The house was eerily dark and silent, Robert and Karen being at an event at Robert's company. Sarah was standing in front of Toby cradle watching him sleep, her stomach growling. She was scared, in the last two hours she ate three pizzas, and a pack of lasagna and while any human would be busy calming the pain in their stomach she was absolutely starved, craving for more, for something different, …for Toby.
She wakes up of her daze second before her hand made contact with his pale hair. Almost, she almost, almost… she bolted out of the room running to the safety of her bed trying to suppress thought of her appetizing little brother.
Why? WHY? Since she came back from the labyrinth two years ago Sarah noticed small changes in her, first her sense of smell sharpened and she was able to tell who was behind the door just by smelling the air.
Second, her tastes matured, she always enjoyed reading, but she suddenly took interest in poetry and painting and for some reason gardening, she asked a small patch of the garden and started a small vegetable garden.
Third, her eating habit changed she enjoyed more meat, preferably raw or lightly cooked and put great importance in the taste of sauce and the matching of the flavor. Karen was thrilled by her compliments.
At this point she made some research and started to entertain the idea that she might be turning into a fae. That was hinted by the sharpened sense and evolution of taste, but not by her newly found preference for meat, fae despising hunting.
She asked her friends from the labyrinth, but nobody could explain what happened or why none of the other humans had reacted this way.
She still had no clue, until two nights ago.
Coming back from school she picked the smell of raw meat and without realizing spend all of her allowance on an enormous piece of beef, confused she made it back home, put it in the fridge and wondered how she will explain that to her family, when Karen reminded her that she was watching over Toby tonight.
She quickly forgot the meat in the fridge while playing with Toby. But the more she played, the more she was hungry dismissing it as the exhaustion provoked by caring for a lively little boy she made dinner and put him to bed. She just finished her story and was kissing his forehead when his smell overwhelmed her, he smelled so good, so tasty, she flicked her tongue out, just a taste…
"Ewwww "Toby was watching her, his little nose scrunched in disgust
That wake her up she jumped back and run to the kitchen. What was happening? She found Toby appetizing in a gastronomic kind of way and she was so hungry after her dinner. Trying to ease the growling of her stomach she wanders to the fridge remembering her chunk of meat. Right now she was sure she wouldn't be able to eat anything but raw meat or Toby…
She unpacked the beef and took a small bite, it was so good she swallowed it before taking a huge bite feeling the taste of the meat against her tongue when something clicked, slowly, reluctantly she unclasped her jaws putting the piece of meat out of her mouth and her eyes grew wide.
The piece of meat was way too big to fit in her mouth, but somehow she had been able to imprint her teeth on both sides, which was impossible unless her mouth could open at least three times wider. And, the teeth mark were too deep some indentation let suppose predator's canines instead of human's, but the more frightening were the smaller indentation inside the larger one as if she grew four or five set of teeth inside her mouth. She was about to throw the meat away when she caught the faint scent of Toby upstairs, forgetting everything she sank her teeth inside the beef never noticing how her cheeks sliced themselves to let her open her jaws wide enough to fit a football in it, how her mouth was now lined with sharp teeth made for ripping meat and crushing bones, how she swallowed her meal in two bites, how after the last bit disappeared her cheeks glued themselves back and the new sets of teeth retracted in her mouth.
Something was very wrong with her.
That's when the other changes took place, first she noticed that her improved smell was making her salivating at every children she crossed the younger the tastier.
Second, she discovered that even if she was good at gardening she was able to grow good vegetable and amazing beans, each time she looked at a bean plant dozen of idea swarm to her head on how to improve them.
Third, she became some sort of expert in human meat able to guess what would be the tastiest piece of meat on each person she met.
Sarah was definitely not a fae.
She was now in her bed resisting the tantalizing smell of her little brother, she had battled with her parents when they asked her to watch Toby tonight, afraid of what she might do to him, her parents were surprised thinking she outgrew this phase years ago, but how could she explain them she was afraid to eat her own brother. The smell again she ran blindly out of the house trying to escape the maddening need to feed. While running she lost all rational through and let herself forget just a second.
She vaguely smelled the kid playing alone in the park, didn't realize she was running to him, she heard a distant scream then nothing.
She came to her sense kneeling on the grass a large stain of blood running from her mouth to her shirt, the memories kicked in, the child, the ripping of the tender flesh, the twitching of dying muscles and more vivid than everything the absolute bliss of the meat sliding down her throat.
She started sobbing, crying for someone to help her anyone.
Her labyrinth friends had no clues, no one would ever believe her and if they do what kind of monster would they saw. She was desperate, so she turned to the only person she thought to have the answer.
"I wish the goblin king would come here right now"
Once again the lightning, the owl and finally in front of her stood Jareth looking at her sobbing form.
"P-please w-what is happening t-to me?"
"You're changing?" she heard the surprise in his voice
"Why?"
"I- it never happened before … that's…I thought I was the last one" he sighted crouching on the floor and pulling her into a hug "do you know what you are turning into?"
"…"
"Sarah, tell me" he coaxed gently
"An ogre" her voice was barely a whisper.
"yes,… like me" she looked up at him "long ago some of our kind left to live in the aboveground but without the constant flow of magic found in the underground they lost their powers and blended within humans.
When you ran my labyrinth you were bathed in magic that awakened your nature" Sarah was staring at the floor her voice empty.
"My nature … how do I go back?"
"You can't"
"Oh …what happens now?"
"You could stay here, your powers will grow and you will probably end trying to feed, human food isn't sufficient to sustain your power so you will need to hunt someone"
"Or?"
"Or you could come with me in the underground, I'll keep you fed"
"How? " She swallowed already knowing the answer
"My role is to deal with unwanted child… I, too, need to feed" he stroked her hair gently, she cracked into another sob.
"I don't want to eat anybody" she whined softly, tears escaping her eyes.
"shhhhh love, you will end to, you can't fight your nature you can just protect those you love by sparring them"
They stayed like this Jareth embracing her until Sarah's sob died and she pulled away.
"Take me back" she was whipping her eyes trying to put on a brave façade.
"Anything precious, don't worry it only gets easier" she nodded before taking his hand, following him to the labyrinth, a large stain of blood the only trace of her presence.
This idea has bugged me for some time now, the concept of ogres come from the excellent (French) comic "Ogres" by Alwett, Iggy and Alizon.
I don't own labyrinth