Sarah rubbed her eyes and sniffed. Her trembling fingers broke the red wax seal and the letter flapped out of her hands and dangled in front of her in the air; it snapped itself opened and the letters in blue ink started forming before Sarah's eyes elaborately scrawled as she read word for word.

My Dear Sarah,

You waited too long to read this letter and I'm afraid that the message originally contained no longer exists. Trust you to wait so long…

Sarah's heart was pounding as she watched the possessed parchment. She could perfectly imagine the voice that would accompany the writing.

Anyway, happy birthday. As a treat, I desire you to grace my presence on your belated, special day. I believe a few of your friends from your previous visit are anxious to see you again. I will pick you up shortly.

Till then,

Jareth, Goblin King, Lord of the Underground and Member of the Higher Order

P.S.

Put the ring on.

The letter refolded itself and fell into Sarah's lap. Sarah tossed the letter far away as possible from her as such a light thing can fly. She then looked at the signet ring. It was beautiful with the silver strong and worn. It was feminine and filigree with the same symbol as the seal. A stamp or something similar must have been pressed to the waxed.

Sarah hoped it wasn't a matching ring.

As she was turning the ring over and over, pondering what to do, whether to go home or not, a bell like tingling noise caught her attention and she looked back further into the alley and saw a crystal ball bouncing towards her.

"No! No! He can't be here! No way!" Sarah used the wall behind her to try to stand up quickly but her foot slipped in the dampness and she failed out about to land on the hard cement under her.

But she didn't hit the ground.

She was suspended in the air so that she was almost horizontal to the ground, looking up at the stairway above her. She had perfect sight of the iron cast balcony above her and before she could even utter a scream, the figure on that balcony that had been leaning over observing everything had jumped off of it, landed beside the woman and placed a long, slender gloved finger to her lips.

Sarah wasn't able to make a noise. Her eyes could only see the man's torso and higher. He was dressed as a man, with short blonde hair, and a long trench coat. He had a white poet's shirt and black trousers with boots, but for such a queer looking fellow, he pulled it off splendidly.

"Sarah, Sarah, Sarah. It's been a while. Yes? Well," he backed up slightly, taking in her form. "I must say, age ages you very well."

Sarah couldn't say the same for him. He didn't look any older. A fine sheen of sweat was starting to form above his brow and his upper lip. He looked slightly shaken as well. All in all, he was still intimidating and she couldn't speak; he must have done something with that cursed magic of his.

At least now she believed that whatever happened as a child, it was not her over active imagination.

"Enough of that. You were a bad girl for not opening up my gift sooner. That letter would have told you that I am offering you an opportunity to return to the Labyrinth for a very special occasion: my birthday. You see, these royal functions and such are quite boring and there's going to be this ball," Jareth started fiddling with gloves and looking away from her, "and I need an escort with me. I think that you would do just fine and all. So, I'll give you the rest of the day to wrap up whatever you have to do and will collect you in the morning. I promise that no harm will come to you." Jareth looked back at her and rubbed his fingers down her neck. Sarah was trembling inside.

"What a very pretty neck you have Sarah. I would wear that ring as soon as I leave you, goodbye my dear. Expect me tomorrow."

As soon as he stepped away Sarah fell to the ground and was swinging her arms to punch Jareth but he was gone. All that was left was his laughing in the air reverberating off the stone walls. Sarah groaned, "God! I hate that man!"

What does he mean he's picking me up and taking me back with him for his birthday? I'm not going anywhere with him. He's got another thing coming. A party? Blah! I don't do socials. And there's no way I'm sitting with a bunch of smelly goblins, slobbering over their food, to through his highness a party. What's he been doing all these past years? He's done fine without me and can continue to do so as long as he lives.

What was that about my neck anyways? Sod the ring. There's no way I'm wearing it. Don't think I forgot about that peach! Even though it had a nice trippy side effect...

She collected her items and went towards her home. She never put the ring on.

_______

A/N: I hope to update sooner perhaps bi-weekly, and make the following chapters longer. The first posting on here was the first 3 chapters so this was the 4th chapter. I hope you like it. I am also posting soon the next chapter of my other story for SS/HG, Hard to Let Go as soon as my beta resends it. I have the next 3 chapters of that ready to go once I send them to her--so, instead of waiting around for this to update, check out that story, it's got a great length to it, still rolling on and I think interesting. This will not be neglected though, so have no fear.

Thanks for the reviews and keep reading!

Britican