Hey guys! I know a lot of people are reading this story, but for some reason not commenting. If you like the story let me know! If you don't, let me know as well! Hope you enjoy the suspense of this chapter! I really liked how it turned out. Tchau!
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Chapter 4 – Moves and Countermoves
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All day after the pep rally, Sarah's mind raced with thoughts of Dan, and Jess, and Him. Her pencil beat out a frantic rhythm on her desk. It's sound was muted against a blue school binder.
Dan hasn't been in any of my classes all day, or in the hallways. If the Goblin King is really back...then Dan is in danger. We have to help him!
"Now if you'll all turn to page 102 in your textbooks..." Mr. Cooper, her balding literature teacher, said.
As he turned to write a couple of things on the board, she snuck open her phone and opened up a new group chat.
GROUP CHAT:
Sarah 2:40pm
Guys, this is Sarah. We need to talk.
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Emily 2:40pm
Hey Sarah.
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MJ 2:40pm
Yo
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Taylor 2:40pm
Sup
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Stacey 2:40pm
Wth how did you get my number?
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Sarah 2:41pm
FaceSpace
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Stacey 2:41pm
Wow creeper much
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Sean 2:41pm
Sarah what'd you want to talk about
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Sarah 2:42pm
The pep rally (And don't pretend you don't know what I mean)
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Taylor 2:42pm
when/where you want to meet
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Sarah 2:42pm
By the fountain after school
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Stacey 2:42pm
Can't, I've got practice until 6
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Sean 2:43pm
Same. Meet after?
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Sarah 2:43pm
Guys this is serious
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Sean 2:43pm
I can't just ditch we've got a game coming up.
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Sarah 2:43pm
Fine. We meet at 6
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Taylor 2:43pm
This cracks me up
Oh hey I think you forgot to add luke to this text
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Sarah 2:44pm
Crap, you're right. Hang on let m
Before Sarah could finish her text, the screen suddenly buzzed, showing the logo sign, and then promptly turned off. Dead again?!
"Ugh! What the heck-!" She stared at the phone in betrayal.
"Ahh, Sarah. Nice of you to volunteer. Since you're paying attention, perhaps you'll know the answer to my question..." Mr. Cooper raised an eyebrow at her outburst, "When did the last witch trial take place in the United States?"
"Uhhh..I..." Sarah stared at him, trying to think of the different facts she knew from her history book from last year. Except this was English Literature class for crying out loud!
Her classmates started to snicker as Mr. Cooper stared her down.
Someone caught her attention from a few rows up. It was Luke! He winked at her then opened his hand under the desk. From her angle, she could make out 4 digits written across his palm. 1-8-7-8
"...1878?" Sarah asked, hopeful.
Mr. Cooper's eyebrow raised even higher in obvious surprise, "Well, you certainly kept us in suspense Miss Williams. But you are correct. 1878! Just think about that everyone!" Mr Cooper began pacing the floor around everyone emphatically, "It's not so very long ago! It happened just 75 years before "the Crucible" which we'll be reading this semester. In literature, as in life, the past is always creeping up just right behind us..."
The bell rang.
"...and so does the end of school. Class dismissed." Mr. Cooper sighed, as everyone began to flee. Students began to pack up and Sarah breathed a sigh in relief as she made her way towards Luke. But Mr. Cooper beat her there, stepping up to him.
"Mr. Thomas, a word?" Mr. Cooper said.
"Uh...yeah! Yeah, sure." Luke looked uncomfortable. Sarah hesitated, then turned and slipped out quietly to wait for him.
Out in the hall, she leaned against a wall with an outlet, charging her phone as she waited for Luke.
"Stupid phone...I just charged you..." She scolded the inanimate object, hoping that this time it will learn it's lesson. The hallway emptied as everyone headed home for the day or for after school activities such as drama, art, music, sports...
Gradually, Sarah became aware of muffled voices inside the classroom.
"...and I know what you're doing..." Mr. Cooper's voice.
"...don't know what you're talking about..." Luke's voice.
"...may have everyone else fooled but you can't fool me..." Mr. Cooper's angry voice.
