Author's Note: M rating comes into play this chapter. You've been warned.
The next day passed without incident, and Sarah woke up Friday morning filled with dread. She shuffled her way into the bathroom, and flicked the harsh fluorescent light on. She blinked and rubbed at her eyes absently as her eyes adjusted to the light. Finally she blinked open her eyes and winced when she saw her reflection. Her face was drawn. After her little fainting incident the other day she hadn't been sleeping well at all, and it showed on her pale face. Her eyes seemed sunken in, and the bags under her eyes were almost purple. Sarah was more concerned with her neck however.
It took her a few hours after the bruises started to appear that she remembered what exactly had happened during her little stint in that dream world. After she remembered what had almost transpired she had gotten in the shower and scrubbed until her skin was raw and bleeding. If Jareth hadn't stopped, if he hadn't been interrupted by Lizzie's screams of panic…Sarah shuddered and moved to turn on the water for the shower, adjusting it until it was only mildly scalding before pulling the lever that would make the water come out of the showerhead instead of the faucet.
Sarah quickly stripped and climbed into the shower, trying to get rid of the numbness that seemed to have creeped into her soul. No amount of water could help her though, as the numbness was far too deeply rooted. Sarah almost half wished that she could return to the labyrinth, just to see her friends again. She would continue to run from Jareth, ensuring that he never caught her, and she could finally be in a place with magic and wonder. Sarah sighed and sat down on the floor of the shower, pulling her knees up to her chest.
After her first run through the labyrinth she tried so hard to bring wonder into her life. She continued acting in plays, eventually joining drama club in high school. She read every fiction and fantasy novel she could get her hands on. When she finally made it to college she tried to hold on desperately to those small fragments that still made her long for the Labyrinth, but it was of no use. The older she got the more imagination she lost, and by the time she met Brad, she was just trying desperately to feel something.
Brad was a senior bad boy when Sarah was a freshman, and for some unknown reason he had taken to Sarah almost instantly. Sarah had taken to him as well, because his devil may care attitude made her feel more alive than she had in three years. Eventually her opinion of Brad soured as he continued to push her into doing more and more dangerous and daring stunts. During a frat house's bonfire she had tried to break it off with him, and he had used a switchblade to attack her, carving lines into her stomach. Everyone thought that she was going to die, but Sarah pulled though, and Brad was carted off to jail. Sarah was pulled out of her thoughts jarringly by Lizzie who knocked loudly on the bathroom door.
"Sarah, if you don't hurry up you're going to be late." Sarah stood up on shaky legs and quickly washed and conditioned her hair. She quickly scrubbed her body as well, before stepping out of the shower and wrapping one towel around her body, while she wound another one around her hair and then on top of her head. Sarah opened the door and Lizzie was standing there, her arms folded over her chest, a knowing look written plainly on her face. Her eyes moved to Sarah's neck and widened at the sight of the black bruises on her friend's skin. "Shit Sarah, what happened?" Lizzie stepped forward and placed a gentle hand on Sarah's upper arm.
"I don't know Liz, I just woke up like this yesterday. I'm going to see someone about it today." Lizzie nodded slowly, her mouth cocked slightly. She knew of Sarah's few suicide attempts, and hoped that she hadn't been such a horrible best friend that she hadn't noticed that Sarah was clearly in pain. Sarah smiled at Liz, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. "Thanks for the concern Liz, but I'll be fine." Sarah stepped around her friend and moved into her room, shutting the door behind her.
Sarah sighed and dropped the towel that was covering her body up and moved towards her dresser, digging through the drawers until she found her favorite pair of jeans and a slightly flowing black shirt. She pulled on underclothes and then pulled the black skinny jeans up her legs, doing a slight dance to situate them around her hips. One the jeans were on Sarah tugged on the shirt, pulling the sleeves down until they were at her wrists. She grabbed her backpack, a pair of socks, and her combat boots before exiting her room.
Sarah moved into the living room and sat on the couch, pulling her socks on absently. Lizzie moved into the room with a steaming thermos of coffee in one hand.
"Sarah I don't know what's going on with you, but I know that you're scared and knowing you, you feel alone. She held out the thermos for Sarah to take. "But I'm here for you, ok?" Sarah nodded and gently took the coffee from Liz, taking a small sip before she bent over and pulled her combat boots on, lacing them up effortlessly. Sarah stood and wrapped one arm around Liz, giving her a warm hug before smiling.
"Let's get to class yeah?" Liz nodded and grabbed her small shoulder bag and they both walked out of the apartment.
