I'm sorry," she breathed slowly moving back to the creature "that must have hurt." It glared at her angrily and she sighed. "I'm sure you would rather me not help you, huh?" She felt silly, talking to an owl. Sure, it had mismatched eyes but, if it was Jareth he could've merely changed back into his normal self. And he would've by now, wouldn't he? She looked back at her house and thought of what to do.
"I need to bring you inside," she said picking the creature up. It shrieked at her and made a mad attempt to fly. It only flapped twice and crashed to the ground. She noticed it's wing was broken, its leg was cut and it had a very nasty incision across its chest. "Do you want to get better or what!" The creature became quiet and blinked a few times. "Alright, now look. I'm not going to hurt you, little owl, okay? But if I don't take you inside and fix that cut there's a good chance you'll get infected." She paused. "I'm sure you have no idea what I'm saying. Look at me I'm talking to an owl." She paused and picked the creature up off the ground. "But I suppose owls have always been intelligent creatures." Not to mention bad omens, she thought bitterly. Opening the door Karen let out a loud obnoxious yelp you'd probably hear from someone when they see a mouse.
"Sarah put that thing down, it's filthy!" she shrieked.
"Exactly," Sarah explained "poor thing got tangled in your bushes Karen. It looked like he fell out of a tree or ran into something."
"Sarah, owls are vicious creatures," she said glaring at it, as if that would make it go away "it'll take your finger off." The bird of prey shifted it's weight and nestled against Sarah's chest, almost mockingly, as if it was a pet. Karen noticed too.
"Look," Sarah mused "the owl's got a sense of humor." Karen sighed.
"Just," she paused "just keep it in your room, ok?" Sarah nodded and hastily carried the creature up the stairs. Toby poked his head out of his room and grinned.
"Sarah, what's that?" he asked coming closer "oh wow, an owl. Can I pet him Sarah?" The creature blinked a few times and looked at Toby intently. He didn't wait for her to answer and gently patted the creature on the head. The owl made a funny noise, almost like purring and Sarah didn't move. "Look Sarah," Toby smirked "he likes me."
"Let me get him cleaned up, okay Tobs?" she asked "maybe after it sleeps a little you can pet him again, alright?" Toby nodded and reluctantly went back to his room. Sarah brought the creature into her room and set it on her bed, he cried. "What?" she asked and it cried again. "I don't know what that means, sorry." She went into her bathroom and grabbed the peroxide, tweezers and scissors. She set them on the bed and the creature eyed the scissors and then looked at Sarah. "You are smart, aren't you?" It gave a short nod and she paused. She looked very much like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle. "You understand…?" It nodded again. She sat down on the bed and put her head in her hands with a sigh. "Nothing normal ever happens to me," she muttered. It let out a light hoo and blinked a few times.
"It'd be nice if I understood what your trying to say," she muttered. It stood on its two feet and lifted a taloned foot in the air. It grasped the air as if it was holding something and scribbled with an invisible pen. "A pen?" she asked and it nodded. "Well first let me get those thorns out," she said trying to keep at the task at hand but the owl backed away some. "I'll be careful this time." It hesitated a moment and then came towards her. Sarah took the tweezers and gently eased out every single thorn. She grabbed one of the cloths and doused it with peroxide and paused a moment. "This might sting…"
The creature backed away. Sarah caressed its side with her hand and looked kindly at it. Poor thing was in so much pain already she hated to hurt it more. It looked away for a moment and seemed to heave a sigh. It came closer and Sarah placed the soaked washcloth on it's feathers. It closed it's eyes, obviously in pain and she gently moved the cloth over its cuts. It winced in pain every time and she whispered to it.
"Its alright," she cooed "almost done. I'll finish up and then get you a pen. Then I'll fix you something to eat, alright?" Slowly the creature nodded. She set the cloth aside and looked at the owl that was slowly opening its eyes. It made that purring sound again. "Owls purr?" It shrugged and she got up off the bed and grabbed a notebook and a pen. She handed it to the owl, who seemed to have a hard time holding the pen. "I'll go get you some food now." She had a head time leaving the room, she wanted to see what it'd write but she figured she had lots of time for that. She went into the kitchen and pulled out some of her dad's brisket. She tossed a large plate in the microwave and grabbed a bowl and filled it with water. She finished up and headed back to her room. The pen was besides the notebook and the owl was looking at her attentively. Sarah picked up the notebook.
Hello Sarah
"Five minutes and I get a hello Sarah," she smirked. The owl hissed at her and she looked at it, perplexed. It made a waving motion with its claw and she turned the page.
I am under a spell. You must break it.
"Ah," she paused "I thought that was only with frogs." The owl looked at her blankly and then at the food. She set it down on the bed and he snapped it up. He grabbed a piece of meat in its claw and forced it towards her. "What?" she asked looking up from the creature's scrubby handwriting. It jerked it towards her and she raised an eyebrow. "I have a policy against eating food that's given to me by anything other than humans." It tilted it's head. "Why?" It nodded. "Uh, bad experience involving a peach." The creature motioned for the pen again and she handed it to him. It scribbled more words and went back to eating.
