DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything related to Labyrinth. I don't own the songs, characters or any of it.

I'm just a fan who enjoys fanfic far too much.

The Nightmare

Chapter 1

It had been a sleepless night for one young woman living in the city of a small rural town. She tossed and turned in her sleep, muttering incoherent words into the wee

hours of the morning. A strange shadowy cloaked figure haunted her dreams. Darkness consumed her nightmare and for some reason the strange figure was always at the

epicenter of the darkness holding what looked to be a crystal ball out towards her, offering it to her. She would hide in the darkness for as long as she could but the figure

would always find her, holding out the ball to her as it always did. The figure was almost longing for her to make a decision to take the ball from it. Then a long gloved hand

would reach out and place it's self on her left shoulder. "Please." a velvety voice begged, coming from the dark figure. "No!" she screamed, as she suddenly awoke from her

sleep, shooting up like a lighting blot in her full sized bed, gripping the corners of her mattress as her heart pounded in her chest. Her long brown hair looking like it had

encountered some sort of tornado while laying on her down feather pillow. The light switch in her bedroom flicked on abruptly. "Again Caroline?" a voice snapped from the

doorway of the bedroom. "Sorry..." Caroline muttered as pushed herself up from her bed, her heart still racing from her nightmare. "You know I can't help it. I've had

nightmares since I was little. You've never complained at our sleepovers anyways. Did you Julie?" She pushed her long, tangled brown hair out of her face as she walked

over to her roommate. Julie frowned from the doorway while rolling her eyes slightly before turning away to continue back to her room. "Well, keep it down this time. I can

hear you through my ear plugs." she pushed one pink colored ear plug back into her right ear then left Caroline to go back to her room on the opposite side of the hallway.


"Damn, nightmares." Caroline frowned as she walked down the staircase inside her apartment. Her footfalls landing softly so not to wake her now sleeping roommate. She

frowned at the kitchen table, spotting a small red book laying in the center of the table. Caroline sat down at the table pulling the small red leather book towards her from

the center of the table. "How did you get down here?" she looked in puzzlement at the book. Her eyes opened wider as her finger tips grazed the spin of the book. "The

Labyrinth." Caroline had remembered her father and mother reading it to her as a child, but she could have sworn she had left it back at her mother's house in a box of

other books laying in her childhood closet. As she opened to book an odd spark shot from Caroline's right hand causing her to drop the book instantly. "Ow!" she whined,

quickly bringing her hand to her face, rubbing her finger tips with her left hand. "I don't remember it doing that." she muttered before standing up from the table. Caroline

quickly explained away the spark as having to with the dust on the book's cover. She knew she hadn't read the book in ages, not since she was at least twelve. She had given

up such fairy tales when her father had passed away. Cancer had burst her happy make believe bubble permanently. She shrugged off the idea that the book had somehow

magically appeared, maybe her mom had brought it over and the book had simply gone unnoticed. Whatever the cause Caroline refused to dwell on it as she continued her

way back upstairs to her room. It was 2 am and she had an important math exam in the morning that she knew she had to do well on to pass the course.


Seven am rolled around faster than Caroline thought it would. She awoke to her alarm clock blaring. "Morning already." Julie's voice came from the hallway. Caroline yawned

before slapping her alarm off. "Time for that math test?" Julie asked as she entered Caroline's room. "Unfortunately." Caroline nodded and yawned, walking over to her

mirrored dresser. She didn't notice the leather bound red book laying in front of her hair brush. She glanced down and raised an eyebrow. "Julie this isn't funny." she

hissed, twirling around as she grabbed the book. Julie raised an eyebrow back at her. "What are you going on about?" Caroline frowned as she walked over to her friend.

"You brought this book up here. You're trying to play a trick on me to get me back for waking you up last night." she assumed. Julie blinked her eyes a few times before

snatching the book from her friend. "Oh hey, it's that book you used to be obsessed with from when we were kids." Caroline wasn't amused by Julie's reply. "So you didn't

put it in my room?" she questioned. Julie shook her head as she glanced at the back of the book. "Hey, I don't remember this inscription." she said as she gestured to the

back of the red book. Caroline frowned before grabbing the book from Julie's hand. There was indeed an inscription on the back of the book and one that Caroline didn't

remember. She traced her finger along the golden script. "Any idea what it says?" Julie asked. Caroline looked closely at the inscription but she couldn't understand the

writing. The wording seemed to be some sort of language and the language seemed almost other worldly. She continued to trace her finger along the wording, the words

seeming to also whisper to her as she glided her finger across them. Julie arched an eyebrow as she watched her friend become somewhat entranced by the script.

