Disclaimer – I do not own any of Labyrinth or the original characters. They are all the property of Jim Henson, George Lucas and Brian Froud.

Chapter One – Lost and Lonely

The house was silent except for the ticking of the clock on the wall in the hall which read half past three. The weather outside was miserable. There was a dampness in the air, dark grey clouds filled the sky and there was the feeling of an approaching rainstorm.

The front door of the house opened and a young girl entered the house carrying a schoolbag over her shoulder. She was fourteen years old but she looked young for her age. She had a beautiful lean figure, long dark hair and emerald green eyes. Dropping her bag on the floor she pulled off her coat and hung it on the wall. She peered back out the door and stared down the road. Letting out a small sigh she closed the door and picked up her bag. Just as she was walking through the hall towards the stairs there was a rumble of thunder which made her shudder slightly. "Oh no" she said disappointedly.

She went up the stairs and into her bedroom. The style of her room was not at all new. In fact nearly all of it had remained the same since the room had been occupied by its previous owner who was the girl's mother. She loved the style of her mother's old room so much that she's decided to leave it as it was and never asked to have it re-decorated. Having her mother's old room was almost like owning an heirloom.
The room had lovely wallpaper with patterns of flowers. Her bed in the middle of the room had high bedposts at the head. Over the top was red canopy curtains. A patchwork blanket was draped over the soft duvet. The wall was covered with posters including one which was Relativity (M. C. Escher). A bookshelf which was built into the wall was filled with row upon row of books which were mostly fairytales and fantasy adventures. And below the big window was a window seat which had soft orange cushions.

She sat at her dressing table and started brushing her hair. She looked at her reflection in the mirror but didn't show any emotion at what she saw reflected. Instead she placed her brush back down and went to her bed where her school bag was. As she took out the school books that she needed for homework, there was another rumble of thunder. She glanced out her window and saw that it had started to rain heavily. She shook her head and left her room carrying her books under her arm. On the landing she saw that the laundry was piled high in the big basket so she decided to put some on. So she carried the basket down to the utility and put a load on to wash. Once that was all done she made herself a drink and took a seat on the dining room table and laid out her books. At the top of her text book was written her name, "Jennifer Williams"

Jennifer Williams was a kind, good-hearted girl. Which was something she took after her mother. But none of the other kids at her school would just by looking at her think that she was anything special or important. In actual truth Jennifer would have been perfect if you were looking for someone to be a friend who supported you and kept you company when you were lonely. But none of the girls or even the boys wanted anything to do with her.
This was mainly because Jennifer's main hobby was reading. She loved opening a book and transporting herself away to wonderful places of fantasy, adventure, romance and mystery. She was part of a small club at school where they would pick out a novel from the school library and read it whenever they had free time. Once they'd finished reading it they had to write a descriptive review of what they thought about the book. And every Friday lunchtime, if someone had finished writing a review they had to share it. The club only had 5 kids, Jennifer included. This was one of the main reasons why none of the other kids in the school thought she was anything interesting.

Another reason was because Jennifer was also a hard worker in school. She was a very bright pupil and very intelligent due to how much she read. However, in other student's eyes their eyes, books and studying were nothing but a boring waste of time.
This wasn't something that went unnoticed by Jennifer. Every now and again she would pass a group of students and they would whisper and call her names like "Swot Head", "Book Geek" and "Weirdo". This made her very upset and lonely. Although she never showed her sadness on the outside, inside she was always screaming. Often she longed to complain and insult them back. But she saw no reason why she should follow their bad example. She never told a teacher about any of this because it would feel like telling tales. But all the same Jennifer was a very lonely girl.

Her English homework for the weekend was fairly easy and she knew that she would probably be able to finish it before bedtime. She had to get up only once to take the wet clothes out of the machine and put in the dryer.
About an hour and a half later while she was still doing her homework Jennifer heard the front door open. She looked up from her books and rubbed her eyes. "Mom?!" she called. Her mother walked into the dining room and gave her a loving kiss on the head. "How are you Jen?" She asked "I'm alright, thanks" the young girl replied. "And school?" she asked. Jen shrugged "Same old, same old." She patted her daughter's shoulder. "You got much left to do?" she asked gesturing to the books. Jennifer shook her head "No just a few lines left to write." Her mother patted her shoulder again "That's perfect, cause I'd like you to help me with dinner" Jennifer nodded. "Will do."

