Okay, Chapter 8.

love you all

-Annie

Change For The Better

Chapter 8

Jareth

It was dark. Jareth knew they couldn't go back to the castle just yet. He needed to know the Pyro Sprite's minions were gone. If he sent gaurds then he was in the higher ups.

Jareth looked over at Andy's sleeping figure in the light of the makeshift fire. She had passed out from the pain of sealing her burn. He was literly shaking with anticipation on when she was going to wake up. He had wrapped up her hand with a strip from his shirt. He covered her up with the blanket and she mumbled in her sleep.

"Rudsuck." Jareth whispered into the night.

The goblin appeared in front of Jareth. He ran to Jareth.

"Your majesty! A band of Pyro Sprites came to take away Ms. Williams! Rudsuck should have never introduced Ms. Williams to Timble! When they couldn't find her they wen't to your room to see if she was there. And she wasn't and they took some of her clothing and plan on tracking her! Your Highness! We have to do something!-"

"Rudsuck, shut up." Jareth put his hand on the goblin's shoulder in a fatherly way.

"Yes, sir."

"I need you to watch Andy, ok? I'm going back to the castle to see if everything is okay, you gaurd her with your LIFE, do you understand?"

The goblin nodded and ran to Andy's side.

"I'll be back in 15 minutes, you do not let her out of your sight."

And Jareth was gone.

He appeared in the middle of his room. It was stroming, the ceiling was pouring rain down on his head, and the rain cloud was a deep black and blue. He ran for cover of his bathroom. His blonde hair was already matted to his scalp and his shirt was soaked through.

He gathered nessecities from the bathroom and dared the rain to shove clothes into a bag. He changed in the bathroom in a pair of red stir ups and a white poetry shirt with a leather vest over it.

He stood in front of Andy's door.

He didn't want to see what it looked like inside. But she would need clothes. He slowly opened the door and frowned. They had been there, definatly.

There were books scattered everywhere, her bedsheets were tangled and thrown off the bed, her duffle bag was empty and clothes lay strewn everywhere, a pile of board games was ripped apart, game peices were all over the room. Jareth sighed. He scooped up her bag and began stuffing her clothes back in her duffel bag.

He blushed wildly when he picked up a pair of black and pink lacy underwear. He shoved it in the bag and continued on.

When he was done he tossed the bag onto the bed making a pillow bounce off.

He stared at the book laying on the bedsheet.

His eyes scanned the title with fear.

The Labyrinth.

He has seen this book many times before but never was he this close to it. His biggest weakness lied between those pages. He walked to it and knelt down to look at it. He would not touch it though, unsure of what it would do to him if he did.

He wondered vaguely what it said about him.

And then that one thought came to his head.

What has Andy read? What was The Goblin King like in those pages. What was he like in those pages? What if it wasn't good.

His hand reached slowly out toward the leather bound story.

His finger tips grazed the spine.

An image flashed before Jareth's eyes.

A man, long blonde hair, devilishly handsome, mix matched eyes with a look of evil set upon his face. He radiated evil. He had a snarl set deep in his face, perminant almost. He stood upon a mountain of Elf's. Lifeless, dead.

The Elfen War.

The Fae had won. With the help of the Goblin Kingdom.

Jareth pulled his hand away as if bitten by a snake. His head and heart ached.

She read that? Or was it just a memory that he faced?

Either way. He had Changed.

Andy had changed him.

Jareth snapped out of his reviere. He heard a floor board creak.

He spun around, one hand aimed to in a karate chop, his right leg up in the air and his other hand at his sword. His face was pursed in concentration like a lemon.

"Your Highness!"

Jareth relaxed and returnd to normal standing position.

"Earwig." The cook was standing in the door way a roll of parchment in his hand. His clothes were ripped and torn and his face was swelling at great speeds. He was obviously harrased my the band of sprites.

"They have told me to give this to you, sir." Earwig handed the peice of paper to Jareth. Jareth went into the bathroom and soaked a washcloth. He handed it to Earwig who took it greatfully. Earwig waited patiently while Jareth read the note.

Goblin Scum,

You will bring Ms. Williams to the outskirts of Sprite territory. And you will tell me what her so called "race" is.

She is mine.

I have every right to her. She is a part of me now. You can't change that.

I have been watching you.

You are in love with her.

Sucks for you.

You have one week.

Jareth scowled darkly at the letter. It sounded like it was writen by a teenager. A stupid nieve teenager who obviously does not know who he is dealing with.

Jareth thought darkly what he meant by watching him. What had he seen? Andy and him talking, laughing?...kissing? In a fit of rage, the letter turned to ice and shattered.

He growled deeply in his throat and stepped over the remains.

He would not allow her to leave him. He would not let her go. She was the only thing keeping him from breaking down.

