A/N: Just in case I haven't made my point, I do not own Labyrinth. I don't own anything, really, except my own twisted imagination, although I would like to cash in on that some day and make a horror movie that will scare the bejeepers out of the toughest man.
Haunted
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Karen lay in bed, staring up at the canopy. She could hear Toby moving about in his crib, making cute little squeaks in his sleep. Robert was laying on his stomach, snoring. She smiled fondly at her husband. She had never dreamed that she would find such a wonderful man, especially after that disastrous incident with Micheal ten years ago, but she was glad that she had. Robert had taken away her bitterness at the world, her disdain for the human race.
She could not sleep, troubled by her brother's terrifying behavior. Why on earth was he so determined to have Sarah? She was a beautiful girl, to be sure, but this desire ran deeper than mere lust. Jareth had courted many women over the years, and found flaws with each one. He claimed that they were unworthy of him and his kingdom, and those women were part of their world. Sarah was a human, a race which Jareth thought very little of, brushing them aside as inferior, no better than an animal. Why then, was he so determined to have one in his grasp?
She blamed herself for Sarah's predicament. When Jareth had approached her almost two years ago, imploring that she wish Sarah away to him, she should have seen his true motives, and taken greater lengths to protect both Sarah and Toby. But how was she to know, when her brother was so damn aloof all the time, never revealing his true motives until it was convienient for him...
FLASHBACK
She sat on bed, shaking from anger. She could not for the life of her figure out why her new stepdaughter hated her so. She had been nothing but nice to the thirteen year old for the past year, but Sarah wanted nothing to do with her. She could understand that Sarah might resent a new authority figure, especially considering her mother had run off and abandoned her family, but she made it perfectly clear that there was no one on earth she hated more than her new stepmother. And there was no telling how Sarah would react to the news she had received that day. Something told her that it wouldn't be pleasant.
"Problems?" a smooth voice said in her ear. She whirled around to see her brother's face, giving her a chilling smirk.
"You..." she whispered.
"Me," he said, moving to sit beside her.
"What are you doing here, Jareth?" she asked, jumping up and running for the door. She quickly locked it. The last thing she needed was her husband walking in and finding her brother. He wasn't exactly the type that could be easily explained.
"I have a proposition for you, Karei," he said, his feral smirk not leaving his face, "Oh wait, it's Karen now, isn't it? You've given yourself a human alias."
"Get to the point, Jareth. Why are you here? What could you possibly want from me?"
"Want? Why, I only want to assist you. What else would I want?" he said, cocking an eyebrow.
"Jareth, I know you well enough to know that you never do anything without expecting something in return," she said, glowering and crossing her arms.
"Well, we can't all be as generous as you, sister. You should have learned better than to just give things away. Giving up your immortality to save your precious human. And look what happened. As soon as he got well, he ran off with some loose little tramp, and left you all alone. He hurt you, didn't he Karei?"
"That's enough, Jareth! Answer my question! What do you want!" she shouted, as he slowly approached.
"You have quite a predicament on your plate, haven't you? Having to deal with a spoiled brat of a stepdaughter day after day. An ungrateful little wretch, who makes it her mission to make your life as miserable as possible. And in your fragile condition, you can't afford such stress," he said, leaning forward, and giving her stomach a little pat.
"How did you know?" she gasped, taking a step back.
"What kind of big brother would I be if I didn't keep an eye on my little sister?" he said, smirk returning to his lips, "Not a very good one, I'd say."
"Get on with it, Jareth."
"You could have a perfect life, you know, if you got rid of young Sarah."
"Oh, hell no! I know what you're getting at now, and the answer is no. I'm not going to wish her away."
"Don't be foolish. Do you honestly think that your husband will choose you over his daughter? He'll leave you, and you'll be all alone again, only this time, you'll have a child to raise. And if I remember correctly, humans don't respond kindly to unmarried mothers."
"Sarah will come around, and you don't know Robert. He won't just up and leave me."
"I know far more than you think. I do believe he already left one woman, what makes you so sure he won't do the same to you? But if you give me your stepdaughter, you, your husband, and your child could live a perfect, content life. Think about it, just twelve small words and the ideal life is yours."
"No, dammit! Even if I wanted to, how would I explain that to Robert?"
"Oh honestly, why not just alter his memories? You could easily make him forget that Sarah even exists," he said, picking up a picture of Sarah that was sitting on Robert's bedside table. He studied it intently, with a strange gleam in his eyes that she could not place.
"I'm not going to mess with my husband's memories, and I'm not going to wish Sarah away to you."
Jareth didn't take his eyes off the photo. "Thirteen, isn't she? And she just recently came of age, I believe."
"Yes, but I don't see what that has to do with anything," she snapped.
"I like to know things about the children I take."
"Get out of here! I'm not going to give her to you, so you and I have no further business. Leave."
"Don't do this to yourself, sister. You should know by now that nothing good comes to those who defy me. If you don't give me your stepdaughter, you might awaken one morning to find your child has vanished."
"Empty threat. You can only take a child if it is wished away by someone with power over them, or if they give themselves to you freely, and I guarantee you that neither will ever happen."
"We shall see. I always get what I want in the end, you'll recall."
"Not this time. Get out of here, you bastard."
"Just remember, Karei, the fate of your child is on your head," he hissed, before vanishing. She looked in disdain at the pile of glitter he left in his wake.
"Oh, that's never going to come out of the carpet," she moaned.
END FLASHBACK
How could she have been so stupid to not see the signs. Jareth had desired her even back then, and probably long before that. She had foiled him for now, but she was positive that he would soon bounce back with a new, even more sinister plan.
Well, Jareth would not win this time. As long as she was living, her brother would never get his paws on Sarah or Toby. Toby would not become another of Jareth's trophies, and Sarah would not spend her life as Jareth's toy, being raped and abused for all eternity (or at least until Jareth grew bored with her.)
Jareth had better beware, for their was nothing more dangerous than a woman fighting to protect those she loved...
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A/N: Another chapter down. I think this is coming along nicely.
Oh and to the person who PMed me, requesting more Jareth/Sarah interaction, it's coming, I promise. But the stage needs to be set for it. These what you call 'pointless backstories' are in reality very important to the plot. And there's still one more to go: Nigel's. Nigel's back story is the most important.
If you remember in the actual movie, the Sarah/ Jareth interaction is very minimal. Suggestive, but minimal.
And to the people I attempted to pm, my computers been being dumb, so if you got it, great, if you didn't, I'm sorry.
Please Review!