First Meeting

The Faith Sky Hospital was unusually busy for a Wednesday. In the children's ward, two girls were roomed. One girl looked to be about seven, with dirty brown hair and dirty clothes to match. She was crying, her tears mixing with the grime and small amount of blood that had congealed under her nose where she had gotten hit. The other side of her face was sporting a black eye. The other girl, who appeared to be about five years old, had black hair and green eyes, and was being quite silent, though her leg was broken. A neighborhood bully had pushed her off the playground set, and she'd hit the ground before her father could reach her. Finally, the younger girl could keep silent no longer.

"What's your name?" she asked softly.

"Bethany," blubbered the older girl, "What's yours?"

"Sarah. What happened to you?"

"My uncle hit me again." Bethany said this so matter-of-factually, that Sarah wondered if the girl believed that all uncles hit their nieces.

"Why did he do that?"

"Because he's a bad man," Bethany said grim-faced. Then she looked at Sarah and smiled knowingly, saying, "He's got a big surprise in store for him though, cause I'm not going back home."

Sarah gasped. "Where will you go?"

At this question, Bethany outright grinned. "Somewhere where he'll never find me." She then dug something out from her school bag, handing it to Sarah. It was a small red book with gold writing on it.

"The Labyrinth?" she asked perplexed, reading the title, as she was smart for her age.

Bethany just nodded, then spoke. "I wish the goblins would take me away, right now!"

Suddenly, Sarah felt a whooshing feeling inside of her and she was awed. Whatever was going on, something magical was about to happen...

Robert Williams paced in the waiting room nervously. Where was Linda? Resentment bubbled up inside him as he realized where his wife probably was; she was most likely still at the theater, trying to schmooze up to everyone. Meanwhile her only child was in the hospital with a broken leg. Some mother, sneered Robert in thought. His thoughts were distracted by the man that was now gracefully moving through the throng of people up to the front desk. The man was wearing a lavender loose top, purple vest, and gray tight pants, if pants were what those were called. And the man's blond hair was haphazardly styled, with long sections that fell to the shoulders and short sections that stood up every which way. Perhaps it was because the man was dressed so strangely, but Robert wondered for a split second if perhaps Linda had gotten a ride with one of her theater friends. But after realizing that Linda was in fact not walking through the door, Robert eyed the man more curiously. The man seemed to understand that he was under scrutiny, for he turned to look at Robert, and Robert felt a strange dread creep over him, the type that wasn't hostile, just a feeling of inevitability. The strangeness of the man was complete, as the man's gaze revealed he had two differently colored eyes, one crystal blue, the other golden amber.

The man shrugged at Robert, saying, "Throwing my daughter a fantasy birthday party. She insisted I dress up, and I certainly wasn't expecting to have to come here to fetch someone else."

Robert merely nodded. He definitely didn't have the time to ponder some stranger in a hospital. He frowned, looking at his watch. Where in the world was Linda?!...

Jareth, King of the Goblins, walked into the hospital room. He laughed to himself. Mortals were so easily gullible. It had been a piece of cake to get to the girl's room, really. "Hello, Bethany. I believe you called?"

"Yes!" Bethany cried out. "Please take me to the Underground, Goblin King, I don't want to be hit anymore!"

Jareth's features darkened as he said, "Don't worry, you'll never have to deal with your pig of an uncle again. Rest assured that he'll get what he deserves. Now, if you'll come with me, I believe I've found a couple who would love to adopt you as their own." It was as he was taking the young girl's hand that he felt the weight of another set of eyes on him. He glanced up to see a pair of green eyes, widely regarding him. Something tugged at Jareth, something unnameable, and it was the first time in his long existence that he was unsure of himself. He saw that this younger girl was clutching his book in her hand, and he deduced that Bethany must have passed the book along. The strange new feeling was making Jareth curious, but he needed to adhere to the rules of his land first. He mentally called a few of his goblins to his side. "Bethany, follow Zorb and Tull, I'll be there shortly." Bethany willingly complied, and promptly disappeared from view. Jareth turned to the remaining girl and tilted his head. "What's your name, little one?" he asked.

"Sarah," she answered.

"And what happened that has you in a hospital bed?"

"Paul pushed me off the slide. I broke my leg."

Without warning, rage coursed through Jareth's veins, and he gasped in shock. What in the Underground was that?! He shook his head, something strange was going on here, but he didn't have the time to sort it out. "Well, I'm terribly sorry to hear that, Sarah. I'd love to chat further, but unfortunately I must go. Goblin business to attend to and all that. You have the book now, so I'm sure I'll be seeing you again someday."

And as Jareth felt himself being portaled to his world, he heard Sarah say, "Bye, Jareth." The unusual feeling suddenly tightened like a noose around his heart, and he cursed himself for speeding away so quickly. How had she known his name?! A sudden fear that he would never know rose up in him, but it soon faded as he remembered that she still held the book. A smile spread across his face. Don't worry, Sarah, we'll meet again soon.

Down in a dark, dusty oubliette, a young woman and a disgruntled dwarf were having an argument.

"I can't trust you, you were taking me back to the beginning!" The young woman said.

"I wasn't. I only told him that to throw him off the scent," the dwarf pleaded.

"How can I believe anything you say?" the teenager retorted.

"Let me put it this way; what choice have you got?"

After a brief hesitation, she sighed, saying, "You're right."

"See, you've got to understand my position. I'm a coward and Jareth scares me."

A strange sensation flashed through Sarah. How was it that she knew his name when Hoggle said it? She tried to push the question and feelings associated with that thought aside though, asking, "What kind of position is that?"

"No position. That's my point," Hoggle continued, not noticing anything amiss. And though she continued her argument with Hoggle, even to the point of stealing his jewels to secure her freedom, her mind was whirring. She knew Jareth, had known him from before. But when and how? Unfortunately, being a teenager and prone to distraction, she eventually forgot all about figuring out the mystery by the end of her journey through the Labyrinth.