When she had finally finished she closed her books and put them aside and went to join her mother in the kitchen. She sat and peeled the vegetables while her mom prepared the meat. Once Jennifer had done all the vegetables, she went to get the laundry from the dryer which she had put in earlier. She collected the clothes then took them upstairs. First she went to her room to put hers away then went across the landing to take her Mother's.

Though Jennifer knew she was not in a good place at the moment due to school, her mother Sarah Williams was not in a good place either. Ever since Sarah's husband had ran out on them when Jennifer was eight. Sarah had fallen into a deep pit of despair which she had never seemed to be able to climb out of. And despite having her daughter close to her, Sarah Williams had become a women who was completely lost and lonely just like her daughter. With no close friends and not content in the place she worked.
It was almost as if both these girls had lost meaning and purpose in the world in which they lived.

This had gone on for so long and was made even worse when Sarah lost her father just four years ago. He had gone out one evening saying that he was going to visit his granddaughter. But his wife Irene had tried to convince him to stay home with her and their son Toby for the night. But Robert had insisted that he wanted to see his granddaughter who he loved dearly. While driving to Sarah's he was hit by a speeder who had been driving dangerously. He and the other driver had died before the ambulance got to the scene.
Ever since the incident Irene had blamed Jennifer for Robert's death. Even though her stepmother had not spoken to them since, Sarah could tell what Irene was always thinking. "If that little brat never existed, Robert wouldn't have been so desperate to go and drive to his death."

To make matters worse Irene forbad her son Toby to ever see his sister and niece again. But Toby who was now nineteen, did not like following his mother's cruel orders. So he would often jump on his motorbike and visit them whenever he could. It seemed he was the only other human being that truly loved them both. He had adored Jennifer ever since she was first born and he had only been five years old.
Whenever Toby was over for a visit Jennifer often noticed that her mother would look at him in a very odd and protective way. It was almost as if he was more like a son rather than a younger brother to her. But Jennifer knew that her mother seemed to be wishing to say so much but she couldn't.

Jennifer entered her Mother's bedroom, walked round the bed and went to put Sarah's clothes away. When she'd closed the wardrobe she turned and looked round the room. Everywhere there were photos. One of her when she was a baby. Photos of Sarah's life when her parents, Robert and Linda were together. Another on Sarah's dresser of Linda and Jeremy Sarah's stepfather. And on the wall next to the wall mirror was one of Sarah and Toby with their arms round each other. There were none anywhere of Irene.

Even though Sarah was a very honest woman Jennifer had figured out that her mother had a secret. Something from her childhood that she had never told Jennifer. She knew this because some time ago when Sarah was out for the afternoon Toby had been over and he'd had told her something really peculiar.
They had been sat together in the living room when Jennifer had asked him what Sarah had been like when she was younger and her uncle had replied "All through my childhood Sarah had been a wonderful sister to me. Looking after me at weekends, meeting me from school and even taking me out for fun stuff at weekends. But a lot of the time when she was with me, I saw that she never took her eyes off me or let go of my hand whenever she held it. It was as if she were scared about losing me."
Jennifer had leaned closer to Toby and said "Really!? Wow! That is strange."

Toby continued on. "Dad said that there was a time when Sarah was a completely different person. Back then she hated babysitting me and would never confide in him when she was upset and mostly kept to herself. But I found that hard to believe because it sounded nothing like the Sarah you and I've always known. Dad said it all changed on a particular night while she was babysitting me and he and mother were going out for dinner. She'd arrived home an hour late and was in an annoyed mood and seemed all ready to tear the whole place down. But five hours later they came home and the Sarah they found was a completely different person to the one they left earlier. She had become more gentle, understanding and caring to both me and Dad. What's more, from that night onwards she was more than happy to take care of me whenever they needed her to. Somehow during those five hours something had changed her and so quickly. Odd, don't you think Jen?"

Jennifer had once tried to ask her mother about all this but all she had said in reply was "I just realized it was wrong to think so badly of my brother and my Father. So I gave up just thinking about myself." When Sarah had said this Jen had noticed that her mother hadn't met her eyes. I was almost as if something was troubling her. This proved that there was more to it than what her mother had said. Something that she was too afraid to tell her.

