Disclaimer: I own nothing; just writing a story
A/N: I realized that I need to make something clear because I might have inadvertently misled some readers. In the first chapter, before I found the mistake (Thanks KBates!), I described the dinner guests as faes. This was wrong. Old habits die hard I guess. I never meant to give that character trait to anyone. So, if you read the first chapter before I caught that, please disregard that non-fact. Much apologies!
Chapter 3
Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way
Thirteen years later…
"Ah!" Sarah jumped, startled by the ringing phone. She grabbed her cellphone, checked the caller ID, and answered. "Hello?"
"Oh good, I caught you," the voice shouted in her ear.
"My goodness, Luciana, there's no reason to be that loud in the morning," Sarah grumbled.
"It's nearly two in the afternoon," Luciana countered. "I assume you didn't make it to the store today."
"You're so nosy," Sarah complained as she made her way into her kitchen as the tea kettle screeched. "Do you have good news or not?"
"Weeellll," Luciana started in a high pitched voice.
"For fuck sake, what now?" Sarah yelled, slamming the tea kettle on the stove burner.
"Now hold on," she said, trying to assuage the situation. "Calm down. Don't break anything."
Sarah took a deep breath. "I'm not going to break things. I'm calm. Just- what happened?" She grabbed a tea tin out of the cabinet and quickly placed the loose leaves into a mesh tea ball.
"As you know, the deadline was three days ago," Luciana stated. "And we still haven't received anything from Patrick…"
"But-"
"Wait! I'm not finished," she said, cutting Sarah off. "I called his attorney, and that dick keeps giving me the run around. So, what we're going to do is file documents today asking for default judgment on the divorce. I'm sorry, Sarah. I really am, but this will be over soon."
"It was supposed to be over and done with four years ago," Sarah moaned as she slumped against the counters.
Now, it was Luciana's turn to sigh. "I know. I know," she said. "This has been a long road for you, but it will be over in forty-five days, sixty tops."
"I feel like I've heard you say that before," Sarah said, rolling her eyes.
"I won't deny that. But honestly, everything has been settled: property, accounts, businesses, and the boat-"
"I didn't even want that stupid dinghy," Sarah interjected. "I never wanted a boat. It was all him."
"Exactly, Patrick- he's just being horrible and smarmy, holding on as long as he can," her attorney reassured her. "Don't spend any more time worrying about this. Go spend some time at that shop of yours."
"I planned to go to the historical society later," she said. "Reading dead languages should keep me busy."
"You still waste your time there?" Luciana asked.
Sarah let out a little chuckle. "Rarely. They occasionally need my help- so why not? Also, Quinn told me if I check in on her one more time, she'll quit. I can't have that. She's the best manager I've ever had."
"Well, all right," she said. "I'll send you a copy of the document after it's been filed tomorrow, okay?"
"Thanks, Luciana," Sarah murmured before hanging up the phone. She left her phone on the kitchen counter before grabbing her cup of tea and began wandering through her way to silent home, mulling over the conversation she just had.
Against her better judgment, Sarah quickly finished her still hot tea, grimacing in pain from the hot liquid. She nearly tossed the cup in the sink before grabbing her wristlet and keys, and left her house.
"You do realize that yelling over the phone doesn't accomplish anything," Geoffrey said as held the receiver away from his ear. "The doctors have told you for years that you need to mind your temper."
"Fuck off, Geoffrey," Vernon spat.
"I already told you that I would call you if something happened," he said.
"I'm on my way down there now," Vernon said. "I'll be there in about five hours."
"Christ, Vernon," Geoffrey exhaled. "You're supposed to be taking it easy in- in- wherever you are."
"Connecticut," he answered. "I've been patient for six years. Six years, I've stayed away from there. I'm on my way now. There's nothing you can say to dissuade me. Didn't you say that you found a way to kill it?"
"Yeah, but like other artifacts we had translated before," Geoffrey prefaced. "This may be a bust as well."
"I'll be there after sun down," Vernon said. "Get the preparations in order."
Sarah signed her name at the clipboard on the receptionist's desk, just one more security detail that had been added over the years. Not that the Society needed it. Most of the employees worked out of a different building in downtown Manhattan, and a majority of the translators were on an on-call basis.
"Geoffrey in today?" Sarah asked, returning the sign in sheet to the receptionist.
"Last I saw him, he was heading toward the basement," he responded with a shrug. "But that was a few hours ago."
Sarah gave the man a quick smile before heading to her office. When she finally arrived, she was actually relieved to see a stack of manila folders and several post-it notes scribbled with directions from Geoffrey. If there was something that she could use right now, it was a mental distraction.
