Thank you everyone who reviewed and who waited patiently for this next chapter. Remember, I do not own Labyrinth even though I won't object to being able to borrow Jareth.
Impending Doom
Sarah ran with the Devil at her heels. She could feel his fiery breath on the back of her neck. Pain shot through her legs at the strain she was putting on them. Sarah was doomed and she knew it. Only one person could help her now and Sarah knew he had no intention of doing so.
With a gasp, Sarah woke up in a large bed. The cool feeling of silk was against her bare skin, soothing the hurts and aches she acquired the day before. Confused, Sarah desperately fought to remember how she got there. Slowly the memories of Justin's or should she say Lucius' betrayal filled her mind. With a fire like intensity, anger shot through her veins and burned away rational thought.
How could he betray her like that? Sweet, gentle Justin who was her best friend in college for the past year and supported her when she was in need couldn't possibly be this monster who kidnapped her.
But then again, it all did make sense. When she had first met Justin, it had seemed magical. She was walking home from her night shift at the diner and had the sense of being followed. When the pursuer just matched her pace when she sped up, Sarah ran for her life. Then with luck against her, she had tripped and her assailant tried to assault her.
Before any real harm could come to her, Justin had appeared out of no where and beat the guy off of her. After that, Sarah found out they went to the same university and they became fast friends. Every time Sarah had felt like her world was falling apart around her, Justin always seemed to know and tried to cheer her up.
With a jolt from her recollections, Sarah heard the door slam open. Lucius stood there in an outfit Sarah thought she would only see on Jareth. He was clothed in a baby blue, silk shirt with tight black pants that revealed everything. Most surprising were the pointed ears that stood out since his blonde hair was tied in a tight band against the nape of his neck.
Startled Sarah inched up against the headboard of the bed grasping at the thin sheets to cover up her nudity. At this moment, she didn't even want to wonder who undressed her.
"Why, Sarah, are you afraid of me?" Lucius snarled with satisfaction. Realizing what she had just done, Sarah raised her chin in defiance and said as loud as her sore throat would allow her. "No, I was just disgusted at the thought of you coming near me."
Before she even finished her sentence, Sarah regretted it. With all of her bruises, you would have thought that she would have learned that he got upset quickly. In a blink of an eye, Sarah was thrown across the bed with her hair wrapped around Lucius' fist.
In a dilemma on whether to keep grasping at her only form of cover or fight back, Lucius whispered in her ear, "Sarah, when are you going to learn that you are mine now? I will have you, whether you are willing or I have to force you."
Pushing her away, Lucius smoothed out any wrinkles in his outfit. "I will be back in one hour to collect you. We're going to a ball tonight and you will behave accordingly." Sarah gazed up at him, hatred shining in her dark eyes. Smirking, Lucius warned, "Oh by the way, Sarah. If you don't behave, not only will I beat you until you regret your decisions, but I will do worse on your little brother."
Pain raced through her chest at the thought of Toby being hurt again. "Leave Toby out of this! He has nothing to do with you!" The warning was undermined by the hoarseness of her voice and the fact that her voice cracked half-way through. Dark laughter filled the air and then Lucius was gone. Crying out in frustration, Sarah fell back onto the bed and wished for help with the sinking feeling that no one was listening.
Jareth flew through the veil between the Underground and the Aboveground. For the few minutes that it took to find himself in Sarah's apartment, he questioned the reason behind his actions. Why was he doing this for her? She had rejected his offer and almost ended up killing him in the process.
Sarah had apparently moved on with her life and seemed happy while doing so. She didn't seem to have any regrets about her decision. So why was he going out of his way to try to find her? Ignoring the question for now, Jareth arrived at Sarah's apartment.
Letting himself in through the window, he transformed back into his human form and quickly searched the rooms. Sarah's entire apartment had been ransacked and furniture had been destroyed. Evidently the intruders were looking for something, but couldn't find it.
Thankfully, Jareth couldn't find any evidence that Sarah had been home when the search had happened. Transforming back into an owl, Jareth took to the streets. Since Sarah had entered his labyrinth, Jareth became in tuned with her presence. Everywhere she went, she left a temporary trail that could be easily followed if someone knew what to look for.
Following that very same trail, Jareth found himself in an alley. Wrinkling his nose, Jareth sighed in disdain at the smell of sweat and urine that the alley radiated. Trying to ignore the scent, Jareth searched for any sign of Sarah.
