A/N: I own nothing.
HAUNTED
--
--
--
--
--
Sarah slumped downstairs on Thursday morning, looking and feeling like death warmed over. After the ordeal with the Goblin King last night, she had not been able to sleep. She had just laid in her bed, Dreading what might come next. He was determined, she would give him that much. But there was no way she was going to give into him. After all he had done; threatening Hoggle, slipping her that LSD laced peach, trying to trap her inside his castle's confusing maze of stairs, all while playing an elaborate game of keep away with her little brother. He had told her that he would give her anything he wanted, but refused to give her back her brother, which was all she wanted from him. He claimed to be generous, but she could see right through that facade. He may be willing to give her whatever she wanted, but he was only willing to do so if she became his servant.
She would never give in. She would never be taken in by his false charms, she would never allow him to get his claws on Toby again. He could bribe her and threaten her all he wanted, but no matter what, she would never surrender to him. Never.
She trudged into the kitchen, where Karen was feeding Toby. Her father was gone, she supposed he must have gone into work early. Karen looked up at her stepdaughter with an uneasy smile. "Morning, Sarah."
"Hey," Sarah mumbled, her exhaustion apparent in her voice. Karen looked concerned.
"Didn't you sleep last night Sarah? Are you having those nightmares again?"
"No, I didn't sleep last night, but I wasn't because of nightmares. I just had a lot on my mind," Sarah said. Karen looked a little bit suspicious, but didn't press into the matter. Sarah plopped into a chair, and closed her eyes for a moment.
"Sarah, I talked to your father last night, and he said that I could take you to the salon today."
Sarah's eyes shot open, and a grin formed on her lips. "Really? How on earth did you convince him to let me do it?"
"Oh, a woman has her ways, Sarah. When you get married, you'll see what I mean. Men are suckers for the women they love."
"Karen, you rock!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around her stepmother's neck.
Karen was surprised, to say the very least. This was the very first time her stepdaughter had ever hugged her willingly. She patted Sarah awkwardly on the head. "We'll go just as soon as I finish feeding Toby. You should grab something to eat, too."
--
--
--
--
--
Two hours later, the three Williams emerged from the beauty salon downtown. Sarah was running her fingers through her now chin length hair, which framed her face attractively, making her look older, more mature.
"Thank you again, Karen," she said, examining herself in a store window.
"You're very welcome, Sarah. I think you look beautiful, and your father will think so, too. And so will Nigel," she added giving the girl a sly grin.
"Why bring him up?" Sarah asked, blushing furiously.
"Well, I know you kind of have a thing for him," Karen said.
"Why do think that?"
Karen let out a very unladylike snort,"Please. Your eyes nearly popped out of her head when you saw him shirtless a few days ago."
"Well, your right, I like him. And I'm even going out with him tomorrow night. We're going to the street fair."
"Oh my lord, really? Why didn't you tell us?" Karen gushed, pulling her stepdaughter into a very tight hug.
"This is why!" Sarah choked out, struggling for breath.
"Sorry," Karen said, releasing her. They continued down the street, enjoying the warmth of the late morning sun. Toby was babbling happily in his stroller. They passed the corner store, the Italian restaurant, and the junk shop, a frequent haunt of Sarah's. It was where her mother had found the little red book nearly seven years ago. They passed a small boutique, where something caught her eye.
"Oh my god, Karen, look at that dress!" she exclaimed. Karen cast a glance at what she was pointing at. It was a lovely sun dress, a soft cream color. It had thin straps, and if on a person, would come about to the knees.
"Oh, I would love a dress like that!" she said, her eyes taking on a dreamy quality. Karen noticed the look, and then took another look at the dress.
"What size are you, Sarah?" she asked.
"I'm a size six, why?" she asked, confused.
"Wait here, watch Toby," she said, going into the store. Sarah watched through the window as Karen inspected the rack with the dresses. She selected one, and took it to the cash register. A moment later, she emerged, carrying a pink bag.