He was pissed.

Andy

Rat a tat tat. Rat a tat tat. Rat a tat tat.

Andy groaned moarnfully and sat up. She opened her eyes to see that Jareth was no longer holding her. His lips were no longer pressed to hers. His hand no longer held hers in a death grip. Drops of water hit her head from an above tree. She groaned.

It was just her and the darkness. Andy's entire right hand was numb and was wrapped in what she recognized to be Jareth's shirt.

She wondered vaguely what her hand looked like. But she was too afraid to look.

Andy ran her tongue over her lips and tasted blood. Her lip peircing was ripped.

"Fuck." She mumbled. She took the ring out and sucked on her lip. Well she wasn't putting that in for a while. She noticed another taste in her mouth. A gross morning breath taste. She groaned. She hated morning breath.

She stood up slowly, the fur blanket falling to the ground.

"MS. WILLIAMS!"

Andy spun around. Her eyes were wild.

"Rudsuck! Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry, miss."

Andy rubbed her face, realizing the tension in it. Her muscles were stiff. Then she noticed...something was missing.

"Rudsuck, where is Jareth?" Andy spun around hoping to find her King standing against a tree or something.

Rudsuck pursed his lips. "He went back to the castle, miss."

Andy's eyes widened.

"Why?"

"He went back to see if everything is okay." Rudsuck looked confused at Andy's worry. Andy began to pase.

"Oh! What if Timble is still there Rudsuck! What would he do to Jareth?" Andy paced the other way ignoring the cold creeping up her legs.

"He will be fine, miss."

"But what if he isn't Rudsuck? I don't know what I'd do if anything would happen to him." Andy recalled her dream in her head and shivered at the thought.

Rudsuck took Andy's hand. She stopped ranting and looked down at the goblin. He smiled up at her.

"You care about him very much, even Rudsuck can see that, but His Highness is strong and fearless and no matter what His Highness will come back in one peice, miss, Rudsuck promises."

Andy looked at the goblin in wonder. Such a small creature. With such a big heart.

Jareth

Most of the Goblins were gone. They fled like cowards when the Sprites attacked. From what Earwig had told him, it was worse then expected. The entire castle had been ripped to shreds. walls had been blundered through, the kitchen's had food and pots and pans everywhere, and his throne room didn't matter much considering it actually looked worse when he left it.

But what pissed jareth off the most was, his room of stairs. Stairways were blown to peices, small fires were ignited on every wall and ceiling.

He sighed and sat down on a broken floating stair. He knew he could have the goblins come back but then the Pyro sprite would notice hoards of goblins walking toward the castle.

He would get Andy, take her back to the castle and they would hide out in the extra cottage in the 4th courtyard, and he would test her abilities so they could report to The Council what she was.

It was such a brilliant idea that Jareth jumped up for joy.

He then remembered the Pyro Sprite. Then he wondered who it was. Andy would tell him and Jareth would kill him. His shoulders slumped.

Andy would never let him do that.

Andy

Andy had restarted the fire that Jareth had started and sat against the nearest tree with Rudsuck at her side.

"Can I ask you a question, Rudsuck?"

"Of course, miss."

"Why does Timble want me?" She slowly unwrapped her hand.

"He thinks you and him are meant to be, miss."

"And how would he know that!" She wondered more to her self. "He doesn't even know me, and he thinks he can be my husband?"

"King, he want's you as his Queen..." Rudsuck paused and seemed to contimplating something.

"I should not tell you this, miss, but...Timble knows you more then you know, he says he has been watching you." As Rudsuck talked the quieter he got.

"What do you mean Rudsuck?"

"He's been watching you for many months now...Please forgive Rudsuck Ms. Williams! He told me not to tell you!" Rudsuck barried his greenish face in Andy's blanket.

"No, it's quite alright, Rudsuck, just don't keep ANYTHING from me anymore okay."

Rudsuck left Andy to her thoughts.

This was bad.

He knew her. Probably a whole lot more then Jareth knew her. That was VERY bad.

That presence she had been feeling right before she would fall to sleep... he was there. Watching. Observing. Obsessing.

For months.

An obsessive man, was a dangerous man.

A twig snapped. Andy's neck snapped up. She saw a shock of red hair, red eyes. She sucked in a breath.

This was it. She heard voices. He was going to take her away from Jareth, forever. He was going to force her to marry him. She was going to be unhappy for the rest of her life.

If she could never be with Jareth again.

She would die.

OKAY! You do not know how UNBEILIVABLY SORRY ABOUT THIS!

I KNOW IT"S LATE! I KNOW IT"S SHORT!

I have a lot going on, between school, work, Synergy, The School Play, and homework...

I'm swamped.

REVIEW!

*mauh*

:3

-Annie