Chapter 1, A Rude Awakening

Sarah lay in her bed reading, as she always did. She looked out the window. It was raining. She gave a small sigh, resting her head against a pillow. She felt oddly at peace on nights like this, like there was nothing but her and the rain. Placing her book on her lap, she listened to the pitter patter of raindrops pelting against the window. The air was solemn. A cold breeze whispered a quiet tune, though graceful, it seemed dark and foreboding, haunting almost.

Her eyes grew heavy as she gazed out the window. Her blinks became lingering and slow, as if time was starting to pause. She was tired. Turning her gaze from the window, she glanced towards the clock. 12:59. It was late. She hadn't realized how long she'd been up reading.

"Ugh, I have class in the morning..." She groaned, closing the book and placing it on the table next to her bed. I can't believe I have to get up in six hours... She continued to groan.

Sarah began to drag herself around the room, acting as if her legs were lead weights. After making her way to the dresser, she not-so-gracefully chucked her jeans and T-shirt and reached for a knee-length frumpy night shirt. As Sarah held the shirt out in front of her, her gaze couldn't help but catch her reflection in the mirror. Something seemed odd for some reason.

There was a loud crash of thunder, rattling the old wooden beams holding up Sarah's room. She jumped slightly, as if she'd been waken from a deep sleep. She saw flashes of light in the reflection of the mirror. Time seemed to pause again. It was strange, seeing the crash of lightening yet hearing nothing. There was yet another loud boom of thunder, once again ripping Sarah from her daze. But something was different this time. The power went out.

Throwing her shirt over her head she made her way to the other side of the room, flicking the light switch up and down. Nothing.

"Damn." She mumbled. "Looks like my alarm won't be going off." She groaned to herself, trudging back to her bed.

Sarah sat on the bed and pulled the covers back, when something caught her eye. There was a light, coming from her dresser. She looked up and saw the red glow was coming from her alarm clock. She wondered if the power had come back on for a moment, before all the blood left her face.

Sarah sat frozen, staring at the clock ringing thirteen. Her hand gripped the comforter and her breath drew sharp. She quickly stood, darting her head around the room. It was quiet, unnaturally so. The rain was still falling, harder than before, yet it made no sound. She took a step back, bumping into the bed. She shrieked when a hand clamped around her ankle.

"Ahh!" She yelped, flailing her leg out of the hand's grasp. She stumbled forward, turning around and around frantically. Her heart pounded, she didn't know what to do.

Then the silence ended. One by one, garbled snickers filled the room. The storm outside cast dancing shadows across the room, making her unable to decipher was was there and what wasn't.

"No no no, this isn't happening again!" She screamed, bringing her hands to either side of her head and clamping her eyes shut. Through her efforts, she heard the voices grow louder and louder. In a furry, she made a mad dash towards the door. To her dismay, it was locked.

"Why is this happening? I haven't said anything. Please, stop!" She pleaded, trying to ignore the shadowed figures gathering around her. She felt tiny hands start to pull at the fabric of her shirt, and she felt a tear slide down her cheek. Dear God, why is this happening?

The tiny grips on her shirt grew tighter, and started to tug, inching her away from the door. Sarah held onto the handle of the door with all her might, squirming furiously to escape.

"Someone, please! Help me!" She cried, too frantic to think. Somehow, through her rush of emotion, a clear thought chimed through. They're not after Toby this time. They're after me. They're after ME? Why? I haven't said the words...Is Jareth? Her head darted to the window, searching for the menacing owl she never thought she'd be praying to see.

There was nothing. There was no one there. Jareth wasn't there. He wasn't even coming. A new surge of terror bubbled through her. At the very least she'd expected Jareth to come floating in making fantastic promises of magic and splendor.

She had all of two seconds to take this in before she felt a hard tug on her waist, pulling her from her thoughts. She was inching closer and closer across the room, towards the mirror. Sarah watched as one by one the dark figures reverted into the mirror, leaving nothing but their conniving smiles and sickly laughter. The mirror? She wondered. They're pulling me into the mirror? She clawed for anything, the bed, a chair, the very floor, but with no avail. Although they were much smaller than her, the Goblins seemed to possess a strength unknown to human physics.

She felt herself being lifted up from the ground, the handles on the drawers of her dresser dug into her back as the creatures pulled her onto it. Sarah's chest puffed up and down uncontrollably, her hair standing on edge on the back of her neck. She felt something cold on the back of her head. This was it, she was passing through the mirror.

A fist tightened in the mass of her hair, bringing another tear to her face. In a last ditch effort, Sarah did something she swore she would never do. She threw her head back, and with a quivering lip screamed until she had no voice left. She screamed a blood curdling cry, pleading for the one person she hoped to never see again.

"JARETH!"

And then it was quiet, the sound snuffed out as she passed through the mirror. The room was silent once more, until the sound of rain pelting against the window once again filled the room. It was as if nothing happened. She was gone.

Jareth's eyes opened slowly, staring at the ceiling. He gave a low sigh and closed his eyes once more, unfazed by the dream that had been haunting him for months now. A dream, no, not so much a dream. All he saw was darkness, it was what he heard. A voice, a scream. He gave another sigh, trying to envision his dark phantom. All he saw was blackness. But the sound, a most heart wrenching scream of pain and fear. It echoed through his mind. A woman. A woman was calling his name, pleading for him.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't bring an image to view. Surely, it wasn't just a nightmare; and he couldn't recall any such memory. It was something important, he just didn't know what.

"Who are you?" He asked the darkness above him. With nothing but silence in response, he rolled on his side and tried to fall asleep once more.

It wasn't so bad anymore. When the dream first started appearing it was enough to practically launch himself out of bed every night. As the months passed however, he became used to it. The dreams even started to stagger and fade. More and more time would pass between nightmares. But, just when he thought they had left him for good, there was a night like this. A cruel reminder that there was something he was supposed to know.

He gave another sigh, letting his body relax into the sheets. He closed his eyes and waited for sleep to take him, hoping the night would be silent, and forgetting the woman he couldn't save.

A/N- Hope you're ready for this one. I've got a pretty good idea how I want this to go, but nothing's set in stone. All I can say is be ready for more sensitive situations than I've previously written. Spoiler : Darker Jareth. Though, I'm not sure yet just how dark. But I can assure nothing too extreme. Also, Epilogue for Lemons will be up very shortly. Please let me know what you think. =)

Disclaimer- I do not own anything related to Labyrinth, Jim Henson or David Bowie.