Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership to either the main characters or the songs in this story. The characters are owned and operated, in some cases, by the Jim Henson Home Entertainment Company. In no way do I claim ownership to the characters of the movie Labyrinth, but I do claim ownership to any original characters that may come about. This statement remains valid through the whole of the story.

Author's note: If you are an amateur author and I have in some way offended you by "stealing" or "plagiarizing" your story, I apologize. Point one: as a fellow writer I do not intend to harm or belittle any of you in any way. Point two: unless you have the story copyrighted (which you cannot due to infringements of the movie Labyrinth), it is not plagiarism and I am appalled that you would accuse me of such. If I have used an idea that comes up in your story I will change it accordingly to where the story is not at all the same. And I do confess and limit myself to only two things from other stories that I find important to including in a story: Jareth's cruelty and the basis of legends on fear. I humbly ask the author of the story A Forfeit of Dreams to allow me this explanation of legends to be apart of my story.

Kryhs

Chapter One: Uninvited

"Are you sure it's on?" asked a young woman tapping the microphone in front of her. Her hazel eyes darted around the faces behind the pane of glass a few feet away from her.

"Yes, Sarah. For the millionth time, 'we are sure the microphone is on'!" Her producer, Jack, said with an exasperated tone. He and his sound crew waited behind the glass for her to record her vocals for the new track her band had completed. The dark haired girl narrowed her eyes and blew hard into the device. She was rewarded with grimaces and groans of annoyance and protest.

"Sarah, for the love of god, Can we please get this track finished and done with?"

Sarah laughed and settled back onto her stool waiting for the music to begin in her headphones. She and her band had met in high school while she was in her sophomore year. During that time she wrote lyrical poetry. Her English teacher told her that it was vibrant and dark at the same time. There was a longing, a secretive aching, as well as a sense of trepidation in her words, she had said. Ms. Wallace, her teacher, introduced her to another miserable poet such as herself. His name was Chris.

Like Sarah, Chris had a haunting appeal to his poetry, yet he could turn his poetry into oral stories. Chris could write music, and his weapon of choice was the guitar. Sarah spent a lot of time with him at lunch, during which he introduced her to Hank, Riley, Alex, and Sean. Hank played the bass guitar, Riley the drums, Alex rhythm guitar, and Sean the keyboards. Together they became Reverie of Euthanasia; the newest band to take the world by storm.

Dream Killer was the name of their first album. Their songs were described as a trip to Never Land on a depressant after it has turned into a giant graveyard. The current song Sarah was recording, however, was a sort of acknowledgment of a certain someone seven years ago, mostly all the songs she wrote were. Compared to the other songs this one was, as Chris put it, 'soft core'.

Her smile faded as the haunted melody streamed through the wires and into her ears. She began to sing, softly at first and a crescendo as the music swelled. Her voice fluctuated with the tones of the song. Seven years ago her dream of a career as an actress died, after her adventure into the Labyrinth. No, no thinking about that now. Not during the song. It's best not to dwell on the past.

Now she sang. She sang out her stories that she so loved to act as a child. Yes, when she was a child. She was so young and naïve and…it wasn't her fault really; she just didn't understand what she was doing. Unfortunately he didn't see it that way. He adamantly suggested that taking her brother away was what she really wanted and offered her dreams in exchange for keeping the boy. But, not even that could mitigate the guilt she felt when her wish really did come true. As for the songs she sang, she could not help to think about him. To her disdain, he was her inspiration: His cruelty, his treachery, and his beauty. Oh, and he was beautiful.

She began picturing the alluringly brutal man in her mind's eye: His hair pale blonde and done up in an elaborate style, his clothing just as complex as his hair. His eyes unlike: one light and one dark both filled with a promise for mischief and trickery. Tall and treacherous, he would haunt her dreams forever. Her fears spurned his memory to burn into her mind. No matter how she tried, no matter how traumatizing, he would never let her forget.

Sarah crooned the next verse with new incentive. The words poured themselves into the microphone and she glared at a spot on the wall just above the glass.

He pursued her like some thing he had never encountered before. Not so much as pursue as he stalked her like an owl stalks a field mouse.

He claimed his love for her, and like a fool she believed him…at first. She came to realize at the very end that he didn't want her love; he wanted her obedience, her fear. She had fought him. To the very end she fought him, defied him, hurt him when she could. And it had worked. Toby was safe, and she was in a sound booth recording the last song for her debut album. She felt he was always there. His scornful laughter startled her most nights when she was on the verge of sleep. His eyes glared at her from the darkness. His presence was all around her. But, she knew it wasn't really him. It was her mind keeping her alert should there be a chance that he returned for her. He claimed everything was for her. He claimed generosity. He had the audacity to try and justify his terrorizing of a fifteen year old girl, and then fault her for not appreciating his 'munificent' nature.

"Generous!" She advanced another step. "What have you done that was generous?"

"Everything. I have done everything you wanted. You asked that the child be taken. I took him. You cowered before me. I was frightening. I have reordered time," he told her. The thirteen-hour clock had appeared, floating above his head. Its hands were whirling around. "I have turned the world upside down. And I have done it all for you," he said with a shake of his head.

"I am exhausted from living up to your expectations. Isn't that generous?"

The song was coming to an end.

And with that it was over.

Sarah suddenly felt exhausted. She pulled the headphones off and placed them carefully on the music stand in front of her. That was enough for the day. If they didn't like the current track they could trash it for all she cared. She wasn't going to think about it anymore.

Looking up she saw that everyone was staring at her.

"What?" she asked guardedly. She looked at the shocked expressions of Chris and the rest of the people in the box, "What!"

Chris cleared his throat and began, "We've never heard you sing that way before, Sarah." Everyone around him nodded.

