Chapter Two
Sarah was quiet in the car on the way home, and studied the windshield wipers as they washed away the rain. Swish, swish. Swish, swish. Swish, swish.
"Sarah, are you really feeling that bad, Hon?" Jonathan massaged the back of her neck with one hand and drove with the other. It felt wonderful.
"Wow, you're really tense. I'm sorry, I know those functions are a complete bore." Sarah kissed his fingers but still said nothing. Jonathan looked sideways at her.
"So tell me about Jamie."
"What about him?" Sarah said sharply. Jonathan looked at her, surprised. She stammered.
"He's just someone I knew in college, that's all."
"How did you know him?" Sarah sighed. She had wanted to avoid this.
"He...used to be my boyfriend." She felt Jonathan's fingers stop for a moment, and then resume.
"Oh." That was all. Sarah felt inexplicably guilty and tried to explain it away.
"We dated a while my senior year. He was interested in drama and medieval history, but also in fantasy and science fiction. We met while I was playing Titania...the fairy Queen.he was Oberon. We would talk during rehearsals...we had so much in common..."
"What happened?"
"He had a dark side. I didn't like it. He scared me."
"What happened?" Jonathan asked again, more insistently.
"I...I told him about the Labyrinth. One night, we were walking in the moonlight, and I made some silly remark about how it reminded me of the Labyrinth...too late I realized what I'd said. He BELIEVED me, Jonathan. I never expected that. When I told my parents, they thought it was a story I had made up to amuse Toby. They even complimented me on my creativity! I never mentioned it again for fear that people would think I was crazy. But he believed me."
"Why?"
"I don't know. All I know is he changed after that. He made me tell him the whole story, leaving nothing out, and after that he obsessed about it. I refused to tell him the words because I was so afraid of something happening to some other child. Jamie was unhappy with his life at that point. His parents had died, he was poor. He wanted to see the Labyrinth, to live the fantasies he made up for himself, he wanted to escape. He looked on the Labyrinth as utopia...as I used to...one night, he came and demanded the words so that he could wish himself to the Labyrinth. I told him I couldn't take the responsibility this time. He got really angry and started throwing things around my room, smashing pictures, throwing my books out the window. My hall monitor called Campus Security and they came and took him away. He raved and raved that he'd find a way to get there, with or without me. I later found out that he had taken a leave of absence because there was too much 'academic' pressure at school. And I haven't seen him since then...until tonight."
"Do you think he'll bother us?" Sarah was silent for a moment.
"I don't know. I hope not. But I'm so afraid." She ran her hand over her stomach in a restless gesture. Jonathan took her hand.
"Sarah, listen to me. Together, we beat a Goblin King. I'm sure we can handle this guy. I'm here. I love you. We'll all be just fine.", he said, and they both rubbed her stomach. Sarah bit her lip and nodded.
Knowledge was such a heavy burden. If she could have chosen anything to forget in life, it would have been those twelve black, evil words that had turned her life upside down. She still carried a secret guilt of what she had done to Toby so long ago. True, he seemed perfectly normal, she had in fact entertained him with stories of goblins when he had been a small child, but could she ever really be sure? And if something happened to this child she carried, Sarah knew she would die of grief. And not just grief, but also guilt, the knowledge that she had caused it. But for now, she thought as they rolled up their driveway, she would have to be calm, to trust Jonathan, and keep her mouth shut.
Sarah was quiet in the car on the way home, and studied the windshield wipers as they washed away the rain. Swish, swish. Swish, swish. Swish, swish.
"Sarah, are you really feeling that bad, Hon?" Jonathan massaged the back of her neck with one hand and drove with the other. It felt wonderful.
"Wow, you're really tense. I'm sorry, I know those functions are a complete bore." Sarah kissed his fingers but still said nothing. Jonathan looked sideways at her.
"So tell me about Jamie."
"What about him?" Sarah said sharply. Jonathan looked at her, surprised. She stammered.
"He's just someone I knew in college, that's all."
"How did you know him?" Sarah sighed. She had wanted to avoid this.
"He...used to be my boyfriend." She felt Jonathan's fingers stop for a moment, and then resume.
"Oh." That was all. Sarah felt inexplicably guilty and tried to explain it away.
"We dated a while my senior year. He was interested in drama and medieval history, but also in fantasy and science fiction. We met while I was playing Titania...the fairy Queen.he was Oberon. We would talk during rehearsals...we had so much in common..."
"What happened?"
"He had a dark side. I didn't like it. He scared me."
"What happened?" Jonathan asked again, more insistently.
"I...I told him about the Labyrinth. One night, we were walking in the moonlight, and I made some silly remark about how it reminded me of the Labyrinth...too late I realized what I'd said. He BELIEVED me, Jonathan. I never expected that. When I told my parents, they thought it was a story I had made up to amuse Toby. They even complimented me on my creativity! I never mentioned it again for fear that people would think I was crazy. But he believed me."
"Why?"
"I don't know. All I know is he changed after that. He made me tell him the whole story, leaving nothing out, and after that he obsessed about it. I refused to tell him the words because I was so afraid of something happening to some other child. Jamie was unhappy with his life at that point. His parents had died, he was poor. He wanted to see the Labyrinth, to live the fantasies he made up for himself, he wanted to escape. He looked on the Labyrinth as utopia...as I used to...one night, he came and demanded the words so that he could wish himself to the Labyrinth. I told him I couldn't take the responsibility this time. He got really angry and started throwing things around my room, smashing pictures, throwing my books out the window. My hall monitor called Campus Security and they came and took him away. He raved and raved that he'd find a way to get there, with or without me. I later found out that he had taken a leave of absence because there was too much 'academic' pressure at school. And I haven't seen him since then...until tonight."
"Do you think he'll bother us?" Sarah was silent for a moment.
"I don't know. I hope not. But I'm so afraid." She ran her hand over her stomach in a restless gesture. Jonathan took her hand.
"Sarah, listen to me. Together, we beat a Goblin King. I'm sure we can handle this guy. I'm here. I love you. We'll all be just fine.", he said, and they both rubbed her stomach. Sarah bit her lip and nodded.
Knowledge was such a heavy burden. If she could have chosen anything to forget in life, it would have been those twelve black, evil words that had turned her life upside down. She still carried a secret guilt of what she had done to Toby so long ago. True, he seemed perfectly normal, she had in fact entertained him with stories of goblins when he had been a small child, but could she ever really be sure? And if something happened to this child she carried, Sarah knew she would die of grief. And not just grief, but also guilt, the knowledge that she had caused it. But for now, she thought as they rolled up their driveway, she would have to be calm, to trust Jonathan, and keep her mouth shut.