Chapter Fifteen: Deceived
...but she was unaware of any deception, being exceptionally simple-minded; he had told her of his love, and she believed him. What else to do? There was no one else to tell her pleasant things, whether they were lies or not and she could not bear to be left alone.
They walked on.
On and on, the hour growing late though time was certainly different here in the Labyrinth, Sarah was sure that she was running out of it. It was late afternoon by the look of things a red light that must be the sun was slowly disappearing, giving way to a cool grey-blue that reminded Sarah of her stepmothers eyes. She had successfully avoided thinking of her parents, till now now, uncertainty crept back into her mind. Wouldn't they just be glad if she made it home? Wouldn't they get over their disappointment at losing Toby, if they had their only daughter?
They would get over it
Perhaps even have another child.
She suddenly became shocked at herself, pushing the nagging voice away. It didn't even sound like her...swamped with the suspicion that there was something foreign in her head, she let go of Erik's arm and stepped away from him, putting a hand to her temple and frowning.
Erik watched her.
"Are you alright?"
She glanced at him, glanced at Ludo, who, back in beast form, was sitting on his haunches patiently waiting for them to move on again.
"Fine," she said. "I'm just... just a little hungry." It was true, anyway. She hadn't eaten in hours and hours. Her stomach was empty as a drum and she would have given a lot for some french fries.
Erik swallowed hard.
"You should have looked for the apple trees in the foresterie," he said. "They are far better apples than you will find anywhere else."
She shrugged. "I was a bit busy being carried off by the wolds, actually, otherwise I would have."
Erik hid a smile.
"And anyway, if you eat something from an enchanted land, don't you have to stay there for ever and ever? I remember reading something like that, some time."
"No," said Erik, "that part is a fairy tale. The truth is, food from enchanted lands is so wonderful, no one ever wants to leave." He pulled something out of his cloak, glanced at it for a moment, then handed it to her.
She looked at the apple, shiny and enticing in her palm.
Erik smiled at her as she looked back up.
"I anticipated your wants," he said quietly.
There was a hollow in the pit of her stomach that was unexpectedly filled with warmth she smiled back blindingly, the most real smile she'd displayed all day, and immediately put the apple to her mouth, not even bothering to thank him.
Erik backed away from her a few steps, leaned against the wall and watched. He did not know what effect the fruit would have; suddenly whisk Sarah away to the castle, or to the beginning of the Labyrinth again, he did not know. He hoped it would be entirely painless, whatever it was. Surely Jareth would not...
Sarah knew there was something wrong the instant she swallowed.
She looked up at Erik, her eyes filled with horror. He stood up straight.
"What have you done?" she whispered.
He stepped forward, but she had collapsed before he could reach her, her eyes rolling up into her head, her body falling with a painful thump to the cold stone ground. Ludo gave a cry of upset surprise, and lumbered forwards; Erik was bent over her, then down on his knees, holding her against his chest, rocking her as he felt her heartbeat slow to a stop.
He felt the shock and despair that comes when you wish more than anything that you hadn't done what you just did; you wish more than anything that you could turn back time; but its all in vain, reaching for ghosts that don't even turn their heads to look at you with hollow eyes.
As Erik cried, the tears running down his face, beneath the mask, and dampening Sarah's skin, his gaze fell on the apple, which lay as evidence of his betrayal, the single bite rebuking him. He grasped it immediately, and sank his teeth into the pure skin on the other side, not allowing himself time to think. He'd gone without thinking his entire life, relying on his reactions and intelligence to see him through. Well, they could see him through...
And they could see him out.
The apple fell from his nerveless hand, split apart like glass on the ground. Each half had a bite out of it, a piece missing, and from the middle crawled a long black worm.
Two bodies lay entangled on the ground. Their heartbeats so slow as to be imperceptible but still there.
"Watch now, child."
Jareth sat by the window, Christine silent at his side, and wove reality into complicated shapes with his fingers. As he spellbound waiting hearts, he sang-spoke his words of madness, tried and true.
"Weaver of the tangled web
Where silk was once, now words instead
A life is gone. Oh, how she cries!
As deep inside her something dies
Her creation, with touch soft and cool
Now has a voice, wicked and cruel
When he speaks, to her seduce
She cant resist, so what's the use?
Her lover's touch is true and sure
only leaves her wanting more
She catches breath and cries aloud
Her tears become her funeral shroud
To keep his warmth, she must let go
And never let the real her know
All day she plays a careful role
Aches for his touch on her soul
For all the time they spend apart
She aches for his warmth in her heart
In her total dearth of pride
She aches to feel him deep inside
Eaten up in unholy bliss
She cries out, "Have I come to this?"
She's lost herself, forgot the feel
of what is false, and what is real
Gone the difference, if she ever knew
Between what is real, and what is true."
Sometimes, the world is ruled by magic.