"Sky's Eclipse"
Chapter 4
By Aiijuin

*Disclaimer: I don't own anything Jim Henson or Labyrinth. I am not trying to steal other character names from people's fan fiction, but I cannot think of a better name to use for Jareth's alter ego in my story. Gröeg was originally designed by Brian Froud and catalogued by Terry Jones in Brian Froud's "The Goblins of the Labyrinth". This fanfiction is rated M for some harsh language and adult situations. Please forgive the dialogue. While it may seem rough at times, I don't believe that (other than Jareth-who is royalty & Sarah- who is a college graduate) Toby Williams speaks like an English professor.

**If you see this message at the beginning of a chapter, then I have made recent grammatical corrections, removed most parenthetical phrases, and changed Irene's name back to Karen-- which is more recognized to be Sarah's stepmother's name in the majority of all "Labyrinth" fanfictions--. 09/10/2009

Chapter Four: Knock, and the Door Will Open!

Karen excused herself from the room to answer the door. She didn't leave without muttering, "Who on earth would be making house calls at this hour of the night?"

Robert and Toby continued to entertain Mr. King, when suddenly screaming could be heard from the other room. Robert stood up quickly at attention. He was about to race to the dining room door, when it swung open from the other direction. It was Karen, and she was grinning ear-to-ear. Robert asked out of instinct, "Is everything okay, Sweetheart?"

"Oh, Rob, dear! You're never going to believe this!"

After the door swung closed, it began to swing back again on its hinges as it was pushed slowly from the other side. A fair hand, long and beautiful reached through. Toby was the first to ask the obvious question, "Is someone else here, mom?"

Karen nodded and began to paw at Toby shoulders in a giddy reaction to her excitement. She bit her lip as the hand reached through and said in a masked, knarled, crone-like voice, "I'm the ghost of Christmas past, gwar-har-har…."

Toby looked confused for a moment. A green eye proceeded to peek through the crack of the slightly ajar door. Robert looked at Toby, then at Gavin. He was absolutely clueless to the identity of the visitor. Then, a giggle that was very familiar to Robert followed the voice and the peeking green eye. Robert's face lit up. He grabbed the fair hand and pulled the rest of the body that it belonged to through the door.

It was Sarah!

Robert stood aghast and speechless for a moment. But Sarah began to pout jokingly, and hugged her father. It took a moment more for him to register that she was actually home at last! Finally, he embraced her in his arms, swinging her around the narrow dining room.

"Oh my gracious! Sarah," Robert shouted, "Where have you been?!?!"

He didn't wait for her to answer, but showered her with daddy kisses and grateful hugs of joy. Karen began to cry tears of happiness. She had missed Sarah. Toby stood, open-mouthed, resembling a codfish. Gavin was unreadable.

Sarah was a sight to see. It had been eight years, but she hadn't changed much. She was thinner, but healthy. Her face was aglow and her green eyes gleamed brightly, putting her picture in the broken glass to shame.

She was a marvelous beauty, as she had always been, but even more so now… because her presence had an heir of regality as she stood tall and straight, with her head poised in a slightly upward angle. She was dressed in a stylish black skirt, very tapered and short. It hugged her body very nicely and accentuated her long legs. She wore tight, black, leather boots that stopped just above the knee. Toby swore she needed to use Crisco first, in order to put them on, because they had no zippers or anything. Her shirt was a long sleeved, black, oxford, similar to some sort of tuxedo shirt from 1972, including the little flairs. She had most of the buttons undone at the top, and revealed a lot of upper chest area and hints of bare shoulders. Her sleeves were unbuttoned and rolled up to her elbows. She wore a golden necklace, but the charm was hidden down towards her cleavage area, which was masked by the black shirt. Her lips were stained rouge as a deep red rose, which complimented her perfect white smile.

All in all, it wouldn't have mattered how she looked to Robert and Karen, but she had finally come home!

When things settled down, and Toby still was in shock, Sarah sat down across from her brother at the other side of the table. She cocked her head to one side and smirked, "Toby? Are you in there somewhere?"

Toby clicked back into reality. He returned her smirk and asked, "So, where the hell have you been hiding?"

Karen shot Toby a nasty look, reminding him to watch his language.

Sarah widened her eyes and lowered her voice like she was acting out a play, "I was in the castle beyond the Goblin City, waiting for my Goblin King to return. Ooh!"

Toby pursed his lips and shook his head, then muttered something inaudible.

