A.n. - I'm currently revising these chapters, please let me know if you see any mistakes. I hope you enjoy the story ^_^.
Dedication-RosieB: thankyou very much for your suggestions and comments.
Chapter One
Sarah Williams awoke with a silent scream caught in her throat, hazel eyes were wide with a terror she could barely contain, her body slick with sweat. Every night it was the same. She awoke with tears in her eyes, a fear in her heart, and a feeling of loss so deep it cut her the quick.
Ever since that night two months before. Since the incident as she called it, no longer able to say the name of that place of him for fear it would summon him back. Back to her world...back to her.
Sarah rose slowly from her bed, walking slowly across her room to the window. Moonlight streamed through, lighting the darkness and casting shadows that seemed to twist and turn into ominous shapes before her very eyes.
She rubbed her face roughly with the palms of her hands, her fingers fisting into ebony locks with frustration. Peace had eluded her since that night. Since her battle with that Golden haired Fae...
She'd thought she banished him, shattered him into a million pieces and sent them scattering to the four winds never to darken her doorway or her dreams again. Nausea lurched inside of her, she rested her face against the glass. It felt pleasantly cool, soothing her heated flesh.
It wasn't over, she could feel that inside of her. How she ever thought it would be she didn't know. You didn't go around whipping an immortal at his own game and expect to walk away unscathed. Or to walk away at all. But she had, and now she would pay the price for her arrogance. And what an expensive fiddler he was.
Her dreams were like the shadows outside of her window. Formless and hidden, held just outside her grasp - like a shimmering crystal in the darkness. She did not remember them, she didn't want to. She knew there meaning and that was more then enough.
He was waiting for her. Waiting for his opportune moment. There game was not over, only the first halve. The stage was set once more, the opening act merely awaited her word, or that of another. And then it would begin again.
Trick me once shame on you, trick me twice shame on me.
Sarah licked her lips, pearly white teeth meeting rosy flesh as she nibbled nervously. Turning from the window, she made her way to her dresser. Sitting she carefully opened a single drawer with a trembling hand.
She shifted through the rubbish on top. Letters from her mother, play books, various medieval magazines until in the very back on the very bottom hidden from prying eyes she found it. A red leather bound book, its golden words a blaze on the cover.
"The Labyrinth."she whispered, her fingers running over the cover almost revertly.
A simple book, hard to belive all the havoc it could reek and had. A twelve word sentence that had changed her life, and had destroyed so many others. How many other girls just like her had screamed those words in frustration? How many more had lost the game, their little brothers and sisters transformed into something too gruesome to be thought of?
How many like she had never meant the words? How many before her had stumbled from redemption and reached for the glittering bauble she had resisted with everything inside of her?
Too many to know. So many broken hearts, Sarah betted, were weighted from this book.
And yet...and yet she could not bring herself to destroy it. She doubted that it could be destroyed - and feared the consequences that would arise should she try. Sarah laid the book before her on the dresser amid the stage make up and countless little trinkets. She stared down at it. Such a simple little book...
I want my brother, please, if its all the same.
What's said is said.
But...I didn't mean it.
Oh, you didn't?
Sarah shut her eyes, trying to block out the words, the memories that rushed over her like a flood. They would not be denied and poured over her like molten lava. Burning, branding her just as he had. He had left his mark on her, and she knew now more then ever that it would never go away. He would darken her path as long as she walked it, no matter how far she ran he would be there...taunting her to the end.
You are cruel Sarah, we are well matched you and I. I need your cruelty, just as you need mine."
Tears burned.
Give me the child.
Sarah - beware. I have been generous up till now. But I can be cruel.
Generous! What have you done that's generous?
Everything! Everything you've wanted I have done. You asked that the child be taken - I took him. You cowered before me, I was frightening. I have re-ordered time, I have turned the world upside down - And. I. Have. Done. It. All. For. You. Its exhausting living up to you expectations...Isn't that generous?
Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child you have stolen. For my will is as strong as yours - And my Ki-
Stop! Look Sarah...what I'm offering you...Your dreams.
And my kingdom as great
I ask for so little. Just let me rule you. And you can have everything that you want.
Kingdom as great...damn I can never remember that line..
Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave.
Kingdom as great...kingdom as great...
You have no power over me!
Sarah shook her head, rubbing the back of her hand against her eyes. She had won. She had said The Words, she'd banished him hadn't she? Why then did he continue to haunt her? Why would he not leave her in peace?
She wasn't even safe in her waking hours. She could feel him as she walked down the street, sat in class, ate her food, even when she showered - which had become a quick affair as of late. A ghost hand upon hers, a whisper in the window, his song playing on the radio. Little ways he could tell her that he was there, he was watching and that she would not escape him.
Abruptly a wind shot through her room though her window and door were closed. Sarah shrieked, jumping up at of her dresser chair and stumbling back. The wind ripped through her hair throwing it over her shoulders and The Book...it pulsed as though in time with her pounding heart.
Its pages flew rapidly from one side to the other and then at long as settled near the end. Sarah could read the words even from here. The final confrontation that had riveted through her mind.
"YOU HAVE NO POWER OVER ME!"She screamed the words, uncaring that her father, brother, and Karen were all asleep merely a few doors down from her own.
This had to stop, he and to stop lest he claimed her sanity just as easily as he had snatched her brother. The Words were power, power that had sent him from her sight once before. Perhaps it would have the same effect twice.
Laughter, warm and masculine, baritone and sweet as poison caressed her ears.
"I beg to differ."
Sarah looked around wildly. The room was empty...empty...EMPTY!
Her lips trembled, her heart a hammer in her chest as her eyes darted across the room. Her eyes locked on the mirror and she watched, transfixed, as her mirror image twisted and diluted into...a figure with wild silver blond hair, eye brows like knives slashed over slanted, miss matched eyes lighted with eye shadow.
