Author's Note: I am proud to announce the publication of my first novel, Grey Mora. Grey Mora is a fantasy adventure story aimed at children about 9 – 12 years old.

Summary: Grey Mora, the house next door, was a little scary and a lot intriguing. Twelve-year-old Margot Weiss never would have guessed that such an amazing – and dangerous – secret was kept in its cluttered library. It was a secret that led to her facing Neanderthals, giant river snakes, and a tree that knew all the answers. It all began with a single, carelessly opened book.

For anyone who may like to read Grey Mora, it is an E-Book for sale for the NOOK and the Kindle and is written under the name of cousin D.

Now onto the fan fiction…

WARNINGS: Mention of domestic abuse and rape.

These characters are not mine. Pity.

THE OWL AND THE MOUSE

Written by cousin D

In her bed, Sarah shivered. Her eyes burned with tears and her whole body ached. Her ears were ringing and her wrist… something just felt wrong with it. Despite the pain and her frantically thumping heart, Sarah lay still until she heard her husband begin to snore. When she heard that familiar snorting and half-choked sound, Sarah very slowly and very carefully sat up. He lay on his side, facing away from her, and seemed peaceful in his deep sleep. Disgusted, Sarah left the bed and made her way to the living room.

She didn't think of anything much as she made her way through the house. There was nothing to think about other than wanting to get away. She was angry, of course, and there was the physical pain and the almost unbearable shame of what he'd done to her, but she'd gone through it all before and there was nothing to be done. She should, she knew, go to the police. There was help out there, but the truth was that it really was her fault.

Her father had tried to warn her.

"There's just something not right about him. I don't like him, honey."

Her step-mother, Karen, had also tried.

"I don't know… I don't trust him. I certainly wouldn't let him baby sit Toby. You can do much better."

And Sarah, as headstrong as ever, hadn't listened. Stan had seemed so very normal and she'd wanted a normal, ordinary man to make her forget the extraordinary one she had left behind. The man she couldn't have. Jareth certainly was not normal!

In the beginning, before they'd married, he had been so charming and so very attentive. He was protective, not possessive. He was forceful, not dominating. He said so often that he loved her. It was flattering. Sarah, however, had had no illusions about her own feelings. She did not love Stan. She'd liked him well enough and thought that, perhaps, she would grow to love him. Love-At-First-Sight was just for fairy tales, after all. Just for dreams of tall castles and burning skies and dangerous magic. Real life wasn't like that and she'd given up fairy tales the day she'd told a golden-haired king that he had no power over her in order to bring Toby home.

As for her family's objections, she reasoned that her father and step-mother just didn't know Stan well enough. If they'd taken the time to get to know him, they would surely like him.

Then, time had run out.

Shortly after she'd met Stan, a couple of years after her adventure in the Labyrinth, there had been an accident. Her father, stepmother, and Toby were going to visit her stepmother's family and Sarah had decided to stay home. She'd waved after they'd driven away. Only two hours later, a police officer appeared on the doorstep and told her that a car accident had killed them all.

Sitting on the couch, staring out at the street, Sarah wished, not for the first time, that she'd let Jareth keep Toby in the Underground. At least then he would be alive, even if he were a goblin. And what would be so horrible about being a goblin? Certainly, they weren't very smart and they lived in filth, but for the most part they'd seemed happy and healthy. Toby could have lived a long, full life as one of Jareth's people rather than laying at rest in the grave yard.

The depression that Sarah had fallen into after the accident had nearly consumed her. Her thoughts became dark and angry. Then, Stan had proposed. At the time Sarah had desperately wanted someone normal and steady, someone who could be strong for her when her world was suddenly so off balance. So she had accepted his proposal and they'd married and then, literally overnight, Stan had changed. Their wedding night had been a nightmare. She'd been nervous and even a little frightened. Stan had yelled and raised his hand to her for the first time.

Almost one year had passed since their wedding day. Their first anniversary was in mere days, but the very idea of it made Sarah feel ill. She could live like that, year after year. He'd kill her. And despite that, knowing that he would undoubtedly be the end of her, she stayed. It was her fault. She was so ashamed that she'd let herself get into such a situation. And who would believe her? Everyone admired Stan. He was respected and well-liked. And even if someone did believe her, how could she stand the pitying looks? If she'd listened to her parents, if she hadn't been so desperate to have someone to cling to after her family had died, maybe things would have been different. If she was stronger and could defend herself, if she was smarter and could figure out how she made him so angry… if.

There were too many 'ifs' in life.

