CHAPTER EIGHT

It had been over two years. Hilary rolled over in bed and stared at the framed photo perched on her bedside cabinet of a beaming Sarah with her arms around her pale, freckled shoulders. It was one of many photos of the two of them, but it was her favourite. The frame was slightly tarnished on the right hand side where she had run her finger down in her sorrow.

Her best friend was still missing without a trace. The police had let it stagnate into a cold case. No one had seen her leave the bathroom. The door was still locked from the inside when people then busted it open in their impatience. The windows were also still fastened from the inside, when the police were called by Hilary. They reasoned someone else could have shut them and locked them in the time that it took for the police to arrive. They didn't find any of her finger prints on the latches though.

Hilary often wondered about that man who had been helping her look for him, Jack, or Jim or whatever his name was. The man that had been dressed like a 80s hair-band rockstar fairy, with glam makeup and everything. He had claimed he had been a friend. He disappeared that night also. Except no one remembered him but her. Even Mark who had drunkenly argued with the fairy, only had vague recollections. He kept insisting she had done a runner with a college student.

When the cops questioned her they had been very interested in Jack or Jim. Less interested in Mark, despite being the angry, potentially violent and unfaithful ex husband.

All leads ran cold; like her blood the moment she realised she had lost her best friend. However, she didn't stop looking for her in crowds, on trains, in shops or wherever she went. Her eyes constantly scanned for a dark haired, green eyed beauty, always coming up empty. She often asked the police if they had any new information. They never did. They never really seemed to care, either.

Hilary missed her. Missed her laugh, and having someone to talk to. Sarah had been someone who had given her a chance in life, when all others had let her down. As cliche as it was, Sarah had been Hilary's rock. She lost her family and her friends from a previous life, for many reasons, one of which was her bisexuality. Sarah was open, caring and fun. Hillary didn't deserve her, but she sure as hell was going to keep fighting for her. No-one else seemed concerned about her vanishing, but Hilary wasn't about to let people forget that Sarah Williams existed and had been a phenomenal human being.

"Where are you Sar?" she whispered to the frame as she did every morning. Her ritual. Something about living constantly on edge and given her many different ticks and rituals, so she had some semblance of control over her life when she felt like she had none at all.

She had guardianship over all of Sarah's belongings as she had been listed as Sarah's next of kin. Mark should have been, but he wasn't interested, so it passed to her. She kept a box of belongings that had been special to Sarah, ready for when she returned. Some of her furniture she had also kept, like an ornate mirror that Sarah claimed had been handed down to her as an heirloom. It looked like an ordinary mirror to her, but Sarah had insisted it was special.

If I was special to Sarah, then she kept it.

She had also tried fruitless times to contact Toby. He had a right to know his sister was missing. But every number she tried, led to dial tones. Another ritual: phoning different numbers, from different numbers at different times. No wonder Sarah had no luck over the years. It had been an insurmountable task.

Kicking her legs out of bed, she went through her morning routine. She tried yet another number from a burner phone, writing it all down in her diary as it rang out.

Her next task was to read the little red book. She had found the little red book amongst Sarah's most treasured belongings. She read it and re-read it.

She didn't know why.

Something about the Goblin King seemed strikingly familiar however. So she opened the book as she always did and scanned the pages.

It was only a brief flickering, but something caught her eye. Carefully she turned the pages until she came across some words scrawled in the margin, that she could have sworn she had never seen before.

"Call Hoggle: Mirror. "

She looked towards Sarah's mirror and cautiously peered into it.

"Call Hoggle," she said aloud. "Hoggle?"

Nothing happened. Of course it didn't. The mirror reflected only Hilary's wan features and her dyed blue hair. Dying hair was her therapy. Her blue eyes always seemed to clash with her red hair anyway. At least now her hair and her eyes matched. Sighing, she rested her face in her hands. Her isolation from the world and Sarah, was turning her into a mad person. Talking to mirrors and expecting to see something, and a Hoggle at that. What on earth was a Hoggle anyway?

