Fooled Heart

A/N: Thanks everyone for following this story! As always, please read and review.







Fooled Heart



Chapter 12: Lieete



Sarah stared blankly at the open window. 'He's just going to leave me here,' she thought angrily. 'I just have to deal with it? There's nothing he can do?'



Toby knocked on Sarah's door for the third time. Sarah got up from her bed and threw the door open in a fury, her tears stil streaking her face. "What?" she snapped at the young boy.



"I heard yelling. Are you O.K.?" Toby said meekly.



"Yeah, just fine," Sarah said, her expression softening. She turned, leaving the door open and hit the latch on the guest bed. The bed collapsed. With Toby's help, Sarah tucked the bed neatly under hers and covered the edges with the bedskirt.



"What are we gonna do today, Sarah?" Toby asked excitedly.



"Go play some games, champ. I've got some thinking to do," she responded, the exhaustion evident in her voice. Toby ran off and quickly jumped on the couch to take the controller in his hands. Sarah smiled.



'I've got to figure something out,' she thought. 'I can't leave Toby by himself, but Dad and Karen won't be back for another week. I can't just sit here and wonder what's real and what's not.' She flopped down on her bed loudly, letting her legs hang over the edge. 'I don't have the money to pay for a babysitter. I don't have any reliable friends that would watch him for a week. All of our family is out of state.'



Sarah sat up. 'Even if I did find someone, what would I tell them? "Oh hey, I've had this crazy dream that is making me question reality and the only way I can escape it is to let the Goblin King take me away to the place called the Underground. Could you watch Toby for a week?" Sure, that's going to go over well. Even if I did find some excuse, what would happen when I didn't come back? Would I just disappear and everyone would forget about me? What would happen to my apartment? Would all of my stuff just disappear and they would forget I was even staying here?' Sarah held her head in her hands a let out a deep breath.



'I can't go back to the Underground. What was I thinking? I can't just leave and let everyone forget about me. Just leave Toby, Dad, and Karen. I can't just leave my life,' Sarah thought as the tears began welling up again. 'I should be stronger than this. I can't just accept that fate. I can't live with these dreams, but I can't just up and leave to escape them. I can't ask Jareth for help again. I only have the one chance to leave, I don't want to mess it up if it is my only way out. What am I going to do?'



Sarah pulled her hair away from her face. 'Would it be so bad, living with these dreams? All I have to do is realize they aren't real. They can't really hurt me, they'll just make me confused.' She calmed down and took a tissue from the box on her vanity and wiped the tears from her face and blew her nose. 'Can I really let that weigh on my sanity? Its already gotten me breaking down. How am I going to live with this?'



Sarah sighed. There was no point in stressing herself out any more than she already was. There was really nothing she could do at this point. She just had to live with the false reality and hope she could pick things apart.



The next two days went by relatively normal. Sarah spent most of her time with Toby. She was trying to savor the time she had with him, just in case she had no other option but to leave. They watched movies, played board games, and spent nearly three hours one night trying to build the perfect castle of cards.



On the third morning, Sarah didn't know what to expect. It was possible Dimonis moved on, but it was even more possible he was planning to strike again. She went about her daily activities. She showered and dressed, making sure Toby did the same while she cleaned up the kitchen and took a rolling cordless vacuum to the living room floor. The weather was nice that day; she and Toby took a short walk to the local playground.



Sarah was pushing Toby on the swing when something caught her eye. A small ball of multicolored fuzz. She gasped and looked away, continuing to push the boy on the swing. She avoided looking in that direction, keeping her eyes focused on her brother. Sarah was so focused, she barely noticed Toby's shrieks of terror.



"Sarah, stop! Its too high!" Toby cried, swinging his legs wildly in the air. Sarah stopped pushing and waited for the swing to slow. The ball of fur caught her eye again. Again, she ignored it.



'It's just my imagination,' she reassured herself, 'It's not Grezzle. Its just something some kid left behind on the playground.'



When the pair passed the fuzz-ball, Sarah took a good look at it out of the corner of her eye. 'Just a hairtie,' she noticed. She sighed in relief. She couldn't wait for this week to be over.



The rest of the day was pretty average. Sarah and Toby walked back toward the apartment. She noticed the sky getting cloudy and decided to stop at the local family-owned video store. They picked out an arm full of videos and a video game to tide them over for the next couple of days.



'If I rent a movie and don't return it before I leave, what would happen to it?' Sarah thought absently as they left the video store.



They walked back to the apartment, clouds looming darkly overhead. 'There has to be another way,' she thought, 'I can't just give up my life here.' She unlocked the main door and Toby raced up the stairs.



They went up to the second landing and Sarah unlocked the door and lightly pushed it open. Sarah gasped. The living room was completely wrecked. One of the table was turned onto its side, there were papers and videos scattered everywhere. Despite the mess, everything seemed to still be there.



