Disclaimer: Ok, is this really necessary? So no, I don't own the Labyrinth.
Summary: Sarah is out of college and living with her cousin. But her world gets a jolt when her cousin, Roxy, finds her Labyrinth book and says a few choice words...The last week saw of them, Sarah was walking in the woods with Darren and they were trying to remember what was missing. Roxy had fallen down a hole and was unconscious on the ground being watched from the shadows.
Author's Note: Here we go with part 3...I hope you like it...remember that italics is for thinking...please review at the end...it's the only way I know people are reading this!
~~~Chapter 3: Nightmares and Hallucinations~~~
Roxy groaned and slowly opened her eyes. Her surroundings slowly penetrated her brain. She quickly sat up and was surprised that her body wasn't in pain. She could remember falling into a hole and as soon as she had become conscious had figured she would hurt from the landing.
She quickly scanned the area around her. She realized magic must have been at work. How else could she fall so far to cause unconsciousness and not feel pain? Plus, something magical must have happened for her to be at her old house that she moved out of before she started kindergarten.
Roxy slowly stood up and turned around to see if she could identify anything else. She was shocked to recognize her old play set and toys. Her hand shakily rose to her mouth as she realized she had traveled through time.
She cautiously walked toward her back door. All of a sudden, the door flew open and a little girl of 5 years ran out. Roxy froze, believing she would be in for it once the girl screamed for her mother or father. Her surprise can only be imagined when the little girl just ran through Roxy like she was a ghost.
Roxy all of a sudden understood what was going on. She knew what had happened as she watched her younger self run onto the swing and fly just past it, landing on her bottom.
"This is my memory. I remember this day. And after this..." Roxy's eyes went wide when she realized what memory she had to witness again.
Her mother appeared a few minutes later at the screen door. "Roxana, dear, I have a surprise for you!" The little child's eyes lit up and she ran to the house. Roxy pushed back tears knowing what would happen next. She had tried to forget this day but every so often things would trigger one of her most painful memories back.
Roxy walked through the door and found her way into the living room. There her younger self was examining new ballet slippers. She had been so excited to start classes. Her mother smiled happily, loving the chance to treat her daughter. It wasn't every young mother who could marry the father of her child when she was only in her early 20's. Roxy was very lucky to be one with young parents where one had a stable job.
Luck unfortunately never lasts. Daniel Williams, Sarah's uncle, walked down the stairs at that moment. He was carrying a suitcase and his briefcase. Michelle Williams looked up, puzzled.
"Are you going on a business trip you conveniently forgot to mention? You know the reunion is in three days." She laughed slightly, trying to keep the atmosphere positive. Yet she knew it would not stay that way for long.
Daniel shook his head. "I can't grow in my job or my life if I am being stifled by a young wife and daughter. I have supported you both for far too long without any help. I'm moving to Cleveland and I don't expect to contact you ever again."
He opened the door and slammed it as he left. Young Roxy dropped her slippers on the ground as she raced to stop her dad. Her feet pounded on the walkway as he father got into a taxi. He didn't look back as she yelled to him as she ran down the driveway. Tears formed in both young and old Roxy as the taxi disappeared down the street.
Michelle kneeled next to her young daughter. The little girl looked up at her mother confused. "Why did he leave? Is he really never going to talk to me again? Was it something I did wrong? Mommy?"
Michelle's eyes glistened with tears. "No, you didn't do anything wrong. Daddy just decided he needs a new life. He didn't say that he would never call for sure. So just thinking of it as a very long vacation where there are no phones at his destination." The girl nodded, trying to understand. But how well can a five year old understand her father leaving her family?
The older Roxy sat on the ground trying to collect herself. The scene started to spin and she got dizzy. She shut her eyes tight and when she opened them she was at her elementary school. Right after her father left, her mother had to move to a new house and chose to relocate to Portland. Her memory was one of the few sunny days they had that autumn when she was in second grade. She watched as the bell rang and kids and streamed out of the buildings.
