Sarah sighed and starred out at the party guests. Over 200 of her closet
friends had shown up for her sweet sixteen party. Had her parents been
there, and seen the amount of people in their usually clean house, they
would've crucified Sarah! Lucky for her, though, they were out of town, yet
again, at the casino.
The loud music throbbed through her temples, enticing her to rejoin
the wildly dancing masses. No She resolved I have to feed Toby first.
So Sarah climbed up the stairs, side-stepping around a drunk couple making-
out in the middle of them.
"Wait" Sarah said, suprising the wide-eyed couple. "Um… You two
weren't...um…drinking?"
The guy stared blankly at her, and then slowly and stupidly pointed to
the coffee table. There, Sarah saw the vase beloved to her mother, and her
own favorite relic of her mother's presence. It was full of some strange
liquid, and there was a ladle in it.
"Oh mi god!" Sarah shouted, barely heard above the loud beat of the
music. How could her friends have done this to her? She had distinctly said
no illegal substances. Didn't her friends know that?
No, not friends, acquaintances. People who use you. The voice in
th3e back of her mind reminded her. Most of these people I've never even
met.
The most appalling so far was her friend Zoë, who stood next to the
vase alternating between adding vodka and some fruit juice to the
concoction.
"WHAT are you DOING!?" Sarah yelled to Zoë. Zoë either ignored
her, or just couldn't hear her. Zoë grabbed another bottle out of the hands of
some kid, passed out on Sarah's couch. She took a swig out of it before
continuing to add it in. "ZOE!!" Sarah tried again, horrified at the notion of
what was going on. She had lost all control over this party.
"Oh hi, Sarah!" Zoë cried over the loud noise.
"What?!" Sarah was infuriated, "I said nothing illegal!"
"It's no big deal…" Zoë muttered, brushing it off, before fading into
the crowd. Sarah's face was burning. She was almost shaking in frustration.
She hit the kid sitting next to her on the couch.
"Wha…What?" He murmured in drunken confusion.
" Get. Out. Of. My. HOUSE!!!" Sarah cried, over the roar of the party
as someone began dancing on the kitchen table.
"Whoa, what's your problemmm? The boy slurred before the alcohol
overtook him again, and he passed out once more.
By now, Sarah was out for blood. She had been an anti-drug
musketeer ever since the whole episode with the peach, vowing herself to
never touch anything like it again. She was even hesitant to take Advil. She
had hardly even thought about the peach episode, or the Labyrinth at all,
even though it had happened less than a year ago. But she hadn't been able
to completely forget it. She felt as if she had left a part of herself there.
When she had said those words, those words that changed her life, they also
changed her. The child inside of her had died, but she had sacrificed the
child in herself for another child, Toby. She had become a more normal,
down-to-earth person after that, rising to a level of popularity unknown to
the former her.
Now her true self could show through, no longer a naïve girl, but a
mature young woman. She liked her friends well enough, but they were
nothing compared to her friends from the Underground. She couldn't even
call them now, when she wanted to. But now her friends had deceived her,
and she was just about fed up their weekly drinking and drug binges.
Enough, this has to end!
So she stomped up the stairs, kicking people out of her way like so
many goblins.
"The babe with the power" A blond-haired stranger said, off to her
left. She turned to look at him, but she couldn't find anyone, so she ignored
it, continue on her romp to the second floor landing.
"LISTEN UP!!!" She screamed, her anger powering her voice like a
megaphone. All conversation stopped, and someone lowered the volume of
the pulsing music. "YOU ALL HAVE TWO MINUTES BEFORE THE
POLICE COME. I'VE ALREADY CALLED THEM!" That, of course, was
a lie, but it added a powerful punch to her words.
You would've thought the house was on fire. The local cops were
well known for their lack of hesitance to arrest even the youngest offender.
People were leaving her house in streams, dragging their unconscious with
them. It looked more like a battle than a bad end to a party.
Sarah held her ground, dirty looking the partygoers, shouting at those
going to slow for her tastes.
"You know, Sarah, it really wasn't that big a deal." Zoë said, tartly.
Sarah's blood was boiling. Zoë could tell, and quickly scooted out the
door, saving herself from the wrath of Sarah's ire. When they were gone,
though, Sarah collapsed into exhausted crying.
The house was a disaster. Cups were strewn everywhere, and the
chips were in terrible disarray. Spills were everywhere, and the whole house
reeked of alcohol. She didn't even want to look in the kitchen, for fear of
what she might find there.
