Disclaimer: Well, no- I'm not the owner of The Labyrinth or its characters, but these situations I put them through, chapter after chapter was my idea…(with suggestions of course- from reviewers like Kaline Reine and SuicidalAphrodite!)
A/N: I struggled with this chapter, but I hope you'll like it just as much as the others. This one is a bit longer than the others too… but its quality not quantity right- sigh so I hope I gave you a lot to read with the quality of the whole thing being just as good, if not better than the rest. (Please don't forget to review this one; I really would like to hear from you.)
Within
Chapter Three: Beloved Obsession
"Anything I wish?" she questioned, staring at the crystal in her hands. "But how do I get it to work?"
"Well, you're a smart woman, aren't you, Sarah? You can figure it out." Jareth laughed again and disappeared in an instant.
"Wait!" she cried out, but it was too late. "I know you can hear me! Jareth! Jareth?" 'Damn that guy,' She sighed. After a few more seconds of eyeing her present, she decided to place it next to the lamp near her bed. 'If its there tomorrow morning, then… well… I wonder if he'll be back?' Sarah's mind jumped from place to place as it replayed everything that happened during the night.
The alcohol had gotten to her, that was for sure, but it was losing its dizzying effect. It was much easier to think clearer now.
'If I could have anything in the world, what would I want?' she asked herself. Her mind was so busy with possible answers to her own perplexing question that it took a couple attempts to put on her nightgown. 'Maybe…-no' she sighed. 'Like a kid in a candy store, Sarah,' she mentally scolded herself. "I'll decide what to do with you later," she told the sphere, "if you're still there…" Something inside of her hoped it would vanish by morning. With those finals words, she turned the lamp off and finally shut her eyes.
During her nights rest, Sarah tossed and turned. No, it wasn't a bad dream- in fact, it wasn't a dream at all. "God damn that thing," she sighed, not being able to find a comfortable position. Her body wanted rest, but her mind was racing, 'What to do with that thing? More importantly, why did Jareth suddenly show up after so long. What does he want with me… if he doesn't love me?'
"He doesn't love me…" she sighed. It took her a few minutes to realize her disappointment about that statement. This ordeal wasn't about the crystal on her desk, but the fact that Jareth didn't love her. That's why her mind couldn't rest and her emotions shut down.
Finally, an epiphany! Sarah finally realized why none of the guys she dated measured up. From her childhood into her teen years and adult life, she compared all of the men in her life to the mysterious, charming, Goblin King. Why? He was so different-so challenging. He made her feel different. It only hit her now, and she cursed herself for that. All Sarah could do was let out a sigh of tired frustration. "I wish I realized." Soon after, she desperately shut her eyes in attempts to catch just a few hours of rest.
Jareth had left his dear Sarah in the state he wanted her in. Once he returned to his castle, he retired to his room and felt pleased. "So," he said to himself, "she does have feelings for me." Jareth was too absorbed in his pride to think ahead. Right now, he just wanted to relish his control over her.
After his preparations for bed, Jareth sat near his windowsill. He felt alive as the night breeze sent a chill down his body. All he could think about was her, so he held his hand out, palm facing toward the sky. A crystal then materialized and showed him his beloved. All he could do was mouth her name, "Sarah." He could feel her discomfort- her sorrow and confusion. Yes, giving her that crystal was a wonderful idea. The connection allowed him to feel her thoughts and emotions, which was even better than just seeing her. Well, two senses instead of one right?
The reunion he had with Sarah replayed in his head. It had only been recently when she allowed him to connect with her mentally- through dreams none the less. He grew a little bitter when he thought about it. 'She blocked me out for so long…' All this resentment fueled his desire to ruin her, but when he thought about it, that was also the last thing he wanted to do.
The next morning was brutal. Sarah's limbs felt three times their weight. Her eyelids just didn't want to open. 'No! Not morning' her brain cried. 'Morning?' With all of her curiosity-fueled energy, she slowly opened her eyes…
There was the bed lamp and the telephone was just next to it- 'Oh God, the crystal.' It was just where she left it. The sun's rays reflected from the clear little orb and scattered little iridescent specs onto the wall. "What to do with that thing?" she said in particularly to no one but herself- and maybe Jareth. Something in her secretly hoped that he would show up otoday…or now, right now. So she waited in bed for a minute or two. Then she thought better of it. Having Jareth pop out of nowhere while she was still in her pajamas was a horrifying thought.
He knew she wanted him there. He knew when she woke up and he knew how she was feeling. "Well Sarah," he spoke proudly to the crystal in his hand, "it seems I do have some power over you." Jareth had no intention of presenting himself to Sarah anytime soon-perhaps maybe later in the day. After all, he was still enjoying the confidence boosting effects of the previous night.
After getting out of the hot shower, she searched through her suitcase for something nice to wear on her last day. The weather forecast suggested that the day would be hot and humid so a t-shirt with jeans probably wouldn't be the best choice she could make. Keeping that in mind, she tried on a jade tank top with lace trimming and slipped on dark denim shorts. After analyzing herself in the mirror, she decided that she looked fine. The clothes she wore gave off a younger vibe- not that she wasn't young, but this had been something she wore back in college some 3 years ago. The color of her top accentuated her emerald eyes. As always, her face was flawless, and didn't need the help of foundations or powders. Today, however, Sarah was focused on how she appeared to other people. So today was one of the only days where she used mascara, a little sheer eye shadow, and clear lip gloss. Granted her make up was very subtle, but it still accented her features beautifully. Her look for today was complete as she put on her black wedge sandals.
