Chapter Four: A Different Emotion

"Sarah, won't you reconsider? We love having you back home and I know that
Toby will be heartbroken to know that you're leaving early. Maybe you just need to get
used to the home again. It's been so long since you've last been here," her father argued.

Sarah folded one of her blouses and piled it on top of her other clothes in her
suitcase. She glanced around the room quickly and then returned to her bag to close it up.
Her father's hand fell on hers and pulled her away from her bag. Sarah let out an
exasperated sigh.

"Dad, you know that I have to get back there. I need to get ready for the play and
study for some tests. I really don't have enough time for a vacation. You have to
understand," Sarah said as she pulled her hand free and zipped up her bag.

She had had enough of the memories and the sudden appearances of people from
the Underground. She couldn't take it anymore. Her father and mother where obviously
worried about her and what was happening. She had been acting strange the whole day.
Of course, this was because of the dream and all the other strange events that day.

Sarah lifted her heavier bag. Her presents had been stuffed inside. Toby's crystal
had been placed in her purse. Sarah had wrapped it carefully in tissues and paper. She
didn't want the delicate thing to break on accident. However, Sarah was fairly certain that
the crystal wouldn't break.

"I'll wait for you downstairs then. I'm sorry that you couldn't stay longer, Sarah.
We enjoy having you here," her father remarked as he drudged out of the door and down
the stairs.

Sarah stopped at her desk and looked at the top drawer. It felt like the book was
calling to her and begging to be brought with her. Sarah inched closer to the desk and
placed one trembling hand on the drawer. She opened it and reached her hand in to grab
the worn book out of the darkness. Perhaps, some of her past needed to be left in the
open. She stuffed the book carelessly in her purse and slammed the drawer. This time she
kept her fingers safely out of the way.

There were some things in the drawer that she couldn't bring herself to look at yet,
maybe never. The music box that had been given to her by Jonathan, her real mother's
love, was one of those dangerous items. She was sure that just one look at the lovely
woman on the top of the box would bring back unwanted memories about the dance with
Jareth. Sarah shivered slightly and then rushed out of her room.

"Sarah?" a meek voice called from the stairs.

Sarah looked down and noticed Toby sitting at the top of the stairs. His little face
was downcast and his eyes were wet with tears. Sarah could feel her heart sink as she saw
her brother wipe at the tears running down his cheeks. She walked over to him and sat
down at his side. Sarah placed a tender arm over his trembling shoulder.

"Toby, you know that I'm going to return and that I'll call you just as soon as I get
to my college. I have to get back for school. You understand how important school is?"
she asked gently.

Toby nodded slowly. Sarah rubbed his shoulder and then got back to her feet.
She reached down and grabbed Toby's hand. He got to his feet reluctantly and walked
very slowly down the stairs. Sarah knew that he was trying to postpone her leaving as
much as possible, but she had to go. Toby would have to learn to accept that her life
wasn't here any longer. They stopped at the front door.

"I'll miss you guys but, it won't be that long before I come back," Sarah said as
she glanced down at Toby. He was still crying silently.

Her mother stepped up and hugged her tightly. She then stepped back and bit her
lips. She passed a hand over her eyes and then placed it on her trembling mouth. Sarah
couldn't believe that her stepmother was actually crying.

"I didn't want to cry. I-I'll miss you Sarah," she said as she attempted to gain
control of herself.

Sarah hugged her again and then hugged her father. He patted her on the back
three times and then stepped out of the embrace. Her father had never been a very
affectionate man. Sarah was surprised that he had hugged her at all.

"You take care of yourself," he said as she headed out the door.

Sarah climbed in her car and waved to them. She closed the door and let out a
long sigh. It was always hard to say good bye. She remembered when she had said good
bye to her Underground friends. It had been the hardest moment in her life. However,
she knew that she had to do it so that she could move on.

Sarah pulled out of the driveway and quickly made her way on to the street. Her
spirits lifted as she drove further away from her house. She loved her family, but
something had been bothering her ever since she had gotten back into her hometown. It
was probably just hard for her to remember the past.

As she drove her mind began to wander. She thought about everything she had
seen and the dream she had experienced. They had never appeared to her before. Maybe
it was just being home, but Sarah seriously doubted it. She was terrified that the
Underground was really in danger. Perhaps, her dream had been the truth. If the
Underground was dying then that would be a good reason for her old friends to approach
her for help. However, why would the Goblin King appear to her?

