.
.
'Cause it Hurts Like Hell
.
.
"Sarah! What happened?"
Hearing Dee's concerned voice behind her further enflamed Sarah's barely contained, simmering temper incited by Jareth; the slice of moments separating his departure and Dee's arrival giving her little time to de-stress. Standing up from her position, partially leaning forward over her dining table with both hands resting flat to its surface as she huffed out her emotions; Sarah grabbed the first thing available to her to touch and lobbed it at the goddess.
Dee ducked when a large, leather satchel hurled passed her, watching Sarah's personal belongings scatter in the entryway accented with various plastic sounds of shattering.
'Oh no... this can't be good. What the hell did Jareth do?' "I'm going to fucking strangle you, Dee!" Sarah said through blanched, thinned lips as she stalked with intention across the room. Sans goddess powers notwithstanding, Sarah looked able to follow-through the threat. Immediately Dee noticed how disheveled Sarah's appearance: her hair mussed, her mourning dress twisted on her frame haphazardly, her lips and eyes puffy at the edges, and a distinct tangy air of...
oh Zeus's inflated ball's...Jareth! "Now wait a minute," Dee replied holding up both hands and taking quick, defensive steps back. "Just tell me what happened, maybe I can fix it."
"
Fix it? I think you've done enough fixing for several lifetimes!" Sarah followed Dee's backpedaling around the couch. The goddess regretted her haste to come to Sarah's side as soon as her viewing screen located her without first replaying the preceding events. Jareth obviously pursued Sarah physically, possibly forcing her, but what exactly occurred?
"Why did you
ever think we should be soul mates?" The shrillness in Sarah's voice increased causing Dee to seriously fear for one of them. Something in the shine of Sarah's eyes alerted Dee; the mortal's emotions flitted at the breaking point.
"Just wait!" Dee flung one hand outwards and Sarah froze mid-stomp, "Will you just wait a minute?"
"Oh, you didn't just...
Dee!" Unable to move anything except her mouth and eyes, Sarah made like an infuriated statue while Dee shook her head, safe from the mortal.
"Look, hon, I'm sorry but I can't have you attacking me while I'm figuring this out. And I don't want to hurt you." Holding her hands together like a book, Dee opened them to a small private viewing screen away from Sarah's sight. No reason to upset her further while she sorted this mess.
"Dee, un-mojo me right now. I mean it!" She demanded, her insides quivering with the enforced immobility only her facial muscles and voice could express.
"Hang on..." she replied inattentively, staring at the intensely intimate scene between Sarah and Jareth re-playing. "Jareth, you arrogant fool..." Dee mumbled.
Their exchange of power and manipulation, while balanced and potent (she knew Sarah and Jareth were well matched!) was also disturbing by its level of emotional damage and general unhealthiness. For every tactic of excessive control he attempted, Sarah retaliated with a specific maximum damage response. Sadly, neither of them truly got what they wanted while both received more heartache and rejection; regardless of their mutual, powerful yet short-lived, 'happies'.
"About that self-centered jag-off you call my soul mate," Sarah said in a scathing tone.
"Sarah, please," Dee refused to look away from the screen. "I know you're hurt right now, but that's not helping."
"You're damn right I'm hurt! You know what he said to me? What he did?"
"I'm attempting to find out if you'll let me finishing watching," she cut back quickly.
"
What?" Sarah's eyes boggled, her face blossomed crimson. "That's what you're doing?"
"Mmmhmm..."
'Oh...my...' Dee thought. While he didn't force her, Jareth did instigate an aggressive level of sex that garnered Sarah's passionate response of around 95% willingness; Dee chuckled softly. Yet she never refused him
and, Dee considered, Sarah knew she could call on her for assistance at any time and she would answer; assuming they were on positive speaking terms after this incident. If Sarah had truly wanted Jareth to stop, speaking her full name would've settled the timeline causing Dee's frustrated waiting to become irrelevant, as Dee could have come straight to her.
