Disclaimer: I own my cat, Angus, who hates me. I stalk Severus (wink). But I created Melissa. She is one of my alter egos. Please review. If you do not, you are killing me ever so painfully slowly. I write for you, isn't that generous? I have realtered my time, wrote all of this, and I have done it all for YOU! Isn't that generous?! (ahem) Here is another one of those twists. Enjoy. I know I will.

Chapter Four: Welcome To The Unknown

"NO!" he bellowed again, his voice of rage bouncing off the walls and throughout the entire castle. What little patience he had left was faltering with this "old hag" and her sinister plans to overtake his realm.

The old hag, a gypsy witch from a nameless village on the outer borders of his magnificent kingdom, grumbled and crossed her arms stubbornly and cackled, "Then you shall suffer a horrible nightmare."

The young man rolled his eyes; he had it up to his spiky blond hair with her pack of lies, "You have rambled here long enough, old hag." She shook in fury as he continued in a menacing tone, "This will be the last time I say this to you: Leave my kingdom now and never...disgrace...my...presence...AGAIN!"

The gypsy witch remained standing with her arms crossed at the foot of the throne, furious, eyes twitching. "You will regret this." She said in a low voice.

"LEAVE!" he roared, his hand pointing angrily at the door. The old witch grumbled, turned on her heel, and stormed off in a huff.

The young man blew a strand of blond hair out of his flawless face and sighed heavily after she vanished in a cloud of foul green smoke. He glared at the floor. "I won't regret anything." He muttered, "You will." With that, he collapsed into his throne chair and ran his hands through his gorgeous hair in frustration. How I hate public affairs.

After a few minutes of meditation, he numbly walked out to the balcony attached to the throne room. The tranquil scent of the wintry evening surrounded him, calming his frazzled mind. Seconds later, he fell softly to the ground and fell asleep. A wispy green smoke appeared slowly behind him.

The old witch had a deranged grin upon her face. She raised a crooked finger towards the young man, a heap on the balcony, and whispered a curse. All at once, he transformed into a small, revolting owl. He awoke instantly, horrified and dazed.

He glared, if that was discernable, at the hag and tried to transform into a human but could not. He flapped his wings helplessly, trying to do anything at all. This made the witch laugh all the more. She raised her finger once more and smiled her crazed grin, "I warned you, Jareth, that you will regret this." And with the flick of her wrist, he was gone, feathers and all.

Jareth, the owl, was whirling through the backroads of time and space. He knew this because every time he teleported, he had to travel through some sort of dimension. Even if it was just through his realm.

WHY did I have to fall asleep out there?! He fumed. Where am I going?! No voice came out. No magic, no human form, and no voice. He was powerless. And more importantly, he was stuck in a tunnel of time. Finally, a black hole sucked him into an abyss. He was thrown into a force of gravity so great he just closed his eyes and hoped for the best. I must be going Aboveground. he thought about that and became more worried by the second.

Colors whirled by quicker than the eye could see. Shapes of things began to appear before his eyes. He saw a dark room with rows of different sized cages and boxes. Everything happened so fast that he didn't even see bars from a cage materialize around him. No. He thought in disbelief. NO!

A tall, lively woman strolled around the dimly lit room, checking various cages. She stopped at Jareth and looked in curiously. "And where did you come from, little guy?" she asked softly, not sure if he was new or what.

She bent lower to look at him more closely as he moved forward to try to give her some sort of sign that he was not an owl, but to no avail. She smiled gently and opened his cage to pet him. He tried to fly out and escape, but she carefully caught him and said, "Now, now. It's ok, I have to get you fed and cared for. You look awful."

You have a knack for stating the obvious, Jareth growled.

"My name is Jenny,." The lady spoke quietly, probably trying not to wake the other animals in the cages. "and welcome to the Magical Menagerie."

All I can say is: dun dun DUN! The plot thickens like overcooked gravy! (insert uncontrollable cackling)