If she could see HIM, again… Sarah remembered Jareth and his gentle touch as they'd danced in the ballroom. She remembered that wicked grin of his and how his eyes had sparkled.

Stop it! Sarah told herself sternly. Crying won't help anything!

It was odd, really. Sarah didn't remember feeling so weak before she'd married Stan. How often had her stepmother commented on Sarah's strong-will and determination? Since Stan had come into her life, she felt like she was slowyl crumbling on the inside.

Sarah stood and crept outside, listening carefully just in case Stan woke up and went to find her. Who ever would have thought that she would have to creep around her own house in fear? She went out to the front yard and took a moment to look around. It was a quiet neighborhood filled with new houses and respectable families. It didn't feel at all like what Sarah thought 'home' should be. Sarah wasn't comfortable and she certainly wasn't happy, so it couldn't be home. Then where was it?

Turning her eyes away from the houses and up to the full moon, Sarah stood there for only a moment before a ghostly voice called to her, "Sarah." The familiar voice made wonderful chills run down her spine. Since her family had died, the same soft, gentle voice had often called to her when she was alone. It comforted her, even if it was just a trick of her imagination as she tried to cope with her life. Perhaps it really was HIM. Perhaps she was going mad. She didn't know and, frankly, she didn't much care. The voice was her only respite and she needed it. She went back to her living room couch and lay down, groaning with the pain. It still hurt to move. "Sleep, my love," the voice crooned, gently. "Let us dream together."

Soon, Sarah was asleep. She never saw the shadow that fell over her still form.

Jareth-

Jareth, looking no different than he had years ago when he'd first encountered Sarah, knelt next to her. With one gloved hand, he brushed the hair away from her face. She'd grown from a wide-eyed child into a beautiful woman and he wondered at the memory of that spindly little girl roaming through his Labyrinth. Who would have thought that she could grow into such an elegant lady? Who would have thought that he could grow to love a human? But after she'd defeated him, he'd developed an interest. Occasionally, he would look in on her and on little Toby. His sweet little Toby flourished and grew into a sturdy little boy. His death had been devastating. As time went on, and Sarah became a woman, Jareth began to adore her.

At that moment, staring down at her battered face, he could only see the bruises and the bloody cut at the corner of her eye. He could almost feel the pain radiating from her and he knew what had happened, just as he always knew.

Rape.

Again.

"Oh, my Sarah," he whispered. "Why won't you call me? Do you think I won't come?"

As any inhabitant of the Labyrinth could attest, there were rules to everything. Even Jareth had to obey the rules. The rule was that he couldn't take someone until he was called. So, as he had many times since he'd realized what pain she was in, he conjured a crystal and let it float just above Sarah's head. Until she called him, the only thing he could do was give her some pleasant dreams.

When he was certain that she was contentedly dreaming, Jareth turned his attention away from Sarah. He stood, staring at the stairway that he knew led to the source of Sarah's pain. His face became like stone and his eyes became as cold as ice. With a purposeful stride, he made his way to the bed where Sarah's husband - a foul beast if Jareth had ever seen one! - slept.

From her dreams, Jareth knew full well why Sarah stayed with the monster. He had threatened that even if she tried to run from him, even if she went to the police and got him thrown into prison, he would eventually find her and they would be together again. She was his wife. She belonged with him. What Sarah feared was that there was no escape.

"And for you," Jareth hissed furiously at the sleeping man. "You may a dream, also." Anyone who touched Sarah would have been subject to the goblin king's wrath, but had Sarah married someone who loved her, Jareth believed he could held his temper for her sake. That it should be such a beast who was fortunate enough to call her his wife absolutely infuriated him. "Dream about what I'll do to you once Sarah calls me. And, I promise, she will call me." Jareth threw a crystal at the man. It froze in midair and hovered over his head. Jareth watched coldly as the man began to twitch and groan in his sleep. His uneasiness gave way turned to terror as he began to thrash wildly and yell. "Pleasant dreams."

Jareth vanished from the house and let himself enter Sarah's dreams. He found her just where he expected her to be, just where she inevitably ended up when he gave her a dream. The ballroom.

Sarah was smiling as she went through the crowd of masked dancers. Her gown, the same one she'd worn when she'd first found herself in the confusion of the ballroom, was white and adorned with strands of silver and pearls. She scanned the room carefully until her eyes fell on him, and he would have sworn that she lit up like a flame in the darkness.

