Sarah looked into the dreary, miserable day beginning to form outside of her apartment's window, with a sense of calm and quiet eagerness. It had felt like an eon since it had rained, and she was more than ready to take full advantage of her unusually free schedule, and sit down to a quiet day in the window seat that served as her own personal reading nook. For some time, she studied the droplets of water as they ran down the glass pane, which was beginning to fog up from the steam rising from her freshly poured coffee. She placed bets with herself as to which would reach the bottom first. Sarah sighed and leant back against the wall, content knowing that, had money and company been involved, she would have easily won back her bets.
Grabbing today's volume down from the shelf across from her, and feeling shameful about her mug of instant coffee (a feeling brought on from the wafting smell of freshly ground coffee beans from the cafe that her apartment was set above) Sarah settled into her nest, wrapping a thick, woollen blanket around her shoulders to keep out the cold radiating from the window. A soft mew served as a warning for her to expect company, and she chuckled softly as Ludo, a motley coloured cat she'd rescued only a few weeks before, planted himself precisely on her lap and gave a disapproving glare at her lack of invitation. The space was, after all, his. Obviously. Sarah stroked his fur lightly as she was drawn into the world of Jane Austen. Something about the way it was written, and knowing full well that the story was at least somewhat based on real life, gave her comfort. She hadn't been able to bring herself to read anything remotely fantastical for almost a decade, despite an accumulating collection at the hand of her family. Not since her encounter with a world she knew to be real.
It wasn't until she noticed that her still full mug was stone cold, that Sarah decided that now was a good time to take a break. Outside her window, the setting sun began to cast the city in a mixture of golden light and deep shadows.
'Come on,' she said as she began to wriggle, attempting to shift her personal hot water bottle, 'time to hop off.' When Ludo made no effort to move, she sighed and, reluctantly, removed him from a spot that had grown comfortable for both. Neither were happy at the sudden interruption.
'Now don't give me that look, I gave you plenty of warning.' Ludo moved off to sulk in the bedroom, separated from her small living space by only a wooden screen, intricately carved into an elephant themed design.
Sarah grabbed her mug from the seat and scowled at the wasted opportunity. Without skipping a beat, however, she placed it into the microwave, and walked away wondering what Karen would say. As if planned by some unknown forces, a muffled ring sounded from within the apartment. A sudden crash of pillows and a terrified whirl of brown alerted Sarah as to her phone's location. She stifled a laugh without success as she answered her step mother's phone call.
'Good morning Karen,' she said, unusually happy to receive her call, 'how are y-, oh shit, really? Its that late already?' Sarah looked wide eyed at the clock above her microwave, wondering how she hadn't noticed the time before.
'No no no, I'm fine… I've just uh, been reading. I've had the day off you see and-' It was all she could do not to hang up as Karen once again reminded her that she was expected next week for a family reunion. 'Yes of course I'll be there, I wouldn't miss it.'
Sarah shifted the phone to her other ear, and held it in place with her shoulder as she moved about the room, wincing as the microwave went off.
'Sorry, just heating up something to eat.' she lied between her teeth. The moments pause following, however, told her that her step mother wouldn't be easily fooled. Rather than scolding her, as Sarah removed the mug, Karen continued bombarding her with times and unnecessary details regarding the following week's event.
Sarah moved back towards the nook after setting down some food to calm Ludo's nerves, and stared out the window and down into the street, watching the flurry of people, her mug in one hand and the squawk box in the other. She was just beginning to draw smiley faces against the forming fog, as she listened the woman drone on, when her eyes were inexorably drawn to a figure across the street. The man stood there waiting outside a small bar, seemingly taking shelter from the rain, in long, dark trousers, tight enough to accentuate many a feature, matching shoes, and a plunging, deep-purple, long-sleeved shirt. Above, his platinum hair was styled in a way that reflected some degree of care, yet still seemed to scream, 'I woke up like this'. The sight of him, relaxed against the wall, yet still seeming to dominate the area, distracted her from the scintillating conversation being held. The whole, 'purposely dishevelled' look roused something in her that she hadn't felt for a very long time. She couldn't quite put a finger on it, but she knew that whatever it was, would sooner or later land her into the the very deep end of a very deep pool. It wasn't until she had done another once over and looked up to his face, that she suddenly found herself being watched by the most striking, and yet familiar, features she had ever laid eyes on. A knowing smirk played across his lips as his eyes, mismatched, bore into hers. It took her a few moments to realise what was happening.
In a scramble to remove herself from his sight, she scolded herself with the coffee from the tumbling mug, and dropped the phone with a curse, as she tried to remove the now boiling material of her jumper from her skin. Eventually deciding the best course of action would be to simply remove it, she took off the jumper and quickly grabbed to phone, apologising profusely as she searched for another clean top. After eventually finding another jumper that passed the sniff test (a habit she wasn't proud to admit), she spent only a few minutes more talking with her step mother, who had grown bored of a lack of praise for her organisational efforts. With a polite goodbye and a hello for Toby and her father, Sarah hung up the phone, and sank to the floor against the wall by her front door.
