She stood in front of her vanity mirror, like countless times before, but this time she was drunk. Standing unsteady on her feet, she held onto the table's edge. The dark room was spinning and Sarah tried so hard to focus on her reflection.
"Hooobble!", she cried out.
A loud knocking came from her locked bedroom door of the sorority house she resided in. She heard a male voice sound from the other side, "Come on Sarah, come out and play!" The knob was being shaken vigorously followed by another series of knocking.
"Hooooooggle, I need you NOW!"
The reflective surface flashed as the image of bulging blue eyes and the craggy face of a familiar dwarf stared back at her.
" 'Ere, what's goin' on Sarah? Don't you knows what time of night it is?" the little man grumbled.
"Doggle...help me..." she wavered on her feet. The dwarfs bright blue eyes grew large as another round of banging on the door started again.
"Saaarrraaah", came the voice through the door.
Hoggle knew that something was not right. Never had he seen Sarah like this before. It wasn't like her to drink or do anything of that nature . This was not a normal situation . Someone must have done this to her. Also from the sound of it, she was in dire need.
He knew he wouldn't be of much help to his friend. There was only one option and he damned himself for considering it. He knew it wouldn't go over well with Sarah either, but what other choice was there?
"Sarah, look at me! Listen, " Sarah wobbled as she tried to focus on the little man in her mirror, " you gots to call 'im!"
"I...I have to call whooo?"
"Jareth! 'E's the only one who is strong enough to gets to ya!" Although inebriated, Sarah immediately balked at the mention of the scoundrel monarch.
"Ah dunna wanna see tha' jerk! If you want 'im, you call 'im!" Sarah wagged her finger at her undersized friend.
Hoggle was beginning to feel flustered at the girl's obstinance. " Now's not the time to be stubborn! He's the only one who's strong enough to helps ya!"
A few more bangs on the door caught their attention, "I can hear you Sarah, come on open the door, let's have some fun.", came the male voice again.
"Go away!" she shouted at the door.
"Come on Sarah, don't be like that, aren't we friends? We just want to get to know you better." the voice tried to coax. They heard a second deep voice chuckle along with the first male voice, "Yeah, real better!"
Hoggle's eyes bulged a little more. There are two of them? Sarah wouldn't stand a chance at protecting herself if both of the intruders got in.
The young woman again swayed on her feet. " I feel so tired...", whatever that was in her system was hitting her full force. Her knees finally gave way and she dropped to the floor.
"Sarah, please call the goblins!", Hoggle urgently begged.
Her eyes were closed.
"Okay...ah will.. ah wish...", she breathed out.
Pounding commenced at the door with more force.
The girl heard Hoggle's urgent voice through the noise. "Call them now Sarah!"
"Ah wish the goblins would take me away, ... right now...", she whispered before her consciousness slipped away.
From his limited view in the mirror, Hoggle could see the shadows of the room begin to stir. Little bipedal creatures of an assortment of shapes and sizes dashed from one hiding spot to another. Hoggle recognized this band of goblins known as "The Welcoming Party". They were hand selected by the Goblin King himself and they were his entourage to the Aboveground. This time though, instead of being greeted with sounds of a whaling child or the rantings of a distraught adolescent, they noticed a crumpled form on the floor. A smallish pointy nosed goblin crept out from his hiding spot and went to investigate the scene. Just as he was about to reach to brush away a lock of long dark hair from the face of the person on the floor, a loud banging came from the door. The noise startled the little beast back to his hiding spot.
Hoggle's gravelly voice filled the room, "That's Lady Sarah you idiots she needs our help!"
From the shadows, the goblins gathered around the young woman. Ooohs and ahhs filled the air and whispers of "It's Lady Sarah..." among the little hoard. A scraping sound came from the bedroom window, as a white and buff barn owl was fervently scratching, flapping and pecking at the glass. Two of the goblins noticed the commotion and ran to the window. One hoisted the other so as to reach the latch and lift the pane. The raptorial bird flapped into the space and landed upon a rug. On contact, the midnighter began to transform.
Talons gave way to boots as wings grew into arms and feathers replaced a cloak. It's beak formed into a distinctive nose over a firm mouth. The eyes though did not change, if one were to notice, they never were truely an owl's eyes.
Instead of the typical dark marble like orbs, they were cool in color. One pupil stayed dilated whilst the other contracted in the dim light.
"Honestly, after 700 years or so, you fools would know to open a window by now..." his accented voice ventilated. Alas, his annoyance was not noticed. The pint-sized brood was not paying attention to their king. What was so interesting that they would ignore their sovereign? Goblins were like little children with a drinking problem, they were fascinated easily and often reacted uninhibitedly. Despite all odds, they were a loyal breed. They seldom asked questions or talked back.
Jareth's own curiosity was being piqued as to what held their fascination. Just as he was approaching the troop to get a gander at their engrossment, a loud rapping came from the door.
"Ready or not Sarah here we come!" came the male voice from the other side.
Jareth halted at the mention of Sarah's name
"No, surely not?", Jareth muttered to himself. He advanced upon the group, not caring who was kicked out of the way. He had to see for himself.
Dark-hued hair covered the face of an unmistakeable form of a young woman. He bent down low and gingerly swept a lock away with his gloved fingers. There was no denying that it was her. His Sarah. She had grown some, but still looked much the same way since he had first seen her in the park only a few short years ago.
"Yours Majesty, I tolds her to call the goblins." Jareth heard a gutteral voice over the din. He recognized the owner of the voice and looked around till he noticed the dwarf looking at him nervously from the vanity mirror. "What are you doing here Hogsbreath?"
"She called me for help. I couldn't do anythin' from here, so I tolds her to call you."
The sound of splintering wood interrupted their conversation. The crew of goblins scattered in all directions, scurrying to find a hiding place. The door squealed open letting the light from the hallway to dimly light the room. The silhouette of two men filled the doorway.
"Saaarrraaah?"
"Who the hell are you? One of the silhouettes asked seeing a strange man crouched by Sarah on the floor. Jareth silently and effortlessly arose from his position. Who were these two mongrels? What did they want with Sarah?
"What the hell are you?"
Jareth smirked,"No one to be trifled with." With a wave of his gloved hand, a crystal ball appeared, perched on his fingertips.
"Whoa, did you see that?"
"Here, have a closer look!", then Jareth threw the orb at the pair. As it burst on contact, the two were powdered by something that shimmered in the light.
"What the hell man?"
A moment later their faces contorted into expressions of surprise and fear. They began to slap and hit at themselves. Soon they were running out of the Sorority hourse screaming and clawing at their persons and the air into the night.
Jareth returned his attention to the unconscious girl.
"Well well, what have you gotten yourself into love?"
The Fae man lithly stooped down and gathered up the unconscious girl in his arms. Never had he thought he would have the opportunity to feel her in his arms again. She was so light, even in her unconscious deadweight she weighed hardly anything at all. She seemed delicate and fragile, like a glass doll. To be treasured and treated with care. It was a delicious feeling.
He then preceded to breathe in the personal scent of her hair. Although it was masked by hints of flowers and vanilla, he could smell her essence. Jareth closed his eyes and focused so he could imprint her scent in his mind.
A tug at his cloak brought him to his senses. Looking down he noticed the whole entourage silently staring at him. "Is it really her Maj'sty?" one of the half-pints asked.
"Indeed she is," oohs and murmurs sounded from the batch. "Shall we get the newest member of the kingdom home, hmm?"
With his prize in his arms, Jareth turned towards the bedroom door. Stepping out of the bedroom and through the threshold they entered into the throne room of the Castle in the Center of the Labyrinth.