It happened gradually, or, it must have happened gradually, because she doesn't believe she'd have survived (or that she wouldn't have checked herself into a mental institution) if her dreams were this intense initially. If her dreams had possessed that vital quality to begin with, she'd be feeling much more unstable, and probably would have had a mental breakdown long ago. But the gradual nature had caught her off guard, accumulating night by night. Her dreams seemed to be clearer, more vibrant, and at first it was somewhat enjoyable. The crispness of her memories was refreshing, since time should have dulled the images with its passing. Should have made her forget long ago. It was like revisiting a corner stone of her life. Being allowed a chance to see her past with older more experienced eyes. Maybe she was wiser, or just less likely to be biased in her own favor. But then the dreams started not to be memories at all, but took on a life of their own; brought her new images, new imaginings. But always they were of her companions from that time.

And then there was the whispering.

That began last month, after she started actively avoiding sleep. Come 2:00, 3:00 in the morning, Sarah would finally lay her head down and…listen. Faint words, and laughter, muddled around her. They were somehow amplified by the darkness of her sparse apartment. She'd hear even though she was most definitely not asleep. She refused to listen close enough to find out if the tone was mocking or not. At one point she was moved to fright, and refused to sleep at all. But maybe that just provoked whatever was happening to her, because she sworeshe'd hear something regardless. When she'd be making another cup of coffee in her kitchen, or when she was in the shower. She couldn't be sure if it was her name she heard or not, and frankly didn't want to ponder it. Her fright, however, would ebb despite her better judgment. A sort of soothing heaviness would befall the room, and be both menacing and comforting at the same time. Her eyelids would be coaxed in to closing, and the thick air would slow her breath until she was back, trapped in her dreams until daybreak.

And now it was Tuesday. She awoke with a lingering image of a red, leather bound book, like an aftertaste left behind on the back of her tongue. She felt strangely rested even though she was only averaging a few winks here and there. Getting up, she committed herself to showering, and greeting the day with her usual routine. Her feet padded over to her bathroom. It was small, but had a decent tub, which honestly was one of the selling points in her buying the apartment in the first place. As the water hit her neck, and the hot steam created goose bumps on her skin, Sarah set to not thinking of the chilling implications of her nighttime "episodes." If she put too much stock in them she had to be crazy. 'Maybe it was a sort of sleepwalking. A seizure. Maybe my building's water has gone funky.' she mused.

After she rinsed, and patted herself dry she stepped to her dresser, which was really just a set of storage drawers beneath her bed that she procured at the nearest Ikea. She eyed her bed warily. It had been years since she had even thought about the Labyrinth in depth, and to suddenly have her sub conscious all in a flutter over something that probably never happened was disconcerting to say the least. Her nights seemed now twice as long as her days, and she was easily distracted from her work. Sarah had landed what she thought was the ultimate step towards her dream career. She was interning at a local publishing company. She remembered imagining meetings with up-coming authors, and consultations for new stories or maybe even a series. Fresh out of school, and still searching for a stable income, she really couldn't afford for her mind to wonder as much as it had been lately. The floor supervisor had warned her once already that she was starting to flounder. Well warnedwasn't exactly the right word, belittledmight be a more apt term.

'Sarah, I thought you had assured me you were ready and prepared to take this position within our company. Really, if a few months are all it takes to get you to realize you're in over your head, you might as well quit while you're ahead. Or maybe, if you asked nicely, I'd diminish your already paltry workload.'

Sarah gave a small huff of irritation, recalling the smug expression plastered on her superior's face. 'Travis is so…just…guh. If I wasn't relying on his review of my work and his recommendation later on, I'd have kicked his legs out on day one.' Sarah suspected he also held a slight interest in her, which she may have unwisely rebuffed with a cold look here and there, so there was some unfair residual anger coming her way from Travis's direction. It's not that he was bad looking, just that she had a strict rule on not mingling business and her personal life. Good thing too, because his personality was rotten, and she would have called it of regardless. On the other hand, she couldn't really blame him for flirting with her, given that all the other staff in her department were well over the age of 40, with her being merely 24, and Travis maybe just pushing 30. She had heard from Maria, her desk partner, that his father, a man with significant funds invested in the business, had helped Travis secure his high position at so early an age.

