Sarah adjusted her shoulder bag, her cloak from her costume hanging from her shoulders. It was decent enough quality, a poly-wool blend that Jareth deemed she should wear, claiming that the lower levels were cold. Plucking off a stray grey hair from the thick fabric, she tossed it to the floor.
She'd taken Jareth's offer to carry her bags magically. He'd merely stacked all their luggage into one pile and tossed one of his crystals at it. The crystal had hit the mound and sucked it inside. Jareth then took up the crystal and made it vanish.
A few immediate necessities were packed into the satchel Sarah had on her shoulder now. Her water bottle, pepper spray, taser, an extra battery for said taser, and the Crystal of Truth.
Jareth stood next to her, dressed in the shining black armor she'd first seen him in. She noticed with interest his amulet was embedded in the center of the chest, like some superman symbol from Toby's comics. Behind him flowed a sparkling dark blue cloak, fluttering in a breeze that only seemed to affect him. His arms crossed his chest while he tapped his foot, his mouth curled downwards as he stared resolutely forward.
Sarah rather felt like doing the same. Below them, on the other side of the floor, Hoggle shuffled nervously along the edge. Like he'd been doing so for the last five minutes.
"Just walk over." Sarah said, setting her hands over her hips and bending over to view Hoggle better. Her newly cut hair tickled her ears. "It's easy. Step over, and the gravity will do the rest."
"Er-" Hoggle shuffled towards the edge, then scrambled back beyond her view. "No. No. No." He said faintly.
The gateway to the second level resided in "the center of the Labyrinth", as Jareth had called it. This apparently lay at the bottom of what Sarah had long ago dubbed the "Escher room".
She'd initially been reluctant to swing around like some gravity defying superhero herself, but the thought of her family had driven her over the edge.
It was easier than she'd thought it would be, just like taking a normal step, barely a change at all.
Unfortunately, she was having a hard time convincing Hoggle of that.
Jareth squatted at the edge of a walkway, leaning over to glare at Hoggle. "Listen, Hodgepodge-"
"Hoggle!"
Jareth continued. "If you don't step over the edge-" he poked Hoggle's foot here, "you're obviously not brave enough to come on this journey. Move now, or we move on."
Hoggle moaned, covering his eyes. He let one foot hover over in the air.
Jareth hopped back quickly to make room.
Nothing happened, the foot remained frozen in place.
Sarah huffed. "Oh, for heavens-" She stepped over the edge, swinging around to Hoggle's side.
"Hey, Sarah, watcha- hey! Put me down. Put. Me. Dow-aaah!"
Sarah held a scrambling Hoggle tight and stepped over the edge for both of them. He gave a blood curdling scream as they spun, only stopping when she set him on the ground next to her.
She crossed her arms. "There. That wasn't so bad, was it?"
Hoggle grumbled under his breath.
Jareth's lip curled. "Do you really expect to carry Hobble all the way to the bottom?"
Sarah glared at Hoggle. "No. I don't. But now that he sees how easy it is, he's going to do it himself, right?"
Hoggle mumbled something indiscernible.
An edge crept into her voice. "Right?"
"Er, yeah. Yeah." Hoggle straightened. "Wasn't so… er… bad."
"Is that so?" Jareth spun on his heels and headed down a hallway. He turned to them when he reached the end. "Let's test that."
He fell backwards over the edge.
Sarah rolled her eyes and started walking. "Come on." She stopped and gestured over the spot. "You go first."
Hoggle swallowed, pushed back his hat and shuffled up to the edge. "Through dangers untold." He muttered, then took out a step and swung around. Sarah grinned at his screech of fear and followed after him.
After that, Hoggle only hesitated for a few seconds before going over the edge. Jareth seemed annoyed at this newfound bravery, but didn't comment on it any longer.
They walked for a time, following Jareth like some weird game of follow the leader. He stalked from place to place, easily going up and down and around the stones as if following some unknown path. It looked especially cool with his glittering cape flowing behind him. Sarah would have been jealous if she hadn't been so impressed.
"You look like batman." She told him, walking along a wall just behind him.
He glanced at her, raising an eyebrow. "Bat-man?" He questioned.
"Stupid name, I know." Sarah shrugged. "He's a character in the comic books Toby reads- erm-" She glanced at him. "Comic books are-"
"I am well aware of the existence of 'comic books'" Jareth said dryly. "But what is a bat?"
"Flying mice creatures with leather wings-"
"Screamers." Hoggle supplied, panting slightly. "We call em screamers."
"Screamers." Sarah paused in her steps for a moment. "How do you know they can scream?"
"Goblin's hearing is quite acute, they can hear the ah- bats up in the sky." Jareth paused for a moment, looking around them. "They named them accordingly."
