Hi everybody! I am back and writing my new story as you might've already read the title, "Elastic Heart". My main goal when writing is to express a life lesson such as you must learn to love yourself and your parents, no matter what obstacles get in the way. This story is going to be covering the topic of abuse, and I chose this topic because it is a very serious manner that must be addressed and ended in the world, because no one should lose their life to being hurt so many times. In this story Sarah and Jareth meet in another way, just a bit you might want to know!
I do not own Labyrinth in any way, shape or form. If I did, this would be a movie, and I would own every character.
Elastic Heart
Chapter one: Mr. Owl
It seemed that life was uneventful for the teenage girl who walked down the dank and narrow cobblestone pathway to her Uncle's house, humming softly under her breath as she went. The night sky was partly cloudy, but bright stars still shined through the almost transparent curtains, and the full moon illuminated the path far ahead of her, making little shapes from the shadows in the trees.
The teenage girl passed many people along the narrow pathway, all the while holding several grocery bags in each hand. Every face she saw come close to her she made a bright smile, making it appear as if she was happy in some way.
But the truth was, she wasn't.
No one noticed her slight limping or the glint of fear that shone in her eyes as she smiled. No one saw anything. As far as they knew, she was just a teenage girl coming home from grocery shopping.
The teenage girl's footsteps echoed softly as they met with small puddles, and her form shivered as the cold water hit her bare toes, which were only protected with a pair of brown weaved flip-flops. She wore a black tee-shirt that was much too big on her and went down to her knees while her torn blue denim shorts only went mid thigh. But to other people, she only appeared to be wearing a tee-shirt.
It took about a half-hour for the teenage girl to finish walking to her home, and by the time she had gotten to the front door to take out her keys the front door slammed open and a loud voice rang out.
"Sarah, why the hell are you so late?" the man, presumably he Uncle asked, both of his arms crossing over his chest. He looked to be about 5'11 and slightly overweight. He had slightly tanned skin and small wrinkles covered his forehead, expressing his age to be in the fifties. His eyes were brown and fueled with anger and his lips were drawn into a thin line, waiting for Sarah to respond. Sarah stuttered before answering in a fearful tone.
"There was a long line in the checkout center, and so I also had to wait until one of the machines was fixed until I could pay for it…" Sarah spoke up, but in a raspy voice. Quickly he grabbed her arm and yanked her into the house, slamming the door behind her. Her Uncle then continued to shove her into the kitchen and he pointed to the refrigerator in a drunken daze.
"Start cooking. Now!" He yelled at her. And with that he let go of her abused arm and he spun around to go and sit at the dining table on the opposite side of the room. The walls of the kitchen were a dark blue and the countertop was white with a few streaks of grey in the stone and the cabinets were mahogany with a black handle. Sarah opened the grocery bags in a rush and she took out the contents, three of the bags holding two cases of alcohol each. In only one of the bags, deli meat, bread and lettuce sat in, waiting to be assembled together in an infinite amount of combinations.
Sarah hurriedly put together a sandwich and she grabbed an alcohol bottle and she put them both on a metal tray together, where she then carried it over to her Uncle, who awaited his food. His sandwich contained of three slices of ham, seven slices of provolone and four slices of turkey, which was topped off with raisin bread. An involuntary shudder went down her spine, as she couldn't imagine eating a sandwich like that. But she would, because she was starving.
Her stomach rumbled in agreement.
Sarah placed the tray down in front of her Uncle and she popped the lid off of the bottle of alcohol. And within seconds after that, it was all gone. Satisfied with his drink he picked his sandwich up off the plate and he shoved it into his mouth, taking in the taste of the well organized food. Then all of a sudden, he paused. Slowly he took the sandwich from his lips and he took the top piece of bread off of the sandwich where he then inspected its contents. Then a growl emerged from his throat and he stood up quickly, where he then lunged towards Sarah, grabbing her by the throat tightly and slamming her against the nearest wall.
"THIS IS NOT THE HAM THAT I EAT. I TOLD YOU SPECIFICALLY LITTLE GIRL, THAT I EAT ROASTED HAM, NOT SMOKED!" He screamed at her, squeezing her throat a fraction tighter. Sarah swung her legs around aimlessly, missing her target by feet every time. But alas, the strong girl she once was, was no longer there.
She was only the shell of a girl that she used to know well.
Sarah's vision slowly began to fade to black and her eyes began to roll up into her head before she fell to the floor with a sickening thump. She coughed loudly as she attempted to stand up on wobbly legs, and she attempted to go in the fastest pace that she could to go to her room.