As soon as she sat down, her office phone rang. "Hello?" she answered into the phone.
"Sarah," the familiar voice pleaded.
"Patrick?" she responded through clenched teeth.
He let out a frustrated groan. "Listen-"
"I have nothing to say to you except that you need to get off your self-indulgent ass and sign those papers," Sarah spat before hanging up the phone.
Jareth sat cross legged- as he usually did- studying the humans- as he usually did. Even though he always found it difficult to sit up, he always made a point of doing so whenever the loathsome human visited him. He made a point to study their faces, to memorize who they were- every time he saw them.
The man who called himself Geoffrey departed a few minutes ago, giving the humans left behind instructions to follow for the rest of the evening. Instead of doing as they were told, the two men pulled out a small table and began to play a card game. Jareth stretched out his legs and moved to lie down.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed two candles, their lights dimming as their wicks ran low. As Jareth closed his eyes, a small smile etched his lips.
Humans always make mistakes
Releasing a sigh, Sarah stood up from her chair to stretch her muscles. She gazed out her window to see that the previously reported low chance of rain turned into a near deluge as lightning flashed across the sky. She finished everything that was asked for her but had a few lingering questions. So Sarah carefully grabbed the timeworn book, her notes, and her wristlet before locking her office door and setting out to find Geoffrey. When Sarah exited the elevator, she noticed that the receptionist had left for the day- probably had noticed of the storm, unlike her. Geoffrey wasn't in his office, and the last thing she was told was that he was in the basement.
Gently resting her head on the receptionist's desk, she let out a frustrated groan before standing up straight and readjusting the book against her body. Sarah gazed up at the clock on the wall. Since she was planning to leave after meeting with Geoffrey, she snatched the clipboard and signed out. The sound of a loud crack filled the air as thunder seemed to shake the building.
"Why is he in that dumb basement anyway?" she muttered as she walked toward the basement door. "I'm outta here whether he's there or not."
She never been down there, let alone gone near that area; she had no reason to be. However, the sky looked as though a flood was occurring, and she had been there long enough. Sarah just wanted to go home.
"Why is no one where they are supposed to be?" she complained as she opened the heavy basement door. When she opened the door, she reached out to find a light switch. Finding it, she flipped it on and off, but no lights came on. While she was in the dark at the top of the stairs, she noted as she began warily walking down the step that the basement was being illuminated by candles.
Jareth heard the door open and briefly wondered why those inane humans came back so soon. He kept his eyes closed, not interested in any of their pointless words.
"What the fuck is this?" a woman's voice exclaimed. His eyes snapped opened. Not just any woman.
That voice.
He could never forget.
He gradually turned his head to the side to see her standing in front of the dais.
"Sarah."
"You're not supposed to be here," one of the way-to-large men said as the duo shot to their feet, their card game postponed.
Sarah quickly backed away further into the room when they took steps towards here.
"What the hell is going on?" she asked, trying not to sound frazzled. She struggled to keep her eyes on the men while assessing the oddity that was occurring in the basement.
"Listen," the taller man said, trying to be calm. "You need to come with us. We'll escort you to a cab."
"Don't touch me!" she hissed. "Did you hear me? Don't. Touch. Me. I have this book. Okay?" She briefly held out the book to them. "I'll destroy it if you come near me. It's old as hell, and that's not hard to do."
The two men raised their hands in surrender, not wanting her to make any rash decisions. These men may be the hired muscle, but Sarah soon reasoned that they have been told about how important these ancient texts were. Realizing that they weren't going to charge at her, she took another step back toward the opposite end of dais. She held her hand up and jumped when she felt the invisible magical barrier.
"Oh my god," Sarah whispered. She looked down to see the creature inside attempt to sit up. Long blond hair shielded the face from her eyes. But she noticed that the being wore what seemed to be a white lengthy shirt and grey trousers. "Is this… this… person real?"
"It's not human," the tall man said, trying to reassure her. The other man touched his hand to his ear and started mumbling something under his breath as he walked toward the basement steps. "Just… let me escort you back upstairs."
Sarah continued to study the individual trapped in the barrier, seeing that the creature still struggled to sit up fully. As she methodically moved around the barrier, she turned her attention to the items bordering the dais.
Gemstones. Candles. A large inscription circled them all.
She understood the inscription on the floor. She helped translate it.
Years ago, she thought as dread rose within her.
Is this what she was doing all these years? Finding ways to imprison some other worldly being?
