Chapter 6

It all came flooding back. Back to that nightmare of a place. Back to HIM. The thunder cracked outside of the window and made Sarah jump. Her head darted to the window but she could not see out of it. Due to the goblin king stood in front of it.

Sarah expected herself to be surprised and to let out a gasp or scream. But nothing came. She just stared into his mismatched eyes that she had sworn she would never see again. It was although her body couldn't be bothered to react. Maybe it was just too exhausted to do anything. Both their faces were blank and they held each other's gaze until Sarah broke eye contact and went back to staring at Kelly.

"I guess this is what you meant by bad" Sarah said knowing full well how pathetic she sounded. But she couldn't care less. Jareth took a few steps forward out of the shade of the night sky and let the LED lights hanging from the ceiling enhance the contours of his face. Sarah's glance towards him went as quickly as it came. She managed to see his skin and hair shining white like silver under the bright lights. She couldn't be sure but she thought she saw a hint of remorse in his eyes. But she forced herself to dismiss it. He continued to step slowly towards her and to her shock he stepped to the side of her and placed his hand on her head. Sarah didn't flinch at this contact which surprised them both. All she did was close her eyes and she couldn't help but lean into his hand a little. He stroked her hair with his long gloved fingers and let out a loud sigh.

"I can heal her in seconds" he said quietly with his silk voice.

"But you know what you have to do" he continued. Sarah felt a tear run down her face but did not sob or wail. What would be the point? She thought about her options for a few seconds even thought there was no need to. Her fate was set. Stay in the labyrinth for the rest of her life, which could possibly be for eternity. But it would save her friends life. Kelly would continue to live her wild and crazy life if Sarah did this. And Sarah would have her friends. Hoggle, Ludo, Didymus. But she would lose her family, Toby...

She stopped her thoughts going any further in case she talked herself out of it. She closed her eyes and mouth as tightly as she could to stop her crying and gave one nod of her head. The thunder and lightning hit again and Jareth removed his hand from her head and held it out for her to take. She finally got her fire back and stood up and pushed passed it. However she did not realise how drained she had become since she had sat down and her legs gave in. She plummeted towards the floor but Jareth moved with the speed and grace of a large cat and encased her in his arms which broke her fall. She blushed with embarrassment as she felt she had now lost what little dignity she had just gained and her eyes stayed glued angrily to the floor. Jareth's embrace was became more of a hug rather than a hold. He brought her up to her feet and pulled her tighter to him.

"You'll be safe, I promise" Jareth said as he rested his chin on the top of Sarah's head. That was it. Sarah let out the emotion that had been building inside her for the past hour. She fisted Jareths poet shirt in her hands and buried her face in the fabric as she cried. Jareth continued to hold her as a cloud of black smoke laced with gold dust engulfed them both and they vanished into the haze as Kelly's heart monitor began to speed up.