Jareth felt his heart fall to his feet. He waved a hand and was suddenly dressed in his finest. Without even glancing at the other dancers, he went to Sarah and bowed low at the waist. "May I have this dance?"

Sarah curtsied in her white gown. "Certainly."

Together they swayed and turned, with graceful ease. She felt so small, fragile, in his arms. For hours this continued and unlike their first dance, there was no clock to interrupt their time together, to remind Sarah that she had a life outside of the ballroom.

"Call me," Jareth whispered, pleading as he held her close. He always asked the same thing of her. "Simply call me, I will come. I will be there."

The dance had always ended there. Ever since Jareth had started going into Sarah's dreams, she would stop the dream when he asked her to call for him and wake herself without replying. For the first time, she stayed with him and in a whispered voice, confessed, "I'm afraid."

The other dancers were gone and they were alone. They stopped dancing and Jareth took her hands in his. "I won't let him hurt you. I won't let anyone hurt you."

"I'm afraid that you'll turn out to be like him. Like Stan." She gave Jareth a tiny smile. "You were… overwhelming, when we first met. You still can be. Stan is bigger than I am, but you." She sighed. "You are so much more than me."

The pain he felt when she said how she feared that he, too, would hurt her and how she knew that it would be so easy for him to do so, was unspeakable. She was right, of course. If he wanted to, he could cause her unimaginable pain with just a thought. She was human - a little, wounded human. But how could he even think of hurting her? Then again, how could she not be distrustful?

Jareth told her, "I will never hurt you. You are my queen. My life. My dearest love. If you don't wish to be with me, that's fine." It wasn't fine. It hurt to just say the words. "But let me come to you." Jareth knew he was begging and hated it, but he couldn't deny what he was feeling. "Let me protect you!"

"You won't force me to be with you?" She looked at him with her eyes lit with hope and Jareth felt his heart breaking. She did not love him.

"I will never force you to do anything," he told her, honestly. "I can't bear your unhappiness!"

Sarah surprised him by bursting into tears and covering her face with her hands. Even when Jareth held her gently and rocked her, crooning a soothing song, she kept weeping. Finally, when she'd nearly exhausted herself and slumped against him, she looked at Jareth through red, puffy eyes. "I love you," she said. "Come to me, please. I need you."

Jareth felt his heart leap with joy and there was a flash of light. They were back in Sarah's house and Jareth was standing over Sarah, who still lay on the couch. When Sarah opened her eyes and saw him for the first time since she'd denied him at the center of the Labyrinth, they smiled at each other, silently. Then he turned slowly towards the stairway that led up to the bedroom and his smile turned into a sneer as his eyes narrowed dangerously. "Rest," he told Sarah. "There's something I need to take care of." With his cape swirling behind him, Jareth swept up the stairs.

Sarah-

Sarah still felt weak and terribly tired. She was shaking. Her fairy tale king was back and she felt numb and cold and maybe it was shock because she felt like she might be sick. She did love him, though. For all of his games and thoughtless cruelty, she loved him. How could he be better than Stan? Jareth had proven himself to be petty and childish and capable of terrible vindictiveness. He was also far better able to hurt her because she loved him. At least with Stan, he only hurt her body. Jareth could break her heart.

But he'd never let her get hurt while she traveled though the Labyrinth. He hadn't let Toby get hurt. Whether it was Jareth's doing or not, she realized, even in that final batle in the Goblin City, she hadn't seen a single person get hurt. He'd also kept his word and let both her and Toby return home. She couldn't entirely trust Jareth, not after living with Stan for so long, but even if Jareth were lying, what did she have to lose? Perhaps Jareth truly did love her as he'd said he did.

Stan had said that he'd loved her, too.

Sarah closed her eyes and waited for Jareth to return. She shouldn't trust him. It was completely illogical for her to even think of going with him. She should be on her own for a while and get herself sorted out. She was hurt and confused and scared and… and… and she really did love him. Not just because of the childhood race through the Labyrinth, but in all of her dreams, he'd seemed changed. He'd laughed and told her stories and, once, he'd given her flowers just to see her smile.

An agonized scream filled the house for a brief moment before Jareth calmly walked back downstairs, looking very satisfied with himself.

"What did you…" Sarah began to ask, but Jareth interrupted,

"I simply put an end to his nightmares." He leaned over and picked her up.

Sarah sighed tiredly and leaned against him. Her doubts and fears would have to be dealt with, but at that moment, she just wanted to rest. "Take me home, please."

Outside, under a great silver moon, a white owl carried a small, gray mouse in its talons, as gently as a lover.

The end