CHAPTER 2

Time passed quickly after Sarah's trip to the mall and soon enough she found herself less than a day away from her eighteenth birthday. However, she could not let her impending adulthood distract her from her studies. With finals creeping closer day by day, her free time was consumed with learning - no time to think of anything else.

Closing the front door quietly behind her, Sarah listened for the tell tale signs of her family but was greeted only by an excited Merlin, tail wagging eagerly at her arrival. Sarah could not help but smile at her dog's enthusiasm as she bent down to give him a cuddle

"Hello boy, are you all alone?"

Getting nothing in reply but a wet cheek, Sarah's attention focused on the sound of music coming from the kitchen, clearly someone else was home. Dumping her school bag by the door, Sarah made her way over to the kitchen whilst Madonna's "Like A Prayer" filled her ears – along with Karen's singing. This was a rare moment when Sarah actually felt closer to her stepmother. Her awful singing almost humanised her and the way she got embarrassed if she was discovered brought a little bit of dark glee to Sarah, however harsh that was.

"Er..Karen?"

The singing stopped. And a perfectly made up face poked its head around the kitchen door, a frown beginning to form upon it.

"Sarah...I wasn't expecting you back so soon."

Sarah raised her eyebrows.

"I always get back now, it's 4 o'clock."

"Oh. Well, I was going to try and keep this a surprise but you're here now so you may as well come and see."

Typical Karen, trying to make her mistake mine. Sarah rolled her eyes at the thought but followed her stepmother through the door regardless. The kitchen was not in its usual spotless state but instead was filled with propped open recipe books, ingredients and baking utensils. The smell was heavenly.

"You've been baking?"

"Well I haven't been curing cancer, now have I. Anyway, I know you told your Father that you didn't want a fuss for your birthday but we couldn't let you turn eighteen without at least having a cake."

Ignoring her sarcasm, Sarah's eyes widened at the sight her stepmother presented her with. A large chocolate iced cake, beautifully piped and with sugar roses on each corner and the words "Happy 18th Birthday Sarah" was enough to make her heart melt – she had obviously gone to a lot of trouble.

"Wow Karen, I don't know what to say."

"Well thank you would be a start, but it's for tomorrow, so no touching."

Sighing inwardly at her stepmother's ability to make her feel like a naughty child as opposed to a young woman, Sarah went to go retrieve her bag from the hallway when the high pitched voice of her little brother filled the room.

"Mama I'm hungry!"

Now four years old, Toby was a whirlwind of energy, having the constant need to play, investigate or just chatter away and Sarah couldn't suppress a laugh at the sight of her baby brother demanding food.

"And hello to you too! How about a kiss for your beautiful big sister, Toby?"

Scooping him up into her arms, she unleashed a sea of kisses onto his chubby face sending the small child into fits of giggles as he squirmed to get away.

"Stoppitstoppitstoppit! Mom, help me!"

"Sarah, put him down you're exciting him."

"I'm not excit- oh never mind."

Moment ruined, Sarah put Toby back down, leaving him to pull on the skirt of his mother, insisting he needed to be fed. Grabbing her bag, she made her way up to her room, careful not the slam the door behind her – no need to give Karen another reason to be irritable.

"Ugh, it's a dump."

Looking around, Sarah found she had forgotten the state she had left her room in this morning. Clothes from days gone by were left carelessly on the floor, copies of 'Teen Beat' and '16' were strewn over her desk along with forgotten school work and different nail polishes, mascaras and eyeliners littered her dresser. Sighing, she got to work.

The days following Sarah's 'Labyrinth experience', she had set her sights on not only decluttering her room, but ridding herself of anything childish, including her teddies and costumes. However, she could not bring herself to throw away the book she loved so dearly, so her copy of Labyrinth was hidden away in the depths of her desk to soon be forgotten about.

"Sarah? Are you in there?"

Now six-thirty, Sarah could actually see the floor and the sound of her Father's voice at the door dragged her away from her work.

"Yes, come in."

A cardboard box under one arm and laundry in the other, Robert Williams entered his daughter's room, a smile painted upon his tired face. Although only forty-six, the years had not been kind to him, something Sarah always thought was a result of her Mother leaving him.

