Hey guys! The last chapter definitely got some controversial reviews (Which I'm grateful for because it helps me know what the reader want) some people mentioned that I don't have Jareth in this story enough (I can totally relate, since I love juicy Jareth scenes as much as anyone! ) other mentioned that I shouldn't demand so much reviews before updating, otherwise I may eventually not get any.

I kind of want to address these two issues. The first one is the issue of Jareth not being in this story enough. In the back of my mind he's in practically EVERY chapter, because he's some powerful being that none of the gang members truly understand. But I can see how that's not as apparent to you guys at is to me, the writer. I personally want Jareth in a lot, but I'm struggling with the balence of what he and Sarah mean to each other. It's hard writing him as a monster (because to me, he's not a monster, he's just misunderstood) and at the same time, not ruin the ending of this story. So I have to hide his motives and personality in sunlight and shadow. Which makes me just not write him at all for most of the story XD And I'm sorry about that.

To be honest I wasn't even going to include him in the next chapter after the library scene, but I realized that would have pissed a lot of people who were left hanging on the Jareth cliff-hanger and then not to get any Jareth time would be cruel of me. Thus, I decided to put this chapter in between to give everyone some glimpses of him as well as a little more back story.

As for the reviews, I only raised it to 10 because the last chapter was pretty intense (or at least I thought so) and I wanted to catch up on the reviews. AND YOU GUYS DID NOT DISAPPOINT! Lol, I think I got more reviews on that chapter than any other.

So sit back and enjoy this next chapter that I've made special for all you people who reviewed. Thank you!

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Chapter 13: Flashback 2

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10 years ago...

At the house in the woods, twigs and leaves and dirt crunched underfoot as Sarah stepped out into the clearing. She pauses for a moment, almost as if waiting for something, before turning back the way she came with a smile on her face.

"See? It's right where we said." She boasted, her little hand proudly gesturing to the sunlit clearing.

"Holy crud..." Dan's mouth dropped open. Sarah's mint green eyes crinkled in a big excited smile. It felt satisfying to make Dan speechless for once.

"You guys were for real?!" Sean said appearing by Dan's side, his little eyes opening wider than usual. He stepped into the clearing and then stopped, hesitant to go further. "Woah..."

"Told you so!" Jess exclaimed as she came tripping out of the woods with a tumble and bumble. Graceful as a new baby deer. She was wearing her favorite robin blue sundress, a triumphant "Hmph!" coming from her mouth as she readjusted herself and brushed a couple of leaves out of her long ruby hair. "Guess you boys owe us a lollipop!" Her little nose scrunched up in a smirk of victory and she stuck her little hands on her hips as she tried to be sassy like the older girls she saw on t.v.

Taylor and Luke came up from behind her, and Taylor was still scowling. He had been scowling since more than an hour ago when Sarah had convinced them to come with her and Jess.

"I still don't like this." He looked over at the stone ruins suspiciously.

Sarah rolled her eyes. Taylor worried too much. He was only 1-year older than the rest of them anyways, so she wasn't going to let him boss her around like he did Jess. At first glance, you couldn't tell that he and Jessica were related. His short brown hair was nothing like Jess's long "Ariel" hair, but when the trees branches allowed a bit of sunlight to sneak through, you could glimpse a slight red sheen mixed with the brown.

"Wow! This is incredible! I didn't think you were telling the truth!" Luke breathed, adjusting the dark rimmed glasses on his little 1st-grader face. His eyes and mouth were open in wonder. MJ came out of the dense forest next. Her afro-black hair that had little pigtail-loop braids (complete with little yellow bows) looked odd with the sleeveless black leather jacket she wore. She looked caught between cute and punk.

"Aww, man! Is this where the monster grabbed you?!" MJ turned to Jess excitedly.

"Yeah, it was right in that door there." Jessica pointed to the decrepit stone house. The two stone pillars framed the dark open doorway, where Sarah had entered the first time. Since she had walked through it; the magnetic force that made objects float had not come back.

Everyone was silent for a moment, watching the ruins for any sign of life, as faint sounds of Stacey and Emily, who had been at the back of the group, made their way to the rest of them. They watched the house intently. But the grey stone didn't do anything except sit there like normal ruins. The sun shown down into the clearing and the trees gently moved in the breeze. A couple of butterflies flitted about the beautiful pink Rhododendron and Camellia flowers that spotted the grass here and there. It was peaceful. It would have been perfect if there hadn't been that strange tree growing up into the side of the house like a serpent.

It grew around the side of the house, emerging out and going BACK though the cavities where the windows should be, like it had changed it's mind about the direction it wanted to go. Almost as though the tree and stone house were in a battle, and the tree was winning. It was disconcerting.

