Jareth... Jareth... Jareth!
Sarah ran through the twists and turns of the Labyrinth, slapping branches out of her face and narrowly dodging boulders, dislodged stones and broken pieces of random debris as she mentally and visibly strained for some sign of the Goblin King.
It looked as if the maze had weathered a tremendous Hurricane with everything broken and in pieces. The great stone walls were chipped, bricks missing altogether while pieces of shattered stone littered the walkways.
A dreadful silence prevailed, unlike the normal sounds of cheerful wildlife that she remembered hearing from before. The ground itself seemed to be crying out in alarm and Sarah felt the Labyrinth cry out, too from a place deep within herself. She had not acknowledged this part of herself in a very long time but now that she had, all her senses were focused entirely upon it in panic.
Where were her friends? Where were the guards? Where were all the fantastic creatures that lived in the walls, the trees, the woods? Something was definitely amiss.
Her mind chanted his name like a mantra, fearing the very worst as tears stung her eyes, blurring her vision. Why had she waited so long to contact her friends? Why hadn't she noticed their visits becoming more further and further apart?
Oh Jareth, please. Please Jareth, be ok!
As she turned the corner to the place the four guards usually stood, her nerves were set on end to find the two doors cast aside and in pieces while the men that usually stood at the gate were missing. Two narrow, gaping holes were all that remained.
There on the left, she spied the fake block on the ground that she knew would collapse and take her to the helping hands.
Mind made up, Sarah stepped forward without hesitating and when she came to the collapsible block, she intentionally jumped on it with all of her weight, stomping like an elephant.
Just as she'd suspected, the block fell through and she felt as she was suddenly caught by several black hands coming through the walls.
"Thank goodness!" she cried, leaning into their grasp with relief etched all over her face. "I'm so glad to see you guys! What happened to everyone? Where's the Goblin King?"
Four hands came together to make a face near her feet. "We don't know, Lady Sarah. He has not been felt in the Labyrinth in a long time."
Another face formed near her head and she craned her neck upwards as it spoke.
"We would be interested to know how you got here. We have not seen a runner since you defeated our King," it asked suspiciously.
"Yes," another deep voice continued to her right. "It is considered trespassing for one to enter the Labyrinth without the express permission of our King."
Sarah shivered. These were not the helping hands she remembered. None of them were joking, none of them were laughing and so far, all the faces made by the hands were dark and foreboding, unlike the silly, goofy faces she remembered from before. Now, they were serious, suspicious, angry looking and their grip was decidedly firmer from what she recalled from her last visit.
"I...I had a dream," she answered hesitantly, unsure of how much she should reveal.
"A dream?"
"Yes, a dream," she managed, blushing. "I...remembered some things that happened last time and...well, I wanted to talk to Jareth. I need to talk to Jareth," she corrected, looking down at the abyss below her at her confession. "But when I called for him, nothing happened, not even when I wished myself away!"
There was a collective muttering to one another as the hands considered this new variable. It was obvious what the girl wanted to say, even if they didn't have eyes to assess her reddening cheeks. They collaborated a path of action as she began to squirm in their grip and another face near her own continued.
"That is because you no longer have that power, Lady Sarah," he explained wisely, wincing as her face instantly paled.
"I no longer have what power, exactly?" she asked softly, already knowing the answer.
"You've read the book, girl. Don't tell us you've forgotten that line."
Sarah sighed and bit her lip, willing her tears not to fall. "The King of the Goblins had fallen in love with the girl and he'd given her certain powers."
"Correct."
"So...he doesn't love me anymore and...and I don't have the power."
The hands remained silent and Sarah closed her eyes against the tears. The pain was unbearable. It was excruciating. Her cheeks filled with heat and her head throbbed as she willed herself not to cry and failed.
Once she'd collected herself, albeit not by much, she continued, though not without a slight tremble to her voice as she continued to cry. "To a-answer your q-question, I us-sed the mirror."
"The mirror?" A face to her left questioned, this one in much gentler tone than the others.
"Yes, the mir-ror, in my b-bedroom. Now, take me down-uh!" she ordered, her voice breaking on the last word as she sobbed. There were no taunts, no jibes, no laughter as she was slowly lowered down to the bottom, not dropped like last time. She barely even noticed the gesture, as the sound of her sobs echoing off the walls was all she could hear until she was finally lowered into the absolute darkness of the oubliette.