Wake Up, It's Time To Dream

Disclaimer: I own nothing that has to do with the movie Labyrinth, and the characters portrayed. I got some of the plot from a new movie coming out called "Alice" based on a darker version of Alice in Wonderland where she's in an institution.

Summary: Sarah has visions, but are they? Can Jareth help her, or will her sanity be diminished completely? Find out by reading, and if you want more than please review.

A.N. (Thank you all for the nice reviews! I really appreciate it. To the reviewer that asked if I got the plot from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, no, I didn't, I've only watched the show a couple of times and I didn't really like it. I got the plot idea from a movie they have in production called "Alice" based on Alice in Wonderland. All will be revealed in time of what's happening. So don't fret, just sit back and read. Thank you.)

The first noise Sarah heard upon awakening was the rumbling of her empty stomach and the sound of the trees around her rustling in the breeze. In a normal forest you would expect to hear the sound of birds chirping merrily and insects buzzing busily, but not this forest.

It dark and dank, but most of all the trees were so dense you could barely see in between them. Shuddering slightly from the cold and the gash in her stomach, Sarah shakily got to her feet. One hand she placed on her stomach, and the other was placed on a tree beside her in order to steady herself.

A gut wrenching pain followed by nausea hit her as she stretched the wound, but she fought back both by biting her bottom lip. She must've bit it a little too hard as the coppery taste of blood filled her mouth. Grimacing, she brought her free hand up to her mouth to wipe it off.

Sarah wished for Jareth to be here with her, but she knew that her wish wouldn't come true by any means. There was no way he could get into her head, and even if he could how would he get back out? Placing one foot in front of the other, she tried walking slowly taking baby steps as to not jog her stomach so much.

She continued on this way for what seemed like forever, but in reality could only have been a half an hour. Deciding that she needed a break, she found a small rock that was big enough to sit on and she sat down slowly keeping her back straight. Once she had sat down all the way she leaned back a little to take the pressure off of her stomach. It had finally stopped bleeding, but the front of her dress, which was once light blue in color, was now reddish purple.

The urge to start walking again brought her to her feet as quickly as she could stand given the circumstances, and she walked steadily yet leisurely to her goal. Which, she assumed, was back to Yvonne's castle. Only, she just figured she was going in the right direction, there was really no way to tell.

The thought had occurred to her to fail at solving Yvonne's labyrinth so that she wouldn't have to die; but then again the idea of living in eternal pain really didn't appeal to her either. At least if she were alive Jareth could find a way to save her, or at least she hoped.

Finally, the forest came to an end abruptly and the sky was actually visible from overhead. It was nothing like how she had pictured it. Stepping into the twisted passageways and dead end corridors, the sky above her was purple with red and gold steaks appearing every now and then. It wasn't dark, really, but there did seem to be a perpetual gloom hanging over the place.

The section of maze she came to was the stone maze, and its dreary gray walls loomed high above her head. It reminded her of Jareth's labyrinth a bit, but as soon as she walked a little further, the comparison ended. Although Jareth's labyrinth may have dangerous in some parts, nothing prepared her for the sheer magnitude of Yvonne's treacherous maze.

A huge cliff greeted her as she turned the corner. It had seemed to appear out of nowhere. The red orange rocks shot straight down into a misty gorge that even if you strained your eyes you couldn't see the bottom of. The other side appeared to be about a mile away. Sighing wearily Sarah realized there was no way that she was going to get across. It was too far to jump or build a bridge over.

Thinking it over for a while, she sat down far away from the edge of the cliff so she wasn't in danger of falling over. She wracked her brains trying to conjure something from memory that might be useful. Then it donned on her that she had once read a book where a heroine was faced with this same situation.

Getting hurriedly to her feet, she stood right beside the edge. Looking around she saw some pebbles lying on the ground beside the drop. Kicking the pebbles gently with her foot until they fell over the edge, Sarah watched as they fell but not far. They stopped suspended in midair as if they were being supported by something. Taking a leap of faith, literally, Sarah jumped off of the edge of the cliff.

