Sarah sat perched on her bed, sipping a cup of mint tea and staring at the book that she'd been mistakenly given. She was afraid to touch it, she knew that if she did, if she picked it up and examined it, like her fingers itched to do, she would see the inevitable truth. The book was hers. It was the exact copy that she had sealed up in the basement.
"How had it gotten into my bag?", she pondered aloud. No one knew that she had put it in the basement. She had told her parents that she had tossed it, but she couldn't quite bring herself to follow through with it.
She stood and circled her bed, keeping her eye on the book as she did so, as if afraid it would leap off the bed and attack her. Sighing, she set the cup down on her dresser and shook her head. This was stupid. Her dad probably found it and put it in her bag. That was it, she decided, and she would ask him the next time she spoke to him. Satisfied, she walked to the bathroom and turned on the shower, allowing the bathroom to fill with steam, before she stripped and stepped beneath the hot stream of water.
The heat eased her muscles, which she hadn't realized had been tight with anxiety. As the water washed over her body, she tried to forget the odd events of the day. First the book, then the owl, it was strange. Strange that, after three years, this would be happening now.
She never let herself think of the Labyrinth, for a lot of reasons. Mostly because she didn't want to slip back into it, didn't want to let the dreams, which she had tried to forget, consume her again. But also because it was painful and confusing.
She had spent months afterward, standing in front of her mirror and screaming for her friends, begging Hoggle, Ludo, or Didymus to answer her. To show her that she wasn't crazy. She had needed them, and they had abandoned her. Finally, one night when she had gotten really desperate, she had even called out for him, for the face of her nightmares and darkest dreams, for the Goblin King. Asking him to come and show her that he was real. But he never came, she'd cried herself to sleep that night, and the next day she'd hidden the book, and all other reminders of it, of him, away.
She could still see his eyes, one brown and one blue, watching her... you're eyes can be so cruel. She knew that the words had been for her, but he had been the one to be cruel.
She determinedly cast him from her mind. She would not do this again, she was stronger than this, she had beaten this. Turning off the water, she climbed out of the shower, wrapped a towel around her and returned to her room. Once there, she grabbed the book from her bed and buried it in the bottom of her underwear drawer. Out of sight, out of mind.
"Sarah? Are you in there?" Tonya called out from the living room.
"I'm here!" She replied, "just getting dressed, I'll be out in a minute."
She grabbed a clean pair of panties and as she shut the drawer, she shut the book, the Labyrinth, and the Goblin King out of her thoughts.
...
"I am so glad you decided to come out with us!" Tonya said, hanging onto her arm, buzzing with barely contained energy. "I bet this party is awesome."
Sarah sighed. "I only agreed to come so I could be designated driver. I know you two. I've seen you at parties and am well aware that neither of you know when to say no." Tonya scowled at her and Sarah returned it with a scowl of her own. "You know I'm right."
They were all underage, sure, but that hadn't stopped Tonya or Trever from divulging in alcohol at parties. Sarah on the other hand hated the smell, and the taste. She'd only been drunk sure, but she didn't drink often because she hated the hangover.
"Whatever." Tonya said taking the porch stairs two at a time. The door was wide open and people were streaming in and out. The house shook with the music and Sarah could already feel a headache forming behind her eyes. This was going to be a long night.
As they entered the front room of the house, Sarah averted her eyes. They weren't even ten feet in, and they had already encountered a loud game of strip poker. Boys and girls in various stages of undress were seated around a table in the corner. The couch had been pushed back for a makeshift dance floor and already you could see that many of the party goers were trashed.
Tonya and Trever confidently walked through the room towards, what had to be the kitchen. Sarah followed with less enthusiasm, trying to avoid touching anyone. By the time she reached the next room, Tonya and Trever were throwing back shots of brown liquid, which Sarah guessed was tequila, since that was all Tonya would drink.
She leaned against the door and watched as Tonya and Trever threw another shot down the hatch. They knew that Sarah didn't approve, but she had long given up trying to change their partying ways. Instead she would sit in the background and try to keep them from making fools of themselves.
"Hey! I know you." Sarah felt hot breath on her neck and jerked back. "Whoa, whoa, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." She followed the source of the voice and found herself face to face with Jack. "It's... don't tell me... it's... Sarah! Sarah, right?" He asked, he words slurring just a touch.
