Author's Notes:
Labyrinth is owned by Jim Henson, et al. I own nothing.
This is my first story. I hope you like it.
Trigger Warning: Emotional, Verbal, and Physical Child Abuse.
J/S ~ J/S ~ J/S
"Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time." — Paulo Coelho
J/S ~ J/S ~ J/S
Linda Williams was desperate. Yanking the phone receiver off the wall, she hurriedly dialed her husband's office.
"Thank you for calling Smith, Kobeling, and Williams," she heard a calm, professional female voice say over the line. "This is Mr. Will-"
"Karen," Linda interrupted. "Is my husband available?" Linda silently prayed that Robert was in his office, going so far as to cross her fingers.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Williams, but Mr. Williams is in court today. Could I take a message for you?" Karen asked politely.
Linda bit her lip. Sarah's babysitter had called sick half an hour ago, the next door neighbor who sometimes kept Sarah during the week wasn't home, and Linda had an audition in the city today. She'd hoped that she could drop Sarah off at Robert's office for a couple of hours - she'd done it twice before - but that was impossible if he was in court. Linda contemplated asking Karen if she could drop Sarah off anyway. Karen adored Sarah; surely it wasn't too much to ask?
"Is it an emergency, Mrs. Williams?" Karen asked, concerned by Linda's long silence. "I have to file paperwork with the clerk today at the courthouse; I could have him pulled out of court if necessary."
Damn! Linda thought. "No, Karen, it's not an emergency. I'll talk to him when he gets home tonight." Linda hung up without saying thank you or goodbye. She had no choice; she'd have to take Sarah into the city with her. She could not miss this audition.
Taking a deep breath, she stepped out of the kitchen into the double foyer. Five-year-old Sarah sat on the stairs. She had dressed herself in a bright yellow dress and blue socks, put on her white coat and her black patent leather shoes, and carried a backpack stuffed with books, crayons, a drawing pad, and a stuffed fox terrier dressed as a knight. Sarah had put her own dark hair up in lopsided pigtails. Her green eyes sparkled.
"I'm ready to go, Mommy!" she said excitedly. "Will Miss Karen be at Daddy's office today? I'm bringing Sir Didymus with me; he loves her stories!"
Linda forced herself to smile down at her daughter. "I'm sorry, honey," she said. "Daddy's in court today; you can't go to his office." Sarah's face fell. "So, you'll have to come to the city with me. If you're very good, and quiet as a mouse," Linda tweaked Sarah's nose, causing the child to giggle, "we'll get ice cream after my audition, ok?"
Sarah brightened at the mention of ice cream. She loved ice cream! "I'll be good, Mommy!" she promised, crossing her heart with her right hand. Linda smiled, hoping this would work. She'd never taken Sarah to an audition before.
Linda ushered Sarah out the front door and into the car, making sure the straps of her car seat were tightened properly. It generally took about an hour to drive into the city from their suburban house, and her audition was in two hours.
J/S ~ J/S ~ J/S
Linda rushed into the theater, pulling Sarah in her wake. Damn traffic! she snarled inwardly. She wasn't late, but she only had fifteen minutes to get backstage and prepare for her audition. She pushed Sarah into a cushioned aisle seat.
"Stay put," she commanded. "And remember, be quiet as a mouse." Linda hurried toward the stage, dismissing her daughter from her mind as she mentally got into character.
Sarah slumped into the chair. Her legs were tired from running down the block behind her mother to the theater from the parking deck. I wish I had some water, she thought. She hadn't packed a drink to bring with her, since she'd thought she was going to Daddy's office with its big blue water jug. She sighed, placing her backpack in the chair next to her. She unzipped it and pulled Sir Didymus out, settling him in her lap. He'd been her constant companion since Karen had given him to her last Christmas.
She looked around the theater. She was sitting in the center section of seats on the left aisle; there were two aisles and three seating sections. The soft chairs were upholstered in a medium green velvet and lined with golden braid. When Sarah ran her fingers over it, she discovered that the metallic thread felt scratchy.