Huh? What's going on in there? She wanted to get closer and debated within herself if she should or not. Well, I already know something's up… so I can't hurt to listen a little more, right? Guiltily, she edged closer and moved to put her ear to the door.
Suddenly cold hands grabbed Sarah from behind and covered her eyes, shrouding her in darkness.
"THERE you are..."
"Aaaahhhhh!" She screamed. Panic flooded her body and she struggled wildly against her captor as she's forcefully dragged down the hall.
"NOOOOOOO! Let me go! Let me—Oooofff!" She let out a gasp of pain, as she was shoved backwards into a metal wall. She heard a deafening SLAM and then...muffled laughter.
"Whaaa...HEY!" Sarah found herself in the peculiar situation of looking out from the slits of a school locker.
"Hahahahaha! OMG, your face!" Ugh. I'd know that stupid laugh from Jocelyn anywhere.
Cody's eye filled the light coming from the slots as he grinned evilly at her. "School's back in session, Sarah!", He bellowed triumphantly.
"Let me out you morons!", Sarah yelled, pounding the metal where Cody's eye had just been, making the locker echo loudly in her ears.
Jocelyn crooned sweetly to her, "Awww, but we wanted to make sure your school year started off with a BANG!" She kicked the locker door, making Sarah yelp and cover her ears.
"Get comfy in there Sarah." Cody smiled brightly at her through the slots, "We'll check on you tomorrow morning." He winked and walked off.
"Byyyeeeeee!" Jocelyn wiggled her finger and strutted after Cody. Their laughter receded down the hall, leaving her alone in the cramped, dark space.
"Arrrrraaaagggghhhhhh!" Rage filled her from head to toe and she slamed as hard as she could against the metal door, and yelled "Come back here you cowards! Let me out! You're going to pay for this!"
After a few minutes of banging, pushing, punching and... she hated to admit it...swearing, the locker door still wouldn't budge. Her eardrums felt like they were bleeding from how loud the slams and shouts echo were in such a closed space.
She slumpd against the back wall, defeated. Angry tears began to prick her eyes, and she blinked them back, biting her lip to hold in a sob as her shoulders started to shake. Great. Perfect way to start the school year. My SENIOR year, no less. I'm such a loser...
"...Sarah..."
"What now? You guys think of some more fun ways to torture me?" She growled, kicking the door so they get the hint.
"...more...fun..."
"Get lost Cody! I'm not scared of you!" Sarah slapped both hands against the locker to make a loud sound.
BANG! BANG! BANG! The whole locker began to shake, and the shadows all around Sarah seemed to thicken...growing colder...closing in...
"N-not scared. I'm not scared. I'm not scared!" Sarah covered her face and ears, trying to block out the whispers and feeling of being trapped. She pressed her palms into her face….. everything swirled….and then it all stopped.
She hesitantly opened her eyes and then gasped.
Twisted trees and ferns were all around her, dappled by the sunlight shining through the leaves. I'm in... the woods?! Impossible!
"I'm not scared!", someone said from behind her and she whirled around to face the voice. But when she saw who it was, she did a double-take.
Jessica stood before her, just like she remembered her at 8 years old.
Her baby-blue sundress had no wrinkles, and her crimson locks fell around her shoulders. She was upset… standing with her hands on her hips, and glaring at Sarah just like she did years ago. The ruins loomed against the backdrop of tangled trees behind her.
"Jess?" Sarah took a step towards her, feeling her heart ache. "Jess? W-we have to leave! Come with me!" Sarah looked over at the ruins worriedly.
She tried to reach her but her body was suddenly frozen, staying in place. The golden sun fell behind the trees and night quickly crept over the woods. Sarah struggled against her invisible prison.
Jessica just gazed at her sadly, "Promise you'll look after me?"
"Oh, Jess!" Sarah let out a choked sob. The green of the forest turned a foreboding dark blue. The moon peeped through the trees above them casting strange shadows all around. "Jess, I...I didn't know what would happen..." Sarah pleaded for her to understand...To forgive her... To allow her to forgive herself.