It took Sarah about a good ten minutes to walk down a dark hallway, a two story staircase and a ladder to get up to her room, the attic. Once Sarah was in her bedroom she pulled the ladder up behind her, closing the small square hole in the floor and locking it. She was only safe for now, but if she was lucky, she would have enough time to seal up her wounds once more before they were opened by the monster the was now pacing in the kitchen downstairs.
Sarah's bedroom was actually larger than most would expect an attic to be. The walls were a neutral grey color and the floor was a cherry wood, which glimmered with polyurethane. The ceiling was white and small fishing lines hung down from the ceiling; holding giant puffs on cotton balls together to make clouds with small blue fairy lights inside of it, making the room appear as if there was a thunderstorm inside the room.
But to her, it was serene and peaceful. It was her escape from the world. Despite that the clouds in the night sky only had soft, and yet dark blue, there was no moon or stars to illuminate the night. It was only darkness that shrouded around her. There was one window on either side of the room, which were rectangle shaped and large. In the window facing the backyard was her bed, which were only a few stained pillows and a thin crème colored sheet. And during the winter, there was no heat in the attic to keep her warm.
Her room had only a few pieces of furniture that decorated her room, which was mainly a creaky, off white colored chaise, a white vanity with a mirror and a small stepstool to sit on in front of the vanity. This was all she had, and all that she had known for as long as she could remember. Sarah made her way over to the vanity and she sat down, pulling out the single drawer that the vanity had and she took out a photo album.
She didn't hesitate for one second to open the book to rewind the memories from the past that began to play in her mind.
Ten years ago:
Six year old Sarah Williams sat on a white canopy bed with pink sheets and silk covered pillows with a brown stuffed teddy bear in her hand, which wore a red ribbon around its neck for being 'extra fancy' as the young Sarah liked to put it. The entire family was in the house, which were Sarah, Karen, Robert and a one month old Toby. Sarah jumped off of her bed and she began to run around until she opened her door, Lancelot still in hand, and she calmly hurried down the stairs.
As Sarah finish coming down the staircase a shadowy figure outside the window next to the front door caught her attention and she backed up slowly until her back collided with the wall. Then three loud shots rang out loudly and the door swung open, revealing several men all dressed in black wearing hockey masks to prevent anyone from knowing their true identity. Sarah quickly dodged for one of the men that tried to grab her and she scurried up the stairs and back into her room, where she slammed the door behind her and reached up to lock it, but she could hear the men nearing closer and closer to her room. So instinctively, she shut off the light and she squirmed to get underneath her bed.
As Sarah finished crawling underneath her bed her bedroom door slammed open loudly. And somewhere else in the house a very loud and feminine scream tore out and several gunshots went off. Then, there was nothing. The footsteps of the man in her room echoed loudly against the floor, and Sarah's small form trembled with fear.
She clutched Lancelot closer to her chest and she curled up into a ball.
"Come out, come out wherever you are, little Sarah. Or I will have no choice but to huff and puff and blow your little bed down." The man told her, his voice filled with sarcasm, which she couldn't understand at the time. She curled up into her ball even tighter and she began to whisper softly to herself, as well as rocking herself back and forth.
"I wish somebody would come and save me, I'm so scared, Lancelot…" Sarah kept repeating the last part over and over to her stuffed teddy bear. Nothing about her words were reassuring.
That's when Sarah felt her leg being pulled tightly and she was dragged out from underneath the bed. The masked man held Sarah down against the floor roughly, causing her to release Lancelot, and he began to take out a bottle and a cloth as Sarah began to scream loudly.
"SOMEBODY PLEASE SAVE ME, PLEASE! I WISH SOMEONE COULD SAVE ME!" She shrieked in an ear-piercing voice. No sooner after those words had left her mouth, her bedroom window shattered to pieces on the floor and a barn owl flew in, its talons stretched forward as it began to attack the masked man. The man screamed loudly as its claws began to scratch his eyes to the point that it would make him blind. Hearing the man's screams, the two other men who had invaded the house with him rushed into Sarah's bedroom, where they were then attacked by the mysterious barn owl as well, while their comrade now laid on the floor grabbing at his face. Sarah then took her chance and she sprinted out of her bedroom, down the stairs and out the front door, where police cars were beginning to pull up.