Like all her other fellow translators throughout the years, she thought nothing of being asked to translate ancient text. She specialized in what were considered dead languages after all. Of course, many of them joked about how silly it was for an old man to put an incredible amount of resources into documents that dealt with the supernatural, but that wasn't the weirdest endeavor an heir to a fortune could do with his money.
"Let me escort you upstairs, all right?" someone said, breaking her out of her mental ramblings. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see one of the men standing in front of her.
"I said, don't touch me," Sarah demanded as she jerked away from him. She tripped over a candle, nearly knocking it over, as well as smearing the charcoal inscription on the floor with her foot.
"Ma'am, you just need to calm down," the man said.
Sarah spun around to look at all the oddities in the room, before glaring at the man.
"Calm. Down? Have you not been paying attention to what is happening here? Calm down? That's the dumbest thing I've heard today, and I've talked to my lawyer." The man saw his cohort motion for him over to the other side of the room, leaving Sarah to herself.
Well, this can't be good, she thought to herself. Sarah clutched the book against her chest as she briefly considered the ramifications of what she had done. No doubt, they were calling for Geoffrey- and possibly Vernon- to get down to the Society as soon as possible.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that the creature was finding it easier to sit up- possible trying to stand. Looking down, she saw that she muddled the writing on ground and two candles were out of place. Trying not to draw any more attention to her, Sarah slowly shuffled to the dais and quickly rubbed out more of the charcoal inscription while pushing candles and gemstones out of their designated spots. This must have helped because the creature twisted its torso towards her direction and stare at her.
"Ahhh!" she cried out, tripping over her feet while she backed away from the dais and nearly tumbling to the ground. That's the quickest she's seen him move.
Him, she thought. Definitely a him- I think. He slowly, yet steadily, rose to his feet as his eyes locked on to hers.
"Whoa," one of the men said from the other side of the room.
He reached out a hand to touch the barrier. "Sarah," he said quietly, his eyes never leaving hers.
Her eyes widened as her body filled with terror. She gawked at him as her breathing suddenly became erratic. Her hand reached up and clutched her chest.
"What?" she breathed.
Without warning, the basement door slammed open with Geoffrey running down the stairs and Vernon close behind. The creature spun around to walk to the edge of the barrier, scowling at the new arrivals.
"Sarah!" Geoffrey yelled when he reached the basement floor.
"What makes you believe that you had the right to come down?" Vernon spat.
Although she felt the need to run, she stayed standing where she was- mostly because she had nowhere to run to. Her escape route was blocked.
"What makes you think that you can do this?" Sarah countered as she discretely returned to attempting to break the barrier. She momentarily considered the fact that whoever was trapped inside would kill them all if he got out. But she couldn't just let him be trapped down here, not anymore. Not when she helped put him in this horrid state "How long as he been here?"
"That is none of your concern," Vernon dismissed with a curt wave of his hand.
"Holy shit," Geoffrey said, taking notice of the creature for the first time since he arrived. "He finally stood up, after all these years."
"Years?" Sarah cried out as her knees started to wobble. She felt lightheaded- overwhelmed with the information she received.
Vernon pointed a finger at the two men in the corner. "If you were doing your jobs correctly, this wouldn't have happened." Before the two could offer a sort of apologies, the old man interrupted. "Take her out of here, call the police, and tell them she is a disgruntled ex-employee that was trespassing."
"Are you serious?" Sarah seethed. "After all these years, you're going to treat me that way?"
The two men rushed toward her, but she quickly sidestepped them. Doing the first idea that came to her mind, she threw the book at the foot of dais, smearing even more charcoal and knocking over several candles as she tried to evade capture.
"What have you done?" Geoffrey squealed in dismay, looking at the mess before him.
Both men grabbed her arms and began to forcibly drag her toward the stairs, even though she wasn't trying to escape them anymore. Geoffrey stormed over to Sarah and reached out a hand toward her. He felt his hand cease to function, frozen in the air. Unexpectedly to all the humans, Geoffrey was thrown across the room, crashing into the card game table. Everyone turned their heads to see the creature take a step outside of the dais, placing both feet on the concrete ground.
Jareth rolled his shoulders, relishing his new found freedom. He looked over to see the two men holding onto Sarah.
"Let her go," he said in a calm yet terse tone. Both men dropped their hold on her immediately and tried to run for the door. Jareth extended his arm toward the duo and magically dragged them to where he was standing. "Foolish men doing foolish things," he chanted while placing his finger on their foreheads, causing them to faint. Vernon attempted to hobble up the stairs but soon found his ability to walk restricted. Jareth glared at the man's back as he slowly walked towards him. "You should leave, Sarah." He spared her a quick glance. "There's no need for you here."
