Jareth nodded to Sarah and started out the door. Danse stepped in his way, blocking his exit. "Jareth the Goblin King?" she demanded.

His eyes opened wide in surprise. "Danse?"

"You made me dance with you that night! You put some kind of spell on me--"

"You did what?" Sarah cried.

He held up his hands. "No, listen, Danse, Sarah..."

"You creep! I knew this was bullshit!"

"Sarah!" He turned to her angrily. "This is a misunderstanding..."

"Yes, I misunderstood," she said, pushing past him and Danse. "Did I ever."

Danse watched the girl storm away, and then turned back to Jareth. He hand his hands at his temples, massaging them gingerly, eyes closed. He opened them again. Once more, Danse was struck by their strange color, their hypnotic light. "Jareth, explain this to me."

"What can I say?"

"That there's a logical explanation why Sarah thinks you're the Goblin King."

He chuckled tiredly. "You don't want to believe it, do you? But you do. You know that Minx told the truth about what happened at my building, and that Sarah told the truth about what happened to her. Is it too much?"

"Yes."

"Sorry. Can't be helped. Who do you intend to tell?"

She gaped at him. "Who could I tell? Who'd believe me?"

"A very good question. What were you snooping around for? Why was it so important you know my little secret?"

"Because..." she struggled for an answer. "Because you intrigue me."

He ran his gloved finger along her cheek, to the edge of her mouth, and let his hand drop. "I appreciate your answer more than you know."

She leaned closer to him. Her heart pounded. Her arms went up to encircle him...but he moved back.

"I can't, Danse."

"Because you're a Goblin King?"

He shook his head. "No. I'm not one any longer, if you can believe that. No, it's just this." He indicated the situation as Sarah had, with an open palm shrug. "I have to take care of this, Danse."

"Come with me. We'll talk to the Holograms. We'll see what you can do for them."

She took his hand and started to lead him through Starlight Mansion. They heard the voices of the Holograms talking.

"But if she can't get away, how will we do those concerts? We need Jem!" cried Kimber.

"Excuse me?" Jareth stepped in the doorway. "Something wrong?"

"Jem won't be able to get to that party this week," Kimber said, Aja giving her a healthy poke to the ribs.

"The party for Sun Records Music Preservation Socitey? She called to cancel? What's the problem?" asked Danse.

"Um...I think she's sick," Aja said after a floundering silence.

Jareth frowned. "That's funny. I wouldn't think anything would keep her away from such a noble cause."

The Holograms just traded miserable looks in response.

"Well, this is just great." Raya stomped in with a handful of the latest news from the music world in her hand. "The Stingers and Misfits will be replacing the Holograms at the music preservation party! We shouldn’t have canceled, we should have just waited!"

"There was nothing we could do," Shana argued.

"Can't Jem do anything?" Jareth inquired. "Anything at all?"

"Nothing," sighed Jerrica. "Excuse me."

She stood and walked out without another word.

*****

Jareth sat at his desk in the early morning hours, pensive and silent. Jerrica was a personal friend of Jem's and the Holograms were her band. But it didn't make up for their lack of anger with the lead singer. It seemed only natural, especially for Kimber, but none of them had said a hard word about it. What was stranger was that he'd spoken to the police, who were screening all the calls. Jem had never phoned. So how did they know she was sick?

The answer came like a lightning bolt. For the first time in a while, Jareth felt like a complete ass.

Jerrica was Jem.

Shocked by his sudden hypothesis, he tried to summon his crystal to see her. He got his second surprise in one minute.

Nothing happened.

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