| She watched Dominic go to sleep. Jareth waited at the door as she kissed the boy, and then slipped out of the door. She shut the door quietly and Jareth watched her. It was very off-putting. She swallowed before she started. �Jareth, I need to talk to you.� It came out awkwardly and her voice shook as she said it. Jareth smirked. He smelt a victory. �Very well, Michelle,� he said, and pushed open the door of her bedroom and indicated for her to enter. Her bedroom. She stood still for a moment and thought �Ok, I should have planned this far ahead.� Why did he want to go in her room? Silly question. His face said it all as he seemed to read her thoughts, smirked again and urged her into the room with his highly amused eyes. She took a deep breath, funny how she seemed to be doing a lot of that recently, and strolled as casually as she could into the room. Jareth shut the door very quietly. Michelle felt embarrassed, and didn�t know where or how to start. �Well�.� �Yes, my dear?� Patronising bastard! �No need to be rude,� he said. He was reading her thoughts again! It was really annoying. �Stop it!� she said. �Stop what my precious?� �You know very well what, you�re doing it now!� �I�m sure I have no idea what you mean!� He certainly knew how to wind people up. �Stop reading my mind! Can I have no privacy?� He laughed, and she bit her lip in annoyance. �It�s the only way to find out what people really mean, my dear,� he said. �They all lie, they�re never honest.� �Whatever...� said Michelle. �Take you for instance,� he said, and started wandering about the room, not looking at her any more. �You want to ask me if you can go back to where you came from. You�re doing this mainly because you think you should. You miss your parents and you have a lot of regrets, like Pascal for instance.� �Pascal?� �But really, you yourself don�t want to go home.� �Hah?� �You still feel you can�t trust me, though you want to.� He completely ignored her inputs. �You want to very much. You also want to stay here with me.� �I do?� �Stupid� she added to herself. �Michelle, this is what you used to dream of. A man to love, a fairy tale castle, a beautiful child. You even still have your music, I got you your violin didn�t I?� She didn�t know what to say. She didn�t know what he was saying. Her hands were very cold as she brought them together in front of her and rubbed them. Was he saying she wasn�t grateful? Grateful for this? He carried on. �Michelle, this is the perfect place for Dominic to grow up. He�ll live the life you always dreamed of. He can have everything he wants.� He stepped closer and took her hands in his stopping their movement. �He�ll have two parents who love him.� She panicked. What if he read her mind now? He�d find out about Jaden and goodness knows what he�d do. She turned away quickly pulling her hands from his. She breathed quietly for a moment or two, then turned back to him. �I want to go home,� she said. �I mean our home, not yours. This is stupid, we�re not talking, no one trusts anyone trusts anyone. Let alone what it is doing to Dominic. He needs people Jareth, other children he can play with. And I admit it; I�m being selfish too. I cant live with you Jareth. I cant live with what you did to me, let alone having to be with you all the time. I see you and I think of then. How can you expect me to live with that?� �This is about that?� he said. �You got away with it!� she said, almost as if this thought had only just come to her. �It�s against everything I believe. Have you done it to anyone else? Of course you have, there�s no reason for you not to. Your sick, your evil, and I demand you take us home and never interfere with us again.� He stood for a moment in silence. He had been planning this conversation and he wasn�t expecting her outburst. �That was seven years ago, Michelle,� he said, �I have changed.� �O right, how?� �I have a son.� �No!� �What do you mean �no�, he�s mine.� �No, he�s my son, you have no rights over him.� �Rights?� he scorned. �Yes, rights!� She was shouting now, �You�re a rapist you don�t have any!� �Even under your laws it isn�t rape when both people want it.� �I didn�t want it!� �I believe your memory is failing you Michelle, you asked me to take you. You wanted it more than anything in the world, more than your music, more than your ambitions, more than your own life. I give it to you, so I�m a villain.� He shook his head. �You must have a selective memory, Michelle. You kissed me so passionately, your whole body cried out for me to take you.� �You hurt me!� �Hurt you? Nonsense.� �You didn�t do it for me, you did it for yourself, to hurt Jaden. You held me down, that�s rape!� The last word didn�t come out easily. She was sobbing, then she cried. Tears fell from her eyes, her nose was runny. She sat on her bed and hid her face from Jareth, she never could make conversations go her way. How she hated him! She didn�t understand how he could think like that, if he thought like that. She recovered quickly, and sniffed. �Well?� she said quietly, watching him with the corner of her eye. �Well what?� he said, blankly. �Will you send us home?� she didn�t mind this, it delayed his reaction, she knew what it would be. �I can�t send you home, Michelle,� he said. Even though it was expected, it still made her start to cry again. She wiped her eyes with her hand, and sniffed again. �And why not this time?� she asked, �thought you�d finish torturing us before you ended your fun?� �Because I love you Michelle.� She almost laughed �What?� �I love you.� She turned to look straight at him. What did he mean by that? Not what normal people meant by the phrase, surely. �If you love him, then you should do what�s best for him,� she said, as coolly as she could. �He doesn�t want to be here, he should go to school like a normal boy, live like a normal boy, grow up like a normal boy. You shouldn�t be doing this to him.� �I didn�t mean him.� Michelle knew this, he had said you, not him. She just didn�t want to deal with that. �I love you Michelle.� She looked at the floor, shook her head, played with her hair in embarrassment for a moment. �I...� she started, but worried how he would react to whatever she would say, then thought �stuff it� �I have marks on my face and arms from where you hit me, and dragged me. I have a bruise on my stomach where you punched me so hard I�m worried what you have done to my insides.� �I was angry�� �You didn�t give me a second thought for seven years, after you raped me when I was sixteen. You and your brother managed to ruin my life in one�� she stopped for a moment, she didn�t know why, �just like that,� she continued. �You�ve kept me, trapped me in a strange place I can�t escape from. I can�t see my parents, my friends. You keep threatening to separate me from my son. That is not how you treat someone you love.� She stopped and waited, not quite looking at him, with absolutely no idea what he would say to that, or if he would say anything. She was scared, having been on the wrong side of this man�s temper enough times already. He stood where he was; the stillness would have unnerved even the bravest person. But this time there was not hatred, not even anger. He just stood, neutrally and calmly. He stepped forwards. Michelle turned to him at his movement, ready to run if necessary. She couldn�t cope with another beating yet. He leant forward, levelled his face with hers. His eyes were almost melancholy, and he showed no signs of his usual arrogance. He moved his face to the side of hers and kissed her gently on the cheek. �Good night, Michelle,� he said, and turned and left. He shut the door behind him, quietly, but firmly. |