Sarah's eyes opened. Glittering decayed walls stretched before her. Shades of beige and brown as far as the eye could see. Looking over her shoulder, she saw ivy-covered corridors where thick falls of greenery fell over the tops of the walls while bushes climbed to meet them, fresh flowers blooming from the foliage. Gravel and dirt crunched under the soles of her shoes. She smiled as she inhaled deeply. The scent of roses mixed with the rot of timber and lichen.

The Labyrinth. Even if you get to the center, you'll never get out again . Well, she proved that wrong. Hadn't she?

No matter how often she found herself here, she would never get over the magic, the power she felt within these walls. Looking down, she saw her shadow stretching far in front of her. That's odd , she thought. The sun was setting. In all the years she had been visiting the Labyrinth, never had it been anything but midday. The sun, usually high in the sky, beamed down on her face as she walked through the maze. Yet, today, she could barely see the top of it over the tall walls surrounding her.

Well, if the sun was going down she had better get to work. Stomping her foot, the ground transformed around Sarah to match the path she had laid of cobblestone and grass behind her. Her fingertips grazed the walls, greenery sprang to life, covering all that was old and dying with new life.

She was delighted the first time she came back after solving the maze, every whim and wish she could think came true. The dull, dusty landscape was hardly the things dreams should be made of. She spent her time cultivating flora through thought and touch. Every corner she traipsed through was now worthy of a painting, picturesque and lovely. But there was still so much to discover. It would take an eternity to walk the entirety of the Labyrinth. But what was forever in a dream?

The further she wandered, the faster the sun seemed to sink over the horizon. The hair on her arms stood, a chill shivered down her limbs. Try as she might, an inauspicious feeling nagged at her. Something wasn't right. Nothing ever changed in her brief journeys in the past. The scenery shifted at her bidding but nothing else. She shook her the intrusive thoughts away to watch a peony bloom. Nothing was wrong. Nothing could get her. But as always, nothing was what it seemed.

Jareth sat on the ledge of a vast open window his eyes closed as the last of days sun shone against his eyelids. He could feel her. He could always feel her when she returned to the Labyrinth. Though unable to reach her, these last few days he could feel the wards slipping. Weakening. Soon very soon.

Transforming into an owl, he spread his tawny wings and took flight over the Goblin City to the labyrinth's entrance. Passing over the crooked gabled buildings, shingles haphazardly layered and chimneys sticking out at all angles, he soared quickly over his subjects as they waddled through their anfractuous avenues.

Black Hessian boots landed in front of the gates, small clouds of dirt billowing from the impact. Ash-blonde hair cut in chopped layers, swayed as it caught on the wind. He felt the barrier that had barred him for three long years, as thin as gossamer.

With all the power he possessed, all he could do was wait. Patience never having been a virtue he particularly prided himself on, he stared at the doors, willing the blasted obstruction to vanish. He knew the time was nigh.

The sun was down, stars dotting the inky black sky above, and still, he felt her presence beyond those hallowed walls that dared protect her from him. As though it had the right.

The air around him shifted. Dark glee quirked the corners of his lips. Arms outstretched, his gloved hands splayed on the wooden doors. The ground shook, gravel bouncing until the vibrations halted. Pushing the doors, he set foot in the labyrinth for the first time since their last encounter.

As night fell, the last golden rays of light gone, the ground beneath her shuddered. Her stomach clenched, chest constricting with the familiar pull she tried desperately to ignore every time she set eyes on the castle in the center of the Labyrinth. Drawn to it. Drawn to him.

Bile rose in her throat, sweat coated the palms of her hands as her heart's cadence quickened, threatening to break out of its cage. Standing in the dark passage, she tried to settle the panic stirring within her, to remind herself that it was only a dream. Wasn't it? She was safe here. Nothing would truly harm her. Nothing ever had.

But there's always a first time for everything, a little voice in her head needled. She kept moving, focusing on her roses and ivy. This was a dream. Nothing in dreams could hurt you. Nothing here was real, she knowingly lied. She would wake up soon, and all of this would be just another dream.

Jareth focused his energy, searching out the connection between them. He attempted to teleport but remained stubbornly in place. His magic had never failed him. He growled, leather-clad hands tightening in fists at his side. He could no longer transport through the maze however he saw fit. He would have to find her on his own, searching on foot, traversing the twists and turns without the aid of aerial views and magical shortcuts. In other words, like a mortal.

Gone were his fantasies of having her by morning. It would take days, months, perhaps even years to find her through such primitive means. He would have only a few hours to reach her, unfortunately for him, she would not be a static goal like his castle had been for her. No help would come to his aid. The labyrinth actively conspiring against him. She would continue her explorations, hopefully, none the wiser to his pursuit until it was too late. There wasn't a magic strong enough to stop him forever. She would be his.

Sarah stopped as a new sensation washed over her. More tangible than the ache she neglected. A presence. Strong, formidable, angry. She was no longer alone. Something, someone was coming. Her mind was capable of only one response. Run!

She felt determination stretching across the invisible tether linking her to this new foe. Or was it an old enemy? Sarah refused to find out.

She sprinted through the maze, barely keeping ahead of the new growth that followed in her wake. The roots and branches that sprang up as she passed seemed to be reaching for her. She tripped more than once, her jeans ripped, knee bleeding. Her long dark hair, tangled in the leaves of her own making. Ignoring the pain, she clambered back to her feet. The beat pulsing through her veins urged her to keep moving. Never stop. And so she ran.