CHAPTER 6

Sarah spent the next couple of weeks in the confines of her bedroom, at first surprised and somewhat happy that Tolbas had stopped coming to collect her. But now she found herself bored out of her mind, restless and wishing he'd return just to give her something to do. However, her time alone had given her the chance to think over of the strange events of when she had seen the Goblin King last, the images of the people she had met still very much fresh in her mind. Sarah had not appreciated the way she was spoken over or referred to or the annoying fact that Jareth left her alone with not only people she didn't know but people she knew weren't even people..or real for that matter.

Please, not this again.

Not too long ago, a scary thought had managed to creep it's way into the forefront of Sarah's mind causing her to not only panic, but question her sanity completely. Was this place even real? Or had she finally succumbed to madness and her overzealous mind had created a comfortable fantasy universe for her to live out the rest of her pointless existence in? Sighing, Sarah stared motionless upwards at the dark canopy over bed. Everything felt so real, so how could it be in her mind? But at the same time, everything was so ridiculous – perhaps she had made this up and the first time she came to the Underground at fifteen, it had been nothing more than an elaborate dream. It made her brain ache. At this point Sarah had learnt that for the moment, it did not do well for her to dwell on such a harrowing thought. Until she was proved otherwise, this was really happening. A knock at the door distracted Sarah, her mind thankful for the other focus of attention. Frowning, she left the bed and headed for the door, the floor too cold in comparison to her cosy sheets.

I wonder if its him?

Do you want it to be?

Yes.

No.

Goddammit.

Ignoring the internal battle of her brain, Sarah slowly opened the door to the sight of an ever silent Tolbas looking down at her. Not sure if she was feeling relief or disappointment, she garbled that she'd get ready right away, grabbing her clothes at lightning speed and locking herself in the bathroom. Contrary to the rush she had made to get changed, Sarah put on her work clothes leisurely, taking in her appearance in the mirror as she did so, dabbing at her face intermittently as if to change what she saw before her. She had grown paler since she'd been here but this was highlighted only by the dark shadows resting under her eyes – she did not sleep well in this place. Once ready, Sarah exited the room and stood expectantly by the man waiting for her who once again, tried to avert his gaze by any means possible and strode quickly from the bedroom leaving Sarah awkwardly trying to catch up. They walked longer than normal, Sarah craning her neck behind her in confusion as they walked past the door he usually stopped for. As they continued forwards, Sarah's heart began to pump uneasily at the thought of going somewhere new as familiarity was really all she had to cling to at the moment. She knew there was only one other place he could be taking her and she scolded herself inwardly for managing to fall into a state of panic every time this scenario came around.

Get a grip.

But just as the thought has entered her mind, it was gone again as Tolbas stopped abruptly, causing Sarah to trip over her feet at the lack of warning. Muttering a choice few of rude words, Sarah did not look at Tolbas as he opened the new door, leaving the alien room free for her to enter. Unlike the other she was accustomed to, this room was far lighter with many windows on the south wall letting in copious amounts of sunlight and blue sky. It seemed like it might have once been a library, with ceiling high wooden shelves occupying most of the space yet they were bare – only one or two dusty books now remained on each set of shelves, lying haphazardly, clearly left behind. Sarah frowned as she took in her surroundings; she loved to read more than anything and to see such grandeur reduced to-

"Hey, Sarah!"

Letting out a squeal of surprise and pure fright, Sarah tumbled awkwardly backwards as the owner of the voice appeared in her sight. Ginger, freckled and unnaturally tall, Cilan now stood a meter away from her, a sheepish look upon his face.

"Sorry, I didn-"

"No, that's okay." Sarah interrupted, not in the mood to hear his apologies, "Need to pay more attention I guess."

Grinning, the boy headed back towards a small stool half hidden by a book shelf sitting amongst a large pile of what looked like cutlery. Sarah could not help but let a smile spread across her face as she watched him sit down as he was clearly far too big for the piece of furniture. It was endearing in a way.

"So, where did you disappear off to then?"

Joining him, Sarah sat cross legged on the grimy floor, grabbing a rag and a knife and getting to work.

She shrugged. "I didn't disappear anywhere. No one came to collect me so I stayed in my room."

Cilan chuckled as she spoke.

"Alright for some."

Minutes passed in silence as she watched the boy's face darken with concentration as he tried in vain to banish a stubborn mark on a fork. Although hilarious, the noises that were coming from his mouth could only be described as less than human and were becoming annoying so she intervened.

"Why are we doing this anyway?"

