AN: Another chapter. Didn't take long to get this one out, so hopefully the rest will come just as quickly. Hope you all enjoy. :) And a HUGE thanks to everyone who reviewed. :)

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Beyond Strange Love by: Cynthia Dysis

Chapter Two: Shattered Days Are Here Again

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Sarah rolled over and smacked the alarm clock off the night stand with the back of her hand, causing it fly against the wall and hit the floor with a thud.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

"Ugh ... great." Crawling out of bed she retrieved the alarm clock and turned it off, replacing it on the nightstand. Stumbling down the stairs Sarah went through her living room into the comfortably sized kitchen.

Her apartment wasn't huge but it was spacious enough, with a large living room complete with skylight, and a bright homey kitchen. The entire flat had wood flooring, which was the only problem, since it always seemed to be cold and Sarah preferred going barefoot. Shuffling into the kitchen she took a coffee mug out of the cabinet above the sink, tossed in two sugars and a hefty tablespoon of instant coffee. She smiled at the picture on it, one of her and Toby last Christmas: Toby as tall as her now, with sandy blonde hair and big blue eyes. She placed it on the counter and turned the water on to boil, then proceeded up stairs to get ready for work.

Walking into her room and opening her closet Sarah removed a white button up shirt, with slight bell sleeves, a pair of black, slightly flared, slacks, and a pair of comfortable pointed knee high boots. Dressing quickly she buttoned up the shirt and pulled on the pants, socks, and boots. She pulled her spoon pendant out from underneath her shirt and sat in front of her vanity. Picking up a soft bristled brush she began combing it through her hair. Closing her eyes Sarah gently worked through all the tangles until it was a waterfall of dark brown hair, shinny and smooth, curling ever so slightly at the end. Next she applied the smallest amount of makeup, hardly any at all, since she could never stand the feeling of something on her face. Standing up, she slide her watch on, a few simple silver bracelets, and a pair of tiny whooped earrings before heading downstairs.

Looking at the clock she added the water to her coffee and a bit of milk and began to drink it as fast as the temperature would allow. She hurriedly stuffed her papers into her briefcase, careful not to spill anything. Briefly the memory of last night's dream wandered into her head ... the flashes of mangled wings, of screams and blood and ... she forced it out of her mind. She needed to get to work and thinking about that wasn't going to help her any. But why did these dreams seem so familiar to her? Maybe she wasn't getting enough sleep. Which reminded her, she needed to take her prescription to Dr. Stone after work today to get a refill. She knew she would get chastised about needing another refill so soon, but she just couldn't seem to sleep well with all these dreams plaguing her.

Gulping down the last of her coffee she placed her cup in the sink and slipped on her black leather jacket, a gift from her father, threw her purse over her shoulder, and picked up her briefcase and car keys. She pause at the front door to make sure she didn't forget anything; then, locking it behind her, proceeded to get into her car, and drive to work. She had a bunch of anxious 5th graders to get to and a play to rehearse.

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"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child you have stolen..." a tiny voice said.

"How was that Miss. Williams?" the little voice asked.

Sarah smiled. Michelle, 10, was one of the best students she had and reminded Sarah of herself. The girl even resemble Sarah, with her big green eyes and brown hair, which was one of the reasons why Sarah gave her the part of the Princess in the play ... although she wouldn't tell anyone else that.

Sarah taught 5th grade English at Burrow Elementary School in New Haven. After her brief acting career had failed, she decided to go back to college and study English. What was drama except good literature come to life? she thought. After completing her studies and a teaching course she came to New Haven, applied for the job and gotten it. This was her first year working here, and when the principle told her about their annual 5th grade play she was ecstatic.