The walls were white, inlaid with gilded patterns. Sarah thought the walls, with their peaks and curves, looked like the ocean. She imagined a white sea whose waves were topped with golden foam. The curtains framing the private upper level boxes were the same fabric as the cushioned seats, with the same gold trim. Sarah imagined them as the sails of boats crossing the white waves. She turned her gaze towards the large stage that dominated the front of the room. The scenery backdrop - a fanciful fairytale castle - delighted Sarah. She grinned happily.
The seats became dolphin pods and schools of green-haired merpeople, frolicking among the ships. She and Sir Didymus were riding one of the dolphins, on their way to rescue a lonely prince held captive in the castle by monstrous creatures. What sort of creatures would they be? Sarah wondered. How will we defeat them? Sir Didymus had his sword, of course. What did Sarah have? She thought for a moment.
She had magic! The prince was a Faery prince, and the Faery Queen herself had set them on their quest. Just before they left on their quest, the Faery Queen had given Sarah a magic peach, which she had eaten with her breakfast this morning. Peaches were her absolute favorite.
Sarah's reverie was interrupted by a man's voice calling out from the seats directly in front of the stage.
"We're ready, Anne. Send out the first pair."
Her mother entered the stage from Sarah's left. Linda had let down her long, dark hair, which fell almost to her waist. Sarah thought that Mommy looked like a beautiful princess with her long, full skirt and fitted blouse with bell sleeves. Linda crossed the stage to her audition mark, and looked towards the director, waiting for his command to begin.
The director waved his hand at her. Linda lifted her arms into the air as if she were holding something above her. Her face twisted into an expression of desperation. "Goblin King, Goblin King," she cried out, "wherever you may be; take this child of mine far away from me!" Linda's face then morphed into an expression of surprise and she gasped, stumbling backwards as a man entered the stage from Sarah's right.
Sarah clapped her hands over her mouth and bit down hard on her bottom lip to keep from squealing. She had to be quiet as a mouse, but this was her favorite story! Mommy had been reading this story out loud from her little red book for the last two weeks. She bounced up and down twice as a physical outlet for her excitement, clutching Sir Didymus to her chest. Sarah turned to look at the Goblin King.
She was instantly disappointed. The man didn't look like a Faery King at all! He was short and blocky rather than tall and lean. His hair was a chestnut brown, and short - in all of Sarah's books the Fae had long, silvery blonde hair. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a button down white shirt.
"You're him, aren't you? You're the Goblin King!" Linda gasped. The man smirked at her, revealing perfect, gleaming white teeth. "I want my brother back, please, if it's all the same," Linda begged, her voice breaking, her eyes shining with unshed tears.
"What's said is said," the man's oily voice proclaimed.
"But...I didn't mean it!" Linda cried, a tear trickling down her face.
The man quirked one perfectly sculpted brown eyebrow. "Oh, you didn't?" he questioned, taking a step towards Linda and planting his hands on his hips, attempting to intimidate her with his size.
"Please..." Linda begged, shrinking back. "Where is he?"
The man flung his arm out, gesturing towards the castle backdrop. "He's there!" the actor exclaimed triumphantly. "In my castle!"
"Stop," called the director. "Linda, good job. Harold, I'm sorry, but I don't think this part works for you. Anne, let's try a different male lead."
Harold exited the stage, shoulders slumped in disappointment. Linda had composed herself and returned to her audition mark. The director waved his hand, and the whole scene started over again. The new Goblin King was a tall, pale man with short, spiky black hair dressed in black trousers and a black cotton shirt. Sarah was again disappointed, and turned her attention inward, trying to determine what magical powers had been bestowed upon her by the Faery Queen's magic peach.
Sarah decided on invisibility and healing. She was trying to think of a third useful magical ability - three was always a magic number in her stories, so of course the Faery Queen would have granted her three powers - when she felt someone pull her right pigtail. She turned around in her seat, but no one was there. Sarah's brow furrowed.
Sarah felt the seat underneath her jerk, as if some small creature had kicked it from below. She pulled her legs up into the chair, suddenly scared that whatever it was would grab her feet. The seat jerked again. Sarah screwed up her courage and twisted around, bending to look underneath the chair. She saw nothing.