She smiled when she saw her younger self talking with her two old best friends. A look of sadness crossed her face as she realized the scene that would play before her. "Am I going to have to relive all my painful memories? Is this some test?' She thought angrily. She closed her eyes as she steeled herself emotionally for what was to come.
She looked over to the trees to see a bunch of kids crowding around her young self. She didn't have to hear them to know what they said.
"You are the reason your daddy left."
"If you had been a better daughter he would have stayed."
"I don't blame him for leaving. I'm just surprised he didn't leave sooner."
"I bet your mommy wants to leave but would feel bad having to force someone else to deal with you."
"I'm amazed those two are friends with you. I bet it is out of pity."
More hateful words were pushed at the young girl and her two supposed friends moved farther and farther away. By the end of recess, the little Roxy was crying by herself as everyone else ran to their classrooms. Her teacher had to come out and coax her to the nurse's office.
Roxy's memory began to fade and swirl as she pressed her eyes shut. She felt the memory change so she knew when it was over when the vertigo ended. She cautiously opened her eyes to see her room as it was during junior high.
A pre-teen Roxy skipped into the room and jumped onto her bed. She pulled her phone onto the mattress and stared expectantly at it. Waiting for Sarah to call. The older Roxy grinned.
The phone rang and young Roxy happily answered it right away. The conversation started well enough so Roxy couldn't see how this was a bad memory. Yet then the conversation turned ugly.
The two on the phone were fighting about differences in abandoning parents.
"The difference between us is my mom left to pursue a productive career while your dad left because he was sick of you. My mom contacts me while your dad never cared."
Tears swelled up in young Roxy's eyes. Was that the real reason? She asked that over and over again after she hung up on her closest relative. It would be three months before they spoke to each other again and a month after that for them to being back to good friends.
The scene around Roxy started to drip like her younger self's tears. After a moment of dizziness, the image cleared to show Roxy during her freshman year of high school.
Roxy had hated high school when she just started. She didn't have any very close friends from middle school so she could only tag along behind some friends she didn't know that well.
This caused her to not be so social. Thus she had more time to do homework and became known as a bookworm. The scene before the older Roxy was one of the times she would get teased for getting perfect scores on tests, having over 100% in some of her classes, and always having a reading book that she read for fun.
Yet this scene was particularly nasty. The bullies (the more popular group) even brought into the teasing her physical appearance. They said it was no surprise she had no friends and never had guys interested in her.
Those words had hurt her during her freshman year but slowly she became immune to the pain. Older Roxy just plugged her ears and waited for the talking to stop. She could read their lips since she already knew their words.
As the bell rang, the memory faded into a new one. Roxy could only hope that it would be as short as the last and as easy to ignore. If she hadn't known better, she would have believed her memory didn't change. She was still at her high school and even in a relatively similar area.
Yet once she saw her younger self, she knew the year. She was a junior. She had made a couple of close friends and even had a boyfriend. Things were looking up because she had a fair number of regular friends and two of the greatest friends she could ask for. Older Roxy smiled as she saw herself walking with her first boyfriend.
They had been going out since the summer before junior year and time was getting close to Prom. Roxy was remembering the day she had believed he would ask her to the dance.
Yet she had been so surprised to hear him say that he was breaking up with her. No, he hadn't been cheating on her but his feelings had waned greatly.
"I would like to still be friends if possible, but I don't think of you any other way anymore. I do like someone else but haven't made it really known because I didn't want to hurt you by cheating." Chris had been so sweet about it that she couldn't feel bad at that moment.
But older Roxy could very well remember herself crying that night, being depressed for a week, and rarely talking to him ever again. If it hadn't been for her best friends she knew it would have been worse.
She was glad when the scene changed once again. Self-doubts plagued her mind and her heart hurt from all the wounds that had just been recently reopened. She had tried to be unaffected but it had been so hard with what she had had to watch.
She brought herself back to focus on the memory. She looked around to see her college dorm room. By the books she could tell it was her sophomore year. Her eyes grew wide as she realized the bad memory she was to see.