She nodded. "Sounds like something they'd do." She went to move past Jareth, but he held out his arm. "Wait."
Sarah peaked over the edge, it looked no different from the rest of the parts she had swung around. "Why?"
Jareh threw his arms around her waist and shoulder, crushing her to him.
"Hey-"
He leapt off the edge.
For a moment, Sarah thought they would spin around and hit the ground. But they fell. Truly fell to the ground.
Her stomach leapt into her throat and she screamed, clutching Jareth's shoulders The wind whistled in her ears, muffing what sounded like a laugh. She glared at the wicked grin on his face.
I'm going to kill him.
The Escher room cracked and broke around them, revealing a dark sky waving with familiar red auroras. Their fall slowed, though her heart rate didn't. Sarah released Jareth from her death grip. He only tightened his grip on her.
They drifted lower. Staircases and hallways floated about them as if hanging from invisible strings. Behind them fuschia auroras danced across the sky.
They landed lightly on the stone. Sarah's knees buckled beneath her and she collapsed. Jareth knelt with her, slowing her fall.
Sarah shoved him away, her arms trembling with adrenaline. "What was that?" She snapped.
Jareth jumped back, rising to his feet in one smooth motion. His face was cold and haughty. "I was assisting you."
"That was a play to get me pressed right up to you and you know it."
He smiled, it didn't reach his eyes. "No different then what you did to your precious Heegle."
"I-"
There was a gentle thud, Sarah spun on her knees to see Hoggle staggering on his feet. His normally brown face was slate grey.
"Ne'er doin that again." He said, his voice pitched roughly two octaves higher than normal.
"Well Hippy-"
"Hoggle!"
"If all goes as expected, you may never have to."
"Oh. Good." Hoggle froze. "Wait… hey!"
Jareth chuckled, a grin spreading across his face. He turned to the lone arch on the stone platform. Sarah remembered him emerging from it's depths like a predator to its prey. He stood before it, giving it a once over before snapping his fingers.
The pieces of the Escher room shivered slightly in their places in the air. One of them snapped to life, barreling towards the arch and slamming into its side. Another joined it, then another.
With every piece, a heavy shudder went through the ground, jolting Sarah's teeth.
Beside her Hoggle fell again with a particularly heavy blow, swearing violently.
She steadied herself on the ground with her palms, relaxing her jaw to minimize the vibrations. Her brain rattled inside her head, and she squeezed her eyes shut.
It must have been a minute or so before the final piece attached itself to the pile and it stopped.
The sky was now empty of any stone, offering an unobscured view of the sky. The arch had become a tunnel, leading into a dark hallway formed by the new pieces.
Jareth stood in front, his mouth raised in satisfaction. He turned to Sarah and gestured towards the door. "Ladies first." He purred.
Sarah tried and failed to stop her arms from trembling. "A little warning would have been nice." She hissed, slowly making her way to her feet.
His eyes sparkled, and he raised an eyebrow. "Nice for whom, might I ask?"
Sarah closed her eyes and steadied herself, counting to ten, trying to reign in her temper. Then counted to ten again to calm herself when she remembered she'd promised to be his queen.
Jareth's voice broke through her routine. "Why the hesitation? Frightened?"
She didn't bother to reply, fishing in her bag for her crystal. Pulling it out, she activated it, and started down the dark hallway.
Jareth, then Hoggle followed behind her. The tunnel hadn't looked too long from the outside, but from the inside it was nearly endless. Sarah examined it curiously, running her hands against the yellow-brown stone.
Suddenly she paused, then pressed her palm against the wall.
It was humming, pulsing, beneath her fingertips. She could almost hear it, a rumble that her ears felt more than anything else.
"It's buzzing." Sarah whispered with wonder.
Jareth's hand settled next to hers. "It is the hum of the Labyrinth's magic. Here, in the center of it's power, it is easiest to feel."
She paused, concentrating on the pulsing. It almost seemed as if she could sense the mass beyond it, the walls, the grasslands, the bogs. And it was huge, and vast and powerful and…
"Alive."
"It is. In some ways." In the stark light of her crystal, Jareth's mouth curled into a smile. "It does seem like a heartbeat, does it not? Curious, as the Labyrinth does not have a heart."
"All this is very interestin." Hoggle said, his voice pinched with impatience. "But maybe we oughta get goin down the levels. We got a family te rescue."
Sarah jerked her hand back, shame rushing over her. "Yes, of course." She readjusted her shoulder bag and began down the tunnel again.
They came to a spiral staircase, heading downwards into more darkness. Sarah lit the way, carefully watching each step.
At the bottom was a small rectangular room. Her crystal lit it up, chasing away the shadows into the cracks of the stone.
The wall across from them had a simple wooden door, with an iron knocker in the shape of an ancient, wrinkled face. The ring for the knocker, quite disturbingly, went through its eyes.
