Falling Down

CHAPTER 6: ENEMIES REUNITED


I should have known.

Inwardly, Sarah was kicking herself for her stupidity. Here she was, trapped in the Underground, completely defenceless, and surprise, surprise, Jareth had finally put in an appearance. He'd obviously been behind the whole thing. Why else would she have been targeted? After five years, he'd devised some new plan to trick her into his clutches once again.

She couldn't help but feel afraid. Here was the man who was not quite a man, who had haunted her in adolescence, terrified her with dreams beyond her imagination, seduced her with promises she had been too young to fully grasp. The sound of his voice, whilst strangely familiar, had made the blood drain from her face, and her hands were ice-cold as she clenched them. What could she say to him? When they had last met she had been only fifteen, still a child. She had grown now, but he, ageless and unchanged, still had the power to frighten her, to make her feel young, inexperienced, and totally out of her league.

Well, she had no intention of letting him realise it. She was an actress through and through, and even if she was anything but fearless, she wouldn't let it show. Standing up straight, squaring her shoulders, she channelled the royal stance of Antigone from the play. Immediately, she felt like she was back on the stage, utterly consumed in her performance, brave and unafraid as a royal princess in the face of danger. A calm confidence rushed through her, dulling her fear. She had defeated Jareth before, and if necessary she would again.

Piece of cake.

Summoning her strength, she met his gaze, one eyebrow raised coolly in a show of self-assurance. "You again."

To her disappointment, Jareth didn't seem fazed by her words. "Me again, yes." Glancing at the crystal in his hand, he threw it into the air towards Sarah. She instinctively brought her hands up to catch it, but it suddenly stopped in mid-air between them, hovering, and the flickering glow it gave out intensified. With a sideways grin, he stepped closer to Sarah, into the light. "Aren't you pleased to see me?"

"I'm not surprised to see you, if that's what you mean."

"Such cold words after such a long time?" Jareth tutted disapprovingly. "Sarah, you wound me."

His cool familiarity was unnerving, but Sarah swallowed back her nerves. "I'm not in the mood to play games, Jareth."

"Games? I have always treated you with the upmost sincerity."

Before she could stop herself, the tart retort was already out of her mouth. "The upmost arrogance, more like."

"Have a care, Sarah," he tilted his head to one side, expression unreadable, as he walked to stand directly before her. "Careless talk costs lives."

Everything in Sarah's body was screaming at her to move away as he drew near, but she stood her ground. Raising her head slightly, she looked directly into Jareth's eyes. He was mere inches away from her, but she would not show fear. "Are you threatening me?"

At the question, Jareth suddenly burst into laughter. "Why would I threaten you?" Turning his back to her, he paced away again, still laughing - before he froze suddenly, all trace of mirth gone. "It's not as though I would have a reason to threaten you," he spun round to face Sarah once more, his words suddenly sharp. "It's not as though threatening you would be entirely within my rights," he was walking towards her now, his eyes dark. "It's not as though you're a foolish, naive little girl, who is trespassing in my kingdom, and daring to insult me."

Suddenly, his arm shot out, as though he was about to throttle Sarah - but instead, he only grasped her lightly by the throat, tiling her chin up to look into his eyes. "Ah, but wait..." he gave a taunting smile. "It seems I would have reason to threaten you, no?"

"You --" Sarah stammered angrily, trying not to panic, "You son of a--" But the words were choked out of her as Jareth suddenly tightened his grip around her neck.

"Sssh, Sarah," lifting his other hand, he ran a single gloved finger down her cheek, before pressing it against her lips. "If I were you, I'd watch that pretty little mouth of yours. One careless wish, one throwaway insult, and who knows what might happen?"

"You have no power over--" But Jareth's hand squeezed the speech from her yet again.

"No, no, no," he shook his finger with each word. "That won't work this time Sarah. This time, you're in my kingdom without my permission. You're an intruder, a trespasser. The old rules work in my favour. And I'm afraid that that places you in my power. Do you understand?"

Sarah fixed the Goblin King with a glare that could curdle milk, but she gave a slow nod.