"COOOOOL!" MJ's smiled brightly, breaking their concentration.

Everyone turned as Stacey stepped out of the woods with a pout. Her blonde hair was a little ratty and covered in woodstuff and she had a painful red scratch on her arm. "Ugh, why do we always have to play in the woods? Can't we just play Barbies at my house or something for once?"

"Barbies?! Ew. No. Never. No way." Dan shuddered, with exclamations of the same from the other 8-year old boys.

Stacey gave a huff as Emily finally emerged from the woods, the smallest and shortest of the gang. Emily stopped and stared at the ruins with wide brown eyes. Her soft curly brown hair was styled with pigtails with little blue bowties, almost like MJ's. She and Stacey had been completely against it since the beginning, moaning and groaning the whole walk there. Only MJ and the boys had wanted to see the monster.

"So what exactly happened again?" Luke spoke up. His light brown hair was combed back into it's perfect hairstyle and his clothes were much nicer than anyone else's in the gang. Both his parents were doctors.

"Well," Sarah gestured to the ruins, "Jess and I went through the door and then, uh, the Goblin King, tried to suck us in like a big vacume."

"Wait! Goblin King? How do you know it's name?" Stacey looked suspicious.

"Uh, well, I asked. And he scratched it out on the floor." Sarah partly told the truth.

"And then he stole my necklace!" Jessica said, pouting angrily. "And he still hasn't given it back!" She glared over at the ruins accusingly.

"Ahhh, that's so creepy!" MJ laughed, "I love it!"

Emily however had the opposite reaction and gave a shiver.

"Don't worry Em, there's nothing to be afraid of!" Jessica leaned over and put a short pale arm around her.

Emily turned to looked up at her in disbelief, "Uh, the monster grabbed you, stole your necklace, and tried to drag you underground! That's definitly something to be afraid of!" Emily trembled.

Jessica rolled her eyes and huffed, "That was just the FIRST time we came here, Emily! He's been really nice since then! I promise..."

"WHAT?! You guys have come here MORE than once!" Taylor gaped like an angry fish, then turned to glare at Sarah even more, knowing it was likely her fault.

Sarah wasn't cowed and glared back at Taylor. He was such a stick in the mud sometimes and was WAY overprotective of his sister. Nothing was going to happen! This was their 5th time visiting Jareth.

The rest of the group eyed Jessica and Sarah with even greater interest and surprise.

"Uh, Ok then! Cool. We came, we saw it. Now let's go before that monster comes out and grabs us!" Stacey said.

Dan fidgeted his feet a little, then asked curiously, "So, why is his name the Goblin King? Does he, uh, look like a Goblin?"

Jess and Sarah share a glance, and Jess bit her lip as she tried not to smile. She was worse at keeping secrets than Sarah was, and Sarah was already pretty bad at it.
"Uh," she finally looked at the group, "he told us to call him that. He looks like a nor-...like a n-... like a man."

Sarah knew what Jessica had wanted to say but couldn't. Jess had wanted to say 'normal man' but there wasn't anything normal about Jareth. He was the opposite of normal. He was made of stars and dust. Dreams and wishes were under his command. His clothes, his hair, his eyes, his voice...

Jess continued, pulling Sarah from her thoughts, "But he is the KING of the goblins! He has tons of goblins at his castle and..."

"Goblins? Coooooool!" MJ, balanced on her toes excitedly. The rest of the kids look at MJ warily especially Taylor.

"No, MJ! Not cool!," he threw his arms in the air, "Goblins are never good in the stories!"

"Yeah, like Spiderman versus the Green Goblin!" Sean added, touching Taylor's arm excitedly.

"Oh! I love that comic book!" Dan said, getting into it.

Taylor smiled, forgetting momentarily about the point he had been making, "Yeah! Me too! Especially that part when-"

Both Sarah and Jessica grimaced a little. They were getring off track here.

"Don't worry Taylor!" Jessica pouted at him, interupting, " Sarah was here to protect me. The Goblin King listens to Sarah."

"Ew! There's a dead bird over here!" Emily's voice sounded from nearby, "This place is weird. I want to leave!" She pouted.

"No way! Let's go in there and kick that thing's butt!" Sean said, puffing out his little 8 year old chest and scrunching his face which only made his tiny eyes even smaller. He smacked a fist into his hand, trying to look tough.

"No, the Goblin King is our friend!" Sarah and Jessica said, trying to calm everyone.

"No way, I'm not going in there!" Stacey said firmly, backing away.

"But what if we get Connor to come here and record it on his new camera? We could send it to those ghost hunter guys on T.V.!" Dan said, holding Stacey by the shoulders, getting excited by the idea.