The long nose leading to the cruel lips which lifted with a smirk to show sharp teeth. Glittering ivory skin pulled taunt over high cheekbones and a face that was the most beautiful and cruel she had ever seen. He was dressed in black, black leather with black leggings...all darkness and power. All that he was and would always be still had the power to shake her to her very core.
"No...NO! I WON! You can't be here! You can't!"She screamed, her voice teetering on hysterical.,"I didn't call you! I never said the words!"
He chuckled, throwing his head back, drawing attention to his graceful neck and the dip in his silk shirt that revealed his chest and the crescent moon he wore. Perfection of the highest order. Sex incarnate.
"Sarah, Sarah...have you learned nothing at all through my Labyrinth? Do you belive me so weak as to be constrained by crude mortal word? Sarah, Sarah...Sarah"He mocked, breathing her name. Possession on his lips, in his cold eyes.
She planted her feet firmly, setting her jaw and her eyes. She wouldn't let him do this. The ball was in her PARK god damn it and he was not calling the shots. No children had been wished away, there was no demented maze for her to run in less then 13 hours...no peach to make her forget.
He couldn't do anything...right? Because, he had no power over her. Oh how that lie burned in her mind as it did each time it rolled off her tongue like acid.
"Get out, Jareth."She said firmly, her hands clinched tight, each word a silver bullet,"You don't belong here...get out of my life and stop haunting me. Stop being a sore loser and move on!"
"Only you would dare the comparison of mere poltergeist to me, my Sarah. Only you."He chuckled,"And I will always belong. I did the second you opened yourself to me. What's said is said, remember my Sarah?"
"I'm not yours...get out!"
Sarah looked and grabbed the closest thing to her - her music box - and chucked it as hard as she could through the mirror. It shattered into thousands of pieces, the shards did not fall but instead flew at her and she rose her arms instinctively to her face for protection the rest of her curling in on herself. She could feel the sting small cuts as the glass flew by, the soft thud as many impaled themselves in her wall.
She felt arms around her, lips against her ear.
"I'll see you soon, MY Sarah."he said softly, dangerously.
Sarah jerked awake, nearly falling out of her chair. She looked around wildly, she was in her room...no glass littered the floor or impaled the walls. She looked at her mirror, it was perfectly intact, not a single crack...and her reflection was her...not...not...not...
She reached out a trembling hand, her finger tips meet cold glass.
"Ouch!"
Sarah gasped, looking down at her stinging arms. Blood was running in slow rivets down them. Angry slashes had been made down her upper and lower arms, thighs, stomach, and her hands. the ones on her hands were small like paper cuts...her arms and legs were another story.
They were thick, and jagged and gushing blood. She rose shakily and grabbed a near by t-shirt, dabbing at her many wounds. Thirteen long ones in all, and while all had missed her main arteries they still burned like hell.
Panic fought for control inside of her as she paced. Jareth wasn't done with her, something she had already known, but now he had made it even more clear. Had that all just been a dream or reality?
Sarah looked at her mirror and music box. Both were undamaged and her parents weren't knocking down her door from her screaming. Sarah snorted. But then, if she was screaming bloody murder the only reason they'd probably come call on her would be to get her to shut up so they could sleep rather then to cheak on her well being.
Sarah winced at the uncharitable thought knowing instantly from whence it had sprung. While she had come to terms with the fact that Karen wasn't exactly the most evil person on the planet whos only goal in life was to make her own miserable - things still weren't all apples and cherry pie.
Sarah glanced over toward the window and was startled to see the sun shining through. But...it had been the deep reaches on night mere moments ago...hadn't it? Or had that all be part of her dream, or perhaps, Jareth's illusion?Sarah rubbed her eyes, trying to order her thoughts. It was morning then she had to get downstairs and get breakfast prepared or Karen would have a cow - as was her costum.
Sarah grabbed a pair of black jeans and a black long sleeved shirt from her closet. It would be over 85 degrees today, but she didn't really feel like explaining why she had cuts all up her arms and legs. She couldn't even explain to herself in a way that was sane, much less to another person!
Yeah...this evil Goblin King wants revenge on me and as trying to drive me insane. I broke my mirror in my dream because I saw his reflection there and not mine and the glass flew at me and I woke up with the cuts.
Yeah. That'd go over well. Especially the Goblin King part. Hello Nut House.
Sarah shook her head ruefully and pulled on her robe. Poking her head out her door she assessed quickly that for now she was the only one stirring in the silent house. Tip toeing she made her way quickly to bathroom. Locking it she grabbed a towel and fiddled with the knobs until the water was luke warm. Sarah glanced at the mirror and debated only a moment before throwing her robe over it.
She showered quickly, gritting her teeth as the spray meet her vulnerable sliced flesh. Finished she dried quickly and bandaged what wounds she could with the first aid kit under the sink. Sarah dressed quickly, buffed her hair and brushed her teeth. At last she removed the robe and looked full on into the mirror.
She could barely recognize the girl who stared back at her. Her face was pale and drawn, her eyes sunken ever so slightly and puffed with lack of sleep. Eyes that had once sparkled with innocence had dulled, Sarah glanced down. Her clothes were loose on her, her pants nearly a size in a half too large.
She'd lost weight, a lot of it. Maybe not enough for anyone other then her to notice; but that wasn't the point. Small things that all lead to a bigger picture, a bigger purpose. Jareth was influencing her life...and he was winning. She was falling apart, eroding like rock under a steady onslaught of heavy waves from the sea.
If only she felt as strong as that rock.
Run, run, run! her mind screamed, but how could she? Where did she have to go? She could run to the ends of the earth...and never truly escape. You can't escape that which has been engraved into your very soul, into your mind.
"SARAH! GET UP THIS INSTANT!"
