Karen lay awake, staring vacantly at the ceiling above her. Something big was going to happen; she could feel it in her bones, and it was making her restless. And yet she felt powerless, unable to deny whatever fate awaited her. She sighed and buried her head beneath her pillow, listening to Richard's heavy breathing. Closing her eyes, Karen ran through every way she could think of to help her fall asleep; she counted sheep in their pastures, jumping over the fence to escape the big bad wolf. She recalled the events of her day, which involved grocery shopping while keeping an antsy kindergardener in the shopping cart, and going to bring the car in to the shop; it needed an oil change. But her efforts were to no avail. She rolled over and wrapped a cold arm around her husband's chest. He smiled in his sleep, but muttered, "Karen, go to bed," in one outward breath. She tried to smile and kissed his head, as if in goodbye, and fell asleep wrapped in his arms.
……………….
They entered the Labyrinth as they had almost four years ago, and almost for the same purpose: her family's safety.
"D'you remember how to get to the castle?" Hoggle asked quietly.
"Mhm," Sarah lied. She knew as well as he did that the Labyrinth had changed since she had been there last.
"Good, because I have to go. Gots flowers to plant, fairies to kill…" Sarah giggled through her blotchy face.
"Okay, I'll be fine," she promised and sent him off.
………………..
Jareth worked furiously to get it done. He knew that it had taken far too long as it was. His "project" of sorts had already proven to be tedious, but his revenge would be worth it. He wanted Karen to forget everything. Sarah would be proud.
He was enveloped in his thoughts until a knock on the cellar's door ripped him from them.
Hoggle coughed. "'Scuse me, sir, I know you're busy. But um," he stuttered, "the Lady Sarah is wandering around the Labyrinth lookin' for you. She called me an' her face was all red, like she'd been crying, an' I think she knows what you've been up to!" he rambled accusatively.
"Nonsense," Jareth spoke curtly. "How would she?"
"I dunno. But she ain't droppin in to say 'Hi's all I know."
The Goblin King sighed. "She'll find me when she finds me. Now go plant some weeds, Hedgewort."
"It's Hoggle," Hoggle grumbled as he left the frigid room.
Once the wooden door shut, Jareth let out an exasperated breath. He almost never regarded the word of peasant dwarfes against his own thoughts, but this was different, this time, word was coming from her friend. He hated to do this, but he needed Sarah to forget more than he needed this fate for Karen. She could learn from Sarah, Jareth reasoned with himself. It sounded logical enough in his head, so without breaking stride, he went to the large bookshelf with its vast collection of books. But it was not these he wished to look at. He pulled an especially old looking book out of the shelf and took a box from out behind it. It was a shabby looking wooden box, plain but for the slit in the middle of it. A seam ran through the middle of the box, as if the top half was a lid. At this half he pulled, and it gave, pulling off easily. Inside the box was a glimmering piece of silver, a shining stone placed in its center. It was a ring, not just any ring, but the ring that Sarah had given the Wise Man almost four years ago. Jareth smiled as he held it, switching it from one hand to another. He had needed something of Karen's to complete his 'work of art,' and he was ready to admit that he had nothing. However, now that there was a change of plans, things suddenly appeared clearer. He watched as light bounced off the shining stone in the ring, and then tucked it up his sleeve, where access would be easiest.
………………..
As soon as Hoggle disappeared from sight, Sarah slunk down the wall of the Labyrinth. Her fairy tale was over; it would be shattered by cold lead. Glitter no longer hung thick in the air. The weight of the gun in her pocket seemed to pull her down. Her heart had long since splashed into her stomach. The gun felt cool in her hand, icy to the touch, just like Jareth will, she thought to her self. Sarah now began banging her head against the wall in bitter frustration.
"Hey! Watch what you're doing!" a small accented voice spoke in her ear. Sarah swung around to see a little blue worm with an orange scarf staring back at her with ping-pong ball eyes. "Hey! I know you! You were 'ere a while back. Somefin about a baby brother, wasn't it? I thought you collected him already. Why're you here, then? What're you getting this time?"
Sarah stopped then, and she stared at the worm. "How did you know that?" she questioned angrily.
"Word gets 'round real quick here," he said and scowled.
"Oh," Sarah forced a smile, "Hello to you too, then. It's good to see a friendly face." She cleared her throat; "I got my brother a while back. I'm here fore… something else," she ducked her head, face hidden by her long hair. "So how have you been?" she changed the subject. "How's the missus?"
"Things're fine, just fine. Do you have time for a spotta tea?" he inquired.
"Maybe later. Right now I have to get to the castle," she sighed. "But I haven't been here in a while and I don't know where I'm going!" she said, nearing hysterics.
"Well, why didn't you just say so? I can get you there real quick!" he said bouncily.
"You said that last time too, and you led me in the wrong direction!" she closed her eyes in exasperation.
"Well, I do know a faster way to get there, but if you don't want me to tell you, I'll just go drink tea with the missus." He started to crawl back into his hole in the wall.
