Disclaimer- Where as I do not own Jareth, or Sarah, or any other Labyrinth characters, I am still borrowing them for entertainment purposes. "As The World Falls Down" by David Bowie is compliments of the Labyrinth Soundtrack. However Larizel is my character, she is an extension of my own strange and twisted self well sorta… she was created by my twisted mind. Good enough.
Insanity Takes Its Toll
Chapter 1: The Tale
She walked through the house smiling as the real estate agent rattled off details. "The original structure only had three bedrooms and two full baths, but with the remodeling and renovation. You are looking at six bedrooms, including two master bedrooms, four full baths, two huge living rooms, a dining room and kitchen. Would you like to see the backyard?" The girl just smiled with a nod and followed the agent through the double French doors.
The yard was at least three acres in itself, and the agent seemed to take great pride in the tell tale of the yard. "One of the previous owners had bought the lot on either side of the house, and the three lots behind it to give herself space to create a garden..." The agent's voice faded into background as the girl took in the site of the garden.
Bushes and flowerbeds of all colors, roses, daisies, violets, carnations, lilies, sunflowers, even some she had never seen before and surely couldn't name. There were trees that enhanced the atmosphere by adding the breaking between light and darkness, as the sunlight would snake its way through the shade. Some were extremely tall like the great oaks; others were dramatic like the weeping willows, and some were just plain beautiful like the cherry blossoms, that she was pretty sure were blooming early. Every tree and bush seemed to be purposefully placed among the grounds. The marble paths lead throughout the entire grounds with many strategically placed benches. A few water fountains gave a tranquil environment that pleased the mind and soothed the soul. Statues of all kinds of fantasy origins were placed as if the garden was an art museum of fantastic creatures, of life and beauty. She walked through indulging in some of the different sculptures.
There was a fairy with butterfly wings high on her back leaning forward with one foot held further back than the other. Her arms were tilted somewhat up to the sky as if she were a ballerina. She had a serene smile on her face and mischief showing in her eyes. Another statue caught her attention. It was of what she could only guess was a dwarf. He had a strange expression of annoyance on his face. He wore simple trousers with a white renaissance shirt, and a vest that held a repulsive face on it's back, shaking his finger at the viewer, as a father would do to a child to say 'Don't say I didn't warn you.'
She finally came to a statue in the center of the garden surrounded by the largest of the fountains. Positioned as if he reigned over the garden he must have stood well over six feet. The jagged rocks that he stood on had waterfalls that flowed and trickled in-between and under his feet as if the water bowed to his presence. His hair was in ragged strands falling into his face and over his cloak and jacket that held a high set collar that fell over at the top. He wore what seem to be a shirt underneath the jacket that was torn down the center exposing his smooth chest and delicate collarbone. An amulet was slightly hidden behind the cloth. He had ruffles coming out the cuffs of his jacket. His face was what made her heart race. He had an almost cruel look to his eyes with a mocking smile that made the harsh angled face articulate wickedness, but held a captivating beauty.
There were small goblin-like creatures that were made to look like they were playing in the water. One looked as if it was splashing water at another that was not amused. There was what looked like a little girl goblin bent over like she was picking something up out of the water. There was one statue that you only saw the feet sticking out from the water. Another was shown only waist up with a complaining look on its face. The fountain was a realm of its own and ruled by the one that stood in the center of that world. The marble was so smooth and realistic it seemed like any minute the whole garden would come alive.
"Miss, did you hear me?" the short, plump woman stared hard at the girl with a strange bitterness. "You better not just be wasting my time."
The girl smiled sweetly for a moment then looked over the garden again. Without ever looking at the woman she finally spoke "Do you have a contract ready to be signed?"
The woman gave the girl a sideways look taking real notice of the girl for the first time. She was rather tall and thin. Her long raven hair hung just short of the small of her back. When it caught the sunlight just right it showed off her dark wine highlights. She was dressed like any other girl of the times with her flare-faded jeans and black halter-top. Her confident and independent posture matched the strength and self-assurance that showed in her facial expressions. Her skin was extraordinarily pale for a girl her age, with everyone living in a tanning bed these days. The well-defined angled bone structure gave her a dark and mysterious charisma. "Yes, I can have it ready by tomorrow. Does this mean you wish to purchase the house?"
The girl glanced down at the plump woman; her unnatural violet eyes seemed to look straight through the woman yet shined with excitement. "Yes. I would like to make the transfer of the money from my account directly to the owner's. Please tell them to do what is necessary to have that ready tomorrow for the closing. For your pay I shall bring in cash, so I must know how much you are owed for your duties."
