The Immortal

Prologue

"You have no power over me." That simple sentence, those small short words had meant so much. With a flash Jareth transformed into the owl and whisked Sarah and Toby home. Just as the Esher room had collapsed around them moments earlier, Jareth's world, his creation collapsed. He knew that left him only one option, and he found himself flying around Sarah's head in her hallway as the grandfather clock struck twelve. As the chimes ended, he flew from the room to the freshness of the outside air, now certain that the two were safe. He had lost, but he didn't feel defeated. Almost the opposite, he felt as though he had gained something so great, that any wrong move would shatter it. He flew to the tree opposite Sarah's room and waited.

She soon entered, and he watched her putting all of her childish toys and dreams away. His eyes pricked when he saw the beast appear. As her room filled with creature's from the Labyrinth, Jareth bristled, it was HIS Labyrinth, and it was most likely gone. Jareth looked at the dwarf that was presently in Sarah's arms, engulfed in a huge hug. Jareth felt an envy so great that it almost consumed him. He was certain that the dwarf had not told Sarah the true story of the Labyrinth or of the rest of the Underground, how it came to be, or even of his part in it. It made him feel sick with loss and he flew from the tree high into the air as he couldn't stomach watching the scene before him.

It was some time before he returned, this time to a branch that was close to the window sill. He watched her enter and hopped closer to the window, his eyes followed her every movement as she came towards him and opened the window. His eyes locked with hers, and they connected.

Chapter One

Sarah looked at Toby and sighed.

"Its times like this Toby, that I would rather have lost!" With a sidelong glance at the window sill she said, "And that doesn't mean anything if you're listening, except that I am exceptionally frustrated right now."

The owl on the window sill hopped from one foot to the other and glared at her with a knowing stare. Sarah often wondered if she was right in thinking that the owl was Jareth. Since Toby's kidnapping a year ago the owl had made itself a permanent fixture in Sarah's life. It had made her uneasy at first as it isn't usual for an owl to come so close to a human, and when Sarah's suspicions had first begun she had tried repeatedly to shoo it away. The owl had remained though, and she had grown used to it's company. It was odd, but Toby (who had grown into a terrible two year old) loved the owl and was always fascinated by it. Except for now that is.

Sarah looked at Toby who was lying on his stomach on the floor of her bedroom pounding his fists into the carpet and screaming at the top of his lungs. He was a master at throwing these tantrums and it had been his new thing for a few months now. This one had started because Sarah had left him alone in the living room in an attempt to finish some homework. Toby had followed her up the stairs and into her room where he had thrown himself at her feet. Sarah often wondered why it was that Toby always wanted to be close to her. Ever since their return from the Labyrinth Toby had clung to Sarah, treating her more like a mother than an older sister. It had started the night they returned. Sarah had been in her room enjoying the company of Hoggle, Ludo, Sir Didymus and her other friends from the Labyrinth when her stepmother had knocked on her door. Sarah opened the door very angrily as her friends had abruptly disappeared at the interruption and was faced by her stepmother holding a howling Toby.

"Sarah, did something happen tonight?" She had asked. "I just woke up and saw Toby standing up in his crib so I went to pick him up and he started crying. He won't stop." Karen had sounded desperate, and Sarah knew that she was the last person who Karen would turn to, especially after the argument they had earlier.

Sarah had looked at Toby and he reached out for her and grabbed her hair. Instead of pulling away as she used to, Sarah took Toby from her stepmother and hugged him. "Its okay", she whispered. "You're safe now." Toby had stopped crying and when Sarah had put him back to bed he fell instantly to sleep. This had left her stepmother flabbergasted.

"Sarah, tell me what happened."

"Nothing happened. I just changed my mind, that's all." Sarah looked at Toby who was curled up next to Lancelot, the bear which up until that evening had been Sarah's most favourite thing in the world, and softly touched his cheek.

"Changed your mind about what?" Karen asked her softly.

Sarah looked at her. "Maybe he isn't so bad after all." She had said and left the room. That had been the first night the owl had come. When Sarah had returned to her bedroom, she saw him on a branch outside her window. Since that day, the owl was always there. Not a day had passed that she had not seen him.