"Good," he smiled, and released her from his grip. "Now we can continue this conversation somewhere a little more appropriate."

Raising his hand, he snapped his fingers once. A faint humming instantly became audible, and the light of the crystal ball, which was still hovering in the air, grew brighter and brighter, until it was a brilliant white. Shielding her eyes with her hand, Sarah wanted to question what was happening, but before she had the time the humming stopped unexpectedly.

There was a second of total silence.

And then, without further warning, the ball exploded. As shattered crystal pieces fell into the air, the light that had been trapped inside it spilled out, enveloping Jareth and Sarah in its blinding rays. Closing her eyes, Sarah could feel a wind rushing around her, a sudden coldness in the air, and then... nothing.

She opened her eyes again. It's pitch black here. No, wait... Rubbing her eyes and blinking furiously, Sarah forced her eyesight to adjust. Wherever they were was very dark, but there was a little silver moonlight, streaming through what looked like a hole in... in the ceiling?

"Where are we?" In the darkness, she heard the distinct sound of Jareth snapping his fingers again. Candles spluttered into life about the room, filling it with a hazy glow. Instantly, Sarah realised where they were. "We're in an oubliette, aren't we?"

"Your powers of recognition astound me," Jareth was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed.

"Why are we in an oubliette?" Mirroring his posture, Sarah crossed her arms in front of her in a show of defiance. To her annoyance, Jareth snorted in derision at the gesture.

"What did you expect? That I'd show you to a palatial suite? The lap of luxury, a maid to cater to your every whim?"

Mentally, Sarah had to admit to herself that such treatment sounded like a bad romance novel. The last time she'd been here, she'd bested the Labyrinth, rejected and defeated the Goblin King - he was hardly going to welcome her with open arms, was he? Besides, at least here, in the oubliette, she was on somewhat familiar ground. She would have had no idea how to react if Jareth had suddenly showered her with uncharacteristic hospitality.

In fact, she thought, if he tried to take me to a suite, I'd probably run screaming in the opposite direction.

Taking a deep breath, Sarah steadied herself. "I wasn't trespassing," she said firmly.

"Weren't you?" Seemingly bored by her denial, Jareth flicked an imaginary speck of dust off the silken cuff of his white shirt.

"No," her answer was quick, "I didn't mean to come here."

"And yet you are here," he looked up to face her again. "Which begs the question: why?"

"You should know. You were behind the whole thing." The accusation made, Sarah had expected something to happen - some nefarious laughter from Jareth, perhaps, as he admitted to orchestrating Emily's kidnapping in order to lure her here. Or even self-righteous outrage on his part, as he adamantly denied her allegations in mock horror. Instead, there was only silence. Jareth's sole reaction that showed he had even heard her words was a momentary raise of his eyebrows. Thrown, Sarah felt her confidence suffer a momentary jolt. "...Weren't you?"

"It pains me to say that I have no idea what you are talking about, Sarah."

Silence again. Despite herself, Sarah couldn't help but feel an urge to laugh. For all his bravado, Jareth was completely clueless as to why she was here - he hadn't come up with an incredibly intricate plan to trap her after all. She gave a wry smile. "The great Goblin King really has no idea why I'm here, huh?"

Jareth did not seem to respond well to her mirth. In fact, her sly teasing appeared to make him positively livid. "No, Sarah, I do not. And I would very much like for you to enlighten me," he rose up from against the wall, and walked to stand in front of her. "Immediately." At this he took a deep breath, as though willing himself to keep his temper. When he spoke again his voice was lower, quieter, but still firm: "I don't take kindly to people entering my realm without my permission."

Sarah was unintimidated. "I came to rescue a child."

"Don't tell me you've lost another infant in your care," he rolled his eyes. "That would be careless of you."

"I didn't lose her," she retorted, "she was taken. There was..."

"There was what?"

"There was a changeling in her place."

Looking up at Jareth, Sarah was surprised to see a momentary expression of surprise on his face. More than that - it was shock. Time seemed to stand still for a moment. Then, as if realising he was faltering, Jareth moved sharply away from her. "Don't try my patience, girl."