Sarah grinned and responded, "No? Okay, then how about this one? Some nut in the city stole my car and I had to walk in the pouring rain wearing six-inch heels. I couldn't catch a cab, so I ran, ended up twisting my ankle, fell, and was covered with mud in the process. To top it all off, my boss tried to jump my bones in the ladies room after I finally made it to work. I ended up getting fired, so I went crazy for a while and ran off to a distant land to recollect my sanity. Or what was left, thereof. Personally, I like the first story better, but that's just my opinion. I just adore fantasy-based happy endings versus reality based ones."

Toby finally raised his voice, "'Happy endings', Sarah? Show's what you know."

Sarah was going to ask what he had meant by that, but then Karen scolded, "Sarah, you're father and I were worried sick about you! At least, you could have called!"

Nonchalantly, Sarah nodded and removed a cup from the tray. She poured some hot water from the teakettle and promptly added a bag of chamomile tea. Then, she reached for a nearby plate, and grabbed herself a slice of cake. She simply couldn't resist Karen's award winning baking.

Robert looked at Sarah, and grasped her hand as she steeped her tea, "Pumpkin, I don't care what you have been doing, or what you did to get there. I just want to know… Are you okay?"

Her response was deliberately forced as she smiled sweetly and answered, "Yes, Daddy, I'm fine."

Gavin King sat quietly like a Cheshire cat at the far end of the round dining table. He was content to remain silent and not partake in the family discussion. In all honesty, Robert had forgotten about his boss after the entry of Sarah. It had been many years since her return. Almost everybody was ecstatic, except, Toby who had become abnormally subdued with every passing second. Toby had not touched the rest of his cake and pushed away his can of soda. Toby didn't much care for coffee or tea, so he often grabbed a can of soda before coming to the table.

Gavin stared at Sarah closely like a panther eyeing its prey. There was a twinkle in his eye and a look of defiant conquest.

Halfway through idle conversation, Robert suddenly remembered Gavin. He exclaimed apologetically, "My goodness, Gavin, forgive my rude manners! I forgot to introduce my daughter Sarah!"

Still grinning, Gavin turned his head towards Robert, but his eyes remained locked on Sarah Williams. He responded, "It's quite alright, Robert, and perfectly understandable under the current circumstances."

Robert stood up and ushered his arms towards Sarah to begin the introductions. "Mr. King, this is my daughter, Sarah Williams, and Sarah, this is my boss, Mr. Gavin King."

Gavin laughed and stood up to reach for Sarah's hand as she extended hers towards him. He said to Robert, "Oh, dear. 'Mister'? Rob, you make me feel ancient. Ms. Williams, so pleased to make your acquaintance."

Their hands met mid-table and Sarah purred, "Mr. King, the pleasure, I'm sure is all mine."

Gavin didn't shake Sarah's hand, but instead placed a smooth, sensual, kiss upon its back. His lips were warm and inviting, and Sarah felt enchanted, yet uncomfortable in a room filled with her family. She blushed slightly at the occurrence.

Gavin let out an, Aww sound and patted her hand before releasing it. His white smile flashed at Sarah momentarily, and she noticed something familiar. However, it was a fleeting feeling, and she forgot about it an instant later. The two sat down again, and finished their after-dinner refreshments. Gavin sipped his tea slowly, but never took his eyes off Sarah. Toby had fallen silent and tense. Sarah could feel that he needed to speak with her in private, however she hadn't been able to excuse herself from the table. This was mainly because she had become the center of attention.

Karen cupped her hands up to Sarah's ear to whisper, "Gavin King is single and very, very wealthy, Sarah. I don't think he's much older than you, either. Plus, he's quite a gentleman, if you catch my meaning? He owns the company your father works for, and has bought the old abandoned Henkies Estate on Hartfordshire Court down past the Eschelle Farms. It's a grand place, but I think it needs a woman's touch…"

Sarah only raised her eyebrows to denote she had heard Karen, but pretended she didn't know what her stepmother was insinuating. She continued to smile and laugh at various comments made throughout dinner by her parents.

When the family had finally finished their cake and the conversations drew to a close, Karen excused herself to clear the table. Robert decided to assist his wife, and the couple walked out into the kitchen balancing plates and cups in their hands. When they were almost alone, Toby turned to his sister and pretended that Gavin wasn't there.

Typically, Toby didn't mind speaking about private things in front of Gavin, since he shared all of his personal secrets with King that he couldn't tell his parents.