Sarah flinched at the wail of her step mother. Glancing up at the clock inside the bathroom she winced. She was over 30 minutes late getting downstairs before her step mother. Which meant breakfast wasn't prepared. Hello Bitch Fit.
Shuttering her eyes Sarah ran a hand through her hair, threw open the door and hurried down the stairs.
"COMING!"
Swinging around the banister after descending the stairs Sarah entered the kitchen slowly.
"Your up late. Again. I don't ask for much, but you know full well I have to be at the office early and don't have the time to prepare a meal for Toby and your father. A fact you conveniently forget."She snapped, her long red nails clicking on the counter.
A small woman of 5'6 with platinum blonde hair that never moved an inch once styled, along with her makeup. It was as though the hairs themselves were afraid to fall out place. Steel blue eyes stared Sarah down, impatience and irritation apparent.
"I had to take a shower."
"That's no excuse, Sarah. Prioritization is the key, you know that. Besides, the reason I wanted you up early was to let you know that you're uncle Iro has agreed to take you for the rest of the school year. His boy, Ryou, needs the companionship and you haven't exactly been doing the best as of late either. You're father and I think it would be a good start for you."She said all of this in one breath, her expression now anxious as she waited her teenage step-daughter's response.
The fact that Sarah's face had just turned purple let her know that once again she had not delivered that news very well.
"What!"Sarah questioned, anger and resentment burning her to the core.
How she loathed that woman and her polished demeanor in that moment. Everything about her - from her pressed business suit to her heeled black shoes Sarah hated.
Coldness settled in those blue eyes,"I'll let your father tell you. He'll be down any...ah, there you are honey,"She gushed, pushing past Sarah to her husband,"I was just telling Sarah about our discussion the night before."Her voice was calm and sweet, her blue eyes nearly glowing.
Sarah's father shifted, a tall man with black hair and dark eyes and a habit of being more then a little weak when it came to the women in his life. It was a fact that she knew very well, learning at a young age how to exploit this guilt. That is until Karen came along. Though the woman had never done anything particularly cruel to her, she had however been the disciplining hand that Sarah had never had before.
It was the seed of the animosity that had always grown between them. It didn't help that her Father never seemed to want to choose sides between them. His will was built on the sand and written in the wind. Easily blown away, easily redone.
"Yes...Sarah, Karen and I have been discussing this for some time."he began reluctantly, his dark eyes flickering up at his only daughter with a look of unsure timidity, I was reluctant at first but more and more I see her point. I had thought you would grow out of these phase you're in, in fact at first a couple months back we both thought you were but now..."
"What?"Sarah demanded from gritted teeth, trying hard to regain her focus and now expload with typical bout of rage.
"You're worse then before, Sarah! Atleast a few months back you showed some kind of emotion, made attempt to go out with your friends now and again. All you did is lock yourself in your room. You grades have slipped down far too much, your teachers don't understand and neither do we. I'm...I'm at a loss what do with you, Sarah."
Sarah licked her lips slowly, her teeth grazing her lower lip as she forced a sarcastic smile, "So this is your solution? Kick me out to live with strangers? I don't even know her brother Iro! Much less Ryou! This is completely - "Sarah cut herself off, her hands white knuckled fists, she felt them bite crescent moons in her palms, " - not r-right."she stammered.
"Honey, we love you. That's why were doing this. Karen suggested maybe a change of scenery would do good for you. Ryou was having similar problems a year or so with being a recluse and losing friends and ever since they moved to Japan he did a complete 180! We think it could do the same to you."His voice was pleading with her, begging her to understand.
Sarah sneered, "You're throwing me out but you want my blessing about? Not going to happen. Do I even get a choice about this, did you even call mom to ask her."
"I did try," he replied, searching out his wife's cold expression from the corner of his eye, "But her agent said she was unreachable right now."
Sarah felt like she was sinking into a pit full of black tar. There was no getting out. She could scream, cry, throw as big a tantrum as she liked but it wasn't going to change anything. Hog tie her and throw her on the plane, she was still going.
"Besides, Sarah, "Karen began in a firm voice, "This is a great opportunity for you -"
"Is it? Seems to me you two are the only ones really benefiting."
"We'll come and see you every chance we get, every holiday and -"
"Oh not that old line again. I've heard it too many times. Why don't I just make things easier for you and just go upstairs and pack so you can just be rid of me?"
"Sarah - "
"I don't want to hear it."she cut him off and fled the room.
As she mounted the stairs, she could still here them in the kitchen.
"Are you sure this is right?" her father asked.
"I don't know what else to do, Charlie. She's wasting away in front of us, I know that it did work for Ryou -"
"She doesn't even speak Japanese, Karen!"
"I know, but Ryou is from England and he speaks both very well. She'll be fine. This will all work out for the better, you'll see."Her voice brook no room for argument and Sarah didn't hesitate any longer to see if he would bother on her behalf.
And the young girl was practically a slave...
Sarah felt tears burn at her eyes and she couldn't help but slam the door to her room. She clicked the lock into place and paced the room, unwilling to throw herself on the bed and sob for all she was worth as she had before.
She felt like Juliet in her play when she had argued with her mother and father over the arranged marriage to Paris. The circumstances were different, oh yes, but the rejection, the humiliation...that was the same. A crystal image one could say.
Hang, beg, starve, die in the streets, for, by my soul, I'll ne'er acknowledge thee, nor what is mine shall never do thee good! Trust to 't, bethink you, I'll not be forsworn.
Is there no pity sitting in the clouds, that sees into the bottom of my grief? Sweet my mother, cast me not away..
Sarah turned, eyes irrevocably falling on the family picture that sat on her dresser. It was new, it had Karen, her father and toby and herself in it. Her eyes burned into the photo of the woman that had tried in her own way to be her mother, but could never compare to the ghost that still haunted her memory.