"There was a changeling in-"

"That's impossible!" Jareth's tone was impossible to read, but the words were harshly spoken. Slowly, he turned back again to face Sarah. "That's impossible," he repeated, more calmly.

"It was a changeling, I'm sure of it," she insisted. "I've read about them, I know what they're like."

"You've read fairy stories with pretty pictures, dreamt up by ignorant mortals," he waved a hand dismissively.

"I know what I saw. And I-"

"Assuming it was a changeling," Jareth interrupted, "that still doesn't explain how you ended up in the Underground."

"If you'd let me finish, I would be able to explain it!" At this outburst, Jareth fell silent again, raising his open palms as if in gesture: Go on. After nodding sarcastically in thanks, Sarah continued her account of the night's events. "I found stories about how to get rid of a changeling. Some said that if you made a changeling laugh, the spell would be broken, and the human child would be returned. So I managed to make it laugh, and then... everything changed."

"Changed. In what sense?"

"Everything started to shift. The air went all wavy, and I... I sort of... faded away... and then I was in the Underground. And there was a man holding the baby."

"What man?" Jareth's voice was all seriousness, and his sober, quick tone made Sarah hesitate for a moment.

"He... he didn't tell me his name."

"Describe him to me."

"He had golden hair, green eyes, fair skin. About so high-" Sarah held her hand up a little above her head "- and dressed in black. He laughed a lot. He was very full of himself. He reminded me of you, actually."

Looking expectantly at Jareth, Sarah was disappointed to find no show of recognition there after her description of her foe. In fact, his eyes seemed oddly detached, as though he was thinking of something else - but the truth of his expression was unreadable. As though sensing her stare, he became instantly alert once more, and narrowed his gaze. "How flattering. And this man held the child you were looking for?"

"He didn't want to give her up."

To her surprise, Jareth gave a slow, deliberate grin. "I can imagine you had something to say about that."

"Yes," cautiously, Sarah returned his smile for the briefest of moments. "He sent the child back home. But I was still in the Underground."

"The man was not best pleased." It was a statement, not a question.

"No, he wasn't." Sarah considered telling him how she had faced down the strange man, brandishing iron as a weapon, but decided against it. The horseshoe amulet was still hidden safely in the pocket of her jeans, and it could still serve as a useful weapon. She wasn't going to lay all her cards on the table just yet. So, omitting that part of the tale, she skipped ahead in her account: "I ran into a forest, but he chased me. I couldn't see anything, there were branches everywhere-" unconsciously she brought her hand to her cheek to touch the thin scratch one of them had left on her "-and then I fell. I kept falling, and then I landed in... I think I landed in a tree."

"A tree." Another statement, only this time tinged with amusement.

"I know, it sounds ridiculous," she admitted. "But I fell out of the tree, and when I looked up at it, there was nothing else there. Just this old oak tree. It was like I'd landed in it after falling out of thin air."

"And just like that, you were here?"

"Just like that." Biting her lip in thought, Sarah questioned Jareth one more time: "You really knew nothing about it?"

"Sarah, as you well know, I don't make use of changelings," he seemed affronted by the very suggestion.

"Why not?"

"Who needs changelings to steal a baby," he lowered his voice and leaned in towards her, so that their lips were almost touching, "when you have charm?"

Sarah felt a blush rising in her cheeks, and quickly fixed her face in an expression of revulsion to hide it, wrinkling her nose in disgust and turning away. Jareth only smirked playfully as he withdrew. Frustrated, hands placed on her hips, Sarah cleared her throat. "So who was that man?"

"If what you say is true," Jareth spoke disinterestedly, as he walked over to the moonlit spot to look up at the sky through the oubliette's opening, "then I highly doubt he was a man."

"Trust me, I'm pretty sure he was male."

"I mean he wasn't human," Jareth gave her a withering stare, "don't be so obtuse, it isn't becoming."

"I know he wasn't human," Sarah was practically at the point of stamping her foot in frustration, "but what was he?"