"What, cleaning the silver wear?" Sarah nodded, unwilling to produce a sarcastic response to his innocence. "It's Goblin work really," he continued, "but I've been doing this sort of stuff for a few weeks now. Usually when Jareth is angry about something all the goblins disappear for a bit, you know so they don't get picked on or whatever so guess whose workload hits the roof."

He looked back to his fork, finally admitting defeat and throwing it away. Sarah frowned as she noticed the unmistakable bitter tone in his voice.

"Don't suppose you know the cause?" He joked feebly.

Biting her lip Sarah wondered if she should inform him of what happened the last time she had seen Jareth or just let it go. But she couldn't deny her curiosity and if she was ever to get out of this place, she knew she'd need to know more about it. No good would come of burying her head in the sand.

"Well I guess he was pretty mad the other night."

Cilan raised an eyebrow.

"The other night?"

Sighing, Sarah began to recount the strange tale of the ballroom, absentmindedly toying with the filthy rag as she did so.

"..and then this man came over, with long hair and a strange name, 'Zay-vi-uh' or something I dunno-"

"Xavier?" Cilan repeated incredulous, his green eyes wide.

Sarah's expression faltered as she was corrected in her pronunciation. She did not like feeling stupid. "Uh, yeah I guess?"

"I'm not surprised Jareth was mad. He is seriously not good news."

Sarah sighed in frustration at once more being treated like a naïve child, her words reflecting that fact. The knife she had been holding fell to the floor, the clatter echoing out in the silence.

"It's not like I had a choice!" she exploded, "Besides, I should be allowed to talk to whomever I want. Jareth does not control me."

Exhaling loud and indignantly, Sarah tore her angry gaze away from Cilan's expression of disbelief, ashamed at her outburst at the only person willing to listen to her. Trying to regain some control, Sarah levelled her voice, hoping it showed some sincerity in her question.

"Why is he so awful then?"

Simply blinking, it took a couple of seconds before Cilan realised he could continue.

"Uh..well,..Xavier is the ruler of the 'Realm of Eternal Darkness'. It's a place where humans go if they have led bad lives."

"Like Hell then?" Sarah asked simply.

"Um, where?"

Sarah opened her mouth to explain but shut it hastily, as a confused expression spread across his face. Unwilling to go off topic, she shook her head.

"Never mind, carry on."

"So, being the ruler, he spends his time punishing humans for the bad deeds they have done."

"Like Satan?" She asked again, almost bored.

"..Who?"

Again, seeing it useless to stop and explain Sarah shook her head and motioned for him to continue.

"He's ruthless and although he has the same amount of power as many of the other Faes in the Underground, he is regarded with caution."

With caution? So he was dangerous? Sarah slumped a little in her position as a realisation washed over her. No wonder Jareth had been so angry with her, this guy sounded like a madman. But then again, why would he care so much? As she battled with her thoughts, Sarah noticed that in her silence, Cilan had gone back to work, his pile of shiny pieces of silver wear steadily growing bigger. Eager to find out more about this man, Sarah found herself remembering the last bit of conversation she had heard before Jareth had whisked her away.

"He said something to Jareth about an arrangement?"

Cilan furrowed his brow in thought for a couple of seconds. Sarah could almost see the cogs turning in his brain in deep thought.

"An arrangement? Maybe Jareth is planning an alliance?" He stared down at his tired hands and laughed. "That's probably why we're polishing the silver wear…guess its tonight."

Shaking his head, Cilan began to polish harder whilst mumbling angrily to himself

"He could have done this in a moment with magic but no.." Ginger head down, Cilan descended into an almost inaudible rant. Frustrated that he had once more gone off topic, Sarah interrupted

"Wait! Go back. If no one likes him then why would Jareth want an alliance with him?"

"Like I said," Cilan began, his attention still on his lap. "the other kings and queens are wary of him so not only will Jareth have a certain power on his side, he would hopefully not have to fear any attack or invasion from him seeing as they'd be on the-" Cilan brought his hands up into the air slightly, motioning air quotes but forgetting his hands were already occupied. Sarah did not attempt to stifle her laugh as his cleaning rag and a half clean fork rained down on him. "-same side." he winced. "You really wouldn't want to start a war with Xavier. He has a lot of dark magic at his disposal. Or at least that's what my Father told me."

"Oh.."

Sarah reverted back to silence as her head began to swim with thoughts of the man she had let get so close to her that strange night. Up until the other night Sarah had never dreamed there was the possibility of other kingdoms in this place or that Jareth felt any other emotion than arrogance. She always knew she didn't know much about the Underground as for most of the time in the past three years she had thought it to be nothing more than an extension of her elaborate dreams. But this conversation had set her back even more. It made her feel vulnerable – how was she supposed to escape a place she knew nothing about? Whatever small light of hope that was inside her was extinguishing fast.