Talk not to me, for I'll not speak a word. Do as thou wilt, for I have done with thee
Somewhere a Goblin King laughed at the pure, cruel irony of it all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~One Week Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sarah departed from the plane with a determined air, her eyes heavy from lack of sleep and the tears she kept now locked deep inside. She was in Domino, Japan...her exile. Her banishment. Fate did have a horrible since of humor it appeared.
Blinking rapidly Sarah looked through the crowds of people. Her trip to the air port had been uneventful one. Her father trying to make strained conversations which she barely, if at all, paid attention to, Karen staring out the window and Toby...Toby had been being Toby.
He was the one she could miss, his gap tooth smile, his beautiful eyes and curling blonde hair...in a way he was more her son then Karen's. She had spent more time with him anyway. It was a surprise he didn't call her mother and not that woman...
Sarah ran a hand through her hair, gathering her bags from trolly. Three suitcases, two backpacks, one gym bag. All stocked with various possessions she could not bare to leave with out. Beyond the bare necessity that is...for who knew how long she would be staying here. They hadn't exactly given her a time frame.
She supposed until they sent for her. The real question was would she respond - or would Jareth have her by then? Would she have ceased to be by then? For the first time that didn't seem so bad. An end to the pain of living...an end to it all.
Shaking her head ever so slightly at her own morbid thoughts Sarah scanned the crowd. Karen's brother's son was suppose to be meeting her here. She stood on her tippy-toes, eyes scanning over the crowd. Realizeing belatedly that she had no idea how she would suppose to recognize him as she had never seen a photo of him. Hopefully she would have one of those big card-board cards with her name on it like in the movies.
What was his name again? Ah yes, Ryou Bakura...
Bakura, Ryou shifted nervously as she shifted the white cardboard sign in his hands that read Sarah Williams in English. Ryou was nervous...no, nervous wasn't the word for it. Down right terrified...yes, that fitted a lot more.
Why? Why did his father have to do this...why!
Ryou was half tempted to turn and flee...run from this girl and save her the dark fate that she would have should she enter that cab and return to his home with him - him and his Other to be exact. The gentlemen in him recoiled form the idea, imagine stranding a girl in a foreign country where she knew not a soul and most likely not the language either. It was unseemly.
But still...Oh god...the danger she was in...His Yami...the darkness that dwelt inside of him, what would he do to her? To him? Oh his anger had been frightful when he had learned of his father's plan. That a girl would be sent to live with them, perhaps merely a few months, may hap even a couple years until school was over!
What if she learned - what if she found out about the Items? About his Yami...Ryou knew full well the lengths his Yami would go to keep her from becoming an...obstacle in his plans. God the uncertainty was sure to give him a heart attack any moment now, the panic was almost enough to make him faint already!
Ryou didn't want any more blood on his hands...but already that seemed to be an inevitability. His hands clinched around the white sign, it weighed as heavily upon him as the Sennen Ring did around his neck. How could he protect her when he couldn't even protect himself, his friends?
Abruptly he saw her.
Long ebony hair as black as a ravens wing, she was dressed in plain blue jeans and a white poets shirt. Her eyes, luminous and a glorious hazel that held a sadness that mirrored that of his own heart. Her lips were full, her cheekbones high and aristocratic. She was tall, perhaps a bit taller then himself.
Various luggage surrounded her and she struggled to pick some of it up and walk toward him. Even at fifteen the girl was stunning...she was American...obviously. That was one thing about any native American...they were always easy to spot a mile away outside their own country. It was something about the way they moved...the way their eyes darted over the crowd.
No...was this Sarah Williams?
Let it not...please, gods, don't let it be!
She was lovely, and her face held kindness...Ryou didn't want to see her meet the gruesome fate that always fell to those who were near him. He didn't want her to die. His eyes dropped down to his hand and the white puckered scar through the middle. And she would if she stayed. She'd be lucky if she did then suffer the fate a far worse fate. For Ryou had long since learned that there were far more horrible things then death...
Sarah stared at the boy that held the white sign with her name printed in black block letters across it. He was young, around her age with long white hair and deep chocolate brown eyes that were wide with innocence and naivete...but so much more then that. He was of a lilthe build, not really muscular but not scrawny either. His features were delicate and soft - feminine in their beauty. At a first glance one could almost mistake him for being female.
Struggling with her luggage she made her way over.
"...Ryou Bakura?"She asked meekly, hoping she wasn't about to make a fool of herself.
"Hai...I mean, yes, and you are Sarah Williams?" He questioned, his voice soft as he stumbled over the English tongue...it'd been so long since he'd spoken it.
Dropping her suitcase lightly Sarah held out her hand.
"Yes, nice to meet you. I'm glad you speak English...I'm afraid I don't speak much Japanese."
He took her hand, his grip was soft but firm. Showing a confidence and shyness. There was an odd reluctance in his movements though...as though he were afraid. Not exactly of her...but..
"Yes...my father and I are originally from England...I moved here not long myself. We are usually on the move because of his work...as such I speak a variety...If you'd like I can help you with your Japanese...you'll need it in school."
"Yes, I'd guess so."
Sarah picked back up one of her suitcases and Ryou reached over to grab the remaining two.
"Let me help you with these...the cab is waiting outside."
"Kay."
Sarah followed him from the building and into the cab. The ride was filled with strained conversation. Sarah could feel the boys nervousness, though she felt it wasn't just shyness that propelled it She couldn't put her finger on why, but she felt he was hiding something.
But then who was she to judge on that score? She too had her secrets to keep. Despite all this, she couldn't help her immediate likeness of the boy. He was so shy and polite, it was nice to meet someone who was quiet and not so loud...not so...like everyone else.
Misery does so love company, after all.
