Jareth stand on his balcony, his elbows resting on the smooth white stone railing. His head resting on the knuckles of his gloved fist, the fingers of his other hand drumming on the marble, gazing out onto his labyrinth bored out of his mind. Lazily he conjures a crystal, (the fifth time in an hour), to gaze upon his champion. Her eyes are still as green as emeralds and just as full of determination as when he looked in on her last.

A faint smile spreads across his lips remembering her in his domain then he pulls himself from his thoughts to gaze at her. She is taking her midterm of the fall semester in her sophomore year of college, the subject is psychology. A strand of her deep chocolate brown hair falls into her face and she ignores it and keeps writing furiously. How he wishes to tuck that strand behind her ear.

He drifts into his own thoughts staring at the woman Sarah had become when all of a sudden a goblin rushes in, catching him off guard. The crystal he had been holding smashes down onto the paved path of the garden, shattering before turning into glitter and absorbing back into the labyrinth. He turns quickly to the goblin that had interrupted his brow furrowing in anger. Through his gritted teeth he says with an edge in his voice, "What, Mugwump, is so important that you HAVE to come rushing in without even knocking?"

The goblin cowers at his king's feet and says intimidated, "We have an intruder in the labyrinth, sir".

Sarah turns in her finished exam and leaves the room, as soon as the door shut she sighs glad that was over. She takes her almost empty backpack and makes the trek back to her car, nothing special but it runs. Her backpack gets tossed into the passenger seat as she climbs into the driver's seat, putting the key in the ignition and starting her little kia rio. The music is blasting on a rock station as she buckles up and drives to the other side of town.

The building is a little shabby and gloomy but also comforting in that odd sort of way. It is nothing but a simple brick house that has grown discolored with age. The ivy is crawling up the walls and the little porch has two wrought iron chairs and a small table, which had been painted white many years earlier, for those warm summer evenings. The upstairs is where she calls home her landlord, an elderly lady named Mrs. Bennet, lives downstairs. The sweet old lady is in her 90's and she smells of vanilla and earl grey tea. Her back is hunched due to arthritis and her hands are soft from many years of raising children. She gave Sarah a deal on her upstairs as long as she helped with the chores and kept the old lady company, which she did happily. They told stories and chatted comfortably for a few hours every day before Sarah started that night's homework.

"Hello Mrs. Bennet," she calls from the door as she walks in.

Mrs. Bennet replies, her voice drifting from the kitchen, "Why hello dear, I just made some cookies would you like some? You must be awfully tired after your last day of midterms."

Sarah wanders into the small warm yellow kitchen as the smell of warm snicker doodles fill her nose. She drops her backpack by the side of one of two chairs around a small wooden table as she sits down. No sooner did this happen than a plate of warm cookies and a cup of earl grey were in front of her, just the right amount of sugar and milk in it to make it wonderful. Mrs. Bennet sits down across from Sarah with her own mug of tea and smiles gently.

"Thank you Mrs. Bennet, this is exactly what I needed today." A warm smile is generated from her soul, and they chat for a bit about her midterms and how she thought she did while they finish their tea.

After the tea was gone and the rest of the cookies packaged to be sent to loved ones Sarah did the dishes, picked up her school bag and headed up the steep oak stairs to her sanctuary. The little landing has two doors and of course the ladder in the ceiling to get to the attic. The first of the two doors leads into a modestly sized bathroom with a beautiful claw foot tub in the corner. The second door leads to Sarah's room.

She opens the door and smiles as the late afternoon sun filters into the large room through the sheer white curtains. Her four poster bed is in one corner and a reading nook has been set up by the window, next to the window seat of course. The walls had been painted a light grey, with Mrs. Bennet's permission of course. Opposite her bed is her vanity from home, gone are the pictures of her mother and her child hood, the only thing left is the statue of the Goblin King. Now it is covered in homework and old papers that should be thrown away. Instead of tackling that project Sarah just dumps her backpack next to her bed and goes to the window seat to stare outside. Between the branches of the old oak in front of the window she can see the street.

The sun is starting to set and a small smile paints her face, the sky turning various shades of pink, orange, yellow, and purple as the deep blue of the night starts to take over, the small stars breaking the monotony of the blackness. Eventually she peels herself from the window and heads into the bathroom and fills the claw foot tub, adding her favorite rose and vanilla scented bubble bath. She ties her hair up in a ponytail and undresses, stepping in and relaxing when the tub has been filled. She closes her eyes letting the warmth permeate to her bones. When the water chills she reluctantly gets out and dries off before wrapping herself in her robe and brushing her hair out. She inhales the scent that never leaves her robe, the smell of fresh peaches.

She travels back over to her room and heads to her closet, next to her desk, and picks out a simple soft green t-shirt and a pair of well—loved black flannel pj pants. After she hangs up her robe she goes to lay down and sees a perfect red rose with blackened tips laying on her pillow, a note beside it. Gently she picks up the note and it reads:

My Dearest Sarah,

I know I haven't been able to see you lately, or visit you at all, however we need to talk.

There will be a full moon in a week, I will come to you.

-J

She drops the note in shock and it disappears, slowly she transfers the rose to her desk and crawls into her bed, between the plain sheets that have comforted her for so long. She turns the small lamp on her bedside table off and eventually falls asleep. Her dreams turn, as they do every night, to the Goblin King and her friends that she left behind so long ago.