"Yeah, it's like you were trying to prove yourself to someone. As if you…were trying to over power them with your voice," Riley added, "Who ever pissed you off, I hope they do it again!"

"You keep singing like that and we'll be famous before the sun sets tomorrow!" Alex interjected, his angled bangs flipped back so he could look at her.

Sarah looked at Jack, who merely beamed his blatant approval of her performance. She smiled and exited the recording booth. Greeted with hugs and applause, Sarah walked into the mixing room in order to hear what they all were so ecstatic about.

-x-X-x-X-x-

An hour later, Reverie of Euthanasia was found in Jack's office discussing the albums release date.

"Since we have the entire album recorded, all we need is to piece it all together," he said repositioning himself behind his large oak desk, "We debut in two weeks."

"Two Weeks!" they cried in unison.

"Is that even possible?" Alex cried from his reclined position on a leather couch next to Sarah.

"Yeah, seriously," Sarah chirped. Jack smiled at his protégés.

"Yes, it is!" he said stepping out from behind his desk, "The editors I've hired have agreed to put in ten hours a day for a solid two weeks in order to get your music on the shelves! That way we can get the tour under way as soon as possible!"

"A tour!" cried Sarah happily.

"Yes indeed, ma'am. We've got the dates set up and confirmed already. It's a small tour, but your followers will be many considering that I've already sent thousands upon thousands of singles of The Dream to every music retail store in the nation."

"Jack you're kidding!" Sarah exclaimed standing up. Sean popped up next to her and whirled her around in an immense bear hug after Jack confirmed what he said. The room brightened with the joyfulness that the band felt.

"We're getting our big break!" Riley cried in a triumphant voice.

"Hell Yeah!" howled the others pumping their fists into the air.

The band decided to celebrate at a local bar. Their big break was here. They were going to make it in the world of music. She and Chris had been planning this since they were in high school. College came around and they all began taking classes to help them achieve their goal.

Now Sarah sat with her best friends in the world, celebrating their accomplishment. She shrank away from the conversation to watch them. Alex and his flashy ways of getting attention, Hank quiet and reserved, a stereotypical drummer, Riley and his stable logic, Sean being the prankster that he was, slipping sugar in Chris' beer. And, Chris: the Captain of their ship. Sarah and Chris had a thing for each other from the very moment their eyes met. When Chris had tried to make something out of their relationship, Sarah shied away from it. There was only one person who occupied her dreams, and he wasn't going to share her. Though she hated him with all her being, she couldn't perceive herself being with anyone else, and that scared her more than anything about the Goblin King. How he could control her nightmarishly, without even being near her for over seven years.

Sarah felt a hand on her shoulder and realized that they were all watching her expectantly.

"Wait, what?" she blurted out not so elegantly. They all laughed.

"We were toasting our song bird, but she seems a little distracted at the moment," Chris laughed. Sarah smiled sheepishly and lifted her glass, "As I was saying, Sarah, you're beautiful in more ways than one," her body stiffened at his words then relaxed as the others murmured their agreement, "Though all of us have been subject to your temper tantrums, don't glare I'm not done, and you intimidate each and every guy you've ever met-I said don't glare; you're song writing skills are awesome, I'd like to take credit for that. You're an incredible artist and your voice is like an angel. We couldn't have done it without you. To you, Sarah, God help the man that marries you!" He finished raising his glass towards her. The others shouted "Here, here!" and Sarah narrowed her eyes with a smile on her face and took a sip of her drink. She smiled and set down the glass pushing back her chair.

"Well, I don't know about you ladies, but I'm ready to turn in for the night!" she said jokingly. The band laughed and all of them began splitting the tab.

As they walked outside they said their goodbyes and Chris and Sarah headed for the studio apartment they shared.

"Well, Sarah, our dream is coming true. We're really gonna make it, I know it."

"I know. I'm just still in shock. Talk to me when I come back down to earth, I'll be able to respond better then." They laughed. After a while their conversation had run dry as an unlike pair of eyes watched them from high above.

"You know, Sarah," Chris began as they walked through the cool night. His black hair shimmered in the moonlight and his dark eyes gleamed with hope, "Everything I said tonight. Every word is true. You are beautiful in every way." Sarah kept her eyes glued to the sidewalk. She didn't think this was happening. They had talked about this already.

"Chris I…"

"No, Sarah," he interrupted her, "Don't ruin it for me. I just wanted you to understand me…that's all. Don't let me lose hope so soon."

"Chris I can't keep quiet. We talked about this," she implored. His head hung low as she spoke, "I would love to. You're a great guy; you're wonderful…in every way." She was gifted with a dejected smile, "But, there's just this one thing that…"

"I know, I know, it's him." She stared wide-eyed at her friend. Did he know? How did he find out? She hadn't told anyone about Jareth and how he troubled her thoughts. What was that sound? Ok, Sarah, now you're just being paranoid.

"You know, whoever that guy is that you sang to today."

"I wasn't singing to him." She bit off with an edge in her voice, "I was berating him any way that I could considering he isn't here."

"Ah, so there is a guy."

"N-no! No there isn't a guy, and I doubt there ever will be thanks to my experiences as a kid. Now can we please drop the subject?" she asked heatedly. Chris began to snigger his response as they ascended the steps of their home. Sarah said his name admonishingly before he stopped and began to unlock the door to the apartment complex.

"I'm just teasing," he said reaching back and ruffling her dark hair, "What's the point in being your friend if I can't laugh when your temper gives way?" Sarah playfully glowered at him as he opened the door.

"I suppose my temper can be your source of amusement for now, but you'd better hope I don't kill you when the tour starts up."

The two of them laughed as they entered the complex, but something made Sarah freeze in her tracks and her eyes grow wide with worry.

Somewhere off in the night an owl screeched its existence to the world.