Therefore...subconsciously Sarah desired Jareth to push her, make their union compulsory. Why?
'Sarah, Sarah, I'm so sorry things have become so complicated for you.' She must hold a tremendous amount of guilt regarding Gerard, which conflicted with her very real physical attraction for Jareth. Not to mention her likely anger at Jareth for creating this convoluted, and ultimately tragic, situation. Had he shown more self-control in the beginning none of this need occur.
"Sarah," she said without pausing or looking away from the screen as it showed their last hateful words to each other. "I can't apologize enough for putting you in this position."
A bit calmer, Sarah replied, "You can start by dropping the freeze spell." Nodding, Dee started to free Sarah now that she sounded and looked less likely to attempt deicide; the crazed, hyena-ish look fled from her eyes. Then Dee stopped, noticing the screen playing passed the point of Jareth's departure; it fast-forwarded and displayed a very clear and specific scene.
"Zeus's salty balls..." she whispered before glancing up to stare at Sarah, dumbfounded. Slapping her hands together with a loud clap, Dee vanished the viewing screen then spoke in a rush before waving a hand to free Sarah.
"Sorry about that, hon, take care of yourself, gotta go, will get back with you later, bye!" And she was gone.
"Dee! Dee, you get back here!" Re-mobilized, Sarah stumbled the last few feet, spinning in place where Dee stood seconds ago, her dress and hair flinging about wildly. She kicked the back of her couch a few times shouting, "No fair, I can't zap out too!
Dee!"
.
.
jsjsjsjsjsjsj
.
.
She found him terrorizing his goblins, at least the fully participatory, lesser-brained goblins. The slightly smarter than average goblins (not that many existed) already took to huddling in any convenient, shadowy corner, nook, or cranny most likely to be overlooked by their discontented king. Any half-wit goblin really worth bogging learned fast and learned early to skedaddle once Jareth's capricious temper snapped like Christmas peanut brittle. Sadly, things were back to normal in the Castle beyond the Goblin City.
Dee observed Jareth's junior high tirade from her safe, incorporeal state as he trounced and pounced his hapless goblins into a mass of quivering, chicken-feathered, monsters. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the little blobs of leathery, green flesh. Especially as one-by-one they sailed, boot assisted, through Jareth's throne room window towards the infamous Bog.
"Of all the selfish," kick-
whaahoooo, "deliberately cruel," kick-
yippee, "agonizing," kick-kick-
yaooooo, "
emasculating..." he ranted quickly diminishing his punting selection.
"
Easily forgettable am I?" Neck tendons taut, he shouted after the last goblin too stupid to hide arced gracefully in the air, his high-pitched squealing reminiscently ovine-ish to Jareth's ears. Too overcome by his anger to find comfort in his usual manner of stress relief, Jareth stalked a circuitous route hoping to discover more goblins before opening salvos on the currently law-abiding poultry. Not that he disapproved of poultry kicking whatsoever; he quite enjoyed it. The damned, bloody birds, however, had the tendency to fight and peck; the foul creatures ruining many a fine pair of boots over the years.
"I'll give that last one an eight point five," Dee deadpanned as she visibly incorporated, "but needs more spin."
"YOU!" Jareth whirled about, his platinum locks flying; his entire body coiled with tension from his gloved fists to his prominent glower. This was not a Goblin King in the midst of happiness.
"What...are you...doing here?" he managed to spit out between teeth clenched hard to give orthodontists nightmares, or delusions of grandeur if they were inclined to avarice.
"Don't you think I'm just as tired of this merry-go-round as the two of you?" She replied tartly, pointing an accusatory finger at him, her aggravation at their mule-headedness overcoming, for once, Jareth's naturally intimidating personality. "I mean,
really! What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Wha—"Jareth's long-legged march towards her faltered upon her attack; unused to being addressed in this manner, he blinked in rapid succession, his complexion congesting to a ruddy coloration while the goddess ranted and paced in his throne room.
