No memories, no rules, and no words to save her. Sarah must take on the Labyrinth and face the Goblin King once again to take back what was stolen. This time, however, Jareth has very different plans for the girl who got away.
---
I've never finished a story.
I'm hoping to break that streak.
I don't own The Labyrinth or any of its characters with their little dance numbers and googly eyes. Or David Bowie. Damn shame.
Watch out for language. OH NOES!
Give to Take
Her roommate had been awake all night, tending to a needy long distance boyfriend with little concern for Sarah's fragile brain as she spent hours buried in notes and the same godforsaken text book. After six rounds of Gatorade, four Coca Cola's, two Hershey's bars and two cups of the swill their student center called coffee, she found that her ability to absorb information suffered greatly. Her temper only grew hotter and hotter as her roommate's sing-songy voice scraped against the inside of her head like nails on hell's chalkboard. Sarah typically didn't mind the rather inconsiderate phone habits. After all, there was only their room phone to share between them and the pay phone on the first floor was hardly the ideal place to carry on a personal conversation. But this was simply one of those nights where she cursed herself for filling out that box on her housing application. A single may have been the lonelier option, but she was certain she wouldn't have ever found herself considering murder so seriously as she did now.
Try as she might, her eyes simply wouldn't move from the single equation they'd found at the top of the page. She hoped it would just jump off the paper and burn itself into her head along with other formulas that she'd managed to corral into her pathetically sparse arsenal of knowledge. For some reason, that introductory physics class had seemed like a capitol idea. It was supposed to be all numbers and common sense, not crying fits and sleepless nights. Gravity, inertia, force and motion... the bloody universe. The course was full of numerical mysteries just as she had expected, but there had been no mention of this kind of mental pain on the syllabus.
Get in my brain, damnit. Get in my brain
Sarah commanded the equation with all the mental power she could muster. Try as she might, it was just a few numbers and letters with squiggly lines. No significance. No unlockable secrets. No redeeming traits. No social skills. No-
"Oh my God, Greg! You're crowding me, okay? Distance doesn't matter, I can't handle it when you're all, like 'Oh, Amy, I just need you so bad!' What am I supposed to do? You're like, ten hours away!"
The twitch was back and Sarah had had enough. The mercy well had dried up and her repertoire of good metaphors disappeared. Sarah slammed her palms down, shaking the desk lamp with the force of it. Amy had either missed or ignored the rattling, but Sarah didn't give a flying fuck. There was no room in her mind for rational thought amidst the sea of sugar and unused electrolytes.
"Amy, get the FUCK out of here before I take that phone and shove it down your throat. So help me, I'll do it."
Amy's face fell so quickly that Sarah was rather taken aback by the effect of her own heated threat. She felt a twinge of regret as Greg's muffled voice chirped on the other end, confused. Her roommate had all her feelings in the right place, but she simply wasn't the most aware person she had ever met. In fact, she pretty much had permanent residence in the bottom of the barrel. Still, judging from the look on Amy's face, Sarah figured she might have achieved the same effect with a sucker punch. Amy slammed the phone onto the receiver without a word of goodbye to Greg and put her hands on her hips.
"What makes you think you can talk to me that way?" her words were softer than Sarah had expected. It made it somewhat worse... she'd have preferred a screaming match right about now. The caffeine needed to escape. Somehow. But Sarah kept a level eye and stern face, determined to stand her ground.
Alright, time to assert yourself. Do that... that thing you do. Or something. My face itches.
"You know what? I thought I could look past your shit because you just kind of keep to yourself... and that's fine, whatever. But oh my God, you have something going on in your cracked-out head that I want nothing to do with. And here you go, screaming at me and... you know what? I'm not going to take it. No. You can just fuck off."
Sarah opened her mouth to say something... anything to help her get past the blow she'd received. Amy was out the door with her keys and a fuck-you slam before Sarah had even really register the weight of it. Hopes of studying fizzled as she slumped back in her chair, reeling.
