Inspired by the video by HedgeLabyrinth called "The Dream: Labyrinth"
"Dream to Remember, Forced to Dream"
As the car pulled up to the old school Sarah was curious to see how bright it was, even in the dead of night. Her flight had been delayed and she found the driver that has been sent for her asleep in a chair in the main floor waiting area. Luckily his hand had still clutched the sign that had her last name written on it in bold, capitalized print. The man had woken easily apologized for his laziness even with Sarah assuring him it was alright and apologizing for her own tardiness. Unfortunately when they finally reached the school, she found the headmistress not so forgiving.
"You are exactly two hours late and have missed dinner, dessert, and coffee. You'll have to go your with none."
Sarah didn't understand why she was being reprimanded. She hadn't chosen to come, the Master of the school had invite her – as the woman made a point to remind her. Sarah had never heard of the school, but decided it could be interesting and useful for the history paper due the following week in one of her college courses.
The woman continued talking, muttering on about the effectiveness of good planning to accommodate any changes in a schedule to be positive of arriving on time while the driver retrieve Sarah's bags. Sarah let her ramble choosing to let her attention drift to the school once more. It was, in fact, quite a lovely mansion, built around 1815 if she remembered correctly, with 30 foot marble pillars and tall windows. Each window was lit but one and Sarah felt herself drawn to that window.
"Impressive isn't it?" the Headmistress suddenly said, cutting into Sarah's thoughts with her halt of reprimand. "The estate was once Richard Thogner's home. The school only occupies the main building, the others are closed because they are not safe. Never go into them. Ever." The woman turned finally to the school. "Come along."
In the wind of the evening, Sarah pushed her billowing hair back and looked up once more, her eyes fighting the darkness of the lone window to see its occupant. There she saw a figure that was partially hidden by the curtains. A man?
The headmistress barked once more and Sarah followed before the woman could begin a speech of following when told.
xXx
That night Sarah's sleep was restless as images came flashing in and out before her eyes.
Words. Another language that she did not know. A language inhuman to the world she knew.
The words were written in a little red book with an old spine. A young girl lifting the book to her face. Easily the girl read the words allowed. Wind blew the ribbons in the girl's crown. The girl was so familiar but before Sarah could pin a name to the face a new image appeared.
Three crystal balls. Spinning. Held in a skilled hand, crafty from hundreds of years of moving the balls. One is plucked and held out to her, released to the air as it becomes light as air. A bubble.
Sarah's eyes open but she doesn't feel the bed leave her, she only knows that she is standing and the door is in front of her. She opens the door to the hallway lit by the lamps hung on the walls.
The walls are hung with glittering vines that reflect the light, but it is not the light of the lamps. She's surrounded by high rock walla built from gray bricks.
This isn't right. Run.
The order is given and Sarah moves her feet.
Darkness befalls her. Massive pillars black as twilight surround her and she dances around them.
The man!
From the darkness of a hidden doorway, a man emerges. Tall, white, glowing with power. His face his stern but she senses that he hides more feeling within him then she could ever learn to comprehend. The man takes a step, closer and closer still till he is washed out in the glory of his light.
He is the light. And the dark.
A dance. Merry man and woman in heavily embellished dresses and coats swirl around her. They wear masks of laughing goblins and cruel creatures. She has been changed. A gown of silvery pearls and opal diamonds has been fit over her hips. She looks around for a familiar face to answer her confusion but the masks turn away from her.
There. The man. Trimmed in midnight blue. He is the opposite of what he was moments ago. His face is laughing at her. Mismatched eyes playing over the curves of her body revealed in the tight bodice. She feels his eyes and recognizes them. She knows this man. He toys with her, appearing then disappearing between the dancers. Finally he reveals himself from behind and purple fan. His face is kind but he still contains his power.
They dance. Her hands fit perfectly on his shoulders. She knows his fingers as they touch her waist and guide her down stairs to a dance floor where he turns her in time with the music. Hypnotizing. Her eyes fall the instill the image of the man within her.
No. The clock. Thirteen hands. It isn't real.
xXx
"Its not real!"
Shooting from her bed, Sarah rushes to the window. There is a narrow ledge and she climbs on it, scooting her feet side to side, her only thoughts are of escape. Unbeknownst to her in the darkness, the ledge has become cracked and has fallen away in the mansion's age. Before she can stop, she falls through the hole, saved only by her shirt catching on a hook of wire protruding from the concrete. In the seconds that she hangs there, Sarah finds herself looking out to the great grass field behind the mansion, mesmerized as she was before.
There. A figure. She cranes her eyes in the darkness. A man.
With a gruggling rip, her shirt finally tears free and she falls. Her body rolls as it hits the ground beneath. The trauma of the falls shocks her system and Sarah can feel her body fall under the power of the uncontrollable blackness and she is swallowed up in unconsciousness.
As her vision fades, a figure approaches her. He leans over her face and for a moment she smells cigarette smoke. Her eyes twinkle with glitter that she knows is not from fainting. Softly the man whispers, "Sleep. Sarah."
xXx
Fire. Run. Run away. Quick. The dress billows behind her once more.
A crystal. Spinning in threat. A piece of cake, hm?
Run.
The crystal lights the darkened tunnel.
"Wake up Sarah."
xXx
She's in a bed she realizes before her eyes open. Her eyes are heavy but she senses the man in the room with her. He stands in the shadows beyond the footer, his face shrouded by smoke. He's questioning his own thoughts, puzzlement drawn across his sharp nose and gentle eyes. He pushes off from one wall only to lean momentarily on the next. His feet take him through the room around the bed and to Sarah's side.
At last, Sarah manages to open her eyes. He is standing over her smoking a short cigarette. Slowly he pulls it out and demonstrates a small grin, revealing pointy teeth. Smoke billows from his lips as he whispers to her.
"Do you remember now, Sarah?"