Toby started slowly, "Sarah, please, please, tell me that you were in Tijuana dancing in go-go bars, and dating drug lords ~ AND ~that's why you won't say exactly where you were the whole time, or why you couldn't contact us."

Sarah nearly choked on her tea trying to stifle down giggles, "Toby! Honestly! Tijuana? No! I wasn't doing anything of the sort!"

Toby continued, "Then, please tell me that you were in the Amazon Jungle researching a new cure for Cancer and had no phone or any mailbox or anything that would allow you to contact us."

Sarah shook her head and gave Toby a 'You're Crazy' look.

Toby still continued, "Then, how about this? You were a spy, and had a top secret mission for the last eight years, but you weren't allowed to contact anyone, just in case you fell into the hands of the enemies."

Sarah looked at Toby squarely in the eyes, and grinned ear to ear, "Toby, honestly! Why would you think I did any of those things? You know I earned a worthless degree in the arts that didn't take me anywhere. I procured an office job in the city. Everything was fine until, some scumbag at work had me fired, because he couldn't get IT from me. Anyway, I was extremely upset, and I decided to skip town for a while."

Toby raised his voice in exasperation, which made Sarah jump a bit. After all, she thought he had been joking. He shouted, "YEAH, But WHERE did you go AFTER THAT?!?! YOU WERE GONE FOR EIGHT YEARS! People who 'skip town' don't just vanish from the planet. You were gone, gone, gone…. Dad and Mom and me searched for you for years. Nothing! Your trail went dead cold in New York."

Sarah put her fingers to her lips. She had actually told everyone where she had been, but they all took it as a joke … just like she thought they would.

She touched her brother on the shoulder and asked quietly, "What's up? Something's seriously bothering you, and it's more than my disappearance. Are you in some sort of trouble?"

Toby smirked, but looked away from his sister, "No. But you are."

"Me? I'm in trouble?"

Toby looked at Sarah again, "Yeah, you. Look, I don't want to break this on you too harshly, but one of your old boyfriends is trying to use me as a poker chip to lure you back to him. I've managed to give him the slip a couple of hundred times, but he's getting better at what he does. You know, he's perfecting the science of being an obsessive creep."

"Mike? Oh my gosh, Toby, is it Mike?" Sarah asked, now grabbing at Toby's sleeve.

Toby laughed sarcastically, "Great. You mean you have two psychotic, ex-boyfriends, trying to track you down, now?"

Sarah shook her head in denial, "No. Mike isn't a boyfriend or even an 'ex' for that matter. He's that crazy supervisor that tried to rape me in the ladies room, then had me fired when I stopped him. He used to blackmail me right and left to have drinks with him on Friday nights. He wanted to get me drunk enough to get me home and…. Well, you know."

Toby nodded, "Yeah, T-M-I, Sar~! And, ah -- no… I'm not talking about him. This guy goes back farther. Like, way back to your teenage years."

Sarah thought for a moment. Suddenly, she realized that Gavin was still there. He had been listening intently to she and her brother. "Toby," Sarah whispered, while nodding towards Gavin, "We might want to continue this conversation in a more private nodding setting."

Toby looked from Sarah to Gavin, then back to Sarah again. He shrugged, "Nah, Mr. King doesn't care. He's cool. Right, Mr. King. You won't rat me out to my mom or dad about any of this, will you?"

Gavin chuckled and waved his hand dryly in front of him, "Oh, Master Williams, you're family secrets are safe with me. You know that."

Toby pointed to Gavin and looked at his sister, "See? Safe, just like I told you. Now, do you remember who I'm talking about? That dude who played all those tricks to get you and stuff?"

Sarah made a sour face and shook her head again. Not really comfortable with Gavin listening in, she whispered, "Nope. I don't have a clue about who you might be talking about. I never dated when I was a teenager. Ask your mom about that one. She was practically trying to raffle me off to boys in the neighborhood. I was a bit weird."

Toby agreed, "Yeah, and you attracted weird guys too. I can't believe you don't remember him."

"Maybe if you gave me a name, Toby, it might help. For all I know, it could be some guy that I never talked to in high school, who has gone insane, and is now chasing me to exact his revenge."

"You want a name? Okay! Does 'Jareth' ring any bells?"

Sarah gasped wildly and choked on air. Gavin's smile quickly vanished from his face. After taking a few seconds to stop coughing, Sarah regained her breath. She clutched at the pain in her chest, from aspirating in the wrong direction, and whispered to Toby between coughs, "You remember him?"