"I go to all the trouble of not only selecting the perfect," she paused, glaring at him, her purple eyes sparking, "THE PERFECT mortal, mind you!" Jareth's breath drew in harshly as if to speak, but Dee's increasingly louder tone overrode him; he could only stand, ineffectual in his own seat of power, as the goddess continued.
"And what do you do you? You go and wake up my sadist father with your wailing and sobbing. Then...THEN...you nearly muck up the whole thing with your selfish wish!" Watching the beautiful blond incense herself, not allowing him his own anger, Jareth considered banishing her with a crystal—his hand twisted circumspectly at his flank, her vision turned away. He certainly did
not need someone's outranking fuming!
Dee's eyes pinned him, "I don't you even think about using magic on me, buster!"
"I would never..."
"'I would never...' "Dee parroted at him, mocking his voice, her head tilting back and forth as she spoke. "Oh I just bet you wouldn't! I see that devious look in your eyes. I can zap you into next Tuesday for a warm up, and you won't even remember what hit you, Goblin King." She threatened, and Jareth swore her eyes swirled different shades of violet iridescence; the unbridled nerve!
"Are you quite finished?" He said; his voice colder than the Forbidden Wastes, one brow arched regally.
"Have you any idea how much effort I've put into smoothing things out for you two?"
His impassive look withheld answers; undaunted, she persisted.
"And what do you do the first chance? The FIRST CHANCE! You push her 'til she nearly breaks."
"Nonsense," he said, suddenly blasé, "Sarah is nowhere near breaking, she possesses the fiber of a Goblin Queen." Dropping his voice an octave he added in a purr, "And don't allow her to lie to you, she enjoyed every minute of our interlude."
"You really are a piece of work, aren't you?" Dee huffed. "I
told you to be patient, I
told you to wait."
"No one
tells me my business!"
"And now look what's happened, look what you've created." Calling forth a small viewing screen, Dee showed him Sarah currently in her home, alternating crying then cursing his name then more crying. A shadow of tender emotion traveled across his face: his eyes melted, the lines of his lips softened, before he closed down, stoic.
"I am the injured party, she is right to feel regret." He shrugged, looking away to his circular window, perhaps wishing upon another flying goblin.
"Wow...you really are an ass." She waved the screen away. "Well..." Dee stepped back, disappointed. "You both deserve whatever pain you dish out for each other then. I'm done with you both. Hope you enjoy the death of your realm, Goblin King." And with that Aphrodite winked from the Goblin Kingdom, all too happy to be leaving behind the arrogant, self-centered monarch to his self-imposed heartache.
'
That's the thanks one gets for trying to save a world,' she thought, watching Jareth's chilly demeanor observe her depart from his presence.
'Free will really is a bitch.'
.
.
jsjsjsjsjsjsj
.
.
"Damn, Sarah, I can't believe he did that."
"I know, Kath."
Comfortably together again, they sat on Sarah's couch swapping man-bashing stories, which mainly circulated around Jareth-bashing stories, or really just the one Jareth-bashing story since Sarah didn't know any post-labyrinth others; yet she felt certain the near future ensured more such stories. He was, afterall, the Goblin King; and bound to create havoc of the Jareth-bashing sort. She did, however, leave out the more
personal details of the experience. Kathy may be her best friend, but there were some things you didn't share with even the best-est of friends.
"Right after Gerard's funeral too." Kathy commiserated with a frowning head shake. "I mean, give a girl a chance to breathe."
"I know, right?" Sarah passed the Ben and Jerry's Heath Bar Crunch back after taking an extra-large scoop which she proceeded to lick like a Popsicle. "At least I haven't heard anything from him for over a week."
"Do you think he took you seriously?"
"You mean about the 'get out of my life' part?"
"Yeah."