"So, Karen tells me you ruined your surprise."

"I didn't mean to, I mean I always come home at-"

The man laughed.

"Sarah, darling I'm teasing. I'm glad you like it."

Laughing at her Dad's stupid idea of humour, Sarah's gaze fell upon his full arms.

"What's in the box?"

"Just some of Toby's old baby clothes. I've been meaning to throw these out for a while now, just never had the time I guess."

Setting the laundry on the floor, Robert used his free hand to open the tired brown box, pulling out an all too familiar red and white striped babygro. As she registered the clothing her heart began to beat erratically in her chest.

"Hard to believe he fit into this once, isn't it?"

Passing it to his daughter, Robert Williams failed to notice the look of incredulity upon her face as she fingered the soft material. He smiled gently as his eyes swept the room.

"You've cleaned."

Sarah could just about mention a 'uh-huh', her attention still focused on the item of clothing . She had seen Toby wear this before, of course she had it was one of his babygros after all, but why was it so important? Frustration began to flow through her at the crappiness of her memory, did this also have something to do with the manic eyed man from her dream? Or was she just being ridiculous and over thoughtful as per usual?

"You know Sarah, Karen and I are very proud of you."

Sarah looked up, confused. It was not like her Father to say something like that.

"Proud? Why?"

"In the last few years, you've changed so much and you've really matured into a young woman. Sometimes I hardly recognise you."

Unsure how to respond, Sarah simply smiled and played awkwardly with her fingers. She loved her Dad, she really did, but he was not one to get sentimental very often. It was a little unnerving.

"And I guess you won't be up at 6am tomorrow jumping on the bed and shouting that it's your birthday?"

"Probably not." Sarah could not resist a laugh.

Retrieving the laundry and the box of Toby's clothes, Robert went to leave but not before stealing one final glance at his child.

"You look just like your mother, you know." And then he disappeared.

Sarah stood in silence for a few seconds after the door clicked shut. She knew that her Dad meant that as a compliment but to her, it was an insult. Why would she want to look like a woman who abandoned her only child for fame? There had once been a time where Sarah had everything but worshipped her mother, keeping her newspaper clippings, hanging on her every word during phone calls and bragging to her school friends that her mother was famous. But as she had grown older her naivety had faded rapidly.

She realised that she only rang on important days such as birthdays or Christmas and any time Sarah rang, the calls would be short or nonexistent. She also realised that her mother had not left 'to pursue her dream' which she always told herself –she had left her, nothing more. Sarah destroyed her dreams of becoming an actress soon after her realisation, there was no way in Hell she wanted to be like Linda Williams.

But tomorrow she would call, and Sarah would pretend to be pleased and ask her how she was getting on and would listen as her mother gushed about her new boyfriend or her 'next big break'. And then it would be over - simple as that. Sighing, Sarah gathered up the last of her old magazines, threw them in the trash and made her way downstairs for dinner.

It wasn't until gone 9 o'clock Sarah returned to her room, dinner ate and dishes done. However, as she eyed her bed and the novel on her bedside table, the little voice of reality began yelling at her and her attention was directed to the calculus textbook and worksheets lying silently upon her desk.

"Come on brain."

Unfazed by the subject and amount to do, Sarah began to write. Unlike most people, Sarah liked calculus as there was either a right answer or a wrong answer – no in-between. She couldn't find herself getting lost in 'what if's' in calculus which was one less distraction for her to think about.

Lost in numbers, it wasn't until she heard the chime of the church clock that she realise how late it was. Midnight, she was eighteen. Yawning, Sarah closed the book and rubbed her tired eyes.

"Happy Birthday to me."

"Happy Birthday to you indeed, Sarah."

Instantly she spun around at the sound of another voice but nothing in the world could have prepared her for the sight she was met with. Standing tall with long blonde hair, mismatched eyes and a complacent smirk, Sarah could not believe what she was seeing. If he was the man from her dream all those years ago then that would mean–

"You're real?"

Jareth's eyes flickered for a split second, unaware that she had ousted him from her mind so soon but it passed and instead laughed cruelly at the girl's naivety.

