Easy Come, Hard to Go

AN: Yes, I know. You all want me to die a very horrible death and never be let out of hell.
I apologize and I gravel before you for forgiveness. I went to Cedar Point (which is an
amusement park for those of you who dont know) and have been busying myself with
other things. I will try not to be so horrible in letting you guys down again. *grins* Unless
there will be some unusual punishment that my twisted mind will like.
Also, I must warn you, that this chapter brings in some things that people might be a little
uncomfortable with. In this chapter, we learn why Sarah was so close with her dad... and
some of you might think it is a little wrong. I think it is wrong, but, it adds some good
elements to the story.
On with the show.

Chapter 16

“Give me a break Max. Do you really think I would believe this is what you want for your
children?”

“Persephonie, this is none of your business.”

“On the contrary,” She crossed the room and looked in the mirror on the wall, “it is.” She
sadly ran one of her fingers across the smooth glass and sighed. If she could have cried,
she would have. She looked into the mirror longing to see her reflection, noting that she
never would again.

“And how the hell do you figure that?” Max yelled as he moved to find another shell to
put in the gun.

Persephonie turned from the mirror and let her eyes fall on her old friend. To see him in
such a state made her wish she had a heart so she could let him hear it break for his
sorrow. “You see, my son and your daughter are to be wed.”

Max stopped what he was doing and looked at Persephonie. “My daughter would never
take a fae as a mate. Your son did nothing but ruin her life and mine.”

“My son did your daughter a favor.”

“Bullshit.” Max slowly pulled himself off the floor and pointed a shaky finger at the dead
fae queen. “Your son made my daughter’s life a living hell. When she cam back from your
son’s little escapade, she was shaken beyond completely. She did nothing but dream of
him, night and day. And I had to pretend all these years she was crazy, making her think
everything was a lie.”

“You didn’t have to that, Max.”

“And then what Persephonie?” Max looked at her in disbelief, “Have you been down there
so long you forget what the REAL world is like? People here dont believe in fairy tales.
They dont believe in goblins, faes, dragons, fairies, or anything like the bullshit you live
with. I protected my daughter by making her forget, by making her think it wasn’t real.”

“You sent her to summer camps where they made her think she was crazy, Max. You sent
her to people who looked at her like she nothing more than a paycheck. She was on so
many different medications, that I am surprised she even made it out of her teens alive.”
Max squinted his eyes into slits and squeezed out between his clenched teeth, “I did what I
needed to do to save my little girl from being criticized by society.”
Persephonie laughed a taught laugh and made her voice cold as ice, “You did what you
thought would keep her above ground.”

Max’s mouth gaped in an “o” shape as he tried to retaliate to her. “You made her think
everything was wrong and just a dream. You didn’t want her to become a fae’s wife nor a
queen. You were greedy Max. You didn’t want her to ever grow up, yet you wanted her
to act like she was an adult. You wanted Katelyn back. And what you did to fill that gap
was wrong.”

Max continued to stare at Persephonie as though she was crazy. He moved back until he
hit the bedpost on his bed and slowly slid to floor, cradling his head in his hands. Silent
tears began to run down his face as he realized that she knew he was obsessed with
making his daughter take the place of his wife. Pictures flashed in front of his mind as he
remembered dressing Sarah in her mother’s clothes and taking pictures of her. He
remembered him peeking in on Sarah when she was sleeping and thinking about how
much she looked like her mother. He even taped her while she slept when she got older
and began to have sexual dreams about Jareth. He rubbed his temples and he lifted his
head to look at Persephonie.

“Get out of my house you bitch. Tell your bastard of a son, she will not have my Katelyn.”
Persephonie’s dead eyes blazed with understanding. Max had gone mad. “Max, Sarah is
not Katelyn. Max listen to me.”

“You heard me.” Max stood and stalked towards Persephonie. “He will not take my wife,
my daughter, or anything else. Get out.”

