Hey guys, I've finally updated! I am so sorry that it took me six years to get this chapter out. There's literally no excuse for this and I can't apologize enough. I hope this chapter makes up for it though, better late than never right? Thank you all for reading and following along with Misery, it means the world to me. Enjoy :)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Helplessly tied to that tree, all I could do was watch the thing that kidnapped and raped me try to kill the one that saved me.

As Blake and Jareth began to circle each other, claws and fangs out, I screamed at John. "Let me go, you heartless prick!" I fought against the harsh rope that was digging into me. I could feel it leaving marks, but I didn't care. All I wanted was to help Blake and run away, run so far away that it would be impossible for Jareth to ever find us again.

But John didn't let me go. He either didn't hear the hurt in my voice, didn't see the anger and fear in my eyes, or didn't care. "No, Misery. You don't understand. Jareth cares about you far more than Blake ever could. He can take care of you if you would just let him."

I heard what my father had said, but I wasn't looking at him. The two vampires in the road ahead of me drew my attention when I heard the guttural growls grow louder. Then it happened. They lunged at each other, and I screamed, terrified for Blake's life and for mine.

Blake took the first swipe. His fingers barely grazed Jareth's shoulder as Jareth attempted to dodge Blake's hand, but still three lines of blood slowly began to ooze out of the wound on Jareth's shoulder. A look of surprise came across his face, replacing that haughty smirk, as if he couldn't believe that Blake managed to get him, even just barely. Surprise morphed into anger and a darkness unlike anything I've ever seen swirled in his eyes. Blake went in for another blow with his claws, but Jareth was not going to allow himself to be struck again. It happened faster than my eyes could comprehend. Blake was now laying on his back in a hole on the road that was not previously there; Jareth had thrown Blake to the ground with such force that his body had cracked the asphalt into a large hole. Jareth loomed over Blake as he was groaning in pain.

"You're sure you still want to do this?" Jareth maliciously asked as he stood over Blake, that damned smirk back on his face.

Blake groaned again, but managed to get out a meek reply. "She's worth any amount of pain."

Jareth laughed but before he could finish, Blake was back on his feet. Without hesitating, Blake reared his foot back and kicked Jareth squarely in the stomach, sending him flying into a tree near the side of the road. The tree splintered with a loud crack and toppled, crashing through the branches of the other trees surrounding it. Jareth was now sitting against the splintered tree trunk as Blake approached him.

"All I want is for you to leave us alone, leave Misery alone. Why did you have to do this, Jareth? We used to be friends," Blake implored Jareth with a twinge of sadness in his voice, now standing over him as Jareth once stood over Blake.

Jareth rolled his eyes. "I don't care that we used to be friends. Friends never meant that much to me, especially not after what you did to Mary."

Mary? Blake never told me about someone named Mary. Add confusion to my hurt and anger and yet all I could do was watch and listen while I was tied to a goddamn tree.

"Mary? Mary died centuries ago! And I'm sorry about what happened to her but that was an accident. Please don't tell me you honestly believe that I purposely intended to hurt her."

Jareth scoffed. "An accident? I know that you took her away from me because you couldn't stand the sight of me being happy. You were always so jealous of my ability to find love and you finally took it out on Mary. You just couldn't help yourself and you pushed her out of the window when you finally had enough!"

My heart sank when Jareth said Blake pushed someone out of a window. How could that be? Is it really in Blake's character to murder someone? I couldn't believe it, I wouldn't believe it. "Pushed her? Jareth, she fell out of the window! I understand that you loved her, but that was centuries ago and it was an accident. Stop taking this out on Misery, it isn't her fault." Of course it was an accident, I knew it couldn't be true.

Jareth finally stood up, anger swirling in his eyes. "I'm not taking this out on Misery. I finally found someone I love as much as I loved Mary, and you still can't let me be happy."

It was Blake's turn to let the anger take over his eyes. "How could you claim that you love her when you've tortured her the way you have? You raped her, for Christ's sake! You brought her father back into her life just to torment her. Not only that, she doesn't love you back! How could you expect her to love you after all that you've done?"

