Chapter 1 A Blind Affair

Sarah glared at the girl with long, ebony locks, porcelain skin and emerald eyes staring back at her. Her reflection. Pure and utter contempt for herself radiated from her pores. Sarah wasn't usually so masochistic but she had her reasons today: Jenny had miraculously roped her into one of her heinous schemes…again. Two words: blind date.

Sarah's best (human) friend, Jenny, flitted around her bedroom, alternating between curling her blonde tendrils, trying on tops, and tossing aside pair after pair of shoes. Sarah rolled her eyes as she thought about how they couldn't be more opposites.

The differences between these two were most evident in their physical appearances. Jenny was sunlight personified with her wavy, golden hair, tanned skin, gleaming smile and even her gold-flecked, hazel eyes. Sarah's look was much more dramatic in a classical way. The contrast between her hair color, skin tone and wide, green eyes made her face interesting to look at. Her expressive eyes contained both the naïve innocence of a child and the ancient wisdom of an old woman who has lived through far too much.

Aside from the apparent differences in features, the polarity of their personalities was most profound, and immensely ironic. Jenny, the biggest cynic Sarah had ever known, was deeply and hopelessly in love. And on top of that, she was in a real relationship, not some superficial teen crush that goes absolutely nowhere. Sarah never thought she'd see the day. It certainly didn't make it easier on Sarah when she was already wondering where her love was or if he was even alive.

She sighed inwardly. Four months. Four, long months. Four, long months of searching, waiting, wishing for a miracle to happen, a miracle that would bring her back to the Underground and into the arms of the Fae she loved.

Sarah had expected nightmares to follow after her last episode in the Underground. But what she got was more chilling than anything her subconscious could drum up. Sarah didn't dream at all. Each morning she'd wake, not having the vaguest idea where her thoughts had been the night before. And worse still, she awoke each morning feeling completely numb…hollow.

"Are you seriously going out, looking like that?" asked Jenny, breaking Sarah's reverie.

"Yes," she replied curtly, her earlier irritation flaring. Fact of the matter was that she could care less about the idiotic date looming in her near future. She wasn't going to put on a show for some guy she knew she'd never care for. It would be wasted effort. Besides, her heart already belonged to another…

"Sarah, what's wrong?" Jenny came over and sat down next to her friend. Again, the contrast between them was glaringly obvious.

"I just don't feel like going out, least of which with a perfect stranger."

"You never want to go out anymore. What happened? A couple of months ago, almost all you ever wanted to do was date. You were sort of a serial dater."

Sarah ignored the ribbing. She didn't like thinking about that phase she went through when she was doing everything in her power to forget Jareth. Now she was fighting to remember. "Look, I'm just not interested in these high school boys." She placed particular emphasis on the word boy, thinking how the one who held her heart was much, much more than some ordinary boy.

"Oooo! College boys?" Jenny completely misinterpreted what Sarah was trying to say.

"No. I'm just…I'm just sick of dating right now. Okay?"

Jenny pursed her lips. "Fine. But can we at least get through this evening? I promised Billy I'd bring you along for his friend, Spencer. Then I swear I won't force you onto another double date again."

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Promise?" Jenny took her right index finger and made an X across her heart flippantly. "Fine. This is the last one. I'm holding you to this."

Jenny flashed a dazzling grin. "C'mon, Sarah. You may actually have fun. Spencer is like Billy's best friend. And he's totally your type. He's tall and blonde and Billy says he's hilarious. You'll love him."

I seriously doubt it, Sarah thought bitterly.

Jenny just grinned at Sarah's expression. She was confident in her matchmaking abilities. As far as she was concerned, Sarah should be picking her white dress out tonight.

Sarah was not going to be picking out a white dress. Not that night. Not any night. However, she was thinking about picking out a black dress…for a funeral. She was going to kill Jenny when this was over.

The four of them were sitting in a dark theater, trapped for the duration of the ninety minute horror film that Jenny had insisted they all see. Sarah knew this tactic all too well. Jenny was looking for an excuse to pretend to be afraid and have Billy protect her from all the terror and macabre on the twenty foot screen. She was also very aware of the fact that Jenny wanted Sarah to follow suit and have Spencer do the same. The problem with this idea was that if anyone needed protecting in that theater, it was Sarah's date.

All evening during their miserable dinner, Spencer and Billy had been getting pumped for the latest box office smash that supposedly had everyone on the edges of their seats and screaming in the theater. Jenny had joined in the conversation enthusiastically, trying to impress the boys with her horror flick trivia. Sarah had sat rather quietly in the corner of their both, trying to mop up the cola that Spencer had knocked into her lap. She was still silently fuming about how he didn't feel the least bit of remorse and actually found the stunt hilarious.

Spencer had chatted animatedly about how he was certain he'd seen scarier films than this all the way up until the lights went down and the crazed murderer was chasing some poor, innocent victim down the street. Then he shut up, to Sarah's relief. It took her a few minutes and a few deaths later to realize that he was too quiet. To her right Jenny and Billy were tangled up in each other and when they weren't making out, they were quietly exclaiming about some frightening thing on the screen.