"Uhhhh..." Sarah began to say, trying to figure out how to say 'no'. She didn't want anyone scaring her friend. And something told her that Jareth wouldn't take too kindly to uninvited guests.

" No way! I'm not going in a creepy hole to get eaten, especially with my stupid brother." Stacey angrily shook her head no, her blond hair shaking rapidly as she stomped her foot and crossed her arms in a huff.

"Well, I-I'm not going if Stacey doesn't..." Emily softy adds.

"You guys NEVER want to do anything cool!" MJ scowls at Stacey and Emily.

A high pitched whistles suddenly pierces the air!

"TweeeeEEEEEEeeeeet!"

All argument stops.

Everyone freezes, conversation cutting off as they panic for a second. When the whistle sounds off a second time, they all turn as one towards the stone house, their eyes being drawn to the dark entrance. It looked like a black rectangle mouth.

"That's my whistle!" Jessica said eagerly, and began to walk toward the gaping doorway.

Taylor grabbed her before she got too far and said, "NO Jess! No."

"But...that's Jare-I mean, that's the Goblin King! He's making fun of me!" She balled her hands into fists and tried to struggle against her big brother.

The whistle tooted cheerfully from inside the house, as if daring the kids to go in.

"Well, that settles it. Now we're definitely not going in." Luke shook his head, decided.

"What? Why?" Jessica and Sarah ask at the same time like Siamese twins.

"Uh, 'cause it's obviously a trap!" Luke glared between the two little girls, obviously questioning their sanity.

"Exactly!" Stacey said.

"Dang it... you guys are right..." MJ realized, dejectedly. She visibly drooped.

"But...but you guys!" Sarah whines, trying one more time, "It's actually really cool! There's fairies, and dwarves, and Fireys!"

"What's a Firey?" Emily asked, hesitantly.

"They're these dog, uh, fox?...looking...things that dance and sing and can take off their heads!" Sarah uses her hands as she tries to describe the creatures. She doesn't mention that they had tried to take off her head too.

They were just being playful, she reasoned. Besides, Jareth was with us. He wouldn't let anything happen.

"And there's Goblins! HUNDREDS of Goblins! And they love to play!" Jessica piped in turning her pleading eyes to the group. She was always so much better at that than Sarah, "Come on guys!"

The high pitch toot of the whistle rises and falls over the clearing once more, breaking the spell.

Jess scowls, her face reddening as the mocking whistle continues. She stomps her feet, "Give me back my whistle, Goblin King!"

Her brother held her firm.

"Screw you Goblin King!" Taylor yelled at the house. "We're not coming in."

Sarah got mad, "Don't talk to him like that, Taylor!"

"Come on guys," he pushed past Sarah roughly, "we're leaving!"

As they all turn to go, the whistle suddenly died down and the young kids heard a different sound. A voice...from inside.

"...Wait...

As they all glance back in surprise, something tiny flies from the house at them! It bounces off of Jessica's chest, and lands in her tiny hands.

"My whistle!" Jess shrieks happily and begins to bounce up and down with glee. "He finally gave it back!"

"...I'm sorry, Jessica..." A dissonant voice was heard from the direction of the house.

"Dude!" Dan said in utter shock to hear 'the ghost' talk.

Luke's mouth also gaped open, "What kind of monster apologizes?"

Sarah frowned. It sounded like him. But it was different. As Sarah and Jess had come back multiple times, Jareth had begun to speak with more and more clarity. Now? His voice seemed to be a little abnormal like in the beginning.

"Jar...Goblin King! Why are you talking like that?" Sarah had to ask, a little upset.

"Sh-should we... talk to it?" Sean asked, nervous but curious.

Everyone looked at each other, unsure.

Sarah stepped forward, knowing that he would talk to her, " Hello Goblin King! I've brought my friends to meet you! But don't scare anyone, it's rude...and you should talk normal!" She said, a little annoyed.

An amused ghostly chuckle is all the response she gets.

"G-goblin King!" Taylor says, looking toward the house warily, "Why did you try to grab Jessica?"

"... I'm sorry...." Jareth repeated, and then added, "...very alone..."

Sarah started to get upset. Jareth wasn't talking right!

"Aww, he sounds sad." Dan says, his eyebrows furrowing.

"He's...lonely!" Emily says, feeling more courageous and steps forward.

Stacey is the only one not convinced. She scoffs, "Oh yeah, that's not weird! You guys are so gullible! I can't believe you just-"

But before Stacey could finish, a gust of golden leaves blew through the clearing!

"G-guys! What is that?!" Emily asked, eyes wide.

