Chapter Three

A Splendid Party

A/N: Thanks again for all those awesome comments, I'm so glad you guys are enjoying this and sticking it out to see where it goes. The comments are much appreciated.

Okay, so here we go…..

"What are you talking about Toby?" Sarah asked him, placing the helmet aside for a moment. The words from Toby's mouth seemed so uncharacteristic of him, unless he knew something she didn't.

"Goblins. You know, the Goblins…" Toby's voice sounded excited.

"What Goblins?" she asked, tilting her head to the side and she brushed the fine hairs away from his face.

"The ones in my room." He nodded and turned away to snatch up the helmet. Sarah's jaw dropped slightly, watching as Toby walked away from her as if nothing unusual was going on at all.

An evening of The Hunchback of Notre Dame movie, three chocolate ice cream cones between the two of them, and a vast carpeted wasteland of "dead" plastic army soldiers, Toby was FINALLY ready for bed. Sarah took him to his room and thought no more about what he mentioned earlier of the Goblins. She tucked him into the covers, kissed his head lightly, then walked out of the room.

At around midnight, Sarah shut herself in her room. The old brass door knob prodded her back as she leaned against the door, but she paid no mind. She sighed, her eyes cast towards the vanity in the corner of her room. A sketchbook, another obsolete object from her past, of navy blue laid there innocently. She remembered that old past time of hers. Inside were sketches of Kings, Princes, Queens, and Princesses, fantastic animals with odd horns planted randomly on their blue and yellow colored heads, unicorns and magical toad stools. She never considered herself very talented at the art, but it was enough to keep her amused at the time.

She steadily approached it and ran her fingers over it's fraying cardboard cover before she flipped it open and scanned through it's crisp pages. There was one page near the end that she predominantly wanted to see.

It was a picture, different than the sketches. Time was clearly taken in the process of drawing, unlike the black and white charcoal pictures that appeared throughout the rest of the book, this one was colorful with reds and blues, greens and yellows. Detail was noticeably considered about the face and body of the man she had drawn. Beneath the drawing were the printed words that said: MY PRINCE.

Sarah now ran her slender fingers over "Her Prince". His eyes were profound and captivating. They did not hold malice or egocentricity, like other men she knew, but love and charity instead. One eye was slightly more off colored than the other. But the idea was that she loved the character's imperfections. His hair was blonde and wild, his frame was tall and skinny with the perfect proportion of muscle. His attire was most fanatical, long robes and knee-high boots.

The figure was drawn when Sarah had barely touched the age of fourteen, right around the time when all her fantasies of palaces and royalty began. Though, now, as she gazed over the page in front of her, she was realizing the familiar aspects of his features. All these years and she had never seen it before. But how could she have drawn it before the Labyrinth? Before Jareth?

"Jareth." She breathed.

The wind picked up outside, it whistled through her window panes. It made Sarah become conscious of how cold she felt. She shivered as she glanced back down at the chilling picture. Impulsively, she slammed the book shut. She closed her eyes with a few short breaths. "It can't be real…." she whispered into the cool air.

A loud noise caused Sarah to jump. It had come from Toby's room, she was sure of it. Toby's room was relocated right beside her own and she could hear every noise that came from it.

"Toby!" She called, throwing open her door and running to the entrance of her brother's bedroom. "Toby?" she said again, softer than the call.

The noises did not cease, they grew more chaotic behind the wooden door and Sarah could've sworn that there were voices of children, laughing and having a crazy time. Sarah wasn't exactly sure what to think as she pushed open the door and saw nothing. Toby was deep in sleep, tucked beneath the covers like she had left him. She double checked that, she couldn't be too careful after her experience with the Labyrinth, and shook her head.

"God, Sarah." she hugged, exiting the room and quietly closing the door behind her. "Get a grip."

The moment the door was shut, things inside were silent but for only an instant. Sarah had not even reached her room when the noises returned. "What is going on!" she rushed back to the room and busted through it. This time she gasped in horror. There wereno children, instead there weregoblins everywhere.

Fat ones, skinny ones, tall ones, and short ones all dancing around the room with no care in the world. Ones with pointy horns hung from Toby's lights above the bed, ones with long tails of different colors climbed up the window curtains, ones with big bug-like eyes and cat-like ears drank from goblets of their own creation, ones with large feet and gaping mouths were jumping on Toby's bed, yet they managed to keep him from waking. They didn't seem to notice Sarah either, who was so aghast that she backed out the door and slammed it shut behind her.

She breathing reduced to rapid breaths and with trembling hands, she reached for the door handle once more. She opened the door and saw nothing. Not a trace of any goblin was left. No goblets or shoes or even hairs. The room was spotless as if nothing had gone on at all.

Sarah shut the door and left it that way, she backed away slowly and sunk into a corner of the hallway. She huddled there and buried her head in her arms for a brief cry. Could she really be going crazy?

In another moment, she had gathered herself and got off the floor to go to bed. She was exhausted.

She stepped into her room, leaning against the door as she shut it. She drawled in another slow breath with her eyes closed to regain herself. In her mind, she had decided that she would just deal with this in the morning.

But as she opened her eyes, they immediately fell upon the mirror of the vanity. It reflected the corner which she could not see from where she was. What stood in corner caused Sarah's heart to leap. A tall man was there with a wicked grin and untamed golden hair.

"Hello Sarah." He said in a deep voice with his estranged accent.

end of chapter

A/N: How was that? I'm thinking I should make the chapters a little longer. I'll probably start doing that once things get more exciting, but for now you guys have to deal. Thank you so much for the wonderful comments! It really helps me keep going!

Thanks for reading.