Chapter Two
Something Wild
"Every now and then
I get a little bit restless,
And I dream of something wild."
-"Total Eclipse of the Heart" from "Tanz der Vampire"
(AN: I know it is sung by Bonnie Tyler, but the "Tanz der Vampire" version is what this chapter relates to more. "Tanz der Vampire" and the song are originally by Jim Stienman. Yep. I'm a nerd.)
*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*
Tonight, Jareth decided. Tonight was the night when he was going to do it. His powers were restored to their full extent, and the Labyrinth and the rest of Jareth's kingdom repaired to its full unruly splendor. Other than that, the day was no different than any other. The planets were not in any astrologically significant alignment, it was nowhere near the Ides of March, nor was it the anniversary of the day Sarah first visited the Underground; it was just Tuesday.
That, thought Jareth (smugly congratulating himself on his utter brilliance) was what made it so perfect, it was just an ordinary Tuesday, not auspicious or special in any way. That made his attack utterly ingenious, made it unpredictable. And, when dealing with a girl such as Sarah, unpredictability was essential if you wanted to get away with anything nefarious or wayward.
Jareth cleared the throne room of goblins with a few well-placed kicks and several loudly-uttered musings of whether or not the remaining goblins should be dunked into the Bog of Eternal Stench. After the threat of the Bog had been made, goblins scampered to and fro, eager to leave the presence of their king, who was obviously in one of his moods.
Alone, Jareth paced the room restlessly for a moment before striding over to his throne in an irritated gait, and sitting down with an audible 'hmph,' keeping up a steady nervous staccato by tapping the side of his throne with his riding crop.
It all came down to this moment. Even though Jareth prided himself on believing that his plan was fool-proof, Sarah had a flair for making things fall apart at the seams. She just had that knack.
Jareth glanced over at the carriage clock sitting amongst the debris in the room, annoyed and slightly dismayed that he had several hours yet until it would be dark Aboveground, and who knew when Sarah would actually go to bed after that.
Jareth fabricated a crystal and held it gently for a moment, staring intensely into its depths before letting out a plaintive sigh and conjuring up a pewter holder in the shape of a furled-up dragon. He set the holder on a small table beside his throne and sat the crystal in the holder. He groaned and stretched his arms, folding them comfortably behind his head. He had waited this long, a few more hours should be no problem.
*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*
A few hours later, Jareth glanced to his side, glimpsing the image in the crystal, doing a double take as he looked away, half-rising from his seat in his excitement. He was still for a moment, and his clothes altered into his trademark formidable dark outfit, complete with an imposing silk cape that flowed airily. Jareth grinned wickedly and snatched up the crystal off of its pewter stand and strode over to the window seat, his heart beating very fast. He gazed deeply into the crystal once more, and his grin grew.
The time was nigh.
*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*
Sarah yawned and stretched, getting up from her miniscule kitchen table. She picked up the few dishes that littered the table and carried them over to the sink, deciding to forgo doing the dishes tonight, leaving them piled haphazardly until tomorrow.
She yawned again, and walked around the kitchen counter to her living room, flopping down on the couch and grabbing the remote, flipping through the channels, trying to find something interesting to watch. It seems that the gods of good television had decided to scorn Sarah that night, as the most enthralling program to watch was infomercials.
Sarah looked half-heartedly at the shelf that held her movies before giving up any hope of getting entertainment from her television that night, and grunting, got up from her worn couch and walked into her cozy bedroom, flipping on the light as she did so. She walked over to the bookshelf that was pushed up against the far wall, touching her window on one side, and the wall on the other. Sarah stood quietly, contemplating the titles, trying to pick out a book to read. Eventually, Sarah picked up a well-worn tome and set it on her bed.
Sarah crossed the room to her chest of drawers and removed her pajamas before pulling them on and tossing them in the dirty clothes bin as she made her way to the bathroom to perform her nightly toilette.
Sarah returned after some time, switching off the main light in the room in favor of her bedside lamp, and crawled under the covers of her bed, settling down with her book.
Sarah read for a few hours, easily losing herself in the rich mythos of the book, greeting the characters as old friends. She found it harder and harder to stay awake, however, not because the book was boring, but simply because it was late and Sarah was tired from a long day of work. She finished the chapter she was on, bookmarked her place and set the book gently on her nightstand, turning out her light as well. Sarah turned over and snuggled deeper under the covers, drifting quickly off to sleep.
*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*
It was a very odd dream.
At least it wasn't the dream, though.
As much as Sarah loved her reoccurring dream, sometimes too much of a good thing turned out to be bad. Or at least in Sarah's case, it made for boring nighttime wanderings of the mind.
The dream itself was dark. Not a cold dark, mind you, but a warm, safe, summer night kind of dark.
Sarah found that she was standing in a forest clearing, a cool breeze rippling through the moon-silvered leaves, making her hair drift lazily across her face. The dream Sarah spun in a joyful circle, indescribably happy to be in the glade. In the midst of her twirling, Sarah noticed the sky, and gazing up through the leafy branches above her, saw that it was strewn with brilliantly-lit stars, basking in the inky blackness of space. She reveled in the quiet beauty, loving the peaceful clearing at once.