Sarah stared. "That's it? A wooden door and a knocker. I was expecting something a little…" she waved her hand, "more dramatic?"
The knocker stirred, his nose and mouth twitching. "I am most certainly not the gate." He said. His voice was surprisingly high pitched, but still cracked like an old man's.
Sarah grinned. "Oh. I see. I'm sorry." She stepped forward, trying to keep the delight at finding one of these things again out of her voice. "Why is the ring through your eyes?"
The knocker's mouth twitched downwards. "How thick are you?" It snapped. "It's pitch black down here, I've more use for a mouth and ears than my eyes."
"Does it hurt?" She asked as politely as she could.
"Of course it hurts." The metal thing snapped. "You sure don't sound like a goblin but you're not much more intelligent than one. It doesn't matter if it hurts, I do my duty."
Sarah bit back a laugh and grasked the ring, knocking it.
Nothing happened.
The metal thing laughed. "What, you think you can open me without permission?"
Sarah shrugged sheepishly, more for herself than the door knocker. "The other ones did."
The face froze, then turned furious and spewed off a series of words Sarah didn't know before switching to English. "They just let you-! I say… trainees these days. No respect for the rules..." He cut himself off. "Well, you won't find me so forthcoming. You need permission from the king-"
Jareth cut in. "Permission granted."
The knockers face changed entirely, going from annoyed and angry to simperingly sweet. "My king? You wish to traverse to the lower levels?"
"Along with this maiden, yes."
"And the third creature?"
Hoggle grunted in surprise. "How did ya know I was here?"
The knocker cackled. "Your steps are the loudest of any of them. Does he have permission as well?"
Jareth hesitated for a moment, glancing at Sarah. "Yes."
"Good, good. Now, a few routine questions." The knocker collected itself and struck a more neutral face. "Are you aware of the risks? You lose any power the Labyrinth grants you, leaving you with only your own."
Jareth crossed his arms. "I am aware."
"And do you know the levels, are aware of each's inhabitants and how to navigate them?"
"I am aware. The others will learn."
The knocker frowned. "Not the best of circumstances, but ah well. Who am I to argue with the King. Now-" he cleared his throat, "do you have any fruits, vegetables, or food items in general?"
"Many."
The knocker cackled. "Good! You're going to need them."
With that the door swung open.
Jareth waited by the door. When he looked at her, Sarah realized he was waiting for her to enter again.
The next room was much larger, but in a circle. The door crashed shut behind them, echoing around the chamber ominously. Greek pillars sunk halfway into the walls holding up en enormous stone dome
A stone ridge on the floor, matching the walls, formed a circle just big enough to lay in. Each stone was intricately carved with some kind of swirling loopy script Sarah didn't know.
Jareth strode forward, summoning a crystal in each hand. He stopped in front of one of the stones and slipped it into a hole in it. The other he threw at the floor of the circle. It smashed into pieces. Jareth stepped back next to Sarah, watching it.
They lay there innocently for a moment, then began to glow softly. They melted into a silvery, glowing liquid, trickling across the circle created by the stones like water.
When it was finished, Sarah extinguished her crystal, they didn't need any more. The portal now emitted more than enough light. In fact, it hurt a little to look at.
She flinched when Jareth set his hands on her shoulders and breathed a few quiet words into her ear.
"Dramatic enough for you?"
She drew in a shaky breath. "Quite enough, thanks."
He chuckled behind her and drew back.
Hoggle too seemed mesmerized by the gate. He gazed into it, his mouth hanging open. "Do we just… jump in?"
"If you want to be violently thrown upwards on the other end, you do not." Jareth walked up to the edge of the circle. He almost looked like a black and white picture, with his pale skin and hair and black armor against the silver light. "Treat it like you would the Escher room, simply walk into it." His hands fisted. "I will enter first, to fight back any danger that might be on the other side."
Sarah nodded. "Okay." She drummed her fingers along her strap.
Jareth didn't move. He stared into the gate, his face starkly serious.
"Scared?" Sarah taunted. A little childish, sure, but satisfying.
His jaw tightened. "Precious…" He fell forward into the depths.
Sarah stepped up on the ridge of stone, glancing behind her to Hoggle.
He grunted. "I'll be right behind ya, jus need a moment."
She nodded. "Okay. I trust you."
"Obviously didn't before."
Sarah grinned. "Sorry."
Then she followed Jareth to the other side.
March, 1982
Sarah pressed her forehead against the cold wood of her bed frame, releasing a sigh as it cooled her hot skin. Linda's sharp voice leached through her closed door.
"-can't find the shoes-"
Her sweaty hands clutched at the sheet of paper she was reading.