Her feet connected sharply with the invisible bridge beneath the soles of her shoes. She let out the breath that she hadn't been aware that she was holding, and walked safely to the other side of the cliff. (A.N. I know this is from a book or movie, maybe even television show, but I forget where I found it. So in other words, the bridge scene is not mine, don't sue.) Relieved immensely when she reached the other side, she sat down for a moment to settle her wounded stomach, which had been jilted from the jump.

Finding herself rested after ten minutes, she resignedly got to her feet and treaded towards the direction she thought Yvonne's castle to be. The next section of maze she came to was a hedge maze of sorts, except the hedge was sickly looking and it was barbed with prickly thorns. Sarah steered clear of the thorns, not wanting to lose anymore blood than she already had.

In the distance, just over the horizon, Sarah could vaguely make out the shape of a castle. At least she was going the right way, but the castle seemed to be so far off in the distance that she doubted she would ever make it there in time. This thought caused her to walk a little faster, but not much as her stomach had sharp stabbing pains that caused her much grief.

I can make it, she thought resolutely. But, before she could take another step, the ground beneath her feet gave way and she fell down a hole leading to an oubliette. No helping hands were there to aid her this time, and she felt straight down the shaft, plunging down into the darkness below. She landed with a sickening thud on her back, and she felt her breath whoosh out of her lungs. The pain in her stomach intensified, and it was so excruciating that she blacked out.

Once again Sarah awoke to find herself in a white room with the straight jacket wrapped tightly around her this time. Only now she was in a padded cell with no furniture, just a single door to her left. Not even was she allowed the comfort of a bed, the cold hard ground was where she slept. The door swung open quietly on its hinges beside her without a sound, and in walked the black doctor she remembered from before.

He gave her a stern look that clearly said, "I'm not happy with you," while looking at the clipboard that he had grasped in his hand. "Miss Williams I'm sorry to say you've greatly disappointed me. Your parents and I thought you were making great progress until you suddenly spiraled back into your own mind."

A great rage came over Sarah, and she jumped to her feet as best she could within the confines of the jacket and she screamed angrily, "You're not fucking real!" And in her fury, she managed to rip the jacket completely from her, and with her arms now free, she snatched the clipboard from the doctor's hands held it above her own hand ready to hit the doctor with it. Just as she was about to bring the board down onto the doctor's head in a blow, he morphed suddenly and became wider, furry and orange.

Ludo's watery brown eyes looked back at Sarah, and she slowly lowered the clipboard down to her side. "Ludo, what are you doing here?" she asked unsure of herself. Sarah, thinking that she had finally lost it, ran out of the room without glancing back.

As she pounded down the quiet corridor, she almost ran right into her parents who were emerging from a side room. "Whoa, Sarah, how'd you get out here?" her father asked surprised. Her mother on the other hand, pulled Sarah into a bone-crushing hug. "Oh, sweetie," she sighed happily, "we were so worried about you."

Pulling away from her mother, which startled Linda Williams, Sarah stood back and glared angrily at her parents. "How could you let them keep me here?" Her father suddenly looked stern like the doctor had, and he replied; "Now Sarah is that anyway to talk to your mother?" A fire burned in Sarah as she heatedly answered, "What do you care? She walked out on us remember? She left when I was eight and you got remarried to that witch Karen! You both betrayed me, how can you expect me to believe any of this is real? It's too good to be true!"

Before her very eyes both of her parents morphed into her friends from Jareth's labyrinth. Her father morphed into Hoggle and her mother into Sir Didymus. Freaked out by the entire situation, Sarah started to run again. This time she came to the end of the hallway where she was faced with a shuttered window. Opening the shutters, she looked down and saw the gray pavement of the institution's parking lot five stories below her. Looking over her shoulders she saw all three of her friends approaching her with concerned looks on their faces. Taking a deep breath and looking down again, she climbed over the window ledge and jumped.

Thanks for reading! I hope you liked that chapter, I know I had a lot of fun writing it. Please review if you want more!