It was a masquerade ball. Everyone was in elaborate costumes and masks that some looked so real you could imagine them turning into animals themselves. I was dressed in a black dress with many layers on the bottom of the same color, with a grey partial corset showing my figure without the skin except my bare shoulders as a tease.Black ribbons were tied on my arms as a ballerina would on her legs. My raven hair was up in a wavy bun. I wore no mask or costume because there was simply no point since everyone knew who I was. The girl kept hostage to yet another trick of the Goblin king. I watched as people danced in graceful circles with each other and occasionally switching partners swiftly. The music that played was beautiful I had to admit. I almost swayed myself. I was still here against my will I had to tell myself. Yes, I could enjoy myself; But not around him. I searched for him with my eyes every couple of minutes but did not see him around.
The only ones who kept getting my attention were the guards at the doors; Which were illuminating my change of escape. As much as I hated to admit, I was anxious for what happened tonight; Even if it was just one night out of my cage. I took a sigh at my own thoughts and tried to push them away before I ended up in tears. I won't let him see me cry or anyone else for that matter. It would only show him that he has won; and I can't lose hope so easily. Jareth was now on the marble floor conversing with fae and other magic folk of high rank and nobility. He wore no mask also but was in a dark old fashioned suit and white ruffled necktie. I watched him carefully not knowing why. His eyes caught mine. Instead of turning away I gave him a glare which only made him smile bigger than before. Before I know it he suddenly ended his current conversation and slipped through the dancing bodies and in my direction.
Cloud returned fire from the corner of the church he spent most of his childhood in with his best friend Zach. The secret organization he had wanted to quit came to drag him back against his will or have him dead otherwise. Cloud still refused and now they were fighting for their lives. It wasn't the first and he knew it wouldn't be the last. Bryanna had now been missing for almost two weeks. A bullet hit his shoulder and he drew back to clench his teeth against the pain. Reina and Zach stopped firing and tried to rush to his aid but he stopped them. "Don't. I'm fine", he reassured them as he talked through his teeth. Reina and Zach looked at him doubtfully but they knew better and nodded then returned to firing at the line of people. Cloud went back to firing as well ignoring the pain. They were getting closer now and bullets won't help much then he thought as he took out the empty ammo clip and thought for a second. " Switch weapons", he ordered. Both Reina and Zach nodded and threw down their guns to retrieve their swords
It isn't like I could run a pretend like I had a plan. A small part of me didn't even want to disconnect our locked eyes. You couldn't trust looking away; not even for a second. He was now in front of me but he wasn't smiling with that fake mask he always wore. it was real. He gently put an arm around my waist and pulled me into a hug. I didn't know what to do. He was so close I could smell the sweet spices on his skin. He began to move us and I kept as much distance as I could. This was just another trick of his to make my guard down. I was almost completely sure. But what would he gain? We were dancing back and forth, swaying. It felt like everyone else weren't there. And his eyes were trying to tell me something desperately; but I couldn't quite receive the message that was barely out of my reach.
They didn't stand a chance. Sending humans was just a waste of time; but it made him think if this was planned or not. All of the men lie dead on the brick floor; mangled and broken with some staring far into space. He returned his sword on his back avoiding those eyes who saw him, judged him. All just reminders of who he wanted to escape inside the reflection. How could Bryanna return to all this death that he was the cause of? She was out there in a different world that was full of life. Something like me will just...wear her down. This is all he had to offer her. Pain and suffering. Reina popped in front of him with a chipper smile. her short hair moved around smoothly."Cmon Cloud! We have to get Bryanna back", she said without a trace of doubt. Zach smiled at cloud. "If we don't save her from herself, no one will", he half joked.