Hunched over the page, with her head against the wood, she recited the lines. "I can't bear it. They're so young and beautiful. Why did they ever have to get old? Mama, I'm here-"
"-here they are- Oh. No. These won't work…"
"-Oh, Mama, just look at me one minute as though you really saw me. Mama-"
"-these will. Good. Yes Robert I'm almost ready-"
"-I'm dead. You're a grandmother, Mama. I married George Gibbs, Mama-"
"-everything has to be perfect-"
Sarah noticed the wood was the same temperature as her forehead and shifted along to a new, cooler spot. With one hand she pulled her blue, fluffy dress into a more comfortable position.
"-yes I need to look good. Some of the biggest directors in New York will be there-"
"Wally's dead, too. Mama, his appendix burst on a camping trip to North Conway. We felt just terrible about it-"
"Sarah!" Her father called.
She jerked upwards. "What?"
"Where are you?"
"In my room." Sarah quickly snatched a tissue from a box on her dresser and wiped her runny nose before hastily dropping it in her trash can.
The door opened, Robert stepped in. "Your mother's almost ready to go." He looked over Sarah. "You okay? Your face is a little red."
Sarah plastered a bright smile on her face, raising the monologue. "I'm fine. Just practicing."
He frowned, then pressed a warm hand to her forehead. "Just to make sure…"
She held her breath.
"Seems cool enough." Robert looked down at Sarah doubtfully. "You feel okay?"
She nodded, despite being hot and sweaty. "Yes. I feel great. Excited for the party."
"Alrighty then." Robert set a hand on her shoulder. "Your mom's really fond of that blue dress, huh?"
Sarah shrugged it off. "Yeah. It's okay." She folded her well worn monologue sheet and tossed it onto her bed. "Let's go."
They waited at the bottom of the stairs, holding their coats in their arms while Linda finished some last touches in her room.
Sarah tugged and pulled at her dress while she waited. It was just a little bit too small in some places, and itched. Robert leaned against the stairway railing with both his coat and Linda's, checking his wrist watch every few minutes.
Eventually he called up the stairs. "Linda?"
"I'm. Coming." She snapped from the top.
"We're going to be late."
"What's wrong with that?"
Robert gave a little groan and rolled his eyes. "Being on time is important."
"This is a party, Robert, not one of your damn court cases-"
"Linda."
She practically screeched the next work. "What?!"
"Sarah's listening."
"Well, Sarah is not a damn child. She can handle a little swear word or two."
Robert gritted his teeth and said nothing more.
Sarah piped up. "I'm not a little kid."
"I just-" He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "We can talk about that later."
Linda appeared at the top of the stairs, in a knee length white gown with puffy sleeves. It almost looked like the one Sarah stained, but it didn't have any sparkles.
Linda set her hand on her waist, raising one perfect eyebrow. "I'm ready."
The car ride to the party was sullen and silent. Robert made Sarah wear her seatbelt even though she was sitting in the back before leaving the driveway. She'd protested until Linda exclaimed- "Just let her keep it off, didn't you want to be on time?"
But Robert had persisted and so Sarah watched them cross over the bridge into the city with a strip of fabric holding her pinned to the back seat.
She plucked at it, trying to feel excited, she should feel excited. She was finally going to one of mom's parties. Now she'd know what the hours of painstakingly applying make-up and matching clothes was for.
Some part of her hoped it would be like a ball. A big ball with lots of full skirts in every color, people waltzing all over the floor with masks and princes to whisk away princesses. But she wasn't a little kid, she knew it wouldn't be that.
Everyone would be dressed in the latest fashions, which was nothing like the pictures in her book. There'd be some snacks, maybe some dancing, and lots of important people. No royalty of course, but a Senator, or a famous director or something.
But for all the wonder and cool stuff that was sure to be there, Sarah couldn't muster up enough energy to be really excited for it. It was hard to get excited when you were hot and sweaty, with a throat that felt like it had been rubbed over with sandpaper.
Why couldn't the party have been another night, so she could spend this one home with Jessica? Reading stories in her bed while eating hot soup, her stuffed animals on every side sounded great right now, though she'd have loathed it any other time. She could even make up another story for Lancelot.
But who knew when, if ever, her mother would let her come to a party with her again? This might be Sarah's only chance.
She closed her eyes, holding her forehead against the glass of the car. Despite it being March, it was still cold enough that it felt like ice on her feverish forehead.
Maybe she should tell her father how she felt. He'd turn the car around and drop her off, calling Jessica to come over.
No. She thought. Just smile, behave, and maybe you'll get to come again.
They drove up to a huge building, made of big stone bricks and pillars. She pressed her nose against the glass, trying to see everything, to memorize each feature. The building seemed to stretch all the way up to the starless sky
Lots of cars were going up to the building in a road that went in a circle. They passed around a fountain that sprayed water, surrounded by lots of bushes and flowers.
