This was inspired by a dream I had so if some stuff seems weird that is why. The dream presented me with the story and the title. Unfortunately I woke up at the climax. Typical! So I've had to figure out what happened and I've had to improvise the beginning and end.
Chapter 1: Falling
Sarah stared to either side of her. Sheer rock face. She tried to find a handhold but it was slippery and she almost lost her grip. Breathing heavily she reminded herself that she couldn't fall. Glancing at her waist she found there was no harness, no rope. But she could swear she'd put one on. She never climbed without them. With a sickening jolt she realised she was clinging to a vertical cliff face with nothing to stop her falling into oblivion. The thin ledge she was standing on began to crumble and she lost her footing. Screaming she fell into the void.
Sarah sat bolt upright in bed drenched in sweat. Taking deep breaths to steady her breathing she tried calm her racing heart. Damn that nightmare. Sarah hadn't ever been afraid of heights before, nervous of them sure, but never deathly afraid. Had she had a phobia of them she never would've got through the Labyrinth. However, now she was scared stiff of them. It was something she'd acquired in the process of getting older. The thought of falling, falling, falling, nothing stopping you until…she swallowed the bile that rose to her throat at the thought. She'd used to love climbing, what the hell was wrong with her? But lots of stuff about her had changed. She really wanted to be a teacher now rather than a world famous actress and was studying for her degree. So not only had her fears changed but her dreams for the future as well.
She turned over and went back to sleep.
Sighing Sarah got out of bed, got dressed and dragged a brush through her hair. She dreamed about Jareth more often than about falling. Truth be told she worried about him. Something inside her cared about him deeply and she wondered if he was all right.
"I wish I could see how you were doing Jareth," she whispered to her reflection. Turning away she fell straight into a portal that sealed itself up after her.
Screaming at the top of her lungs Sarah fell in the inky blackness. This was like her nightmare come true and she was utterly petrified. Fortunately she wasn't falling for long before she hit something. Sarah ran the grains of soil slowly through her fingers. Not dead, she wasn't dead she was ok. She quickly revised this opinion when she saw where she was. There was very little light but she could see some way in front of her. The Labyrinth stretched out below her seeming ominous in the bad light. Dark clouds bunched and swirled above her making the sky black. A sharp wind raced over the hill and whipped Sarah's hair into frenzy. It was so cold it cut through her clothes and penetrated into her body. There was an angry growl that grew into a loud boom. Sarah cringed at the thunder. White lightning forked through the sky and lit up the area momentarily revealing that the Labyrinth, far from being ominous was falling into ruin. It looked positively precarious with some walls sagging inwards and others fallen in completely. Sarah gulped. If the Labyrinth reflected Jareth then he must be a bit unstable at the moment. Unstable and unsafe. But she had to risk seeing him, as he was the only one who could send her home.
A bolt of lightning struck the ground at Sarah's feet. The power made Sarah stumble backwards and fall. She landed on a grate of some kind. Prying off the lid she slid into the darkness just as another bolt hit the ground where she'd been standing.