It was true, though. For the most part.
She had friends. Some. Well, she thought they were friends. Not that they ever hung out in her dorm room or anything, but they always said their hello's and goodbye's in class or in passing. That aside, she never really had anyone who had intimately known her. Whether or not that was of her own doing was beyond her at this point in time. She'd survived her first year with passing grades, but nothing quite so stellar as to warrant a congratulatory phone call from back home or increased respect with the friends that really didn't exist. The kicker was that this wasn't out of the ordinary, but more of a continuation of the bleakness of high school. Nothing had been right for the past few years and she had herself convinced that a change of scenery was necessary. Her school counselors had fed her the same enthusiastic assurances, convincing her that a year could make all the difference.
That year came and went and all she noticed was the growing sense of failure that surrounded her. These were supposed to be the years where everything turned right side up. She was supposed to come out of her shell, or blossom, or do some kind of coming-of-age dance. Instead, she found herself struggling with her classes and alone ninety percent of the time. She'd been to one party earlier in the year and managed to drink herself into a stupor and embarrassed herself by throwing up on some poor guy's shoes. Sarah hadn't touched any alcohol since.
There was supposed to be more to this. There was supposed to be some glorious thought revolution or social triumph and instead, she felt hollow. Sleep had once been an adventure of the subconscious, a tapestry of fantasy that weaved itself so perfectly she could almost reach out and touch the fibers. It was as though those nights had been spent in the waking world and each gremlin she outwitted and every blaggard she dueled had a presence as real and tangible as her own.
Now there were no dreams. Sleep had become a dreaded duty to her body where her mind simply went silent and left her in suspended animation. There were no foreign lands to explore or great battles to be fought out in the vast expanses of her unlimited imagination. As far as she knew, there was no imagination left. It explained the failed endeavors in theatre and creative writing. It explained why she so haphazardly switched majors from the freedom of the arts to the precision of math and science. Sarah had no stories left to tell. Sarah had no conviction in the roles she played or the lines she read. Every audition felt like a mockery. Each persona she tried to embody felt distant, as though evading her grasp. It was as though she could do no justice and every creative thought had shunned her. She was an imposter with no place in the world of dreams and passion.
Amy's words still rang in her ears as she drew her knees up to her chin and hugged her legs tightly to her. She let her eyes roll down to her feet, finding a small comfort in her mismatched socks. The scrunched up cotton faces of the tiny tigers faced the tight-lipped monkeys and simply remained there. Another Sarah would have found more in something so trivial. She was sure of it. There had to be some fodder for even the most silly of day dreams. But all Sarah could focus on was the gaping hole between her big toe and the long one. Her eyes had practically locked onto the frayed threads with mild interest. It disgusted her.
Time for air.
Sarah had rather the abandoned the notion of studying as she rose from her chair to fetch her jacket. She pulled up her zipper as she looked out the window, shivering at the sight of the now-falling snow. Perhaps the bitter cold would break her our of her funk, or maybe she'd simply find serenity in the peaceful silence of the snow. Hell, she'd try naked yoga if it would simply help her feel less shitty.
I wonder if we've got a naked yoga class... She decided not to think much more on it, realizing that, soon after she thought on it, that it would be a rather bad idea. Horribly bad... idea.
Two boots, two mittens and one scarf later, Sarah looked ready for an idle midnight snow walk. Pajama pants included. She snatched up her keys before shutting the door behind her and made her way down the main staircase... then out and into one bitch of a blizzard.
---
Sarah's body exploded into one giant tingly sensation as her face was pelted with chunks of snow. Her eyes widened at the sudden shock of it, surprised by the ferocity of the storm. Minutes ago, it had been a thick, but gentle flow. Now it was as though the sky was constantly vomiting wave after wave of ice and snow. It was just plain fierce.