Soon the slightly younger Roxy pushed open the door and helped in a sobbing Sarah. Sarah sat on the bed, her eyes shut as she cried. Roxy grabbed some tissues after shutting the door and then sat down next to her cousin. Tears started to well up in her eyes but she pushed them down so she could comfort Sarah.
Younger Roxy's mind raced as she hugged Sarah. She didn't know what to say. How do you comfort someone after their father has died? So she let her own tears come and cried with her cousin.
Soon though she found her voice. "Shh. It's okay. They said he died instantly. So he felt no pain. He's in a better place now. The crash was an accident. There was no way he could have avoided that other car. We can just be happy he died without pain and we'll see him again, when we die."
Sarah nodded and struggled to control herself. "I understand what you mean. Yet that doesn't lessen the pain. But you know that because you loved him too."
"He was a great uncle. I just...can't believe he's gone." The crying lasted well into the night. It would take them both some time to recover from the pain.
Tears formed in the older Roxy's eyes as she remembered that time in their lives. She had been devastated, as was Sarah. She tried to think of what would come next but couldn't think of a more recent tragedy. Maybe it's over.
The scene changed to one of a forest. Walking down the path toward her was Darren and Sarah. They were laughing, joking, and generally having a good time. Roxy wasn't at all surprised when they walked right through her.
But the scene itself freaked her out. This wasn't a memory because the only time she had seen Darren was in the outer path and hadn't seen him since he left with Sarah. She followed closely behind to see what happened.
"Why, I think we are forgetting something."
"Someone possibly. Wasn't there someone with us earlier?" Darren looked confused but not worried.
Sarah paused to think. "Not that I can remember." They continued to walk in silence until they came upon a girl sleeping on the side of the road.
Darren bent over to see the girl's face. Roxy stepped back in shock when she saw it was herself.
"Do you know that girl?" Sarah inquired.
Darren shook his head. "No. Do you?" She shook her head as well.
"Let's leave her alone. She looks peaceful." Sarah gently pulled Darren away from Roxy's body. They continued down the path until they were almost out of hearing range.
Then Darren asked Sarah, "Don't you have a female cousin your age?"
Sarah shook her head. "No, not that I know of. But that is unimportant. Let's just enjoy this fine weather."
Roxy stared down at herself. They really forgot about me. I'm all alone now. And with that, she sat down and cried.
The eyes in the cave watched the young girl fight in her unconscious state. An inhuman grin appeared as the demon stepped into the light. The female demon thrived off of human weakness. Her way of getting victims was to weaken them with their own insecurities through painful memories and one hallucination.
She grinned evilly as Roxy began to cry out for anyone and how alone she was. It is almost time. She thought greedily.
Back in the woods sometime during the Fight With Sarah memory, Darren was trying his best to remember the subject of his mystery crystal. He knew it was time to question Sarah in hopes of jogging their memories.
"Do you feel like something, or someone, is missing or forgotten?" He was hesitant to ask his question.
Sarah's eyes widened. "So I'm not the only one. Yes, I do feel that way. Any idea as to what or who?"
Darren grimly shook his head. "Not a clue. I'm trying to think of any possible objects that we could both forget but can't think of anything."
Sarah sighed. "I have a feeling it's a person. But who?"
Darren narrowed his eyes in thought. "Could it be a friend from your last trip?" A shake of the head. "Someone else from the Underground?" Another shake. "Who possibly from Aboveground could I possibly know and then forget?!" He was getting frustrated.
Sarah sighed again. "Maybe he or she is the reason I'm here. I can't remember how I ended up here with you."
Darren thought back the best he could to when he met Sarah. Before hand he had been walking down a maze path when the road behind him was blocked. He had been pounding on the wall when he heard Sarah behind him. Wait, wasn't there someone with her?
"Didn't you have a companion in the outer path?"
Sarah thought. Just then she remembered exactly who was missing. "Roxy!"
Darren's eyes grew wide as the mystery crystal became clear. He pulled it out and saw Roxy lying unconscious being watched by the demon.