The cars stopped in front of the building where people got out. Almost everyone that got out had brought a kid or two with them.
Robert drove slowly up to the doors, stopping where the valet signaled him to. He tried to open the door for them, but Robert insisted on doing it for her and Sarah. He did hand him the keys to the car, thanking him sincerely before taking his wife's arm in one hand and Sarah's in the other.
For a moment he gazed up the stairs to the building, just like a grand staircase in a castle, and swallowed.
"Okay." Robert said with false brightness as their car was driven away. "Time for the party."
They walked up towards a sparkling glass door that turned in circles. It was almost like a magic portal that entered them into a new world of rich patterned carpets and paintings.
At the front there was a desk with more men who took Sarah's coat for her. She wondered what the counter looked like from behind, and where the room was where they were taking their coats. It must be funny, having dozens of coats and jackets all in a row. How did they know who they belonged to? Maybe she could sneak back and ask-
But no. She had to behave. If she did that, surely there would be other times to explore.
They moved forward to another huge room stuffed with people. It was like a sea of fishes, all swimming around, trying to talk to each other.
I wonder if that would be a metaphor. Sarah thought absently, squeezing her father's hand while looking around more. She waved to a girl her own age, who was standing next to her mother. The girl waved shyly back.
The ballroom, it probably wasn't a ballroom but Sarah didn't know what else to call it, stretched upwards where some crystal chandeliers hung. Potted plants were everywhere at the edges, and people in more uniforms were serving drinks. Linda brightened when she saw them and waved him over.
Sarah looked longingly at the ice clinking at the glass and tugged on her father's arm. "Dad, do you think they have some drinks with no alcohol? I'm thirsty."
The waiter glanced at Sarah while Linda selected a drink. "They're over in the children's section." He pointed across the room.
Robert went on his toes and nodded. "I see it. Thank you." He glanced at his wife. "Okay. Linda, I assume you're good to go from here?"
She nodded, sipping from her glass.
"How about I take Sarah over to get her a drink, then I'll bring her to you so you can show her around?"
Linda nodded absently, her arm sliding out from her husband's grasp. "Fine. Fine." She joined the nearest group of women, entering their conversation effortlessly.
Robert squeezed Sarah's hand. "Let's go along the edges, there's less people there."
They made their way across the side, passing the potted plants and the few guests chatting along the side.
The children's area ended up being a portion of one wall sectioned off on the opposite room. There was a lower table with drinks in plastic cups and crackers. Some nannies sat in tiny chairs, trying to keep their charges to behave.
The drinks did not have ice, Sarah discovered with disappointment, but she took one anyways. It was some kind of red punch, she took a sip and gagged.
"Sweet?" Robert asked.
Sarah wrinkled her nose and looked up at her father. "How'd you know?"
He shrugged. "Stuff is always over sweetened, salted, and flavored here. For my tastes, anyways. And yours too, I guess."
"Yeah." Sarah looked down at the cup and debated whether it was worth having the liquid inside her. "Water?"
Robert heaved a sigh. "Not sure where we'd find that. Maybe we could empty that cup in the bathroom sink and refill it there?"
Sarah set the cup back. "No, it's okay. I'll be fine."
Her parched throat didn't think so, but she ignored it.
"Crackers?"
Her stomach lurched in a very uncomfortable way as she looked at them.
"Not hungry."
"Okay." Robert clapped her shoulder. "Let's find your mom, but first-" Here he gave her a stern look. "Look at me, Sarah."
Sarah looked up at him.
He put both hands on her shoulders and spoke firmly. "If anything happens you don't like, or makes you feel uncomfortable, leave right away and go get one of the staff, or come find me. I'll be in the lobby next to the desk."
Sarah blinked. "Why not stay in here?"
He sucked in a breath and looked over the room. "It's a bit loud here. Besides, there's a few buddies of mine whose wives also dragged them along who'll be there." He glanced at Sarah. "You can join us if you want, but we'll mainly be sitting around and talking about who's getting elected and the economy. Stuff like that."
Sarah giggled. "Boring. I'd rather be with mom."
He nodded. "Thought so. Come on."
They crawled along the edges together, looking for Linda until they found her with a group of ladies.
Robert tapped her shoulder. "Hi honey, here's Sarah."
Linda spun, drink in hand to smile up at her husband. "Well isn't that typical of a man, to drop off the child with the mother?" She gave a light laugh, throwing back her head. The group of women laughed with her. At least half of them had their own children by their side.
Robert's jaw clenched but he kept a polite smile on his face. "I'll be out in the lobby."
Linda rolled her eyes. "Fine fine, leave her here while you go talk politics. Wouldn't want to put a child through that." She laughed again. So did the other woman. Was this how laugh tracks had gotten started?
