| Michelle had started to relax again. She hadn�t seen Jaden in ages, but now she�d started having very strange dreams about him. She thought about the last time she had seen him outside the labyrinth. He hadn�t hurt her, only scared her a little, and that was only because of the dream. Maybe now he had given up and was going to find a different way to hurt Jareth. She felt so alone. They didn�t see Jareth that day, not even at dinner. She played with Dominic, gave him a short piano lesson, wondered how he would grow in this completely different world, wondered whether or not he was human. She slept alone and woke up alone having dreamt again of Jaden. When Dominic was very young, Jaden had visited. He bought the baby toys and clothes, and the mother presents. This had stopped before Dominic�s second birthday, and Michelle didn�t know why. At the time she had thought that Jareth had started watching her again, and that Jaden didn�t want to be seen with the boy. But Jareth had taken another four years to turn up, so where did he go? Maybe he�d just been really busy. Surely he had some sort of job somewhere. It was his son he hadn�t seen for four years and even then didn�t bother talking to. He�d come to see Michelle really, remind her he was there, like the flowers. The thing was that Michelle had no idea what he was planning. How this was all going to hurt Jareth? At the moment all Jareth seemed to be doing was looking after his son, and enjoying it. And she wasn�t really after revenge anymore, knowing that it would achieve nothing except annoying the Goblin King, and that wasn�t a very good idea. Jaden might still be after revenge, but he wasn�t going to use Michelle to get it anymore. And Jareth was a lot stronger than Jaden, wasn�t he? But what about Pascal? When she had left the school she had distanced herself from all her friends. She had finished her A levels in a college, to have more flexible hours, and none of her friends had seemed too desperate to see her. But there was a big hole in her memory where Pascal should have been. She had probably just been a lot more superficial than Michelle had thought she was. The hair on the roses couldn�t have been hers then either, it was probably just someone else with long red hair; there must be thousands of them in the world. �I�m bored!� �Then do something, Dominic.� This is probably the most useless thing you can possibly say to a small child after they have told you they are bored. Dominic stuck out his bottom lip, and Michelle gave in. �Ok, do you want a piano lesson?� �No, piano lessons are boring!� Michelle knew better than to take a comment like this personally. �Well, do you want to play catch?� �We did that yesterday.� �Well you haven�t taken Muffles for a walk in ages,� she suggested. �I don�t want to take Muffles for a walk,� he moaned, �Muffles is a stupid dog!� �You�ve wanted a dog since you were three, and now you have one you�re bored of him.� She sighed, �well, I suppose he�ll just have to go back to the shop.� �OK!� �What?� she said, confounded, but continued anyway, �You�d let poor little Muffles go back to the shop.� �Yes, how would that affect me?� �Dominic, how can you be so selfish?� �It�s not as if you�d take him back to the shop.� Michelle raised her eyebrows, smiling again. �And how do you know?� Dominic was mastering his father�s patronising look. �Don�t you look at me like that young man!� He smirked. Michelle didn�t know what to say at first. He was so like Jareth and Jaden, and living here wasn�t improving matters. She looked at the boy, images of how his adulthood could be, what he might do floating around her head. The future looked bleak for everybody. She came to a quick decision. �Dominic, we�re going home.� She ran around madly searching for what she should take; some of her and Dominic�s clothes and a coat in a bag, a little food from the kitchen. She took Dominic by the hand, and half dragged him away. She headed for the labyrinth, and searched for the way out the other end, which must be the way home, and eventually she found it, though it must have taken hours. She opened the gates, pulled her son through and shut them behind her. She looked around in a panic, and saw a small path leading into a forest. She decided it was a possible way out, and followed it swiftly. It was exactly like a haunted forest in a kid�s film. It was created to scare children, and it scared Michelle, and it terrified Dominic. He held his mother�s hand tightly and kept close to her. �Mummy, where are we going?� Michelle didn�t look at him in case he could tell how scared she was. �Home,� she said. �Mummy, you don�t know the way.� �How do you know what I know?� she said. �You can�t read minds.� She worried for a second to see how much he had taken after his father, but the boy just looked miserable. She paused on her way, and bent down to be level with the boy. �One day I�ll explain it all to you, then you�ll understand.� He didn�t cheer up, �I promise,� she said. �Tell me now,� he pleaded, looking straight into her eyes, Jareth�s eyes. �I can�t,� said Michelle. �When you�re older.� She got straight up, and continued on her way. It didn�t take her long to realise they were completely lost, and now she couldn�t find her way back even if she wanted to. And she was sure the trees were moving. �Wind,� she said. Dominic was hungry and tired, and started crying. She stopped and gave him some food, and had a little herself. It was dark in the forest, the trees were hollow, and the bushes kept making rustling noises. Her head turned of its own accord towards anything making noises. Then a branch right next to her face jerked, and she fell over sideways. �Mummy, are you Ok?� �I�m fine, Dominic.� She smiled at him. �Just jumping at shadows.� She got up and continued. �Mummy, you�re shaking.� She turned back to him. �I�m just co�� She froze. Behind Dominic there was a human shaped figure. It was just a silhouette in the darkness, and she couldn�t make out who it could be but she didn�t care. �Run Dominic.� She pushed him in front of her and sped forwards after him. He fell so she picked him up and carried him, but he was too heavy, so she put him down and urged him on. Then a figure appeared in their way and they both screamed. She held her son to her waiting for the figure to move. �Good evening, Michelle,� it said, and stepped forward, lighting a candle. �Jaden,� she panicked. What did he want? She stepped back a little as he moved forwards, pulling Dom with her lightly �There�s no need to be scared of me Michelle,� he said, �I�m not going to hurt you.� She felt tears well up in her eyes. The vampire crouched down. �Dominic,� he said. The boy looked at him with curiosity. �Great to see you again.� �Again?� Dominic�s eyebrows moved downwards into a frown. �You look just like Daddy.� Jaden smirked, and looked at Michelle, who again pulled Dominic away from him. �He call�s Jareth Daddy?� �What else would he call him?� said Michelle. �You�re quick tongue will get you into trouble one of these days!� Jaden smirked at her again. �Why are you running?� �We can�t stay there anymore.� �And where are you planning to go?� �Home,� she said simply. Jaden laughed at her. �Jareth will follow you.� She looked down. She knew this, but she couldn�t have just carried on there. She thought that there must have been a way out. �We�ll deal with that when it happens.� She lifted her head again. �Suit your self,� said Jaden, but looked straight into her eyes. There was a pause, while neither grownups wanted to say anything, and the child didn�t know what to. Then Michelle had a thought. �Will you take us?� |