Erlking - The Goblin King

Sarah wouldn't ever be able to say exactly how or when they had lost their way. And she doubted there would be a different answer from father, who was biting his lower lip, maneuvering the car as they tried to find some road to follow... Or anything that might be considered of similar help. He muttered something that she couldn't fully hear (the meaning however, was easy to catch, something quite appropriated for their current predicament).

She looked out of the window, though already knowing it to be useless and her blood felt harsh under the skin as once more, she saw nothing besides trees growing around and beyond until their shapes were swallowed by the darkness. She rubbed her legs against each other, though she felt no cold.

Externally, that was.

"Damn it!" Her father growled at her side, sighing and trying to smile at her, the way he would when she was a child. Sarah, however, was more than old enough to see what the gesture tried to hide "What a night, huh?"

The white light inside the car seemed to conspire with the night to make it look darker along with the trees. Sarah had no doubt that, under different circumstances, she would have marveled at the nature around. It could easily pass by as a reserve, a piece of untouched beauty, virgin of any human touch. It would have provoked her imagination with tales of forests where new fauna and flora could be discovered even nowadays.

It was not quite so.

The whole situation drank whatever wonder there might be. And when she looked at the trees, Sarah saw skeletons, arms that reached from under the earth in a plea, their branches deformed fingers. If this was a sanctuary, it was for the dead…

Her spine trembled. She was not helping herself.

"What a night…" The reply came with a tentative smile of her own. Robert turned his attention back to the way ahead, driving slowly as the last thing they needed was to crash against an unexpected tree or even fall into a ditch before he could break. Not that he needed to say so and not that Sarah didn't know it.

He bit his lower lip, ignoring how there was a faint pain being born, fighting his own nerves to keep control. He was past the point where anxiety could be dressed up as anger and make him lash out for not being able to hold it back (not that he or Sarah had). Now, there was nothing besides how his heartbeat sent cold waves and his mind teased him with thoughts that could have been born of the darkness around.

The car's headlight wasn't being of much help, illuminating only some steps ahead and all they could see was grass, earth and the trees. The moon was full in the sky and he remembered how it's glow would illuminate paths in the park at night but apparently it ignored places such as this.

He looked Sarah who, picking the hint from his eyes, checked her cell phone once more, shaking her head.

No use. There was no service

"I don't get it." Robert muttered in frustration. Sarah agreed on this. They had left early in morning for a day-long visit to Aunt Fran, her father's sister who lived in a nearby city (one hour and a half tops of distance) and were on their way home… Or were supposed to be. None of them knew how they had lost their path when it was a travel they had done thousands of times before and Robert had never taken a single different turn. He was not a man who believed in shortcuts or finding his own path ("adventures" some men could call it), and yet somehow, they found themselves surrounded by wildness and with no idea of how it had happened.

"Irene must be worried sick." He whispered between his teeth, though he had said that before. As much as one usually didn't feel like having a conversation when in this emotional state, Robert wanted to try. Partly to calm himself, partly because it distracted from the silence outside… It had to be very late. The only sound he could pick up was the tires against the ground and nothing more. He forced his voice to sound lighter "We're in for a hell of a lecture when we get home, kiddo"

"You mean you're in for a hell of a lecture. I'm innocent. I'm just a witness, sir" The emotion in her voice was too false and the dramatic in the head gesture too forced (her drama teacher would have been confused if it wasn't for the situation), but at least it had the desired effect of making her father chuckle. Sarah focused in the sound, as if it could disperse how their true feelings seemed to escape their bodies and create a mist in the car. Her father shook his head, pretending to be hurt that his daughter would leave him at the mercy of his second wife's rage and ruffled her hair.

"Only you to make me laugh now, kiddo" He used to call her that when she was a little, the treatment facing a hiatus when she had started to reject it, returning to use again when things had "calmed down" as one might say. When he gave her a smile, she could see he was proud of her for some reason she didn't understand, but considered it might be more like a sort of relief? Perhaps that she was not allowing her shivering nerves to take control? Sarah couldn't find in herself to care much, not when she saw the glimpse of his emotions and not when her body felt dry inside, only her heart alive, hardened with tension.