Toby leaned in very close to Sarah, "I can't say I ever forgot him, yo! That stupid song has been caught in my head for nearly fourteen years. It's been the theme song in, both, my dreams and my nightmares. I can't get it out of my head."

"What song, Toby?" Sarah asked, still whispering.

"Well, you remind me of the babe…."

Sarah didn't understand, "What babe?"

Toby continued, "The babe with the power…."

Sarah couldn't figure out what cryptic response Toby was trying to give her, she had merely asked for the name of the song. "Power?"

Toby nodded, "Yeah, the power of voodoo…."

Sarah blinked, "Voodoo---?"

"No! You do… remind me of the babe!"

"I'm lost. Is this some sort of game?"

Toby jumped up from his seat and raised his arms in the air, shouting wildly, "NO! It's that stupid Magic, Dance, thing! And, you know what? It's ruining my teenage fantasies, too! Sarah, the Goblin King is freaking me out! He's been trying to recapture me and take me back to his damned fortress, in order to lure you back there again…"

Sarah sat in silence for a moment. She raised an eyebrow and pondered if it might have been a better idea to remain in the Jareth's Castle. She knew he was residing in the human realm, which is why she had returned, but she didn't imagine he would be toying with her brother again. Inwardly, Sarah had hoped the Goblin King had moved on to prey upon some other hapless girl who called upon him.

Please let it all be a joke, thought Sarah.

Putting her head in her hands, she rubbed her face. It was nearly midnight and she was tired. Exhaustion was settling in. Sarah moaned and raised her head. She noticed Gavin was staring wide-eyed at the two Williams siblings. Sarah looked apologetically to King, "Oh, Mr. King, I'm terribly sorry. This must seem unbelievably bizarre. You know what they say about the 'skeletons in the closet' thing? Well, unfortunately, in this house, we have a few creepy ones that come out at nondescript times."

Gavin regained his composure and laughed nervously. He took out a handkerchief to wipe his brow. The only words he could manage was, "Oh, my!"

Sarah turned to Toby again, and looked threateningly at him, "Toby, I swear, you had better NOT be joking about this!"

Toby retorted, "Oh, I wish I totally was! Not only is that guy here and trying to recapture me, but he left one of his little 'pets' behind to destroy my social life too. It recently set fire to mom's curtains in the kitchen! Now, I'm under house arrest for, LIKE, the rest of my life! Mom said I had been smoking. I didn't even do anything!"

Sarah smirked, "Karen grounded you for smoking?"

Toby frowned, "Yes!"

Sarah blinked, "What does that have to do with curtains catching fire?"

Toby answered with a pout, "Nothing! You tell me!? Personally, I think it would have been easier if I had been grounded for arson attempt, especially since I don't smoke!"

Toby couldn't take anymore. He was angered to the point of being irrational. He slammed his napkin down on the table, and turned to Sarah while pointing, "I don't care how you do it…but you had better tell your obsessed, fairytale spook to keep his damned hands off of me. This time, I'm not playing pawn in your romantic fits. If he touches me, I'm taking him down!"

Sarah tried to riposte, but found that her voice was lost. Karen could be heard shouting from the kitchen, "Toby Williams, what are you screaming about at this hour of the night?! I had better not find out you are being rude to our guest."

Of course, Toby pretended not to hear her, and rolled his eyes. Without excusing himself, he stood up and walked out of the room towards the stairs.

Sarah looked at Mr. King for some sympathy, but found he was just as shocked and speechless as she was. Sarah took the napkin from her lap, and placed it neatly on the table. She gazed at King for a moment and then commented, "I do hope you enjoyed your evening at the Williams' house. We should certainly like you to return, but I seriously doubt you ever will."

Gavin's voice cracked for a moment as he began, "Hmm. Well, I did enjoy the marvelous dinner, Sarah. However, I'm familiar with your brother's common quips. He gets grumpy quite often. Don't fret. I haven't been frightened off by this evening's… um, shall we say, rather humorous and intriguing conversations. I must admit though, they deviated from the atypical banter I commonly encounter at your parents' dinner invites."

Sarah smirked, "What can I say, Mr. King, except I'm back and I've brought my entire entourage of inhuman problems with me."

Gavin chuckled at her statement and added, "With Goblin Kings and fairy wings, who could ever challenge your unique perspective of life?"

Sarah lifted her water glass in an airy toast towards Mr. King, before placing it to her lips and muttering, "Welcome to my world."