It had been two years since she had been with him on that wild day. Marissa was standing on exactly the same spot in her room that he had promised her that he would visit her everyday, with her best friend Lichelle sitting in a chair nagging her to go to the Senior Dance with her. Even though it was the summer before their senior year, the school carried on the tradition to hold a dance for the seniors only, raffling off different gadgets and things.
"Oh, come with me please! I don't want to be alone with Dorky Donnerson!" She watched Marissa for a second then said, "It'll do you some good to get out..Meet someone?" Lichelle had known Mar since fourth grade, so she knew how to get her going if Mar felt like being a couch potato.
Marissa was sitting on her windowsill, one leg outside the house, while the other kept her propped safely from falling. She was staring at something. "You know I'd rather not meet anybody. My last boyfriends were..." But her words trailed off as bad memories flooded back to her.
Lichelle got up from the chair and put her head next to Mar's to see what she was so intently staring at, but saw nothing in particular. "I know for a fact that Kevin Spyrne will be there." she waited for a reaction, but got none, then added, "Alone." Kevin was the dream guy. Jock, musical, and dark haired. For years, he'd had a crush on Mar, but never showed it, making his reputation with women terrible by flitting from girl to girl.
As Marissa got up from the sill, she grabbed an ornate crystal orb that sat on top of her dresser and looked into it, but saw nothing.
The fact was, Jareth had not kept his promise. She remembered his words as if he were right there telling her, "If ever you need me, just look into it and call my name." before he vanished. She did that everyday, for a while. She eventually stopped when he never answered.
Marissa muttered to herself, "It was only a dream..this is one of mother's crystals.." She trailed off, and one solitary tear fell to the floor.
"What was that all about?" Lichelle asked. Looking a bit worried, she looked into the crystal, "It's a crystal, nothing more." She smirked because she knew she was quoting Mar's favourite movie Labyrinth, and expected Mar to laugh.
But Marissa didn't laugh. On the contrary, she gave Lichelle a look of deep sadness, and yelled at her for the first time in their long friendship. "DON'T EVER SAY THAT TO ME AGAIN!!" She fell to the floor crying.
Lichelle in shock and worry, made to go comfort her friend but paused, because just then Mar got up and threw the crystal in the trash swearing under her breath. "I will always love you?!" She spat at the waste bin, "It's been one bloody year!!" Marissa stood seething and crying.
'Was Mar going mad?' Lichelle asked herself, 'What the hell did 'one year' mean?' She sat looking at Mar for a moment, "Mar, you obviously need to get out of here. Come on, get dressed."
Marissa gave a start, as if Lichelle had come out of nowhere, and hurriedly dried her tears, "Yeah, ok.." She gave one more hateful look towards the waste bin, and went to her closet.
***
Marissa was sitting alone at a table while Lichelle was off flirting with the boys. She had danced twice with Kevin Spyrne, and after that he sat with her for a while begging her to go with him to places on certain days, and telling her how much he wanted to be with her. 'Like a lost puppy.' she thought. She had refused him so many times, that he finally left her alone, telling her he'd be back later.
The D.J. started playing 'As the World Falls Down,' and before Kevin could find her, Marissa went to find Lichelle. "Lichelle?" She whispered, "I'm leaving, will you be all right to walk home?" She was shaking, but didn't know why.
Lichelle looked into her tired face, "Of course, but why?" She stopped dancing to give Mar her full attention.
"I-I just need to get home.. I'm exhausted, and Mrs. Pryce gave me so much homework for over the summer." She felt sick.
"Ok sweetie... But tomorrow I want an explanation for tonight's weirdness young lady!" She smiled sweetly, and hugged Marissa.
Mar smiled back and ran for the door. When she got outside, a few drunk senior boys staggered towards her.
"Ello dawing, my you're a pretty doll." one said and ruffled the crinoline of her skirt, smiling evilly. The others taunted her and tried to grab her. Their laughter sent chills down her spine.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" She screamed, and tried to run away, but one of the others grabbed her.
He pulled her close and fondled her breasts, "mmm, just where do you think you're going? We haven't had our fun yet!" he tried to drag her off. Just then something fell out of the sky and hit him in the head. Being drunk, he frightened easily and ran off, the others tripping behind him.
Marissa bent down and picked up a crystal orb that was in perfect condition. "What the hell?" she wondered. Looking up at the night sky, she saw a screech owl fly overhead, "Coincidence." she thought.
She walked to her car and got inside. After starting the engine of her 1962 red Volvo, she left the school grounds while Led Zeppelin's "Bron Y Ar Stomp" was playing on the radio when she started flashing back to another place and time. The memory was so vivid, it was like she was actually there.
