I am soooooo sorry. Trust me when I say that the past few months have been crazy. I had a BUNCH of stuff going on with my husband's visa to the U.S. so we had to travel to Rio de Janeiro (It was amazing.) to have his interview (after 16 months of waiting!)and he got approved! So we sold all our stuff off and came to the U.S. and here we have been for about 2.5 weeks. So, believe me when I say that I haven't had the time to update.

This was a really fun chapter to write! I love libraries! And as I wrote it, I realized that the movie IT has a library scene too! At least the old version does. Does the new one have a library scene too? Leave a review and let me know! In this chapter we finally get a hint of Jareth. The only other chapters I wrote him in was chapters 2, 3, and 4 with Chapter 4 being the only one where he actually made an appearance. So this was REALLY overdue, don't you think?

An AMAZING thanks to Stantheman1212! You asked many legitimate questions and I promise I will answer them all eventually. A writer cant give up her secrets when she's not even halfway through the book ;) Anyways, you're the ONLY person who reviewed chapter 11! So, this next chapter is in honor of you. I dont even feel bad for disapearing for 3 months anymore since noone was reading anyways! XD (Lol, except you. Sorry for leaving you hanging.)

Thanks to everyone who stuck with me these past months! You guys are the best!

No harm ever came from reading a book." - Evie, The Mummy 1999

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Chapter 12: Secrets in the Library

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Emily looked worried, "And you're positive there's not some other explanation?"

"I'm telling you – I thought it, and it happened." MJ tapped her head expertly.

They were walking down the road, on their way to the library. It was mostly sidewalk but every once in a while their shoes would crunch where gravel met concrete. MJ had just finished her story of using what seemed to be magic on Jocelyn that afternoon by smashing her face in with a locker door.

"So, what, now you're telekinetic or something?" Emily gaped at her.

MJ shrugged, grinning.

"MJ... Can you do it again?" Sarah asked, quietly. This was huge.

MJ's face fell. "I don't know." She perked back up, "Maybe it's like a muscle? Like, maybe if I rest it a little, it'll come back stronger!"

"I don't know about all this…" Emily shook her head, and continued, "Doesn't the timing seem odd? Like maybe it has something to do with…you know who…"

"The Goblin King?" MJ deadpanned.

Emily jumped up and clamped her hand on MJ's mouth, "Shhhhh! Don't say his name!"

"Emily, he's not Voldemort." Sarah tried to reassure her. Unless you use his real name...

Emily got frustrated with her, and she flung her arms out. "You don't know what he is, Sarah! None of us do." Emily shivered and looked around as they crossed the street toward the library.

Hmm, touché. Sarah pondered Emily's words. She guessed that she, in all honesty, DIDN'T understand Jareth all that well. Sure, growing up with him as an invisible friend and then 13 hours in his labyrinth with him being visible was more than anyone else in the gang, but did that really give her a thorough understanding of who or what Jareth was?

Taking Sarah's silence as confirmation, Emily continued, "Dan goes missing…Turns up in a coma…Weird monsters prowling the woods….And now this, like, witchcraft stuff? What if the Goblin King is doing this? What if he's manipulating you, MJ? Or controlling you?"

MJ held up a finger and said "First of all, I object to the persecutory undertones of the word 'witchcraft'. Second of all, I'm not being controlled." She huffed.

"But that's what you would say if you were!" Emily gasped, as if it all was confirmed now.

Sarah rolled her eyes. It's what she would say if she wasn't as well.

MJ seemed to take Emily a little more seriously than Sarah did, however. "I…wow…." She was at a loss for words and looked a little concerned. "I guess you might be onto something there…"

"Why would he do that though?" Sarah argued, thinking out loud, "Why would a monster hand out superpowers? It doesn't make sense."

"Servants?", Emily suggested. "No, what's the other word…..Thralls. What if the Goblin Kings wants MJ to be on his side and to turn her into some kind of puppet? Like those other Firey monster things?"

"A puppet for what though?" Sarah asked, still not seeing it. Emily and MJ stared at her. The air grew uncomfortable. "Oh, what?" Sarah asked again, angrily. "To get to me? Don't be ridiculous." But Sarah was afraid. Isn't that what the Goblin King had more or less said that he wanted in not so many words?

Something about that struck a chord. MJ shivered, then shrugged it off with a snarky scoff like Sarah had done, "The Goblin King? Control a tough girl like me? Psssh. That…that could never happen." She suddenly looked hesitant, vulnerable, "Could it?"

They all paused underneath a shady tree to get out of the hot sun. They both looked at Sarah. She glanced back at them helplessly. Oh, NOW I'm the expert?

"MJ, we won't let that happen." Sarah smiled at MJ reassuringly.

MJ smiled back for a second and then groaned, "Ugh! Sarah! Could you, like, chill with that 'power of friendship' stuff? You're gonna give me a cavity." she huffed and rolled her eyes, but couldn't seem to help the teensy smile on her black lips, "But...uh, thanks." She said sheepishly, "And look," She turned to Emily, "I'm not gonna to not explore this just because it's supposedly evil... "

Emily started to say something, until MJ finished her sentence.