Stop it Sarah, none of this is relevant to you. Just focus on getting home.

Reluctantly agreeing with her mind, Sarah cleared her mind and picked up the closest piece of silver to her and begun scrubbing furiously at a stain, wishing her own memories and thoughts could be wiped away so easily.

Several hours later and with fingers that felt as if they were about to fall off, Sarah was finally escorted back to her room. Wanting nothing more to just collapse into bed, Sarah unfortunately caught sight of herself in the vanity mirror, an immediate sign that the bathroom would have to be her first stop before the luxury of sleep. Her once clean skin was now marred with grime and she didn't need to touch her chestnut locks to know they were in dire need of a wash. Yet as much as she yearned for sleep, Sarah could not deny that a nice, hot bath would be just as good right now.

She did not take long. Once free of the dirt and now had squeaky clean hair, it was only a matter of seconds before Sarah could feel her eyelids drooping and her head lolling and she hastily exited the warm water. But as she headed for her bed, like always, the night sky caught her eye the sheer number of stars never ceasing to amaze her. The stone of the small balcony was cold on her clean feet but she ignored the change, simply staring up into the black and white abyss above her.

"I wonder if Dad, Toby and Karen are looking at the same stars." Sarah spoke almost inaudibly to herself, before laughing. "Of course they aren't, you're nowhere, remember." Deflating at the thought, Sarah found herself resting her arms on the stone ledge before her, head in her hands. Did they even know she was missing? Jareth could do pretty much whatever he wanted so taking her existence away completely seemed like a plausible thing he would do. But would that be better, she asked herself. No pain, no heartbreak, no never knowing if she was dead or alive.

But I would know.

Deciding she was being selfish, Sarah banished the thoughts from her mind and headed straight back to the bed, hoping desperately for an easy and dreamless sleep.

Sarah found herself sat on a riverbank, a brilliant blue sky quiet above her and the summer sunshine warming her skin. It was pleasant. Breathing in the smell of grass and a summer breeze, Sarah let a smile grow on her face as she leaned backwards, taking in the perfection around her. The sound of children laughing filled her ears and as her gaze travelled down to the shallows of the river, she could see three children with their back to her, playing innocently in the river. Whose children were these, she wondered. Were they all alone? Deciding they seemed too happy to be lost or alone, Sarah simply watched on as they splashed each other but she could not help but notice that one of the children was different to the other two. The little boy and little girl were both red heads yet this little boy had blonde hair, a world away from his siblings. Without warning Sarah was suddenly filled with the deepest of yearnings to reach out to this small child. She felt like she knew all three of them, but from where? Springing up in an instant, Sarah stumbled down the riverbank, the two redheads watching in silence as she did so but the blonde boy too preoccupied with the water to turn around. Sarah needed to call to him, to hold him, she was so close-

Click.

The soft shutting of a door roused Sarah from her dream, confusion filling her mind.

Did someone just come in?

Disorientated by sleep, Sarah sat up slowly, her eyes adjusting slowly to the dark room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary but Sarah could not help but call out just to be sure, ignoring how stupid she felt.

"Jareth?"

The lack of response had the opposite effect, the silence beginning to unnerve her. Why would she wake up for no reason? Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Sarah spoke with as much confidence as she could muster.

"Jareth? Please..this isn't funny. I…I know you're there."

A familiar silky voice rang out in the darkness, but not the one she had been expecting.

"It is not Jareth, I'm afraid, Sarah"

Sarah froze as her breath caught painfully in her throat and her stomach dropped to her feet. She knew who that voice belonged to. Before she could say another word, a weight was forced upon her, crushing her back down into her pillows.

"Still as beautiful as ever."

His intoxicatingly sweet scent filling her nostrils and heavily made up face just inches away from her made her want to gag. . Without thinking, Sarah simply tried to duck under him in a bid to escape but in an instant she was met with strong arms pushing her back into her original position.

"Come now Sarah," he purred, a dark smile spreading across his lips. "there is no need to be scared."

Sarah sucked in her breath as a pair of soft lips began to trace her neck and throat, his hot breath poisoning her skin.

"Please Xavier," she whispered, surprised she could speak at all. "Don't."

The man laughed quietly at her weak response, sending his right hand trailing slowly across her chest. As panic began to rise within her, Sarah realised she needed to lie – scare him away if possible. Breathing in deeply, she spoke as steadily as she manage.

