As The World Falls Down... (JarethxOC Labyrinth Fanfic)

The Large Library

I knew he was going to follow me to my bedroom, so I quickly ran into the door onto my left. I shut it behind me, turning around. I gasped softly.

       Before me stood shelves upon shelves upon shelves of books, the musky scent of old paper filling my senses. I walk toward a shelf, running my hand over the spines of the well-worn books. I feel a certain wave of calmness wash over me, closing my eyes as I take the scent of the large library in once more.

        "Hey! Over here," Comes a muffled voice. I open my eyes again, looking around. "I'm right here!" Comes the voice again. I look over to a bookshelf, and to what I think is the source of the voice. I gently run my hand over the spines again, hearing a soft giggle. "H-hey, ahaha! Do--ehehe! Don't do that! I-it tickles!" I gently pick up a large book, opening it.

        "A talking book?" I furrow my brow, looking down at the face in the pages.

        "You have to admit that i'm not the strangest thing you've found in this world," It replies. I shrug, moving to a table. I gently place the book down onto the table, sitting down onto a stool.

        "What's your name?" I ask, tenting my hands and resting my chin on them.

        "Paige. Get it? 'Cause i'm a book? Paige? As in pages in a book?" I giggle, covering my smile with my hand. "And I suppose that you're Jessica?"  I furrow my brow again.

        "How do you know that?"

         "Well, Jareth has been talking about you. I could only assume that the girl that he had taken away was you." I sit back in my chair.

         "What do you mean talking about me? I've only been here for two days," I say, confusion evident on my face.

          "He used to watch you. At first, it'd just be him flying by your window ever now and again -he can shape shift into an owl-, but he soon became more and more infatuated with you. He had started to go into the human world with a more /modern/ look, just so he could see your face," Paige explained, a wistful look in her eyes. "Do you remember that tall stranger that bumped into you at the supermarket? Or the one in the park? Or perhaps that chance encounter at the bookstore? That was all him," Paige continued.

         I remembered all of those things happening, but it just didn't click until now. Jareth seemed so sweet when he had striked up a conversation with me at the bookstore. He just seemed so... /Normal/. I sigh, standing up as I run my hand through my hair.

          "I should get back to my room," I mutter, moving to the doorway. Paige's voice stops me.

          "Miss Jessica! Wait!" I turn back around, moving back to the table. "I've been cooped up in this library for so long... Would you mind, perhaps, taking me with you to your room?" I smile, picking her up and taking her with me back to my room. I set her upright on my vanity, the pages opened to her face.

         I move to the walk-in closet, shutting the doors behind me and changing into a short, green silken nightgown. The hem of the fabric reached just above my knees, the straps of the short fabric revealing my shoulders. I walk out of the closet, moving to a small washbasin in the corner of my room and washing my makeup off. As I look up in the mirror, I see Jareth standing in my doorway once more.

        "It wouldn't kill you to knock," I mutter, turning around after drying my face. Jareth moves to sit on my bed, leaning against one of the bedposts.

        "So, I see you've met Paige," He says, gesturing to the talking book situated on my vanity. "What has she told you?"

         "She told me that you had stalked me. And that you had purposefully bumped into me numerous times. I'm still not convinced that the nice man I talked to at the bookstore was you," I say bitterly, glaring at him. Jareth smirks.

         "Then you have talked to her. I'm not a bad guy, Jessica. Look at all i've done for you! You have everything you could ever want in the palm of your hand. A closet full of beautiful clothes, a library as big as your imagination, all the makeup you could ever ne--"

          "Yet no freedom. No way to go back to my friends. My family."

           "You need not worry about that. You can watch them all you want through this," Jareth says, showing me a crystal ball. When I reach out to grab it, he throws it behind him, the crystal ball landing on a small golden stand in the middle of the room.

            I walk over to it, peering into it. There, I saw my family. My mother, my father, my sister; all at home, safe and sound. They didn't seem to know that I was gone.

          "How did you--" I began.

           "They believe you are staying in another country for the next four years for school. No need to worry about them crying over you. I know that it would just make you miserable to see your family in such a way," Jareth says, standing behind me. His hot breath tickles my ear, causing me to shiver. I step away from the ball (more importantly Jareth), and move to sit on my bed.

           "Leave me alone, please. I just.... I want to sleep," I say, covering myself with a blanket.

          "But it's only--"

           "Don't care. I'm going to bed. Shut the door on your way out, please." Jareth huffs, slamming the door behind him as he leaves. I look over to my vanity, realising that Jareth had taken Paige. I sigh, burrowing into my blankets and wishing this was all just a dream.