"Toby, knock on the neighbor's door. Call 9-1-1," Sarah ordered as she grabbed for the umbrella hanging on the hook just inside the door. Toby nodded and ran down the stairs to the first floor. Sarah stared fiercely into the room, pointing the end of the umbrella in front of her. She stepped cautiously into the apartment, checking each corner and every possible hiding spot before continuing to the kitchen. The kitchen cabinets were open, the pots and pans spilled out onto the floor. She checked under the table and in the corners here, too, before heading towards her bedroom.



Sarah nudged the door open with her umbrella and stepped through cautiously. The room was untouched. Sarah looked around for a few moments before checking the closet, roughly pulling the door open. Nothing other than her clothes and shoes hung neatly inside.



She turned around and quickly noted the form standing behind her. Sarah jabbed her umbrella at it.



"Oww! What was that for?" The Goblin King groaned.



"You wrecked my apartment!" she spat.



"I did not!" Jareth protested. "We have to get you out of here, Sarah. They're coming to find you."



"What do you mean?" Sarah said, lowering her umbrella. "Who is coming for me?"



"The Lieete. They have your scent, Sarah. We have to leave now," he said, grabbing her arm.



"But Toby-"



"He'll be fine, Sarah," Jareth said, tugging at her arm.



"No, I won't leave him," Sarah said, pulling her arm from his grasp.



"If we don't lead them away, they will attack him, too," Jareth said, tugging her by the arm toward the door, "We have to lead your scent away."



"I can't leave him here!" Sarah repeated.



"Find a safe place for him, Sarah. You need to leave," Jareth hissed, dragging her out the door and down a few steps. She slid on the rented movies scattered in the hallway and against the Goblin King.



A scream sounded in the hallway. "Toby!" Sarah shouted, roughly pulling her arm away from Jareth's grasp. She stumbled down the stairs to the lower landing. "Toby!" she screeched, staring in horror at the image before her.



The beast was grotesque. It was in the shape of a large human, slightly hunched backwards. It was as if the beast's skin had been turned inside out and the bones were placed back inside. The hall reeked of rotten flesh. It was hovering over a weeping Toby in the corner.



"Sarah, help!" Toby screamed. Sarah went to thrust her umbrella at the beast, but was pulled back by Jareth.



"Don't," he hissed quietly into her ear. "It can't see, and can barely hear. It's after your scent. It's not after him, it's after you. We have to go." Jareth pulled her backwards up the stairs. Sarah stared as the beast lifted it's head to smell the air as Toby cowered in the corner. "Is there another way out?" Jareth whispered.



"Fire escape," Sarah choked out, not able to move her gaze from the scene. Jareth pulled her back up to her landing and wrenched the window open.



"Sarah!" he hissed, gesturing to the window. Sarah climbed out onto the fire escape and began heading down, Jareth close behind her.



"Why don't you just take us back to the Underground?" Sarah asked as she climbed down the ladder.



"Well, then the beast would stay here and attack your brother. We need to lead your scent away," Jareth spoke as he jumped from the ladder shortly after Sarah.



"Then what? I can't leave Toby here!" Sarah protested.



"We will lead the beast away. I will hide you somewhere safe then come back for the boy," he explained. "Now, run. We have to go." He grabbed her wrist and pulled her down the alleyway. Sarah ran, letting Jareth lead the way.



They ran for what seemed like an eternity, weaving between the alleyways. When Jareth finally stopped, Sarah was so exhausted she collapsed on the ground. Jareth held her tightly by the shoulders.



"Sarah, where we need to hide you is not going to be pleasant, but it will keep you safe until the beast leaves," Jareth explained.



'This isn't real,' Sarah thought, 'It has to be a dream. But what can I do?"



"Come on, we need to leave," Jareth stated, pulling her from the ground.



"No," Sarah said quietly.



"Sarah, we need to leave or you will die," he said.



"No, we will face it," she responded.



"No! I can't bear it if you die, Sarah. We need to hide you," he protested.



Sarah's heart stopped. 'What did he just say?' she thought.



He held her tightly and the city disappeared around them, replaced by darkness. The air was damp and cool. The smell was strong, but not entirely unpleasant. Sarah had trouble seeing through the darkness.



"Where are we?" Sarah whispered.



"Far away," Jareth responded quietly.



"Are we in an oubliette?" she asked.



"No, we're still Aboveground," he whispered, still not pulling his arms from around her.



"Is this real?" Sarah asked, pulling away from the Goblin King.



"Yes, Sarah, this is real," he said, not moving.



"Don't lie! How do I wake up?" Sarah shouted.



"Please, keep your voice down. I'm not sure how sound this structure is," Jareth whispered.



"Go save Toby," Sarah demanded quietly.