Robert left after that, Sarah stood close to her mother, examining the other half dozen women in the group. Their dresses were every color of the rainbow, with every pattern imaginable. Only her mother wore white. It made her stand out, a plain stripe in a world of muted splashes of color.
Linda took Sarah by both of her shoulders and beamed at all of them. "This is Sarah, my daughter. She's ten-"
"Eleven." Sarah corrected. "Almost twelve."
Linda's hands pinched her shoulders. "Who can tell these days? You grow so fast." She winked at the group. "She acts, like me. Directors seem to like her quite a lot. Who knows, maybe I'll have a rival soon?"
One woman with red hair and a green dress smiled down at Sarah. "What have you acted in recently?"
Sarah straightened. "I was in a production last year, just a small part. But I'm hoping to audition for Emily in Our Town, next month."
"Yes." Linda interjected. "It's a part of some little acting school she's in. They're all getting chances to try to audition, she's been reciting her lines nonstop."
One of the other women, with blonde hair and a pink dress gave Sarah a look usually reserved for puppies and kittens. "How cute." Her own daughter, a few years older than Sarah, gave her the same face. The mother looked back to Linda. "I was wondering, would you like..."
They started talking. Sarah tried to pay attention but they kept on mentioning people and places she didn't know or had never seen. That usually happened with Jessica sometimes, but she always told funny stories so they were interesting even without it, and she explained besides. No one explained anything to Sarah here, and most of their stories weren't the funny kind.
Sarah looked around at the other children, they seemed as bored as her. There were three of them, two girls and one boy. When she looked at the boy, he stuck his tongue at her.
Sarah grinned and crossed her eyes, doubling her vision. When it straightened again, one of the other girls was pushing up her nose like a pig's snout. All three of them started giggling.
The boy's mother hissed at her son. "Quiet."
All three of them fell silent again. The older girl glared at all of them.
As soon as attention drifted back to the conversation, Sarah clasped her hands, twiddling her thumbs while putting an exaggerated bored expression on her face.
The boy's face turned beet red as he shook, the girl stuffed her hands against her mouth, quieting her laughter. The woman with red hair and a green dress noticed and smiled, wiggling her eyebrows at Sarah.
"Maria." Linda said suddenly. "Don't encourage them."
"I can't help myself." Maria said. "You know how I am." She glanced at Sarah. "You're quite pretty, have you ever considered modeling?"
Linda straightened. "She will do no such thing. Modeling-"
"-is how many actresses have started their career." Maria interrupted. "And a great way to add to your resume. One of my models that I sketch, she just got into a movie."
Linda frowned. "Sarah's career has already started quite well, thank you."
"You draw people," Sarah questioned, "are you an artist?"
Maria nodded. "I am. I paint too, I was just thinking you'd be the perfect subject for a piece I'm doing. I'm trying to paint a fairy garden and you'd be a lovely fairy."
Sarah grinned. "Thanks."
Linda's hand's gripped Sarah's shoulder. "Modeling is… for those who need it to boost their careers. We don't need that."
"Well, well, ladies."
Sarah jumped as a man she didn't recognize slid into the conversation. He stood out from the black, brown and grey suits with a tight blue tuxedo. Instead of hair slicked back, he let it spike in every direction.
Maria stared up at him, her lips pressed together. "How are you tonight Thomas?" She asked in a rather cold, polite voice.
"Well enough. Searching for actresses for my next play." He winked at one of the other women, then at Linda. "As if I could ever find another Juliet to compare to the one I had."
Linda smiled primly and nodded. "Yes, well, your interpretation of Romeo and Juliet was genius. I couldn't help but thrive in such circumstances."
"Ah you flatter me." He seemed lost for just a moment, but then he spotted Sarah. "Oh! Who's this?"
"My daughter." Linda said, and she pushed Sarah slightly forward. "Sarah, ten years old-"
"Eleven." Sarah corrected again. "Almost twelve." She squinted up at Thomas. "You directed my mom's play."
It wasn't a question, but he answered anyway. "I sure did. She's a fabulous actress- that means she's really good. Do you act like her?"
Linda answered before Sarah could. "She is. An actress, I mean. She's going to audition for Our Town next month."
Thomas raised an eyebrow. "That little production directed by Keith?"
"Yeah." Sarah piped up. "I like him. He gave me my first part, and helped me start going to my acting school."
Thomas nodded slowly. "It is good of Keith to be introducing the next generation of actors. Anyways-" he turned quickly to smile at the rest of the group, "I was just passing through to say hello. Have a lovely evening." Then he turned and disappeared in the crowd.
"That was odd." Muttered the blonde haired lady.