Spencer was dead quiet.

For the first time all evening, Sarah willingly looked at her date. His face was blanched in response to the images flashing violently across the screen. His body was curled in a ball and he was rocking back and forth mechanically in his seat. Terror couldn't have been plainer on his face if someone had taken a stick of eyeliner and wrote the word on his forehead.

Sarah snorted.

She didn't see what everyone else was going on about. It really wasn't all that scary. The plot line was cheesy and the action sequences were far too bizarre to ever be taken seriously. She'd been through much worse. She amused herself with the image of the cleaners in the labyrinth chasing Spencer around. Now that would be scary…for him at any rate.

Jenny was stupid to think that this boy could honestly tempt Sarah. For all his bravado, he was unable to walk the walk. Sarah knew she'd never want someone like him. She needed someone more powerful, more commanding, someone who would scare the pants off of some guy like Spencer. Or at least someone with a stronger stomach. And Sarah just happened to know of someone who fit those criteria. Too bad she had no idea where the hell he was or what had happened to him. And it was those thoughts that had her chewing her lower lip with worry.

When the movie was over and the lights were up Spencer slipped back into his pompous self. Jenny made some comment about how the film was 'really scary' as she disentangled herself from Billy whose hands were unwilling to let her go. Sarah's face was utterly bored…on the surface. When she got Jenny alone there would be hell to pay, though.

The two couples stepped out into the hot, humid, summer air. Jenny could feel the angry vibes from Sarah and she knew she was in trouble, which was why she didn't let the boys walk them home that evening.

"I had a wonderful time, Billy," she crooned, staring lovingly into her boyfriend's eyes in manner that made even Sarah want to gag.

"Me too," he said before pulling her in to kiss her passionately.

Sarah stood by awkwardly as this exchange went on. She had no idea what to say to Spencer. What was the conventional way of telling someone that they had an awful time and that they never wanted to see or hear from them again?

"Well, Sarah," Spencer said, slinging his arm around her shoulder. She cringed. "I had a great time. We should do this again." He gestured between the two of them with his hand. Sarah gritted her teeth together and contorted her face into a pained smile.

Without warning, he leaned in a planted his lips on hers. His lips were dry and cracked and his breath tasted of onions and garlic. She was gagging long before he released her.

"I'll call you," he said and then turned to join Billy as they walked away.

Jenny was standing sheepishly on the corner, waiting for Sarah to look at her. Sarah inhaled deeply through the nose, contemplating the likelihood that her parents would change their number. She wasn't liking her odds.

"Please, don't kill me," Jenny said as they started walking in the opposite direction toward their neighborhood.

"Oh, so you weren't too busy playing tonsil-hockey with Billy to notice that my date was absolutely awful?" Sarcasm coated every syllable of Sarah's words.

"C'mon, Sar. It wasn't that bad. It could have been worse," she said when Sarah shot her a withering look.

"You know, Jenny, I have been on some pretty lousy dates in the past year but this one takes the cake. I think I might have to mail him a customized plaque that says WORST DATE EVER. How does that sound?"

"Don't you think you're being a bit dramatic? So you had a bad date. Big deal. It's not like you're going to marry the man," Jenny replied, going back on her earlier thoughts that it could very well work out that way.

"Man? Ha! Did you see the way he freaked out in the theater? Whatever that was, it sure wasn't manly."

"I'm sorry, okay?"

They were just outside Jenny's house. Sarah nodded and said, "Hey, whatever. It's the last time this will happen so it's okay. But I gotta go. You know Irene will be waiting to ask me about all the gory details when I get home. I'll see you later." Sarah turned on her heel and headed further down the street in the direction of her house as Jenny unlocked her front door and went inside.

The warm air swirled around Sarah as she walked slowly home. It was a cloudless night. All the stars were blinking happily in their home in the sky. It was beautiful. Sarah paused and looked up. A streak of light shot across the sky as she gazed into the heavens. The hollow cavity of her chest throbbed. She couldn't help but remember that night when her view of the Goblin King had changed so drastically. She remembered that starlit night they had shared and she found herself yearning for it once again. She wanted so desperately to feel him near her again, to hear the sound of his voice, to hold his gloved hand hers. As the star made its exit across her horizon, she closed her eyes and wished.

"I wish that something will happen…something that will allow me to return to the Underground soon."

She opened her eyes and stared at the average neighborhood surrounding her. Like all her recent wishes, nothing happened. She sighed and trudged unwillingly into her house, back to the mundane life she wished she could leave behind her forever.

Author Note: Hey everyone! Thank you for all your wonderful response to the prologue. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll be getting back to Jareth soon (I know you're all anxious to know what has become of him) but please hang in there. I have a few more things to cover before I can get to him. Please review! 3