They were sitting on his bed conversing about his seemingly empty castle, when the next thing she knew he had kissed her. She laughed as she threw the memory to the back of her mind. Why did you let yourself fall for that old trick? the rear-view mirror frowned at her as she pulled into the garage of a two-story 1960's style home. Besides, it wasn't real, you dreamt it Mar... She started to cry.
She walked into the dark, empty house, as her parents were on their "fourth honeymoon" or so they called it. Still crying, she went upstairs to her room and got ready for bed.
She woke up the next morning to find her eyes glued shut and puffy from crying all night. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she got to get ready for whatever the day had in store for her. Maybe she'd go to the Record store and flirt with the cute boy behind the counter.
She moaned as she walked down the stairs with a headache looking for something to eat. She grabbed a peach and flopped on the sofa. When she had found her favourite show, she took her first bite. The room started to spin and she found herself walking through a hallway.
It seemed very familiar. The bricks were misshapen and owl grey. Glitter seemed to cover everything and shimmered in the light that had no obvious source. As she turned a corner, she gasped. She was looking at herself in a plain Celtic dress, her hair was longer than usual and down. The figure didn't seem to notice Marissa, but turned to the corner with a look that seemed to be searching for approval, it came.
"Beautiful as usual." A blonde man came from the corner and kissed her. "But I see you don't much care for it. It must be the perfect dress for the perfect bride, of course." He turned around and winked at Marissa.
Marissa woke with a start. What the hell was that about? she pondered. She looked around, What am I doing in my room? She was lying on her bed underneath a blanket with a large owl on it. Throwing it to the floor with disgust, she heard a knocking on her front door and got up to look out her window. It was Lichelle.
"Just come in Lichelle, it's unlocked!" She sat on the windowsill wondering what her dream meant, a cool breeze with a hint of jasmine blew upon her, but her thoughts were interrupted by Lichelle entering her room.
Lichelle walked in and sat on the chair next to Mar's bed, "Where have you been? I've been trying to call you all day!"
"I-," How was she going to say this? How long had she been asleep? "I really don't know.."
"How can you not know where you've been? "Lichelle got up to get a good look at Marissa.
Mar looked into her eyes, "I don't know! One minute I was downstairs eating a peach, the next I'm up here lying on my bed!" The peach! She looked in her hand to reveal a half eaten peach that had a worm in it. "EW!" she threw it into the trash.
Lichelle started to worry, "It only looks like you brought it upstairs. But that doesn't account for you being incommunicado for five hours! Are you sure you're alright?"
Five hours. Had she really been out that long? "I-I....I have no idea Lichelle."
"You weren't drugged, were you?" The worry crept into Lichelle's voice.
"Drugged?" This brought the peach back to mind. Mar grabbed it back out of the trash and examined it. It looked strange, the flesh was darker than normal and had a strange glimmer about it. "Maybe...."
"What? How?!" Lichelle looked at the peach too. It was a symbol of Mar's favourite movie. She chuckled a little. "By who? Jareth?" This time she laughed hard.
This caught Mar by surprise, but it made sense. "I think so..." Her words trailed off in thought as she got up, placed the peach on top of her dresser and went to pick up the owl blanket, only to find it on top of her bed again. "What the - ... You didn't put this here, did you?"
Lichelle was shocked. "No sweetie." Then she thought about what Mar had just said. "Wait, do you actually believe a fictional character, from a movie, drugged you?" This was absurd.
"Well, it happened in the movie didn't it?" Then Mar remembered what Jareth had told her when they first met, 'Don't eat the peaches yet, I'll tell you when.' She muttered to herself, "But you didn't tell me when, did you?"
Lichelle didn't know what to say, "Who didn't tell you?" Mar had to be going crazy.
"Uhh....N-no one...I think I just need to be left alone right now.. To gather my thoughts and stuff..." She grabbed the blanket off her bed and wrapped It around her.
That was the last thing Lichelle wanted to do, leave mar in her disoriented state. "Mar, you're worrying me.. Come on, let's... Let's see a movie or - "
"JUST LEAVE!!!" In a hot rage, she grabbed everything related to The Labyrinth and threw it in the trash. Why wasn't Lichelle understanding?!
Lichelle was frightened, her best friend practically a sister, was going mad, "See you Mar..when you're feeling better, call me, alright?" She walked out the door.
Marissa looked at the clock, it was seven. A bit early for bed, but she didn't care. She turned on her stereo to blast some Type O Negative, and went to wash her face. When she walked back to her room to turn the stereo down, she heard a muffled hoot. She turned around and there he was.