A small sparkly golden light flits toward the group of young children like a humble-bee. Chirping noises come from the creature as it circles them. Jessica recognizes it immediately.

"It's a fairy!" She says excitedly.

"No frikkin way!" gasps Sean.

A great sense of awe comes over the whole group as the fairy flits up to them. The children get the biggest, dumb-struck expressions on their faces.

"...Wow!" Luke said, adjusting his glasses as the fairy came up to his face. It twittered at him in an unknown language before quickly moving to the next child.

"Are you guys seeing what I'm seeing?" MJ said in awe.

"The Goblin King sent us a fairy!" Jessica smiled, looking over at her brother triumphantly, drinking in his expression.

Taylor looked as enthralled as the rest of the gang. His eyes glaze over with the incredible magic of it all, and he reached a finger out to touch the floating pixie in wonder.

"Careful! They bite!" Jess warned, smacking his hand away. "I got bit my first time." She held out her little finger to the group. A barely visible mark gleamed a little as she turned it this way and that in the sun.

"Uhh? It bites?!" Emily says worriedly, and when the fairy flits up to her face, she backs away. "Why does it bite? I don't like this..."

"Are you kidding? This is so cool!", Dan beamed over at Sarah and Jess, "Can we go inside now?"

The fairy came up to Sarah and Jess last and started chirping excitedly. She was wearing a tiny fragile dress, no shoes, and had adorable pointy ears. Her wings sparkled like gossamer. And...

"Uhh, hi?" Sarah said, not sure what it wanted.

It zipped off above them into the trees with a flurry of glitter.

Everyone stared after it for a moment or two.

"That was...AMAZING!" Stacey squealed, completely unafraid now.

"Yeah! Magic!", Sean said, torn between disbelief and joy.

" I still don't know..." sad Emily, searching above them for that fairy. She turned to look at the group, " the Goblin King may seem cool, but we should be careful. We don't know anything about him!"

"But I want to be friends with him!" MJ whined, sad.

Sarah turned to the group. These were all her friends, "Let's make a deal! We'll all come back tomorrow. But we'll be careful and stick together. "

"That's a good rule, Sarah! We only play with the Goblin King if everyone's ok with it!" Sean agreed, excited.

"That way we can watch out for each other!" Luke nodded.

"Sounds good to me. Everyone agree?" Stacey asked the group, " Nobody visits the Goblin King alone?" She looked over at Sarah specifically.

Sarah frowned a little. What if she wanted to visit Jareth alone one day when she's bored? What if not everyone wants to come and she does?

"I dont know..." Sarah hesitated.

"That's the deal Sarah. Take it or leave it." Taylor said, crossing his arms and frowning.

Everything was still. Almost as if there was a tension in the air. A tingle. Sarah looked over at Jess and knew she could feel it too. Sarah sighed. If she didnt do this, the group wouldn't play with Jareth. And it wouldnt be as fun with just her and Jess. Jareth wouldn't mind if she changed the rules a little bit, she reasoned.

Finally she aquiesced, "Yeah, ok. Everyone plays together."

"Agreed!" smiled Emily.

"Yes! Jare...I-I mean, the Goblin King needs friends!" Jessica clapped her hands. She turned to Taylor, worried about what he's say.

Taylor nodded, "I think we should give the Goblin King a chance."

"Let's pound it!" MJ said.

As the group put their fists together in the circle, Taylor and Sarah locked eyes. He nodded to her and smiled in apology. Sarah smiled back. All was forgiven. Jessica, noticing the peace made between her best friend and brother, smiled and scrunched up her face with glee, making her freckles pop. She clutched her whistle in her tiny hand tightly.

"Sweet! Back to my house for lunch? My mom's making grilled mac 'n cheese!" Dan announced.

Mmm! My favorite! Sarah thought hungrily.

MJ clasped her hands, eyes wide with hunger, "Oh man! We gotta go! Your mom makes it with hot dog pieces!", she started heading back into the woods, pulling Dan with her. All the kids laughed at her enthusiasm. All the stress and tension were gone out of everyone's faces and the trip back was a much happier ordeal than the trip there.

As the group turned to head home, Jess called back over her shoulder "Goodbye Goblin King! We'll come back and play with you again tomorrow!"

The fairy's amber eyes glowed from above in the shadow of a tree as it watched the group amble through the green forest, back the way they had come.

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Oooooh, glowing eyes? Yikes! Sarah, Sarah, Sarah, always changing the rules. Sad thing is she didn't even know it! She was just a little kid! How could she know? Her parents should have taught her better ;) JK. If any of you are wondering why all these kid's parents are letting them run around without supervision...I was wondering that too as I wrote it! Haha!