It had been 3 years, 2 months, and 6 days since Sarah had traveled through the labyrinth. Since she had 'defeated' its ruler. The once smitten Goblin King now felt nothing but pure hatred for that little brat. He swore that he would get his revenge, but he was patient. He would wait for the perfect moment to attack.

That perfect moment was tonight. Sarah's 18th birthday. In 2 hours, 4 minutes, and 32 seconds, Sarah would officially be a woman.

"Tonight, dear, sweet, innocent Sarah," Jareth said to no one but his quiet, eerie labyrinth. "Tonight is going to be the night I will start my revenge." An evil smile crept onto his face as he spoke. "I swear to you, that after tonight you will wish you never picked up that seemingly harmless book."

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Sarah! Happy birthday to you!" the Williams family sang to their eldest child.

After the birthday song was sung and Sarah had opened up her presents from her dad, Karen, Toby, and even her dog Merlin, the doorbell rang. Sarah knew exactly who it was.

"Sarah!" Kate yelled when Sarah opened the door

"Kate!" She grabbed her friend in a tight hug. She looked over Kate's shoulder for her boyfriend, and spotted his car.

"Bro's outside in the car," Kate said as she let go of Sarah

"Bye guys, I'm going out with Joe and Kate!" Sarah called to her family.

Sarah and Kate ran out to Joe's car. Sarah got in the front seat and kissed her boyfriend.

"Happy birthday, baby." Joe said giving her another kiss.

"Thanks. So where are we going?" Sarah asked.

"It's a secret." Kate told her.

"Oh, yay! I love secrets!" Sarah said sarcastically.

"Trust me, you'll love this one." Joe promised her. Sarah sat back in her seat, fastened her seatbelt, and waited impatiently while Joe drove them through town.

They were driving in the car for hours before Sarah finally asked the most annoying of all questions.

"Are we there yet?"

"It's just over this hill." Joe laughed. Sarah tried to look ahead but her view was blocked by tons of trees. Finally as they got over the hill, Sarah could see where they were.

There was a small cabin next to a beautiful lake. The entire area was surrounded by trees, nobody around for miles. The lake was beautiful, with clean blue water and many birds called the trees home. This place was like heaven on earth.

"Come on Sarah, don't just stare at the place. We're going to be here for 4 days. Yes, Karen and your dad already know about all of it." Joe said coming around and opening the door for Sarah.

"Sorry," she laughed as she shook her head. "It's just so beautiful here." Sarah said getting out. "Wait, I don't have any clothes here or anything."

"We came down here the other day with our stuff and a bunch Karen had packed up for you. Everything you need is here." Kate told Sarah while walking into the cabin.

Inside there was a stone fireplace, bear skin rug, cozy couch, and 3 mattresses were pulled out onto the floor.

"There she goes again, dazing off!" Kate complained teasingly.

"Sorry." Sarah said walking fully into the cabin. "So what are we going to do first?" Sarah asked.

"Well, it's 8:30 now and it's starting to get dark out, so I say we set up the cabin, build a fire, maybe pop in a horror movie and relax for the night," Joe said putting his arms around Sarah from behind

"Fine by me. I'm tired from that long ride out here." Sarah said yawning.

"Okay then, I'll just go out and get some fire wood and you guys put some sheets and blankets on the mattresses. I'll be right back." Joe said leaving the cabin.

"Well," Kate said, "Let's get it started in here!"

Sarah laughed and followed a dancing Kate down the hall to a closet to get some blankets.

Sarah and Kate put the sheets and blankets on the mattress and made a pitcher of Koolaid and Joe still hadn't come back

"Where is he?" Sarah asked. "He's been gone half an hour."

"He probably fell or something." Kate said shrugging it off.

"Do you think we should go and find him?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah, we need fire to roast marshmallows." Kate said with a smile as she walked towards the door.

