It was so unreal. Yet there I was, still breathing, still confused. Two hours later, me Stacey and a few others lingered around at my apartment, musing over the earlier events. None of us felt safe anymore, especially not me. We all sat round in a circle, not knowing what to say, just gazing at each other in silence. The tension was so thick that a knife wouldn't even get though it.

"Don't you think you should be cutting down on those?" said Stacey after a long silence, who noticed that I was chain-smoking again. For a girl who seemed to have no morals she was surprisingly strict about cigarettes.

"Stacey, I have just been threatened by a man twice, then I witnessed him dying and disappearing before my very own eyes so don't tell me that I can't smoke a damn cigarette!"

It wasn't like me to get so angry. I was very aware that they all were looking at me as I tried desperately not to cry and feel even more pathetic in front of them. I kept on touching my face and stroking my hair behind my ears, feeling vastly insecure.

"What do you suppose he wanted?" asked a guy called Joe who I'd hardly ever spoken to before. I frowned, not really wanting to talk about it, but I knew that everyone in the apartment was secretly hoping I'd bring it up. I sighed.

"I really don't know."

"But he was clearly after you. Just you. Surely you have some idea of who it was. I mean he was male for starters. That gets rid of half the population. Didn't you recognise his eyes or his voice."

"No" I said quietly.

"And how the hell did he escape. It must have been magic. No one could have just disappeared without anyone noticing. He's gotta be some psycho alien freak or something. I mean how do you explain that!"

"There's no such thing as aliens. There's no such thing as magic" I said lying.

Deeply, I knew that what had happened earlier was almost certainly linked with magic. And I knew that the Labyrinth and the world of the enchanted may have been behind it all, but I chose not to think about it. I didn't want to open my mind up to everything that I had tried to repress. When I left my childhood behind I left all my memories as well. That's probably why I drank and partied so much - to forget.

"Hey!" shouted Stacey who had got up to look out of the window.

"What is it" I said as we all ran up to her.

"I'm sure I just saw something in those bushes down there."

"It was probably just my neighbours cat. He's always down there!" I said.

"Stacey stop trying to scare us all" said another.

"No really" she said. "It wasn't a cat. It was bigger than a cat…and it only had two legs and looked kind of human but not human! It made a funny noise. I think it was laughing!"

"Right, so now there's a ticklish little dwarf who likes to roam in Sarah's bushes" said Joe sarcastically.

Stacey hit him for mocking her. "Sarah you believe me don't you?"

"Sure Stacey, but let's not spend too much time thinking about it. Whatever it was, it's not there now" I said doubtfully. But deep inside I knew that she was telling the truth. She probably did see something inhuman down there.


I spent the next morning locked up in my apartment trying to block the thoughts of yesterday out of my mind. Then in the evening I drove over to Dad and Karen's house. They'd asked me to come over so I could clear all of my old things out of my room. It was obvious that Karen wanted to get rid of me as soon as she could as she had been planning for ages to turn my bedroom into a study area. Frankly I didn't like going over to my old house, mainly because of Karen. Even though I had grown out of everything she disliked about me as a child, I still sensed tension between the two of us whenever I came over. As much as I loved my father I felt that he didn't care about me as much as he cared about Toby - Karen's son. As for my little brother, he has just turned seven and was the most curious little boy I'd ever known. I just knew that he'd be a great lawyer someday as he asked so many prying questions and usually always found the answers. But I feared that one day his inquisitiveness would get him into trouble.

When I arrived there I parked my car at the end of the street, far away from the house so Karen couldn't snoop out of the window and see that my car hadn't been washed for ages.

My father opened the door, gave me a unenthusiastic hug and I walked into the living room. Karen was sitting in her usual expensive clothes, neatly-styled ginger hair and wore pearls around her neck. She smiled at me half-heartedly before pouring me a cup of tea from only the finest china.

"Sarah!" shouted Toby who ran into the room and collided into me, his idea of a hug.

"Hey trouble!" I said smiling at his red hair and rosy cheeks which could brighten up anyone's day.

"Toby don't run in the house" said Karen sternly.

"Sorry mom" he said. "Did you bring anything Sarah?" he asked cheekily.

"No sorry, didn't bring anything this time."

That wasn't true, I had brought him some sweets but wouldn't give him them until later as I knew that Karen didn't approve of them. Toby ran off to finish whatever make believe game he was playing.

"Are you going to the party on Saturday Sarah?" Toby asked.

"What party?"

"Oh he means the annual masquerade they have at the Town Hall. I was going to mention it to you.. Thought you'd like to come" said dad.

"You still go to those?"

"Of course we do. All of our colleagues are there." said Karen. "We do hope you can come this time Sarah. I've told everyone so much about you but they've never seen you before."

"I'm not sure. I'll have to check my diary when I get home then I'll let you know."

Hah. The only thing in my diary was a tumbleweed blowing across the empty pages.

"Let me take your coat" said dad who took my shabby denim jacket off me and walked off into the hall.

"So. How's your job going?" asked Karen.

"Fine" I said. I couldn't tell her that I'd been sacked. It would just give her more excuses to ridicule me.

"Well good. The last time you came here you were in a bit of a state. You 're not still smoking are you dear?"

"No of course not" I lied again.

"Oh I'm glad Sarah" chipped in my father who had returned from the hall. "Those things bring you nothing but trouble. So what about you're love life. Anything happening there? Found anyone special yet?"

This was why I hated visiting my parents. So many questions, always probing me. I felt like I was in a courtroom.

"No there's no one" I said.

"Oh I'm sorry dear, we're being a bit nosy aren't we?"

You think?