Jess looked at her with huge sad eyes while Sarah watched as darkness bleeded from the windows and doorway of the ruins, shadowy tendrils reaching out for her childhood friend.
The darkness finally grabbed hold of Jess and snatched her back toward to the house!
"Sarah!" Jess shrieked out to her, trying to grab onto any trees root or stones but to no avail. She screamed as she was swallowed up by the darkness inside the doorway.
"NOOOOO! Jessica!" Sarah cried. Her legs weren't frozen anymore and they gave out in despair. She fell to the floor and closed her eyes in agony.
"Please..." She whispered, knowing no one can hear her, "Take me!...take me instead."
"Say your right words, Sarah."
Sarah gasped, her head snapping up. In the doorway, where Jessica disappeared, stood the creature. The Goblin King. Jareth.
He was shrouded in darkness just like she remembered. His clothes and cape were as black as a black hole, sucking light into it. The darkness shrouding him made his gravity-defying blonde hair almost a stark white atop his pale inhuman face. All the memories that Sarah had tried to bury came rushing back as she gazed upon him.
"Jareth" She whispered unwillingly and began to slowly, carefully, rise to her feet again.
Not wanting to make any sudden movements; she kept her eyes focused on the enemy before her. He sighed happily as she said his name and his cape and hair billowed excitedly in an invisible wind, tendrils of inky blackness seeped from him, gently spreading out like smoke. Sarah winced, knowing that she really had to stop accidentally saying his name. It held power. Only Jess and she knew his true name while everyone else just called him the Goblin King. Look where that got them...
"My darling girl. How I've missed you. 10 years, I believe it's been!" he smirked at her and clasped his hands, eyes shining like fallen stars, "All grown up I see."
"Goblin King, you have no power over me." Sarah glared, not allowing any pretenses. I'm 18 now. Not an 8-year-old. I can take him.
The fact that the Goblin King was speaking in complete sentences showed that he had some semblance of power here…unlike other times when his words came out at a strange, uneven frequency like at the pep-rally.
"For now." He threatened, and cocked his head smiling pleasantly at Sarah. "You really are the most difficult human I've ever encountered. So, please, don't stop now", He said almost fondly.
Is that a compliment?
"Where am I?" Sarah asked. She had to look away from him. He was mesmerizing, just like she remembered. Strange and wonderful and magical and...and a killer.
With that thought, she angrily forced herself to look back at him, charms be damned, "Where is Jessica?"
Deep inside, she knew what she saw was an illusion. But still. She wanted to hear him admit it.
"She's not here, Sarah." He examined the black gloves on his hands, nonchalantly. "I'm sure you already knew that. And neither are you, unfortunately. " He looked back up at her, smiling. His eyes were annoyed however while his voice remained friendly, "Consider that little scene with Jessica payback for what you did to Caiatus when he paid you a visit this morning. Burning his face?" he tutted, "Bad form, my dear."
Sarah stared at him for a moment, wondering at his words. I'm not here? Then where the heck am I?! One of his "dreams"?
Her glare deepened, and she yanked at her shirt at the neckline, "And this IS good form?" She grit out, alluding to the bruises on her neck. "Your Caiatus friend sure knows how to convince a girl….to stay away!"
He waved it off, "Rest assured my dear, Caiatus paid for what he did to you...but we must finish what we started. Bring your friends since its part of your rules, Sarah. It matters not to me." He smiled, cruelly "Or, you will come by force and all your friends will suffer on your behalf."
Sarah glared at him and asked what she'd wanted to know for 10 years, "Why? Why all these games? Come get me yourself!"
Jareth smiled, and leaned against the doorway to the stone house. "So that's what you want, is it? Patience, dear Sarah. All in good time."
She hid her shiver. Just words...only words. H-he can't get to me. Otherwise he wouldn't have sent his...Caiatus... in his place. He has no power. Not like last time. Sarah straightened and looked into the eyes of the beast. He had nothing to offer her that she wanted. She wanted Jess back. But Jareth had no cards on the table. Jess was dead. Jareth seemed to guess what she was thinking.