Still finding it difficult to breath normally, Sarah couldn't quite find the ability to move one foot in front of the other. She blinked several times, ensuring herself that her eyes were not deceiving her.
Magic. She's witnessing magic. And, most importantly, she gets to leave.
"Don't you dare leave me here alone," Vernon sputtered, still frozen in his spot.
Sarah shook her head to gather her bearings. She ran over to where she dropped the book and knelt down to take it with her. Noting that somehow Geoffrey had escaped, leaving them all down there, she slowly shuffled her feet toward the stairs. Sarah placed her hand on the railings as she looked up toward the door- which seemed much further away than it should be.
Standing side by side with the previously captured magical being, she didn't know what to say or if she should say anything. Sarah couldn't even bring herself to look over at him. She spared Vernon a fleeting glance before rushing up the stairs. Her running ceased as soon as she left the building. The rain was still pouring, and the building's awning was providing minimal protection. She ran for several blocks unsure of where she was going. Sarah stopped inside a pharmacy to escape the rain. She quickly pulled out her phone and dialed the emergency phone number.
"Hello," she said, deciding not to wait for the emergency responder to answer. "There's something… strange occurring at the Voorst Historical Society. You need to send someone there right away." Then, she hung up the phone. She didn't know if she was helping or hurting the situation she left behind. She didn't even know what would be considered an act of support or hindrance. But when she left, two men were passed out on the floor, and the old man was frozen in position. Someone needed to find what had occurred there. Sarah walked back outside to hail a cab, not willing or able to deal with the rain anymore.
With a turn of his wrist, Jareth spun Vernon around to face him before dragging him down the stairs to kneel on the floor.
"Thirteen years," Jareth hissed. "Thirteen years. You've kept me imprisoned."
"I only asked for one thing," Vernon responded, defiantly, holding his chin in the air.
"You ignorant, shallow human," he said, crouching down to look at the old man in his eyes. "You demanded time, demanded immortality. Do you believe that such enchantments would work on someone who could grant such a gift to you?"
"Please," Vernon groveled. "My time is running short. If you can't help me, then you know someone who can?" Jareth rose to his feet as a small smirk formed on his lips. He stretched out one hand and pressed two fingers to Vernon's forehead.
"I'll give you what you deserve," Jareth said as he watched the old man fall on the floor. "Nothing more."
Sarah struggled to open the door to her home, even though the key was in the lock. "Dammit," she cursed. The storm seemed to get worse, her portico unable to block out of the elements. "Ugh!" With a complete turn of the key and a push of the door, she finally made it inside her home. The unoccupied, silent home allowed the weight of the day's event to hit her. She leaned her back against the double doors as she slowly slid down to the floor.
"What just happened?" she whispered to herself. "Was that actually real?" Tracing the etching of the book that she essentially stole, Sarah replayed the events over and over in her head. Her hands began to shake as she dropped the book on the wooden floor. She wrapped her arms around her torso, not caring about her drenched state, as she struggled to make sense of the day's events. "I think I need a drink."
The ringing house phone sent a jolt of paranoia through her. Making her way through her home, she reached the lounge, placing the book and her wristlet on the bar top before picking up the phone without checking who was calling.
"Yes?" she answered as she held out the phone to see the name.
"Sarah! Are you watching the news?"
"Um, hi, Nadine. Uh-no," she answered slowly. "Why are you calling me about the news?"
"Because things have gone absolutely nuts at the Society," Nadine said, barely containing her impatience. "Turn on the news." Sarah frantically searched for the remote for the TV. She never could remember where it was. "I told you those people are insane. I told you to leave. You know that's why I left."
Nadine quit seven years ago, tutoring some posh kids Latin in the city whose parents believed the dead language would look good on a college application. The two former co-workers occasionally kept in touch throughout the years, and Nadine would always end the conversation with the same two statements: quit the Society and leave your husband.
"Have you found the remote," Nadine teased.
"I never watched TV in here," Sarah grumbled as she walked over to the console to turn it on. When she reached her desired channel, she almost dropped the phone in shock. Several police cruisers were bordering the sidewalk in front the brownstone where the Society was located. The headline at the bottom of the screen announced that three people were found unconscious in the historical Society basement.
"Oh shit," Sarah huffed out.