Jareth let out a disgustingly arrogant laugh. "Once I've killed you and you're out of the picture, she'll learn to love me. It may take a while, but it'll-"

He couldn't finish his sentence before Blake brought his leg up and kicked Jareth into another tree, again causing it to splinter and topple to the forest floor. He walked over to Jareth as he was groaning in pain.

"Seriously Jareth, fuck you!" With this, Blake kicked Jareth in the stomach again. Another groan of pain escaped Jareth's lips. Blake turned around and called to me, "Are you still sure you don't want me to kill him?"

"Kill him, Blake! Kill him!" I screamed as loud as I could. I hated that monster, and I didn't know what I was talking about when I told Blake I didn't want him to kill Jareth. Of course I want him to kill Jareth. All I wanted was to be happy with Blake, and that can't happen until Jareth is dead.

I heard a voice next to me saying, "You're going to regret that later." It was my father. I forgot he was even there, I was so worried about Blake.

I looked at John then looked back at Blake. "And kill this asshole too!" I called out to him.

Blake laughed and turned back to Jareth, but he was gone. I saw a flash behind Blake but before I could scream, Jareth plunged a piece of splintered wood from the tree into Blake's heart through his back. Blake slumped onto the ground and didn't move.

"NO!" I sobbed. The tears began streaming down my face uncontrollably, and I thrashed in my binds. He can't be dead, he can't be dead, he can't be dead. I screamed and screamed, sobbed and sobbed. Through my cries of anguish, I heard the laughter of Jareth and my father and through my tears, I saw Jareth approaching me.

"Misery honey, no need to be so distraught. You were meant to be with me, not with Blake. Now, let's go home and begin our lives together. Properly this time," Jareth said with a gentle tone, as gentle as a monster like him could be.

I didn't hear a word he said. All I could think about was Blake. I was looking past Jareth at Blake, still slumped over in the trees in the same position as when he fell. No movement. He was dead and there was nothing I could do about it. Now I was at the mercy of Jareth and at that thought, a new wave of tears came rolling down my face.

"John, untie her from the tree but keep her wrists bound," Jareth commanded my father, but kept his eyes on me while saying it. "And Misery, stop crying. You should be happy that I finally disposed of the thing that was keeping us from happiness."

"Happiness? God, what the fuck is wrong with you? I was happy with Blake, not you! And you killed-" I couldn't get the words out. A ball so big formed in my throat, I couldn't talk. My mouth wouldn't let me speak the words that Jareth killed Bake, as if speaking it made it real that he was dead. More cries of pain and grief were all that my mouth would allow me to utter.

By now, John had finished removing me from the tree and was working on tying my wrists. I was not going to make this easy for them. I think Blake left the keys in the ignition, so all I had to do was break free and get to the car, then drive like hell. I suddenly jerked my hands out of John's grip before he could finish tying them together, catching him off guard. I ran as fast as I could to the car, leaving John and Jareth standing among the trees. The two were stunned, but only for a second and I could feel Jareth running behind me. I was so close to the car, all I could hear was the beating of my heart and all I could see was the handle of the door. I flung the door open and threw myself in the car. I pressed the button to lock the car a split second before Jareth tried opening the door.

"Misery, don't do this," he said to me through the window. "Just come home with me, we can be happy."

"Fuck you!" I screamed at him as I turned the keys in the ignition and started the car. I pressed my foot to the acceleration pedal and was determined to drive as far away from there as fast as possible. I saw John standing in the road, trying to get me to stop. There was no way I was going to stop. I locked my eyes onto John's and I saw his eyes go wide once he realized I wasn't going to. And then I hit him. His body hit the front of the car, cracked the windshield, and flew over the top of the car. Not for a second did I slow down. I looked in the rearview mirror and saw him lying in the middle of the road, but he was by no means dead. He probably didn't feel any pain, but damn did it feel good to hit him with a car.

