Hello. This is an more edited version of the first chapter. again...


"Shannon?" my best friend, Sarah, questioned with concern in her voice. She lightly shook my shoulder slightly to help me focus out of la la land.

"Hmm. What?"

"You ok? Ya kinda spaced out there for a second."

"Yea, I'm fine. You know me I space out all the time, I usually start thinking about something random like cheese cubes or Whiskers the cat who names fruit…Sorry. Now what were you saying? Something about the final confrontation between you and his Nibs or something." I sit up next to her on the couch in our living room, taking a sip of my Sunkist and nibbling on bits of cheesy popcorn while flipping through channel after channel until finally ending up on some weird movie on the Sci-Fi channel.

Sarah and I have been best friends since pretty much birth so naturally, she told me all about her adventures in the Labyrinth as soon as I came back from my vacation in Arizona five years ago. I believed every word, she was too detailed for it to be anything but the truth, plus I could always tell when she lied. We have been living together as room-mates in an loft our parents reluctantly let us have until we graduate from college. It was nice and as long as we kept our grades up, we wouldn't have to pay for it. (Sweetness!)

"Yeah, after five years I can't still figure out what he meant by those words, it's been bugging me lately." I saw the bridge of her nose crinkle in thought and confusion while she took a swig of her grape soda. I always thought it was blatantly obvious, but apparently out of the two of us, I was the wiser. (I do live up to my name, Shannon does mean little wise owl)

"Well it's obvious," I tell her, "he wanted you to stay with him and what do ya do? I don't know how you did that, even when I was fifteen, I would have gotten what he meant. If I were you in your shoes then, I would have said yes in a heartbeat. And if he looks like a young hot version of David Bowie, like you told me, I would definitely tap that." I grab the remote (it's a universal one) and switch it from the movie we were kind of watching to the stereo where, after some skipping through some tracks, Justin Timberlake's SexyBackblared out of the speakers. I jump off the couch to start singing and dancing to it. "Dirty babe, you see these shackles baby I'm your slave. I'll let you whip me if I misbehave. It's just that no one makes me feel this way." and all that jazz.

It's then I realize that the window behind the couch is wide open and probably everyone walking on the street can see and hear me. Not that I don't mind performing in front of people, it's that I'm in my yoga outfit singing SexyBack; that's the problem. I stop dancing, turned the stereo off and the TV back on with the remote, and creep over to the window to check and make sure I didn't have an audience. Thankfully I didn't have any, well except this barn owl that was perched on one of the lower branches of an oak tree next to the street. Did it just wink at me? Weird. I think I need to lay off the cheesy popcorn and Sunkist for a while.

"Yea, I know you would." Sarah, who was dying of laughter during my performance, replied through small giggles " I don't know," she continued as she sobered from her giggle fit, "I was so worried about Toby that I thought it was all a ruse to make me lose. I didn't even know the words would have worked."

I turned my back from the window. "Sometimes I wonder about you, Sarah." I commented as I made my way back to the couch. "I think that you can sometimes be an idiot." I flashed my 'I'm joking with you' smirk, but apparently Sarah didn't see it that way.

"Shannon, I didn't have time to think about it." she glared at me, "You would have done the same thing for your brother." Not exactly true. 1. My brother is older than me and 2. if I did wish my brother away, I wouldn't want to get him back b/c he would have definitely beat me to a pulp when I won him back. Shannon juice probably isn't as tasty as it sounds.

"Maybe so..." I try to calm her down. She can sometimes take things a little bit too seriously, she's stubborn as hell, but I can at least try to reason with her. I'll admit, when Sarah first told me about the Labyrinth, I also thought of the Goblin King like she did, as the villain. Over the years, however, I started to think about him differently. Maybe it's because of the dreams that I've had of him eversince Sarah told me about him. He seemed to be lonely and all he wanted was someone to be his companion, someone he could have be himself around, not just the Goblin King. I feel sorry for him, poor guy.

"Have you even talked to him afterwards? I mean, you could probably talk to him and explain why you pretty much took his heart beat it to a bloody pulp and put it through a shredder. I would have at least have the guts to confront him again." I being the wiser of the two, would have probably done so, but Sarah really doesn't think things through.