They continued talking for a little bit after that. Sarah and the other two kids continued making faces at each other while their mother's weren't looking. It was great fun, at least, until Linda abruptly said she needed to use the restroom and pulled them both out of the group.
To Sarah's surprise she didn't head towards the hallway, but brought them both to the children's area instead.
"Stay here while I'm gone." She said firmly.
Sarah blinked up at her mother. "I can wait in the bathroom while you go." She said incredulously. "I'm not four."
"Just-" Linda picked up a cup of punch and shoved it into Sarah's hand, "-stay here. Okay?"
Sarah looked down doubtfully at her drink. "Um. Sure."
She sat in a folding chair that had been set out and looked around her. There were a few little kids, about five or six years old, and one older boy. She brightened as she recognized him.
"Mike!" She said excitedly, jumping to her feet, stepping over one girl who was stacking cups. "I didn't know you'd be here."
He glanced at Sarah sourly and shrugged. "I didn't want to be."
"Why not?" Sarah gestured out the crowd. "It's a big party. I've been wanting come for ages"
Granted, it wasn't very exciting yet, but it was just because she didn't know very many people yet. Surely.
He scoffed. "I sure didn't. It's not fair. My dad dragged me along to this because he wanted a kid like everyone else. Now he stuffed me here." He gestured around them.
"Oh." Sarah looked down at her cup and smiled awkwardly. "Is he going to the bathroom?"
"No. He's just done showing me off to his friends." Mike kicked at the floor. "Now I'm stuck in the kiddie corner."
"Why don't you go with your mom?"
"She's dead."
Sarah quieted. "Oh. I'm sorry."
He shrugged again. "It's fine. I don't remember her."
Sarah wiped her sweating forehead with her sleeve. "Um, have you been practicing your monologue?"
"Yeah. The housekeeper says it's really good, but she says that about everything I do."
Sarah took a sip of her punch and winced. "Maybe you could come over to my house sometime. Jessica's always honest how she thinks I'm doing."
He brightened a little. "Maybe."
Sarah beamed.
He turned to her a little and grinned. "So your mom dumped you in the kiddie corner too?"
She bristled. "Did not. She's just going to the bathroom."
Mike rolled his eyes. "Yeah right. She just wants an excuse to put you here for a while. I bet she's out in the party somewhere."
"No she isn't." Sarah set her free hand on her waist. "I bet if I went to the bathroom now, she'd be there."
He stuck out a hand. "Shake on it?" He said. "Winner gets a dollar."
Sarah took his hand almost as soon as he finished the terms. She turned to the crowd and gave it a quick once over, praying she wouldn't see her mother among them.
"Chicken, chicken." Taunted Mike.
Sarah shot him a glare and stepped out of the marked area. She edged her way along the side again, holding her cup tight. She stopped halfway through to yank her underwear down through her dress. It was working it's way up.
She made it to the front of the ballroom and stopped a uniformed man to ask him where the bathroom was.
"For ladies?" He asked, then pointed down one hallway, away from the lobby. "That way, should be a sign."
"Thank you." She said politely.
The bathroom was colored orange, and contrasted hideously with Sarah's dress. She stood in the corner, gratefully using the tile to help cool her body while watching the women going past. A few asked her if she needed something, but she only beamed up at them and spoke in a falsely cheerful voice. "Oh no! I'm just waiting for my mom."
But her mother didn't come through.
Maybe there was another bathroom?
But another man in a uniform said there were no other bathrooms open for the party.
Sarah spent a while hovering around the edges of the party, but she never spotted white among the colors. In desperation she found the green dress lady again, but the she hadn't seen Sarah's mother since the first discussion.
Drinking from her cup, she'd filled it with water in the bathroom, she thought for a while. Maybe her mother had gone outside for a break by herself. Or maybe she'd gone to her father.
She wouldn't have just left Sarah there, with the little kids. Couldn't have. She'd just said earlier that Sarah wasn't a little girl anymore.
Taking another sip to sooth her aching throat, she worked her way across the room again. A glance at the lobby saw her father was alone, and a peak out the front doors didn't reveal anyone.
Waving to the people at the desk, she started down a random hallway. No one stopped her, but it felt like she shouldn't have been there anyways.
It was like going down the hallways of the high school, only bad because there were no lights to guide her way, and no friendly auditorium at the end.
She checked a few doors out of curiosity to find a room with a pool table, a meeting room with a long table and leather chairs, and another door to the outside. Her mother wasn't out that one either.
Sarah bit her lip, leaving against the wall to the door, thinking. Where was her mother? She continued down the hallway, coming to a crossroad between two of them.
There were noises coming down one of them. Noises. Weird noises. Like, choking, and moaning, like someone was getting hurt.
Fear crept through Sarah, and she debated for a moment going to find someone to help. Eventually she continued forward, the pit in her stomach growing with every step.