I was finally free. All I had to do was keep driving and not stop. But something flashed in the left side mirror, a black mass that moved so quickly I couldn't tell what it was. But I knew in my heart what it was. It was Jareth. Something landed on the roof of my car, startling me so much I let out a scream. I regained my composure, no was not the time to freak out. I jerked the steering wheel back and forth, trying to get Jareth off. As I was doing this, I heard the shriek of metal tearing and looked up to see claw marks in the roof of the car. In the scratch marks I could see Jareth's sick smirk as his hideously sharp nails dug into the metal . No, no, no, I was so close to getting away from him. I jerked the steering wheel harder and harder, but he clung on like a spider to its web. More metal tearing, and the claw marks in the roof got bigger. They were now so big he was able to use his hands to further tear the metal apart. There was nothing I could do but keep driving and jerking the steering wheel in a frantic attempt to get him off the car. The hole in the roof was now so big that Jareth's shadow cast into the car and my fate seemed inevitable. He jumped into the car and landed in the passenger's seat.

"Misery, stop the car. It's over," Jareth said in a chillingly calm manner. I said nothing as a million thoughts circulated in my head. I'd rather die than be subjected to Jareth's torture, so that's exactly what I was going to do. I jerked the steering wheel one last time, crashing us headfirst into a tree. The last thing I heard before my vision went black was Jareth's surprised gasp.

The first thought that came to my mind when I became conscious was fuck. Fuck, I'm not dead. And if I'm not dead then that means I'm with Jareth. Why couldn't I have just died? Why must I continue to suffer? My life has been one long bout of suffering and the only shot at happiness I had was with Blake. And now he was gone. There was nothing for me to live for and yet here I was, alive. The second thought was also fuck. Fuck, I'm in so much pain. My head was searing with a pain so sharp it felt as if a hole was being bored into my head with a white hot poker and every bone in my body ached. I tried to move my limbs, but the pain was excruciating. A low moan escaped my lips- everything just hurt so much.

"Jareth, I think she's awake!" John's voice rang out next to me. Of course he was here.

I heard a whoosh of motion, then a whisper next to my ear. "I missed you, my darling." I moaned once again and was scared to open my eyes. I had to face the reality I was in, but keeping my eyes closed for just a few more seconds seemed to stave off the horrifying realness of my situation.

"That was an extremely reckless move you pulled there, Misery," Jareth said next to me.

I sighed and opened my eyes to see Jareth sitting next to my bed and John sitting on the other side. Weakly, I was able to get out, "Yeah, that should show you how much I hate you."

Jareth narrowed his eyes. "It's all in due time, my dear. You'll love me if you just let yourself. But in any case, you're quite lucky. No broken bones, just a gash in your head. I imagine you're extremely sore though."

I grunted in reply, for he deserved no more words. "Well, we'll let you rest. I'll be back soon to check in on you," Jareth said as he leaned in to kiss my forehead. I felt his lips against my skin and I shuddered with disgust and fear, remembering all the cruel touches he forced me to endure. The two left the room, and I was at last alone. I tried raising my hand to touch the wound on my head, but it was at this moment that I discovered that both my wrists were tied to the edge of the bed with rope. Of course this asshole tied me up, why wouldn't he? I sighed in defeated frustration and looked down at my body. I was in a white nightgown. I felt so violated at knowing Jareth changed my clothes, but that's par for the course. I looked around the room to survey my surroundings. The bed that I was currently laying on was the only piece of furniture in the small space. The walls and sheets were a stark white, reminiscent of a hospital but lacking other features of an infirmary. The door that Jareth and John walked out of was the only one in the room, and there was one single window directly across from my bed. All that was visible outside the window was the night sky, stars strewn about.

My head hurt and my bones ached, but Jareth said I had no more injuries other than a gash on my head. No broken bones meant I could walk, and if I could walk, I could escape. I looked at the knots tying me to the bed, and began twisting my wrists in an attempt to loosen the knots. All I could think of was Blake. He would want me to escape, he would want me to keep fighting. Another large lump formed in my throat and my eyes began to well with tears at the thought of my Blake. Just keep fighting, Misery. That's what he would want you to do. I started jerking my wrists back and forth even more and slowly but surely the knots began to loosen. Just a few more jerks and the knots unraveled. John must have tied these knots, the idiot.

