A/U: Hay everyone thank you so much for all the kind reviews and faves I really wasn't expecting people to like this that much ; so anyway I'm sorry for the wait on this chapter, not only did school just get back in from winter break but I've been having writers block off and on for months now…it really sucks TTTT but I finally got some inspiration for this chapter so yeah hopefully it turned out ok? I sorta tweaked it from what I had in mind and what I came up with…yeah so tell me what ya think. And sorry for any errors I'm trying, honest I am, but I still haven't found a beta yet so yeah….
P.S the next chapter should…hopefully…come faster than this one did….hopefully….
I own labyrinth! In both DVD and VHS form …but regrettably that's all I own of it as for the rest…We love you Jim Henson!! Whoo!! Wow hyper moment…sorry about that people.
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The creature stared down at the intruder, eyes glowing with a fiery hatred for the young Fae, the so-called 'king.' If in truth this being was a king then he was certainly a weak one, it had only taken one hit to bring him down and soak him in his own blood, what a sorry excuse for one so 'great' as to call himself a member of the Elfin race. "Even one so powerful as myself must feel some sympathy for such a lowly creature as this broken thing, it was far too easy to bring him down…how I pity the race that must lay claim to his existence, not that his death will be a los to any but to have to admit to having his blood? Humph! What an embarrassment." The dark shape towering over the fallen man grinned in sick amusement as a small river of blood began to pool at its feet; it's long teeth and longer claws gleaming white in contrast to its body of shadows, the dark mist that made the thing what it was, a living piece of darkness who's only amusement came from the torture of others. Silently it began to move away from its kill, leaving the golden haired Fae to be devowered by the Carrion birds and other creatures that came from the dark and fed off the flesh of the dead. Suddenly there was the smallest of movements from the corner of its eye as the man stubbornly, though weakly, pushed himself up and the Shadow knew at once, that it had taken the seemingly weak man for granted, he was stronger than he had first appeared. "Perhaps this will be more interesting than I at first thought…" Baring it's teeth, unsheathing its claws, the darkness attacked the injured warrior full force…and the night swallowed them both.
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The next morning Sarah awoke before the dawn, feeling as if she had been hit hard in the stomach. Her eyes were puffy and red from her crying spell the night before and her chest and ribs hurt from her sobbing. Stretching sore muscles, rubbing dried tears out of her eyes, she realized she didn't feel as bad as she thought she should, it even took her a few moments to remember why she thought she should be feeling bad in the first place and with the coming of the memory of her sorrow so came the memory of the events of last night. "What was that I felt? Was someone here?" she thought hard for the answer, looking dazedly around her room, now lit by a blue grey light as the sun once again took power ovr the night. All she could bring herself to remember was the softness that had wrapped itself around her, its remnants still lingering. Sarah got out of bed; thankful she did not have work that day and deciding that her car could wait to be picked up. She strode to her window, eager to see the new morning, however, the first thing she saw was in ways more comforting than a peaceful sun rise and in ways more frightening than the darkest night. She remembered the presence that had been in her room and when she saw the single owl feather lying on the floor by her window, she knew who it had been. "JarethHewas the one who was hear last night…well who else would it have been…but…still…what had he been doing here?" unsettle grew in her stomach and she had fleeting fear of what had happened but for some reason she could not hold on to that as truth…she just somehow knew that his visit had been a peaceful one. "I remember…I felt comforted…like everything was going to be alright…like I was safe…was he the one who had done that? Was he trying to make me feel better? I wish I knew for sure…" she looked up and out the window half expecting to see that familiar barn owl staring back at her from the tree but, nothing was there. Sarah was surprised to find herself feeling almost…disappointed that he was not there and for some reason...she was also worried, very worried.
Sarah had spent some fifteen minutes just looking out the window, looking to see if Jareth would make an appearance and actually hoping he would; even if she could not find comfort from him, fighting with him would do just a good, it would keep her mind off of…well just what she didn't want to think about. Finally, giving up with a sigh, she had moved away from the window and down the hall to her kitchen; she wasn't particularly hungry or anything but she did want a nice cup of strong coffee and maybe a book to keep her mind entertained. Half an hour later found Sarah curled up on her small living room couch, book and coffee in hand. Though she had been looking forward to reading her newest fantasy, Sarah could not seen to keep her mind from wandering to different things. What had happened to Sam? Where was Jareth and why did he choose now to re enter her life? What was happening to her 'normal' life? All these questions and no answers whatsoever, the worst part was, she felt nothing. In her mind she should feel sad that she may never see her friend again, frightened that Jareth was back in her life, and angry that everything was beginning to fall apart…yet she felt nothing no emotion at all just…nothing. Sighing Sarah gave up an her book and took a final swig of coffee, leaving both the abandon pleasures on the bar counter in front of her kitchen and heading out of her apartment.
Her first intention was to go to the park and find a quiet place to sit and think but as she made her way to the park gate she saw that the meadow was rather crowded whereas the forest bordering it was quiet and peaceful, with the morning sun casting beams of light to the forest floor, it easily won out over a park bench surrounded by strangers. Thinking of it she realized that a nice long walk was actually more appealing to her current mood (if it could be called such) anyway. Besides that she had heard rumors of a hidden trail that young couples would often use to gain distance form prying eyes, it was supposed to be long, quiet, and very beautiful and until now she had had no reason to try to find it, though the thought had often been in her head.