"J-jareth'll see you. He's..he's always watching me." When Sarah had first arrived that had been the nasty thought that stuck in her mind but she never had been sure if it was true or not. But right now she found herself praying to any God that would listen for it to actually be true.

Xavier laughed again, clearly not believing her. His knees slipped in between Sarah's, pushing them apart with ease as his hand travelled southwards.

"Jareth's magic is trivial. I prepared for it without problem."

A manic grin grew on his face as Sarah tried in vain to recoil from her captor, his voice no more than a low whisper.

"Fear not, Sarah it will be just you and I."

On his final word, Xavier's cold fingers found their way into Sarah's opening and she could not help but let out a cry of panic at the invasion.

"Do you like that, Sarah?"

Biting down on her lip to prevent the tears that were threatening to leak from her eyes, Sarah wished that she could find the strength to do anything but just lie there. But would it do any good? The sound of material being ripped filled her ears as she stared helplessly upwards to the canopy above her and Sarah forced down a wave of sickness as her nipple entered his mouth but without warning, he clamped down hard, causing her to cry out in pain.

"Please! Please stop!."

Hearing nothing more than a dark chuckle, Sarah was briefly released as his hands went to his trousers. Tears finally begin to fall from her dark eyes at the thought of what was coming next, she shut them tight and waited silently for the inevitable pain she was about to experience but instead felt the crushing weight being lifted from her entirely, the sound of person coming into contact with stone engulfing her hearing. Tentatively, Sarah opened her eyes to the sight of Jareth with his hands around Xavier's neck, pressed firmly against the opposite wall. She could hear shouting but it took a moment or two for her to realise Jareth was shouting about her, but as she stared helplessly at the pair, her gaze fell upon the open door and with no need to think twice, Sarah wrapped the ripped remains of her nightwear around her and ran from the room. Not knowing or caring which direction she was running or where she was going, Sarah ran down the empty stone corridors, taking every corner she could, only realising that this point her vision was obscured because of her sobbing. Tripping over her feet on occasions sent pains shooting through her arms and legs and blood dripping from her knees but she was beyond caring at this point. Unable to find an exit, Sarah all but threw herself into the nearest room, being greeted with nothing but emptiness but the room had a balcony, just like hers. Slowly and without thiking, Sarah followed the night breeze and hesitantly looked over stony ledge, seeing nothing but darkness below.

. "I want to go home." she whispered through her tears but as she raised her hand to wipe the wetness away, Sarah stopped herself. Why should she be strong anymore? Why should she have to spend another minute in this place? The darkness seemed so inviting…it would be warm, it would end it all. Reaching out to pull herself up onto the ledge, Sarah felt a force wrap around her waist sending her to the ground. Lying there stunned, bleeding and crying, the pale face of the Goblin King entered her vision, his mismatched eyes livid, his lip curled in anger.

"What did he do to you?" His normally calm voice was thunderous but not like how she had heard it before, it was mixed with something else- something Sarah did not recognise. Still too dazed to reply, Sarah simply stared at the man as he crouched to her level, his hands gripping her shoulders. She couldn't help but let out a cry.

"Nothing! I mean, he tried to.." Sarah trailed off and Jareth's grip loosened and his face slackened as he took in the mess of the girl sat before him. His gaze traced over her ripped nightdress, bloody knees and blotchy face before looking back to her trembling face. He sighed quietly.

"He is gone now and will not be returning."

Sarah nodded slowly, her head feeling like a lead weight.

"Come."

Jareth held out his hand for her to take but released it the moment she was able to stand. He took her back to her room in silence and Sarah could do nothing but stare at her now remade bed.

As if nothing ever happened.

"Sleep Sarah."

Swallowing hard, Sarah turned to face the Goblin King, her voice quiet.

"T-thank you…for.." But she could not find the will to finish her words. Gaze unchanging, Jareth said nothing as he left the room, leaving Sarah alone in the dim light. Making her way slowly over to the bed, she curled up in the top blanket, her mind and body numb. With little tears left to cry, Sarah finally fell into a reluctant sleep.

A/N: Oh my God, I am SO sorry this took so long! I don't even have a good excuse, it was a mix of university, lost chapter notes and pure laziness. Ugh. But here it finally is :L However it is at this point where I have no more chapter notes and the rest of the story is in my mind. I know how I want the whole thing to go, but it's just not on paper yet :/ So there might be a few more "bear with me's"! Also, I will post updates about this story on my page (set backs, when to expect the chapter etc) so don't hesitate to check it out to see what's going on. Once again, sorry for the wait and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I understand it's a little dark but it's all needed for the story - trust me! Thanks guys!