Chapter One

"Oh come on Sarah," May said "it'll be fun!"

"May," I said, feeling a little uneasy about the whole masked party idea "I don't know, if you leave it open for anyone to come, what if someone crashes it?"

"Then it'll be even more fun!" May said excitedly "come on, it's Halloween, we're supposed to dress up and do things we shouldn't do!"

"I don't know," I said quietly.

"Look," she said "we got three weeks. And I already have a great costume for you. The guy at the costume shop said that if I was buying my costume, that my friend that I kept talking about needed one too."

"You were talking about me with the costume shop guy?" I asked, a little weirded out.

"Oh geez Sarah," May sighed "you NEED a boyfriend. You haven't had one since you were fifteen." I knew it was true, but I have a very good reason not to have a boyfriend. I mean, I'd like one but, every time I did get one, they lasted a grand total of three days. By then, I was already comparing them to Jareth.

"Alright," I said finally "I'll go. Are you happy now?"

"Yes," she said and led me to her closet and pulled out the almost prom looking dress. White with silver glitter, it resembled the dress I had worn in the ballroom to a T. "He gave it to me for free," she beamed "isn't that great?"

"Yeah," I said, not knowing what I was agreeing to because I was too hypnotized by the dress. "May," I said coming out of my trance "what did the guy look like?"

"He sure was an interesting character," she giggled twirling the dress around "I swear, his pants were the tightest things I have EVER seen. I mean-"I blocked her out right then, I couldn't breathe, couldn't think, let alone listen to May describe what I already knew so well.

"I can't go," I said and she sighed.

"What are you so afraid of?" she asked teasingly "scared the goblins are gonna get ya?!" She kept 'ooing' and laughing 'gonna get ya' while wiggling her fingers. I had to laugh too, she was a complete moron when she got this way.

"Alright," I said and then laughed "but you have to protect me from the goblins."

"Oh I will," she said pulling her old plastic sword out of her closet and putting one foot up on her bed, as if she had conquered it, waving the sword wildly though the air "I shall fight them all, to the death!'

I had to try very hard not to start laughing hysterically, her persistent behavior, and just her over all odd manor reminded me very much of Sir Didymus.

"May your acting like a child," I said sitting on her bed, looking at her with curiosity.

"Oh well," she said sticking the plastic weapon through her belt "doesn't matter how old you get, you can still act younger from time to time. I mean look at you," she said giving an odd expression, unable to describe "you stopped being a kid at fifteen. Where's the fun in that?"

"Well," I said thinking about it "I guess I needed to mature."

"But at fifteen?" she asked "I mean really Sarah. Your eighteen now and we'll be going to collage next year."

"I'm glad we're taking a year off," I said and she smiled.

"Yeah," she laughed "it'll be fun. We're gonna travel and see the world. But first," she said pulling the sword back out "we must have a sleepover!"

"Sleepover?" I asked raising an eyebrow "aren't we a little old for that?"

"That's what it's for," she laughed "you're going to have some fun. Like the old days, remember?"

"Old days we were weirdoes," I pointed out and she laughed.

"Exactly," she giggled curling up on her bed "all the fun pretend games we played, the drawing, poems, stories, you remember don't you?"

"Yeah I remember," I said "how could I forget?"

"And the Labyrinth," she whispered "remember that?"

"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered," I started and she smiled.

"Yeah," she said "that was SO much fun. Playing dress up and pretending we were princesses. And the Goblin King falling in love with us." She had a fit of giggles because, we had always put LOTS of details when we played the Labyrinth.

"I remember," I said shyly "maybe I will stay over tonight, I'm sure our stories have improved, don't you think?" May laughed out loud at the idea of our stories at THIS age. I walked out of May's apartment, to go home and get my stuff.

Reaching home, I kicked a pinecone that had found its way down the tree and in my path. Catching my shoe it flew directly up, hitting a low branch. I heard a screech and saw as an owl plummeted down, flapping like mad trying to start flying before it hit the ground, with no success. I went over to it, looking at it seeing if it was injured.

Finding neither blood, nor anything broken I backed up a little when it started moving. The owl was very large, which surprised me since I hadn't seen many birds that big before. But I figured that since it was a bird of prey, that maybe it was supposed to be that way.

It was mostly white, with a brownish-yellow color on top of its wings and head, like a cloak. Its face looked as if I was pushed in, which I though odd as well. Its talons were long and sharp, clicking across the ground like high heels. This all seemed very familiar, and I couldn't put my finger on it, until I looked at its eyes.

One was brown, while the other an icy blue. I shook my head, thinking that maybe I was seeing things, but they were still there.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, feeling a little silly talking to an owl. In a moments time the owl transformed into my worst enemy.

"Well I was sleeping," Jareth mumbled rubbing his head still sprawled out on the ground "until you so rudely awoke me."