Sarah sat up, orienting herself towards the stage once more. She had a heavy feeling in her stomach. I wish I wasn't here, she thought. I want to go home. A furtive movement on stage caught her attention. She looked past Linda and a third Goblin King - this one had long, bright red hair in a ponytail and wore a green cable knit sweater with brown trousers - and found a small goblin leering at her from the window of the tallest tower.
He had a bald head and pointed ears that stuck out very far from his head. His teeth were crooked, his eyes were beady, and his nose was rounded. His mischievous smile made Sarah very nervous. Of course the Faery prince had been kidnapped by goblins. That's what goblins did, after all - they kidnapped children.
Sarah jerked back, startled, when another goblin popped up from the seat directly in front of her. He was a pudgy goblin, wearing a helmet with horns and a particularly dim expression. Sarah felt Sir Didymus growling in her arms and looked down at him in surprise. When she looked back up, the goblin was gone, but two different goblins had joined the first one on the castle.
Sarah gulped, trying to clear her throat of fear. Oh no, she thought. "I think we're in trouble, Sir Didymus," she whispered into the knight's fluffy ear.
J/S ~ J/S ~ J/S
Sarah ran into the house, crying quietly. She had mastered crying quietly on the car ride home. Every time she had sobbed, Mommy had yelled at her from the front seat. She flung herself up the stairs and into her room. Mommy had gone to the mailbox, but she would be inside soon. Mommy was mad, and Sarah was in trouble. She hadn't been quiet as a mouse.
Sarah hugged Sir Didymus tightly and looked down at her knees. She had scraped them badly when she'd fallen, but they had finally stopped bleeding. I wish Sir Didymus was real, she thought, so he could put band aids on them and kiss them better. She set the knight on her new twin bed with the wonderful half canopy. She needed to use the bathroom, and she should wipe off her legs with a wet washcloth. They were both still decorated with smears of blood.
She tried to open her door silently but stealth would not have mattered. Mommy was already on the other side of the door with her mean face on. Mommy's mean face terrified Sarah. She wanted to grab Sir Didymus and hide under her bed. She knew that hiding wouldn't help. The only thing that would help Sarah even a little bit when Mommy wore her mean face was for Sarah to stand perfectly still and say "I'm sorry" a lot.
"Sarah." Linda's voice was ice cold. "You weren't quiet as a mouse."
"I'm sorry, Mommy." Sarah hung her head.
"I told you to stay put and to be quiet as a mouse. Did you stay put?"
"No, Mommy. I'm sorry." Sarah's stomach churned.
"Why didn't you stay put, Sarah?" Linda asked through gritted teeth.
"I'm sorry, Mommy." Sarah's shoulders tensed.
"That's not an answer, Sarah." Linda's left foot started tapping.
Sarah swallowed heavily. Mommy's foot tapping was a bad thing, a very very bad thing. Sarah was in a lot of trouble. Tears pricked her eyes, and she forced a whisper past the lump in her throat. "The goblins..."
Linda's rage exploded. "The goblins!" she screamed, leaning down so that her face was right in front of Sarah's. "You ruined my audition because of fucking imaginary goblins! I nailed that part! It was mine! My ticket out of this horrible life, this life I'm stuck with because of you!" Linda's face was reddening and her eyes were wild as she straightened. Sarah flinched back, tears rolling down her face, bringing her arm up in a defensive gesture. Linda grabbed Sarah's arm and shook her roughly. "Goblins!" she screamed. "I wish the fucking goblins would come and take you away, right fucking now!"
The light in Sarah's bedroom flickered and died. Linda stumbled backwards as Sarah's arm vanished from her grip. She surveyed the room wildly.
"Sarah!" she called out angrily. "Where are you, Sarah?"
The wind pounded against Sarah's window, making it rattle and shudder in its frame. Linda watched incredulously as a white barn owl beat its wings against the glass panes, seeking entry. Suddenly, with a deafening sound, the window burst open, and both the wind and the owl blew into Sarah's room. Linda shielded her eyes with her hands.
When the wind had died down, Linda uncovered her eyes to discover the most beautiful man she'd ever seen standing in front of the window. She knew him instantly.
"You're him, aren't you?" Her perfectly trained voice gasped the memorized line. "You're the Goblin King!"