Wishful Thinking

The Race Is On

Sunset came, and Stephanie decided to get moving while there was some light. She held the golden sword in one hand. It was really more like a short sword. It must have been the hour hand. Hoggle, Ludo, and Beynon insisted on coming with her.

"You should stay here," she told the young pygmy griffin. "It's probably going to be dangerous."

"It's dangerous to stay here, too!" Beynon argued. He looked over at the goblins. "They're planning to eat me as soon as you're gone."

Stephanie looked at them, too, and sighed. It was obvious from the way they were licking their chops while staring at Beynon that he was absolutely right. "All right, but stay close to me."

Beynon was a little big to ride on her head this time, so he flew above her head instead. Jareth installed himself on Ludo's shoulder.

In the orange glow of the sunset, some details that Stephanie had missed before became clearer. There were islands floating up in the sky, pieces of the labyrinth that had become suspended in the air. Up and down, the labyrinth was coming apart in all directions. There was also a rift only a short distance away from their camp. It stretched on as far as the eye could see, and the ground had become uneven, with the side opposite them appearing to be about ten feet higher. Staring up at the cliff above them, Stephanie was startled when a man walked into view and stood at the edge. Her eyes were wide, and her lips parted. She stared up at the man in shock.

She heard herself ask in a small voice, "Jeremy?" She could hear a humming similar to Jareth's magic around him.

"You!" Jareth exclaimed, beating his wings. He took off from Ludo's shoulder and hovered next to Stephanie. He seemed equally shocked, if not more. "I banished you."

"It seems you can't keep me out anymore," Jeremy said with a dark smirk. "So this is what's become of you? You used your power to create this labyrinth from your heart to protect yourself, and now it's falling apart. Look at you, a fallen god." He looked at Stephanie. "I'll teach you take what's mine."

Jareth also looked at Stephanie, wondering what the connection between them was. The fire that usually burned so brightly in her eyes was a weak, flickering flame.

Stephanie was shocked not only by his appearance but the revelation that he and Jareth knew each other, but she found her voice again. "I am not yours."

"You are," Jeremy insisted. "After everything I've done to be with you, everything I've done for you, don't you dare reject me now. I love you."

"So you say," Stephanie said with a frown. "Everything you've done to be with me? You mean, other than seducing my mother?"

"Yes. You look like you still don't believe me, but I've wanted you ever since we first met. Remember? Your mother brought you to the theatre with her. I was sitting on my own, reading the script. Your mother was arguing with the director. You came over and sat next to me. When I asked you what you thought you were doing, you said: You looked lonely. And I realized that I was. No one had ever seen through me like that before. My life was empty before you came into it."

Stephanie thought she might throw up. She had only been ten-years-old when they met.

"Who do you think convinced your mother to keep you when she abandoned your sister? I knew your father would never let me anywhere near you."

"Did you have something to do with their divorce?" she asked, appalled.

"Your parents' marriage was already in trouble. I just gave your mother a little nudge."

"How could you? You saw what that did to me!" Stephanie yelled as tears formed in her eyes. "How can you say you love me when you were willing to watch me suffer like that? You used my illness to your advantage, didn't you? I thought you wanted to help me, but you were just helping yourself! And this whole time, you were just using my mother? She's not a piece of meat! She's my mother! You think I could ever be with someone who would hurt her that way?" Stephanie was trembling. She felt so betrayed. She couldn't forgive him. "Love? You don't get to use that word!" The fire in her eyes roared back to full strength. She wasn't having it.