"I wanted it to be you, Sarah. Truly, I did. I still do. But Jessica volunteered herself. And so my deal is with her…BUT there are still moves and countermoves to be made. Decisions to still be …. decided." Jareth murmured, watching her carefully.
"You wanted me dead...how wonderful, Jareth! I'm so glad I met you!" Sarah spat out at him, furious. "Kill me already. Stop wasting my freaking time!" She didn't mean it, she was just angry. But she thought about his other words…His deal is with Jessica? As in the present tense? What can he mean? Could Jess be alive?
His face flashed with something. He looked angry, but it soon faded away as he gazed at her thoughtfully. Then he cocked his head and asked almost innocently, "Dead is an interesting term. Would you consider me alive, Sarah?" He smiled softly and cryptically said, "Death is merely a new beginning. It's nothing to be afraid of. You don't cease to exist, or cease to be you…In fact, when you truly look at it, death is merely…an illusion."
"What are you talking about?" She asked, feeling a budding of hope. Could Jess be alive? Or…alive dead? She shook her head, confused, and tried to squash down this feeling. Jess wasn't coming back. But she took a step toward the ruins, nonetheless, her hands balled into fists.
Jareth's face flashed with something again, this time it's more akin to excitement, and his blackness seemed to spread a bit farther.
He's never seems to be able to control himself around me, Sarah realized. I wonder what would happen if I walked up to him? She dared not risk it. He was obviously held captive by the ruins, even in this dream world of sorts, and there he would stay if she had anything to do with it.
Even now, after all these years, he gave off a strange allure that 7 and 8-year-old Sarah couldn't resist and now 18-year-old Sarah was consciously struggling against. He was handsome in a strange way that she hadn't and still didn't know how to pin down. She really had no one to compare him to, to be honest. He looked so different from anyone else on earth. Sarah shook her head, and stepped back, sure that this attraction she felt couldn't be real. It had to be another illusion created by magic. It wasn't possible, she reasoned within herself, that she could TRULY feel something for such a dark being. You can't even call him a person because he's not human. It has to be an illusion. This attraction is simply black magic. Has to be. Sarah's heart sank, feeling the pain of losing Jess all over again.
She glareed daggers at him. "Your tricks won't work on me, Goblin King." She took yet another step back to emphasize her point, "And I won't go back Underground."
The Goblin King had a way of making you forget. She couldn't allow herself to EVER forget what he was or what he did. She turned to walk away.
"Ah. I see. Poor Dan then..." he said nonchalantly.
Sarah stopped in her tracks. When she turned back to him, horror was written on her face, "NO..."
"YES…", Jareth pushed from off the doorway, grinning wickedly, "He came by to pay me a little visit the other night and I may have given him quite a scare..."
Why would Dan DO that? Why go back?!
Her throat felt dry and she tried to swallow. What did Jareth want!? Why is he doing all this? Should she beg? She watched him, trying to figure out what he was trying to gain from all of this. He watched her too, with just as much intensity. They both stared at each other, calculating.
Finally, after a long moment of searching each other's faces, he chuckled and shook his head in a very human manner, "Ah, Sarah, Sarah, Sarah. What am I going to do with you?"
"I've been wondering the answer to that question myself." She bit out, angry tears starting to cloud her vision, "Why do my friends have to be involved in this?"
Jareth turned somber and gazed at her, all hints of teasing and cruelty gone. He looked almost tired. "YOU drug them into this, Sarah. YOU changed up the rules, the rules of how I must proceed. You did it unknowingly, you were so young, but what's said…is said." He sighed, and continued, "Time is running out...For the both of us. If I was you, I would go help my friend before time runs out for him too."
He nodded to her then, an unreadable expression in his eyes, and he backed into the ruins. His face disappeared into the shadows and for a moment Sarah was alone. Only the inky dark tendrils of his magic remained outside the ruins… then, they started creeping outwards slowly.
Suddenly the shadows exploded out, a loud black hurricane barreling towards her!
She gasped and raised her hands up in defense...and then she was falling.
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