Chapter 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Labyrinth. I do, however, own a clock that doesn't work and a broken pair of iPod headphones. No copyright infringement intended.
Chapter 1 Awakening
Sarah awoke with a start. It was that dream again. No. Not a dream. A nightmare. The same nightmare that plagued her dreams for the past year.
It had been exactly one year since that awful ordeal that she wished she could say was only a dream. Exactly one year ago, she nearly lost her baby brother. She shuddered at the memory.
Since that fateful night, Sarah never complained about watching little Toby while her father and her stepmother went out. She even volunteered. The idea of anyone else watching Toby terrified her. What if she lost him again?
That's not to say she didn't make plans for herself. She had to. She had to make herself forget that horrible man whom she loathed from the deepest depths of her heart. No, he was not a man. Anyone who could be so atrocious, so sadistic, did not deserve such a title. He was a monster. The Goblin King. Jareth.
It was her encounter with him, more than anything else, that lead to several changes in her. For one (and probably the most insignificant), peaches, once her favorite fruit, were now a source of revulsion, nausea, and even fear. Then of course, was her volunteering to babysit Toby (which surprised her parents greatly). But what surprised them most was her sudden maturity. No longer did she complain that this wasn't fair and that wasn't fair. She merely took a situation for what it was and dealt with it (most of the time).
Sarah gazed around her moonlit room. Even in the gloom she could see the changes there too. Once a room filled with toys and clutter, now there was very little to be seen. Most of her toys she gave to Toby to play with. She donated most of her costumes to thrift stores, charities, and the local playhouse. She sold the rest of her knick-knacks at the garage sale her parents had a few weeks after the Toby incident. Save for a few things.
The porcelain doll that spun and played music was still on her dresser. She wanted more than anything to give that away, particularly. She remembered all too well the feel of Jareth's hands on her waist as they danced. The very memory of it made her skin crawl. But that doll was a gift from her mother. As much as she wanted to, she was afraid she'd hurt her mother's feelings if she gave that away.
In the corner of the room were three stuffed animals that looked an awful lot like the friends Sarah had made in the labyrinth: Hoggle, Ludo, and Didymus. She missed them sorely. She called them many times since her venture into the labyrinth; but they had never reappeared. It was when she thought of them that she wondered if it had all just been some fantastic dream. But it had to have been real. Never had her nightmares come close to the real memory.
The only other things she kept were her childhood books. One in particular. A small, red, leather-bound book lay on her nightstand next to her bed. The Labyrinth. She never picked it up to read anymore. She rarely even looked at it. But she kept it as a reminder, a reminder of the words that had saved her and Toby last year: 'You have no power over me.'
The words hung in the air as if Sarah had said them out loud. Sarah would never again forget those words, not so long as she lived. They had saved her life. They had saved Toby's life. Saved them both from Jareth's hands.
Jareth.
Sarah thought back to his jagged platinum hair, his strange eyebrows and his mismatched eyes. She couldn't help but remember the purr of his accent and the seductiveness of his voice. All of this, however, filled her with hatred and revulsion.
It was because of him that she subjected herself to date after date, trying to prove to herself that there was such a thing as a good man out there. All it proved though was that all boys her age were just as bad as Jareth. How pathetic, she thought to herself.
Sarah glanced at the clock on her nightstand. Two AM. She huffed, hitting her pillow. Would she ever get a decent night's sleep? Knowing that it was futile to try to sleep again with the memory of her nightmare fresh in her mind, she climbed out of bed and walked to her window.
Without thinking, she threw the window wide open and breathed in the cool night air. It cleansed her mind and she began to think clearly once again.
"It was only a nightmare," she said aloud. "It wasn't real. It was only a dream." But as she said this, she began to feel uneasy… like she was being watched.
Sarah scanned the skies for a sign of it. The pale owl. The pale barn owl that had stalked her every step for as long as she could remember but then disappeared last year. It hadn't reappeared since but she always felt as it were somewhere, lurking in the shadows nearby, watching her again.
She scanned the skies and the trees one last time before giving up and closing the window again. This time, however, she shut the shade with it. She knew that if Goblin King was really watching her, this would do very little good. But it helped ease her nerves enough to finally drift into a dreamless sleep.
Little did she know, just outside her bedroom window, on a branch covered in leaves, sat a pale barn owl with mismatched eyes, watching her curiously.
Author Note: There it is! Chapter one. I'm sure some of you have seen this kind of start to Labyrinth fanfics before. Sorry. It just seems to work for the story. Bear with me.
Mr. Too-Tight-Pants: Will you change my name back now?
Moi: We discussed this. I will change your name back if and only if you do as I asked.
Mr. Too-Tight-Pants: No. No. Absolutely not. I refuse!
Moi: (shrugs) I guess you don't mind being known as 'Mr. Too-Tight-Pants' from here on out. Of course I may vary it a bit and make some reference to your love of lip-gloss or your fluffy hair or something like that. But for the most part you will remain Mr. Too-Tight-Pants.
Mr. Too-Tight-Pants: (looks extremely annoyed) If I do as you ask, will you please change my name back?
Moi: Sure. (grins mischievously)
Mr. Too-Tight-Pants: (exasperated sigh) Fine. pulls off shirt
Moi: Woohoo! This shirtless Goblin King goes out to my girl, WonderHell. You're welcome!
Jareth: May I put my shirt back on now?
Moi: No. Let WonderHell and the other fangirls out there enjoy this.
Jareth: I feel so violated.
Moi: (to the readers) Leave those lovely reviews! (blows a kiss)
