Chapter Nine

When morning came Tara would have continued to sleep had Xanthe not stirred in her arms. When she opened her eyes, she wished that she had not. She hadn't been kidnapped, but Jareth was no longer lying by her side. He was in the doorway, head low as if in defeat. Bruises and gashes lined his pale, marble like chest. Behind him was the shadowy form of a person, and she could distinctly saw pointed ears on the dark head. Her eyes fluttered closed as her mind reeled. Trying to think of escape plans this early in the morning wasn't pleasant.

She casually wrapped her arms around the girl, and rolled over so her back was facing them, and she was facing the window. She waited a moment, listening carefully to all the sounds around her as Xanthe woke with a quiet groan. Not hearing any other sounds, she opened her eyes again, pleased to see that there were no elves in front of her now. Her eyes locked on the window that Jareth had previously stared out of, and then on the balcony outside of it.

In a sudden movement that must have shocked the elf, as well as Jareth, quite thoroughly she leapt out of the bed, Xanthe in tow. She ignored the dizziness the swiftness brought-- she couldn't afford to let it get to her now.

She threw herself backwards through the window so the glass shards wouldn't hurt the child she awkwardly held, watching seven elves flood into the room, pushing Jareth out of the way. She didn't let herself stop to gawk. She whirled around again, and took a leap of faith off of the balconey.

They seemed to fall forever, clinging to each other for dear life.

Xanthe fell asleep, or so it seemed, but though Tara felt a sense of overwelming calm, she stayed concious, and was concious when they landed surprisingly softly on concrete.

She stood, lifting her niece up to cradle her rather than to hold her as awkwardly as she had been. Looking around, she held he breath, daring to hope only for a moment. The buildings were so tall... The people around them were so tall... so smooth... they certainly weren't goblins. A couple of them were now staring at the sky to see where she had come from. Still more were staring at her clothes.

"Excuse me," She asked, going to one of the people who was staring at her. She didn't care if they thought she was insane! She was back on the above ground-- with Xanthe! "Where are we? I'm afraid I'm lost..."

But the person rushed away from her as if afraid she'd kill her or something. She frowned, and looked at the people around her before sighing, and starting to walk. Her bare feet stung against the black pavement of roads, walking in between cars-- every one of which seemed to be honking. The sound of it made her want to scream, but little Xanthe never woke. She knew this scene. She knew she did-- so well-- and yet she couldn't remember. She looked over every familiar object with blank eyes.

Then she stopped in front of a house, probably the most familiar place in the entire city. She had strayed from the traffic and into what appeared to be a residential area, not far from a beaten down park.

She took a step as a person came out of the house. It was her brother. She recognized him, at least, and with the site of him her entire surroundings seemed to come into focus. She was in New York, and now at home. She shifted her niece to wake her, and ran for the door. Jason stopped her to look adoringly at his daughter, showering kisses over her forehead as she scowled up at him.

"Does this mean playtime's over?" She wondered childishly, and Tara couldn't help but laugh.

"Yes, Xanthe, Play time's over. C'mon, let's get inside." She smiled broadly at her brother, and pushed into the room.

"Mom!" Jason cried, "MOM! They're home! They've come home!"

A woman, elegant despite her rather large size and short hair ran down the stairs to greet them. She nearly crushed poor Xanthe as she hugged them both to her, tears streaming down her face. "We were so worried!" She sobbed, "So worried!"

"It's okay mom. We're home." Tara muttered through tears of her own.

"What's the matter mom mom? We had fun with the goblins!" The youngest asked, blinking.

"She had a dream." The teenager quickly covered, and then scowled over her mothers shoulder at the only figure that didn't seem delighted to see them.

Kristen, the girlfriend of her brother, was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, her dirty blonde hair fashionably cut to her chin, except over her face where she had cut the bangs short, though her dark roots were showing. Her makeup was, as always, trashy, and her clothes were at least two sizes too small. They could have fit on Xanthe. Her ass hadn't shrunk any, sticking out behind her like a double tree stump and straining the cloth of her daughters shorts.

Tara already wanted to smack her. The look on her face was not of happiness to see her daughter and would be sister in law, but discontent that the attention was taken off of her. Everyone, even those who had been absent, knew that she had been using the disappearance to rake in as much pity as she could.

"Xanthe," The woman spoke not of Tara, "I'm so glad to see you're safe!"