Persephonie watched in amazement as Max’s eyes, usually golden orbs filled with love and
compassion, were gray and filled with anger. “She is mine and no one else will have her.”
“Max she loves you, but she doesn’t know about what you were doing to her. She thought
you cared for her, when in real life, you were trying to compensate for what you had lost.”

“Don’t tell me what I thought. I know, it was my life. My Sarah, my Katelyn, they are
mine.”

Max’s dark eyes swirled with anger and resentment. Inside, the good and noble Max had
given away to the deception of the sorrow that filled his life. The sorrow and worry that
had slowly turned into evil had been building all these years and finally reached the top.
Now it wanted to get even.

“And you tell that little prick son of yours if he wants Sarah, he will have to go through
me first.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sarah’s mind over flowed with a thousand questions as she walked along the abandoned
streets of her home town. Crystal, carrying Toby, looked beat to the core of her existence
and didn’t even blink as the lonely cars on the road went by. Jareth lead the pack, walking
with his shoulder’s square, even though you could tell exhaustion was on the plain of his
body. Jareth had brought them back to the Aboveground, but when Sarah told Jareth he
couldn’t just appear places in her world, he decided to walk to the hospital.

*Flashback*

“Jareth.” Sarah walked beside her quiet king as he paced thinking of what to do. “We
can’t just appear at the hospital.”

“And why not?” Jareth snapped at Sarah as she bombarded his thinking.

“Because, magic doesn’t exist in my world.”

“It most certainly does.”

“Jareth, not like here in the Labyrinth.”

Jareth stopped and looked at the bruised and beaten body of his love. She fought for him,
she made him feel proud. And yet, he felt like he had let her down. He felt like he didn’t
deserve to have her. He kidnapped her, let her fall into the hands of the enemy, let her get
brandished, advanced on her and almost took her innocence, and then made her exploit
herself to the watching eyes as he dueled against the wits of his brother.

“Then what is it you purpose we do?”

“Just take me home and we can walk to the hospital.” Sarah sighed out.

“And what do we tell them when we bring him in with half is body missing?” Crystal cried
out in anger.

“I don’t know.” Sarah bowed her head. She hadn’t thought of that. How do you explain
someone losing their arm as clean as Toby did?

The three sat in silence for a moment and no one could even think of a good excuse.

“Are there farms around where you live?” Jareth asked.

“We live on a farm, Jareth. We grow corn.” Sarah said holding her body.

“Then what about a farming accident?”

Sarah looked up at Jareth and smiled a little.

“That just might work.”

*End Flaskback*

As the trio walked into the emergency room’s waiting area, the nurse behind the window
paid no attention to them at all.

“Excuse me, ma’am.” Sarah walked to the window and knocked on the glass.

“I need your current address and proof of insurance. Your problem will be addressed due
to it’s severity.”

“Hey, wench,” Jareth called over to the woman behind the window, “the kid’s had his
arms cut off.”

The lady turned her chair with a sigh, “Listen buddy, I don’t make the rules, I just.... Oh
my god,” The woman’s eyes fell on the unconscious boy whose arm was wrapped in a
blood soaked blanket and rushed around the counter, opened the door into the emergency
room and screamed, “We got a bleeder!”

Before anyone could really react to the fast actions of the clerk, a gurney was brought out
and nurses were rushing Toby into the nearest operating room.

“I need an IV in this kid NOW.” A nurse screamed as the doctor ran to his side.

“How the hell did this happen?”

“A farming accident.” Sarah called from behind the doctor.

“And you are?”

“His older sister.”

Before Sarah even got the chance to object, a nurse pulled her back out of the operating
room.

“I’m sorry ma’am, but your not allowed in there while the doctor is operating. If you
would just wait in the waiting room.” The nurse walked Sarah in the direction of the
waiting area and sat her with Jareth and Crystal.

“How long will it be?” Crystal asked.