"Hello Marissa." His blonde hair made him look devastatingly handsome, which he was. His slender pale frame looked perfect underneath the dark black cape. There was a wickedness about him that made her shiver slightly, but it was the eyes that could capture the soul, that told her he was not from this world.
She gasped, but her look of shock quickly turned to hatred. "Come for your crystals? They're there, in the trash." The turned away as tears started to fill her eyes, and pretended to look through a stack of cd's. His arms were around her.
"I know there isn't an excuse, even though true, good enough for my... non-communication, but - "
She ripped from his grasp and walked to the door, "NO! Because you're just like every guy I've met! Love 'em then leave 'em. Not even a 'King,'" She quoted the word King, "By his own right can't be kind." She glared at him as if looks could kill.
He was hurt by that. "Marissa please... can I at least tell you what kept me from answering your calls?" He moved towards her, but the look she gave him froze him to the spot.
"I'm sure it has to do with the fact that the goblins kept bringing in babies for you to watch!" Her anger weighted every word.
He took off his cape to reveal tight black leggings tucked into black knee-high boots, with a black open-chest blouse showing his milk-pale skin and a sickle-shaped medallion. "NO...Well, yes in a way...but no. You see, the goblins got drunk one night and decided to hide my crystals, so I couldn't talk to you. And when I came to see you, you were either gone, or in presence of company. But I did come, if only you would have looked out your window to see an owl in your tree.."
It seemed too easy a story to believe. "Really, after the guys I've been through, you expect me to believe that Jareth?!"
"I wish you would. I only retrieved the crystals last night, that's where the second one came from." Noticing a sense of realization about her, he continued, "Yes, that was me who saved you from those men."
"Ok, so you saved me. What was the deal about today? You drug me, have me dream this..wacked out dream, and then I wake up on my bed?" She moved to the window and sat on the sill to breathe the night air.
"Marissa, I'm sorry about that," He walked towards her and knelt by the window, "But it was the only way I could let you know, so to speak, that I was coming. The bed and owl blanket was the goblin's doing."
She gasped, "They...in here?" She couldn't believe goblin's were in her house.
Jareth smiled a devastating smile, "Yes. Now, tell me, what was your dream? I have no control over how the message is portrayed." He got up and leaned against the wall.
"You mean you don't know?!" And when he shook his head, she resigned to tell him.
"Wedding you say? And I saw you?" He laughed. It was a beautiful laugh, mull of mirth and mischief. It made her feel warm inside, but not from anger.
"Why are you laughing?" Marissa hid her face in her folded arms on top of her knee to hide her blushing. Why did he have to be so handsome?
"Because that's the same dream I had last night, only it was me walking down the corridor. You see, my father used to always nag me to find a girl to make my queen, and cast spells over me to make me dream things like that." Suddenly a look of sadness washed over his face, and he sat down on her bed. "Sadly he passed on last year. His spirit must have been present when I cast that spell on you." He looked at Marissa and saw she was crying.
She ran to his side, grabbing the tissue box on her way. "Here." For some reason, she didn't care what he'd done in the past. She felt an urge to hold him, but held herself back.
"Thank you." He said as he took one, "Oh this is so embarrassing! I'm an evil Goblin King, and look, I'm crying." He emphasized evil as though mocking it.
"Oh, you're not evil, you're feared. You are frightening, just not to me." She chuckled, "That sounds familiar."
Jareth regained his composure and smiled. Her remark had made him feel better, "What does?"
"What I just said, only I know it differently from a movie." She cleared her throat, putting herself in acting mode as Jareth raised his eyebrows. "Everything you wanted I have done. You asked that the child be taken, I took him. You cowered before me, I was frightening. I have reordered time. I have turned the world up-side down, and I have done it all for you. I'm tired of living up to your expectations of me. Isn't that generous?" she acted it perfectly.
Jareth looked puzzled, "What movie is that from?"
"You know that! It's Labyrinth, silly, the movie about you!" Mar ran to the trash and pulled the DVD out of it, and handed it to him.
"Yeah, I remember now. Gosh, he looks just like me." The picture of David Bowie as himself gave him the chills. "The problem with this though, is it shows my bad side. I'm made out to be this evil King." He threw it to the ground.
"But you are a little bit. But that's what's so intriguing about you." She spoke before she could catch herself. What are you thinking? she thought to herself. She looked away in horror and walked over to her stereo again.
Hearing this confirmed that Marissa still had feelings for him. "Oh now, what concern?" Jareth got up and placed his hinds on her arms, though she remained facing away. "I never stopped loving you Marissa, I'd hate to lose you over a stupid goblin mishap."
Marissa turned to face him. Do I still love him, he did apologize. She was caught. "Oh Jareth-" But before she could say anything else, he kissed her. She couldn't pull away, she didn't want to.
