4A/N: First of all, this is a re-write of Prophecy, but not quite the same story. It starts out the same, but I've re-worked it and added things because I have a project going on which will link Labyrinth, the new Alice in Wonderland movie, and Pan's Labyrinth. Basically, I'm writing fics for all three of those fandoms, and then I'll be writing one big crossover fic. Still working on getting all the kinks, but I am totally devoted to this project. I promise. No matter how long it takes, it WILL be done.
Also, I know that the stepmom's official name was originally Karen, but because of the Return to Labyrinth Mangas, I have renamed her Irene here.
P. S.: For those who are interested, I've put Prophecy up on my DeviantArt (link is my homepage on my profile here). It's still not completed, but it's a good way of seeing how my writing has evolved. Like I said, though: this is NOT the same story as Prophecy. Whatever I had intended to do with Prophecy is not going to happen here. This one just starts very similarly, but eventually branches off into its own thing.
Disclaimer: I no own, so you no sue. Get it? Got it? Good.
Sarah clicked off her car radio as the song Within You by David Bowie started up. It seemed to be playing a lot lately, and it reminded her too much of Jareth. For almost a year after her adventure in Jareth's realm, she felt like he was watching her. She would be nervous when she'd go to the toilet or to take a shower, and every night before bed, she would latch her bedroom window. After doing that and locking the door, Sarah would look under the bed and in her closet and anywhere Jareth could be hiding in the form of an owl.
But now…
Sarah was nineteen. She was no longer a scared, young teenager. The way she figured it, if Jareth would have come back, he would have done so by now.
Sarah pulled her second-hand Turcell into the car-park for the apartment building where she now lived. She glanced at the picture of Merlin she had clipped to her rear-view mirror, and smiled sadly. She really missed her dog. He had died two years beforehand. Luckily, graduation meant that she could work full-time, so it was a good way of keeping herself distracted.
Once she had graduated from high school, she had moved out of her dad's house. Her relationship with her stepmother hadn't improved since the adventure. You'd think it would have at least slightly, because of how she kindly greeted them on their return that night. But her stepmother, instead of being grateful for her change in attitude, started being more unbearable than ever. It was almost like she thought Sarah was up to something. No, not almost. That was exactly what Irene had been thinking.
Sarah stepped out of her car and started toward the door that led into the building. She took out her key as she reached it, and got the lock to turn smoothly. This was contrary to her own flat, no. 18, at the top. Sure enough, once she reached and tried to unlock it, she had to struggle a bit before it finally clicked open.
As soon as she stepped inside, she felt that something was definitely wrong. Sarah went looking through all four rooms, starting with her bedroom.
The window was open, and there was a white feather on the floor. Sarah rushed forward, shut the window and closed the latch.
She picked up the feather and looked at it in horror.
Sarah then proceeded to go through every inch of her room, from under the bed to taking a chair from the kitchen so that she could check the top shelf of her closet.
Nothing.
Sarah searched the rest of the rooms and came up with nada.
No one, and no owl.
A false alarm. I'm just on edge because of that stupid song. The feather is probably from some normal, everyday bird outside. Get a grip, Sarah!
Sarah went to the kitchen and tossed the feather into the trash under the sink. Then, noticing that her answering machine was blinking, Sarah stepped forward and hit the button.
'Sarah?'
It was Toby. Only four years old, but he knew perfectly well how to handle the phone.
'Sarah? Oh. I guess you really aren't there. I just wanted to let you know that mom 'n dad want to put on an early party for my birthday. It's next Saturday at 1:00. I know you don't like them very much, but could you visit for me? Please? Call me back when you can. 'Bye.'
Sarah smiled sadly. Of all people, Toby was the only reason she still felt like part of the family.
Her thoughts were interrupted when another message started.
'Sarah, please disregard Toby's message.' Irene.
What is her problem?
'You know you won't be welcome, so don't bother coming.'
The machine beeped, signalling that there were no more messages.
That woman is getting on my nerves. Well, I'll be going to that party anyway, for Toby's sake.
Next Saturday.
Today is Friday, so I'll have a full week to get him a present.
Sarah wanted to relax before supper, so she put a lasagna from the freezer into the oven, and set up her portable timer for thirty minutes and brought it with her to the bathroom.
Sarah started up the bath, took out her favourite bubble bath, strawberry, and poured a bit into the path of the rushing, warm water.
She then unfastened her jeans and let them fall to the floor before adding her panties to the newly started pile.
Sarah then pulled off her blue t-shirt and unfastened her bra, letting these two things fall as well before picking up the lot and tossing them in the hamper.
Sarah shut off the water, and slid into the tub slowly, feeling the wonderfully warm water cover her body like a comfortable blanket.
Once she was completely settled in, she felt drowsy, and then she was floating away…
"You are so beautiful, Sarah."
Sarah was back in the ballroom, dancing with Jareth.
"What am I doing here?" she asked.
"Aren't you happy? You can have anything you want here, Sarah. Love me. Fear me."
A haunting melody was playing as Jareth twirled her about.
But the funny thing was, she wasn't scared. Or at least, not of him. What was scary was this feeling she had. It was like a tickling sensation in her stomach.
"Sarah… please, return to my kingdom."
Sarah felt weak-kneed and dizzy. She tried opening her mouth to speak, but no sound would come out. Suddenly, she felt very cold.
A loud ringing sound brought Sarah back to reality.
She jumped, spilling a bit of water out onto the floor. Most of the bubbles were gone, and the water felt colder, chilling her skin.