Sarah glanced down at the speedometer and gasped. She was going nearly sixty!
Sarah returned her gaze to the road and stared right at a large reddish creature. It turned
to face the car that was speeding towards it. Sarah slammed on the breaks and screamed
as the car spun out of control.

"Sarah! Sarah..need help!" Ludo cried from the middle of the road.

Sarah tried in vain to regain control of the car. All she was thinking about was
avoiding Ludo. She couldn't hit her dear friend! She could never forgive herself for that.
Sarah watched as the world spun around her. She saw the tree moments before the
collision and then she was thrown against the wheel and hit her head on the window.

Sarah slumped back in her seat and felt consciousness begin to slip away from her.
She blinked her eyes several times trying to stay awake, but the blackness was covering
them in a thick veil.

Sarah saw a white owl perch on her car moments before she totally blacked out.
The owl was watching her with wide yellow eyes that were too wise to be anything but
human. And as she drifted away, she felt strong arms lift her from the car and bring her to
safety. After that, everything was black.

* * * * * * * *

Sarah opened her eyes and looked around herself. She was gazing up into a
brilliant blue sky. There were immense trees reaching up high above her. She looked to
her side and noticed that she was laying in green clover. A large owl flew over her and
Sarah sat up.

"Jareth." she thought to herself in anger.

She watched the owl fly towards the castle. It drifted out of sight behind a grove
of large trees. She smiled and jumped to her feet. There was no doubt in her mind that
she was in the Underground. It was in all of its glory once again. Sarah could even hear
the music that had surrounded it before.

Sarah glanced down at herself and noticed that her clothes had been changed from
the ones she had worn in her car. She had on a light blue dress that was tight through the
bodice and flowed out at the waist. It drifted lazily behind her from the breeze. Sarah
touched the silky material and then spun around in a circle.

She only thought briefly about the accident. She then let it drift out of her mind.
The day was too perfect to worry about trivial matters. Obviously her friends had decided
to bring her back to the Underground. She was relieved to see that it wasn't in danger
and dying. In fact, it looked more marvelous than ever before. However, there was
something different that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Sarah wandered through the old forest taking in the sweet smell of roses and
honeysuckle that lingered in the warm morning air. There was a nice breeze blowing
between the trees. It kept the day from being too hot. Sarah pulled the long dress up to
step over some logs that laid across her path.

She felt the ground shift strangely beneath her foot, but thought nothing of it.
Sarah simply continued on with her walk. She took another step and had to fight a little to
bring her foot away from the ground. Sarah glanced down at the ground and tried to step
again. There was no ground for her foot to meet.

"Oh!" she exclaimed as she fell into the bleak darkness of the pit.

It felt like she had fallen for an eternity before she actually reached the rough
ground. However, Sarah felt no pain from her landing. This convinced her that she was
dreaming again. Sarah was getting upset with her strange dreams that seemed perfectly
real.

She stood up and attempted to observe her surroundings, but it was pitch black in
the hole. Sarah shivered in the darkness. She remembered when she had fallen into the
oubliette the last time. She remembered Hoggle had come down to get her out. Sarah
could nearly hear her friend talking to her again.

"...It's a place to put people to forget about them!" he had spoken ominously to
her.
Sarah wasn't even sure if she had fallen into another oubliette. If she only had a
candle with her she could at least attempt to escape from her prison. Instead Sarah waited
for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. There was a little light streaming down from where
she had fallen. However, it looked miles away.

A soft object brushed against her face and Sarah recoiled a little too quickly. Her
back hit the wall of the hole harshly and dull pain coursed up her spine. Sarah was
shocked. She had fallen from an enormous height and had felt nothing, but hitting a wall
nearly caused her to cry in agony. It was strange.

"You are in my debt, Sarah," the accented voice spoke from somewhere in the
darkness.

Sarah shot up and glared towards the direction the voice had come from. She
could easily recognize who had spoken to her. Jareth was in here with her. Her heart beat
sped up as she looked around for any sign of him.

"It isn't fair! I can't even see you," she called to him.

Jareth's cruel laughter bubbled out around her. It sounded like he was everywhere
at once. Sarah spun in circles, trying to confront him. He was moving far too quickly for
her to catch up. Finally Sarah leaned against the wall and waited for his laughter to
subside.

