The Darkened World

The Pooka

Sarah always hated coming back to her childhood home. 

She loved her little brother and Merlin but the house held memories of her mother's abandonment and the night she spoke the words. Though her step-mother was not the evil woman she had first thought, she was not the ideal mother either. She truly did care about Toby and, at times, about Sarah, but they two would never be the best of friends. 

When she finally got to the house it was well past midnight and Sarah was glad she would be able to spend a full day with her little brother. Toby had grown into a curious ten year old and loved to get into mischief. 

Or to be more exact mischief loved to find him. 

Every now and then Sarah would find what appeared to be drawings of goblins, which always made her panic, and at times a line that led to no where. She would proceed to pray that the Goblin King had not attempted to reappear into his life-she had never declared that he had no power over Toby-but, when questioned, the little boy would always claim that he liked goblins because of his books. 

Merlin greeted her at the door and, together, they snuck up to Sarah's old room. Her possessions had been packed away and hidden in the attic, while her room had been turned into a guest bedroom. That fact did not stop her from letting the old sheep dog sleep on the new sheets, despite the fact that Irene would not be pleased if she found out. 

Which, with luck, she would not. 

Sarah was always careful to brush off all the dog hair before Irene could even wake up to see him. Merlin was getting old and had several health issues already, Sarah was sad to say it, but the old dog probably would not last much longer. He had been a faithful companion to a lonely girl and a loyal guard against goblins to Toby. 

Sleep was immediate and Sarah was soon cast into a world that only her imagination could create. 

She stood upon a stage with her mother criticizing every move and word she spoke. If Sarah walked left her mother told her she needed to walk right. Her dress was laced too tightly and breath was becoming harder and harder to draw.

Sarah raised her voice to deliver a monologue and suddenly found herself having to create a dialogue with another actress. Suddenly the curtains were drawn and Sarah felt an overwhelming sense of failure as her fellow actors and actresses glared at her in contentment. 

"So, this is what an actress dreams of." A voice drawled as the play was stopped by-what one could only assume-was magic.

"Go bog yourself." Sarah snapped as she turned to glare where the voice had come from. Only the Goblin King did not stand behind her. Sarah turned to look for the Goblin King, but quickly put a stop to her search. She was not some child whom would chase a shadow, no if he wanted to speak to her he would have to come to her. 

"Developed quite a temper have we? And you seemed so mild mannered earlier."  His voice seemed so close, Sarah could feel his breath upon her neck, and yet she knew if she turned he would not be there. He was toying with her and she, for one, would not be toyed with. 

"And here I had the hopes that you would leave me in peace." Sarah stated though, even as she said so, she had known that he would never let her be. For some reason, the Fae King had taken an interest in her, which all the tales showed was a bad, bad thing. 

"Peace is far too boring to hold your interest for any amount of time, humans such as yourself need adventure. You thrive when under pressure, but you would rather pretend you do not want an adventure. I will never fully be able to comprehend humans." Jareth's voice seemed to come from every where and no where all at once.