Her father was right. Irene would be worried sick. Knowing her, she might have tried to make tea only to be unable to drink it.

Sarah knew her parents had been relieved upon concluding that what they called "the bratty phase of teenagers" had come to an end, becoming then a subject of jokes with both of them sharing stories of their own similar phases. At first, Sarah's shame and guilt, not only for her actions that night but all her previous behavior towards her family, had been too great to allow her to find anything amusing in such conversations and even now, two years later, there were occasions when she wondered if her family ever got curious at what had caused her to receive them with a warm smile that night, apologizing for how she had acted earlier… Or how she had suddenly become close to Toby.

Phases such as those tended to fade slowly, as mist dying when touched by winds… Hers had took a night. Or so it had seemed for them…

The air outside was broken, by the hoot of an owl.

Moved by instinct, Robert looked to the branches, then at his daughter with the corner of his eyes. Sarah was still, back almost forced against the seat and he couldn't tell if she had heard it or was just ignoring it. She had no love for owls, something he and Irene had never been able to understand, as Sarah was as much a nature-lover as Irene and showed no issue with other species of birds. Such trait had never made itself known when Sarah was a child.

Somehow, he remembered something of long ago… Irene had left with Sarah to buy some groceries at sunset. By the time they were returning home, night was falling. Their talk had been interrupted by the sight of an owl perched on a house's fence. It wasn't such an unusual occurrence, as the neighborhood park nearby was home of some wild animals (rabbits and owls, and some swans at the lake, even).

Irene had been marveled at the animal. She told him later of the molten amber eyes and the brown feathers… She had made a move to come a little closer, but Sarah had grasped her arm and muttered how it wouldn't be wise… Somehow, it hadn't been the natural wariness of approaching wild animals. Irene told him how, for a moment, Sarah's eyes had become adult-sharp.

Irene hadn't minded her, approaching the animal enough to not spook it and had observed it for a moment, almost managing to take a photo with her cellphone before it flew away. All this time, Sarah had keep her distance, all of her tension and just staring at the bird.

"It was strange, Robert…" Irene had muttered upon finishing her tale, frowning as if finding a strange detail in a past event that at the time had seemed natural. "It wasn't like she was nervous, it was… It was more like distrust… And something else"

He couldn't tell why the memory had come to him now, so vivid. It made him want to call to Sarah, but reason came back to life and stopped instinct. However, the strange cold in his mind didn't leave.

Then he saw it. Perched on a large rock on the right, there was a large barn owl.

Sarah's mouth became a thin line. Her fists were closed on her lap.

"It's just an owl, dear…"

"I know…" Sarah muttered, though her lungs had ceased to work. Not for the first time, the girl was glad that her parents had labelled her reaction as some strange uneasiness and left it at that, rather than fully trying to understand the cause. Sarah stared at the bird, her mind no longer having the rational walls to blind her to the possibilities, not after her eyes had been opened to the hidden reality that lurked in the shadows of the world.

The owl tilted its head to the side.

When the car came close, it took flight.

There was a screech again… And the silence returned.

"This didn't help me at all…" She moved in her seat, uncomfortable. Her body felt tired even if she had been sitting for the last couple of hours. They felt like eternity… Drops of water holding an ocean. The image pulled other in sequence. A snow globe. A child exclaims in delight. He can see the family living in the small house. The adult laughs at the innocence and indulges him, leaning in and ready to say he sees, yes, sure…

But he does see it. Small people, in a time with no time, in a day with no ending, walking around and laughing, never to know they can't leave. There will never be a summer, there will never be a school day, there will never be anything that is not that particular day in a frozen time…

Sarah leaned forwards, moving her head as to look around.

Again, she found nothing. It felt as if they had entered a range or forest of some sort, even though there were none in the way between the two cities… What bothered Sarah was also how there were no man-made lights (or of any kind) as far as she could see.

For how long, truly long, had they been here wherever "here" was?

"We'll get home, kiddo" Her father said again seeing her fall back in her seat, taking a deep breath. The girl crossed her legs. Her seat felt like a cage. Her flesh was alive under the skin, teased by the touch of spiders.

