Chapter 4—In with the Worm

And chapter four at your service!

Sarah was walking, looking for familiar signs, anything to get her out of this place again. Was it just her imagination, or was it slimier than before? She looked around for a door, or something vaguely resembling a door. She saw none and continued walking, her temper getting increasingly hotter.

The Wolf didn't have it much better. He had somehow managed to loose her. Damn my cockiness! he thought angrily. He would never get home, he would never see Xannia again, and Jareth would PAY for that! But the Wolf would have to pay first, and harder.

Jareth was just as unhappy as the rest of them. He was sitting in his throne, looking into his crystal, listening to the sounds of happy goblins. And he couldn't see Sarah! Where in Odin's name was that girl?

"WOLF!" he shouted. The Wolf heard, half a mile away. "Oh, great," he muttered. He ran to the castle, tail between his legs.

"WHERE IS SHE?"

"Uh…who?"

"WHO DO YOU THINK, PUP?"

"I'M NOT A PUPPY!"

"YOU ARE A FOOLISH, IMMATURE, LOATHESOME HALF-CANINE!"

"YOU ARE A FOOLISH, IMMATURE, LOATHESOME HALF-HUMAN! SO HA!"

"WHY YOU…"

Jareth and the Wolf began to tussle on the floor, for there was never anything more insulting than being called human, even half so, if you weren't one. If you were, you were looked upon with pity. Unless a certain king happened to be in love with you.

Sarah was now wandering languidly through the halls. She didn't really know or care anymore where she was. It wasn't like she had a time limit this time around.

"ello!"

"Did you just say, 'hello?'"

"No, I said 'ello', but that's close enough."

Sarah looked down. Sure enough to her suspicions, a blue worm was on the wall.

"Come inside for a nice cup of tea, meet the missus."

Sarah looked around. Why not? Toby was safe, she assumed. "Alright."

She didn't know how she was to fit inside the worms hole until he whistled (she didn't know worms could do that either) and a young looking fairy came out. Her skin was purple and so was her long, straight hair. She had wings like a vulture and wore a pale lilac chiffon dress. "ello, Emily," the Worm said to her. "ello, Father," Emily replied. Yet another thing Sarah didn't know worms could do—spawn fairies. Emily flew toward her and Sarah instinctively jumped back. She remembered the last fairy she had come in contact with, and that hurt! But Emily flew around her three and a half times clockwise, then three and a half times counterclockwise. Emily then stood with her father and put her hands on her hips with a smug look.

Sarah looked at herself. She was now very smaller than the worm. She had butterfly wings coming out of her back and was wearing some odd leaf contraption. Her skin had taken on a fairly green tint. The worm looked at her and sighed. Emily huffed in indignation. "Well, it isn't my fault that's how she sees fairies! I would have given her real wings that she could actually fly with, but no, she wanted those prissy things!" Sarah looked down and blushed. She was showing quite a bit of thigh. Emily noticed and said, "Come on to my room, I've got some clothes that should fit you!" Sarah nodded gratefully.

Inside the worm's home was made of the same stone as outside it, but it was relatively cleaner. There were comfortable chairs and a tiny oven. It was warm inside, and Sarah loved it. Emily led her through a narrow, darker, hallway to her room. It was just like the rest of the house, though a tad messier. Emily added to this mess by throwing clothes out of her walnut closet on to the floor. Most of them were some chiffon like fabric. Finally, she held up a large flannel shirt that went to Sarah's knees. "It was my ex-boyfriend's," Emily started to explain. "He was a real vulture!"

Sarah met the missus (another fairy) who didn't have much to say. She seemed to be mute, but was content with cooking over the small stove. They had just sat down to dinner when a large eye looked through the window. It was yellow with a black iris, a wolf's eye. Or the Wolf's eye. He barked and reached a hairy hand through the door and grabbed Sarah, then began to run to the castle.