The first officer that Sarah spotted was a female officer, who looked to be about 21. Sarah, seeing the she didn't see her Dad or step-mother, ran over to the police woman and leaped into her arms, grabbing onto her uniform for dear life. Reassuringly the police woman patted her back and bounced her up and down in a soothing manner, all the while whispering words of encouragement in her ear. As she continued to take care of the little Sarah, the rest of the officers from seven other police cars charged into the house, which was then followed by screaming and a few more gunshots. A half hour later, all three men were handcuffed and being led out of the house and into separate police cars, all of them sending an evil glare over at Sarah, who buried her head in the police woman's neck.
"Don't worry sweetie, everything will be alright now." She told me in a soft voice. Suddenly, like an electric shock, Sarah jumped out of her arms and she ran back into the house, up the stair and into her room, where Lancelot lay forgotten on the floor with small specks of blood on his fur every here and there. Sarah then looked out the window and into the tree that stood right outside of it.
And there, perched on one of the dark brown branches, was the barn owl that had saved her life. Sarah then spoke up to talk to the barn owl, her eyes glazed with unshed tears but with a thankful look in them.
"Thank you Mr. Owl, if it weren't for you, those bad men would have done something very bad to me. I can never thank you enough, but thank you." Sarah told the barn owl sincerely. Almost as a human would, the owl bowed his head slightly once before taking off to fly into the moon, and where it once made an imprint as a shadow on the Moon, it disappeared.
Just like magic.
Sarah flipped though the small photo album that held only a few photos in it, tears coming to her eyes as her mind replayed the happy and sad memories that were left of the family that she had known. Robert, Karen and Toby had all been killed that very night, and Sarah was sent to live with her Uncle Phil due to the fact that no one actually knew where her actual birth mother was.
Uncle Phil had come off nice and friendly when the Child Protective Services had dropped her off at his very large home, but after that, it all went to Hell.
There were the constant screams that were sent Sarah's way and the amount of alcohol that he drank left a sickening smell inside of the house. This went on for several years until she was fourteen, and that was when he began to invite his "buddies" over. Sarah was forced to be the maid of the house and to serve dinner to all of them, and her Uncle allowed them to touch her in places that made her want to hurt them, but she knew the consequences if she protested against anything. And her punishments of being hit with beer bottles and being pushed down to the floor and carved with broken glass until she was bleeding out on the floor nearly killed her.
Not once did her ever send her to the hospital, because her Uncle Phil would really care less.
Sarah was beaten constantly by both his buddies and him, and it hurt even more when they were drunk, because they couldn't control themselves. Uncle Phil had his buddies over every Friday night for poker and the football game, and Sarah was forced to buy cartons of alcohol at a time, and that only made the grocery workers look at her strangely. Probably because they assumed that she was drinking at age sixteen.
Every now and again the barn owl would fly by the window, as if it was watching over her in a protective way, which made Sarah only feel a fraction safer. But as long as she wasn't allowed to get a job, due to Uncle Phil's orders, she couldn't save up any money to move out of the horror house that she currently lived in.
Every night since all those years ago from being dropped off at her Uncle Phil's house she would always ask herself…
"What did I do to deserve this?"
Sarah shook her head in an attempt to store the memories far away and deep back into her mind, and as she did so she slammed the photo album closed. Her elbows placed themselves on the vanity and her head was cushioned by her hands, which trembled slightly as she did so. Soon after contemplating for a while, Sarah stood up and took off the oversized black tee shirt, leaving her only in a white lace bra, which seemed far worn out and discolored and her torn denim shorts. Then Sarah looked at herself in the mirror.
Sarah's body not only showed the pain that she was forced to endure, but how malnourished she was as well. Sarah's skin was deathly pale and her entire rib cage could be seen, and the bones looked to be painfully tight against her skin. On her back, her vertebrae could be seen poking out between her shoulder blades. The denim shorts that she wore hung off of her hips limply and even looked too big on her.
Sarah looked at herself in the mirror, and she paid special attention to the purple and black bruises that spotted many areas on her back and shoulders. Bright white scars led from her shoulder blades to her lower back, looking as if she had been whipped millions of time. The scars on her body were uncountable.
Sarah's eyes traveled down her back and her legs, where green and yellow bruises were only beginning to heal. She felt disgusted with herself. Every night in her mind she would thank God for still being alive, despite the fact that the life that she lived made her want to leave this place, that she once thought would be home to her.
Sarah raised her wrist up to her face to inspect the fresh cut that was beginning to heal, the red and pink skin inside mixed horribly with the her deathly white skin. Slowly, Sarah took one of her sharp fingernails and drove it deep into the cut, and she watched as the blood slowly pooled inside the cut and leaked down her arm.