Sarah looked at him, trying to bring forward whatever still remained of a child in her, so she could be reassured, could not feel so scared… Robert must have seen part of this in her eyes, for he once more ruffled her hair, gentler this time.

"Easy, okay? It'll be alright. I'm sorry I got us into this…"

"It wasn't your fault, dad" She whispered, for it was true. Robert, however, didn't seem at all convinced. He was the one driving, was he not?

"And you're right… Plus, we're just bound to reach somewhere, right? I mean, nothing goes on forever." Her attention was back to beyond the window. It would be okay. Things like that happened. A lot, even. Perhaps they would have to spend the night in the car, but at morning it would be easier to find a way. By the time they returned home they would be laughing about it, too. And after going on about how mad she had been with worry, even Irene would laugh. Heh, she would probably joke about how she had to go with them from now on all the times, to prevent this from…

Sarah's back tensed. Ice bit her nerves.

She pressed herself against the seat, the instinctive move of one hoping to avoid being seen.

Her father noticed it.

"Sarah? What happened?"

"Dad…" She whispered, the sound a shiver. Tell. Don't tell. I saw. I didn't. Her heartbeat was so strong it hurt. "I…" The truth? A lie? "I think I saw something…"

Not something.

Someone.

Robert looked in the direction of her window, leaning a bit.

"I don't see anything. Are you sure?"

"Well… No…" Yes.

He had been there.

Sarah tried to breath, but her lungs refused air. Her mind sung some intelligible words that rang with madness. She looked again. It was as if the world outside was frozen or they were, for there he was…

He presented no difference from when Sarah had last seen him. Standing among the night and trees, he looked all the king he was. His outfit was the same from their confrontation, yet black. A piece of the darkness he had taken for a garment.

Around his wild hair, Sarah noticed a glow. Pale and faint as mist of cold mornings. The shine, however… It whispered of graves and cemeteries. It was neither mind nor heart what warned Sarah, but a primeval knowledge of the blood. Dead stars… Stars that had either died ages ago or been murdered, and that he had collected for his personal crown.

"God, please…"

"Dad, do you see that man?" She tried. Her father, at the prospect of either finding help or more troubles, turned at once to her window. Sarah looked with the corner of her eyes. Jareth's face had broken into a smile, that of a tiger playing with a lamb before ripping it apart, feasting in the flesh as it still lives.

"Sarah… There is no one there, dear" His tone changed from worried to calming midway. "I know you're scared, but…" Her mind didn't bother to process the rest. No, fear was not a right term to what she felt now. Dread didn't come close, either. What was biting her heart and making her flesh want to abandon the wrapping skin was too much for such words…

"Sarah…"

She turned back.

The backseat was empty, save from a present for Toby from Aunt Fran.

"Sarah?" Her father repeated, confused. She didn't hear him as she sat right again.

"It has been quite a while, don't you think?" The voice caressed her ear while echoing in her mind. She bit her tongue, while eschewing any public demonstration of emotion. It hadn't been long enough for her. She prayed he would just mock her predicament and leave… He couldn't do anything, she hadn't wished anyone away, was sure she hadn't been wished away, she…

"Toby!" The cry was in her mind, but he must have heard or sniffed her fear and its roots.

"Not this time, dear. Little one has grown since the last time I saw him, though. Does he remember anything, Sarah? Has strange dreams perhaps? Nightmares?" The stab of guilt was there, a wound among fear, yet she refused to show the effects of his words. If she just ignored him, if he got bored, then maybe…

After a moment of silence, he spoke once more.

"Silence treatment doesn't become you." It took all her will to not look behind, she felt his presence, his scent. The ghost of his lips was on her ear. Her skin was cold.

She tried to remember all the research she had done on his kind. Unable to tell myth from truth, she had preferred to take it all as such… It was why she had a piece of fence made of iron hidden in her room and lavender… And even the magic of Fae had its laws and though she would admit herself ignorant of Jareth's limits, she knew they must exist.

She held to this thought with near despair.