She had always loved acting, and had looked foreword to the play, brimming with ideas on what they could perform. Mr. Milton, the principle, had other plans however and requested that Sarah have the children perform 'The Labyrinth' for the play. Being a new teacher Sarah knew it wasn't in her best interest to argue with her superiors, so she said nothing. After her adolescence experience with the story she had decided that the entire thing was an elaborate dream her subconscious had made up to help her cope with the pressures of growing up. The realness of the 'dream' had always left her a little uncomfortable, so she had tried as best she could to forget about it; which was a hard thing to do when she was 16 and kept picturing the beautiful Goblin King in all her growing up fantasies... and would be even harder now that she was faced with the task of reliving it everyday.

"That was good Michelle ... but try pausing after you say 'city'. Like this...'I have fought my way here to the castle, beyond the Goblin City, to take back the child you have stolen.'" the words echoed in her head and she remembered the last time she had said them, the look of fear in those pair of stunning mismatched eyes.....

Michelle continued "For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom is as great."

"Wait!" cried another little voice. Now Sarah broke out in grins. She had assigned Zack to be the Goblin King, mainly because he was the only boy with hair blonde enough to fit her idea of what the King should look like. Zack was at least 3 inches shorter than Michelle, which gave the entire play a slightly more innocent, very comical quality. "Look what I'm offering you. Your dreams." Zack held out a crystal paperweight Sarah had swiped from the props closet backstage. Gazing into the reflections in the glass she was reminded again of another crystal.... but those had been much more appealing, more magical... more alluring.

The bell rang before Zack could finish the rest of his lines, and suddenly the classroom was a storm of little bodies, all trying to wiggle their way out of their costumes, trying to put props up, grabbing their little coats and their little bags and running out of the classroom as fast as they could.Michelle and Zack were the last two to leave, having more props to put away than the rest of the children.

"Bye Miss. Williams!" their tiny child voices rang out in unison; then they stepped out into the hallway and were gone.

Bending down Sarah began to pick up the discarded costumes, cloaks, and random props that had missed being put back into the closet. She smiled. The kids really were doing a wonderful job, and she knew the play would be a hit compared to last year. The play the previous year had been The Wizard of Oz and during the lion's entering scene he was supposed to jump from an elevated platform to the side of the stage and bounce onstage. Well, when it came time for the boy to come on he jumped, but somehow took the curtains with him, pulling all of them down in the process and landing on a herd of 3rd graders that were to be the munchkins.

There would be no theatrics like that in Sarah's play. She was new and she wasn't taking a chance of losing her job over a child's play. Glancing at her watch she quickly stuffed the rest of the costumes in the closet and grabbed her purse, jack and briefcase.

She had called Dr. Stone that afternoon at lunch and set an appointment to get her prescription refilled. She would ask him about increasing her dosage as well, because her dreams kept persisting, and she was desperately lacking in sleep. She now had to take three of the pills instead of the prescribed two, which quickly depleted her medication sooner than it should. Walking out of the elementary school, she got into her car, and drove off to Dr. Stone's office.

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"Well Sarah, I wasn't expecting to see you back here so soon. Are there any problems? Any side effects from the medication?" A short, slightly bald, older man asked Sarah.

"Um.well, the medicine was working well for the first month or so... but now the dreams are becoming longer and more persistent, so I was wondering if you could increase my dosage and refills." Sarah asked from her place at on the examining table. Dr. Stone looked up at her from over his glasses, pale blue eyes steady under big, bushy white eyebrows. He was a wonderful doctor as far as Sarah was concerned and she had been coming here ever since she moved to Connecticut after college. Dr. Stone had even taken her when she had no insurance and was a struggling actress, which furthered her conviction that he was one of the few good, honest, MD's around.

"Sarah, you're already taking 30mg of valium. I'll increase your dosage, but only by 5 mg. This way you should be taking 35. Make sure you only take two capsules. I'm also going to give you enough for 2 months. These dreams may be stress induced because of something going on in your life at the moment. I know your busy with the play for the school right now, with your new job, but try and cut down your stress as much as possible. You might be surprised how much it helps." Scribbling on the referral pad he tore the sheet off and gave it to Sarah. Smiling he said "Maybe when the school year is over you should take a vacation. You young people nowadays put way to much stress on yourselves. Maybe a nice getaway is just what you need."