"Are you going to start with that again, Sarah? I was expecting much more from
you this time," he chided. The merriment had gone out of his voice.

"I am in no debt to you, Jareth. You haven't done anything generous for me,"
Sarah reminded.

A flash of orange light erupted from the corner of the hole. Jareth's face was
illuminated as he lit a lantern and hung it on the wall near to himself. He then placed his
gloved hands together and walked casually towards her.

"You owe me your life, Sarah," he said with a smile.

Sarah remembered the accident and the owl that had landed on her hood. She
could also remember someone lifting her from the car. However, that had been when she
was nearly unconscious. It was a very brief memory. Now Sarah understood why he had
saved her from the car. Jareth simply wanted her to do him a favor as well. He always
had selfish reasons for everything he did.

"I don't owe you anything. Why are you barging into my life again? I haven't
called on anyone," Sarah moaned.

She tried desperately not to let his flashing eyes overpower her. It was a strenuous
task. He was staring at her with extreme intensity that almost penetrated to her very soul.
Sarah turned her gaze away from him and looked to the ground instead.

Jareth watched her closely. He smiled slightly at her anger with him. He had
saved her from the car. Now it was time for her to do something for him.

"I will call on you," he reminded her.

"I won't do anything for you! You can't force me to help you!" she spat her
words out and then turned her gaze back to him.

Jareth scowled. He had underestimated her determined nature and willpower
again. He pulled a crystal from the air and thrust it towards her. The crystal exploded in a
brilliant blue color. Sarah closed her eyes from the intensity and then opened them again.
She found herself out of the hole.

"I will have my way, Sarah," he threatened.

Jareth started towards her, but then abruptly halted. He put his hands to his head
and grimaced. He turned away from her and tried to use his crystals to leave, but they
wouldn't listen to him. Jareth tried to resort to his owl form, but the transformation
wouldn't occur. He was doomed to suffer in front of her.

Sarah's anger fell away suddenly as she saw Jareth stagger away from her. He was
obviously in pain. Sarah started towards him, curious about what was happening. She felt
some strange heat emanating from him. Sarah reached out to touch his arm.

Jareth suddenly turned to look at her. His blue eyes were filled with agony and
confusion. The evil fire they usually held had disappeared with the pain. Jareth could only
watch her as she reached out to touch him.

Sarah's hand touched his arm. An electricity shot through her entire arm and a
pain that was nearly sickening burst into her head. Sarah jumped away from him and fell
to her knees. She pressed a shaky hand to her mouth and watched as Jareth straightened
up.

"Sarah, what's wrong?" he asked.

Sarah was shocked with his changed nature. He reached out to help her up from
the ground, but she drew away from his hands. Jareth's eyebrows came together as he
looked down at her with concern. She got to her feet and looked at him carefully. What
was causing the extreme change in him?

"You don't have to play your games, Jareth. I won't fall for anymore sympathy on
your part. You only want me to feel like I should owe you something. I don't owe you
anything and I want to go home!" she demanded angrily.

Jareth's anger surged back into his body. He rushed towards her with the speed of
a cat and gripped her arm tightly. Sarah struggled against his grip and pushed at him with
her other hand, yet he held on strong.

"You are going to be back!" he stated.

"No! No!....

* * * * * * * *

"No, no...Let me go," Sarah cried in her sleep.

She awoke in her dorm room. There was a fresh bandage on her head. Sarah
attempted to look around her, but a nagging pain shot through her neck. She had
probably sustained a whiplash from the accident. Sarah reached up and touched the
bandage that had been gently placed on her head.

"How did I get here?" she asked.

"Hey, Sarah! Are you up?" her room mate asked from the other bed.

She walked over to Sarah and sat down by her. Sarah smiled at her friend and
then attempted to get up. She was struck by an extreme wave of vertigo. Sarah placed
her hand on her head as she waited for the dizziness to work its way through her body.

"I don't understand how I got here," Sarah complained.

"Well, I don't know. I came in last night and you where here, asleep. You got
really hurt last night, huh? You're lucky someone cared enough to bandage you up,"
Sarah's room mate remarked.

"Yeah, I guess someone must have cared," Sarah said softly.

Sarah knew who had brought her to her college and mended her wounds, but she
couldn't understand why he would do it. Why was Jareth helping her? He was her
enemy, right?