Suddenly, Sarah became under the impression that she was not alone in her private little dream world. A shadow moved, slinking behind a tree ten or so feet from where Sarah was standing.
Curious, Sarah moved forward, trying to get closer to the movement that had piqued her interest, staring through the branches in the incandescent starlight. However, Sarah's dream would not allow her to get any closer. No matter how many trees she walked past, the shadow stayed resolutely in the same spot, remaining, in the way that dream-logic is often so fond of, so close and yet so far.
Sarah sat down petulantly on a stump, crossing her legs with a disgruntled 'hmph.'
"Fine then," Sarah called to the shadow, "be that way."
"I will, thank you," the shadow replied, startling Sarah so much that she fell sideways off of the stump, kicking up a puff of dirt as she landed on the ground.
"You can talk!" exclaimed Sarah from the forest floor, surprised.
"But of course," said the shadow smoothly, undulating slightly in the dim silvery light, "I could do any manner of things in a dream. I shall restrain myself at the present, however, to just talking, if you don't mind."
"Why can't I get any closer to see you?" queried Sarah, a tad exasperated at the shadow, brushing herself off as she rose to her feet. "This is my dream, and I should be able to do whatever I want in it."
"Because," the dream-shadow said, in a slightly exasperated tone, "I have free will. And besides," the shadow paused to flit so that it was now a bit further away, "I do not want to."
"Fine," said Sarah, turning resolutely and walking away from the incomprehensibly and infernally aggravating shadow.
It was a few moments before Sarah realized that she was walking in place.
She threw a contemptuous look over her shoulder.
"Stop that!" Sarah said icily, glaring at the shadow, who laughed in a most Puck-ish manner.
"I'm glad you're amused," Sarah snapped waspishly, folding her arms and cocking her eyebrow.
"Sufficiently, thank you," replied the shadow, moving so that it was back beside the tree it started out by.
Sarah looked with all her might, but could not discern anything about the shadow, save that it was tall, dark, and annoying.
"You're quite impossible," sniffed Sarah, sitting down once more on her stump.
"Anything is possible in a dream, love," the shadow said saucily by way of response.
Sarah could have sworn she heard a smirk in its tone, but decided to ignore it, saying nothing and resuming her glaring.
"I am afraid that you are glaring about three feet too far to the left, my dear" pointed out the shadow with barely suppressed mirth.
"You're quite wrong," said Sarah testily, "You are impossible. Anything as annoying as you couldn't possibly be real."
"One can only hope," was the shadow's enigmatic reply.
At this moment, Sarah deemed that sulking and ignoring the shadow would be the proper course of action. She sat in silence for a few minutes, forgetting after some time that she was determinedly sulking, and eased into a relaxed calmness, enjoying the fragrant breeze that whispered through the lofty boughs of the trees around her.
She jumped when she heard the shadow speak. She had quite forgotten that it was there.
"Good bye."
"What?" twitted Sarah, after she had calmed down her racing heart, "Are you leaving?"
"No, you are." The shadow's voice was distant as Sarah felt herself waking up.
*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*
Sarah opened her eyes, turning to look blearily at her alarm clock, which was noisily telling her that it was 6:15 a.m and that she's better get up, lest she be late for work. She groaned and rolled out of bed, leaving all recollections of her nighttime wanderings behind her.
*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*
Jareth grinned widely as he watched Sarah leave the dream. As far as a first day (well, night, actually) of implementing his plan, Jareth considered it to be a success. True, nothing important or major happened, but it was a start.
More importantly, thought Jareth, he had seen her, in person. It was as though a fire had been lit in his mind.
He replayed the night's events over and over in his psyche, never tiring of the scenes. He could not bring himself to concentrate on anything other than his scheme now that it had been successfully initiated.
He was obsessed.
Not that he hadn't been obsessed before, but this was singular. There is a difference between obsessing over an idea, as he had done so for the seven years since Sarah had beaten his Labyrinth, and obsessing over a person.
People were tangible.
Ideas were surely powerful, that could not be denied; people lived, fought and died for the sake of ideas, but ideas are nothing more than that: ideas. People could be touched, could feel emotions, could love and be loved.
It was not an idea that Jareth obsessed over, it was a person.
*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*
AN: Chapter Two: ka-CHECK! I hope everyone enjoys this! I'm slowly but surely working on the next chapters as I end work (I work today and Sunday, and then I'm done!) and gear up to go back to school. Not going to lie, I'm kind of excited to be going back to school, if only to be on campus again (and turning the big 21!) Not excited for school work. Also, I've finally got my new MacBook Pro! So shiny!
Anyways, hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! Expect the next chapter when you least expect it! I'm going to be busy this next week with getting ready to go back to school, and moving back up next weekend!
For those who enjoy it: Shakespeare and V for Vendetta references!
Anyways, please read and review! It really makes my day! Thanks so everyone who has already reviewed, and added me to their various favorites and alerts lists!
Disclaimer: Labyrinth and its characters do not belong to me. Quotes from the movie belong to Henson, Froud, and Lucas. Quotes from the book belong to A.C.H. Smith.
