Disclaimer: I don't own Labyrinth or any of its characters.
Chapter One
Sarah Williams sat on a wooden bench overlooking the entire park. It was a dull, gray afternoon, and the sun hadn't made an appearance all day. It was a rather gloomy day, and the only one keeping Sarah company was her sheepdog, Merlin. The rest of the park seemed to be vacant. Except for a pair of watchful eyes coming from a barn owl sitting close by.
Sarah saw the owl, but didn't take much notice. It was nice to have someone other than Merlin as an audience for a change. Sarah sat for a moment longer, marveling at the superiority the owl seemed to have, and then decided to start reciting.
It was a tradition that Sarah had, she always came to the park on Fridays and Saturdays, the only time she seemed to have off. When she arrived, she would start to recite lines from her favorite book in the entire world: The Labyrinth.
She knew practically all of the words by heart. But there were still a few she would forget now and then. She would start to recite one day, and then mark her spot when she had to go home. When she came back the next time, she would simply pick up where she left off. And when she finished the story, she would start all over again.
Sarah would really get into her character. Her favorite was the main character, the one she always liked to take the role of. She would dress up in a loose maiden's dress, complete with a flower and ribbon crown, which she wore upon her head.
Slowly, Sarah began to recite from memory:
"Give me the child. Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here beyond the Goblin City to take back the child that you have stolen. For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom is as great..."
Sarah stopped for a moment and she repeated the last line, hoping to remember the next part. "And my kingdom is as great... Damn! I can never remember that line!"
Sarah pulled the bottom of her dress up to reveal her jeans. In her pant pocket, she held a copy of The Labyrinth. She pulled out the worn red-leather bound copy of the book and examined it. The pages were old and musty, they were turning a pale yellow color, and the text was slowly fading. The corners of the cover were dog-eared, and the gold title printed on the book was chipping.
Sarah opened her book, and found her marker near the end of the book. She began to read aloud:
"You have no power over me."
Sarah began to shake her head in disbelief. How could she forget such a simple line? She always forgot it! Just then, she raised her eyes from her book. The owl was still looking at her. It stared at her for a moment and then glanced at the clock tower in the middle of the park. Immediately it began to chime.
"Oh, my gosh!" Sarah exclaimed aloud to herself. "I don't believe it, Merlin! It's seven o'clock!"
Sarah took off sprinting. She couldn't be late again, she just couldn't! She couldn't risk angering her stepmother, Karen; for fear that she might ground her from going to the park again.
Sarah's mother, Linda, had left Sarah and her father, Robert, to become an actress. No less than two months after they split up, her father started seeing new women. Linda continued to communicate with Sarah, telling her when she got a part in a movie or play. Until recently.
About two years ago, Linda stopped phoning Sarah. Soon after, she stopped sending postcards. This was about the time Robert brought Karen home.
Sarah had never seen Karen in her life, but according to her father, they had been seeing each other for quite sometime.
Karen was a medium sized woman, who always liked to dress according to the present "style". Sarah on the other hand, liked to dress comfortably and wore whatever fit her mood. Karen had short blond hair, feathered and sprayed, and as fancy as she could get it. However, Karen was a businesswoman. She always was busy. She was a partier too. It seemed like Sarah's father was always out with Karen. Sarah didn't like it, but she put up with it. And then Sarah got the shock of a lifetime.
Robert and Karen came home one night and announced that they were getting married. Sarah couldn't believe it! She had heard about Karen, yeah, but she had never even met the woman for crying out loud! And now she was coming to live with them? And she was going to be her new stepmother? Oh, it just wasn't fair! And then something happened that made her even angrier.
It pained Sarah to no end that her father could marry so soon after her mother left. She felt as though he had never loved her at all. But now her father and Karen were going to have a baby? Yes! Almost as soon as they were married, Robert told Sarah that they were pregnant. Sarah couldn't believe that they could be so unfair! In less than three months, Sarah's life was changing rapidly.
It was now two years later. Karen had given birth to a little blonde boy named Toby. Sarah was now fifteen, and often reflected back on her life. Karen soon made it clear that she did not approve of Sarah. So eventually, Sarah cast Karen in the role of "evil step-mother". Sarah did not like the fact that her new baby brother looked like a miniature male version of Karen; whereas Karen seemed to love the fact her son looked so much like her. She often enjoyed contrasting Sarah and Toby.
Sarah didn't think that Karen liked her very much. And it wasn't just because she didn't want her to marry her father. When Karen first arrived she would order, not ask, but order Sarah to do meaningless tasks. She did them, but didn't appreciate it. Sarah believed it was because she looked so much like Linda, and she thought that Karen probably didn't like the fact that there was a woman in Robert's life before her. But this was just an assumption.
So Toby and Sarah didn't have the best of starts. The only thing that Sarah did seem to like about Toby's features is how he didn't have Karen's eyes. He didn't have anyone in the family's eyes. He had the most peculiar eyes. Each a shade of its own. The caught Sarah's attention and fascinated her. But that was pretty much the only thing Sarah liked about him.
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