"…But I'll be careful. And if I start hearing, like, creepy whispers telling me to murder all my friends, you guys will be the first to know." She paused for a moment, thinking, and then grinned at the girls from the corner of her eye, "Well, one way or another."

"Oh my gosh, MJ, that is so not funny!" Emily couldn't help the shocked giggle that escaped her.

"Uh, it kinda is!" Sarah laughed too.

The sound of the girls' laughter carried them inside the library.

Sarah took a deep, relaxing breath as she walked into one of her favorite haunts since she was a kid. The smell of old paper and book binding filled her nose. The library was very old, being one of the first buildings created years ago with the town. There had been renovations since then, but a lot of the building was still original with giant bulb lights the size of Sarah's head dangling above in a straight line down the ceiling. Right beneath the lights, on the floor, was a worn blood-red carpet making a straight line that followed the large bulb lights through the center of the building. It was like the library from the Pagemaster, only not so grandiose. It was a small town after all. Large wooden mahogany shelves stood erect on either side, chock full of adventure, fantasy, mystery and…..dare Sarah say it? Magic.

Sarah milled around her little old friends; various books that she had read long ago that reminded her of the adventures she'd had inside as she walked along the aisles, glancing at their covers. MJ and she chatted a little, while Emily was busy returning her books.

"For real, though, I think there must be something in the water around here." MJ said.

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked distractedly while looking at titles like' Hey Arthur', 'the Bernstein Bears', and 'the Magic School Bus'.

"This town has, like, a history of spooky weirdness. Witch trials, cults, you name it."

Sarah looked back at her, intrigued. "Did you say witch trials?"

"Yeah. Back in the 1800s. I'm pretty sure they hanged a bunch of women."

"Whaaaat? How have I never heard about this?" Sarah shook her head and scoffed, skeptical. She walked along the corridors, gently brushing against the book's spines longingly. They were now moving from children's books section into the young adult aisles.

"Well it's not exactly the kind of thing they write in tourism pamphlets." MJ scoffed.

" Uhhh, actually that's EXACTLY the kind of thing they put in tourism pamphlets." Sarah smirked, amused as Emily returned from the counter.

"What are you talking about?" She asked them.

"Westchester's spooky history." Sarah said.

Emily was surprised too, "Does it have one?!"

They both looked at MJ skeptically now.

"Yes! I'm not making this stuff up, guys!" MJ huffed and held her hands in defense, annoyed.

Sarah delicately put back one of her favorite Nancy Drew books that she had pulled out to look at from when she was young. Her 'Let's-solve-this-mystery!' persona kicked in and she shrugged, "Well, if we wanted to look into it...we are in a library, guys. And we might even be able to learn more about..." Sarah glanced at Emily, who she had noticed tensed up, and backtracked, "uhh…You-know-who."

Emily smiled, grateful, and nodded. "Sounds good, I'm in."

"Wow, I'm surprised that you want to." MJ lifted her eyebrows.

"I don't. But if something is really after us, I'd prefer to understand it." She acquiesced. Then she lit up and smiled shyly, "And to be honest, I just like hanging out with you guys."

"Awww, that's so cute. I think I'm gonna barf." MJ smiled.

Both she and Emily turned to a chuckling Sarah.

"Well, Sarah? Lead the way!"

Sarah pointed majestically towards the computer with an English accent, "To the comput-ah!" and they all hurried over to it. Emily sat down and they crowded behind her as she pulled up a catalog search.

"So where do we start?" Sarah asked her fellow investigators.

"Okay, let's try 'Westchester' and 'witches'." Emily suggested.

She hit enter and a ton of useless results hit the screen.

"Ugh. So much for that."

"Try 'New York cults.'" MJ suggested.

She hit enter again, then shook her head.

"Same thing. We need to narrow the search somehow."

"Try looking for…newspaper articles?" Sarah suggested. "This sort of stuff has to have turned up in the news over the years, right?"

"Ooh, good idea."

Emily made a few key strokes, then pushed enter. A handful of promising results popped up on screen.

"Bingo!" Emily grinned.

"Nice work, Sarah." MJ bumped her with her shoulder. Sarah shrugged. Connor was right…She was a smarty-pants.

Emily studied the search results. "Okay, I see two here we should check out. The first is a book. 'Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Kalmath Country, Volume VII.'"

"On It." Sarah said. She wrote down the Dewey number, then disappeared into the back of the library. The book she found was enormous. It was in the deep and dark part of the library, among a bunch of other enormous old books. It was an ancient ledger with BRASS clasps! She whistled appreciatively as she lifted the heavy book into her arms, "Well, hello lovely!" She couldn't resist blowing the imaginary dust off of it, getting into character.

She headed back to the group, carrying her heavy treasure.