The woman stood dumbfounded, "You plan to transfer the whole 3 million? If this is a joke it isn't funny."
The girl gave a half amused smile, but her voice did not match it as she crossed her arms. "Can you have it ready or not?"
The real estate agent looked the girl up and down before smiling and continued, "Yes, Ms.?"
"Ms. Arzelette, Larizel Arzelette."
"Yes Ms. Arzelette I will have all the arrangements ready for you by tomorrow at 1PM. My fee is 250,000. Though I think a money order, or cashier check would be more convenient than cash. Will that be sufficient for you?"
"Yes, thank you." Larizel turned away from the agent and made her way back to the doors that lead into the kitchen not giving the agent a second glance. Before stepping through the French doors she did however look back on the garden and straight at the statue that stood in the center of the fountain that lay in the heart of her garden. Yes, it was her garden now and the thought gave her a giddy feeling in her stomach. As she walked through the house heading out to the front door she found herself humming a song. Its melody was haunting, and in her head it held a painfully longing tone as she found herself singing the words.
"There's such a sad love,
Deep in your eyes,
A kind of pale jewel,
Open and closed within your eyes.
I'll place the sky
Within your eyes."
"Ms. Arzelette!" She heard her named called from across the house. She turned to find the real estate agent attempting to catch up to her walking at a fast pace. She stopped slightly out of breath a sign of how out of shape the woman was. "Ms. Arzelette, there's something else you should know about this house. I really shouldn't be telling you, but you seem like such a nice girl and I really feel you have a right to know." The plump agent fiddled with her hands staring at the floor unable to look Larizel in the eyes.
"Know what?" Larizel crossed her arms once more over her chest taking a very imperial demeanor and waited to hear what the older woman had to say.
"Well, this was the Williams' home. Have you ever heard of them?" The girl said nothing and made no indication of whether or not she knew of them, so the woman continued. "Well they had a daughter by the name of Sarah. Very nice girl, but Sarah had some issues. You see, at the age of fifteen Sarah had a nervous breakdown. Poor girl started babbling on about goblins, fairies, and other such nonsense. Her parents grew very worried and eventually sent her to a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist found that Sarah had no comprehension of reality and fantasy so she was deemed schizophrenic and a danger to herself and others. She now lives in the local psychiatric hospital. Some people say that Sarah set a curse over this house, and anyone who dare live in it is doomed to have her fate. Now of course I wouldn't be saying anything about this except. Well..."
The girl stared at the woman in curiosity taking in every word. She made a commanding swoop of her hand to the older woman. "Please go on."
The woman nodded and continued, "Well you see, the last owners had a daughter who was about 19, well shortly after they moved into the house she became obsessed with the mirror in her room. No one knew what to make of it, but soon she also was ranting on and on about a man in her mirror. She is the one who began the design of this garden and created all of the statues, quite talented young lady. When they took her away to the psychiatric institution, the same one as the Williams' girl, her mother continued the garden in honor of her daughter, planting the flowers and bushes as her daughter had planned. Not ready to let go of her daughters work she began buying the surrounding lots to extend the garden. Her mother said that her daughter would talk about 'him' asking her to do it. When she was working on the sculptures her mother saw this happiness in her and believed that the garden gave her a part of her daughter's happiness. They say that poor young girl now shares a room next to the Ms. Sarah Williams, which is now 32 years old. She has been in that hospital for 17 years. I only tell you because you seem so young and if the tales are true I feel you should at least know of the danger before buying the house. May I ask how old you are?"
The girl smiled wickedly as she spoke. "Well I'm 22 years old. I'm pretty sure I'm a little old for such fairy tales. I shall see you tomorrow at your office. Call my cell if it needs to be rescheduled." Larizel turned on her heel tossing her hair over her shoulder and walked through the house slowly. Through the huge dinning room, and the living room to the front door. She took a quick last look over the place and sighed to herself before shutting the door quietly behind her. She climbed into her black Porsche with its top down and began her journey back to her condo. Her drive home was pleasant and filled with a song that she couldn't wait to get home and work out into her music.
"As the pain sweeps through makes no sense for you.
Every thrill has gone, wasn't too much fun at all.
But I'll be there for you-oo-oo,
As the world falls down."
AN- So what do you think, do I have your attention? This story has been written in full in fact it's the first story I have ever finished in my life. I had started this about 6 years ago on my old username, Ezra's Angel, but I eventually wasn't able to finish it and it upset me that I had left my readers hanging. Which is why I refused to start posting it again until it was complete
8-16-08: I've come back and added more to the story. After writing the last couple of chapters over and over again I decided to come back through the first chapters and add more detail, no big changes.