Sarah finished her coffee, and glanced at her watch. 'Hmm, 8:30. And today we're meeting with a potential author, so I don't really need to be there until around 1:00.' That was one of the perks of her job. There was a lot of work she could accomplish from home, and as long as she got it done, she had to spend only few hours here and there t her actual desk. She walked back to her room, thinking she might as well get her busy work done at home, instead of trying to drown out the sounds of her office-mates. Sitting down at her desk, she opened up her folder to examine her "work" which was really just the busywork that got passed down to her because no one else wanted to do it. Sarah looked at the charts, depicting which books were selling at which book stores, then went on to estimate how many to order for the next restock depending on the variables x, y and z. Eventually, she hit a rhythm of filling in numbers and order boxes, and her mind drifted off to the striking image of a red, leather bound book, with golden lettering emblazoned on the cover. . She shut her eyes tight, and tried to refocus them on the sheet in front of her, but ultimately her mind wandered again.

'Sarah'

Her head shot up, and a chill went down her spine. Eyes wide she listened intently. That time, there was no denying it, the mysterious whisper had said her name. The sound had played like it was in stereo, filtering in one ear and out the other, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end. 'It's probably just stress. That, or I'm entirely bonkers.' She couldn't admit to herself that she was shaken, and that her reasoning was more than a little weak. She tried not to let it get to her, for that would mean that there was something actually happening to her. Sarah ran her fingers through he long, dark brown hair in frustration and anxiety, then rested her head in her palms, until she hunched down to lean on the desk, arms crossed, head face down in the crook of her elbow. 'I just don't understand this. Why am I remembering the Labyrinth at all, let alone now,when I need my mind to be clear most?'

Sarah took a few deep breaths, head still on the desk. 'They're jut dreams, they're not going to do anything to you,' she thought to herself. THe room was once again filled with a peculiar heaviness, and the air around her warmed and caressed her form. Her breathing soon evened, and slowed, and her eyelids fluttered until Sarah slipped off to a hazy sleep.

She was clutching something. Not opening her eyes, she ran her hands along the item in her grasp. A cool, slightly textured surface met her. Her fingers danced along the edges, along the dips and engravings in the surface.

"A book," she announced to no one at all. She opened her eyes to gaze upon the back. A textured, red, leather surface greeted her. Slightly pebbled, she caressed the spine and her gaze upon it's simple, graceful design. 'It couldn't be more than 200 pages…' she mused, taking in it's slender appearance. Turning the piece over, her eyes rested upon the gold lettering in the top center of the text.

"Labyrinth" she breathed.

The word fell from her lips like led. The letters on the cover were surrounded by black engravings, which were both elegant and sinister all at once. She opened the book, and was greeted with a waft of an ancient tomb, something that smelled much too old for a piece that looked so new. Before she could turn the first page she was taken from her inspection by a voice from…behind her? To her left? Her right? She couldn't tell. And turned her head side to side, eyes darting about trying to pinpoint its exact location.

'Sarah' it resounded around her. This time, the voice was undoubtedly male. 'Sarah,' she heard again, nearly letting the text fall from her hands. 'Sarah," it said once more as she was about to turn around…

"Sarah! Sarah, you there?"

Sarah's eyes shot open, and her spine arched upwards suddenly. Her breathing hitched and felt labored, and her brow set in a deep furrow.

"Sarah?" She turned her head to her beeping answering machine, locating the somewhat metallic quality of a voice that was undoubtedly her boss's. Still shaken, she reached to pick up the phone and settled it to her ear.

"uh…Hello?" She said, noting the dryness of her mouth as she spoke.

