...Closing the book and taking a deep breath, she said the words she
had been warned against so many times in the past. "I wish the
goblins would come and take me away. Right now."
And then the lights went out.
A burst of cold air whipped through the room, and Kate squeezed her
eyes shut, dropping the book to the floor with a thud. As quickly as
the breeze had come it was gone, leaving a silent, eerie stillness in
it's wake.
Slowly, Kate opened her eyes. Her heart began thundering in her chest
as she realized that she wasn't in her bedroom. She was someplace
else...someplace cold. The light was dim, yet there was a hazy golden
glow about the new room. The walls were gray slabs of stone, and a
few wrought-iron candelabras stood nearby, their fat candles dripping
and making small pools of wax on the stone floor beneath.
Kate rose on shaking legs, feeling the icy cold of the floor seep
into the soles of her loafers. She shivered and wrapped her arms
around her chest, turning slowly to take in everything. She was in a
castle, that much was obvious. The room she was in now - the Grand
Hall, some would call it -was enormous. A cathedral-like ceiling rose
high above her, and she supposed if she shouted her voice would echo.
The room itself was nearly empty, except for the thread-bare settee
she had been sitting on, and a leather winged-back chair positioned
beside it. The walls didn't have a single picture or tapestry, and
the floor didn't have any carpet or rug. The one grand thing in the
entire room was the immense fireplace. It was made of thick stone,
and it took up nearly an entire wall. Now there was a roaring fire
within, and Kate stepped closer to it, trying to warm herself.
Where on earth was she, anyway? Her mind was racing with questions,
and her knees felt like jelly. It was all so strange, like a dream.
But she knew it wasn't any dream.
Suddenly, she heard footsteps echoing in the distance. She turned to
see a long, sprawling staircase at one end of the room. A shadowed
figure stood at the top, watching her. Slowly, the figure started
walking down the steps, and Kate saw that it was a man. He was tall
and thin, with long blonde hair that reminded her of the feathers of
an owl. He was dressed in a long black cape with a high, pointed
collar. Underneath, his shirt was black silk, unbuttoned to nearly
his navel, his pale white skin a startling contrast. He was wearing a
thick silk belt the color of blood, black tights and knee-high black
leather boots.
"Come now, Kate, surely you aren't that surprised to see me." His
voice was rich and melodious, with a thick English accent.
Kate gasped as he spoke and took a step backward, towards the
fireplace.
"After all, you are the one who called on me." As he spoke he strode
toward her, his steps as graceful as a panther's. He stopped when he
was ten feet away. His eyes traveled from the tips of her loafers to
the top of her head, and then came to rest on her face.
"W...w...who are you?" Kate stuttered, taking yet another step back.
Crossing his arms over his chest, he gave her an amused grin. "You
know perfectly well who I am."
"No I don't."
He raised a brow and whispered, "I think otherwise."
It was no use. "J...Jareth?" It didn't sound convincing, even to her.
He took another step toward her, his eyes never leaving her own. "Of
course. Don't tell me you truly believed Sarah was mad."
Kate swallowed hard, wondering if he could hear the pounding of her
heart. "I didn't think she was...but...I wasn't sure," she muttered.
"Well," he began, closing the gap between them even further, "now you
know."
Kate tried to take another step back, but her shoulders bumped the
cold ledge of the hearth. She was trapped, with no where to go. She
was in a strange room with the very man she had been told about - had
dreamed about - and she was terrified. Dreams are all well and good
when you don't think they can really happen, but now this was
happening, and Kate didn't know what to do.
He was even more handsome than she had pictured, yet there was an
underlying coldness. Even his eyes seemed cold...and maybe a little
cruel. If this was the Underground, it wasn't what Kate had imagined
at all. The castle was empty and reminded her more of a crumbing old
relic, and Jareth...no. This entire scene was like nothing she had
ever dreamed of.
"What?" He asked, as if reading her mind. "Isn't this what you
expected?"
She shook her head. "No. Not really."
He leaned close, so close she could feel his breath on her cheek. His
own smelled of brandy. "You are going to find that nothing is what
you expected it to be, dear Kate."