As Sarah raised her fingernail once more to the bleeding cut a soft noise echoed at the window and the barn owl flew into the room and perched atop her vanity mirror. Sarah quickly wiped the blood on her denim shorts and she moved her wrist so it rested behind her back, and she spoke up, moving over to her bed.
"Coming in to check on me again? You know you don't have to do that…" Sarah trailed off slowly as she took a seat on her bed, her eyes not leaving the owl's for a second.
The owl hooted several times, as if it were trying to form a sentence. The barn owl then spread its wings and flew gracefully across the room to perch itself on the pillow next to Sarah, who involuntarily raised her bleeding hand to pet the owl. With her other hand, Sarah pulled a trundle out from under the bed and she picked out a red camisole and put it on, where she then pushed the trundle back into its hiding spot. Sarah moved her hand away from the owl so she could put on her shirt, and after that she stood up to turn off the light. Sarah pulled the small string with her fingers and the room went dark, but was then illuminated with soft blue lights from the clouds that hung in her room. As Sarah turned around to get into bed, the light from the Moon slowly traveled up her figure, making her skin even paler than it already was.
Sarah climbed into her bed and she pulled up the thin sheet over her small form. Sarah shrugged her shots off when she was completely under the blanket, where she then kicked it off of the bed and onto the floor. The barn owl hooted once more and it gracefully leaped up and landed in the junction next to her neck, where it nuzzled its head softly against her ear. Sarah giggled, and it was such a sweet sound for a girl who did not smile anymore.
The barn owl then nudged its head to her sliced up wrist, which rested on her upper chest and right in its view. Sarah's eyes darted between the owl and her wrist before she responded back to the owl.
"This? It's nothing." Sarah told the barn owl calmly. The barn owl hooted loudly in protest.
"Relax, it doesn't even hurt anymore. Nothing I'm not used to…" Sarah trailed off, moving her head to look out her window at the Moon, which shined brightly in its fully glory. The barn owl hooted again, this time a little less loudly and more in a pitying tone.
"I'm going to tell you something that I have always kept to myself, and although you only "talk" to me, I don't want you to go telling any of your little friends, but….. Sometimes I wish you hadn't saved me from those horrible men, and just let me die right then and there. My Uncle Phil and his so called "buddies" hurt me every Friday night, but Uncle Phil does it on a daily basis. I feel like if I had just died then, I wouldn't have to feel all of this pain now….." Sarah trailed off, but she soon continued to speak seconds later.
"For the last ten years I have lived here, I have not spoken to anyone on the outside world, not even the kind people at the grocery store that work at the cash registers. I tell myself that the pain will go away really soon…" Sarah looked down at her wrist and she carefully inspected it." And that's why I've tried to kill myself before. One day I will be too weak and forget to lock that door, and it will all end. But the truth is, I want to die, but I'm too scared to." By now waterfalls were cascading down her cheeks and she moved her good hand to cover her mouth to stifle her sobs, which wracked through her body and made her body move uncontrollably.
"I just wish somebody could take me away from this awful place, anybody. I would love to be you for a night, Mr. Owl. I would love to feel the wind beneath my wings and know that I'm free, even if it would just be for one night. I'm glad that you're the only friend that I can actually trust, but I just wish that you could speak too." And with that Sarah's sobs immediately stopped and she fell into a deep sleep, her expression changing from one of sadness to calm. The barn owl let out a mournful hoot and it nuzzled its head and closed its eyes, burying its head into the crook of Sarah's neck.
And there, they both slept, currently unaware of the plotting monster who sat downstairs in the dining room.
Dawn soon approached and the sun shone brightly in the barn owl's eyes, making it stir and shake its head. Slowly the barn owl's eyes opened and it looked down at Sarah's sleeping face, which looked so peaceful compared to the sad speech that she had told it last night, her face being one of pure sadness and terror as another day of pain awaited her. The barn owl moved closer to Sarah and it touched its beak against her lips, as if it wanted to express the feelings that it felt for her.
Seconds later it spread its wings and it flew out her open window and towards the Moon, where it was beginning to fade into the horizon.
Once more the barn owl disappeared like magic.
The barn owl hooted softly as the cold wind blew harshly under its feathers' as it neared closer and closer to the Moon. Suddenly like greased lightning, its speed sped up and a kaleidoscope of colors washed around it and the beautiful scenery of the Moon disappeared, and it was immediately replaced with a light lavender and blue sky and the sun shone brightly as it sunk beyond the horizon. Below the owl an array of colors went in a certain order and their shapes were rectangular, squares and every shape that could exist, and the entire land was a labyrinth.