Going off what she knew of the various paths of the forest and what information she had gained from all the rumors, Sarah eventually found a discreet trail leading far into the redwoods and far away from her life. The entrance was like a cave, flowering bushes on either side of a tunnel, laced with tall, moss laden, trees, wild flowers in every color and contrasting grey rocks with every color of lichen she could imagine. Sun filtered through the gapes in the canopy, dappling the ground with alternating globes of gold and green dancing with the breath of the wind. Dust mote swam in and out of the columns of yellow light and the birds sang with deafening insistence. The instant Sarah entered this utopia of beauties, all doubts, all worries, all everything was gone from her mind and she was adrift in a new world she never wanted to leave.
Sarah began walking without even realizing it, everything around her seemed dream like, as if at any moment she would find herself back in her bed curled up and asleep. Her surroundings vaguely reminded her of the forest she had walked through in the Labyrinth, though maybe not quite as dark, at the time she had not taken the time to truly take in her surroundings but looking back on it she had to admit…it was quite beautiful. Sarah was so enraptured by the sights and sounds of this little path that she hadn't realized she had been walking for near two hours, looking down at her watch, seeing that it was nearly noon, she gasped. "Oh wow I hadn't realized was time it was…" she sighed and stopped, stretched her arms and took one more good look around. This had been good for her. Just getting away, taking time to think about everything that had been going on… She wipe up her hands over her face as if she had just woken up and found that she had been crying …and apparently walk off whatever indifference she had been lulled into. She had feeling again and she was glad for that. Sarah allowed herself the time to sit down on a rock and cry for a bit, unlike the night before, though, this did not rob her of her energy but instead it gave her strength.
Feeling better after regaining and expressing her emotions, Sarah decided it was time to go home. She was just about to turn back when she spotted a small path leading off the main one she was one, from the looks of it, it turned and went back the way she had come. Deciding that it would be fun to explore a bit more, Sarah headed down this new and notably smaller path.
It was cooler. And darker. There seemed to be a sense of foreboding but Sarah tried to pass that off as nothing more than nerves brought about form her experience the night before. She walked on, ignoring the dried tree branches that caught her clothes and pulled her back, seeming to warn her away from what was up ahead; this was no longer a pleasure walk, Sarah had to go forward, for some reason she did not know or understand, she had to go forward. The surrounding shrubbery seemed to turn black from shadow and the moss hanging down from the tree branches caught in her hair and stuck to her clothes, she was getting fairly annoyed with the overgrown trail and wishing she had just stayed on the main path. She slowed down a bit…there was something other than the overgrown trail bothering her…she could not quite place the feeling she had but she was uneasy…there was something very wrong. The words of the old man she spoke with last night came to her, to be careful, to stop going out alone, she was beginning to become frightened.
"This was such a dumb idea…what if something really happens to me? Not that there's really anything to worry about. What Jareth said is nothing but a bunch of Bull and as for that stalker? Well I can take care of myself…though this would be the place to find some escaped criminal hiding out from the world…if I were in trouble…would…would Jareth…? Would he help me?" She stopped and began to laugh at her last thought, would he help her? What was she thinking? He would sooner die than give her the time of day and she would never ask for his help or accept it for that matter. "Wow that was a stupid thought." She said to herself with one final laugh, starting to pick her way down steep hill that looked as if it lead back to the park, "Well at least that brightened my mood – Whoa!" Sarah had taken a wrong step and now found herself rolling down the sharp incline, hitting rocks and shrubs along the way. She managed to curled into herself, protecting her head and face with her arms, while trying to stop herself with her legs…she was too late. The drop off came to fast for her to even see it.
She landed hard. Sarah groaned and cursed at the same time as she tried to push herself up into a sitting position, only to realize that she had knocked the wind out of herself. Coughing and hacking, she tried to refill her lungs. Finally able to take in breath, Sarah stood on wobbling legs and did a quick once over o make sure she had not done too much damage, she was bruised and one of her wrists felt sprained but other than that she decided that she was okay. It was as she began to walk again that the scene, and the stench, hit her. The entire clearing was splattered with deep red blood and the smell of decay was overpowering. Her hands flew to her mouth and nose as she gasped then gagged. Her eyes were wide with terror.
"What happened here?" she asked herself, nether expecting nor wanting an answer…she got one anyway. As she scanned the carnage her eyes came to rest on the partial corps of a young woman, only her torso and one arm left intact. Sarah recoiled from the sight, falling back to the ground and scooting away, panic quickly rising within her. "No human could have done this…this…this can't be real this isn't happening!" She tried to call out to someone but her words were taken by her fear, she sat there looking madly around and seeing only blood…she had to get away from there. With a sudden surge of adrenalin she was up and sprinting for her life fleeing the scene of the horrid slaughter. Her mind was working almost as fast as her legs were as she crashed through the forest, uncaring that the trees and shrubs cut at her flesh. "Was that what happened to Sam? Is the thing that did that still here…no it can't be real…was Jareth telling the truth? Is that it? Why now?" Something broke her of her thoughts, something she could not see, smell, or hear but only feel…she was no longer alone…and now there was something crashing through the forest after her.
Oh I am SO bad for leaving it off there arnt I? sorry 'bout that but I thought it was a good place to leave off so I could build some suspense…yeah please don't kill me! I'll have the next chapter up ASAP I promise anyway tell me what ya think Ok I'm trying out some new forms of writing and I'm not sure how I'm doing so advice is nice…hay that sorta rimes