Fifteen minutes later Sarah was walking into her English class. Some of her classmates were there already, chatting quietly amongst themselves. Sarah sighed and walked to the back of the room, taking a seat in the very back row. She sat down, her backpack off to the side and her coffee in front of her. Sarah leaned in her seat a bit and crossed her arms, her eyes fixed on the ceiling. Finally she heard the rest of her class take their seats around her and Sarah looked up, focusing on Dr. McIntyre.
Today he was wearing an argyle sweater-vest over his buttoned down shirt, but otherwise he looked just like he did on Wednesday. Sarah narrowed her eyes and watched him carefully, looking for bruises or anything that could give away that he had been the one to break into her apartment. When she didn't see anything she resigned to looking down at her desk, doodling absently on her notebook paper.
The hour seemed to stretch on forever, and by the end of it all Sarah had drawn a pair of mismatched eyes. She scowled down at her paper and her treacherous hand that had drawn his eyes. Finally the class was over, a small bell ringing. Sarah gathered up her things and started to pack up when she heard Dr. McIntyre's voice call her name.
"Miss Williams please stay after." Sarah huffed and slung her backpack over one shoulder before she stood and walked to the front of the classroom. She stood there, her arms folded across her chest as she waited for him to tell her exactly why she was needed after class for a second time. "I wanted to talk to you about your strange behavior after class on Wednesday." The last straggling student walked out of the classroom and Jareth looked at the door, using his magic to force it to swing shut.
"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Sarah snarled, one hand was curved around the bicep of her other arm, squeezing until her nails bit into her skin. All she wanted to do was get out of there, to run all the way back to her car, but something kept her rooted to the spot. Sarah wasn't quite sure if it was fear or curiosity that kept her there.
Jareth cocked a brow at Sarah's attitude. "I'm simply asking why you ran out of the classroom in such a hurry yesterday…" His voice trailed off when he noticed the dark bruises on Sarah's neck. His eyes went wide and he reached out a hand, like he was going to stroke his hand over her bruises. Sarah swatted his hand away and almost growled.
"Don't touch me." Jareth looked hurt at her words and he dropped his hand, placing it effortlessly in his pocket. He leaned back against the desk and crossed his ankles over each other.
"We need to talk Sarah." She snorted.
"Only after you pay me back for destroying my apartment, forcing me to get more locks for my apartment, leaving that cursed necklace that knocked me out somehow…" She was shaking and Sarah closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths. "I don't know what kind of sick dream that was but you're the one that left these bruises on me."
"No I didn't." Sarah snorted and rolled her eyes.
"Then you've got an evil twin because…" Her eyes were drawn to the window and she took a step back, her mouth falling open. Jareth was standing outside, in all of his punk rock glory, while the glasses wearing Jareth was standing in front of her. Sarah's eyes flicked between the two of them as she tried to work out exactly what was going on. She felt lightheaded and one of her hands went to her head as she wobbled on her feet, then she was falling into darkness, landing in a crumpled heap on the floor.
Sarah blinked open her eyes and sighed as she tried to get her bearings. The room she was in seemed almost familiar, but it was a darker twisted version of the one she remembered. The crystal ballroom that had haunted her nightmares for seven years was before her, encircling her in a dark, strange, way. The curtains that were hanging down from the ceiling and onto the wall were varying shades of black and red, pooling haphazardly on the floor. Sarah sat up and looked around before her mouth fell open in shock. The center of the ballroom was lower than the rest, a sunken circle coated in plush pillows. On these pillows were men and women, in varying states of undress. Soft moans were coming from the practical orgy in front of her and Sarah flushed.
She looked around the room, trying to plot her escape. This time there were no chairs or tables in the ballroom, just the bed that Sarah was lying on. She sighed and threw her hands down on the sheets as she tried to think of another way out. A soft chuckle from behind her made her jump and she turned around, the hair on the back of her neck standing at attention.
"Do you like what you see Sarah mine?" Jareth stepped out from the shadows, one of his crystals juggling between his hands with little effort exerted on his part. Sarah turned her eyes back to the writhing bodies before her and had to hold back a gag. The people had shifted, each woman now looked like her, while the men were all Jareth. Sarah couldn't draw her eyes away as one Sarah was being attended to by two Jareths their…
Jareth's fingers moved her head and she pulled her head back from his touch as soon as her eye contact with the other Sarah was broken. Where his fingertips had touched her skin felt like it was on fire and Sarah whimpered as she scuttled across the bed to get away from him. A dark chuckle resounding from his lips. "I will take that as a yes." He moved towards her, his knees on the bed. He grabbed her hair in one hand harshly and pulled so that she was closer to him. Tears brimmed in Sarah's eyes and she whimpered as he sniffed at her neck.
His tongue darted out to taste her and Sarah stifled a scream, trying her best not to make him angry. He pulled his head back and then wrapped one hand around her neck, his fingertips matching the purple bruises on her neck perfectly.