As it flew over the outskirts of a large city, a large forest and junkyard could be spotted, which was coated in what seemed to look like million specks of glitter. The barn owl soon flew over the large city, while strange creatures below bustled around on the sandy streets. Vendors sold their products and children played with their friends, poking chickens around with large sticks while armored guards rose something that looked like a miniature form of a dinosaur. Ahead of the barn owl's view was a giant castle that was pale dusty color and was surrounded by jagged rocks. From the city to the castle seemed to look like it had millions of steps, almost like an endless journey for the army that was stationed there.
The barn owl soon approached a balcony on the other side of the castle, which looked out to a large ocean with a small beach, which made the land look even more beautiful as a mysterious creation than it already was. The owl's shadow soon got larger and more human like as it neared closer. Soon the barn owl was gone and a man wearing a poet's shirt, tight breeches, leather knee-high boots and an oddly shaped pendant landed on the balcony, and he quickly promenaded inside the castle where he was then approached by one of the strange creatures, who immediately bowed to him and spoke up.
"Your Highness, in your absence your Father arrived with an urgent message." The creature told him, his voice thick with urgency as well. The man, now revealed to be royalty spoke up once more.
"Is my Father still here?" He asked the strange creature. The creature nodded.
"Your Father is in the Library, my King." The creature told the King, his head moving in the direction towards the library.
"Thank you, Kerberos. You may resume to your duties now." The King told Kerberos. Kerberos bowed his head once more to his King before he spun around and marched into the hallway directly across the room. The King followed him in suit for several minutes until he reached the library, where Kerberos continued to march on. The King then continued in his actions and he pushed the library door open, and there stood a man in the middle of the room, who look to be in his late sixties, about 6'3 and wore a heavy dark brown dress robe with black breeches and a grey cotton shirt that scooped slightly at his neck. On his feet he wore brown leather boots that went up to just below his knees. His father's eyes met his and his voice rang out loud and clear throughout the room.
"Jareth, my son, how nice of you to join me on this fine evening…" The High King warmly greeted to him. Jareth bowed slightly and he walked over to where his father stood, a questioning look written on his features.
"Father, why have you come here during such a busy season? I did not expect for your arrival until the winter solstice…" Jareth asked his Father, slowly trailing off as he spoke out.
"I have come here with urgent news with your coming of age as King of the Goblins. Jareth, within this year until next year's Winter Solstice you are to find a Queen to rule beside you. That is all the news that I have, but you know how fast our time goes down here in the Underground, Jareth. Am I clear?" The High King asked his Son, who shook his head and began to pace around the room. Jareth mumbled to himself as his father watched his almost silent breakdown. He knew his son well enough to know that something like this was major to him. Jareth's head slowly rose to meet his Father's a few minutes later.
"Don't expect this to happen so soon, Father. This will take a very long time for me to sort out. Now am I clear to you?" Jareth asked his Father with dark eyes. The High King nodded.
"Crystal." And with that, the High King disappeared, leaving Jareth in deep thought with the idea of marriage. But for the moment, his mind was not only focused on his new dilemma, but the fragile girl who had admitted everything she thought to him, unknowing that he was a Fae, or in other words, somewhat human like her. Jareth, whose mind was now completely focused on Sarah, summoned up a clear crystal ball that sat in his hand. Jareth flexed his wrist and arms several times as he took a seat in one of the black leather armchairs that sat in the middle of the library.
Inside the crystal, the image of a stirring Sarah played through the crystal like a video camera, crystal clear and focused.
Sarah stirred slightly as she heard her Uncle's voice yelling her name from the first floor, and begrudgingly, she swung her legs off of the bed and she pulled out the secret trundle from under her bed and she pulled out another pair of shorts, which she quickly put on, which followed with a dark blue tee-shirt that hugged her curves. Sarah slipped on a pair of non-matching socks and she pushed the trundle back under the bed and she stood up, grabbing the key to unlock the floor door and she grabbed a sharpie marker, crossing off the "Friday" on her calendar. And hesitantly, she bent down and unlocked the floor door.
And for her, it was only another day of torture…
Hi everybody! I'm so happy that I'm now working on my Talenti Jar story, "Elastic Heart." I hope that I do get to see new and old reviewers from my previous story, and that I will probably only be updating once a week due to the fact that it take a while for my mind to process the amount of words I actually want to put in the chapter and what I want to happen in the chapter, so I will definitely not be updating every other day. The rating for this story may change later… Let me know what you think of my new story be reviewing, following or favoriting my story! Love you all!
-Emma51020