She followed the noises to a door. Standing outside for a moment, she wondered why she dreaded opening it so much. What if someone needed help?
It only took a brush of her fingers and the door snapped open, as if the latch hadn't quite caught correctly. As if someone had been in a hurry.
Sarah pushed it open a little more and stuck her head in.
And froze.
It was mom, and the man, the one that had directed her mother's play. They were- were-
Sarah felt a heat explode inside her stomach, and it made her feel disgusting and gross and ashamed. They were-
They couldn't. Because mom was married. And her dress was half off and- not dad.
Somehow she felt that she could have accepted it if it had been dad. But it wasn't it was Richard or Thomas or whoever and his hands were going all over her and-
Sarah clenched the cup in her hands, her stomach lurched, she wanted to throw up.
What were they doing? Why were they doing that? Why didn't they notice her and stop? They had to stop because it was wrong and not dad and… and…
She squeezed her eyes shut. But she couldn't shut out the noises. The groans, the gasping and-
Was this what her mother had left Sarah for? Left her with the five year olds and their nannies so they could do this. Left Sarah stuck in a corner.
She tried to speak. To yell. To scream to do anything but her voice was tied up, trapped in the shame and the disgust and it wasn't dad, and the heat.
Look at me. Sarah begged silently, her eyes squeezed shut. Look at me. Notice me and stop. Stop. Stop.
She stood there, feeling sicker and sicker. The cup slipped from her fingers, it bounced off the floor, water splashing all over the carpet.
They stopped.
In a flash, Sarah realized that if they knew she'd seen them, everything would be wrong. Even more wrong than it already was.
So she turned and ran.
Her dress shoes slapped against the tile as she raced past doors. She almost could watch herself, like a camera on a tv show, nothing felt real.
"Sarah!" Yelled Linda, echoing down the hallway. "Sarah get over here now!"
But Sarah ran as if her life depended on it. Her hands pushed away a mixture of tears and sweat, the cold air flew over her.
Where could she go? She couldn't face Mike after that. Where could she go-
Dad. Dad would make everything right. Dad.
But it wasn't dad.
She forced bile down her throat and ran into the bright lights of the lobby.
There. Dad. On the couch talking with two other men. She ran up to him and threw her arms around his neck, sobbing.
His hands rubbed her back, tring to sooth her.
His hands were all over her…
"Hey… hey princess." Robert's voice sounded startled and alarmed. "What's wrong, what happened-"
Linda ran into the lobby. Her dress was only halfway zipped up her back and her hair and make up smeared in every direction. "Whatever she told you, it isn't true." She shrieked.
Robert shifted a little, Sarah clung tighter and whimpered, her stomach rumbled.
"She hasn't said anything- do you know what happened?"
"Oh. She just-" Linda stumbled over her words, her hands wringing together. "She just saw- something-"
Suddenly Robert's voice hardened. "What? What did she see?"
"It doesn't matter. It wasn't anything big." Linda said hoarsely.
"What. Happened?" Robert growled through gritted teeth.
"Nothing!"
"This isn't nothing, Linda. What's going on?"
Sarah gasped, the truth spilling out of her. "She was-was w-with her manager. They were…" she couldn't say it. "A-and it wasn't y-you." She broke into more sobs.
Robert glanced at her, then to his wife. "I see." He said tonelessly. The few other men sitting on the couch carefully looked everywhere but at the argument.
"She didn't know what she saw. She's just a child."
"She's not so little as that. She's almost a teenager."
With that, Sarah's stomach lurched and she threw up all over the carpet. It would be ruined. Just like how she'd ruined that dress. And the evening out. And this. Whatever this was she'd ruined it. If only she'd just walked away. If she'd just stayed put where she'd been told to...
Nothing would ever be the same again.
This is one of the main scenes I was picturing when I first started plotting out Sarah's childhood. It always made sense to me. Why would a fourteen/fifteen/sixteen (Who knows, really.) year old would be clinging to her childhood so much? Maybe because she got a taste of the adult world and it was… not great.
The "Labyrinth incident" here didn't so much as "awaken" the adult in Sarah as it did make her realize she had to accept it. Yes. You are growing into a world where life is unfair and gross stuff happens. It sucks but we all gotta do it.
I briefly debated having them travel down a seemingly endless staircase to travel to the next layer, but this works better, I think. This is also the longest chapter yet, so… yay?
You may also notice I included a character from the prequel Labyrinth comics. This is just a fun thing I decided to put in. She's not literally part of the story.
I also intentionally added the modeling thing. That's how Jennifer Connelly, who played Sarah in the movie, got started on her career. I thought I'd throw it in for funzies.
Any thoughts on how Sarah's childhood is unfolding?
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