No answer from Jareth. Sarah did not appreciate being ignored, and she cleared her throat again. She succeeded in gaining his attention, but perhaps not the attention she wanted - he gave a cattish smile, looking her slowly up and down. "Didn't you miss me, Sarah?"

Sarah's answer was short, simple, and not-so-sweet: "No."

"What a pity," Jareth walked towards her again. Reaching inside the cuff of his shirt, he pulled out a lace handkerchief. Carefully, he wiped it against Sarah's cheek, cleaning the cut she'd gained in the forest. "For my part, it's quite a pleasure to see you again."

"You've got a funny way of showing it," she forced herself not to recoil at the touch of his hand.

"Ah. Yes. I must apologise for my loss of temper earlier," he placed the handkerchief carefully back in its place. "I was quite... surprised... to see you here. I had not expected such a visit. Can you forgive me?"

He held out his hand to her. Warily, Sarah took it with her own in a nervous handshake - but before she could protest, he brought it up to his lips and kissed it softly. Glaring, she snatched it away. Jareth only laughed. "I suggest you get some sleep, Sarah."

"Sleep?" Sarah was incredulous. "I need to go home!"

"Do you really think that wise?" Out of nowhere, Jareth had produced a crystal ball, which he twirled absentmindedly. "This man, whoever he is, might well pursue you there. And besides," he stopped spinning the crystal abruptly, "you and I have so much to catch up on."

"So you're just going to leave me here?!"

"For now," Jareth turned, walking back to stand the thin stream of moonlight, "but I'll be back before you know it." He looked over his shoulder at her one last time. "Aren't you going to cry out that this isn't fair?"

Fuming inwardly, Sarah forced herself to show her maturity with a cool reply. "It might not be fair, but that's just the way it is."

"Quite right," Jareth laughed, raising the crystal above his head. "I do enjoy this new you, Sarah. Try not to pine too much over me."

And before Sarah could snap back at him that out of the two of them she wasn't the pathetic, petty, pining one, Jareth had thrown the crystal into the air, there was another flash of light, and... he was gone.

"Damn it," she muttered under her breath.

Looking around the oubliette, Sarah saw in the candlelight that it was just as she remembered. Cobwebs and chains everywhere, glittering stalactites reaching down from the ceiling - although now that she was taller, she had to be careful not to knock her head against a few of the larger ones. "He could have at least redecorated," she commented to nobody in particular, as she took a step backwards. Something crunched under her foot. Turning round, her eyes widened when she saw that it was a bone from a skeleton. Yelping in horror, she gave it a sharp kick, and it clattered against the far wall.

Sitting down, she drew up her knees and buried her face in them - not out of desperation, but in an attempt to quell the splitting headache she was developing. What could she do? Jareth was right, it would be dangerous to go home without knowing who the strange man was, or what he wanted. The last thing she wanted to do was put Holly or Emily in danger. But did this mean she had to stay here? In an oubliette? Even if Jareth hadn't been behind the changeling, it seemed as though she had still fallen into one of his traps.

Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her amulet. The heavy weight of it in her hand comforted her, and her former confidence began to return. It's not over yet, she told herself. When Jareth returned, she'd find a way out of this. He didn't scare her. Maybe at the moment he seemed to have power over her, but she could make that change. She'd done it before.

Pulling off her leather jacket, Sarah folded it into a pillow, and curled down on the ground. Sleep seemed like the most sensible option at the moment. Other people might have been too terrified to let their guard down even for a second, but for Sarah the situation felt curiously normal

With the horseshoe still clutched in her hand, she closed her eyes, and drifted off into a dark, dreamless sleep. Whatever plan she would come up with to beat Jareth, it could wait until the morning.

--

AN: A quick update this time, as I couldn't wait to write this scene down. I must apologise for Jareth's behaviour - Sarah's sudden appearance threw him a bit! As you'll see in the next instalment...

Thank you to so much to everyone who kindly took the time to leave a review, it really inspired me to get this chapter out quickly. Any comments on this latest bit of the saga will, as ever, be gratefully received.