“I’m not sure. Until we can get him cleaned and check over, we have no idea. I would say
no less than 4 hours.”

“4 hours?” Jareth gasped as the woman nodded her head.

“My advise would be to fill out the paper work and then head home. You will be more
comfortable there than here. And with the way things look, the surgery will take a while.”

“Thank you.” Sarah smiled and began to fill out the paper work.

“What is that for?” Jareth asked as he pointed to the papers.

“Obviously you dont know that much about here, do you?” Sarah smiled as she prodded
Jareth.

“Well, he didn’t live here like I did, Sarah,” Crystal joined in, “He just watched you. Not
the whole city.”

“What?” Sarah blushed a violent shade of purple.

“Crystal, you shouldn’t speak of things you dont know.” Jareth added, pink blush dusting
his cheeks.

The three didn’t speak until Sarah had finished the paper work and turned it in. “I guess
I’ll call my dad now. He can come pick us up.”

They nodded at each other and Sarah walked to the pay phone. Se put in the fifty cents it
now took to use them and dialed her number. The ringing stopped and she heard her
father’s voice on the other end.

“Hello?”

“Dad? It’s Sarah.”

“Sarah? Honey, where are you? Is everything alright.?”

“Well, not exactly. Can you come get us? We are at the hospital.”

“Sarah... dont come home!”

“Dad? Who was that?”

“Oh, just a old friend. She was just playing around. Sure, I can come get you. I will be
there in a little bit.”

“Ok. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Right, bye.”

Sarah hanged the phone up and turned to the brother and sister she had with her.

“He’s coming.”

“But,” Jareth read her mind.

“Something’s wrong.”

“Like what?” Crystal asked. “He’s worried sick is all.”

“No I heard someone in the back ground.” Sarah said slowly.

“Who?” Jareth asked.

“It sounded like your mom.” Sarah said as she moved to the door.

“But, she’s dead.” Crystal added as she joined the two outside.

“I know. That’s what made it weird.”

“Something’s going on.” Jareth circled the two in thought. “I dont like this.”

“Neither do I.” Sarah added.

“You two are delirious. Max would never do anything to hurt Sarah or Toby. He loves
them too much.”

“Which may be a bad thing in this case.” Jareth added.

“Whatever Jareth, you didn’t spent years with him. I did. I watched her like a hawk, her
every move I knew. He did nothing but his fatherly duties to protect his kids and care for
them.”

“What’s all the commotion about?”

The three turned and saw Max in a car waiting under the awning of the hospital.

“Are we ready?”

They looked at each other and moved towards the car slowly. Sarah got in the passenger’s
seat and the other two in the back.

“So, how’s Toby?” Max asked as he pulled away from the hospital.

“He’s ok. But, he wont have his arm anymore.”

“What?” Max shook his head, “No, that’s ok. At least you two are still alive.”

“Were happy to be back, Max.” Crystal chimed in.

“It’s good to have you back.” Max smiled into the review mirror, catching the mismatched
eyes of the king. *Especially you.*

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The ride, though short in real time, seemed to take forever in the silence that shrouded the
car. The house looked gloomy, yet welcoming in the up and coming night. The sun dipped
low behind the horizon as they made the final preparations in the sleeping arraignments.

“Your sure your ok on the couch?” Jareth asked Crystal.

“I will be fine,” Crystal smiled, “you sure your ok in the guest room?”

Jareth lifted an eyebrow. “I wont be there for long.”

Crystal giggled a little. “Max catches you in there, and he will kill you.”

“Keh. Let him try.”

Jareth hugged his sister for the first time in a long while.

“Thank you Crystal, your more than you know to me.”

Crystal hugged back and let go reluctantly, “and you know I love you too.”

Jareth walked up the stair case and saw the pictures of Sarah’s mom. *Wow, they look
like sisters. I see where she gets her beauty.* Jareth reached the top of the stair well and
saw Max close Sarah’s bedroom door.

“Max, a word please?”