Sarah reached forward, pulled the plug, and got out as quickly as she safely could so that she could get to her lasagna before it would burn.
After using a towel to dry herself off and letting it fall to the floor to soak up what water had spilled, she pulled on a blue fleece bathrobe from a hook behind the bathroom door, and tied it on her way to the kitchen.
She put on the white oven mitts that were hanging on a nail above the stove, opened the oven door, and pulled out her single-serving lasagna.
She had been eating a lot of freezer things lately. Since she was living by herself, there was no point in making much else except for Kraft Dinner from time to time.
Life was boring.
Occasionally, she would have a bout of reflexion on just how ordinary and lonely her life was and, for a few seconds, found herself regretting having not taken up Jareth on his offer. When this happened, one of two things would happen: she would scold herself internally, or let herself cry. The latter only happened at night before bed. She wouldn't allow it otherwise.
After supper, Sarah felt strangely overheated. Almost like the heat was up too high in the apartment. But in checking the thermostat, she was surprised to find that the temperature was 60 degrees. Sarah looked outside, and saw that the sun was setting, and therefore it would be a lot cooler outside.
She got up and walked to her room. Opening her dresser, she changed into some new underwear, a fresh pair of jeans (in which she stuffed her keys into the pocket), a plain, white t-shirt, and a windbreaker.
Pulling on her sneakers as she exited her apartment, she thought about where she should go.
The park was within walking distance. In fact, a lot closer than it had been from her father's house.
The park… I haven't been there in a few years. Maybe I shouldn't… Oh, what the heck! Jareth isn't around anymore.
Or do I want him to be? Hmph. No.
Well, come on, feet.
And so, as though to completely tempt fate, safe in her knowledge that nothing would happen, once Sarah got outside, she headed around the back and towards the park.
The park didn't seem to have changed much. Though it was dark, so it seemed a lot more sinister.
The lake was devoid of the swans, probably because they went off to their nests this close to sundown. The shadow of the small, stone bridge over the water almost made Sarah expect the ogre from the Three Billy Goats Gruff to come out any minute.
"Hey, honey."
Sarah turned around. There were two guys coming towards her from the opposite direction. They weren't very far, and were closing in at a fast walking pace.
"You shouldn't be out here alone, cutie." said one, who wore a baggy windbreaker and had his black hair in cornrolls, which clashed with his pale face.
"You look good enough to eat." added his companion, who had long, blonde dreadlocks.
Sarah felt completely petrified.
"Please, leave me alone. I was just on my way home." She cringed at how shaky her voice was, knowing they would pick up on it.
"Need a little company?" asked the first.
"N-no. I'm fine."
"Well, we want your company anyway."
Sarah turned and ran, but the guys were already too close.
They caught up to her after she had crossed the street away from the park.
The one with the dreadlocks grabbed hair, forcing her to stop and scream. Cornroll took the opportunity to dart forward and grab both her arms, drawing them behind her back, making sure she couldn't get away.
"Let me go! LET GO!"
The one who had pulled her hair was now in front of her and hit her hard in the stomach.
"You shut up, bitch!"
Sarah started sobbing; which was very painful since she couldn't breathe as a result of the blow that had been dealt to her gut.
Sarah then heard a faint but familiar humming sound. Neither of the boys seemed to have noticed.
That humming sound…
Sarah was feeling desperate and scared.
"I wish the Goblin-king would rescue me!" she screamed into the night.
"Goblin-king?" the guy behind her said.
"You must be off your nut, lady." the other one said.
Suddenly, a loud shriek was heard.
All three looked up. A white barn owl was sailing forward.
The guy who had hit Sarah whipped around in the direction the owl was coming from.
"I'll take care of it."
He tried to whack the owl away, but the owl evaded the blow, and managed to start attacking the guy's face.
He let out a terrible cry, then fell to the ground as the owl finally flew off him, and turned around just enough that Sarah could see blood pouring from his wounded sockets.
Sarah turned her head away, shutting her eyes, when the guy holding her suddenly let go, screaming in pain.
The owl had grabbed hold of the back of his head and was causing great damage, ripping with its talons and beak.
Sarah felt extremely ill.
Just when she thought she was going to be sick, Sarah felt her knees buckle, and then she knew absolutely nothing.
The owl let go when the boy finally fell to the ground. Turning its head, the owl noticed the collapsed girl.
It lifted its wings as though to take off, but then there was a flash of light, and the owl was gone.
Standing next to the recently fallen boy was a tall, lean man. His chiselled features were somewhat pale and his blonde hair quivered slightly in the light breeze. He wore a long, dark cloak with a high collar, giving him an intimidating appearance. His tight breeches were black and he had a sort of symbol on a chest plate which resembled devil's horns, with an eight on its side in the centre. This was the symbol of his power.
The king of Goblins.
Jareth.
He squatted beside Sarah's fallen figure, and looked at her worriedly. removed the black leather glove from his right hand so that he could check her pulse at her wrist, and held his hand just in front of her mouth and nose to feel her breathing. All seemed normal, except for her heartbeat, which was going a little faster than regular.
Sarah. I must take you away from such dangers. This must never happen to you again.
Putting his glove back on, Jareth flicked his wrist around, and a crystal appeared in it. He held onto Sarah's wrist, then looked at the crystal intently, and there was a flash of light.
If anyone had been watching all this happen, they would've seen that Jareth and Sarah had disappeared.