"Yer not Sarah," came a gruff voice. Hilary's head shot up and in the mirror was the ugliest, bulbous nosed, blue eyed creature she had ever seen. She spun around to see nothing but her empty room. With trepidation she turned back to the mirror.

He was still there gaping back at her. He was IN the mirror.

"I said, yer not Sarah."

"N-no, I am not," Hilary swallowed. What the fuck was happening? "Who or what the fuck are you?"

"I is Hoggle, and I ain't interested in telling you what I am," he groused.

"Hoggle?" Hilary picked up the red book, and showed him. "This fucking book asked me to call you."

"Wells, yer did, didn't ya?" blue eyes were rolled under heavy set lids.

"I did," Hilary nodded. "Sarah has been missing for two fucking years. I'm her friend, I'm Hilary."

Hoggle's eyes narrowed, and he thumped his chest. "Sarah is my friend."

"She was - is my friend too," Hilary couldn't believe she was about to placate this creature in the mirror. She also vowed she would cut down on the swearing, despite this unbelievable event currently happening that was driving her to swear harder. "I am sure you're a wonderful friend of hers too."

He just grunted.

"She's fucking missing, Hoggle," Hilary continued, forgetting her vow instantly. "Two years ago she went missing from a party. No one has seen her since. She went into the bathroom, and never came out. Just fucking vanished."

"Two years ago you say?" Hoggle rubbed his warty chin. "By my workings, I'd say that was thirteen years after she defeated the Labyrinth."

He paused and looked down at his large, tough leathery looking hands. Hilary frowned as he spoke. What the fuck was happening? Was the Labyrinth the one from the book? She had to be dreaming. Sarah was into fantasy but clearly the doctors had to up her depression medicine. Or decrease it. She had to be hallucinating.

"Yeah, thirteen years by my reckoning, ya didn't happen to see a floppy yeller haired man-rat did ya?"

Her eyes widened, her nostrils flared. "There was a man claiming to be her friend dressed as a glam rocker fairy from the 80s. He vanished too."

"That sounds like the rat," Hoggle covered his eyes with his hands. "That rat Jareth has gots the nerve to kidnap our Sarah."

"Jareth?" furrowing her brow, and biting her lip, she tried to recall his name. "I swear he said his name was Jack."

"Ah, missy, that line about fae not being able to lie is...well, a lie."

"Fae?" Hilary laughed. She had to. This was insane.

"Yeah, he's the Goblin King, nasty piece of work," Hoggle sighed. "Didn't thinks he'd kidnap her though. And you say it's been two years. I haven't seen her. Nor has Sir Didymus, ands I doubt Ludo has either. However-"

He tapped a gnarled finger against his forehead. "He has beens acting peculiar-like. He keeps disappearing to Ghent. Maybe she's there."

"Ghent? Where is that?"

"Town to the east of the Labyrinth, mainly humans there," Hoggle explained.

"Labyrinth? You keep mentioning that?"

"Yeah well that's where I lives after all."

"What country?"

"The Underground," Hoggle growled. "It ain't important. I need to gets everyone to start looking for her. We needs to find her and rescue her. She is my best friend, not that she deserves me."

"Please let me know the moment you know anything," Hilary begged.

"We wills."

With those final words Hoggle disappeared from view. Hilary stared blankly at the mirror for a solid ten minutes wondering if she had totally lost her mind. Part of her knew it had been real. That Jack fellow had kidnapped her and taken her Underground.

It didn't sound good, but a burst of hope battled the rising dread within her. After two years this was something to give her hope, or give her closure. She bit her lip and scrunched her eyes up as so many feelings swept over her.

She had to go to work soon but she almost felt like ringing in sick in case Hoggle contacted her again. She clutched the red book and hugged it close to her chest.

"Thank you book, for giving me something to go on," she whispered. "Please let me find Sarah."

She almost imagined a slight answering warmth from the book in her hands. She just saw a talking dwarf - man- thing in a mirror. Her best friend had been kidnapped by a fairy in a Tina Turner wig. It wouldn't surprise her at this juncture if the book could hear her.

A/N

Next chapter coming really soon, where we get back to the main story line, after this deviation to check in on Hilary. And finally get to see Hoggle after eight chapters.