Max walked towards Jareth and stood in front of the king.

“Your daughter, she means a great deal to me.”

“She means everything to me.” Max injected.

“Yes, I know. I was wondering, where is her mother?”

Max’s eyes shined with pain. “She is dead. She died in a fire.”

“I see. I’m sorry.”

Max nodded and smiled. “Thank you for taking care of my daughter. If you will excuse
me, I would like to go to bed.”

Jareth began to object, but decided it best to let it go. He would ask for her hand
tomorrow or another time. To many events had taken place today and he didn’t wish to
make matters any worse than they had to be. He watched Max close his bedroom door
and turned to go to his room for the night. But, he decided he needed to have a word with
his love.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sarah sat at her vanity and stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes shifted over her
naked body as she rubbed lotion over her aching muscles. She slid the robe that hanged
loosely around her shoulders all the way off so she could reach her back shoulders. She
began to rub and pretty soon didn’t even notice the hands rubbing nsync with hers. As she
let her hands fall from her shoulders, she let her head roll back and slit her eyes to see her
king gleaming in the candle light. At first she enjoyed the sheer pleasure of his gloved
hands smoothly rubbing her skin. When he paused and removed his gloves and began
rubbing the tender area of her inner shoulders, her skin flared in response, along with other
parts of her body.

“Jareth,” Sarah began to let her body react, her inner fantasies starting to reel through her
mind, “Jareth, come on.”

“Shh,” Jareth whispered in her ear as she let his hands travel down Sarah’s naked chest,
she slowly arched her back as Jareth raked his nails over her nipples, “you know you want
it.”

Sarah smiled as Jareth picked her up bridal style and spun her around in circles. She
giggled as he laid her down on her soft bed and she gasped as he kissed her naked skin.
His eyes caught hers and she marveled in the mist swirling around in the beautiful
mismatched gaze. Jareth dropped his head and found Sarah’s mouth. He slowly kissed her
lips and nipped at her bottom one, beckoning her to open them. She gladly obliged him
and moaned softly as his tongue explored her mouth. The kiss quickly turned from slow
and innocent, to damned and feverish. Sarah’s hands found Jareth’s growing erection and
she grabbed at it through his tight pants.

“Jareth,” Sarah spoke quick and harsh, “I need you.”

“You dont need anything.”

Jareth quickly covered Sarah’s naked body with the robe from the floor and turned to see
Max standing in the doorway.

“Daddy, wait.” Sarah begged as she stood and tied the robe, stepping in front of Jareth.

“Why? So that thing can taint you? I dont think so.”

“Thing?” Jareth now stepped in front of Sarah and held an arm around her protectively.

“Do you have a problem with me Max?”

“Yeah. And get your greasy hands off my daughter.”

“Don’t tell me what to do.” Jareth’s eyes darkened and Sarah stepped away from both of
them.

“Stop it. Both of you. I don’t belong to either one of you.”

Jareth reached for Sarah but she backed away. “I don’t belong to either one of you.” she
gritted through her teeth.

Sarah and Jareth turned and stared at Max in disbelief as a laugh erupted in his throat and
his eyes cast a dark shadow that seemed to consume the room.

“Oh, you are wrong Sarah.” Max closed the door and pulled out the gun he tired to use to
kill himself and pointed it at Sarah. “You are MINE!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Right... so Sarah’s dad is a evil,
maniacal bastard. But, come on. You know
she had to have some kind of twisted childhood to be
able to believe all this stuff. We all did. Didn’t we? Or maybe
it was just me? Naw, you have to be as twisted as I am to be able
to take the shit I dish out. *smiles* And I love you all for it. I truly do.

And for those of you who dont understand. Let me clear it up.
When Katelyn died, Max tired to make Sarah take her place. Now,
he never raped her or touched her. Just watched her in the shower and
watched her touch herself when she dreamed about Jareth. But, as you can
tell, something isn’t right with him... and the show continues.