The following days after Toby began to stay with Sarah were normal for them both, despite that Sarah found it exceedingly hard to ignore Toby when he hummed a tune she doubted he even knew the origin of.
"Toby… would you stop that humming… you're driving me insane." She closed the cupboard and took the fruit snacks she bought to fend of candy cravings. Sadly they only worked if she ate 3 of them in one sitting.
"Huh? Why? I like it…" She wouldn't admit that she often found herself humming the same tune and that was where her discomfort came from. She hated that and although he recalled nothing of being with Jareth or of being in the Labyrinth at all, he could still recall the music box tainted with his presence.
"Hey Sarah? Woah Shi…" A crashing sound caught her attention and she could hear Toby cursing. "Sarah! For crying out loud… nothing like leaving a death trap for someone, un?" She stepped out from the kitchen and Toby lay sprawled across the floor holding his foot. He picked up a small figurine that must have fallen from her book shelf and brandished it at her. "Stupid thing tripped me and I stubbed my toe on the stupid couch…"
She bent down and took the figurine from him and placed it on the book shelf. When she set it down Toby was getting up and she watched him hobble over to the beige love seat she had. She laughed at the way he hopped over and plopped down.
"You look funny when you hobble around, gimp" She smothered her laughter when he glared at her and she grabbed a pack of frozen carrots from the freezer. "Will you live?"
"Yeah… you've become rather smart since I last saw you… When'd that happen?" He took the carrots from her and peeled of his sock, his toe was swollen and blue formed under his big toe.
"That's gonna blister… You did a good job." He sneered at her and winced when the ice pack touched his foot.
Sarah was caught off guard when the doorbell rang and from the front window she peered at the door expecting to see no-one, but she was mistaken this time.
"Hold on!" The lock clanked open and she turned the latch to open the door.
"Can I help you?" But when she finally opened the door no one stood in its frame. "Hello?" She looked from side to side with no evidence of anyone having been there. She called out once more, but still no reply and she closed the door behind her. For a moment she pondered whether to lock the door, but she forced herself for just this once to leave it open… the feeling that told her think about it was crushing under annoyance.
"Ah, Sarah?" She returned to the living room and Toby pointed across the room. "When did you get a dog?" At the other end of the room stood the white haired sheep dog like the one she once had when she was young.
"Merlin?" The dog did not respond and continued to just look at her. For a moment her mind reeled and her balance seemed to want to tip her over. "Ambrosias?" The dog gave a single whine before turning and running out of the living room towards her back door. "Wait!" She chased after it, but when she reached the back door it was closed and the dog was gone.
"You have no power over me…" She whispered. It was the one thing she would say when she feared her dreams were coming to haunt her again… and right now she felt a full on attack.
"Sarah…?" Toby's voice echoed strangely from living room and she spun back into see what was wrong. She could have imagined a thousand things at this point. Anything could have happened except what did. She could see Jareth standing there with Toby in his clutches or even having her whole living room crawling with little goblins, but when she came back; the room was empty.
"Toby?" Memories surged in her, fear near crippled her as she called out his name again. The tone almost exactly as it had been long ago. "Toby? Where are you?" Still nothing. She wanted now to hear the sound of the goblins laughing at her because then at least she knew what was going on. As it was she just felt like she was going mad. "Toby?" Nothing. Only silence… A single name sat frozen on her lips. One she feared to speak aloud. One she didn't want to trust if it meant invoking a repeat of… god only knew.
"Jareth…" No one answered. The name sounded foreign on her tongue as it had since she had categorized him as anathema. She was sweating like a terror stuck child and the words came from her lips like she remembered doing when she was innocent, young and utterly stupid.
"G-g…" She could feel the heat and tears at her eyes as she tried to force the words out of her. "Goblin-King, Goblin-King, where ever you may be…" The air seemed to crackle with some kind of magic and then it stopped, faltered and failed.
"Say your right words…" Her head began to ache; an intense lance of heat in her temple.
"I can't say the right words!"
The world remained as it always had been for Sarah and yet the same as it had been while under Jareth's spell. She was alone and Toby was nowhere to be found.