"Insanity!" Nadine responded. "I wonder if either Vernon or Geoffrey is one of those people. Some news guy was out there talking about how there was rumors of the occult practices occurring there, and that might have played a part in what happened. Please tell me you don't still work there."
"Uh, well… I won't be going back there now."
"Oh, Sarah," she groaned into the phone. "One way or another, I'm glad you're out of there. I can't believe you tolerated everything there. I know you always brushed it off, but that place was creepy as hell."
"I didn't work there daily like you did," Sarah explained. "It's easier to ignore things when you don't have to experience them all the time."
Sarah jumped when she heard a loud thud coming from the front doors of her home.
"Hey, is everything okay over there?" Nadine asked with worry in her voice.
"Yeah, yeah," she said, trying to hide her frazzled feelings. "I think someone's at the door. I gotta go." Sarah hung up the phone and warily made her way down the hall. When she arrived at the door, she saw a figure slumped against the door.
Long hair, white shirt and trousers.
"Shit," Sarah hissed as she quickly opened the door. As soon as the door opened, the dead weight of the magical creature fell against her, sending her to the wooden floor. The shock of seeing him at her home was negated by seeing his unresponsive appearance.
"No. Oh, no." She pushed him off of her and onto his back. "Don't be dead."
His slow breathing and the rise and fall of his chest proved to her that he was still alive. She reached up to close the door. Thank goodness for the storm. Her obnoxiously nosy neighbors would have had a field day otherwise.
Sarah knelt down, leaned over him, and gently smacked her hand against his cheeks. "Hey. Hey. Wake up!"
Receiving no other response, Sarah sat back on her heels, trying to figure out what to do. After a moment of contemplation, she hooked her arms under his and attempted to lift him up as she rose to her feet.
"My god, you are heavier than you look," she grunted before clenching her teeth. Sarah took one step and lost her balance, causing them both to fall to the ground. She pushed away his blond hair from her face before sliding from underneath him. "Well, damn." Clearly, Sarah attending that kickboxing class once every three months was not enough to form proper muscle mass in her arms. Rising to her feet again, she contemplated the unconscious being on the floor. She turned around as though she was in her house for the first time. Sarah let out a heavy sigh as she considered her options.
"Sorry about this." She reached down to grab his bare feet and began dragging him across the floor. For the first time since she moved into the home, she was grateful for the elevator. Patrick loved that the home came with such an unusual feature, but Sarah always found it to be useless and obnoxiously extravagant, the type of things Patrick loved.
Who could have guessed that the first time she needed this was to drag a mythical being to a guest room. She soon realized that she still needs that drink.
Dragging the body across the ground may be easier, but it wasn't easy.
"Just a few more feet," she said to herself as she shuffled backwards while her hands locked around his ankles.
After she pushed the button to call the elevator, Sarah considered where exactly she was going to put him. Should he stay on the same floor as her or should he go elsewhere? The elevator arrived .and she unceremoniously hauled his body inside, trying her best to not knock his head against any walls. She pushed the button for the third floor. No reason for him to be on a separate floor. She already has him in her home. A separate floor wasn't going to make that much of a difference. When the elevator door opened, she let out tired groan as she tried to loosen her shoulders before giving a moment of thanks that the guest bedroom was so close to the lift.
When she caught sight of the bed, she let out a curse.
"Why does the bed have to be so tall?" Sarah then looked down at the comatose creature. "And why can't you be awake? That would help a lot."
Though sheer will and a few accidentally drops of the body, Sarah finally got him on top of the mattress, wet clothes and all. She grabbed his head and carefully adjusted it on the pillows.
She found herself drawn to his face. His long hair blocked most his facial features. Even though she basically dragged him all over her home, she found herself reaching out with trepidation to move his hair to the side to display his face fully. Sarah let out a frustrated yet relieved sigh as she choked back a sob.
"Why did you come here?" she asked, feeling overwhelmed- again. "How did you know to come here?"
His eyes opened sluggishly as they found their way to her face.
"Are you okay?" she earnestly asked, grabbing him by the shoulders, giving him a little shake. "Please don't fall back asleep. You need to stay with me, all right?" His mouth curved into a smile as his eyes started to fluttered close before his head lolled to the side.
"Sarah."
A/N: Hi!
So, things are happening.
After reading this a couple of times, I believe that it's possible that some of you might think that this chapter is anemic or doesn't give you enough answers to questions. While I can't anticipate all the questions you might have, I do realize that certain items may be perceived as "missing"; however, I will be rolling things out throughout the upcoming chapters.
Thank you so much for reading! I appreciate you guys' support.