"Liar." Tara thought, but said nothing as she set the girl down, and looked to the stairs. "We need to change. Do you mind?"

"Of course not." Both her mother and brother allowed.

"Take as much time as you need!" Her mother added, "But I want to know what happened when you're done. God-- we were so scared..."

"I know." Tara sighed, and took Xanthe by the hand, sending a glare at Kristen as she went, and lead her upstairs. They went into Xanthe's room first, picked up a more modern outfit for her, and then went into Tara's room to change. Tara, of course, chose a black tank top and black long skirt, not ready to go back to pants yet. Xanthe on the other hand was perfectly fine with the soft pink pants, and sweater.

They had only been gone for moments, but at the head of the staircase, Tara had a very bad feeling. She instructed Xanthe to wait as quietly as she could in her room, and took a cautious step onto the first step. She closed her eyes, and listened to the vague shouting from in the kitchen. Good, she could get down the stairs and not be seen if they were in there. She tip toed down the stairs, and knelt at the bottom one, searching the living room with her gaze first before peering into the crack where the door met the door frame.

The shouting stopped before she could understand a word, and she smelled blood. She licked her lips subconciously, and leaned toward the scent. Then, wincing in horror, she saw the flood of crimson meet the carpet of the living room.

"Our job here is done." Stated a voice she didn't recognize, but sounded so familiar. "They obviously didn't come home. Let's go."

She saw the shadow coming toward the door, and stood, scrambling madly up the stairs, but one creaked. Her gaze darted back down and she got a glimpse of three people. One was Kristen, and the others were male elves. One of which she recognized as the first elf she'd ever actually seen.

"I told you she was here!" Kristen shrieked, and Tara started running again. She threw herself into Xanthes room, and locked the door behind her, grabbing the girls arm and going over to the window.

There was no balcony to catch them, and no tree to climb down, but they had to get out. An idea hit her, and she instructed the little girl to climb onto her back and hold on to her neck for dear life. She climbed out the window, and stood on the window frame, looking around. Looking up, the edge of the roof was in reach.

Could she pull them both up?

She heard footsteps in the hall. The door to the room next to Xanthes was kicked open. She didn't have a choice. She'd have to try.

Without farther hesitation, she reached up to the edge of the roof, and climbed (with difficulty) onto it, panting once she'd reached a semi-solid floor. She let her niece off of her, and told her to be quiet, and even held her breath as she heard the door to her room burst open.

They edged away from the side of the roof, and huddled together as one of the elves stuck their head out the window to look around.

"They're not here." He reported, leaning back into the room, and looking at the others.

"You saw her!" Kristen defended. "You saw her! You know she was here! I don't know where she went, but--"

"We don't know what we saw." Stated the elf that she had once seen. she held Xanthe tighter when the sound of the womans panicked protests met us, and even tighter still when they stopped abruptly, and she smelled blood.

They waited for a full ten minutes before Tara swung the child back into her room, suddenly thankful that she had voted that her bed be near the window. She didn't hesitate for a moment before swinging in herself, and edging a now crying Xanthe around the beheaded body of her mother. Tara, showed much less remorse for the woman, going so far as to kick her head out of her way.

They set immediately to packing (in Tara's room so Xanthe wouldn't have to keep looking at her dead mothers body), and only when two book bags were nearly bursting with clothes and Taras credit card/money did they leave the room.

They went downstairs, and Tara couldn't help but take one last look at the blood that now soaked the rug near the door into the kitchen. She clamped her jaw shut in self control. She could cry later, she could rage, and scream later. At the moment she had to protect Xanthe. Get her to safety. Nothing else mattered anymore.

She turned to the door, took the little girls hand, and led her out into the daylight, knowing full well that it was a rough road ahead of them. If only she hadn't left the Underground... then at least she'd have a family.


Authors Notes: Insert the obvious disclaimer thingy HERE.

lol

By the way, if I didn't get it past well enough, Jason was Tara's brother.

This chapter would have been a hell ofa lot longer, except I figured this was a good place to end it, and I had enough stuff happening already. More than enough, really...

Oh yeah-- and I'm hosting a contest! The tenth reviewer will get... uh... invisable confetti! Yeah! I'll spray invisable confetti over you, and you can brag about being the lucky ten and... well... yeah.

Just review (please?)...