Toys in the Attic—
Author: cka3ka-13
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I do not own 'Labyrinth' pr any related characters. The title I should credit to Lillian Hellman, as this is named after her play
A/N: Just a random piece that I came up with during the Batman movie. Don't ask. I have been writing this for while, and reviews are appreciated. Much appreciated.
The room was cold in the dark of early evening and I shivered under the smooth, expensive sheets. The light coming in through the window was blue gray, the sun merely a speck of gold on the horizon. From my space on the bed I could just make out the rooftops of the Goblin City, and beyond that, the twisted maze of the Labyrinth. The figure lying next to me breathed deeply, his bare chest rising and falling slowly.
I brushed a strand of black hair away from my face and rubbed my eyes forcefully, trying to shake away the tears and exhaustion that had been plaguing me ever since I'd arrived at Jareth's castle that afternoon. A breeze stirred the curtains and blew my hair away from my pale skin onto Jareth's face. I flinched and tugged the pearl studded sheet higher up to my body. I hadn't realized that he was that close.
The blankets hugged my body, and I felt a hot flush rise to my cheeks as I thought of him. He had seen every piece of my seventeen year old self, touched me, claimed me, made me his own. He had finally found the power over me that he'd been looking for since I was a child.
Maybe he'd had that power all along.
I wish I'd thought before coming to the castle. I needed to go back, even after the fierce battle for my brother had ended and I was hurled back into my own universe, that world that had taken me beckoned me back. Again and again and again.
Perhaps it was the appeal of the fairy tale brought to life. As children, everyone is a little intrigued by kings and queens, fairies and goblins. We all want to find the world behind the looking glass and inhabit a reality that is nothing like our own. There's a time when we get older, and kings and queens and goblins fade away from us, and fairy tales become silly. Perhaps my problem was that I never grew out of my dream state.
My room was filled with stuffed animals with names like Lancelot, Guenevere, Mordred. I sat in front of my mirror for hours, brushing my black hair and putting on lipstick, pretending that a prince would save me from the prison I inhabited. I remember putting on my costumes and reading plays in the park, imagining myself as one of the characters in a life quite different from my own.
The Labyrinth was what threw me into the convoluted web of time, and space, and nothing. With walls that went on forever and fantastic creatures only seen in books, I was terrified for my brother's life and elated to be living my fairy tale all at the same time.
"You have no power over me." I'd said to Jareth as we stood on a jagged platform of time. It was the line that I could never remember, the line that came to me right before the clock chimed thirteen. I thought I was freeing myself from him, but now I realize that all I was doing was locking myself up again.
The light coming in through the window had faded to almost nothing and, as if on cue, the candles scattered about the room flickered to life, sending orange shadows dancing around the room. The cold metal of the key dangling from around my neck penetrated my skin, and I raised it above my breasts, fingering the smooth material and idly reciting the phrase that had become such a part of my existence over the last three years.
"Through dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way to the castle beyond the Goblin City…" the words rolled gently off my tongue in the still air, and Jareth rolled over in the wide bed, one muscular arm snaking around my bare thigh. His fingers were hot, almost uncomfortably so, and I resisted the urge to move away. I hated being touched by him, and yet it was an addiction that I needed so desperately to fuel. He was the kind of man that cheap girls fell for; the charming seductor.
I was different. Strong willed, straight A, moral, dreamy Sarah.
I had let passion take over. The heat of the kiss, the silk like texture of the wine he had given me. Faint traces of it remained on my tongue, mingling with the taste of his mouth and skin and the salt of my tears.
Time in my world was moving slowly, if not stopped at all. He moved stars for me, and turned the world upside down. My stepmother would be frozen at home, my dad statue like at the office. I couldn't go back though, they would guess. What was I supposed to say to Marcia? Sorry I don't want to talk, I was just seduced by a Goblin King? I would be sent to a mental institution. Not that the school shrink wouldn't be happy to send me away. He'd been trying to get my into therapy since sophomore year,
The sky was an ebony black, down below the window I could hear the rumblings of late night goblin business. I rested my head on the clean white pillow and plucked at a creamy seed pearl that was sewn into my blanket. I didn't want to move, or think, or be Sarah anymore.
Jareth stirred next to me and cracked a shadowed eye. Rising on his elbow, he looked over at me in surprise.
"Sarah." He breathed in that maddeningly arrogant, seductive voice as he wrapped a strand of my hair around his finger, claiming it as his own. "I'm surprised you're still here. You usually go home by now."
I shrugged and sat up, drawing my knees up to my chest and wrapping the blanket more securely around my body. His fingers danced delicately across my arm, his other hand resting on the top of my thigh.
"Whatever." I said coldly, shrugging him away. "I can go if you want."
"No. stay." He said softly, sitting up along with me and tugging me closer. I involuntarily tensed and lay down facing the mirror. We looked so strange in the mirror: his tan, mature length. My childish, pale body.
You have no power over me, I thought quickly as his fingers claimed my hair again. You have no power over me you have no power over me you have-
My thoughts were interrupted by a tentative knock at the door.
"Just a moment Sarah." Jareth said gently, rising from the bed. Without even bothering to put on a robe he opened the door and let the visitor in. My eyes widened as Hoggle waddled into the room, blinking in surprise as he say me in the bed.
"What is it?" Jareth snapped impatiently, pouring himself a goblet of wine as Hoggle began to speak, his eyes darting over towards the bed every few words.
"The blacksmith wants a word tomorrow, and the cleaners don't know what to do about the missing gears. We're having some problems maintaining Fairy Control over at the north side." He said quickly, bowing to Jareth.
"Thank you Hoggle. You may leave us."
"Yes majesty." The dwarf said slowly, bowing and casting another glance over to where I sat, plucking nervously at the pearl.
"Come, Sarah." He said with a faint smile, "Have a glass of wine."
I shook my head and stared at the darkness, wishing I had stayed home.
"Sarah, there's no need to be embarrassed. We're not strangers here, you know." He winked knowingly at me and I wrapped the sheet around myself and slid off the mattress, my feet hitting the carpet less than gently.
"I shouldn't have come." I said dully, burying my head in my hands as he tried to shove a glass of sweet wine into my hands.
"Don't regret Sarah." He said sharply, drawing me into his lap. I hated the way he said my name.
You have no power over me…I thought firmly, my stomach clenching as he took my fingers in his hand.
"Come back sometime." He said smoothly, picking my jeans and underwear off the floor and placing them in my hands. I simply sat there in his lap, my hair falling into my face.
"What's the rush Sarah?" Jareth asked with a knowing smile, his lips barely brushing my ear.
"I don't want to go home." I whimpered.
"You can stay as long as you need to." He said breathlessly, desire working its way into his voice. His hands slowly removed the sheet from around my neck working it slowly down my shoulders until it lay in a heap on the floor.
Through dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered. I have fought my way to the castle, beyond the goblin city. For my will is as strong as your, and my kingdom is as great. Give back the child that you have stolen from me.
Picking me up, he carried me back to the bed, kissing my neck and fingering the spot where my ribs ended and my breasts began. I began to drift away, once again losing myself in the fairy tale that I couldn't bear to end. The room became hot with our breath and my skin grew flushed and sweaty. I could go home, tell him to stop, that I didn't want this. I was Sarah, right? Untouchable, smart Sarah.
You have no power over me. What an incredibly beautiful lie.