She didn't notice that anything was wrong at first. There was nothing to notice. Nothing had changed.
She had saved Toby. She had escaped the Labyrinth. She even had a victory party. Life moved on. She grew up.
She made new friends, human friends. She went to dances. She got the lead role in the school play and wrote for the school paper. Everyone thought that she'd do well at whatever she chose. She had thought so too, she had every reason to believe so. She had a promising future ahead of her.
Karen had made a photo collage to commemorate her graduation. It was a sweet gesture from the woman who had never become a mother to her, but loved the same people Sarah did. Sarah had picked out a few of her favorite pictures and she was excited to see it. When it was finished they displayed it on the mantel for everyone to see.
That was when she had first noticed it.
She wouldn't have if the collage had only focused on the recent years, but her whole life was displayed in the frame. She had begun life normal, healthy, and smiling. At seven she had been swallowed by the ruffles of her princess dress. At ten she had scabbed knees and uneven hair. Her stubborn years of rebellion had lasted longer than most peoples. She had calmed down and grown into a lovely girl at 15. Then she stopped.
Sarah tried to ignore it at first. It was her imagination. Maybe she was just wasn't meant to grow anymore. Maybe she was just meant to look young. Nothing about her was unusual for her age, just unusual for her family. Her mother's hips were wider than hers when she was by now. Sarah's cheekbones weren't as sharp. She tried to convince herself that she took after her father's mother. She had unearthed faded family photos to prove it. She couldn't.
Karen had been upset when she couldn't find a replacement frame for the collage. As an apology Sarah had taken as many of the photos from the old one and put them into a much smaller, but still beautiful, frame. It was the least she could do since she had been the one to knock it down while cleaning. The new collage was just as nice as the last, but it was smaller. She had left out the majority of pictures from after she turned 15.
By the time she was 21 Sarah knew she had to accept it. No one else had yet to notice. Or at least they hadn't said anything to her. She dreaded the day they would. She changed her hair and clothes, anything to appear a little more mature. Anything to buy more time. But eventually the jokes came. They weren't mean spirited. They didn't hurt her, but they filled her with ice. She had to learn how to live with this. Her time was running out.
She hadn't meant to leave her family but maybe it was better this way. She had known that wouldn't be able to have a normal life, that she couldn't let them see what had happened. Life on the stage became an impossibility. She had turned to writing. First they were little reports or stories that didn't pay well to start. Her father hadn't understood her choice. He knew that it was standard for the career, but why was she even pursuing it? There were talent agents calling the house, calling for her. She could really make it. They had fought. She moved away.
The life of a distant writer too caught up in the art, in her passions, that worked for her. No, it didn't. Sarah wasn't made for a solitary existence. She had flourished as the center of her court of friends. She had never been happier than when she ruled the stage. But this fit her purposes. No one could see the face that haunted her mirror. The ghost of a teenage girl that had thought she could face an underground king and escape unscathed.
She missed her family. She always sent them cards. They had pictures on the front, cats, glitter, and nature scenes, but never ones of her. Eventually, when her father missed her enough to accept her choices, she got replies. They sent photos back; Dad and Karen's anniversary, their new dog, and Toby in the marching band. It was like Toby never entered the Underground. He was growing into a fine man as far as she could tell with the distance.
Her short stories ended up in an anthology. The publisher had sent her a copy of the book, it was in her contract. She had planned to send it straight to her family but she had read the back first. From some of the best new authors of out time come tales of tragedy of every kind: murder, curses, and ghosts, it said. Hers had been about a haunted picture. The third story featured a girl trapped in the realm of the faerie. She had been terrified to touch the book and then she devoured it. She finally got the list of the authors research and inspiration after 30 phone calls, and only five astonished comments about how young she sounded. She was going to break this curse.
Toby had graduated.
She knew the legends. She studied them for a way out. Time was different in the underground. People that went to dance with the fae emerged hundreds of years later, some of them crumpled to dust. The food could trap you there or maybe it was assumed favor attached. Did the labyrinth play by these rules? What would happen if she called out to the goblins, to their king?
Toby was getting married. He wanted her to come. She wouldn't. She couldn't, not yet.
She talked to psychics, to mediums, to priests, all of them through whispered phone calls and short pleading letters. There were more people that had gifts than she had thought, though still less than the total that claimed they did. They mailed her dried herbs, ointments that made her eyes water, and holy water. One had even offered her a crystal. She had thrown it into the weeds across the street as soon as it was dark enough to hide her from the neighbors. When she woke up the next day, she had put on the largest hat she owned and a pair of sunglasses to find it again.
None of it made a difference. Sarah was beginning to get a reputation in those tight closed circles. Her lonely little apartment even got visitors offering advice. A few of them were kind enough to stay longer and keep her company.
A man in a in pale suit with an old leather briefcase said he was only a few towns away when he had heard and decided to stop by. She had been frightened to let him in but didn't have much to loose. He had examined her for a long while before he opened the suitcase. Then he asked her to sit down and pressed iron on her skin. He made tea in her kitchen and had presented it to her inside an acorn. He had left soon after saying he couldn't help her. Despite his strangeness Sarah was sad to see him go. He hadn't even told her where he came from or who he was.
Raven had been the next to show up and the only one who came more than once. The elderly women had assured Sarah multiple times that she had been around such things long enough to have learned a thing or two and her coven didn't need her very often so she was happy to help. Her visits always began with deep conversations about Sarah's condition before they inevitably drifted away. They talked about all the things Sarah had missed; the theater, books, and their families. It had been so long since she had been able to have a relationship that wasn't sustained through letters and Sarah was grateful. She had once tried to hug Raven but it had been too long since she had been touched. Her skin crawled from the contact. Her friend still visited every few weeks but they never touched again.
After everyone had given their advice and the hearsay had been separated from the few certainties that were known, all of it said to go back to the source. If she wanted the curse lifted she would need to talk to the one who had placed it. It was her best chance and she had so few left.
Toby would be married next month and she still hadn't met the bride. She knew they must be disappointed in her but they never said it. She had to wonder if they would ever say anything to her again if she didn't go to the wedding. She didn't know if she could take that.
She was desperate, or desperately stupid, she knew that. She knew that it all had begun with her trip to the Underground. She knew that the Goblin King had either let it happen or had caused it. She didn't know if he would help her. She didn't know how to convince him. But it had been years and nothing had changed. She knew how to summon him. She had to try.
It took her a full day to prepare herself. She didn't know how long this would take so she prepared for a week. She packed a bag she didn't know if she would be able to take. She sent an email to Raven informing her of her choice. It was best to have someone who would be able to give answers if she disappeared. The last thing Sarah did was pick up the phone and leave a message for her brother confirming that she would be happily attending. Then she shut off all the lights and said her right words.
Forever was a long time to be 15.
AN: Thank you for reading. Please review with things you liked or didn't like so I can improve.