"And why are you sleeping Aboveground?" I asked "in MY tree?"

"Because that's what owls do?" he asked and tilted his head, confused. "Why do you ask?"

"Because that would be called stalking," I said looking around for my key, which I had dropped on the lawn when the owl had hit ground.

"Owls sleeping in trees is called stalking?" he asked, smirking.

"No," I said getting fed up with both Jareth and my missing key "YOU sleeping in my tree is called stalking."

"If you must know," he added standing up "I was sleeping here because it is the safest place I know Aboveground. And it seems that goblins can't grasp the concept of sleeping."

"Is that supposed to make me less angry?" I asked and he gave an annoyed look.

"I guess saying yes wouldn't do much good now would it?" he asked and gave a smirk. He held up my house key and handed it to me.

"Thank you," I mumbled and he smiled.

"By the way," he called as I walked for the door "by any chance are you going to a party?"

"Go away Jareth," I said unlocking my door and quickly shutting it behind me. No one was home, and I figured Jareth had gone also. I opened my door and tossed my purse on my bed. I opened the closet, looking for something to sleep in.

"That wasn't very nice you know," he said and I turned around. Jareth was sitting on my bed, looking very much amused.

"What do you want?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"I asked you a question," he said "I expect you to answer."

"Why do you expect me to answer?" I mumbled looking back in my closet "you already know I am. That's why you gave May the dress."

"And you weren't even going to thank me for that," he pouted.

"Alright thank you," I mumbled "will you leave now?"

"In a moment," he said standing up "but I have to get a truthful answer from you first." I groaned and stood up, facing him. He held back a smirk, though you could see it teetering on the sides of his lips.

"Alright," I said "but then you have to leave."

"Of course," he said, giving a grin "what are you doing tonight?"

"What kind of stupid question is that?" I asked.

"Just answer it," he grumbled.

"Going to May's," I said.

"And what do you plan on doing?" he asked.

"Ah but see," I said pointing out "you said one question, and then you'd leave."

"Alright," he mumbled and disappeared and then reappeared. "Now," he said again "what do you plan on doing?"

"You said you'd leave!" I shouted and he chuckled.

"But you never said I couldn't leave and come back," he teased and I sighed.

"We're going to go through all our old junk," I said "talk about all the stuff we did when we were younger."

"And what about us?" he asked "ever plan on telling someone about us?"

"I don't think I could do that without causing people to think I was insane," I admitted and he smiled.

"Well," he said yawning "if she truly is your friend, you can show her Hoggle and you little friends. She'll see them."

"And your telling me this why?" I asked.

"It's not good to keep feelings and experiences bottled up Sarah," he said quietly "I assume you need someone to talk about these things with. And since your little friends already know of your adventure, I don't think they'd be too interested in hearing it again. And of course you won't converse with me about it. So I will allow this May friend of your to learn of us."

"Why the concern?" I asked and he smiled.

"Sarah," he laughed quietly "whether you like it or not, I care for you and your feelings. You may not be ready to face me again just yet, but, I'm sure this little experience won't harm you in anyway. Though, I wasn't planning it until you woke me."

I couldn't say anything. What could I say? I mean, he had just told me he cared about me after the whole thing I went through in the Labyrinth. After beating him! After, after the ballroom. I was speechless.

"I'll see you around Sarah," he said kindly kissing my hand. "And watch what you kick near that tree again, I might be sleeping." With that, he disappeared and my mouth dropped wide open. I sat down on my bed and put my hands over my face.

"Oh no," I mumbled "hasn't harmed me at all, not in anyway." With that I sighed and tossed a t-shirt and shorts in my bag. Then I headed for the attic. I opened the box marked 'junk' and carefully dumped its contents all over the dusty floor. First thing I spotted was the book. The reddish binding had turned a dingy orange and the pages had tinted yellow. I tossed it into the bag, along with my old costumes and my journal I had kept everyday after the Labyrinth up until I had turned seventeen. I found Lancelot and stuffed him in the bag too.

I went back outside, about the lock the door when I spotted the owl in the tree again. I set my things next to the door and rushed back into the house. At first I was going to put in birdseed, but then remembered that this was an owl and they didn't eat birdseed. So I put some of my dad's brisket in the bowl and heated it up. I rushed back outside and locked the front door.

I flung my bag over my shoulder and set the bowl next to the tree. The owl came down, out of curiosity and looked into the bowl. It took a piece out and snapped it up, like that last thing on earth. It looked up at me and tilted its head.

"That," I said "if for finding my key. So don't go getting a big head." Without looking back I walked down the sidewalk and took a left on the corner. Heading for May's house I felt good about myself for the first time since the whole Labyrinth experience. I could tell May and Jareth had said she would believe me once she saw Hoggle, Ludo and Sir Didymus. I smiled. So maybe the food hadn't just been for finding my key, but he didn't have to know that.