"I've prepared many wonders for you, dearest…" He carried on with a tone meant for comfort. And Sarah could still see him outside, as if he was just walking at the same speed of the car. His bicolor eyes never left her, making Sarah wonder if they ever had. "A garden as you never imagined… Gowns of moonlight…"

He lifted his hand. Sarah thought she would see one of his dream-crystals, but it was that pearly-silver shine that came to life, slithering around his fingers.

"A crown for you…"

"A crown of corpses!" She snarled in her mind, her lips only moving to form words. Jareth didn't seem bothered by the truth. The glow of dead stars was still around his fingers, at times starting to take a shape that did invoke the idea of a crown or diadem. The vision made her entrails turn. A wave of pre-retching came to her.

"Dad. Can you hear this?" She tried once more, insisting as she turned to her father, her anchor to a past with no nightmares, to a life of ignorance. "Please…" It was not a plea to him, more a prayer that he would listen, his eyes would open and…

Robert frowned. He was indeed hearing something… It sounded like words…

He chuckled, taking that his daughter was trying to distract him. She had a talent for stories and could make of a boring travel a time you wish wouldn't end just so you could hear the end of a tale.

"The wind really sounds like a voice at times, right?" He saw she was not smiling. And though there was no emotion in her face, her skin was too pale. Her green eyes alight… It was not amusement, it was so far from it that Robert couldn't bear to see it. Such emotion didn't belong in his daughter's eyes. "Sarah… It's just the wind in the leaves, you know. Things like this play tricks on the mind…"

Sarah felt a cry of anguish being born and dying in the base of her throat. Robert went on with words that didn't reach her. Even if there would be little her father could do if he knew the truth, at least she wouldn't feel so alone within that nightmare. Outside, Jareth just watched the exchange. Sarah looked ahead, forcing her eyes to not wander to his direction. Her muscles were marble under the skin.

"Go away" Her lips only moved the shape of words, her voice lower than a blow. "I've won your sick game. I beat the Labyrinth. Leave me and mine alone"

She risked a glance.

Jareth was not there.

"And you believed yourself free?" His voice was on her ear again before there was time to feel doubt or relief. He chuckled, apparently charmed by her defiance, his mouth going down her neck and up again, teasing the skin. Ice stabbed her spine at each word. "You may have won a round, but not the game. Why not give in? Accept it…"

The shadow of his hands was on her shoulders, as if her seat was smoke. The contact was slow and carried promises she would rather have never felt. An attempt to lean forward was useless, her body dead to the commands of the mind and Sarah wished her nerves would follow, so to not feel the caress.

"You have no power over me" The words were there, the words she held to like a prayer, through which she had, years ago, refused to allow him to use her dreams to dominate her, refused to break.

"Always so cruel. You wound me…" She bit her lower lip to avoid a cry. "What's said and is said. What's done is done… Remember what the dwarf told you?" His snake-like whisper was amused. "Even if you find the center, you can never find your way back. And you know how true this is…"

Oh, she knew it. Those beings spoke the raw truths that only the not-human are allowed to. And she had learnt it. More and better than she wished... One can't unlearn how to see or become blind again by choice. She shook her head. A gesture one would take as trying to get free of a bad thought. And that was what her father thought it to be, apparently.

"The sprites want to attend you" Jareth carried on as if she had said nothing, refused nothing. "The faes will tell you tales your kind never imagined…" He had no need for more to paint a ghost of image in her mind. There were stimuli to the imagination and desire. And they pierced her mind and soul.

Sarah pushed the image away before it took shape.

She didn't want to listen and was about to tell him to shut up… But then she saw it.

Small foxfires, no bigger than marbles, were being born. Some slithered in the air, others trembled from right to left. Gray shadows moved around, close enough so their presence couldn't be ignored.

Had she not already witnessed such truth, her sanity would have shattered right there.

Her eyes shook, with dread and confusion. There was no safety outside and no safety in the car. The Goblin King's words were no better than what her had envisioned in her nightmares, but they were different from the expected… And somehow, so much worse…

"The labyrinth longs for its Queen" Jareth explained, seeing Sarah didn't allow herself to understand what his promises meant. "And so do I"

She felt her body dissected by cold hands.