On a subconscious level, she hoped to see Jareth today, but at the same time she never wanted to see him again. Sarah just wanted to live her life, and now that she knew he didn't have feelings for her anymore, she wanted to do her best to exist to her fullest potential. She wanted to forget him.
After spending half the day secretly waiting for his highness and getting her hopes up, Sarah decided to do something to get her mind off of him. The tropical atmosphere compelled her to sight see while she still had time. Her flight was set for departure later in the evening. The sun was going to set soon, so what better than to watch it set at the beach? It was just a five-minute walk away from the hotel, so after checking to see that all of her belongings were packed, she headed down to the beach.
The usual golden orb was tinted red and lay in the middle of the horizon. The area surrounding it glowed orange while the remainder of the sky varied in hues of pink and purple. Clouds caused some areas to be darker than others, but essentially it was a beautiful image. Its reflection on the ocean caused the water to appear as if it was glowing.
"Its beautiful, isn't it?" came a voice.
Sarah turned to its origin and found its owner. The man was slender, but muscular. His golden brown hair was cut short and styled in a spiked fashion. She also noticed he had oval framed glasses.
All she could do was nod in agreement. She was half interested and half hesitant to really pay any attention.
The person beside her smiled. "Are you that amazed that you can't say anything?" He laughed. "I'm Connor from Oregon."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Sarah." She greeted, both eying the sunset and her new acquaintance. He appeared to be a nice guy- he was friendly and something in his voice indicated kindness.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and instinctively cocked her head to see it. Her eyes slowly followed the hand to an arm, then to a shoulder and neck. When she looked at him, she noticed his eyes were on the sunset, not her. Even as he spoke to her, his eyes never left the horizon, "Sarah? Well, I'm glad to have met you. I wanted to share the sunset with someone- good thing you were here."
There was an awkward silence between the two for a moment. Sarah felt an odd, uncomfortable feeling from his words. 'Is he hitting on me?' she asked herself.
Connor noticed that she seemed distant after his words. He couldn't figure it out at first and then he realized. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean it like that," he explained, half lying. "It's just that all these days I've been around and I never really get to share things like this with anyone but myself." Connor laughed nervously.
"If you don't mind my asking, what brought you here?" Sarah asked curiously, somewhat trying to change the subject.
Connor couldn't help but to smile, "I'm a writer."
Her interest peaked. "A writer? Really? Me too. Well, I'm just getting started," she said smiling. 'He's a writer? That's awesome,' she thought. Then it hit her. "Wait? Connor? As in the Connor Halinday?"
He looked surprised. "Oh, you know me?"
"Know you? I'm a big fan of your work!" she laughed. "This is so amazing to actually meet you in person. Too bad we didn't meet earlier." Sarah sighed at her luck. "I'm leaving to go back home tonight."
"Oh, that's unfortunate," Connor agreed. "Well, I normally don't do this, but you're a writer as well, right?" he asked while whipping out a pen and small notepad from his pocket. He began to jot something down as she nodded in response to his question. When he was done, he handed her a slip of paper.
"What's this?" she asked, taking a look at the paper.
"My email address and number," he explained. "If you ever need help, just give me a call…or if you ever want to watch a beautiful sunset again…"
"Thanks." Sarah let out a nervous laugh. She couldn't help it! The fact that she met one of her idols during the sunset of her last day in Hawaii was sheer good luck. 'And it feels good to talk to someone after that whole thing last night. I don't even want to remember it,' she added in thought.
"Well, I guess you've gotta get going, right?" he held out his hand. "It was really nice to meet you though, Sarah. You should look out for my next book- you might just find that you helped inspire it."
She felt a blush coming on, so she thought it best to quickly get out of there. "Thanks again," she said simply as she shook his hand. "I think I will keep in touch." – and with that, she left.
Little to Sarah's knowledge, Jareth had seen most of her day. This included her interaction with that other man. As Jareth watched their conversation, the image of the two faded to a blur and then refocused frequently. He couldn't hear a bloody thing, but he could feel the emotions Sarah was feeling. 'Admiration? Infatuation? No, not quite, but she's excited one way or another.'
Even when she left that man, Jareth couldn't focus in on her visually. 'Why? Why?' his brain began to panic. "She's blocking me out again." He frowned as the realization settled in. Worse yet, this one had been his fault entirely- and all for what? -Brief moments of triumph. Now there may be another man in the picture and Sarah could be out of his life forever.
A/N: If you guys are wondering, I'm hoping to actually go more into depth with Sarah and how her life is now- what she has been up to occupation wise and all. / and I think we all realize I'm bad with thinking up names for my characters huh? Sorry, Connor … haha…
A big thank you to those who reviewed the last chapter and inspired me to update faster: carrie132, HappyDepressive, hazlegrnLizzy, Kaline Reine, Noah, notwritten, razubi, and SuicidalAphrodite.
Also- I've been really surprised at how many people added this story to their story alert list!
Well, please review!
Briefly updated as of 4/26/07