"Sarah! Do you have any idea what time it is? The meeting with our new client starts in less than 30 minutes, and we still don't have the printed prototype here yet! We were expecting you here over an hour ago with the copies in hand!" Travis was spitting fire over the phone. She could picture him pacing around the floor, running his hands through his shaggy hair, further disheveling his appearance. Her hackles raised at his tone, but her rattled mind made her bite her tongue, somewhere realizing it was she who was in the wrong here.

Still, her stomach dropped, as she glanced at the clock atop her nightstand. 2:00it glared at her. 'Shit, shit, shit, shit,'was the extent of the thoughts that ran through her head at that moment. "I'm leaving right now sir! Picking them up on my way! It won't take long, I'll get there in time, I promise!"

"Sarah! Sar-!"She hung up the phone with a clang; cutting off whatever unproductive nonsense he was about to spout. She sprang for her coat, having no time to change into a more work appropriate outfit, tossed on her boots, and snatched her bag from the table. She slammed the apartment door behind her and made off at a sprint down the hall. 'Okay, okay, step 1: get into the car, step 2: drive to the printers, avoiding traffic and taking appropriate side roads, step 3: pick up, floor it to the office, and don't get into a crash in the process.'_She felt around in her pocket for her keys, then thrust them into her car door, with a resounding jingle. Strapping in, she pulled out of the lot and sped slightlydown the street, until she hit the main road. She was on autopilot to the printers, having been sent there so many times before. She berated herself for falling asleep at all, let alone for hours. It would have made sense with how little sleep she was getting, except for how rested she felt when she awoke despite the restless evening.

"I guess I was more tired than I thought." Sarah stopped, and gazed at the red, iridescent glow from the stoplight. Briefly, a red cover danced across her minds eye. Shaking her head she continued on. "Okay, 1:45, I'm almost there and it takes less time to get to the office from the printers, I'm fine, I'm fine," she mumbled to herself. Sarah made a hard left once the printer's came in view, parking illegally in the lane. 'It'll only be a moment!' she tried to rationalize to herself.

She sprinted into the building, and up two flights of stairs, to the third office on the left. Pushing the door open, she yelled "Pickup! Peterson and McAllister!" Spying the familiar face of Peter at the front desk, she knew her order would already be there, wrapped up and waiting for her. She asked him to put it on the company bill, and bid him adieu, as she rushed back to her car, parcel in hand. "Sorry I can't chat! I'm late!" she tossed behind her as she jogged back to her car.

Speeding away, she glanced at the dashboard, '1:55,'it read. She made a right to avoid any possible traffic on the main road, and sped her little compact car as fast as she dared. 'Two more blocks, pull into the garage…'Sarah shut off the engine, grabbed the package, and sprinted to the third floor of the building. Her wrist watch was suddenly a heavy weight as she eyed it warily. 'This is really cutting it close!'

Out of breath, she turned the corner, making her way to the conference room at the back end of the starkly lit hallway. Home stretch! I made it! Come on! Sarah pushed the door open, rushing inside, her view blocked by the precarious stack of wrapped books in her hands.

"Travis! I'm he-oof!" Sarah was suddenly no longer upright, she realized as her eyes opened to see the fluorescent light on the boardroom ceiling. She had collided with…something, or someone? Taking a second to process her new point of view of the world from the ground, she was readying herself to spout out a chain of apologies, and pickup the dropped packages containing the prototype of the new author's book. She began to spout out phrases of apology, "Listen, I'm so sorry, I was just a little la-" but came to the conclusion that she would be unable to finish anyof her sentences today, when she had tentatively gazed up at whoever it was she had slammed into earlier.

Her breathing stopped, and she coughed on her own swallowed air.

Standing before her was a tall, looming figure, with wild blonde hair, which was poorly contained in a low ponytail at the base of the figure's neck. But what she noticed was his eyes, with differently sized pupils surrounded by an ice cold blue. They narrowed at her, and without any though Sarah whispered…

"Goblin King."