"Of course I am Sarah, don't you remember?"

Sarah stared dumbly at the beautiful man, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the sides of her chair harder, willing her mind to make sense of the situation. It must have been a dream, there was no way it could have actually happened.

"It was a dream." Sarah spoke to herself more than to Jareth. "I was 15...I had a very overactive imagination."

Jareth could not help but smile at her reasoning.

"So explain my being here now."

"I...I'm still asleep. I must have fallen asleep at my desk."

Jareth cocked his eyebrow up in doubt, watching Sarah's face falter as even she did not believe her story. It was strange to him how one person could change so much in such a short space of time. The Sarah he remembered was a young girl, still carrying the tell tale signs of baby fat on her face, so innocent and naive. The woman before him was breathtaking, yet her eyes still held questions – perhaps his Sarah was not completely gone.

"The Sarah I knew would never say that."

Sarah said nothing as she mustered up confidence and met his unfathomable gaze. Her mind was now working furiously in order to piece everything together. For the past three years she had put memories of the Labyrinth, the Goblin King and her baby brother's kidnapping to the back of her brain and tricked herself into believing they were nothing more than an elaborate dream, but now the evidence of its existence was stood right in front of her.

"Why are you here?"

Silence.

"Are..are you here for Toby? Because I beat you! You have no right –"

"No, I am not here for Toby, Sarah."

Unconvinced by his words, Sarah rose slowly from her seat, her eyes darting quickly to her bedroom door.

"Then why are you here?"

"I am here for you, Sarah."

"For me? But why – wait!" Sarah had run the Labyrinth, she had bested him – she could see it now. The look of desperation in his face as she recited the right words, the crystal gripped tightly in his gloved hand. You have no power over me.

"You have no power over me!"

Jareth laughed darkly, his eyes lit up with sinister glee. This was almost too easy.

"I'm afraid that no longer applies Sarah, but I am glad to see you remember."

Jareth began to move closer to her as he spoke, watching Sarah intently as she herself moved backwards in order to keep the distance. Her back was met only by the chair she had sat on before and her mind began to whirl as she asked herself how she would get out of this.

"You see Sarah, when you ran my Labyrinth three years ago, you were nothing more than a child meaning that however much I wanted you to remain in the Labyrinth, I could not do so without your willing consent. Old Magical Law meant that I could not so much as even touch you without your will, so of course I had no other option than to send you back to the Aboveground."

He laughed again, the sound piercing the silence.

"But of course, as of midnight, the law of the Underground is no longer applicable therefore I am free to take you."

Whatever fear Sarah had felt beforehand slowly began to ebb away as he finished speaking. Waves of anger began to flow through her body at the sheer sight of him and she spoke finally through gritted teeth. How dare he walk all over her like this again.

"I am not yours to take."

"Sarah, you seem not to have listened -"

"No, I remember now, you are a horrible person. You stole my brother, made me run your stupid Labyrinth and drugged me with fruit. I would rather die than go with you."

But before she could even think about placing one foot in front of the other to leave, a force seemingly from nowhere pressed her up against the wall and the sight of the Goblin King engulfed her vision.

A smirk of power emerged on his lips as his eyes roamed over Sarah's now colourless face. She felt sick. Worse than sick. It was as if she had been punched in the stomach so many times that there was now a gaping hole in her delicate torso. But those eyes, so cold yet so alive but so deadly. They travelled down slowly to her chest which was heaving with fear and lack of oxygen. Trying to force back a whimper Sarah finally found a voice and prayed it would not betray her.

"I'll scream and my Dad will hear you and-"

In her mind Sarah was prepared to scream the place down and rip that bloody smug look off his pale face, yet she could not find the strength to do so. Moving his mouth to her ear his tone became hushed and menacing yet sickly sweet at the same time. The "hole" in Sarah's stomach twisted painfully flooding not blood but suffocating fear.

"Be my guest. Although I am not sure your Father will hear you from here, but by all means give it a try."

Jareth waved his left hand lazily, opening the bedroom door revealing the same castle backdrop she had seen three years ago.

"Welcome home, Sarah."