A/N: Happy New Year!
Enjoy the new chapter!
Haunted
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Sarah spun around, her dark locks whipping across her cheeks. He sat sprawled out on her window seat, drumming his fingers on his knee. She squealed, and ran for the door. Jareth lazily swept his gloved hand, and the door slammed shut. Sarah rattled the knob, and pounded desperately, to no avail.
"I must admit, I am impressed. Slipping away from me not once, but twice? Not many have your nerve my love," he said, getting to his feet. "Now, if you'll kindly return with me without a fuss, we needn't worry about a punishment."
Sarah could hear Karen and her mother running up the stairs. Surely they could help her. She just needed to keep him busy until they could get in. "What kind of loser can't take the hint that he's been dumped?" she sneered. His eyes narrowed, but he kept his smile.
"Sarah, I'm warning you, you're testing my patience again. I would have thought I'd made my point before, but if I must resort to a harsher punishment, I shall."
"Jareth, there could be no worse punishment than an eternity as your wife."
There came a sudden pounding on the door. Linda and Karen's yells could be heard from the other side. "Hmm, that sister of mine is trying to interfere again."
"Sister?" she asked. He shook his head, and lurched forward to seize her wrist.
"Never mind. It's time to go, sweet." He tried to pull her towards him, but she resisted.
"I'm not going with you, you bastard. Let go of me!" she screamed, "Why can't you see that I don't want anything to do with you?"
"It's no longer of any importance to me what you want. Your life now depends on what I want!" he hissed.
Sarah screamed, and the door blew off its hinges, flying across the the room, and crashing into her vanity. Karen stormed into the room, Linda close behind, eyes wide. Jareth released Sarah in surprise, and she ran over to the newcomers.
"What the hell Jareth? Can't you let the child go?" Karen screeched. Linda's eyes kept flicking her eyes from the flamboyant king to the door now laying on the shattered remains of Sarah's vanity, but Sarah was much more in awe at the fact that her stuffy stepmother knew who Jareth was.
"Darling sister, I would think that you would have realized by now that I have no intention of letting her be. She belongs to me."
"You're his sister?" Sarah gasped, mouth open.
"Yes, haven't you figured that out by now? And I thought you were so very clever, honey." Karen said, giving Sarah a sly little smirk. Sarah thought on this for a moment. It couldn't possibly be... Karen hated they very thought of magic, she couldn't be a magical creature herself. And yet, it explained so much, why Karen had gotten so overprotective as of late, how she always seemed to know when she was feeling distraught, everything.
"Enough of this. Sarah, come." Jareth hissed, extending his arm towards her. Linda huffed, and shoved her daughter behind her.
"You're not going to win this time, Jareth. Linda and I are going to take her far away from this place. You'll never get your filthy hands on her again."
"It doesn't matter where you take her, because I will follow. I will have the little chit..." he snarled, vanishing on the spot. The three women looked around frantically, when Sarah was suddenly shoved aside, thrown to the ground by some unseen force. She looked up in horror as the Goblin King rematerialized behind her mother, and wrapped his hand around her delicate throat. "AND I WILL DESTROY ANYONE WHO TRIES TO GET IN MY WAY!" he finished with a terrifying bellow. Sarah had never heard Jareth scream like that, and it terrified her.
"No! Please, let her go!" Sarah begged.
"I've been wanting to do this for some time," he said softly, his hands tightening on her windpipe. Linda was slowly losing consciousness, her eyes were becoming unfocused, her face changing from pale white to a dark red.
"Jareth, let go of her!" Karen screamed. Linda's face began to grow purple. Jareth smirked at his victim, and whispered in her ear, "All this could have been avoided, lovely Linda, if you had just given Sarah to me. Your time in the oubliette was for naught. Your daughter is mine, and now you'll be out of my way forever."
Sarah was horror struck at his words. Her mother had been locked up in an oubliette? To protect her? She watched teary eyed at the sight of her mother's burgundy face, her amber eyes bulging out their sockets. Sarah reacted, she was in motion lunging for the Goblin King.
Karen raised her arm, but was knocked aside by her stepdaughter. Jareth's arm was pulled away from Linda's neck, sending Linda to the ground, sputtering and gasping for air. Jareth's head spun around, his mismatched eyes meeting with a pair of watering green ones.
"Please stop! I'll do anything you want, just don't hurt them!" Sarah sobbed. Jareth stared at her her for a moment, then a terrible smile spread across his face. He pulled his arm free, and carefully placed his hand on her cheek.
"There now, my love. You see, you can be reasonable when given the proper incentive."
"No, Sarah! Don't give in to him!" Karen yelled.
"I have to, Karen. He won't stop until he gets what he wants, and I don't want to see you or anyone else get hurt because of me."
"So very wise, for one so young, wouldn't you agree, Karei?" Jareth sneered, pulling Sarah into his arms. They disappeared together, a triumphant look on Jareth's face, a miserable one on Sarah's.
"You let him go?" Linda snapped.
"I had to. Sarah wanted it," she said miserably. "I suppose I'll have to... erase Sarah from the world."
"But..."
"It's the only way. It must be as though she never existed."
"Then, at least let me keep it. I don't want to forget her."
"Of course." Karen said, raising her arms, and reciting a chant under her breath. The world began to spin, and the room around her began to change. Sarah's bedroom furniture melted away, and reformed as office furniture. Everything stopped, and Karen slumped into the desk chair. All traces of Sarah were gone from the small room. She wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Forgive me, Sarah. I am so sorry..."
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A/N: Wow, I can't believe I'm finally updating! Sorry for the delay, life's been a bitch!
Next chapter will be the last, and I promise I'll try to get it up quickly. WARNING! It's going to be pretty violent. There. Now you can't complain that I didn't give you sufficient warning!
Please review! All the kind reviews I've recieved are really what's kept me writing.