What Sarah, didn't you enjoy the ballroom?
She looked up at the creature that was now watching her reaction. She paused and re-read what he'd written. She shoved the pen at him angrily.
"Explain," she snapped "explain why you're here." He picked the pen up again and wrote more words.
Demanding, aren't we?
"Damn right I am," she snapped angrily "explain."
Perhaps later.
"Perhaps now or I'll kick your happy ass out of my house," she growled. He wrote for a long time and tossed the notebook back at her.
What will that accomplish? I'll simply die, you know that. I won't be able to hunt, or fly of that matter. No Sarah, the way I see it, your stuck with me.
Upon reading the words her face flushed red, either with anger or embarrassment. She was about to scream, but the phone rang.
"What?" she growled into the phone.
"Uh," Anthony's voice was hesitant "is this a bad time Sarah?" She paused and watched Jareth snapped up more food. He smirked at her, well… as well as owls could smirk she supposed.
"Kinda," she mused "what's going on?"
"I was wondering if you wanted to go out tonight," he said smoothly "or if you want I could come over?" Sarah paused, having her boyfriend over would be nice. Might calm her down. She nodded.
"Yeah," she said "come over. Just come on up to my room and, uh, well you'll see." She hung up the phone and Jareth tilted his head again. "That was my boyfriend. He's coming by." Jareth let his wings go out both ways and flapped them a few times and screamed. "Don't do anything stupid, alright?" He grabbed the pen again and scribbled down words.
Bad idea.
"It is not a bad idea," she snapped "and your going to be good, ok?"
I'm not a child Sarah, I don't enjoy being told what to
"I know you don't," she said before he finished writing the words down "and I'm not telling you to do anything. I recall asking. So would you please not scratch anyone's eyes out or screech or… anything along those lines?" He paused.
You need to break the spell
"Well," she growled and stopped before she started to explain herself. "Perhaps later." Jareth tossed down the pen and screeched very loudly, and didn't stop. "STOP IT!" He kept going. "Jareth! Jareth please stop that." He paused a moment and filled his lungs with air again. Sarah spoke quickly. "Jareth, please," she implored and he paused. "Do not do that, ok? Karen will come up here and I'll have to go through hell to keep you in here. And I really don't feel like begging my stepmother, so if you don't mind, please stop." He grabbed the pen and scribbled two words.
Perhaps later.
He resumed his howls and finally Sarah picked him up where he instantaneously stopped. She took a few deep breathes and set him down again, only to cause him to start screaming again.
"Sarah!" Karen shouted from downstairs "shut that thing up or I'm calling animal control!"
"Hear that Jareth?" Sarah growled "animal control. They'll keep you three days and then put you to sleep." He didn't stop, only got louder and Sarah gave in and picked him up again. She closed her eyes, deeply concerned. She wanted him to stop yelling but she didn't want him to die either. He paused and looked at her, almost confused. She closed her eyes tight, not noticing him looking at her like he was. Tears slipped out from under her eyes, she was so frustrated. She felt a feather brush across her cheek, wiping the few tears that'd escaped away. He pruned the tips of his wings every time he pulled it back, and then moved again to wipe her tears again. He heaved a sigh as he noticed what he was doing and looked at her sadly. She set him on the bed again, he didn't scream this time but grabbed the pen.
I'm beginning to act more like an owl Sarah. Instinct keeps taking over me. I NEED you to break the spell.
He watched as she read the words and she looked at him sadly. She didn't say anything for a long time and a soft hiccup escaped her lips.
"I can't," she murmured "Jareth, I'll help you get well again but-" He growled. She shot a look at him. "What do you expect me to do?" she snapped "You are not my friend, Jareth. If anything you're an enemy."
Then why not let me die?
"I'm not that cruel," she whispered and the owl glared at her. He tossed the pen onto the floor and made himself comfortable on her bed. Anthony opened the door right then and paused.
"Uh, Sarah?" he smirked "there's a very large bird on your bed." She nodded and stood to her feet.
"I found him," she said. Anthony moved to kiss her but she moved away a bit, she found herself not wanting to piss Jareth off as badly as she had wanted to before. She felt sorry for him. "What? No kiss?"
"I have a cold," she lied and coughed a few times "I don't want to get you sick."
"Oh I don't care," he shrugged "less reason to go to school." He moved closer but she backed up.
"But I DO," she said strictly. The boy glared at her, his eyes bore their way into her soul and left a scar.
"Sarah," he said "if you love me-" her eyes flashed. She HATED it when guys used that line. If you love me, you'll do this.
"If you love ME," she snapped "you'll chill." His eyes glazed over ice and he pulled her closer to him. She pulled away but he held strong. "LET GO." He held both of her hands down and tried to kiss her, but she turned her head so he only got her cheek. He kept trying though and she tried to push him off. "LET GO ANTHONY!"
