Rude heels clacked loudly across an invisible floor surrounded by nothing.
Clack
Clack
Clack
All she had done is read a stupid sign on a stupid door
Clack
Clack
Clack
After looking for a dustpan in the cupboard.
Clack
Clack
Clack
But there was another cupboard.
Clack.
But what was most out of place wasn't that strange glitch in reality. It was the sign scrawled out in what looked like a child's handwriting.
'Please come in'
Sarah had complied thoughtlessly, and now she stood in what seemed like a blank space in reality.
It was strangely comforting.
No weight of responsibility, no clock ticking for yet another deadline.
Light.
That wasn't there before?
A light shone down onto a figure curled up on a chair.
Percussive feet brought her closer to the chair, at a quicker tempo, to gaze upon the spectacle.
He sat slumped, knees drawn to his chest, with thin arms cradling his knees. Bare toes curled around the edge of the seat, knuckles white with desperation, clinging onto the only other item than himself. His legs were dressed in grubby jodpurs, and his arms were draped in ripped billowing sleeves that now clung to his skeletal frame. After following along those arms Sarah's eyes met with mismatched, tired orbs.
They didn't meet her eyes. They only stared off to another world entirely.
"Hel-"
"Why?"
Sarah's initial attempt at breaking the silence was stopped short.
"I'm sorry, wha-"
"Why are things this way? Where is everything? Why am I left behind? Why?"
His head lifted up with sudden strength, disturbing murky blonde tufts of hair which had been sadly cradling his scalp moments before.
His eyes finally bore into Sarah's, and she could almost hear the sounds of the Labyrinth again.
Crap.
After returning home all those years ago, Sarah's imagination had enjoyed its freedom well into her late teens, but as adulthood loomed on her, her passion and creativity had suffered.
Jareth stood suddenly, and with one stride he was within her personal bubble.
"How could you?"
His words, though hushed, cut deep.
He didn't understand.
The stress, the emptiness. Those things didn't exist the same way in the Labyrinth. In reality all Sarah had was a pot of pills and false promises of 'always being there to talk' from office co workers who didn't really care. She didn't belong there, why do you think she walked through an unknown door to what initially seemed like an empty void? At least it reflected how she felt inside for once.
However, the accusation woke up the fiery side in her who hadn't died.
"How could I? Couldn't you try to understand? Whilst you strutted around your goblin palace, things were different for me! If you had taken just a moment of your time to see what was going on, maybe you wouldn't have gotten this way!"
The way she was referring to, she still wasn't all that clear on. Though despite her rage, Sarah had guilt hidden behind it. It was always her fault, how could this be any different?
Her words caught Jareth off guard a little, but he bit back.
"Look, I'm well within my right to have been angry after you left me to stomp back to your pretty little life, but it wasn't long before things began to get strange. Far more strange than my world seems to you. Different things disappeared each day and it escalated so quickly I didn't have time to find out why. Then I ended up here. What happened Sarah? What's wrong? Why did you do this?"
Sarah knew what it was as soon as he explained it. The light in her life faded the same way Jareth's Labyrinth had. He was left with emptiness just like she was. Despite all her work to avoid it, she had still hurt someone else with her illness.
Sarah felt the cold floor embrace her as her knees gave up, leaving her Goblin King to tower over her with eyes full of hurt, worry and confusion.
After what seemed like hours, her voice cracked.
"Jareth, have you ever heard of Depression?"
~notes~
Full steam ahead into the first chapter. I haven't allowed for much setting of the the scenage as I wanted things to be as bare and left to the reader as possible. Obviously unanswered questions will be addressed as time goes on, but I hope you like this first chapter. Please leave feedback if you like!