A/N: I'm going to try to put up a new chapter every week, but, since I was home sick anyway, I figured I might as well get the second chapter out of the way. So here it is, please R&R!!
Disclaimer: I wish I owned Labyrinth…well, that didn't work. No suing!
Sarah sat in an uncomfortable plastic chair, just outside the psychiatrist's office, her legs pulled up to her chest, eyes averted from the full-length mirror on the opposite wall. After the family had talked to the doctor together, they had sent her out of the room so the adults could talk without her overhearing, but the door hadn't been pull shut properly, so Sarah was listening to everything.
"Perhaps Sarah is just under some stress at the moment." suggested Dr. Ako gently. "Does she have trouble with bullies at school?"
"Stress? She smashed her bedroom mirror just this morning because she thought she saw a goblin in it!!" her stepmother exclaimed.
"Karen…" Sarah's father attempted to interject. But his wife was far from finished.
"Robert, you've heard her talking to herself up there at all hours of the night just as many times as I have." Karen retorted. "She needs to at least be on medication." Sarah rolled her eyes but continued listening.
"Have you considered a group home?" the doctor's quiet question brought a thick silence on the room and Sarah sat up straighter, straining to hear what was being said. Surely, surely not...
"A…group home?" her father choked out.
"Well, we need to do something." Karen said. "She's going to become a danger to Toby if she keeps this up."
Sarah stiffened, her cheeks flushing with anger. She would never hurt Toby! How could Karen be so idiotic?
"You're telling me that the only choices I have are medication or a group home?" said Robert, his voice thick with irritation.
"Maybe she just needs some time away from you." continued Dr. Ako. "Since I haven't witnessed any of these--"
"Panic attacks?" suggested Karen. Sarah tried to imagine the look on her stepmother face.
"There's not much more that I can do." the doctor concluded.
"I don't like either of these choices." protested Sarah's father.
"Well, the only other option would be…" Ako was still speaking, but Sarah was no longer eavesdropping.
She had caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror on the opposite wall and, draped casually on the back of her chair was none other than the Goblin King himself.
Sarah bit back a cry and slowly turned to look. But there was no one there. She reached up with her hand and waved it through the air behind her, wondering if he had the power to turn invisible. Nothing.
Nonetheless, he continued to observe her, through mismatched gems, a smirk playing on his thin lips. Sarah scowled at the image, but he seemed unaffected.
"Go away." she snapped. The reflection made no reply. "You have no power over me." He continued to sneer at her, without speaking. For some, unexplainable reason, this, coupled with the rest of her current situation infuriated Sarah and suddenly she was on her feet, and shouting.
"Leave me alone!" she cried. "You have no power over me! You have…no…power over…me." The face had vanished and Sarah sank to the floor and cradled her head in her hands. She wasn't going crazy, she didn't imagine it. Sarah chanted the words over and over in her mind, like a mantra that would be true if she only said it enough.
A gentle touch on her shoulder informed her that she was no longer alone. Now, surely, they all thought she was insane. Damn. She had just blown her one chance at getting them to believe she was fine. Why had his presence (whether real or imagined) elicited such a response from her? Why?
"Sarah." the calm voice of Dr. Ako made her look up. The psychiatrist was watching her with sympathy and worry in her eyes. Sarah immediately stood up and straightened her shirt.
"Yes?" Dr. Ako put a comforting hand on her arm.
"Sarah, we think it would be a good idea if you stayed here for a while."
Sarah flinched away from her as if she had been burned. "But I'm not crazy!" she argued. "This is not fa--" She stopped mid-sentence. I wonder what your basis for comparison is? The words echoed in her mind and she suddenly knew, no matter what she did or said, they were going to keep her here. Life was unfair.
And there was nothing she could do about it.
A/N: Shorter, chapter, but I promise the next one will be here soon. And, hopefully, we'll get to see a little bit more of Jareth!! Until then, read and review!!