"Karen, you didn't have to do that," Sarah said.
"Don't you want it? Fine, I'll return it, get my thirty bucks back."
"No, no. I want it. It's just, you didn't have to get it for me."
"I know I didn't have to. I wanted to. I thought you could wear it on your date tomorrow night."
"Well, thank you."
"Thank me by carrying the bag," Karen said sternly, thrusting the bag into her arms. Sarah took it happily, and as they continued on their way home, she had a little bit of a girlish bounce in her step.
"Sarah, tell me the truth, have your nightmares come back?"
Sarah gave her stepmother an odd look. "Okay, that was out of the blue."
"Sarah, I'm serious. You can tell me anything, regardless of how... unbelievable it may seem."
"Karen, my nightmares haven't returned. That gunk you slipped me did the trick."
"Good. But is there something else that's bothering you?"
"No."
"Sarah, please don't shut me out! I can see that you're not all right!"
"Karen, it's nothing I can't handle myself. Please, just stay out of my business."
They turned on their street, Sarah trying to put a little distance between them. She saw Nigel and his aunt coming out of their house, and start off towards their car. Sarah ran ahead, calling out the boy's name. He looked up, and gave her a warm smile.
"Hey, Sarah!" he called, dashing towards her. The teens met in front of Sarah's house. Sarah looked up at him, giving him a shy smile.
"How's it going, Sarah?" he asked, reaching out and tousling her hair, "I really like what you've done with it. Very you."
"Thanks," she said, her face turning scarlet, "I'm really excited for tomorrow, Nigel."
"Me too," he said, as his aunt came over as well, "I'll pick you up around seven. That cool?"
"Uh-huh," she said, going from scarlet to fuchsia.
"Hello, Sarah! My aren't you getting big!" Nigel's aunt said, looking the girl up and down. Marlow McAlister had lived next door to the Williams ever since they had moved in when Sarah was three. She had often babysat for Sarah when she was little. She had never married, never had any children, which was a pity, because she had a wonderful gift with children. She was a kindergarten teacher, the one everyone wanted for their children.
"Hello, Miss McAlister," Sarah said, giving the short, rather plump woman a hug.
"Nigel, why don't you go start up the car, dear," she said, patting the boy on the shoulder. He shrugged, and set off for his own driveway. "Sarah, I think it's just wonderful that you and Nigel are getting along so well. I was so worried that he wouldn't be able to make any friends here. He has such issues, has had such an unfortunate life."
"Really? What's happened to him? Something in Seattle? Was he teased, or something?"
"I'm sorry, I've already said too much. You'll have to ask Nigel. He's very sensitive about it." and with that, she jogged back over to her car, got in, and she and Nigel drove away.
"Sarah, what were you talking to Nigel about?" Karen asked, a teasing tone in her voice.
"Nothing. He just said he liked my hair, and told me that he'd pick up tomorrow at around seven. Then miss McAlister came over and said that she was happy that we were getting along."
"Ah," Karen said simply, another smirk on her face.
Sarah looked towards the house, and her smile disappeared instantly. A barn owl was sitting on the roof. She was about to run into the house, when she took a good look at it. It wasn't him, this owl wasn't tawny, but snow white. But it still made her uneasy.
"Wow, an owl in the middle of the day. Never thought I'd see that," Karen said carefully, watching Sarah's face very closely.
"Yeah, it's unusual," Sarah said, before snatching the house keys from her stepmother's hands, and running for the house.
Unknown to Sarah, Karen gave the owl a very meaningful look before following Sarah into the house.
--
--
--
--
A/N: Another filler. I'm going to be updating more frequently for a while, because I want to get to a certain point before I go on vacation.
My muse struck again, and I have a new story idea forming in my head. So as soon as I finish this, I'll start posting it. It's really dark as well, so I hope that people will stick with me for it.
Until next time, review.