Within you

Chapter one The morning of glory and aspirin

" Sarah"

"Sarah, please, wake up!"

"SARAH ,WAKE UP!!"

Sarah's eyes opened. Sunlight flooded in blindingly bright. Sarah blinked and she glanced around. As if somebody had talked to her, but she couldn't see anybody. She could hear steps from the corridor as somebody went to the bathroom, but except the steps there was silence in the entire house.

Sarah's lips curled up to a smile. Life just felt different and beautiful today. The previous night -solving the Labyrinth, defeating the King himself... She exhaled softly as she turned her attention back to the present, to the now. This day was the beginning of a new life without the cares, the worries, the fears of the old world. A new life for her without dangers, imaginary fights,...kings.

"At first I should take a shower." she thought and jumped out from the bed.

The house was silent, as if everybody were sleeping. But it wasn't so. The door of the bathroom opened and Karen came out wondering to see her awake so early. Sarah remebered her pledge.

" Good morning...Karen!" started Sarah civilly. " I have waked up."

Karen looked more than a little confused at the friendly greeting. She wasn't used to it.

"Yes, I see" answered she almost gingerly. "But why don't you sleep? Today is saturday."

"I heard a voice, that said "Sarah, wake up". It was yours, wasn't it?"

Both blond eyebrows seemed to shoot up.

"Mine? Why should I wake you up?"

" So, it was just a dream." shrugged Sarah. " I'll take a shower."

"Okay, just as you like." said Karen and went to their room with strange expression on her face and strange thoughts in her mind.

Sarah threw down her nightgown and stepped in the shower-bath. She stood under the warm water till the steam shaded the tiles, the mirror and she felt herself purified from the past. She dryed herself with the towel and as she was,naked, she stood in front of the mirror. She wiped the steam with her hand away and looked into the mirror.

The face of a very familiar, handsome man looked back from the mirror.

"Jareth!" she screamed and turned back.

Nobody was behind her! She turned back to the mirror just to find herself face to face with the King of the Goblins. She spun around but she found herself alone in the bathroom. Then she realized with shock, that she couldn't see herself in the mirror.

" Good morning, Sarah!" said Jareth calmly and elegant. She could have sworn she didn't hear his voice with her ears, but sensed it with her mind.

"What the hell are you doing here?" asked Sarah half with fear, half with anger. " I have defeated you, remember? This part of my life is over! I don't have to deal with you anymore."

" Sarah..."

"It's not fair!" shouted Sarah. "You have no power over me! What kind of trick is that?"

" Sarah..."

" I want that you leave me alone! Go away! What do you want?"

"Finishing my sentence!" snapped Jareth then calmed down."If you could stop this whinning I would explain the situation. I don't know how could this happen, but in this moment I am within you...er.. in your body."

Sarah's jaw dropped.

" What?!"

Jareth sighed.

"Probably when you said that " You have no power"- rubbish, something went wrong and my soul moved in you. That's why you see my face instead of yours."

After seconds of gaping, that rivaled even Ludo's, Sarah, the one and only champion of the Labyrinth, bursted out.

"It's a nonsense! You are unable to accept your defeat, aren't you? It's just a trashy trying to get my interest, but you won't get it! Oh no! I'm not doing this again! I'm not interested at all about you!"

"I'm sure you don't mean it." said Jareth dryly.

"This is not real. It never has been. And it won't ever be.You're not real"

" Can you hear my voice?"

"I do."

" Can you see me?"

"I can see perfectly."

"Then I'm real."

"This is the last time I'm going to ask politely, leave!"

" I can't."

" I don't believe it!"

"Sarah, I'm here and I will be here till we have some plan to solve this situation. "

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my entire life."

"Oh yes, that was my opinion too at first. But I get used to it while you were sleeping. It' s a very awkward situation."

He looked at Sarah and smirked.

"Although it has advantages."

Sarah looked at herself and realized with panic that she was still in her birthday costume aka naked. She blushed as she jumped for the towel and twisted it around her body."

" How you dare...! You...you... I'm finished with you!" Sarah's face was red, her eyes flashed. "If a psychiatrist would be here, he could find out in some minutes that you are just a pre-pubert daydream! Just the stupid fantasy of a teenager! It's over! I've beaten you once, and I can do it again."

She opened the cupboard and took out the bottle with aspirin. With trembling fingers she turned the top down and took out one pile.

" Farewell, Jareth! Get ready, you will disapear in this very moment!"

She swallowed the pile and straightened up to peek in the mirror.

"I'm still here, darling!" He smiled charmingly.

Sarah groaned and bursted out from the bathroom to her room. She draged out a white sweater, a pair of jeans. All she wanted was to be dressed at last. She reached for the towel but suddenly she got an awful idea.

After some minutes she heard somebody knocking on the door.

" Come in."

" Sarah, the br..."

Karen stepped in the room and gasped. Her stepdaughter was standing in the middle of her room, a white sweater on and she was trying to put her jeans on. Maybe it would be easier without the thick scarf on her eyes.

Karen watched astonishedly Sarah finishing to dress up and tieing up her eyes.

"Yes?"

Karen's mouth opened and closed several times, then whispered.

" The breakfast is on the table."

A/N: So, what do you think?