She couldn't help it anymore. She wished she could figure out what it was that her mother was hiding from her. She walked across the room but then there was a loud rumble of thunder and she jumped, knocking her ankle against the old ottoman at the foot of Sarah's bed. As she rubbed her leg Jennifer realized that in the many times she had been in her mother's room, she had seen her mother open up all the draws and cupboards but never the old ottoman.
Letting her curiosity win over, Jennifer slowly reached forward and lifted the lid of the ottoman. Her jaw dropped when she saw all of the interesting things that were inside. A small pile of old soft toys, a bookend, a blue statute and a small book. One by one she picked up each of the things and looked at them carefully. They seemed to be mystical creatures that Jennifer had never seen or read about before.

The first one was a scarlet red, impish creature with fuzzy hair on its head, long skinny arms and legs and a long pointed nose and long ears. The second toy was a Fox-like creature wearing a red waistcoat, an eye patch and a small blue head scarf. The last toy was a Brownish-orange beast with fuzzy fur, curved Ram like horns on its head and two large fangs sticking upwards from its bottom lip. The single bookend had a small dwarf figure standing on it.
The blue statute was of an unusual looking man with wild hair and wearing a long cloak. In his right hand he was waving a wand like stick in the air and in his left hand he was holding out a small crystal ball the size of a marble.

The small book had a fine red leather bound cover and in bold gold letters the title on the cover read "The Labyrinth". A smile spread across Jennifer's face just like she did whenever she found a new book to read in the school library. "An interesting title" She thought. She opened the book and began to read it.

"Once upon a time

There was a beautiful young girl whose stepmother always made her stay home with the baby. And the baby was a spoiled child and he wanted everything for himself. And the young girl was practically his slave.

But what no one knew, was that the king of the goblins had fallen in love with the girl. And he had given her certain powers. So one night, when the baby had been particularly cruel to her, she called on the goblins for help.

"Say your right words" the Goblins said. "And we'll take the baby to the Goblin City. And you will be free."
But the girl knew that the king of the goblins would keep the baby in his castle forever and ever and ever, and turn it into a goblin.

And so the girl suffered in silence. Until one night when she was tired from a day of house work, and she was hurt by the harsh words of her stepmother and she could no longer stand it…"

Her reading was suddenly interrupted by an even louder burst of thunder and flash of lightning. She squealed, dropped the book and fell back clutching the bedpost. For a couple of seconds she took a few deep breaths as she waited to get over the shock and calm her pounding heart. "Jen!" Sarah's voice called from the kitchen "Dinner's ready" Quickly she closed the ottoman and left the room. But Jennifer had not realized, she had left the book lying on the floor beside Sarah's bed.

They both had their dinner together in the posh dining room and for a time they just ate in silence. Then Sarah asked "Did something happen up there sweetheart? I thought I heard something fall."
Jennifer contemplated asking her mother about the stuff in the ottoman. Wanting so badly to know if it was related to the mystery she was hiding. But she decided not to ask, just yet because at this time of the day her mother was always exhausted after her nine hour work day. And when people were tired or even hungry, it wasn't the best time to have serious discussions. She decided that at some point tomorrow she would ask. It was Friday night and her mother didn't work weekends so she was guaranteed enough time to speak to her mother.
All the same, to answer her mother's question Jennifer gave her an answer that wasn't the full story of what happened, but also was not a lie. "A thunder bang scared me and I fell over while I was putting your clothes away." Sarah blinked "Oh, I see. Did you hurt yourself?" Jennifer smiled and shook her head. "No, I'm alright. You know what it's like for me when there's thunder." Sarah nodded. "Don't worry dear. I'm sure when your older you'll get over it." Jen looked down at her food. "I hope so."
When they'd finished eating, Jennifer helped her mother clear the table and put the things away.

Later they sat together on the sofa in the living room as they always did on Friday nights and watched a movie. Jennifer loved these moments of sitting next to her mother with her head rested against her shoulder and Sarah's arm wrapped round her holding her close. It made her feel loved and wanted. But she couldn't help wishing it wasn't just them.
After the film ended they left the living room and Jennifer headed upstairs. Sarah went to lock the front door and switch off the hall lights. When she got to the top of the stairs she stopped and looked at a framed photo that hung of the wall. It was a photo of her, her mother and their old dog Merlin out in the garden. Sarah gently ran a finger down the picture frame. Merlin had died long ago and she missed him like you couldn't imagine. He had been someone else that truly loved her and never judged her. Still thinking of him she walked slowly into her room.

