Author's Note: Thanks to everyone for the reviews! We're not going to have much Jareth\Sarah interaction for a little bit yet, I don't think, (my stories really do write themselves, I'm just along for the ride), but we will have quite a bit of Anne, for those who like her. Don't worry about Sarah, she's a tough one and she can handle a lot more than even she realizes! I've got chapters 10-12 written, and as soon as I have finished chapter 13, I'll post the next chapter. I still haven't actually written the next one-shot, but I should have it out by the weekend.

Please review, it'll speed up my writing a lot, and make me more likely to write at all when things get slightly more interesting than usual in the weeks to come.

Circe le Fey

Chapter 9. Double Dose

Sarah awoke from what had to be the least refreshing sleep of her entire life, to the sound of her brother singing. The first panicked moment after she found herself blinking wildly in the sunlight, she was convinced that it was that song that she'd heard from the castle again, but after a moment, she recognized it as Baa baa black sheep, and with a groan, rolled out of bed. She felt terrible, almost hung-over, the way she often felt after a particularly intense evening, but last night had left all previous stressful nights behind. It was almost like a sort of jet-lag she got when she thought, or dreamt about the Labyrinth too much, which had certainly been the case last night.

Pat was still asleep, her curls spread out on the pillow, and her nose-ring glinting in the morning sunlight, which faded as Sarah pulled the blinds back down. She didn't know how her friend could possibly sleep, Pat's mother, who was a professional singer, had just joined Toby in a boisterous second rendition of the same song, and the sound was deafening, probably her revenge for having the TV on until midnight last night. In her current state Sarah couldn't even remember what they had been watching.

She took a cold shower, and several Motrin to help with the headache she developed shortly thereafter, threw on a pair of short shorts and a halter top, and sunglasses, and then wobbled down to the breakfast table. Patricia was still asleep, and her mother took in the sight of Sarah with raised eyebrows. "If you girls want to do something, could you at least wait until your little brother isn't in the house?" she said bluntly. Sarah started to roll her eyes, but stopped as it was too painful. "God, do I really look that bad?" she groaned, "And I'm not on anything, I swear" Ms. Montero snorted mightily, but declined comment, scraping a generous portion of eggs on to Sarah's plate.

Sarah ate as much as she could, in between brushing her hair, and trying to get her eyes used to the sunlight, so that she would look better when her father came to pick her up, but she was extremely jumpy, and couldn't take her eyes off Toby for more than a few minutes. She wasn't sure what the goblin king was up to now, but she knew that it was definitely not good.

When her father finally came for her, she was in the bathroom, borrowing some of Patricia's eye make up. She generally stayed away from the stuff, hating the greasy, caked-on feel, and not seeing much use for it anyway, but unless she wanted her father to think she'd been on something, or drinking, she needed to give her pale, tired face a bit of color. "Sarah" Mrs. Montero called, "your father is here" "coming!" Sarah called back, pinching her face to give it a natural flush, and then hurrying downstairs before it could fade. Her father already had Toby in one hand, and their bags in the other, and Sarah thanked Mrs. Montero, and then briskly walked out to the car with her father, Merlin and Toby, slipping her sunglasses back on as the full force of the sunlight seared her eyes. It occurred to her that she hadn't said goodbye to Pat, but her friend had never liked being woken up before she was ready, and now that it was light out, Sarah was eager to get home. Any way, she had barely managed to avoid a more detailed explanation for her strange behavior the night before, and if she woke Pat up, her friend was bound to quiz her, or at least extract a promise for lunch the next day or something. Still, she felt a little bad about leaving without saying goodbye, as she clipped her seatbelt on, and her father pulled out of the Montero's driveway.

She was eagerly looking forward to getting herself a cup of tea, and going back to sleep, when her father's cell phone rang. "Hello? Irene, what's wrong? Sarah did what? The Evans' . . . Oh, my. I can't imagine she forgot. Well, maybe she did. Really, she hasn't done this sort of thing for a few years, yes, I suppose I'll just take her over". It was proof of how tired Sarah felt that it took her until her father had put his cell phone away to work out what must have happened. She was supposed to baby-sit Jessica and Chase again today! Mentally she smacked herself. Damn, what a double dose, not only did she have to go baby-sit, but there was also that creepy Aunt Anne to consider.

"Sarah, did you forget all about the Evans'? I thought you were past this phase" "so did I" Sarah grumbled, hitting her head against the car window, and letting it rest on the ledge, wondering if it would be possible for her to get a couple minutes of sleep on the car ride over. Damn that Goblin King and his stupid Labyrinth, Sarah thought viciously, I wish that I had never picked up the book at all. And she was so exhausted that she almost believed herself.

Let me know if you find any errors, and REVIEW!