"Shannon, you don't know him like I do." she was starting to get frustrated. Even to this day, she thought of him as the villain. Even though she hasn't seen him since the day she wished Toby away five years ago. "He's dangerous, he'll be generous one moment, go into a temper tantrum in a split second, and be flirtatious the next. I wouldn't even try to contact him after that."

"He only did that because you wanted him to be the villain." I was right, but that stubbornness streak she has wouldn't let her admit it. I love Sarah like no other friend could, but she should at least give it up for once and admit that I'm right and she's wrong. She can be a selfish, spoiled, brat sometimes; that's when we get into fights. (which I'm guessing is what we're doing right now) "Geez Sarah, how could you be so-"

"So what, Shannon?" She rose from the couch and stood right in front of me, blocking the TV. I could see that look in her eyes that told me if I valued my life to not finish that sentence. Out of frustration, I did just that.

"Selfish." I took the remote, turned the TV off, and stood up right in front of her. "Don't even go into your 'I did it to save Toby' speech. You only saved him, so you wouldn't get into trouble with your parents!" I was right, sadly. I knew it and she knew it. She didn't care for Toby at all before she wished him away, she hated him. She wanted nothing to do with him. He was living proof that her stepmother was here to stay and her mother was never coming back. It's sad, but true. "And-"

"Stop!" She screamed. "Why are you taking his side anyway?"

"Because I feel sorry for him and how you treated him. All he wanted was somebody to love him. True, he could done things differently, but he did what you asked, whether or not you truly wanted them or not. You were so quick to cast him as the villain, Sarah." I march toward her, anger from an unknown source pumping through my veins, "If he loved me like he did you, I would treat him a lot better than you did, that's for sure." I truly meant what I said, or at least I think I did.

"You know what, maybe he should!" Oh boy, she's mad. In the distance I could hear a thunderstorm rolling in. Wait. We weren't supposed to have clear skies all night? We were supposed to go to the park with a bunch of friends for a meteor shower party later on tonight. "I wish…I wish…I wish the Goblin King himself would come and take you away right now!" she roared out finally. POP! The electricity went out. Great, just wonderful. Well there goes the movie we were watching. (it was actually getting good too) I can see Sarah breathing heavily trying to calm herself down from her anger. That's when the realization of what she had done came upon both of our faces as well as a hint of fear. She turns ghastly pale and stares off at the window behind me, taking a few steps backwards.

"Umm…Sarah?" I didn't want to but for some reason I turned around to see what she's looking at. Though I had a hunch that I already knew what was behind me, besides the couch.

"Oh fudgecicles." I whispered as I moved back to stand beside Sarah.

There he was in all his glory, his black knee-high boots shining an unnatural glow, his pants were as dark as the sky at night during a severe thunderstorm and extremely tight to show off his…friend (how in the world he wasn't in absolute pain, I have no idea), a dark, what looked like bronze painted black, breastplate covered what I would imagine a rock hard sculpted chest that would make any body builder look in awe, black gloves that covered his long hands (I imagine him having the hands of a pianist), and a dark, slightly Nightmare Before Christmas looking cape that slightly touched the floor while it's collar rose up to accent his facial features. His face looked as though it was sculpted by the gods themselves, he did look like David Bowie, even the dilated pupil was the same, but there was something different, a kind of aura that made him unlike any other person I've ever met. He's way beyond beautiful and way better than any of my dream versions of him could ever be. *Drool*

"Well, well, well." He smirked like a cat getting the cream, as he sauntered over to where Sarah and I were cowering against the wall in fear and awe. "We meet again Sarah, and oh look, you brought me a present." He paused for a moment to rake his eyes over me. I blushed a deep crimson red and looked away as he slightly paused at my chest, which wasn't helping me out one bit by heaving out of control in fear (a little bit of desire I'll admit). Why in the world did I have to go and piss off Sarah when I was wearing my yoga outfit, which pretty much was a pair of black leggings, my short red booty shorts on top of my leggings, and my favorite tank top that was way too low cut to help out my situation. Keeping his eyes full of non-concealed lust and desire on me, he leered at me and continued. "I must say, you know my taste quite well, she's got one heck of a rack."

Before I could think, I commented. "Well, I've always been told that my lady lumps are quite…wait…what?" I cringed at my stupidity. I swear I can be a flipping idiot sometimes. Although I am slightly chubbier than most of my friends, it's true that I have been "gifted" by my family genes to have a larger than normal bosom. "Damn you genetics!" I spaced out for a while, in my mind I was beating up my family genetics with a folding chair for making me look the way that I do. Me being spaced out in la la land must have amused the Goblin King for he chuckled a little bit.