A little while later, Jennifer was in her favourite blue pyjamas and was giving her hair one last brush through. Pulling on her pale blue dressing gown she walked into the bathroom. She found Sarah already in there dressed in her night gown and they brushed their teeth together side by side.
Just before they left Sarah rubbed her eyes then blinked them sleepily. "Tired Mom?" Sarah nodded "Yes, Jen. I'm getting tired of the job. I almost feel ready to quit." Jennifer blinked "But Mom I thought you'd finally settled down in that place ages ago." Sarah sighed. "I thought I did, Sweetie. But for the past few weeks I've realized that I don't really belong there. I mean, every time I have a great idea they just ignore it. And when there's social events, they always try not invite me." Jennifer understood completely. She wished that she would be invited out to social events as well. But she too was the last person anyone would think to invite out. "You do whatever makes you comfortable Mom." She said. Sarah smiled and put an arm round her daughter.

Together they came out the bathroom and stopped by Sarah's bedroom door. "Mom, why don't you try dating again?" Jen asked curiously. She didn't mind if her mother found someone else. Just as long as whoever he was would be nothing like her biological father had been. Sarah shook her head "There's really no point" she said sadly. "Why Mom? I mean there might be someone out there." Sarah rubbed her daughter's shoulder. "I used to say that all the time when I was you age Jen. But I'm afraid that in my world, fairytales have remained in the pages of the books I read. And the prince out there for me only lives within the pages one of them." She leaned forward and kissed Jennifer's forehead. "You sleep well Sweetheart" They hugged each other close then Sarah went into her room.

Inside her bedroom Jennifer closed the door and leaned back against it. What did her mother mean? Did she have a crush on a story book character? Well that wasn't uncommon to book lovers. And it was the same with films. You could easily fall in love with the characters even though they only existed in the pages or on the screen and our imaginations.
But Jen believed that any man anywhere would be able to see the beauty of her mother if he only looked hard enough. Sarah only had to believe in herself as well. And she seemed to have lost all that when her husband had left them.
She hoped that her mother could remain strong like she always had been. But the long working hours and the lack of friendship and socialization seemed to be taking its' toll. But Jennifer was not the sort of girl that gave up. She knew that somehow they would find something that would fix their lives and revive their happiness. The first step was to convince her mother to tell about the mysterious things in her ottoman and what had happened in her childhood that changed her, according to Toby's story.

She walked towards her bed then she stopped. Her eyes had suddenly fixed on a music box which stood on her dressing table. The music box had been a present to her on her thirteenth birthday from her mother and it had had been her favourite. It was of a beautiful young women with wavy dark hair and dressed in a silvery white ball gown standing under a small gold gazebo. And it played the most beautiful musical tune that Jennifer had ever heard. Sarah had told Jennifer that the music box had originally been a present to her from her stepfather Jeremy and she too had loved it.
Jennifer now went to her dressing table, picked the music box up and wound it up. The beautiful twinkling melody filled her ears and she smiled a serene smile. Whenever she was feeling sad or having a hard time she always found that the music was a curing remedy.

She threw her robe over the chair of her dressing table, kicked off her slippers and climbed into bed. She lay down and watched the dancer going round and round. She imagined what she'd look like in a dress like that, dancing at a ball with a handsome partner and her mother doing the same in the embrace of the man of her dreams.
Her gaze went up to the ceiling and started to feel sleep falling upon her. Before Jen could even wonder what her mother had meant about "Her prince being within the pages of a book" she dropped right off to sleep.
For about three minutes all was quiet, except for the beautiful music which was still playing from the music box. Then before anyone knew it, Jennifer vanished completely from her bed without a trace.

Author's Notes

Well here we go then! A new fanfiction sequel story on one of my Favourite Fairytale films "Labyrinth". I have been wanting to do a Labyrinth fanfic for a long time and finally I have had inspiration. I hope you all read it and enjoy the chapters that will follow and leave me your thoughts on it in your reviews.

I wonder what has happened to Jennifer and where she has disappeared to.