Sarah shrugged as she indulged her grief and stress with sugar-creamy goodness, mumbling, "I donno know. He was persistent years ago."
"In the labyrinth?"
"Yeah, then..." Sarah gave her friend an odd look for a moment, "It's still so weird that I can talk to you guys about this now. Sort of makes it all...more real somehow."
Patting her leg, Kathy smiled, "I just wished you would've told me years earlier, Sarah. What a hard secret to keep and you were so young."
"At least I won Toby back."
"And how's that going?"
"I talked to my family yesterday. They're getting their heads around it. Toby is bouncing back quickly. At least he isn't mad at me anymore."
"Have you talked to Cassie yet?"
"A short phone call, breaking the ice; we're talking about meeting for coffee, all three of us."
"Wow, she really means it. And work?"
"Okay, I guess. Was never my dream job and now...well, I'm just taking one day at a time." She didn't mention the bizarre dreams which started the night after she kicked Jareth out, hoping Kathy wouldn't either. Every night either Gerard or Jareth visited, usually separate, sometimes together. They rarely spoke, but she saw blame in Gerard's eyes and hatred in Jareth's; yet it didn't interrupt the x-rated versions which were always as pleasant as one might hope. Guess hate sex really was hot.
"Speaking of dreams, anymore for you or Toby?"
'
Drat...so close...' Sarah thought then answered casually, "A few for me...just run-of-the-mill dreams," Sarah lied, adding to herself,
not nightmares exactly, just really bizarro... "And none of us, even Dee, can figure out why they started randomly for him right before Gerard and I showed up."
"With everything I've learned the last two weeks, it makes me wonder who's up there pulling all of our strings."
Sarah laughed, "Yeah, well, remember I met a few of them."
"I know that's what's so freaky. Hey...are you okay?" Kathy asked when she noticed her friend cringe slightly.
"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine." Sarah pressed hand to her abdomen, grimacing, "just a cramp for second, it's gone."
"Ugh, I hate cramps. You need anything? I've got some pills in my purse."
"Just more Ben and Jerry's...quit hogging all the good stuff!" Sarah held out her hand, making a gimme motion, her spoon at the ready.
"Greedy, greedy, don't eat so much or you'll make yourself sick. This stuff is rich." Handing over the carton, Kathy watched, awestruck while Sarah demolished several more scoops complete with large hunks of heath bar then loudly burped.
"Girl,
puh-leeze! You're talking to the pro of ice cream therapy. I can eat two pints myself!"
"That's right, I forgot. You're the sick-o. I don't know how you can eat that much and not puke."
"Told you, professional..." she said cleaning a large spoonful of coffee flavored, chocolate-covered toffee endued deliciousness while making a yummy sound and grinning.
Later that night, hours after Kathy left, Sarah awoke to the roiling sensation of her stomach giving her less than 60 seconds warning: upchucking was imminent and inevitable. Scrambling from her tangled bed sheets, which reflected the snarling of her dreams starring Gerard and Jareth and all the sleep deprivation associated by grief, guilt, and out-of-control hormones; Sarah bee-lined for her bathroom, reaching the toilet just in time to release her partly digested offering of machine-churned milk fats to the porcelain yakness god.
Holy Mulroney! She'd never vomited like this before...she felt her stomach turning itself inside out; all her core muscles squeezing harder, tighter and
shoving upwards again and again and again until catching her breath between bouts became near impossible. Good God, could people suffocate doing this? Eyes bugging out, fluids spewing explosively from her innards; Sarah thought there couldn't possibly be another free, unabsorbed drop to be expelled.
Gasping raggedly, she laid her febrile cheek on the cool edge of the toilet, too exhausted to wipe her mouth or spit. The nausea remained but the vomiting seemed to have passed, yet she feared the merest of motions might trigger another attack. Maybe Kathy was right afterall, too much ice cream. So much for her title belt; she'd gladly relinquish it after this experience.