As Sarah got up from the examining table she smiled and shook Dr. Stone's hand. He patted her on the back, "If you have any problems with your medication, you know where my office is." Then he turned down the hallway and into his office.

Walking over to the counter in the hallway, she pulled a pen from her purse and scribbled on the referral sheet. 'Thank God Dr.'s have awful handwriting' she thought as she replaced her pen in her purse and headed towards the pharmacy. She knew Dr. Stone only had his best interest out for her, but what would a couple more milligrams and a few more refills hurt? Besides, he wouldn't have to know. Walking up to the pharmacy counter she slid the referral sheet to the pharmacist on the other side. The young woman picked it up and looked at it.

"Six months worth of valium, at 60mg a dosage from Dr. Stone ma'am?" she asked. Sarah smiled and nodded her head "Yes, that's right."

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Walking into her apartment Sarah tossed her jack and purse on the sofa. She stretched, popping her back, and began walking up the stairs to her room. The wall next to the staircase was covered in pictures of her and her family, she and Toby as they both grew older, clippings from the few acting parts she had. She smiled at the last picture, the most recent one of her and Toby at his high school orientation. She remembered how excited Toby was, to finally reach high school, and she remembered how old she felt when one of the student coordinators called her Ma'am. She realized then how close 28 was to 30, and how she never ever thought she'd be 30. Climbing the last few steps she went down the hall to the main bedroom. The apartment had two others; one stored Sarah's other furniture and doubled as her office, while the other one functioned as a guest room, though it rarely received use. Opening her door she tossed her prescription bag on her bed and sat down, unlacing her knee high boots. Sliding them off she rubbed her sore feet. 'Cursed shoes, don't know why I wear the damned things.' Getting up she went to her vanity and sat down, removing her watch and jewelry. Then, reaching into the drawers she retrieved a silk camisole and underclothes, her brush, and proceeded to the bathroom.

Stepping into the bathroom she sat her things down on the sink and began to fill the tub with warm water. She added a heaping amount of bubble bath and began undressing, tossing her work clothes into the dirty clothes hamper. Sliding down into the bubbly warm water she leaned back against the backboard of the tub.

She loved this tub; it was one of the highlights of the apartment. The bathroom was spacious with black and white tiled flooring, a traditional Victorian sink and faucets, and a lavish border of dark red with hand painted fruits and vines dripping over it. The tub was a marble, free standing work of art. The edges were carved with vines and fruits, the bottom lip protruding and the top lip bowing in then out to give a comfortable curve against the back. The feet were claws grasping gorgeous crystal balls. She had positively drooled when the realtor showed it to her, and it helped her in making her final decision on buying the apartment. Now she soaked luxuriously in her classic tub, the warm water soothing her aching bones and tight muscles. This is just what she needed. Closing her eyes she let her whole body relax, and let her mind wander.

She still had a lot of work to do on the play, and it was only a week away.... she needed to repaint the kitchen... she needed to call home and see how everyone was doing... check the mail... pay off the phone bill...

Her mind began to wander to the one thing that she had been trying not to think about... the dreams. What did they mean? Why was she having them? They had all started three months ago.... She really hadn't thought anything of them at first, they were a little unusual, but she had been known to have weird dreams before. Then they began to become more... real. She could actually feel the person talking to her, could experience emotion in the dream. fear even.

She wanted whoever it was that was talking to her, and it scared the hell out of her. Those eyes and that mouth, the flawless white skin, and the sensual voice. With the eyes and complexion she assumed the man in her dreams had to be blonde. A blonde angel that she yearned for... in the beginning she would wake up wanting that man beside her more than anything else and would spend the rest of the day looking twice at any fair haired man she saw walking the streets. But then the dreams began to take a different turn. Where at first it was just snippets of the man's face and voice, of a feeling of love and happiness, more images started to come to her.... The sensation of fear, of falling, of begin ripped from the arms of him. This last dream was the worst yet, enough to wake her up in a sweat with her heart racing. Enough to make her fear, and make her think that the dream actually was real. that she was going to fall into that bed of thorns and be killed...

