Labyrinth II: Return to the Laybrinth (1)

Chapter one,
A shared adventure


The party was over and all her friends gone, and, thankfully, the mess they made disappeared along with them. Sarah was now left to mull over what had just happened. "Was it real?" she asked herself. "Of course it was real, how else did that party just happen?" Sarah answered herself. But nothing was left of the party....

Sarah breathed deeply and sat upright in her bed. Life was never going to be the same now. The Goblin king may have been defeated, but someone else might try to take Toby away and Sarah was never going to let that happen.

But so many things tugged at the back of her mind. Why had the Goblin king answered her call in the first place? Was it just because he answered whenever called? Or was it something more? "I need someone to talk to," Sarah said looking to her stuffed bears on the wall. "Someone I can tell everything to. Someone here. But who?" she wondered. Then it hit her.
Ray.
Ray Quirk was the weirdest girl in school and was always talking about things that did not really exist. Maybe Sarah would be able to talk to her. Maybe she could get some feedback, some outside help. "I'll call her in the morning." Sarah decided. With that, Sarah collapsed onto her bed and fell asleep.

Sarah did not dream at all that night and she was grateful. She feared that if she had dreamed, she would not wake up again. But the morning was here and soon she would have someone to talk to. Ray and Sarah were not the best of friends, but they were close enough.

Sarah washed her face and then ran down stairs to eat something. She wolfed down a bowl of cereal and, after tossing the bowl and spoon into the sink, snatched up the phone and went up to her room.

Sarah dialed Ray's number and waited axously on her bed. The phone rang five times before someone picked up. "Morning, Ray here," Ray said through the phone. She sounded so different on the phone, older. "Hey Ray, it's me, Sarah. I was wondering if you might be able to come by my place today and stay for a while. I..." Sarah paused. She hadn't thought about how to tell Ray without sounding like a crazy person. "I have this story idea in my head and I wanted to talk it over with you 'cause you're the only person I know who would listen to it without cracking up at the end of every sentence." she said. That would work. Ray gave a surprised and excited gasp through the phone. "Oh really? That sounds awesome. I'll be over in a flash, soo happy you live so close, and we can talk fiction. See ya in a minute!" Ray said and the phone clicked off.

Sarah sat on the stairs, waiting for Ray. While she sat there she thought over how she was going to tell Ray everything. As she was thinking this, Sarah noticed that all of her adventure had been almost exactly like the book. That book, The Labyrinth, the one she read over and over again. Things like all the friends Sarah had found and the friends the maiden in the book had found were very different, but the basic chain of events were the same. Had it been that the author of that book had gone to the Labyrinth as well? Sarah's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door bell.

Ray stood outside the door with a big smile on her heart-shaped face. "I'm here!" she said. Sarah smiled back. "Hey, thanks for coming, I hope I didn't ruin your Sunday..." she said. Ray shook her head. "No problem, I had nothing to today," she said this as Sarah let her in, "And I haven't ever seen your house, so alls cool." Ray looked around the foyer and to the stairs. "Already your house is cooler than mine. Wheres your room?" she asked, excited.

Sarah showed Ray up to her room. Sarah now noticed that Ray had a blue passenger bag with her. This was quickly dumped onto a chair as Ray kicked off her flats and jumped up onto Sarah's bed. Ray patted the spot in front of her and Sarah sat down with her. "So, spill. Whats this really strange story that I only can hear?" Ray asked, her large chocolate brown eyes eager. Sarah took a deep breath and began to tell her story.

It took hours to tell Ray everything. Ray demanded every little tiny detail that Sarah could give her. She gasped in all the right places, "Oooh"ed and "Aah"ed, giggled at the funniest parts, and overall was the best person to tell. When Sarah finally finished Ray clapped. "Sarah that was the coolest story I have ever heard in my entire life! You should write all that down, if you haven't already." she said, getting up and getting a sketch book and pencil out of her bag. Sarah looked down. She hadn't told Ray about The Labyrinth, and if she were to write her adventure down and try to publish it, it might be considered plagiarism. "I dunno..." she said at last. Ray was back in front of her with her sketch book. "Aw, c'mon! I could illustrate it for you. But I don't think I'll be able to draw Jareth too well, he seems like such a complicated character." she said his name without hesitation. Sarah shrugged, trying to seem indecisive. "I'll think about it."

Ray and Sarah spent the rest of the afternoon talking about the "characters" in Sarah's "story". Ray drew them all down in her sketch book and to Sarah's surprise, they looked very much like the real people she had met in the Labyrinth. The two pictures Ray spent the most time on were the ones of Sarah's ball gown and the Goblin King. Sarah's stomach knotted itself into a ball when she saw those pictures. It was a bitter-sweet memory that she wanted so much to forget. In that brief period of time, she had actually wanted to stay with the Goblin King. But it was all just his trickery, his games. The feeling hadn't been real.

"So..." Ray said with a mischievous grin on her face. "So what?" Sarah asked. Ray leaned back on the pillows behind her. "Soo, do you fancy tall, pale, and mysterious men?" she asked. Sarah blushed. Ray giggled. "Thought so. So tell me, since "you turned down the Goblin King" can I have him?" she asked. Sarah stared at Ray open-mouthed. She wanted to yell that he was dangerous and Ray shouldn't even think about him, but she needed to keep up her act that this was all just a story. "Well?" Ray asked with and eyebrow raised. Sarah shook her head and looked at Ray. "I take it you like tall, pale, and mysterious..." she mumbled. "But I don't know how you could "have him". He's just a character." Sarah said, hoping that would throw Ray off. Ray giggled, her blond not-quite-curly hair bouncing. "Sarah, honey, thats what makes it all the better! He's not real, I can do what I want. This is why I love this stuff, you can twist it and bend it however which way you wish." she said. Sarah sighed worriedly. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

Ray left around ten, thanking Karen for dinner. "Call me if you decide you want to write that down." she called to Sarah as she walked away. Sarah waved good-bye and then went back up to her room. This was not good. She hadn't told Ray the real words to summon the Goblin King, but what if she found them out, just like Sarah had? What would happen then? "Wait.." Sarah said, sitting upright in her bed. She had defeated the Goblin King, he couldn't come back. Another goblin might take up the throne, but no one would ever come close to the Goblin King. With thatreassurance, Sarah sighed, letting all her troubles disappear.

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