"Let's talk about something else" dad said.

"Sarah, Sarah!" shouted Toby as he ran into the living room.

"Toby no running!" shouted Karen.

"Sorry…but it's Sarah. Her face is on TV. Switch it on!" he urged.

"What? Don't be silly Toby." said Karen as she grabbed the remote.

"Yes Toby" I said quickly. "Stop telling lies. Karen there's no need to switch the TV on. Don't encourage him."

"Oh come, let's just see who he thinks you look like" said dad.

Oh no. They was going to see me at the club. My heart was beating so fast. I should have known that they would have found out eventually.

"No!" I shouted in a last attempt to salvage myself.

But the TV switched on. My family gasped as they saw me, standing with my friends and the many others that had gone outside to look for the escaped attacker. I put my hand to my mouth as the reporter explained everything that had happened. And what's more, I held a cigarette in my hand, just after I'd told them that I had quit! They all turned to look at me. Each of their eyes held a different opinion. Dad was looking at me with disappointment, Karen was staring in contempt and Toby was gazing at me with curiosity. I bowed my head down, not knowing what to say.

"Sarah? Why didn't you tell us this?" said dad in a very stern tone, one which he hardly ever used.

"I don't know" I whispered. "I just didn't want any fuss."

"Fuss! This is a very serious matter" shouted Karen. "You should have phoned us straight away. Someone tried to kill you for heaven's sake!"

I couldn't control the tears that came streaming from my eyes.

"Don't you think I know that" I yelled.

"So why didn't you tell us!"

"Is that all you care about, why I didn't tell you! Do you even care how I feel about it! I was scared okay, shit scared!"

That was the first time I'd cursed in front of my family but I was too angry to even be bothered.

"Sarah just calm down" said dad.

"I don't want to calm down!" I yelled before standing up, grabbing my denim jacket and storming out of the door.

They came out after me but I ran up to my car and drove away as fast as I could.

Always the same my family. Never really caring how I felt, just as long as I wasn't an embarrassment to them. Now they'd always look at me with mistrust and disgrace.


I didn't know where I was driving to and I didn't even care. It just felt good to be behind the wheel. While I was in my car no one could mess with me, because I was in control.

As the sky turned to black I finally reached my flat. Oh how I hated my cold, isolated little flat, yet it was the only place I was at peace. I slammed my car door shut and began to walk to my lonely abode. But something had distracted my from across the street. A little figure with spiky hair was lurking about in the shadows, just like the creature Stacey had described. At first I thought it was just a little boy, but then I realised that it looked too unearthly. Everything it did was done in a strange and dim-witted manner; the way it walked, the way it laughed and the way it looked around as if it was being very sneaky. In the moonlight I caught a glimpse of its face. It had a brownish complexion, a bulky round nose and large beady eyes. It wore ill-fitting rags and bucket boots. That's when I made my mind up. It was a goblin! I just knew all along that Labyrinth was behind yesterday's events. I didn't know whether to feel excited or furious. I liked the familiarity of it all but I didn't like the fact that I was getting caught up in whatever dangerous game was being played.

All of a sudden I heard a whistle coming from nearby.

"Coming master" I heard the goblins say before it disappeared down a side street.

I crept across the road and followed it down the alley. Suddenly I started to feel enclosed and a little scared. The laughter of the goblin began to get louder. The alley stretched on for what seemed like ages. I feared what would lurk at the end of it. What if it was all a trap? But I couldn't let it go. I had to know what the goblin was doing. Then I finally came into a small garden surrounded by shrubbery which was located behind an abandoned house. I watched the goblin as it hobbled towards a figure. Slowly I looked up and caught sight of the man I never thought I'd see again...

...It was him. I was virtually sure it was going to be, but still I couldn't believe it. Seeing that captivating, otherworldly face again gave me chills. He still had that same haircut which I couldn't decide if it was painstakingly neat or completely wild, but it made him look different and admittedly I kind of liked it. He wore black clothes, which I couldn't really see properly in the dark, but I did notice that parts of his attire glistened underneath the moonlight. It all looked very magical.

Luckily he hadn't seen me. I crouched down and peered at him through the holes in the fence.

"What did you see?" he said to the goblin.

"Nothing master" said the goblin.

"Nothing!" he snapped. "Surely you must have seen something Beedle. He couldn't have gotten far."

"No master. I couldn't see anything."

"Well you're just not looking hard enough then are you. I should have known not to bring you along. Worthless you are!" he retorted.

He hadn't changed a bit. Still had that obstinate temper on him.

"Please master" Beedle begged. "Don't say that."

Beedle was grabbing hold of his masters leg until he got shaken off.

"Oh shut up!" he shouted. "Just try and find out where he has gone."

"Yes master."

Oh no. The goblin was coming my way. He was going to see me. There were only two options; make a run for it or try and squeeze through the fence. Stupidly I chose the second option. I put my arm through and tried to push my face through but it was just too narrow. Also, the ivy plants were prickling me. It had to be the most uncomfortable situation I had ever been in.

"Hey, what are you doing there?" Great, the goblin had caught me. "Master what do we do with spies?"

"Who is it Beedle?"

"A young lady."

I heard his master slowly come up to me.

"Sarah?" he said.


Author's Note

I don't know, I try to be original then I go and throw in a masquerade. Oh well, every classic Labyrinth story has to have a one doesn't it. But don't worry - I'll make it good. The next chapter has almost been completed so here's the deal: the more reviews I get the sooner it will be added. Ha ha - I can be cruel! Anyway thanks for the reviews so far - RK!

P.S. If you have the time please post something in the forum titled And The Award Goes To. Thanx :)