The smell of her perfume still lingered in the air along with the smell of blood. Frowning, Jareth stepped a little bit deeper into the alley. Allowing his eyes to adjust to the dark setting, Jareth located a man lying on the ground apparently dead.
Inspecting the body, Jareth realized the body had a hole through the chest and claw marks on the face. Jareth could smell Sarah's scent all over the man's body. Rage coursed through him as he realized that the man had tried to hurt Sarah. Kicking the body once out of spite, Jareth frantically searched for her.
Growling in frustration and fear, Jareth dimly noted that Sarah's trail ended here. Racking his brain for explanations, he could only find two. One, Sarah was dead. Two, Sarah had been taken to the Underground. Berating himself silently for not being able to detect other people's essences, Jareth called for the only person he knew that could.
It was a long shot, calling for him, but Jareth didn't know what else to do. He was the only one who was willing to come to the Aboveground. In about a minute, the corner of the alley started to darken and it seemed like someone colored everything black. Out of the shadows stepped a figure. "What do you need of me, Jareth? It must be important to call me from my sleep."
Jareth turned around and faced the voice. "Damion, what essences do you see?" Damion didn't seem to mind the commanding tone of the voice or the fact that Jareth didn't answer his question. Without skipping a beat, Damion answered. "I see four strands that belong to one human female and three creatures of the Underground." Swearing, Jareth asked once again. "Can you make out who the three creatures are?"
Damion was quiet for a moment, but then answered. "I cannot. It seems that there was a protection spell on them during their time here." Jareth should have known better than to hope. Every being that traveled to Aboveground wore protection spells to hide from other creatures there.
"Fine, I am sorry to wake you from your sleep, old friend, but it is time that I called upon that favor that you owe me." Damion seemed intrigued at Jareth's odd behavior. Jareth had always been known to be cruel and never had thanked him for his services before.
"I need you to find out who those three creatures were and where that girl is."
"As you wish." With those three simple words, Damion disappeared back into the darkness and the alley seemed to brighten a little bit more.
Jareth looked around at the deserted alley and the dead man. "Sarah, I will find you and take out my wrath on whoever has hurt you." With that vow, he transformed back into an owl and traveled back home.
"My lord, what are you going to do?" A beautiful woman with blondish-silver hair lounged on the arm of Lucius' thrown. The atmosphere of the room was one of a barely concealed evil. The decorations were extravagant, but if one studied them closely, the glamour just hid the beginnings of deterioration.
"Don't worry my dear; I had already foreseen this happening. It was only a matter of time before he realized she was missing. No matter how much the Goblin King wishes to hide his love for the mortal, it's obvious to one who knows where to look." Putting down the mirror that had revealed Jareth only moments before, Lucius stood up.
"I still do not see why you must keep that wretch here." The woman pouted, running her arms down Lucius' chest. "I am can pleasure you much better than that little girl can." Gripping her arm to prevent those hands to go down any further, Lucius took his time in answering her.
"Now, Aleshia, you are not jealous are you? Sarah is a means for my way to power. Without her, Jareth will soon become weak from despair and with her death; I will accomplish what no other has done. I will defeat the Goblin King and take control of the Labyrinth." Smiling at his foreseen glory, Aleshia said, "Then, will you make me your queen?"
Glancing down at her drug filled gaze, Lucius smiled at her as if she was a child, "Of course not my dear, I will not share my power. But you will continue to be my mistress." Aleshia pouted but then realized that this was as close as she was going to get. Anyway, with just a little bit of the proper persuasion, she was sure she could get him to change his mind.
Lucius turned his attention away from Aleshia's luscious form and to Sarah's. It was obvious who would win in the beauty division between the two. Sarah's body could not even compare to Aleshia, but where as Aleshia won in beauty, Sarah triumphed in personality. Aleshia was like a porcelain doll that's only value was by looking at it, where as Sarah was easy on the eyes and still managed to intrigue one into conversation.
Yes, Sarah was an invaluable asset to Lucius at the current time. With Sarah at his side, not only will he conquer the Goblin King, but also rule the entire Underground. Laughing out loud, Lucius bet Sarah didn't even realize the power she possessed.