Night had fallen over Domino and in his room Ryou paced, his fear mounting as he felt his Yami stir inside of him.
He'd been quiet all day since Sarah's arrival and all the time she and he had spent together. So quiet that for a spell Ryou had forgotten about him. Forgot that he was not a normal boy...forgot the burden that weighed heavily on his soul.
Sarah...was not a normal girl...of that much Ryou was sure. There was something about her. An aura, something that suggested that she moved in worlds that only he and a few others could dare understand. Because they were all touched in that same way, the invisible hand of fate plucking at the cord that was their lives...
Ryou sat down on his bed, a tremble racing through him as he felt his Yami's mind brush his own. A intimate touch, memories flickering across his minds eyes as his Yami thumbed through his thoughts and feelings of the day as easily as one might a book.
He felt a pull deep within his chest, a sudden drain of energy and the beginning of a head ache that he knew all too well. His Yami was separating from him, it was a feeling that he had become accustomed to. And much preferred to his Yami taking control of his body. Something he was prone to do when ever the urge did appeal to him.
He watched as the air seemed to glitter, shift and distort that then become devoid as the form of Yami no Bakura appeared. Silver hair fell in a wild spiked mane around a sharp face that, while holding some of his features, was not him. Many said they looked just alike, but Ryou himself could not see it.
Oh yes, their hair and flesh - like sun bleached bones. But the angles of their face were different. Yami no Bakura's were harsher, more cruel - but still beautiful. Ageless, timeless even. He was dangerous and evil, that in itself was an intoxicating aphrodisiac about him that had lead many to their doom. He was a mystery, more addictive then any drug...and he knew it. He was lust given form and one had only to see the confidence in his walk to know that he knew it as well.
Ryou was softer, his demeanor- while proud - was quiet and sweet. He was gentle and it showed, there was no harshness in his gaze or his movements. He was innocence, his Yami the corruption. Yes, they were complete opposites in every way. But then, they were they other halves of each others soul. It would be a pointless trump of fate for them to mirror each other so completely. They were each other's reflection, yes, but distorted. One up, the other down...one black and one white. Yang and Yin.
Yami no Bakura smirked, sharp canines fleshing. Teeth that had torn into him and tasted his blood...lips that had kissed him tenderly and savagely, lips that had torn his heart and soul asunder only to bring him right back from the edge. What fun is a completely broken toy, after all?
"Y-Yami-sama."Ryou greeted softly, his hands twisted on his lap.
Ruby eyes tinged with brown flashed. His Yami was not pleased. Obviously. Situation normal. Unless a Sennen Item was in his grasp or a fresh kill illuminated his skin he rarely was.
"So...you got the girl obviously against my wishes."
"I...I had to, or father would of become suspicious - "
"You dare interrupt me?"
Ryou flinched, his body breaking out into a cold sweat, his eyes dilating with a fear that started in his belly and stretches out through every limb. Thump, thump, thump his heart sounded in his chest like a frenzied drum.
"I-I'm sorry, Yami-Sama."
"You forget your place, slave or do you need more reminders? Was the last not enough?"
Ryou jumped, his hand going to his lower back more out of reflex then memory...oh yes, he remembered...and he would never forget. His fear made him slip into broken English mixed with Japanese. Not that it mattered, whatever language he was fluent in so was the spirit of the Sennen Ring.
"Ne-ne, Yami-sama. Gomen."
"How ungrateful you are towards my gifts,"Slender fingers intertwined through Ryou's hair,"You should be proud to wear my mark, insolent dog."
"I-I am, Yami-sama..."
His hands twisted cruelly in his hair, yanking his head back so the cartilage cracked. Brown meet red and burned like an inferno.
"You have an odd way of showing it, Hikari."
His Yami released him, throwing him backward like he'd brush of a fly. Ryou laid there for a moment before daring to sit up. He moved slowly, not wanting his Yami to take any hint of defiance in his moves. Keeping his eyes fixated on his Yami's chin, not daring to meet his gaze.
"Do you really think I care what that pitiful old fool would do?"Ryou blinked, not understanding for a moment until he realized his Yami was answering his earlier...interruption," He is no threat to me. The only reason he still breathes is because he rarely darkens our door." Yami no Bakura sneered, absently straitening the long black shirt he wore.
Ryou lowered his gaze and took the silk button up his double wore, down to the black leather pants he wore and combat boots. Items that didn't belong in his closet, obviously, as it was filled more with loose jeans, sweaters, and so on...but ones his Yami had either conjured or stolen. Most likely the latter...his Yami did so love any challenge he could find in this century. And as he had pointed out to his lighter half many a time, those were few.
"She cannot stay here, Hikari. She will interfere."
"She doesn't know! She knows nothing of the Items. I will keep her out of your way..onegai, onegai Yami-sama.."Ryou begged, knowing it was her very life he pleaded for and not a brief respite.
"You are pathetic...you would beg for her life? What? Out of compassion? Or.."He stalked closer to his light, his pallid face inches from his own,"Or do you like her Hikari? I felt your reaction when you saw her. Do you want her, is that it?"he laughed hard in his lights face and Ryou's face blushed crimson.,"Do you want her to warm your bed?"
"Its not like that...I just...I just don't want you to hurt her...she's...she's my friend."he said desperately, memories of a certain game named Monster World flashing through his mind. Little plastic figures...
"You think you can control her Hikari? You? The blind protecting the blind?"He sneered.
"I..."
"You what?"He pressed his face close to Ryou's,"Give me one good reason not to slip into her room right now and slit her throat Hikari. Hurry, my blade is impatient and so am I."
Ryou licked his lips,"I...She...hasn't done anything...she won't...she's innocent Yami-sama...onegai...don't..onegai."he pleaded.