And in the living room, the vase had been smashed! Sarah couldn't
believe what terrible luck. The very thought of it breaking had added the
pain of her Mother's absence. How could they, what nerve? The delicate
flowers were strewn through the room, thousands and thousands of tiny
delicate pieces. Sarah's heart wrenched, felt as though it had been ripped out
tonight.
" Oh, Gods, why does everything always have to happen to the
innocent?! How could this party go so bad so quickly?" Sarah ranted, to no
one. "This is SO NOT…"
"Fair." Came the amused voice behind her. Slowly Sarah turned, in
fear and anticipation. It couldn't be him.
" Why, hello Sarah. Who crashed this lovely party?" He asked, with
false interest. His ever-present grin lighted his face. He looked ever
sarcastically mocking, which totally pushed Sarah over the edge.
"Oh, Not you." Sarah screamed "Of all the damned ways to end this
bad day…"
"Shh!" Jareth hushed, "You'll wake Toby."
Sarah's eyes widened, realizing the extreme quiet of the household.
By now Toby should be screaming.
" If you had touched a single hair on his head, I…I swear I'll…"
" I only fed him, something you so rudely forgot. He nearly deafened
me with his screaming. From what I saw of your party, he definitely has
your lungs."
Sarah looked at him defiantly. " Yeah, well it's not like they didn't
deserve it." Sarah's voice trailed off as she realized what he had said. "You
fed Toby? Likely poison.
Jareth pursed his lips as he paced around, surveying the damage of the
house. "Not poison, if you must know, but formula." He answered coldly.
Sarah stood staring dumbly at Jareth, the night's exhaustion tearing
words from her grasp. She searched for a witty remark.
The Goblin King looked on amusedly while Sarah searched for the
right words. His gold shirt was shimmering, drawing Sarah's attention to the
way the fabric flashed in the party lights. Sarah starred blankly at the
twisting swirling shit, surly a work of magic, a spell from the Underground.
" Is the view impressive?" He asked finally, bending down to meet
her eyes. Sarah blushed and averted her eyes. Jareth chuckled at this rare
show of modesty.
" I've been told it's quite irresistible." He chuckled, stalking ever
closer to Sarah.
Sarah quickly regained her composture," What have you come for
Jareth?" She asked, her voice a mirror of his own coldness.
"Why to join in the partying, why else?" He smiled sarcastically, his
pointed teeth gleaming to rival that of his shirt.
"Oh, yes, you've just missed the tea and vodka!" Sarah shouted in her
equally sarcastic quasi-British accent. Now it was anger fueling her words.

"On a more serious note then, if you've no taste for humor, I've come
as a messenger." Sarah snorted in disgust at the unlikely ness of this
proposition. "I know, it was a task I had all but refused. Sarah, seeing as
you're sixteen, you've acquired certain powers." He said solemnly, the
lilting humor gone from his voice.
"Powers!?" Sarah cried again, in disbelief. She sank back into one
mercifully dry armchair. Her face in her hands, Sarah parted her fingers to
look at Jareth, who had draped himself on a reasonably dry arm rest. He
must have expected this reaction, because he settled back comfortably to
wait.
" I have the most frustrating day of my life…well second-most
frustrating, and now, you MOCK ME!" Sarah screeched in absolute rage.
Jareth had to duck as a especially sharp piece of the vase flung past his head.
" Sarah, shhh! Sarah, you know that surely I would not come simply
to do that. You have to know that. Since you have conquered my Labyrinth,
you know have the golden key, in a way. You have the power to visit at
anytime." He spoke sharply of his defeat, but the overall tone was somewhat
of relief at finishing his errand.
" Oh, yes, a lovely week long tour through the dirty convoluted
mazes, and with an extra stop in an oubliette!" Sarah said, her sarcasm
leeching through to even Jareth's heart.
" Enough!" Jareth shouted, his anger also getting the best of him. "I
came to deliver the message, but I can see you are unwilling to listen!" He
strode purposely towards her, hovering over her chair. He reached forward,
cupping Sarah's chin with his hand, raising her face towards his own.
"You are but a child still, Sarah. Selfishly unable to see anything but
yourself." He said, voice as dark as his own castle at night. "I came to do
you a favor. I can see it goes unappreciated. I'll take my leave, Sarah. You
can never understand what you have lost." And with that, Jareth, and the
party mess disappeared in a tremendous crash. Sarah watched transfixed,
before reluctantly turning to sooth the now screaming Toby.