"You're like a perfect little painting." His hands stroked her hair. "My little pet." Sarah started to cry in earnest and Jareth snarled, his hand tightening on her neck. "Shh. Shh now Sarah mine. No crying, or I'll make the pain worse." His hands moved from her hair and went to her shirt, pulling it over her head roughly. Sarah started crying more, but silently this time. Jareth forced her shoulders down, forcing Sarah to lay on her back. Her arms crossed over her chest, trying to cover herself as best as she could. Jareth's hands moved to her scars on her stomach, and cocked his head to the side.
"Pity." He murmured. "My pet's already been broken." One of his hands moved to Sarah's forehead and he closed his eyes. Sarah gasped in pain and her eyes closed as well. She felt like Jareth was sifting through her memories, and he eventually came to the brick wall she had erected after the incident with Brad occurred. Sarah continued to cry, not wanting to relive that pain again. However Jareth started to tear her wall down, mental brick by mental brick and suddenly Sarah was bombarded with the memory of the bonfire.
Sarah was three years younger, and her ex Brad had separated her from the rest of the bonefire. She could hear her friends chattering a few yards away. Sarah was wringing her hands together and looked at Brad, fear evident on her face.
"I want to get back to the party." She murmured, keeping her eyes glued to the grass below her feet. Brad snarled and swung his arm, backhanding Sarah across the face.
"You fucking bitch." He muttered through his teeth as he started digging through one of his jacket pockets. Sarah whimpered and her hand went to her stinging cheek, tears flowing freely down her face.
"I told you. I don't want to be with you anymore. You're scaring me." Brad chuckled and pulled a knife out of his pocket, flipping it open with a flick of his wrist. Sarah backed up, her eyes wide. "P. Please." She held her hands up in front of her and continued backing up.
"You shouldn't have crossed me Sarah." Brad muttered darkly and advanced forward. Sarah whimpered again and continued to back up. Her heels hit a fallen tree and she fell over, landing hard enough to knock the wind out of her. She tried to catch her breath, but before she could Brad was on top of her, his knife digging into the soft flesh of her belly. One of his hands went to cover her mouth, and he continued running his knife down her stomach, each cut digging deeper and deeper into her flesh. Sarah cried out, pain making her vision go blurry.
Sarah cried out and Jareth's hand receded from her forehead. His eyes were dark, almost black and he swore under his breath. "I'll kill him Sarah mine. I will kill him for what he did to you." Silent tears tracked down Sarah's face and she whimpered. Jareth's hands went to her shoulders, almost tearing her bra off of her form. Sarah screamed and one of Jareth's hands went to her throat again, tightening down like a vice.
"I will make you hurt worse if you do not stop crying." Sarah nodded and closed her eyes, not wanting to see what he was going to do to her. Jareth moved his hand back to her bra and tore it away from her, the hooks undoing from the sheer force of his pull.
Suddenly a bright light flooded Sarah's vision and she opened her eyes, sucking in a breath. She was free from the nightmare she had been in, but she didn't know where she was. She was laying down on a small couch, in a small room that was coated in books. Sarah shifted and moved a hand to her head, feeling dizzy as she sat up. She looked around the room some more, taking in more books and a small cluttered desk. The door to the room opened and Sarah jumped as Jareth walked in. However this was her professor, and not some punk nightmare. Sarah swallowed nervously and sat up further, wanting to be able to run if she needed to.
"It's good to see you awake again." Jareth said as he moved to his desk, setting down a steaming mug of coffee before he turned to look at her again. He pushed his glasses up onto his nose and sighed. "I want to have that discussion with you now." Sarah swallowed and shook her head.
"No. I want answers." Sarah was shaking lightly. "Why are there two of you? Did you break into my apartment or did the other Jareth? What's going on? Why me? Why now?" Jareth held up his hands and sighed.
"One at a time. Seven years ago you travelled through my Labyrinth. You bested me at every turn, solved all of my riddles, and finally used words of power to defeat me." Sarah was open mouthed. She hadn't expected Jareth to actually answer her. "When the words of power were uttered the timing was just right. The moon was full, it was midsummer, and my powers were stripped from me." Sarah swallowed.
"But. The other Jareth, the evil Jareth. He still has magic." Jareth nodded.
"My magic was returned when you summoned me." Jareth leaned back in his desk chair and removed his glasses, pinching the bridge of his nose between two fingers. "As the seven years between my defeat and now passed I was split. Severed into seven separate pieces." He sat up and replaced his glasses on his face before looking directly at her. "I need your help. We need your help. The Labyrinth is dying without its ruler, and until I am one whole being again it will continue to die."