His begging appeared to amuse his darker half, as it always did. Yami no Bakura...the King of Thieves and a heart of Ice. He loved the feel of blood upon his chest and his lips, how could he convince one who so dearly loved the kill not do just what he desired...? How?
Yami no Bakura ran a finger down his Hikari's face, catching the pearl tear that feel down. It felt so cold against Ryou's face...like the blade of the dagger his Yami wore in his right boot...
"!"
The scream rocked the house, just as his own had done many a time before. Ryou jumped, his eyes locking on his closed door. Sarah...it was Sarah! She was screaming. His Yami raised an eye brow in surprise. Screams already? He hadn't even done anything.
He vanished into the Ring, and Ryou felt himself thrusted into his soul room before he could even attempt to fight the losing battle. He felt his arms and legs move, though he himself had no part in the commands. Through his Yami's eyes Ryou watched himself leave his bedroom and make his way toward the guest bedroom that had become Sarah's...
A room of broken glass, once a glorious ball room perhapes, lay before Sarah Williams eyes. Despite the tattered white tapestries, upturned tables and chairs, even with the disruption she had no trouble deciphering the room in which she stood.
It was the room in which she had danced within the arms of the ageless Fae, the room in which the tainted peach had thrown her. Her secret dream, her desire deep within her own heart. The Corrupt Ball Room.
She turned slowly in a small circle, glancing down at her attire. At the torn puffed sleeves, the tattered mother pear dress that despite its destroyed appearance still held a glimmer of the beauty it had once before. One of the sleeves of her dress was completely gone, the other hung loosely around her arm. He had brought her here, she had no illusions about that.
"...Jareth?"She called out, cursing herself instantly for the timidity within her voice.
Now was the time to show strength, not fear which was a chink in her armor. To stumble in his presence was certain death. Or perhaps something worse. He was a Fae, after all. Powers far beyond her own.
Fire erupted around her. Catching onto the table cloths and spreading all around her, a blazing inferno. The floors seemed to of been slicked with kerosene for it traveled with an amazing pace. Sarah shrunk backward, turning to run only to find her path blocked by the same fire.
She could here his laughter in the air and anger replaced the fear that had paralyzed her.
Sarah felt the heat of the blaze on her face, on her arms and legs. She tore at her dress, ripping it to the knees. She batted at the flames but that seemed only to entice them further into new heights. Tears plummeted warmly down her face as she searched blindly for an exit.
Darting her way between the walls of fire she searched for an escape just as she had once hunted for him through the mirage of people that had filled the ballroom. Run, Run, RUN! her mind commanded and her body fought to comply.
Glass cut through her softly soled shoes, fire burned at her arms..the smell of burnt hair was in the air. Batting at her head she ran through the tables and at last found what she sought. A hole in a large mirror. Jagged glass outlined it...as though it had been broken.
She saw herself in her minds eye slamming a white chair against it with all her strength. Blackness was inside, the feel of cold air whistled across her bare arm and legs. It felt Delicious, almost like a balm to her burned flesh. She looked back at the fire then at the shadows before her. A leap of faith. How cliche.
Shutting her eyes and swallowing the ball in her throat she jumped.
She seemed to fall forever. How familiar it all seemed. She hung suspended, gradually falling. And then, like a cord held to taunt, it snapped and she fell like a stone. Plummeting down into the unknown. A scream of fear hung on her lips and filled the air echoing back to mock her terror.
She landed hard on her front. Her body spasmed in pain, the feel of hard stone and granite scraping beneath her face. She lay there a moment, trying to catch her breath and suppress the agony that threatened to overwelm her. She pushed herself up, absently feeling for broken bones. Her entire body ached as though struck with a sledge hammer...but she seemed intact - for the moment any how.
She slumped on her knees, her hands running over her bruised skin tenderly. The dress was gone, she noticed, she was now dressed in the same garb she'd once worn in the Labyrinth. Plain blue jeans, long white shirt and embroidered vest, scuffed brown shoes and white socks that - yup, she wiggled her big toe- even had that same annoying hole in it.
She looked around her, the room seemed filled with an ethereal blue light, that seemed to only cast more shadows rather then to light her way. But she didn't need any light to tell where she was. It was the Escher room. The scene of their final battle.
The stage was set with only the remaining cast to arrive. Glancing down at herself she could see the redness where she had been burned. She ran a finger over the inflamed flesh; it was still hot to the touch and even that feather light touch was painful. Blisters were already forming.
Click...Click...Click..
Sarah looked up at the sound, feeling him before she saw him emerge from the shadows. He was dressed in black leather vest opened at the chest, silk red cloth bellowing out. the shirt below plunged low to give a perfect view of his sculpted chest and the pendent he wore. It glinted ominously in the light.
Black leggings and shiny black boots completed the attire. Red and black...colors of blood and darkness, of power and craven desires. Command of elements in every way was never out of Jareth's reach.
Sarah stumbled to her feet, her eyes never leaving the molten fire of his miss-matched gaze. He walked steadily toward her, his movement stealthy and predatory in their nature. At once she was struck with his sudden grace, at the way the light danced off his face.
The feel of just being within his presence. That smell of magic that swirled around him. It seemed impossible for him to ever stumble, ever make an awkward movement...ever fail to please the eye.
"Jareth."
Her lips formed his name, but no sound fell from her lips. Her mouth suddenly felt dryer then any desert in Egypt. He smirked at her, eyes flashing. She suddenly felt very much like a sacrificial lamb being offered up toward a God to appease his vengeance. Like the sacrificial virgins of times long passed. Down into the volcano, or their blood spilt across an alter. All for a higher purpose.
Sarah squared her jaw, her lips pursing and her eyes narrowing. Sacrifice, maybe, but she wasn't going to go quietly. He would not have her without a fight. It felt as though a rock had settled itself square inside of her chest. That was what he wanted though, wasn't it? A challenge.