"Oh fuck this", she heaved a sigh and ventured out from under the covered doorway, searching for any remnants of the concrete path. The snow had formed another layer of the earth, effectively hiding all traces of the sidewalk. The street lights appeared dim behind the curtain of white, too weak to shine through the weight of the ice. Sarah frowned, almost certain that the power wouldn't last the night. No weather channels had mentioned any predictions of a storm or anything of this magnitude.
Her resolve kicked in as she pursed her lips and pulled her scarf up to cover her mouth and nose. If she couldn't have a little night walk, then she would have some shitty coffee. And by God, she would drink it. All of it. Sarah could just make out the student center dead ahead. She could have made it there blind on a good day and felt confident enough to manage it on a crappy night such as this.
Only a few yards later did she find herself a little disoriented from plowing her way through the snowfall. It came up to her knees and gave her one hell of a time, even in her boots. I think my loans get cancelled if I die before I graduate... The idea actually surprised it. It was oddly morose, even for her... and the sudden realization that she could suddenly be buried alive under feet of snow added a little more purpose to her efforts. When she came to the halfway point, she looked up for the glowing sign that would lead her on to the student center, her eyes could focus on nothing but the constant snow fall surrounding her. She felt a slight sting of fear, but dismissed it swiftly. Must not be as far ahead as I thought. Just have to keep going.
But it was cold. Cold and hard and she missed her warm dorm room very badly. Coffee just wasn't enough motivation when she considered how awesome it would be to tuck herself into bed at that very moment.
Change of plans. It's bed time.
She turned around, throwing her previous plan to the wind as she trudged back in the direction of her dorm. With yet another goal in mind, she found the strength to find a quicker pace and push through the snow. She reached for her key and looked up, reaching for the door. Fuck Amy, fuck coffee, fuck physics, fuck chem-
Instead of a door, she found air. Instead of a building, she found snow. Instead of relief, she was seized by panic.
"Oh shit," she whispered, the words lost on the gust of wind that blew her hair out of her jacket and sent snowflakes into her eyes. It stung and she stumbled backwards, rubbing at her eyes as the cold pierced her very skin. She struggled to right herself as a new burst of air came at her from behind and caught her off guard, sending her suddenly to her knees where the snow nearly enveloped her. The force of it was like a punch in the gut, leaving her breathless for a moment as she fought to regain her composure. There was a growing terror within her that she only just barely held at bay. Rational thought had not quite abandoned her yet and gave her the reason needed for keeping herself somewhat calm.
It was waning. And fast.
The feeling in her limbs had decreased rapidly as the temperature plummeted. The snow would freeze soon and so would she if she didn't act fast. But there lay the problem. She could barely move by now and she wasn't even sure which direction was the right direction. It was a large campus and offices were closed by now. Even the student center would have shut down for the night by now. There had to be some kind of campus security about. Maybe the snow patrol. If there even was such a thing. She knew well enough that you weren't supposed to move too much if you were lost in the snow, that you were more likely to be found if you kept to one location.
But if she stayed here much longer, there wouldn't be a whole lot to find other than a very dead, very frozen girl. And she very much wanted to panic.
Don't panic, she held her hands together, urging the stiff digits to warm each other with whatever heat they had left. She couldn't imagine there was much.
Don't panic, don't panic, she crossed her eyes squinting at the white shards dangling in front of face. She lifted a shaking hand to touch it, noting it's stiffness. She pulled, vaguely feeling a tug at her own scalp. Her stomach lurched as her whole body shivered too hard for her to think straight.
Don't panic don't panic don't panic, oh God, don't panic, her hand shuddered so hard that it snapped the very piece of frozen hair she was holding.
There was no reason anymore, only the faithless prayers her lips couldn't speak. She urged friends and family in jumbled thoughts to come to her and take her away from the fear and the cold, but she was answered with their silence. She even screamed out loud for some kind of savior. Who, exactly, she knew not. The plea was swallowed up by the wind along with the memory of whatever she had said. It was lost now to the darkness and frigid expanse. She reached back into the place of hysteria, where unfinished thoughts and broken memories lay in chaotic heaps with no means to decipher them or even find their source. It was a place of madness she knew once, but now only regarded as a place of wasted time.
