DISCLAIMER::: I do not own the Labyrinth.
Chapter 3
***
Seeing the Goblin King after so many years was like a punch in the gut. Correction, it was like a full body tackle onto hard pavement!
He hadn't changed much, and yet he looked so… different. Not broken, yet not whole.
Physically he looked the same. Wild corn silk hair that defied gravity. The same angled face with impossibly beautiful cheekbones. Those cruel smirking lips that said one thing while his eyes said another…
She would expect him to stick out like a sore thumb in a major city like New York. But as with his Labyrinth so many years ago, he just… fit. He blended, like a shadow.
She was surprised, too, at his outfit. No imposing armor, or feathered cloaks, or too tight pants. Just a black, sweeping trench coat with a Mandarin collar, plain black boots (not even with shiny buckles), and black clothes beneath. Anyone else might have looked like they were trying too hard to look dark or Goth in his outfit, but it worked for him.
And when he almost touched her, she'd been struck dumb by the lack of gloves. She couldn't remember even one occasion in the Labyrinth where she'd seen him without his gloves. She'd been mesmerized by his long slim fingers, the neatly trimmed nails, the smooth skin, but a glint caught her eye and she looked more closely, at his palm. The glittery black cloth wrapped around his hand… She remembered it from the first time she ever saw him. It was part of his starlit cape.
The blood that leaked from beneath the scraps made her own run cold.
His disregard of her concern made it run hot again.
Yet another thing that had not changed; his amazing ability to piss her off, frighten her, and make butterflies erupt in her stomach, while altogether tying her in knots.
She wasn't a naïve little girl anymore. Whereas before the sensations he inspired had just confused her, now she understood they had been the urges of an almost-but-not-quite adult. They had not disappeared with time.
The only thing she still had to figure out was, "Why him?"
Why was it the despicable Goblin King- the man who sent the Cleaners after her, tossed her in an oubliette, sent his Goblin Army after he, and, oh yeah, took her baby brother- that gave her warm fuzzies not even her couch could inspire?
Then he popped out that last cryptic remark.
"After all, it is my kingdom in which you have trespassed."
His comment struck something inside her; if she'd had a spark of suspicion before, now her instincts were calling in a fire brigade and jumping off rooftops to avoid the flames.
However, before she could demand more answers, the Goblin King stepped back in the shadowed corner of the box he'd trapped her in and disappeared. There was no poof of glitter, no thunder or lightning or beating of wings against glass… He just melded into the dark and was gone.
With him went the walls, and as they faded from view, the crystal- she'd forgotten about the sphere, surprise- bumped into her foot again. She peered down; it rolled back so it could "look" back at her.
"Go away," she ordered softly. Without much thought, she pulled back the foot it had tapped, and brought it forward in a swift, short kick.
The crystal sailed through the air with a clear ringing sound; it disappeared with a flick of light into a dark alley. She waited for the sound of it shattering; she wasn't surprised with the noise didn't come.
For a moment or two, she stared at the alley, letting herself be drawn into the memory of a dark tunnel, a crystal flying into it, that familiar ring..
A brief flash of panic tore through her when she saw a glimmer in the shadows. Would "the Cleaner" suddenly barrel out of the alley and aim its deadly drills and blades at her unarmed self, again?
Not this time. Just the crystal, whole and unharmed, flying back to her; it was almost like it was a movie played backward, because it arced the same path, and the ringing even sounded like it was going in reverse. Only it didn't stop at her feet; rather, it bounced from the spot and sailed straight up. Without thinking she reached out and caught it.
It didn't really hurt when she caught the sphere, but it didn't really feel good. Sarah cried out as if struck. Where her fingers touched cool crystal, heat bloomed, then increased until she thought for sure he skin would start to burn. The sensation was painful and yet not, and it spread from fingertip to fingertip before attacking her palm.
As though she was playing hot potato, she tossed the ball- rather dumbly, she thought- to her other hand. The same sensations assaulted her skin there as well and she stifled a curse. Her swears couldn't be contained, however, when small sparks started to shoot up and down her skin. Back and forth, hand to hand, she tossed the crystal; trying to drop it just made it adhere to her skin until her opposite hand plucked it away.
Finally, after one last and intense spark, the burning cooled and snuffed out, leaving her skin with only the faintest tingle and a minute glow. She sated at the sphere, now cupped in both hands.
"Sarah!"
Tearing her eyes away, she spun around and saw Becca hurrying up the sidewalk.
"What the heck just happened, Sarah?" Becca demanded when she was only a few feet away.
"What?" Sarah returned, more than a little stupidly.
"You! One minute you're enjoying the show, the next… Why did you run out of there like that? You looked like the devil himself was after you!"
The devil would be more welcome, Sarah thought a bit sourly.
"I… had a panic attack," she improvised. "The applause, the closed spaces… it all just kind of got to me. I haven't been feeling well anyway and I guess it was just too much." She stopped talking before she started to ramble.
Becca gave her an skeptical look. "Are you okay now?"
"Yeah… no… look, I'm just going to catch a cab home. Thanks for having me along."
The other woman just sighed.
"Awww… I was going to try hooking you up with Brice, but okay…" Becca pouted a bit, but have in.
Sarah forced a wan smile. "Maybe some other time."
"Okay, but there better be a… What's that?"
Sarah was confused for a moment, but she caught Becca looking down at her still-cupped palms where the crystal nestled.
She was about to tell her it was from the show, that it flew right at her… But knowing that the show had been of his doing -he hadn't said so, but she wasn't about to put it past him- she didn't want to take a chance.
"Found it," she lied.
Becca gave her and the crystal an odd look, but let it drop.
"I'll call a cab for you, sweetie."
Beccas wouldn't leave her side until the cab pulled up the curb and Sarah had climbed safely inside. She's given the driver her address when Becca reopened the door and popped her head inside.
"Call in on Monday, Sarah."
Surprised, her farewell still stuck on her tongue, she stuttered a bit. "What? Why?"
"Don't come in on Monday. You need some time off, sweetie. I'm cancelling all your appointments. Hell, I'll turning in a vacation notice for you Just… stay home. Relax. Take a trip and see your family. Just don't go back to work for a while."
"Becca, I can't just not show up because you told me to."
"Yes, you can. You're number two in the company. You've got a ton of vacation time built up. I'm telling them you decided to use it. Simple as that." She gave Sarah a stern glare. "If you show up Monday, I'll kick your butt myself." Her gaze softened. "Go home and relax."
Sarah sighed and leaned back in the seat. "Yeah. Okay. Good night, Becca."
"G'night, hun."
***
At her apartment, it took Sarah almost twenty minutes to realize she was numbly holding onto the crystal. She was passing though the living room on her way to the kitchen when the thought stuck her, and with a growl, she threw it across the room. However, the force of her throw didn't match the speed at which id decided to fly; like a bubble, it gently sailed towards the couch, where it floated down into the cushions.
Miffed at her thwarted tantrum, Sarah tromped into the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea.
"You know, you really shouldn't abuse it like that."
She jumped with a small but embarrassing scream, and turned on her heel, searching for the owner of the voice.
It hadn't sounded like his voice, so she wasn't surprised to not see the smirking Goblin King in her kitchen, but she wasn't sure whether to be relieved or terrified that there was an uninvited stranger in her home.
When she didn't see anybody, she was confused.
"Eh, down here babe."
"What?" She looked down at her feet.
And screamed bloody murder.
***
Thanks to MizJoely for being my beta!