Suddenly, before either Sarah or I knew it, the Goblin King had jumped over the couch barrier, grabbed hold of my wrists and pinned me between the wall and his rock hard body. I gasped in shock of being whipped out of my la la land in such a violent manner, which gave the Goblin King the lovely opportunity to thrust his mouth onto mine and explore the inside of my mouth and even the back of my throat (Gene Simmons' tongue is nothing compared to the Goblin King's) with his tongue. Waking up from my la la land fully, I tried to wriggle out of his grip on me, but as soon his "friend" started poking my hip I stopped moving. The sudden appearance of his "friend" made me gasp once again and gave him the opportunity to deepen the kiss even more (as if it wasn't deep enough already). He growled in his throat while I was whimpering for him to stop. Where the hell was Sarah?

I looked over to where Sarah stood. There she was, in shock of what was happening in front of her, but then she snapped out of it, yelled out something utterly incoherent, and lunged at the Goblin King. Sadly before we knew what was going, again, he jumped back while pulling me off the wall with one hand and flicking a crystal at Sarah that made a puff of smoke around her. When the smoke cleared, Sarah's wrist and feet were bound by rope, while I was still in the arms of the Goblin King.

"Get your effing hands off her Goblin King!" she roared at him trying to wiggle out of the constricting ropes. If Sarah was angry before, it was nothing compared to how she was now. Think of it this way, if you were to start messing with the cub of a mother grizzly bear and she was going to attack you, that's what Sarah looked like times ten.

"My, my Sarah, are you jealous that I'm giving my attentions to your voluptuous friend and not you?" He started to stroke the small of my back with one of his hands (that somehow came to be on my hips), which sent shivers up and down my spine and made me sharply inhale my breath. He wolfishly grinned at this result.

"No, I most certainly am not. She's my best friend and I will not have her being taken advantage of by a narcissistic prick like you!" She retorted as she glared at him. He just raised one of his eyebrows at her.

And I, still wishy washy after the kiss and back rubbing, had to stupidly speak my mind. "Yeah, you ain't going to take advantage of my lady lumps, thank you." Then I do the "don't go there girlfriend" snap sequence at him with the head nodding like I was ghetto-fabulous, which I am not. Sarah looks at me as if I was on drugs or drunk, while the Goblin King leers at me with amusement.

"Oh I will do whatever I want with your 'lady lumps' and whatever else you have for me to take advantage of, Shannon." He takes on arm and snakes it around waist to pull me closer to him and his still very prominent "friend," while the other hand ran up my stomach all the way up to the bottom of one of my breast so he could cup it. I tried to push him away, but my arms wouldn't move, as if they were magically stuck there. Before I could ponder the situation of my arms any further, he then lean toward me, placing his cheek onto mine, inhaled my scent, and whispered seductively, yet possessively, into my ear, "You are mine."

I gulped, red alerts were going off in my head and computerized voices going "Danger! Danger!" as he licked my earlobe and started to make a trail of open mouth kisses and nips down my neck, all the while kneading at my breast he cupped in his hand. I couldn't help but softly moan, which made him chuckle in between kisses and nips. All the while Sarah watching in total shock. Whatever I thought of the Goblin King before was completely gone. I was wrong. Oh how so very wrong I was. Tears started to well up into my eyes causing my vision to become blurry.

"Look Goblin King," She said calmly. He ignored her. "I didn't mean it, so go be gone and leave us be." That made him stop and he let me go. Before I could run over to release Sarah from her bonds, he waved his hand over me and "Stay." he ordered and there I stood, magically stuck to the ground.

"Oh you didn't?" He said in mock surprise and put his hands on his fist. "Just like you didn't mean it the last time when you wished away your brother?" His voice took a darker tone as he glared at her. This made Sarah quiver, what little confidence she had before was completely gone now.

"Please Goblin King, I didn't-" Her begging was interrupted by Jareth's commanding voice.

"You should know by now that what said is said, Sarah." He was getting agitated.

Then a brilliant idea came into head, why she didn't think of it before. She was beaming at her advisory. "Ok then, I'll run the labyrinth again for Shannon."