That had been the beginning of a very big change in Sarah. She had found over the past year that stories of make believe and fantasy didn't really satisfy her anymore, probably because she had lived through one of her own and could visit it whenever she wished. Instead of acting, her interests had turned to social work and surprisingly to childcare. Sarah was now Toby's sole babysitter, mostly because he wouldn't stand for anyone else, but also because Sarah truly enjoyed his company. Toby was the only other person who had been to the Underground, and Sarah found that comforting, even though she knew that Toby was probably too little to ever remember it. Still she delighted in telling him the story over and over again and he enjoyed hearing it more each time. Toby's first word had been Sarah, and Jareth and Hoggle had come not long after that.

Toby's cries shook Sarah back to reality. "Oh come Toby. Get over it." She snapped. Toby stopped for a moment and looked at Sarah, who looked back with an expression which could only mean 'I won't stand for this'. Toby wasn't impressed however and he started bellowing again louder than ever.

On the window sill, Jareth shuffled his feet and turned his back on the room. Sarah laughed.

"See Toby, even Jareth doesn't want to see you right now!" Sarah got up from her desk and moved to him, stroking his feather's, "Can't you talk to him?"

Jareth abruptly turned and flew down into Sarah's bedroom resting not more than two inches in front of Toby's face. Sarah flinched, she was so sure that the owl was Jareth and though she had grown to love him, where Toby was concerned she still didn't trust him.

"Don't hurt him, Jareth." She said softly.

The owl looked closely at Toby, who had stopped his tantrum and was gazing at him. Toby put out his hand and poked the owl's feathers.

"Jareth." he said, cocking his head to the side as the owl had done.

There was a sharp knock on the door. In a flurry of white and brown feathers the owl had gone. Sarah looked at Toby who was on the verge of tears.

"Come in" she said as she moved to pick him up.

"Is Toby in here?" Karen asked as she opened the door.

Toby wrapped his arms around Sarah's neck. "Yes." She said. "Please take him off my hands for awhile, he just had another tantrum and I'm not sure how much more I can take."

"Yes, I thought I heard him." Karen smiled "I was afraid his lungs would burst." Karen took Toby from Sarah and he wriggled out of her grasp, before tearing down the stairs. Karen sighed and followed him shutting the door behind her.

Sarah moved to the window and leaned out of it.

"They've gone, you can come back now." She called into the wind. "Jareth?" She whispered. But there was no answer.

Sarah pushed her hair out of her face and ducked just as a branch came flying back in her direction. She trudged her way through the trees that grew at the back of the park near her house, it was nearing winter and the ground had turned to a carpet of thick leaves lined with mud. It was freezing. The sun had sunk low in the sky and covered the trees in a glow of orange light. She wasn't exactly sure what she was looking for, only that she was worried and searching for some kind of sign that he was or had been here. So far she hadn't found a thing. Not a footprint, not a feather.

Jareth had been missing for several weeks now. Sarah hadn't seen him since the afternoon in her bedroom with Toby. She didn't want to admit it to herself but she knew something was terribly wrong and she was severely worried about him. Sarah couldn't understand why she cared so much about him. After all he had taken her brother from his home, threatened to turn him into a goblin, then drugged her to stop her from getting him back, and then told her that he was being generous! Sarah shook her head in frustration. Deep down she knew that the whole incident a year ago had been all her own fault. She had asked him to take Toby away, and she had known what he would do to him. Too bad she hadn't really meant it. One lesson Sarah had learned the hard way, she never said things she didn't mean anymore. In a way she was thankful to Jareth for he had forced her to grow up and accept things for what they are. She knew now what a frivolous and stupid girl she had been.

When Jareth had first come to her as the owl she had been wary of him, that much was true. She still didn't trust him, (especially not with Toby) but she felt a strange connection with him that she felt with no other. Since he had disappeared, Sarah had found it increasingly difficult to concentrate and to keep her mind focused on what she should be doing. Like now for example, she grimaced as she realised how late she was. She was supposed to be babysitting Toby tonight, and she was supposed to have started ten minutes ago.

By the time Sarah got home she was half an hour late. Her stepmother and father were waiting for her on the doorstep.

"I am so sorry, I really lost track of time." Sarah blurted.

"We were really worried about you." Karen said quietly. "You're never late anymore."

Sarah felt an awful pang of guilt. "I just let my mind run away from me. It won't happen again, I promise."

"You had better go in and talk to Toby, Sarah. He hasn't seen you all day, he kept asking if you had run away." Her father said. "We have to leave now, the number's on the fridge." He looked closely at Sarah and kissed her on her forehead. "You can talk to us about anything you know."