"Sarah...how kind of you to join me."
"Get out of my head."
"You invited me."
Sarah hissed,"Never."
"You did...how else could I be here? You opened the doorway, my Sarah, all I did was step through."
"I told you not to call me that."
"But you are."
"In your dreams."
"And yours."
Quicksilver as always, count on the Goblin King to always have a reply. Sarah flinched, her hands clinching into small fists.
"I'm tired of your games, Jareth. I won your Labyrinth...and I'm not about to play any more of your sick little games. Leave me alone."
"Where else would I find someone as worthy an opponent? With your fire, your daring...not even an immortal would take the liberties you do, Sarah."
Sarah scoffed,"Ever hear of selective hearing, Jareth? 'Cause I'm pretty sure you have a big case of it."
Jareth tilted his head, light dancing over the silver blond of his hair. Beautiful..
"So you've run away again."
Sarah felt herself go cold,"What are you talking about?"
"Your little trip to Domino, Japan, my dear. Your...what did you call it? Ah yes, your "exile". Interesting choice of words."
Sarah flinched. She'd never said aloud that was her exile...merely thought it. Much like another three word phrase that she had done her damnedest to erase from her vocabulary. So, he could read her mind. Why was she not surprised? He knew her dreams, after all. All too well, really.
"Stay out of my head, Jareth."
"Much like this place...you invited me. Once invited, always invited."
"Well I'm, un-inviting you now."
He chuckled,"How you defy me, you are so much more beautiful when your in a rage."
He ran a hand down her face, dipping into her hair and Sarah suppressed a flinch. How had he suddenly got that close? She refused to give him the pleasure of backing away. Ground lost to Jareth was not regained. He was in her space god damn it and he would move. Not her.
In response to that thought she straitened her spine, lifted her chin and glared up at him with all the defiance she could muster up in her soul.
He smiled down at her, a hungry, mocking smile. He knew what she was thinking and it amused him to no end - as most things she did seemed to.
"Why do you resist me so, Sarah? I've done nothing to warrant such...mistrust on your part."
"How should I name them off? Stealing my brother -
"At your wish."
"Drugging me - "
"That was the dwarf."
"Nearly getting me killed several times in that rat maze of a Labyrinth -"
"All consequences of the game."
"Not to mention your little fire show -"
"This is your mind Sarah, your rules."
"So your suggesting I did that to myself."she replied incredulously.
His face was expressionless, devout even the slightest emotion.
"In a sense."
A sudden tiredness seemed to fill her to the brim. An exhaustion at always fighting him. Tired of having look over her shoulder just to make sure she didn't have an arrow in it. Tired of...tired of everything. Sarah Williams had determination, tenacity, and was stubborn enough to make a mule give in - but she had a her limits. These constant verbal spars, nearly being roasted to death, having him around every corner, under every rock...he was everywhere. She wanted an out, she wanted to be free. Free of him.
Wasn't going to happen, but she'd be damned if she wasn't going to give it a shot.
"What do you want Jareth?"she asked, weariness layering her voice.
"I want to help you." he replied innocently enough.
"Help me?"Sarah gave an un-lady like snort.
Yeah right. Help her fall on a sword maybe, help her eat another tainted peach probably...but actually help? She'd be more likely to see Fireys falling from the sky.
"Did you think I wouldn't know Sarah? I of all that have known you...but then, they've really never known you have they, Sarah? Only your many roles. The dutiful daughter, the enraged teenager, the quiet little actress, the shy wall flower in the back of the room, the pretender. The liar."
Sarah backed away, feeling tears burn at her eyes and not knowing why. He followed her and soon Sarah felt her back meet cold stone.
"That's not true I have many friends."she replied defensively, nearly choking on the lie.
"Really? Name them, Sarah, name one who actually knows you...knows your deepest thoughts as I...your secrets...your pain. Your despair."
She opened her mouth only to find a blank...he was right. She didn't really have any real friends. Oh yes, she had a few she spoke to, said hello, how ya doin, and so on but...no one who actually knew her.
And it wasn't just because she had a sign on her back that said "stay away" it was more, that was exactly how she wanted it. If you didn't let people get close...they didn't leave. And that way if they did leave...it wouldn't hurt. Blissfully numb, it was the safest way to be.
He smiled down at her, triumph and victory in his gloating gaze. He knew he was right, of course, he was Jareth after all. Nothing less and so much more.
"I've come to you with an offering, Sarah. A release from your pain, from your doubts, from the pretending."
"And if I turn this way and comply will it show me my dreams?"She mocked lightly, her voice lacking the bite that was its usual accomplice.
"What dreams Sarah? What dreams do you really have left? Did you not hear their tortured screams, the taste of their demise on your tongue as sour and bitter as ash itself?"
"That's not true! I...I want to be an actress - "
"Really? Just like your mother correct? Is that really your dream, Sarah? Or just a way you can imagine yourself being closer to her? Closer to that glamorous woman that you know better in photos and a sparse few letters then person? You are not that mundane Sarah for that to be your only ambition. A life of appearances and say sos, back stabbing and slander, that is all you wish for yourself?"
"I...I..."
He'd found it. Trust Jareth to find that little chink in your emotional armor and go strait for the kill. Of all the swords and daggers, mind-boggling Labyrinths, fire and peaches...no Jareth knew the real weapon. The truth, those little secrets that we hide from ourselves, the excuses we make to make something seem right, so we can hold it close to our very soul. The little lies we tell ourselves and then build upon. Not realizing its like swallowing pure poison.
"What do you have here, Sarah? What? Your family?"he chuckled darkly,"They've already sent you far, far away from them. So they can form their own little family without you...without the reminds of mistakes long past. You know this."