"Sarah, look at this!" MJ waved her over excitedly, and indicated for her to look at the computer She took the book from her hands and set it on the table as Sarah turned to the screen, leaning besides Emily. It was a newspaper article that she had pulled up.

Sarah looked closer, "Ooookay, let's see what we have heeere…..August 22nd, 1976…'Klamath Country Police Discover..." Sarah's eyes widened, "….Forest Massacre'?! Holy crap!"

Emily nodded and began reading from where Sarah had stopped, "…remains of 14 young men and women suspected to be part of a religious group were found in the Westchester woods several days ago…"

Sarah turned to her, shocked, "Those are our woods."

How many times had she and Jess gone into those woods? How many times had she and the gang explored, played, and ran around like chickens with their heads cutt off in those woods? All without knowing the hidden secrets of the past that lay in the ground they tread on...

"…authorities characterized deaths as a mass suicide…but questions have arisen regarding mutilated remains and ritualistic posing…." Emily finished.

Sarah began to pace back and forth behind her, trying to make sense of it all.

Emily turned and looked at her, "Could it have been the Goblin King? It's gotta be! He must have murdered them, just like he did with Jess!"

Sarah paused and frowned.

MJ turned to them excitedly from where she was studying the opened book on the table, "You think that's crazy? Get a load of this!"

Both Emily and Sarah came over to where MJ was pointing at the page.

"'Trial proceedings for the People of Westchester versus… Uh, wow, that's a lot of names. Who are all these women?" Sarah said, awed.

"The survivors of a massacre, on trial for witchcraft!" MJ grinned, clearly in her element.

ANOTHER massacre?

MJ leaned over the book and began to read, "Testimony of Rosemary Willow, November 9th, 1871… 'Miss Willow, please describe for the court where you were on the night of All Hallows' Eve…'"

MJ waved Emily over to join her and Emily hesitantly lowered her face to join MJ's close to the faded print…

Emily started hesitantly, "Uuuh,..'I was walking home from a masquerade party, through the woods off Mill Creek Road.'"

MJ: Would you please tell the jury what you saw that night?

Emily: I s-saw people in the woods…

MJ: Let the record show that Miss Willow has indicated the defendants.

Emily: And I saw…another.

MJ: What do you mean by another? Another person? Do you mean the deceased, whose bloodied corpses were found the next morning?

Emily: No. I mean…

Emily stopped reading, frightened. She looked up at Sarah's eyes and whispered "…Him!"

Sarah's eyes widened. They actually saw Jareth? In the flesh? Her hair stood up and she shivered, the library suddenly felt cold. Sarah had to clamp a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming as the lights…suddenly flickered off once…and then back on. He was here.

MJ didn't notice anything unusual, and continued reading both parts.

MJ: Him who? Miss Willow, who did you see?

The lights turned off again, on, off, on…..

"Uhhhh, guys?" Sarah forced herself to say out loud. Her voice came out barely more than a whisper as she looked around them.

MJ: Let the record show that Miss Willow is pointing to the back of the courtroom….and screaming.

Again the lights flickered, off, on, off, on, off, on….

Emily cut in, "M-maybe we should g-give it a rest for t-today…."

The lights went out.

MJ: Miss Willow, please sit down!

The lights came back on. Sarah felt colder.

"MJ…" Sarah tried again, her voice is a little stronger. Her legs were ice cold, holding her still…

The lights went out and this time the blackout was longer than the other flickers. He was getting closer. Sarah could feel him, she felt his eyes on her…Sarah's breathing started coming in frantic pants. What was she going to do? What COULD she do?!

He has no power over me! HE HAS NO POWER OVER ME! Sarah thought desperately. Sarah tried to run but was unable to. She found that her legs were frozen to the floor, just like in the forest of that strange vision she had in the locker...

MJ: Miss Willow, what are you doing?!

The lights came on again.

"MARY-JANE!" Sarah screamed loudly at her, her voice stronger than ever. Why didn't the librarian notice? Then she felt it…

A gloved hand gently brushed down her spine…

Physical. Real.

MJ: Oh my god, someone stop her! She's going to-

Sarah couldn't move her legs but she COULD move her arms! With no more time left to waste, she leaned out of reach of Jareth's hands and slammed the book shut an inch from MJ's nose!

The fluorescent lights dimmed slightly….and then buzzed as the power comes back on in full force.

Sarah sighed with relief…until she heard a ghostly chuckle behind her.

"Nice try Sarah, but that won't stop me. " He whispered in her ear.

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Cliffhanger! Sorry. But not sorry. How else am I supposed to get you guys to review? *Evil Laugh* Now your reviews will all be mine! MINE!

No reviews, no new chapters. Easy math ^_^ I think Stan theman12120 has set a new bar for everyone. 10 new reviews for this AMAZINGLY juicy chapter that I wrote ya and I will release the next chapter. And you have no right to get mad about it either.! How else will we authors have a little fun? lol! ;) Love ya'll! Don't go reading strange books about cults, ya hear?