"Um, right." Sarah replied. She cast her eyes around desperate for an escape. She didn't do well with people, especially one on one. Tonya was usually her buffer.
"You wanna drink?" Jack asked her and gestured toward the bar, which was so full it looked like a shelf from the liquor store.
"N-no, no thanks." She stammered. "I don't um... I don't drink." She had to stop a nervous giggle from escaping her lips. Jack thankfully, didn't seem to notice.
"Hey, Nate, two beers!" He yelled across the room and Sarah's eyes went wide. Either he hadn't heard her, or he hadn't cared.
"No, really, th-thanks, but I have to, uh... I have to drive." She was struggling and she knew it. He looked down at her.
"Alright. No big." He smiled. "Nate! One beer and a coke." He amended, and Sarah was grateful. A boy with hair so black, it looked dyed, appeared in front of them, he handed them each a cup and Sarah sniffed it cautiously, before taking a sip. It was coke.
"Thanks." She smiled at Jack and Nate shyly, taking a bigger swallow. It was cold and Sarah hadn't realized how thirsty she was. She felt herself being jerked sideways and barely held onto the cup.
"Sarah, come dance with me." Tonya was tugging on her and none too gently. Sarah groaned inwardly and resigned herself to the inevitable humiliation.
"Duty calls." She mumbled, and Jack laughed. He took her cup and wished her luck as Tonya dragged her back into the other room.
Sarah had been Tonya's dance partner for two years and even she had to admit that when the two of them started, it was fun. She also knew that they moved well together. After so long, they each knew when to grind, where to shimmy and complimented each other beautifully. As she let the music take hold of her, she lost herself in the sway of the beat and in Tonya, as they gyrated against eachother. Before she knew it, she was hot and the simple camisole she had worn was wet with sweat.
"I need a drink!" She yelled in Tonya's ear. She nodded in response and Sarah waved Trever over to take her place. He slipped in beside Tonya and let her bump and grind while he did little more than stand there. Sarah slipped back into the kitchen and spotting the boy from before, Nate, asked him for another coke. He handed her a cup and she gulped it down thankfully.
She decided she needed air and slipped out the back door. The backyard of the house was open and led to a crop of trees that looked like a small forest. As Sarah stepped down the stairs and out onto the lawn, a wave of dizziness hit her. She fell to her hands and knees and shook her head, trying to clear it.
"Hey, are you okay?" She looked up through a layer of her own hair and recognized Nate standing in front of her with another boy.
"Y-Yeah." She managed, before trying to climb to her feet. "A little too much fun, I think." She tried to laugh and felt the world go sideways. Nate caught her and Sarah thought she'd muttered a thank you, but wasn't sure, and she could feel consciousness slipping away.
Things got hazy as she fought to stay awake.
"Come on," said Nate, "you better lay down." She felt herself being lifted up and passed out. What felt like hours, but was probably only minutes later, Sarah started to come to. She heard mumbled voices, but couldn't make anything out. She was aware of a cool breeze and thought she must be outside, but wasn't sure. It was too cold and she realized that her breasts were exposed. She felt a flash of panic and she struggled to pull her shirt down, but her hands wouldn't cooperate.
"Hurry, she's waking up!" A male said and she thought dimly that she recognized it. She felt clumsy hands at the button on her jeans and she managed a ragged, "N-no", but it was barely above a whisper.
The hands at her waist disappeared and she heard a surprised shout.
"What the hell?" the voice exclaimed and another voice, "Who the fuck are you?"
Sarah struggled to open her eyes, but they felt too heavy and she just couldn't manage it. She heard a thud, and then a howl of pain from the second voice.
She tried again to open her eyes and managed to, but only a slit, which she could barely see through. The world was blurry but she was able to make out two shapes in front of her eyes. One was tall and blonde, but his hair was too shiny and brilliant to be real. The other, was too dark to see, and the darker shape launched itself at the other. Her eyes slipped closed and by the time she managed to pry them open again, the bright blonde was the only figure left.
"Sarah." This voice was new and yet, it was familiar, so familiar that she knew she must be dreaming. She struggled for full consciousness, but could feel the darkness pulling at her again.
"Foolish girl," was the last thing she heard before she was overcome with blackness.