The other thing that bothered her was the man's resemblance to another she had once known long ago. His voice.... it was almost the same, although the one in the dream lacked the cold edge that her Goblin King's had. The mouth, with those tiny pointed teeth was the same... and those luminescent eyes that looked at her and read her very soul.... Yes, she had known those eyes. She had dreamed about those eyes before, many times when she was a young girl, in fact. She hated to think that maybe old dreams of the Goblin King were resurfacing, changing because of her more mature mind and age.

After her trip through the Labyrinth she had never looked at any other men and now at 30 she was wondering if she ever would find someone to be with. Oh, she had told herself long ago that her trip to the Labyrinth was a dream... a fantasy her mind had created to help her with growing up. Even still, she had always been extra careful, just in case, by packing her memories and the little red book away. They were in the closet of the extra bedroom now, collecting dust, forgotten by everyone but her.

'No,' she told herself 'This has nothing to do with him... I'm just overly stressed like Dr. Stone said... that's all.' After reassuring herself she laid back in the tub again, letting her mind wander, closing her eyes, relaxing...

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It was so beautiful... she couldn't find words for it; all she could do was stare in pure awe. She was standing in the middle of a vast field filled with flowers...wildflowers... in every shape and color spread out as far as the eye could see... She could feel herself smile and inhale the delicious fragrance deeply. She saw she wore a simple, but gorgeous, white linen dress; and that her feet were bare, as well as her shoulders. She could feel the rich, moist earth beneath her feet, and sense the warmth of the sun against her neck and shoulders. Her vision blurred, allowing her other senses to soar.... she heard the wind running through the grass and flowers, smelled the aroma more deeply than she had smelt anything else in her life, felt everything that touched her, ever blade of grass, every ray of sun... Her feet were carrying her, but she didn't know to where... no harm could befall her while she was here, it was far too beautiful; she simply let them take her where they would. She let her hands glides over the tops of the flowers while she walked, picking some here and there, putting them in her hair, which seemed longer, thicker, more red... Then she came to a small circular clearing in front of a great willow tree... there was a white blanket spread out on the ground and someone...

'Hello Love. '

Oh. it was him... the man... the eyes and the mouth and the voice. And he was here with her. She felt herself smile, walk towards him... She was looking up now, he was at least 4 inches taller than her... she was looking right into those beautiful mismatched eyes, that mouth was saying something softly, but she couldn't hear what... she only saw it smile, that slow sensual smile, then lean down... Oh God, it was leaning down towards her. he was going to kiss her... and she was waiting for it...

It never came... she was suddenly being snatched from him again and thrown through the air....all the same as before...wings, broken, bleeding, falling..... But this time there were flashes, other voices, things were bleeding together....

"I want..."

"I wish..."

"....you to come with me..."

"...the goblins to take you...."

"...come with me...."

"...away..."

"My treasure. come..."

"...right now."

And then it was like a thousand little voices were singing, chanting, and they were all around her but she couldn't hear what they were saying... and the man's voice... she was speaking too... the children wouldn't be quite, she couldn't hear what he was saying... the children...

"Bathe in the silence...... tomb......

....in her hand a... silver.....

...one last dance....the steps of hell.....

....lost children.....know her.....

.....kiss the serpents......twice.....

......shattered days are here again......

....tears...visions....

...thrice times twice......"

All of this while she plummeted downward; the thorns below her plummeting body like before... like before the same bile rising in her throat, the same fear..... and she could hear herself screaming... a bloodcurdling cry... for a moment she felt the first few thorns prick her skin... then blackness... pure blackness... and his voice. his voice over it all...

'I've been so lonely without you.'

