A/N: I have decided to do a serious Labyrinth fic. I'll post the first chapter, and you people who read this tell me if I should continue. Thanx.

It was cold. So cold. Rain came down in sheets and pelted the sidewalk of New York City. Wind blew furiously, ordering every person who hadn't gotten inside to do so. It howled and whistled, easily one of the worst and strangest storms its citizens had seen in a while.

It was on these cold and soaking streets that a young woman ran down, holding a leather case protectively under her arm. Most in her place might have used said case to shield themselves from the harsh rain, but not this woman. She was attempting to keep it as dry as possible, despite the damage she herself was taking.

Her clothes were soaked through. Her jeans drenched, her white tank-top clinging to her shapely body. An unzipped jacket hung loosely from her shoulders, also sopping wet. Long, dark brown waves of hair clung to her face and back, as if also trying to seek shelter from the rain.

She kept running, though. Eyes squeezed nearly shut, ears mingling with the raindrops. She ran toward a large, stone apartment building. Once there, she reached into her pocket and dug around for her keys.

When she found them, she hastily withdrew them and fumbled in the lock. In her haste, she dropped the keys into a puddle at her feet.

Muttering a string of curses, she picked them up and successfully opened the door, throwing herself inside and slamming the door behind her. Breathing deeply, she leaned against the door for a few moments. Then she began t try and fix her appearance. She smoothed her hair back as best she could, straightened her jacket, and brushed the water drops from her case.

She ascended the great metal staircase in front of her to the second floor, slipping a few times on the water she had brought with her. On the second floor were three identical doors. She unlocked the middle one and slowly stepped inside.

She was greeted by the bellowing laughter of some person on television. Sighing and dropping her keys on the table in the hall, she walked into her living room.

"Sarah? Is that you?" A man's voice called from the couch. She looked down at a handsome brunette, sprawled out on the couch with a wife-beater and a pair of boxers on. As soon as the man lay eyes on her his expression changed to concern. "Are you alright? You look like a wet cat!" He chuckled warmly, getting up and draping a towel over her shoulders.

Sarah gave him a wry smile. "I got caught in the rain." She explained, though she knew that was obvious. "Caught? It looks like you took a swim in it." The man gave her another smile and sat her down on the couch with him.

"I saw the people about my book." Sarah said quietly, looking at the ground. The man's smile broadened. "Great! How did it go? Did they enjoy it as much as I did?" He asked, putting an arm around her.

"Yeah, they liked it. Thought it was very well written. As if I'd been there myself." At this she laughed sadly. "They uh…didn't want it, though."

The man's face fell. "Why not? You said they liked it. Why in the world would they reject it?" His brow furrowed, contemplating his own question.

"They didn't like Jareth. They thought he was too…oh, I don't know, Sam, They just didn't like him as a character. They told me to re-write his character and come back." She sighed, fidgeting with her sleeves.

"Sarah." Sam pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead, letting her cry into his shoulder. "Sarah, Sarah. I'm so sorry. While I might not have liked the old Goblin King myself, I don't thing he should be cut from the story. He practically is what the plot revolves around." He was trying to be soothing and gentle.

After a while Sarah stopped crying. "I didn't want to be rejected like that, but it's my fault, I guess. Going in there and thinking I'd get my book published without any problems." She was laughing at herself.

"Just re-write the character, and take it back. After all, it's just a character in a book. I'm sure he won't mind. The Sarah Williams I know doesn't give in like that. My Sarah is strong and determined." Sam smiled and brushed Sarah's hair out of her face.

"You're right. I'll just re-write him. No harm in it, right?" She kissed him and got up, stretching. "I'm going to get out of these wet clothes and go to bed. I'm tired and I need to rethink the almighty 'Goblin King'." She smiled, returning slowly to her normal self.

"Good night, then." Sam kissed her again and stretched back out on the bed, directing his attention to the football game on the screen. Sarah rolled her eyes and walked down the hall. Before she disappeared into her room, though, she called back to him. "Remember, my little brother turns ten tomorrow, we have to give him a call."

"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about Toby." Sam called back. Satisfied, Sarah continued into her bedroom and into the adjoining bathroom.

She peeled off her drenched clothing and tossed them in the hamper before stepping into the shower.

She liked her little apartment. She had moved here to New York City when she was twenty, anything to escape from her stepmother and get her name into the world. Toby was devastated by her departure, as they had grown close over the years.

She'd found this place quickly enough, and had lived in it alone for about two years on her salary from her desk job at a major publishing company. Soon after she met Sam. Smart, charming Sam. He was the one who convinced her to write a book, since he loved her 'story' of a girl in a labyrinth.

If only he knew how much more than a story that was…

They'd reached a time in their lives when the prospect of marriage popped up every so often, and talk of moving to an actual house became an active topic in their lives. Sam wanted a bigger apartment in the city, close to his teaching business. Sarah wanted a cottage in the country, with lots of animals and a lake.

Sam wanted one child, a son. Sarah wanted two, a boy and a girl.

So the couple often had their disagreements, but nothing that wasn't fixable. The only thing that was keeping marriage in the future was the constant fight over their differing concepts on reality.

Every so often, despite how many times she had told herself that this was the 'real' world, Sarah had certain moments when she would get scared of a seemingly random area, or she would get strange feelings about things that hadn't happened yet.

These were all forgivable, though. What constantly drove Sam crazy was Sarah's objection to ever saying "I wish". She justified it by saying "be careful what you wish for" But never said anything more.

Other than that, they were a healthy couple. Or at least, she thought they were.

She stepped out of the shower and wrapped a new, fresh towel around herself, breathing in the soft scent of her favorite fabric softener. Dressing herself in gray sweatpants and a forest green t-shirt, she opened the bathroom door and went back into her room.

She could tell Sam was still in the other room by the sound of announcers shouting about someone making a great pass.

Smiling to herself, she pulled back her sheets and settled comfortably in bed, sighing with contentment. She reached into her nightstand's drawer and pulled out a notepad. She flipped it open and scribbled something in it before putting it back in the drawer.

So they wanted her to re-write Jareth, did they? Well she'd do it. She'd bend to those sneering faces' will. After all, Jareth was just a memory now. A memory she had convinced herself had been a dream. Goblins don't exist in the real world, she told herself constantly. They are pure fiction, nothing more.

No matter how many times she told herself this, however, she could not help but feel a pain in her gut like she was terribly wrong.

She covered her face in her hands and shook her head, attempting to shake some sense into it.

"Goblins aren't real." She told herself firmly and clearly. However, how did that explain the thing that was moving around in the shadows of her room?

TO BE CONTINUED………………………..

A/N: First chapter is done. What'd you think? Sorry if it is a little slow starting out, but I wanted to put detail into it. So should I do chapter two? I probably will anyway, but the process will go a lot faster if you review….;)