"I don't think so. Once you've run through the Labyrinth, you can never run it again. Besides, when you spoke the phrase 'You have no power over me', it literally meant that I have no power over you; not even to take you back to my Labyrinth."

Sarah was on the verge of tears when she heard this. "But that's not-"

"Fair?" He complete. Smirking at the memory of the last time he heard those words come from her. "Really Sarah, haven't you figured out that life's not fair."

That was it. I began to let the tears run, I wailed and wailed as if I were a small child again. I would have fallen to the floor, however Jareth's magic keep my legs from falling. He came beside me and took the magic off my legs. My legs buckled under me and I fell right into Jareth's arms…again. He held me, I looked up into his eyes, he smirked at me and started to wipe my tears away. If it wasn't for the smirk on his face, I would have thought he actually cared for me.

Sarah looked at me and started, "But-"

He then held his hand up to make her stop speaking. "End of discussion, Sarah. You asked for me to take Shannon away and I will gladly take her." He gave me a look as if to tell me he would take me in more ways than one. I shivered at the thought and started to cry more tears. "Now, say good-bye to your friend, Shannon." I looked at Sarah, we both stared at each other for a moment, then I started to wail again. He held me closer to him and with a flick of his wrist a crystal was produced, he was about to throw it to the ground (I suspected it was to make our exit more dramatic) when suddenly.

"Wait." He stopped. "Take me instead." Sarah sadly, yet calmly pleaded.

He looked at Sarah for a moment, frowned, and replied. "No, you had your chance, you could have had your dreams when you wished away your brother. I won't make that offer again. I'm taking Shannon, and you can't take her place.

"Fine, let me go too then." She countered, running (which was actually more like hopping since she was bound) to us, but the Goblin King put his hand with the crystal to tell her to stop where she was. This time he looked like he was royally pissed.

"No Sarah." He growled. "I told you, I do not have the power over you to take you back with me to the Underground, even if it was willingly. Shannon is coming with me and you are not. That's final. Say goodbye to your friend and forget about her. I have been so very generous up to this point but my patience is wearing thin. Do not tempt me into being cruel."

With that she sighed. "At least let me give her one last hug before you take her" And with that he let me go and Sarah's bonds disappeared. Sarah and I ran into each other's arms and wrapped our arms around each other as tightly as possible. Both of us crying our eyes out. "I'm sorry Shannon, I'm so sorry. I'll find a way to get you back. I promise. This isn't good-bye." she whispered.

"I know you will, Sarah, and I forgive you for everything. Don't forget me, ok." I spoke in between sobs.

"I won't. I promise."

"Bye Sarah."

"Bye Shannon."

And with that, she released me from her death-grip hug and stepped back. A look of remorse on her face for what she had just done to me, which was probably the equivalent to sending her best friend to the guillotine.

The Goblin King quietly snakes his arms around my waist and lays his head near my ear. "Come, Shannon." is all he says and pulls me to start walking backwards with him. Sarah, along with the rest of the living room of the loft Sarah and I once owned together began to fade away. In it's place, an empty, but absolutely filthy throne room. I pushed his arms off me and walked away from him to get a better view of my surroundings. In the center of the circular stone room is a pit of overly large pillows, in front of it on a dais with a throne made of leather and bone, two large doors (I suspect the doors to the outside) on the opposite side of the throne and in between the throne and the two large doors was a stairway leading somewhere unknown.

I turned back to look at the Goblin King, who was now wearing the same boots, but no longer was he wearing the rest of his, what I call, human-stealing attire. Instead he was wearing a pair of grey breeches, still very tight, a crisp white poet shirt that was open to show off his very well built chest and abs, and a necklace, that I'm guessing is a symbol of his soveirgnty. With a feline grace, he moved towards me in a slow but deliberate pace. That's when I realized I was alone in a room with the one and only Goblin King. I paniced and ran towards the doors, only to crash right into him and have him grab my arms. I couldn't scream, I was in so much shock of what was going on that I just stood there hyperventilating. He rubbed my arms, cooed, and shushed me in attempts to calm me down. When I finally calmed down, he leaned in to hover only inches from my face, and with a feral grin, he said, "Welcome home, Shannon."

Then everything went black.


Sigh, editing will never end with me. I hope this is a little more clearer and is better than what it was before. Let me know what you think. I'm working on this story in my head all the time, it's just getting it on here that's the problem. The semester is almost over so I'll have more time.