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With a cry Sarah sat up in the tub. The water was ice cold, the bubbles long since gone... outside the window she saw it was dark, and wondered how long she had been asleep. This was getting too much! She couldn't even take a bath without these. these nightmares.... attacking her.

Quickly she pulled the plug from the tub and dried herself off... she was shaking, but not because she was cold... The dream, it had been so real... and she had felt the thorns... she had felt them go through her skin for the briefest of moments...

Standing in the bathroom she looked herself over, looking for any scratches, punctures. anything! Then she stopped. 'What the hell am I doing?? It's a dream!! A dream!! It's not real! Oh God I'm losing my mind..." ß #again you started this sentence with single quotes and ended the sentence with double quotes.# Snatching her clothes up she put her pj's on and brushed her hair out, pulling it up in a ponytail. Picking up her brush she went back to her room, still shaking...

Sitting on her bed she tried to collect herself... just breath: in, out, in, out... it was just a dream... picking up her prescription bag from the bed she took out a bottle of pills, stuffing the rest in her nightstand. Then she stopped. Remembering something from her dream... she got up and went down the hallway, pulling her robe around her... going into the spare bedroom she flung the closet open, pulling out boxes and boxes until she got to the one she wanted...pulling it out into the middle of the floor she opened it. Dust coated the outside of it, but inside everything was just as she had left it 13 years ago... the musical doll... the books. stuffed animals... her Escher poster... her toy labyrinth... and a little red book....

Grabbing the book, red leather emblazed in gold on the front with 'The Labyrinth' Sarah sat back on her heels. Flipping through it she skimmed down until she got to what she was looking for. where the princess said she wished the goblins would take the baby boy away... and she remembered when she had said those words...when she had heard the voice in her dreams... 13 hours... a maze... two mismatched eyes...

Putting the book back in the box she crossed the room to her computer desk and, flipping the computer on, opened notepad. It was the file containing the script for the play. She scanned it until she found what she was looking for, then backspacing, typed in something new. 'Goblin King, where ever you may be, take this child of mine far away from me...' Saving the changes, she closed notepad and turned the computer off. She looked at it for a moment... 'I guess you can't be too safe.'

Walking back down the hall she opened her door, removed her robe and laid it on the chair next to her vanity. Walking to her nightstand she opened the bottle of valium, and shook out 2: 60mg. 'No dreams tonight. no more.' she thought, as she swallowed the pink pills. Then, climbing into bed she pulled the covers to her chin, and fell into a dreamless sleep.

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Jareth had refrained all day from spying on Sarah... not from guilt, but because if he had to see her, he would have to have her...

He had thought all day on what he could do to bring her back to the Underground. By law he couldn't forcefully bring her back to him, and besides, even if it were allowed he could not. The Gate was slowly draining the power and magic from his land and teleportation on a whim was out of the question. It was even getting harder for him to carry out his duties are Goblin King, to go Aboveground when a child was wished away... wished away...

He could have someone wish Sarah away! But... who? By the looks of things she no longer lived at home and she spent her company with no one...

'Why my love, ' he thought, 'Are you all alone?'

Producing a crystal he looked into it to see Sarah, typing away on some gray box. She had pulled back... looked at it, then given a nod of satisfaction. Then she went back to her room, where she took something... medicine? And gone to sleep. Jareth watched her. hoping she wasn't sick... What was she doing with that box?

Reaching out with his powers he tapped into the power of the Aboveground, and saw through his minds eye, the room she had been in. On a desk sat the box.... he used his powers to push the button she had used to turn it off... A tiny motor began to run and the machine came to life.

Jareth had heard of these things before, but had never seen of used one. On the screen was something written. Jareth read it. and grinned, a slow devious grin. Looking down at the pad that Sarah had been using he saw it was covered with letters and numbers, and his grin increased even more. Using his powers, he began to change what Sarah had written to fit his own purposes. No, it wouldn't be long he thought, before she's here with me again. Then he would set about the business of showing her who she really was. and what she was meant to do. His world depended on it.