Startled, Aleshia studied Lucius. He was laughing like he had just gotten the pleasure of taking candy from a baby. "Darling, share. What's so hilarious?" Smiling at her, Lucius replied, "Nothing, my dear, just the fact that soon I will have everything I have ever desired."
Sarah massaged her sore head. She was surprised that she didn't find any bald spots. Glaring at the closed door, Sarah fumed over Lucius' words. Sarah Williams was her own person and definitely was not the property of someone else! Quickly the anger dissipated and curiosity raised its feline head.
The room Sarah was left in was richly decorated. Dark purple covered the walls along with exquisite paintings of landscapes. Looking, Sarah glanced upon a white wardrobe. Hoping for it to be a solution to her current nudity, Sarah started gathering the sheets around her to get up with.
Hearing a noise, Sarah looked up to see a young girl dressed in a maid's outfit walk in. The girl's eyes were downcast and she shuffled to where Sarah was. "Hello?" Sarah asked quietly afraid to frighten the girl.
The girl didn't say anything but looked down with the cap she was wearing hiding her face. Hearing the door open again, some men carried in a huge tub with other maids clutching buckets of hot water walking in after them.
Clutching the sheet to her, Sarah watched as they did the slow process of putting it down and filling it up. Finally the process was completed and they quietly left. In the back of her mind the question of why they didn't use magic formed, but Sarah quickly dismissed it.
The girl tugged at Sarah's sheets, but Sarah determinedly tugged back. There was no way she was going to give up her only form of modesty! "Miss, I'm sorry, but I was ordered to help you with your bath. There is no way that I'm going to be able to do that with you being wrapped in a sheet." The girl whispered the comment and Sarah could detect a slight trace of fear in her voice.
Wringing her hands together, the girl just stared at the floor with a look of anxiety on her face. Immediately, Sarah softened her look of annoyance and felt shamed. "I'm sorry. I started this off wrong. Please, my name is Sarah, what's yours?"
The girl's face lit up in surprise and she raised her eyes to meet Sarah's. With a quick intake of breath, Sarah gazed into sorrow filled violet eyes. Tendrils of brown curls poked out from underneath the tight cap and framed her heart-shaped face.
"Miss Sarah, will you please let go of the sheet, so that I can help you with your bath?" The girl whispered again, quickly reverting back to her timid self. Smiling, Sarah stood up with the sheet still wrapped around her.
"Just a moment, let me get closer to the tub first." Sarah replied walking over to the tub emitting steam. In one fluid motion, Sarah had discarded the sheet and stepped into the tub. A hiss escaped her lips at the temperature of it, but soon it turned into a sigh of pleasure.
For about an hour, Sarah was privileged to the gentle ministrations of the girl cleaning her hair and helping her with the tedious job of rinsing it.
After her bath was over, Sarah was forced into a beautiful green gown that dipped low in the front and back. Sarah had always loved dressing into beautiful dresses and playing dress up, but she always loved to be modest when doing so. This dress bordered indecency and showed a lot of cleavage.
The dress was simple in design, but the girl who revealed herself to be Alana after much persistence from Sarah added a diamond belt to the dress to class it up. This along with a diamond necklace and earrings made the dress look a little bit more extravagant.
Skillful with hair also, Alana put Sarah's hair up in a bun on her head with diamonds mingled in. Although her makeup was simple, Alana managed to hide the bruise on Sarah's cheek from when Lucius hit her and brought out her eyes with a green eye shadow.
The final completion of the attire was a green mask outlined in silver. Too late Sarah realized that the ball Lucius mentioned was a masquerade. Immediately the dance with Jareth during her time in the Labyrinth was brought to her mind. Hoping that this experience was going to be different, Sarah fought to stay calm.
She remembered Lucius' warning all to well. Be good or Toby was going to get hurt. Right now Sarah couldn't afford to rebel against his wishes, even if that meant losing some of herself in the process.
As if on queue, Lucius appeared at the door and with just one glance over, Sarah felt her very core being violated. "Ah…so I see you like the dress I picked out for you." Desire showed in his eyes blatantly and Sarah blushed at the mere thought of what was running through his brain.
Steeling her back, Sarah walked over to him. "Let's get this over with." Smiling at her attitude, Lucius held out his hand and waited for Sarah to take it. Feeling impending doom, Sarah grasped his hand and waited for what tonight would bring.