Sarah heaved open the castle doors and walked inside. It was so quiet, her ears were ringing. The last time she had been there the castle had been abandoned, too. But the goblin city hadn't been. She decided she would go to the throne room first to try to find him. It seemed to make the most sense, though nothing in this place really made much sense at all. She quietly made her way down the corridor toward the throne room, afraid to add any noise to the piercing silence. What if there was no one here? What if she couldn't find him? What would she do? Would she be in the junkyard again the next time she fell asleep? She shook her head, dismissing the thought. She would worry about that later.

As soon as she reached the throne room, she knew he wasn't there. In fact, no one was there, but the place was just as messy as the last time she had been here. It was as though everyone had quickly hurried away, leaving behind everything they were doing. There were no goblins to be seen, and there was no goblin king.

Sarah had a thought. What if he was in the same place she'd found him last time? The room that looked like an M.C. Escher painting come to life. But she didn't really remember how to get there. She had just been wandering the castle looking for him when she had come across the room.

It didn't matter. She would search the entire castle if she had to. She just wanted to find someone. She ran across the room and climbed the spiral stairway that led to a second floor full of corridors. The castle halls were almost a labyrinth of their own, winding and sprouting in odd directions. Some of them even led to dead ends, and she was almost certain things changed. Hadn't this hall been a dead end a minute ago? She couldn't be completely sure; everything was so disorienting. But still she kept on, hoping that someone would appear to her. She didn't know how much time she had left before she woke up, and she didn't want to imagine what that creature might do to her if she ended up back in the junkyard.

She tried to keep her growing panic at bay by taking in everything she could about her surroundings. Besides the throne room, Jareth's castle was incredibly well-kempt. Every so often the gray stone walls were broken up by wooden doors or a tapestry. Sarah took a closer look at one of the tapestries. It was embroidered with what looked like a meadow with merry children dancing in a circle. It was beautiful, and she stared, transfixed by the amazing detail.…but the longer she looked, the more uneasy she began to feel about it. There was something not quite right about the looks on the children's faces, and every so often out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw dark shapes moving in the forest beyond the meadow. She shook her head and moved on, ready to be away from the disconcerting piece of cloth.

As Sarah made her way through the seemingly empty castle halls, she began to feel as though someone was watching her. She could never be sure, but it seemed as though every time she turned a corner, something had just darted out of vision. Or was there something behind her? Was it just a draft finding its way into the castle, or was that a breath at the back of her neck? She spun around as quickly as she could, but there was no one there. Sarah's heart was beating like mad, and the feeling of not being alone wouldn't go away.

"Stop it, Sarah," she said to herself. "Just a few minutes ago you were afraid that you were alone, and now you're scared that you might not be." She had always found that talking to herself when she was afraid or anxious gave her comfort, but it wasn't doing the trick this time.

She continued on, opening every unlocked door she came to to see if it led anywhere useful or had anyone hiding in one of the rooms. The doors opened into large bedrooms, sitting rooms, or rooms she had no idea the purpose of, every one decorated differently. The only thing the rooms had in common was their lack of anything living. But the more she searched, the more she felt a presence just out of view.

"Hello? Is anyone there? Please just come out. I won't hurt you." Sarah felt a chill run down her spine as though someone had dumped cold water over her head. Was that laughter she heard, or was her mind just supplying noises where there were none? As she turned the next corner, she saw a familiar archway at the end of the hall.

It was the Escher room. She had finally found it, but she didn't see the Goblin King anywhere. The stairs and doorways leading in every direction possible were just as dizzying as she remembered. She ran down a flight of stairs to a ledge and took a deep breath before looking down, half expecting Jareth to appear below her like he had before. But he wasn't there. No one was there. She didn't know what to do. She hadn't seen one living creature since she left the junkyard. Where the hell was everyone? She backed away from the edge of the platform until her back hit the wall, and she slid down to sit on the floor. She wrapped her arms round her knees and lowered her head, screaming in frustration.

"Where are you!"

"I'm here, if you would care to look." She sucked in a sharp breath at the familiar voice and lifted her head to see the Goblin King sitting on a ledge across from her, one leg dangling from it and the other bent with his arm draped leisurely over his knee. The smirk on his face filled her with unease, and now that she was in his daunting presence, she wanted nothing more than to be out of it. "Well? Nothing to say? You've been searching the castle for me. I assumed you wanted to speak to me."

Sarah swallowed her fear and finally spoke. "I-I want you to stop this dream."

An amused expression came over the Goblin King's face. "Do you now? And what makes you think I would do that for you?"

Sarah stood, feeling uncomfortable sitting in his presence. At least if she was on her feet, she could run if she needed to.

"Please. I don't know how much longer I can take this." She hated that tears had begun to well up in her eyes as she pleaded with him. She hated having to plead with him at all, but she didn't know what else to do. Jareth just canted his head to the side, a smirk playing on his lips. And then he disappeared.