"I know I can." Sarah said. "I'd better talk to Toby, you two have a good time." She turned and left them on the porch looking back at her.

Sarah poked her head around the corner of her bedroom. Toby was standing by the windowsill gazing out into the growing darkness.

"Toby, I'm here." She said softly.

He ran across the room and threw himself into her arms. "Thought you'd gone with him." He mumbled.

"With Jareth?" Sarah asked. Toby nodded furiously.

"I was looking for him. In the park. I didn't find him though."

Toby looked up at her, "Can we look Sarah? Right now?"

Every part of Sarah told her that what she was doing was irresponsible. It was well past dark and very cold. Definitely no place for a two and half year old. Still she was so desperate to find Jareth and she knew that she would have no peace of mind until she found him. Besides Toby was the one who had suggested it. She had bundled him up tight, and had a firm grip on his hand.

"You are not to tell mommy or daddy about this okay Toby? You know they wouldn't like it don't you?" Sarah knew this was unfair to say but couldn't stop herself. "And they might not let me look after you anymore if they found out."

Toby nodded solemnly.

They had reached the woods, more like a large patch of trees than actual woods but it was dark and still quite thick. Sarah was certain that if he was to be found it would be here. This place held a kind of magic that Jareth would be drawn to.

"Should we call his name?" asked Toby. "Mommy does that when she can't find me."

Sarah shook her head. "No honey, I don't think he would come out if he heard us."

"Why not?"

"Because I think he's mad at me." And with that Sarah's worry spilled over and tears filled her eyes and poured silently over her cheeks.

Toby wrapped his arms around her legs, hugging her as tight as he could.

Sarah started as she heard a noise, a rustling followed by what was unmistakably an owl hooting.

"Jareth?" She cried, breaking away from Toby and running in the direction of the noise. "Jareth come back. Please." She ran through the trees until she was out of breath, and sank down at the foot of an old oak. "I'm sorry" She whispered. Her hair was tangled and she had got caught on a branch that had ripped her jacket and left a small gash on her cheek. She bent her head to the trunk of the tree and wept her fear and sorrow into it.

It was then that she remembered Toby.

"Toby?" She cried. "Toby?" She raced back in the direction she had come, faster and more frantic than before. "Toby where are you?" There was no answer. Sarah stopped and listened as hard as she could for some sound. There was the rustling again and then the hooting that followed. Sarah tried with all her might not to follow the noise in her desperation. The sound of her breathing seemed louder than ever and her heart pounding drowned out all other noise.

After what seemed like hours she heard it.

"Sarah?"

He sounded so close to her. "Toby, stay still. Okay honey? I'm coming for you." Sarah moved through the trees slowly this time, scarcely breathing in case she lost him. "Toby?"

"I'm here Sarah." Toby called.

Sarah pushed through a thorny bush and came face to face with Toby, sitting on the muddy leafy ground. Next to him was a white and brown shape which disappeared into the night at the sound of her voice.

Sarah ran to him and picked him up out if the mud and hugged him tight.

"Toby, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Are you okay? Are you hurt?" She put him down carefully and examined him.

"You shouldn't have left me Sarah." Toby said.

"I know, I'm sorry. You must have been so scared." She hugged him again.

"No. If you hadn't run away, you would have seen him."

"What do you mean?"

"When I was lost. Jareth found me. But he flew off when you came."

"Are you sure Toby? Are you sure it was him?" Sarah said pulling him closer towards her.

Toby nodded slowly. "Yes."

This was not quite the news that Sarah hoped for. Still it seemed as if Jareth was alive, and her worry eased slightly. Her fear however had escalated.

"Come on, lets go home."

"Sarah, aren't you going to bring Jareth back?" Toby asked pulling on her arm.

"I think I'll find him when he wants to be found." She answered dimly.

Sarah tucked Toby into his bed hours after his bedtime and tried not to think about what could have happened that night. She felt sick and disgusted with herself for leaving him like that.

Toby looked up at her and said. "Sarah, find Jareth tomorrow?"

"I'll do my best Toby. If you need me just call okay?" She kissed him, pulling his covers up to his chin. He put a hand up to her face and touched her cheek.

"You got hurt." He whispered.

Sarah touched the gash on her cheek.

"It's okay honey, it doesn't hurt." She lied.

Sarah fell into bed minutes later, having not even undressed herself.