I mustered up the courage I could and looked at him seriously before speaking. "I don't want to be here anymore. let me go home." Jareth's face still seemed strangely calm as he teleported us with magic back to his room. "Do you really wish to leave? We both know deep down that isn't the case, my dear." he stepped closer before continuing to speak. "You could have asked to leave long ago. You could have resisted my touch," he smiled faintly and cupped my cheek with a gloved hand. "...But you didn't did you? You say you want to leave; But I'm afraid your body tells a different story, love." his fingers slid from my cheek and down to my collar bone, tracing it. I pushed his hand away and looked down with a sullen expression. "S-stop it, Jareth." Jareth clenched his jaw and grabbed the sides of my head, making me look at him. "Stop lying to yourself, Bryanna; And tell me what you really want. You think those people care about you like I do? No.. I give you my love, my world, my entire being..." His strong hands wrapped around my throat and pushed me against the wall, making my eyes widen in surprise. "And you want to return to your world, where not a single soul understands you like I do." Jareth frowned and his hands tightened around my throat causing me to squeek. I tried to pry his fingers put it was useless. Air couldn't come into my lungs. I looked into his eyes, pleading with my own. "Tell me precious, if I were to strangle you...rob you of your life, right now, would anyone care? Would they miss you?" Black dots were clouding my vision and I became dizzy. My legs were giving up on my body weight. I thought I saw tears running down his cheeks. I opened my mouth to tell him how I felt but the darkness had already engulfed me completely. "Dream of me, Bryanna, and only of me. Dream of me."
My eyes opened with the sound of his voice still ringing in my ears...and those words. "Dream of me Bryanna; and only me. Dream of me." I was in my own bed; and the room was as if I hadn't left at all. Everything was still in its place with dust lingering ontop. I sat up stiff and slowly got up and on my feet to face my full body mirror to see the slim bruises wrapping around my neck. I tried to heal it with magic but they stayed and my eyes welled up with tears. They were not for me; but for him. For Jareth. I couldn't tell him my feelings in time and now he was all alone and suffering. Crying wasn't going to make my problems going to disappear, I know. Wiping my eyes, I looked into my closet and found a jacket and slipped it on. It covered most of the marks along with my hair making it look like they weren't even there; but I still have to be careful. I left my house and walked down the sidewalk to a crosswalk. I looked into the sky wondering if I had made the right decition. This world was almost forgotten to me. It was almost as if the real world was out there with him; And this was the dream. Yes, I was free. But was I really? The sign came on letting me know I could safely cross the street. I took off with my feet pounding to the invisable beat of a song I couldn't explain. They had a mind of their own, and they were taking me far away from here. Jareth could be any one of these passing people. He was everywhere and everything my eyes saw reminded me of him. But my feet still ran. I wasn't even close to being tired but I stopped anyways. The whole world felt like it was closing in on me; making it hard to breathe or see. I closed my eyes getting ready for the worst thing possible when I heard someone in the distance shouting something I couldn't catch."No! Just leave me alone!" I shouted. Power surged through me as the darkness sucked into my hands at my will. "BRYANNA!" I opened my eyes and aimed for the figure coming at me full speed until I saw it was Cloud. I lowered my hands and calmed myself, making the darkness dismember and slither into the ground with my eyes watching it go. Cloud pulled me into a tight embrace. I accepted his affection but I couldn't lift my arms to return his feelings. The other two showed up behind him but no words would form from my mouth. I know what the goblin king had taken. He had taken....me.
Jareths pov Jareth felt sick to his stomach with rage seeing Cloud's arms around Bryanna from the crystal ball in his hand. Cloud had no right holding HIS Bryanna. Touching her, smelling her, or even seeing her. She was entirely his and even she had admitted to that herself. So why did she fight him? Seeing them together again made his rage return to the point where his hands were shaking heavily. He threw the glass crystal to the wall in front of him, not caring to even watch it burst in the darkness; But Jareth was already lost in his thoughts. He would win her back and then they could be happy again like when they first met. When Bryanna wished away a sickly child ready to die for the better, and intrusted it to him. When they talked, and he let her go through the labryinth; that she passed with flying colors... Jareth sighed af his memories and plopped down onto his throne seat. Cloud would soon know how it feels to lose the woman he loved, and the pain that came with it. And Jareth...well, he was looking forward to that. A wicked smile crepped on his lips for a plan had come to him, finally....Cloud Strife would be no more. Whether he was driven by love or madness he didn't know anymore.