"I'll just...rest here...for a bit..." she mumbled to the implacable toilet standing at the ready for his next offering. Seriously, no more Ben and Jerry's...ever...ugh...
.
.
jsjsjsjsjsjsj
.
.
Jareth aimlessly wandered the tunnels searching for an elusive bit of...something; he knew not what only that it would present itself recognizable when he located it. This troublesome niggling started after Sarah's heart-eradicating abuse, followed by Aphrodite's abrupt, insulting visit; its annoyance increasing every day over the fortnight, as if a dormouse gnawed inside his skull until it turned from irritation to mildly painful. No rest found him, no peace, no release but this insistence nibbling.
Avoiding touching the ancient stone walls when possible, keeping his freshly conjured leather jacket and tails clean; he swiftly wove his path deeper into the subterranean labyrinth, a glow crystal lighting his way. Like the bowels of an unseemly creature (and smelling near as bad) he felt it lure him passed the hedge maze above, a zip of familiar energy stringing him along. When would this peculiar feeling cease...Freeing him to...to...what?
A low growl rumbled in his chest, echoing in the close confines of the tunnel, calling forth images to his mind of a maimed animal; he would turn feral should he live forever with Sarah's rejection. What was he doing down here? When had he begun this irregular quest? He'd forgotten. Though he did remember he disliked the tunnels below his labyrinth, his disliked them immensely; yet he slogged through the detestable, damp passageways searching for that random bit he felt lost, and knew should be around the next murky corner. Much like whenever he misplaced his motor keys at his London flat...
'
London what...?' Jareth drew up short; his long, rapid strides skidding in a puddle, splashing the upper calves of his boots. '
Where in the name of Danu did that thought come from?' Swallowing thickly, he glanced around, realizing what area of tunnels he presently stood.
"Oh Danu, please not here," he whispered; the entrance to the false alarms. Where
she once confronted him, spoiled, conceited brat that she was; with a shuddering breath, Jareth slid his eyes to The Spot, the place she brazened up to him so long ago, and felt that missing piece click.
"No, not this." Hours of walking the tunnels only to discover this end; reluctantly he walked, stiff-legged, to rest his forehead on the wall, and closed his eyes.
He remembered. Every second in the presence of her innocence looped in his mind: the brightness of her eyes, her glossy hair he so longed to weave his fingers through, the light scent of wildflowers constantly trailing in her wake—how it made him ache for her, yearn to press his lips to her unsullied rosebuds, and her bravery—standing up to him, daring him to push her.
"
Sarah." He moaned, both hands pressed flat to the irregular stones, fingers clawed between the crevices, his breaths coming in pants. Stale mildew filled his nostrils at first, and then a sweeter, cleaner aroma...linens and lilies...he smiled. He remembered this too. Pictures of adult Sarah overlapped her younger version: Sarah leaning back against a door, Sarah eagerly looking upwards at him as she licked her lips, Sarah tilting her head to bare her neck to him, inviting him to ravish her, Sarah calling him Gerard. Remembered words floated:
'Tell me, Sarah, how are you enjoying your evening?' "NO!" Pushing himself off the wall with both hands, Jareth stumbled back at an angle, smacking his shoulder into the opposite side; the pain sharpened him, brought him to the present.
"I'm not him! He's not me!" Baring his teeth, he shouted in the tunnels; he voice reverberating endlessly beneath the labyrinth proper. "Aphrodite, what have you done to me?"
.
A/N: This was the most difficult part of the story to write, very frustrating really. I know what I want and where I want to go but it's not flowing as easily as I'm used to. Not that I'm giving up! Oh no! But I was surprised that I got this chapter finished faster than I anticipated. Glad everyone so obviously enjoyed last chapter, hehe! I expected that to hit with a bang, and I was right. Lots of 5 + for that chapter. Super hot! I knew it would be difficult to top the dance club scene, but I think it was successful. Thanks for reading and we've still got several chapters to go.