"No. No. Never" Her mind and heart chanted in insane refusal. In all her life, she had never heard something she wanted to refuse more. Her body went rigid in natural response of fear, but there was no safety or protection in any course of action.

"Oh, dear, it's only forever… Not long at all"

"There are lights outside, dad. Can you see them?" Even if he saw them as mere natural lights, there would be a step. It would be something. To face such things alone when her father was right at her side…

"It's the moonlight, dear… Sarah, you're strange. Are you feeling alright?"

"What moonlight?" She wanted to cry back. Up until now, it was as if the moon was forbidden to shine here, they had commented it earlier on! Her hands held the edge of her seat with an iron grasp. No. She wouldn't go. She refused. He had no right to just take her away like this. No! Her mind was a mad bird, searching for a solution, a way to fight back, a way to avoid this…

The creatures of the Fae Court danced around. She could hear ghost-whispers, some calling her "queen". It hurt her ears. Her whole being recognized a sensation close to what she had first felt in the Labyrinth… It was strengthened by those visions and voices that no human should hear if wishing to have a normal life. Of a reality somehow above the one she lived him, and realms truer than the everyday life.

"Why resist?" Jareth sounded frankly curious, uncaring for her refusal of him. "Forget this life. Even if you run away, I'll always know. You were marked to be mine since two years ago, Sarah"

His hands were on her shoulders again. The promises of such touch were clearer now, to the mind and body, making her wish her heartbeat would cease to free her of it. There was no refuge in denying what was happening, but there was no way she could endure it either.

Her life. Her family. Her dreams. What she wanted to be, what she wanted to do, people she wanted to meet. No. She couldn't die and remain alive like this, the bastard had no right!

Why her? She refused to believe she had been the only one to ever beat the Labyrinth in its long existence, so why?

"You have my heart… And I wish for yours"

"Go away, leave me alone, I don't want this, I don't want you!"

A sigh. Her grip to the seat became stronger. Her body tensed. With the instinct of flight or fight, even in her dread, she preferred the latter.

"It appears I need to use force. What a pity"

"DAD" She cried out. "Go faster!"

"Sarah…" Robert was shocked at the sudden explosion of words, but anything else he could have said died when he saw Sarah's expression.

"Don't you feel this cold?" Never before he had heard her voice like this, so adult. And never with the weaved emotions it carried. "Just go faster, please!"

For a moment, Robert could only see the fear. And he felt the cold… And now was forced to accept what his senses had been telling him, that such coldness had nothing to do with nature, no matter how much he wanted to fool himself.

The realization released his hold on logic. It abandoned thought and reason, forcing his eyes to open. It was a moment when he felt the danger inside his own nerves and it was real.

He stepped on the accelerator.

"C'mon! C'mon!" Sarah insisted. Robert felt the fear, both hers and his and cared for nothing more than leaving. He had to. He knew somehow Sarah was in danger. Whatever she told him later, he would believe.

"Finally!" He breathed in childish relief, seeing a road ahead. He stepped on, managing to get in front of a red car without problem, not caring if he had surprised the driver. He went past the car ahead, at maximum the speed limit allowed… As he glanced back, he saw no signal of trees or forest anywhere. They could have been on the road for all the past hours.

"God, oh, God…" His mind whimpered and it was a true prayer. Now he drove slower, quickly getting in the speed limit. His eyes had tears of relief… They had escaped.

"Sarah, it's okay now…" He said with the same tone he had used ages ago when she was a child, when he would look under her bed and into her closet for imaginary monsters, wishing now that what they had escaped from had been just as imaginary. "You're safe, honey…"

The words died. For a moment, his world followed.

"No… No… NO!"

The passenger's seat was empty.

AnaWolf: A long time ago, I tried making a little poem based on "Der Erlkonig" by Goethe. Although it wasn't great, it was good and I had fun with it. Another day, I was again listening to the song and started to think again about the Labyrinth, but this time, as a prose. I thought to ignore it, as I had written a poem like that already... But you know those ideas that refuse to leave unless they're written? That what happened. So, there you have it! I'm actually proud of this one and I hope you had fun reading it! Please tell me what you thought of it in the reviews!

Thanks a ton!