"Wait!" she called after him, a little louder than necessary, "Mr. Worm," he crawled back towards her and scowled, "You're the only hope I have to get there in time. Please." She begged.
"Well, all right. What you want to do is walk straight that way," he nodded his little head in the direction they were facing, "then when the wall ends, go that way," he nodded to the left. "Then, when you see a sign with lots of hands, pull on the lowest hand, and there you are!" he said happily.
"How do I know all those things will be there?" she whined.
"You don't." The worm said plainly. "But what other choice do you have?" Sarah let out a stream of breath.
"Good point. Thank you so much!" She said and got up quickly, walking into the direction the worm had pointed out.
True to his word, the wall did end, leaving three directions open: left, right, and straight. Remembering what Mr. Worm said, she went left. The walls and floors were no longer carpeted in glitter, but they still looked uniform. Sarah had begun running without realizing it, but it hit her when she came upon the sign filled with hands, the exact one that the worm had spoken of. She found herself gasping for breath, resting her hands on her knees and breathing for dear life.
Finally catching her breath, Sarah did as she was told to do. She found the lowest hand, a gnarled looking one with a decrepit finger pointing at an obscure angle, and tugged hard. At first nothing happened. Sarah groaned, but was caught off guard when the ground dropped from beneath her feet. Her scream was piercing, but she kept her eyes open. There was no light in the seemingly never ending pit, but she could tell it was yet another Shaft of Hands, only this time they weren't nearly as helpful. She heard them making snide remarks, their hand made mouths turned up into haunting grins.
Long before she was done staring at them all, she hit the stone cold floor. "Ooph!" she exclaimed. She got up, rubbing her now sore backside, to face narrow staircase. She closed her eyes, hoping it was only a dream, but to no avail. When she opened them, the staircase was still there, staring at her.
There were no railings on the staircase, so she pressed her hands against the jagged stonewalls for support. Her shoes made staccato clicking noises against the cut stone, and she tried to walk quietly. Once she reached the bottom of the steps, she noticed a rough wooden door directly in front of them. Holding her breath, she opened the door with great caution. Sarah gasped at what she saw inside. It didn't look cozy, but there was something about the cellar. The walls were lined with leather bound books, dusty with time. Her steps were thrown about the room, echoing against the wooden bookshelves. She covered her mouth with her hands, afraid to make too much noise. Sarah let her eyes roam the room. There was an ancient looking wooden table with a large stone basin on its surface. A book lay open next to it. Sarah circled the table like a hawk circles its prey; curiosity had gotten the best of her. She was about to read what was on the time crinkled, yellow page when the door slammed.
"Hello, Sarah." She gulped. Curiosity killed the cat.
She opened her mouth to speak, but all that came forth was a cold burst of air. The frigid metal pressed against her stomach harder than it ever had before. Jareth chuckled. Sarah looked like she wanted nothing more than for the floor to drop from beneath her, for it to swallow her whole.
"I should have suspected you would find this place eventually. I was counting on a little more time, but of course, you wouldn't allow for that, now would you?" she stared at him inquisitively, trying to hide the fury that was building up behind her eyes.
"You can't do this," her voice quavered. "It's not fair!" Jareth chuckled darkly.
"What happened to you wasn't fair, either," he muttered, "and she's to blame."
"She?" Sarah scoffed, voice frantic beneath her anger. "Jareth, there are lives at stake! I can't let you do this anymore."
"Do what? Are we talking about the same thing?" he took a step towards her and she took a step back, back against the dusty bookshelf. Her restrained tears could no longer be pent up. They flowed freely, clinging to her lashes and spilling down her cheeks. "You had no reason to be institutionalized."
Jareth was on the other side of the table by now, staring at Sarah like a lion would intently stare at a lamb. An angered fist pounded the table, which shook like it would break under the force. "I've put you through too much," he spoke finally, whispering. He allowed the ring to roll into the palm of his hand, which he now held out limply into the center of the stone basin. "And for that, I offer peace of mind, and my apologies." The words were stiff somehow, mechanical, like he'd practiced them over in his head. Sarah could see the restrain put on his face; she could see his eyes through his façade; his eyes alone reflected that he wanted nothing more than to hold her and tell her everything would be okay. She tried to memorize this part of him, but she was thinking too much. Sarah took a deep breath at his words; it was now or never.
"So do I," her voice shuddered as she spoke, trembled like a leaf in the wind. She pulled out the compact gun Daniel had given her. "I'm so sorry." Jareth's eyes grew wide. He stared at her questioningly. His hand hung, suspended above the basin, palm down. "I'm so sorry," she repeated. Her hand shook with the velocity of the shot. She held her eyes open long enough to see the ring fall into the basin, it's splash barely audible. She saw Jareth fall in a heap to the stone floor with a lifeless thud. She stayed conscious just long enough to hear him stutter her name. Then she saw nothing more.
--------------------
There! I hope that makes up for the last short chapter. Most unfortunately, I only have one chapter left... but it'll be good, I promise!