He moved closer to her, his breath tingleing on her face, "And your mother? A woman who left you behind without a second thought, a woman you only know through letters and gifts that may or may not appear on your birthday. A woman who doesn't even acknowledge! What binds you here to this...place really? Why force yourself to go through the motions of this life, feeling nothing?"
Sarah felt a whimper rise in her throat, tears blurring her vision and falling down porcelain cheeks.
Her mind fought to formulate some sort of reply, something to make this hurt less. Something...anything to make it less real. He'd drawn first blood and it seemed the kill wasn't too far of.
She felt her legs buckle beneath her and as she fell she felt his arms catch her, her weight leaning against him, and against her will she clung on. Clung onto the only thing before her that felt real...solid even. She breathed in his scent. It was the smell of the Labyrinth, of Magic, masculine and strong. Gloved fingers slipped under her chin, tilting her face up to his.
I...I feel like...I don't know what I feel...
Don't you?
Memories, long past filled her mind. But they held no real meaning...invoked no real response. She felt so...empty...bitter even in her sadness. But still so damnably empty.
"You hide behind these smoke and mirrors, thinking you can hide your hurt and seal it up inside. It has festered within you, becoming a cancer...I offer you a release from your suffering. A chance to reclaim that which this world has sought to destroy...what has been lost."
His lips were so close to hers they nearly brushed her own, his voice so tender and compelling she couldn't help loseing herself in the sound, "I can give it all to you, Sarah...take these shattered dreams of yours and breath life into them again. Once you've found your way into your dream, don't let it go."
He smiled,"All you have to do is give in to me Sarah...accept me and the inevitable...and I will give it all back to you...I'll give you everything."He breathed the words, trance like to her eyes.
I...I...
Sarah's mind was a mix of tortured emotions. Anger...fear...hurt...all of it melding together into one. She didn't know what to do. She looked up at him, really looked and saw only his miss-matched eyes, only the fire that filled them, and she felt her doubt flee.
He meant what he said, yes. Give into him...was it really so wrong? What did she really have to lose when she thought about it. Nothing, for it had all already fallen away. Toby had her father and step mother, and her real mother, well, Jareth was right there as usual. All she did have of her was a relationship based on the fiction of her own mind.
Every little thing her mother said and did to her she had sheltered deep within her own heart, hiding all the pain like precious jewels...hordeing them to herself and never allowing anyone to see, never letting anyone else get close.
That's when she felt it.
A sudden click in her mind like someone had thrown a switch. The unmistakable feel of something - no someone else- inside of her. Not physically, it was far more deep seemed to germinate inside her. Growing stronger with every second that ticked by.
She felt his presence deep in her own mind, inside her very soul. Pushing half of her aside to make himself comfortable alongside. Memories flashed by her eyes like a floor. Childhood, running through the park in a pink ballerina dress...teenage years - practicing in the empty auditorium for a play.
Dreams. Nightmares. Her mind felt as though a shadow had fallen over, eclipseing her in a smoothering embrace. Everything that made Sarah Williams herself was dripping out of her like blood from a pail drip..drip...drip
"!"
The cry erupted from her chest and she jerked to the side, hazel eyes wide like an animals. Her hand shot out, and she felt her fingers slap cold fabric as she scrambled sideways, kicking and slapping her way in a frantic, mindless drive to get away now.
Her lips pulled back against her teeth, baring them with as snarl of fury. Her eyes narrowed as she fought to rise from the ground. How dare he...how could he...
She felt violated, raped in the worst possible way - her mind. He had entered a place no one but her was ever suppose to touch. Take her body and she'd survive, ravish her mind she'd never stand again.
She wanted to kill him right then. Sink her fingers into his throat and squeeze for all she was worth. For dareing to...to absorb her like like some sort of parasite! And maybe that's exactly what he was: A parasite. He'd suck her dry until nothing was left, leave her a shell of a person that would bend to any idle whim.
Of course she wouldn't feel pain any more, when there was nothing left to call your own, nothing left of yourself, you don't feel a damn thing. As his mindless slave, they're would be nothing left to call her own, nothing left to bleed in agony. Forever and always.
It's only forever, not long at all...
He stared down at her, his expression suddenly cold and slightly angry. The irritation vanished to be replaced with wicked amusement. He was a hunter, and she the prey. It was the joy of the hunt that bound them. A game of chess, of wits and strength.
For my will is as strong as yours...
He would see.
She would be his.
All that his eyes told her. Fear shot through her like a dart, strait through the anger and horror. Mentally slapping herself out of stunned-bunny mode she scrambled onto all fours and took of in a dead run, nearly falling on her face in her haste.
He would not have her...not while she still breathed.
His laughter echoed all around her. Nearly making her ears bleed from the intensity of it all.
"You can't run, Sarah...I'm inside you"
She felt the ground suddenly become like thick pea soup beneath her feet, sucking her down like quicksand...liquid smooth.
She screamed loudly, falling forward as it grasped her ankles. She dog-paddled against it, struggling uselessly against it. Fighting, fighting with all her might. It as like trying to tread water in a boundless ocean though, eventually your muscles got too tired to fight, eventually you just wanted to sink on down...give up.
The hopelessness of it all crashed into her. The fear, the anger, the terror bleeding through. She felt like a child stuck in her nightmare unable to wake up, unable to accept that the boogieman wasn't lurking in the closet waiting for her to drop her guard so it could attack.
No, her boogeyman was right in front of her, impeccably dressed and handsome as hell. He was Jareth, King of the Goblins. No demon or god had anything on him.
"Take my hand, Sarah."he commanded, holding out his hand.
An offer of aid.
An offer of oblivion.
And she was so tired...
She looked up at him, at the triumph peeking out his eyes.
Her hand trembled in the thick quicksand floor
She shut her eyes and dove down.
Down into the blue black...down into the abyss.
End Chapter