Her hands went to her face as she tried to make out what had happened. One moment she was talking to her step mother, the next, she was spilling coffee all over herself in an attempt to escape the eyes of a man she herself had been fawning over. Unfortunately for her, only one person could possibly begin to fit the description, despite the fact that living in New York for the past 5 years has meant a constant exposure to the most interesting of fashion choices. A quick 'Fuck you Jareth', was all she could manage to think as she put her hands to her temple. She was suddenly very tired, and wearily delighted with the fact that Ludo had finished his dinner, and was gently rubbing against her in an attempt to lure her to bed for the night. She happily complied and succumbed to sleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.
'Sarah…' A soft voice was calling through inky blackness.
'Sarah, listen to me,' it called again as she began to turn about, trying to find the owner of the voice that was beginning to strike a chord, stirring up feelings she hadn't felt for many years.
'I know that this may be hard to process, but you have to trust me. Please. You need to wake up. Now Sarah! Go!'
The ink began to swirl around her. Sarah stared down at her hands, and a scream rent through the fabric of her mind as her skin began to flicker and swirl, as if it too was made of nothing more than mist. All around her, shadowy figures began to form - various men and women, buildings, alleyways - so quickly that she got no more than a quick glimpse at each image, though she could feel them pressing in on her with a coolness that seemed to freeze her in place. It all began to spin, and all she could do was whimper. Feeling something forming around her, Sarah looked up just in time to see a dark figure, made of a thicker mist, though seemingly opaque, walking towards her. It pulsated with such power, that she couldn't help backing up.
She came to an abrupt stop and she felt herself back into something warm, and very much alive. Sarah's head snapped down again as she felt a warmth snake around her waist, and press in around her hand. A more solid, pale hand gripped hers firmly and intertwined their fingers in an attempt to anchor her. She followed the length of the hand, up the arm and to the face that had riddled its way into her dreams every night since she was a teenager. Seeing Jareth's face with an expression of such concern mixed with something she couldn't quite put her finger on, she couldn't help but turn and fall into him, sobbing. Without hesitation, his arms went around her, and squeezed her so tightly that it seemed all her breath escaped her. A shrill cry rent through the darkness, and the pulsating began to fade.
Jareth began to pull back slightly, and she clawed at the front of his shirt in a way not unfamiliar to her dreams. This time, however, it seemed so real.
"You have to wake up Sarah…" His voice and warmth began to fade, even as she felt herself obeying.
Sarah sat up with a start, a light sheen of sweat covering her temples as she began to thrash, unable to figure out where she was. As she moved, the blankets and sheets began to tangle themselves around her arms and legs, further restricting her movement and sending her into a frenzy of panic. Her limbs began to both tingle and ache at the same time, at the thought of not being able to move. She sat bolt upright, and cried out at her lack of vision, which rendered her unable to see both where she was, and what was stopping her from moving. After a few moments of heavy breathing, the confusion subsided and left her panting on the edge of her bed. Having peeled away the layers, her head was once again in her hands, though, this time, hot tears streaked down her face and into the blackness that the night threw over her room.
'What on earth is going on,' she whispered through small gasps that accompanied the tears.
Unable to stay still any longer - partially from an urge to relish the fact that she could move her limbs - Sarah got up and moved towards to the sideboard next to her nook. There, she took out a tumbler and a half empty bottle of dark liquor, and poured herself a generous dose of 'calm the fuck down' - a tonic that she had been self medicating with for the riddance of the dreams not unlike the one she had experienced tonight.
'To think,' Sarah swished the bottle after taking her draught in one hit, 'I only bought this a week ago.'
She looked over to the clock, and squinted in an effort to see that it was just before midnight. Sarah sighed as she climbed back into bed, where she laid wide eyed for the better part of an hour. Millions of thoughts pulsed through her head, and kept her away from a welcomed unconsciousness, causing her to toss and turn relentlessly, until she found herself staring out of the small window of her room at the rain. Sounds and lights from the city below echoed and reflected throughout her apartment, stirring her from her reverie. Sarah groped around for her phone, this time under her denim jacket in the corner of the room, and, once located, dialled a friend she knew would still be awake at this time on a Saturday night.
'Hello? Sarah?' A voice muffled by loud music and shouting came through the receiver.
'Hey, Andrew, yeah its me,' she replied, 'you up?' Sarah began fiddling with a business card that had been stuffed into the pocket of her jacket, which had fallen out upon her disruption. Labyrinthique Jazz Bar, she read, and stared in wonderment at the uncanny resemblance of the design to a certain pair of door knockers.
A small chuckle was heard through the phone, before a sarcastic voice replied in the negative. She laughed.
'Look I was wondering if you'd mind a bit of company?'
'What! Sarah coming out on a Saturday!? Heaven forbid, what have you done with my friend!' he said with mock incredulity.
Sarah shook her head and laughed, only slightly reprimanding him. After a few minutes and a cigarette on his part, they'd agreed upon a meeting place and time - the lavish jazz bar from the card, which ended up being only a few blocks away in the centre of Manhattan - and Sarah was getting ready to go out. She patted Ludo, grabbed her keys, and left her apartment less than half an hour later