Once free, I rubbed my wrists and slowly got out of bed so as not to cause any more pain to my head. This was fruitless, though, and a headache like I've never felt in my life came crashing down on me. As soon as I stood, my vision turned black and I saw stars, but with each second, the darkness lessened and my vision slowly returned. It felt as though I was trudging through molasses, but I made my way to the door. I reached for the door handle, fully expecting it to be locked, when it suddenly swung wide open, nearly hitting me in the face. There, standing before me, was my Blake.

"Blake?" I whispered in disbelief. My eyes must have been playing tricks on me from the head injury.

He gently put his hands on the sides of my arms and said, "Yes baby, it's me."

I collapsed into his arms and cried with relief in his chest. He stroked my hair, softly shushing me. I can't believe he's here, I can't believe I'm in his arms. I saw Jareth stab him through the heart and yet here he was. "How are you here?"

"Jareth didn't get me in the heart. It was a close enough call that it knocked me to the ground, but it didn't kill me. The idiot didn't think to double-check that I was dead, and once I was able to get up, I followed you here." I laughed weakly, and he continued. "Come on, we have to get you out of here before they see us." He took my hand and pulled me into a stone hallway that I did not remember from the last time that I was in Jareth's house. Blake held my hand as we snuck through the house, hallway through hallway until we finally got to the main entrance way, having no problems getting there and not running into anyone. But of course, it could never be easy.

Jareth and John were there against the door, blocking our way out.

"I thought I heard your voice, Blake. And I thought I killed you," Jareth growled.

"You obviously didn't. Now let us leave," Blake growled back, pulling the same piece of wood from his pocket that Jareth used to stab him with.

Jareth laughed. "Oh, planning on killing me? Good luck with that." He lunged for Blake, attempting to wrestle the piece of wood out of his hand. I gasped and leapt out of the way, just in time before Jareth wrestled Blake to the ground. Jareth was on top of him, one hand on his chest and the other trying to pry the wood out from Blake's grasp. The force splintered the wood in two, casting splinters everywhere. One large piece fell to the tiled floor and as Blake and Jareth were struggling, I leapt for that piece. John saw me reaching for the wood and came towards me. He knocked me to the ground as Jareth knocked Blake to the ground, holding me by my chest and trying to get the wood out of my hand.

With all the strength I could muster, I broke my hand away from John's and drove the piece of wood straight through his heart. He froze on top of me and his eyes went wide. His skin began turning grey, spreading like a sick disease all across his body. We looked at each other and I saw sadness in his eyes. Sadness that this was how he came to his end, at his daughter's hand. Sadness that he never got to know me. I didn't feel sadness, however. All I could feel was rage. The grey reached his face last and once it did, he began to turn to ash. Limb by limb turned to ash and fell across my body and the tile. His head was again the last to go and once it did, ash fell onto my face. My father was no more, but the wood remained.

I looked over at Jareth and Blake. They were still struggling with each other, seemingly unaware that I had just killed John and was covered in his ashes. I grabbed the piece of wood that I used against John and stood up. I went over to Jareth and kicked him in the side, knocking him to the tile floor on his back. I stood over him and raised the wood in the air.

"Fuck you!" I screamed as I plunged the wood in Jareth's heart before he had the chance to react. His eyes went wide and like John's, his skin slowly turned grey.

"Misery…" was all he was able to say before his limbs disintegrated into ash. Jareth was finally dead.

"Oh my god, you killed them," Blake said as he got up from the floor, a smile spreading across his face.

"Fuck yeah I killed them. And it felt good," I grinned back.

Blake grabbed my hand and pulled me in for a kiss before saying,"Come on, honey. Let's go home." He led me out the door and into the woods surrounding Jareth's house. A car was parked a little ways away, hidden amongst the trees. We climbed in and Blake drove us down the trail to the main road. I held his hand in mine and rested my head against the seat, heaving a sigh of relief. I was finally safe, finally with Blake. All the hurt and pain that I've been through in my life was in the past, and in the past it would remain. My life was finally beginning.

The End.