Sarah was surprised at the crystal and shocked at what she saw. "Where is she? Is she ok? What is that...that thing?!" She shuddered at the demon with the yellow eyes, lipless mouth, scaly head, four armed torso, and muscular human-like legs. The demon had a red ting to her dark skin and was staring hungrily at Roxy.
Darren broke out in a full run toward the outer wall. Sarah raced behind him as they hurried to save Roxy. Darren knew it was only a matter of time before the demon attacked Sarah's defenseless cousin.
They searched the wall for openings. Darren growled and backed away. Sarah looked at him confused and watched him run at the wall and launch himself to the top. He turned to face Sarah and held out his hand. Sarah barely hesitated before getting help up and over the wall.
Darren raced down the path toward the trap door. He stood over it and waited for Sarah. He held out his arm to block her from falling onto it. He turned to his left and pressed a stone in the wall. A passage opened so he entered, followed by Sarah.
They ran down the stairs to the cave below. Darren made it in time to see Roxy begin to cry from her hallucination. The demon snuck up close and was waiting for the right moment.
Darren ran to block the demon from Roxy. Natishla, the demon, growled until she recognized the man in front of her. She slinked into the darkness to her side cavern to wait a little longer for a meal.
Sarah rushed to Roxy's side. Darren leaned down to check for injuries. When he saw that she wasn't greatly injured, he picked her up. He turned to Sarah. "Place your hand on my shoulder. We need to get her to a healer."
Sarah gladly obliged and soon they had disappeared to a stone room with a plain bed on one wall. A wash bin was nearby as was many towels and a cabinet.
Darren placed Roxy on the bed and headed to the door. "Where are you going?" Sarah asked confused.
"To get the Healer. I'll be right back." And with that he left, shutting the door behind him. Sarah sighed and sat in a chair next to the bed.
She was starting to drift off to sleep when the door banged open. In rushed an older gentleman wearing simple clothing and carrying a bag.
He pulled a small table next to the bed and a chair a little way from the wall. "Sit in this chair my dear. I need full access to the patient." Sarah obediently moved.
Darren whispered in her ear as the Healer examined Roxy. "I shall quickly visit the castle but return soon." Sarah nodded, watching the healer, fascinated. She barely registered the door closing.
Sarah awoke hours later to find the Healer cleaning up. He sensed her alertness and turned around. He smiled warmly at her. "I hope you slept well. Your friend is doing much better and should be awake soon."
Sarah nodded. "Thank you so much. But I have one question. Why is that demon allowed in the Labyrinth?"
The Healer sighed. "Natishla is very powerful. When she moved into that cave, there was no way to get her out. She created a trap door on that path and put many spells around it, protecting herself. She promised to never hurt anyone that is innocent. Nowadays we send horrible criminals to her for punishment. But most of the time it is closely watched when unsuspecting mortals walk through the Labyrinth.
"Oh, and you're welcome. It is not often I am asked by the King to heal a mortal girl. I was very interested to see her."
Sarah looked puzzled. "The King? As in Jareth, the King of Goblins?"
He nodded. "Yes, what other king do you know of in this land? He was quite forceful and urgent."
Sarah thought hard. "Did I really drift that far? I didn't know Darren had enough time to tell the King of our situation and then have him find you. I thought Darren just went straight to find you."
It was the Healers turn to look puzzled. "Did you say Darren? You saw him? Why I haven't seen him in months and last I heard he was sending messages back and forth between two distant kingdoms."
~~~Author's Note~~~
Don't hurt me! I am SO sorry. School got too terribly hard. But enough about that. I hope you guys like this. It took me scrapping together time to write and I just smashed my finger three says ago so it is really hard to type. *grin* Sympathy reviews! JK! But really, review and tell me what you think. I will write a bunch more over my spring break (in a week) so no worries. Sorry about the focus on Roxy. I really am sorry. But I needed it to make the rest work (as well as I've imagined the rest will work out). There will be a sequel but I'll ask more about that later. Well, I'm off to let my finger heal (they had to put a hole in the nail to let out the blood!) so I can write my 10 page essay. Later dayz.
