Sarah sighed. "What am I doing here?"

"Something noble," Danse told her. "Just keep thinking that. We’ve got to try. For your cousin. For all the girls. Okay?"

"Okay."

She gazed at her own reflection in the glass doors of Underground Music, tall, lovely Danse beside her. She was not at all crazy about being picked to persuade Jareth to sing for the Holograms, but Danse was right, it was for a noble cause. And she and Danse were the only ones who knew his secret. Raya didn’t know the whole story, but she was no slouch, and she’d picked up on the fact that Danse and Sarah were closer to Jareth than any of the others.

Well, they couldn’t stand out there in front of the doors much longer without being noticed, and so Sarah walked up, the automatic doors sliding open for them. Almost. They got stuck part of the way open, began to close again, and then opened all the way.

Danse frowned. Surely they were going to have that fixed soon. It was not the sort of thing you’d want to welcome potential associates.

The receptionist, with her dark, spiky hair and cheerful red suit, sat glumly behind her desk, a miserable expression on her face.

"We’re here to see Jareth Trevale," Danse said clearly.

"I’m sorry," the girl said. "E’s not seeing anyone."

"Excuse me," Sarah said, leaning over the desk. The secretary gasped in recognition, then ducked behind her desk. Sarah leaned further over to speak to the lady. "We are here to see Mr. Trevale."

"Go right up!" she squeaked from under the desk.

Sarah looked at Danse. "You just have to know how to talk to them."

"Did you know her?"

"I know everyone in here, you could say…"

There was a smell Danse noticed as she got in the elevator. It was musty, like an attic. Sarah must have noticed it to, Danse could see her wrinkling her nose. She pushed the button for the fourth floor, and the elevator began to move…but it made a protesting, grinding sound as it did. She stepped back in surprise and gripped one of the brass rails and Sarah jumped. No one wants to be in an elevator making that sort of noise, and they were no exception.

Was the entire building suddenly falling apart?

They stepped out gratefully when the elevator stopped. That attic smell didn’t quite go away, either. Jareth’s office was not at all difficult to find. Straight down the end of the hallway, they could see the door bearing the name JARETH TREVALE. They paused before it.

"Well," Sarah urged. "Go on."

"What?"

"Knock."

"I don’t want to, you do it."

"No way."

"Well, someone has to."

Sarah made a fist. Danse did too. "One, two, three," Sarah counted. They showed their hands. Sarah’s were two fingers forked out, scissors. Danse’s was a fist still. Rock. Sarah lost.

"Ha," Danse said triumphantly.

Sarah sighed and knocked lightly on the door.

"Come in."

Sarah had no idea what would be waiting in his office. Previous experience had taught her that trying to guess what Jareth had in store was a futile game. But Danse had expected to see him sitting at his desk, looking unruffled and calm as usual, perhaps smiling as he saw her.

He was not. He was up, walking around the office, pacing. The desk and surrounding floor were a disaster. Papers were everywhere. The Escher prints had been taken off the walls. One, Relativity, lay against the wall, the glass shattered. Danse put a hand to her lips, her pretty eyes wide with unhappy surprise. Jareth stopped, and turned, looking at her. His gaze was still so intense, but it had a ragged, worrying quality to it. His eyes scanned over her, and then Sarah, registering surprise. He seemed old to her for the first time.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"We came to ask you a question. You weren’t taking calls," Danse forced out.

"No, not you. Her." He pointed to Sarah.

"They asked me to come. Believe me, I didn’t want to. But I’m pretty much willing to do anything to help Starlight House."

"Help Starlight House?"

"Yes, but you don’t seem interested, so…"

"Sarah, wait."

She turned back to him. "Yeah?"

He really looked at her then, and a calm came over him. "I’m sorry," he said gently. "Something is very wrong here. Very, very wrong."

"What is it?" asked Danse.

"I…" He seemed not to know how to begin. He paused, then took a breath, and said, "I have no magic."

"But…you made me dance with you…"

"I had it before, and it’s gone now," he said impatiently.

She frowned. "How?’

"I don’t know."

"It’s because you left the Labyrinth," Sarah said quietly, nodding. "That’s got to be it."

"It doesn’t matter, does it? I mean, you can stay here, right?"

Jareth smiled at her, but there was no humor behind it. "Danse, everything you see here is illusion. This building, this furniture…it’s all magic. Underground Music is really just an old warehouse. This furniture is really odds and ends my goblins scouted out. Nothing here is what it seems."

"You can still be a musician, Jareth. Jerrica could sign you…"

"Danse, you don’t understand. All my music was created with magic. My back up band was nothing more than goblins in human form. They didn’t play."

She realized what he meant. "Then everyone who works here…."

"Goblins."

"I told you he wasn’t what he seemed," Sarah said.

"How many little kids did you turn into monsters?" Danse asked, horrified at the idea.

He glanced at Sarah pointedly. "No more than were wished away. Would you like to argue about my previous occupation or did you come here for some other purpose?"

Sarah bristled. "Your previous occupation? You say it like you used to be an accountant or something!"

"Sarah!" he snapped at her. "Stop it! What do you want from me? I can’t change what happened. And I wouldn’t if I could. Who would you be if you hadn’t called on me? And for that matter, who would I be? We changed one another, and for the better. You are not who you were. Now accept that I am not who I was. I don’t have the time, energy, or will to fight with you. If you can’t accept it, then you probably need to leave."

She was quiet for a moment, then turned her hazel eyes to his. Her voice was softer, kinder. "If you want to help Jerrica and the Holograms, you have a chance. You can still sing, can’t you? Or was that all illusion too?" It was not accusatory, it was merely a question. If you can, the Holograms need a singer. There’s time for them to do the party, if they want. The Stingers and Misfits dropped out. You want to be the good guy? Here’s your chance."

"I can’t."

"Can’t or won’t?"

He didn’t look away from her, but she could see that he wanted to. "Won’t," he said.

"Jareth," Danse said softly. "Please. If Sarah was wrong about you, prove it. Do this."

"I think you should leave," he answered, turning away.

"But—"

"Come on," Sarah said, and she took Danse’s arm and pulled her out of the office gently.

Back to the Main Page/Truly Outrageous/Next Chapter/Previous Chapter/Email the Author