Sarah and Kate walked through the pitch black woods, clinging to each other tightly. Any small sound caused them to scream and jump away. They had been searching for about an hour and still found no sign of Joe.

"Where is he?" Kate asked.

"You ask me like I'm supposed to know." Sarah whispered.

"I know." A thickly accented voice said from behind them. They both turned around quickly and saw nothing. They then heard breathing coming from the way they had just been facing and turned around slowly. Still they saw nothing. They stood there looking around for a few moments and then began to walk again, this time back toward the cabin.

Suddenly Sarah tripped over a tree branch and fell to the ground. When she got up, she noticed that not only was Kate no longer there, but she wasn't in the same spot. Sarah was now standing on the dock over the pond.

Joe panted heavily as he ran. He'd dropped the ax a while back, and now regretted it immensely. Whatever was behind him was gaining on him quickly. He was surprised by its intelligence. It knew to chase him away from the cabin.

He turned and ran to his right. He hoped to make a loop and reach the cabin. As he flew through the trees he didn't take the time to move aside the rough limbs. His arms were scratched and bleeding, and he winced as the cold night air whipped across the sensitive skin.

The cabin was in sight. He could see the faint glow of the windows, and hope flooded through him. Thirty seconds and he'd be safe.

He was stopped with a jolt as a hand gripped him firmly. The person shoved him to the ground. He was stunned, and they used that to their advantage. As he felt a rope slip around his wrists he jerked away, only to be painfully hit in the face.

As his vision cleared, he saw a man stand up before him. He was bound tightly, and as he tested the ropes around his wrist he felt little hope of freeing himself.

She looked around wide eyed for a minute before she heard footsteps on the wooden dock. She gasped as a silhouette slowly stepped closer. She wanted to cry as she realized who it was. The Goblin King.

Jareth pointed in the direction of the water. Sarah looked to where he was pointing and saw not only Joe, but Kate as well, tied up in a slowly sinking boat.

Joe's face was bruised and bloody and Kate's had an expression of pure fear. Both of them just stared back at her, gags in place. Sarah was unable to handle the sight of her friends like that, so terrified. She sprang up and attempted to run to the edge of the dock to dive into the water and save her friends.

Before she could make it into the water, Jareth caught her in his strong arms and held her tightly and painfully in place. "Now, now, Sarah. I won't have you jumping into that water. Do you have any idea how dangerous the things in that water are?"

At that moment the fish in the lake leapt into the air. Many of them fell into the boat, and unlike any fish she'd seen before, frantically flailed around and Sarah could tell that they were intentionally hurting her friends, and she watched helplessly as they tried to scream.

"No!" Sarah shrieked, trying to pull away from Jareth. His grip on her only tightened, causing her to cry out in pain.

"No what?" Jareth asked.

"Please, don't hurt them!" Sarah pleaded, a lone tear slipping down her face.

"Hurt them? Sarah, what makes you think I would stop there?" Joe's eyes looked at her in confusion as the man said her name. She knew him?

"N-no," she stammered, face growing pale. "You can't kill them!"

"Foolish girl. What I have planned for them is a fate much worse than death." Jareth whispered so calmly into her ear it was scary. Her heart pounded fiercely. He loosened his grip enough for her to turn and face him. "Of course, being the generous man I am, I am giving you a way to save them from that fate."

"How? How can I save them?" Sarah asked, afraid she knew the answer.

"Start and new life…with me." He said, watching her eyes widen in confusion. "Buy their freedom with your life. Refuse and send them into a future of pain and torture." Their eyes pleaded with her as the rain of attacks continued.

"What happens if, if I except?"

"They will go back to before any of this happened. Before they knew you." Jareth told her. He saw Sarah hesitate and made the gags in Joe and Kate's mouths disappear. Loud, piercing screams immediately filled the air and that was all it took.

"Okay! Okay, I'll go with you! Just don't hurt them anymore!" Sarah yelled. Jareth laughed darkly.