Blue lips strained to form the words, as the thoughts seemed to speak for themselves, "G-g-giv-v-ve them-m b-b-back...g-give b-back wha-t-t y-you have... s-s-stolen... "
It was as if a piece of her very brain was crumbling into bits, leaving a raw, gaping hole where it once was. Through it came the madness and its own voice, dancing inside her skull.
Really, now. It takes nothing short of death itself to get through to you.
Sarah pushed through the growing fog that choked at her thoughts and scrambled to answer, "I h-have t-to s-save-"
No, no. Can't do anything 'bout that. You've already played your game, remember? You bested him and won! It's all said and done with.
"M-more to... b-b-be d-d-one..."
The old way won't work, you know. That door is gone and it's all been reset. Even if you do find a way back, it won't be a game. It'll be for real and there'll be no rules for him to follow. You did so well the last time, why not just leave it at that?
"F-f-for m-me..." Sarah coughed. Each intake of breath made her feel as though she was inhaling daggers. She would have rather stopped altogether had there not been other reasons to keep up such a basic function.
Well, if you must, then you must. But the words are yours to find. I can merely remind you that there are, indeed, words. Can't be much more help than that. If there were others, it'd be easier. It's a shame you've let such a great number of us go. It's been rather lonely, being the last... Ah, time is a merciless thing. But, if this is what you truly want, you had better hurry and speak it. Or, well... perhaps think a bit on it first. Say them aloud once you figure you've done it all right. Best not waste energy, now.
Think them? Her own voice rang clearly in her head.
Perfect!
At once, she felt welcome in her own mind, finding a strange comfort in the voice that had taken up such a conversational tone with her.
There are words, right? Words I've said before?
Yeah, s'right! But they won't work again. It's not a game, remember?
What am I saying?
No, no! Don't go and think about it that way again! You'll get no where and you've not much time to spare by the looks of things.
But I just don't remember...
Then ask for what you want now.
How?
You know how. And I was rather serious about the time. You've got very little left. Well - none, really.
How do I remember?
Best not ask me... You're better off just taking a crack at it. You waste to much time otherwise.
I don't...
She knew. It wasn't in her inventory of knowledge or the dark recesses of her own hopelessness. It was there, nestled somewhere between her heart and the last flickering light left in that long-forgotten place in her mind.
Sarah drew a rattling breath, "I w-wish..." and held it fast as her body stilled under the blanket of snow. Her lips quivered, forcing the air through them with every ounce of power left within her. It felt like the most difficult task in the world, uttering those words, and she knew there were not enough to finish what had to be done.
She called on the power.
"I c-could... "
C'mon, c'mon! There's not a moment to spare!
There was more to it there, teasingly close as it wavered at her fingertips- just out of reach. It seemed so simple, so easy to grasp but she couldn't get a hold of that final piece of the puzzle, the last part of the equation. There was no way to put it into place without her own power, and that had failed her miserably against the pervasive cold and elusive thought. She wanted to know it with all her heart. Every fiber of her being reached out for the tiny filament that beckoned every wall she had every build around herself to come crashing down. She would have let it, too. Gladly.
Her mind went silent, save for the quiet buzz of some distant noise. Something silly, something formless, something undoubtedly part of the end. It was as if the circuits were already shorting out and leaving behind nothing but softness and quiet. There was warmth.
Then the world fell away.
---
This is the second draft and probably the final of this chapter. I think I'm ready to get going with the second chapter after I take care of a few things. This whole job thing is getting in the way of mah fictions.
Thanks to the handful who have given me some attention, especially Yodeladyhoo for her wonderfully constructive feedback. ROCKIN ME SOCKS OFF