"Caroline?" she asked, but Caroline didn't reply. Caroline's light blue eyes started off in a trance and she couldn't be woken from whatever spell the words had cast upon

her. Her fingers began to tingle and she could hear a whisper. The whisper was very quite, but as Caroline continued to trace the letters the whisper grew more audible.

"Sarah." the whisper beckoned. Caroline instantly dropped the book from her hands, jumping back from it. Julie's eyes widened as she made her way over to her friend.

"What's wrong?" she asked. Caroline looked a fright. "It talked!" she exclaimed. Julie began to laugh. "Oh right, a book talked. It's not an audio book." she continued to

laugh, as she walked towards the door. "We're going to be late."Julie waved for Caroline to join her though Caroline was still in shock. "Right..." she managed to udder.


It wasn't long before Caroline and Julie were back home at their apartment after school was over. "So... how was the test?" Julie asked, cocking her head sideways at her

friend. Caroline shook her head, not looking up from her drawing pad. "Right..." Julie sighed before getting up from the old gently used gray sofa she'd been sitting on.

"Well I guess I'll make dinner then." Julie forced a smile, sensing Caroline didn't do so well on her test. Caroline pushed herself up from the sofa, clutching her drawing pad

to her body. "I will probably be retaking the class next semester." she finally answered. "Tutoring didn't help..." she sighed, frowning to herself. Caroline had never been

good at math and even with help she usually barely passed courses with a D minus. Julie continued to force a smile. "Don't worry. You did pretty good on the homework!

That will surely bring up your grade." Caroline shook her head once more as she dragged herself up the staircase then into her room, closing her door behind her. Julia

sighed heavily before walking into the kitchen to make her friend something to cheer her up.


Once in her bedroom Caroline plopped down on her bed. Self pity consuming her every thought. She glanced over at her nightstand to see a picture of her and her father

when she was around the age of six. "I'm sorry for letting you down. I'm a failure." she thought, a sad frown formed on Caroline's lips. She couldn't help but wrap her

arms around herself, pulling her knees up to her chest while she sat on the bedside. Eventually, Caroline found herself drifting off to sleep, exhausted from her self

proclaimed failure. It wasn't long before she found herself dreaming. Her nightmare this time was different. It still felt like the same dream but somehow it felt different to

Caroline. The same darkness as before surrounded her but this time the crystal ball the figure was offering to her was glowing. Instead of being afraid of the figure and the

crystal as she had been so many times before something came over Caroline. Call it intuition, fate or divine intervention but for whatever reason Caroline reached out for the

crystal. As soon as she did the crystal began to glow brightly. The light was blinding and Caroline couldn't see anything around her. All she could do was hear. The figure in

her dream began do chuckle, the laugh echoed around Caroline causing her head to spin. She began to withdraw her hand, but the gloved hand of the figured grabbed her

hand in turn. "Oh no..little Sarah, not this time." the voice cooed. Instant panic set in and Caroline began to struggle. "Let go of me. I'm not Sarah!" she demanded, yanking

her arm back from the figure. The figured just continued to chuckle before letting go of her. Caroline began to run away from the figure in the darkness. She had no idea

where she was going, but she didn't like the way the figure referred to her as Sarah. This whole situation made her feel uneasy. "Someone help me!" she yelled into the

darkness but she was only answered by the echoes of laughter. "Caroline! Caroline!" a voice cut through her nightmare. Caroline stopped when she heard the voice, it

sounded like Julie. "Julie?" she whispered. Suddenly a door appeared in the darkness. White light beaming from the door frame. "Caroline! Wake up!" Julie's voice called out

to her from the door. Without thinking Caroline ran to the door, swinging the door open to be greeted by a burst of white light.