Insufficient Sacrifice

Chapter 2

Note-- All of this takes place in 1986. Credit to @twcentry2 for Elisia, and to @LuvlylabyrinthGii for Kwal!! Sorry, Wattpad likes to f@%$ up a LOT lately.

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Sarah squealed as she fell to the ground, crying out at the dull impact. Pain laced through her arm. She observed her surroundings and found herself at home, in her own room. "Toby?" she called weakly, cradling her left wrist. "Toby?" Sarah limped to her father's room, rushing over to the cradle. The light was on, and she saw that the crib was empty. Dread settled into her stomach, eating away at her. Toby, I'm so sorry... she collapsed to the floor in a fit of sobs. "Toby!" she wailed. Distantly, she heard the front door open and close.

"Sarah? Are you home?" She tried to compose herself, but found it difficult. "Sarah?"

"I-- I'm home," she sniffed, wishing desperately for herself to wake up, or for her to disappear. Neither came true.

"What's wrong? Was Toby being a bit of a nuisance?" he joked, making his way up the stairs. "We brought you home some--" Robert looked around. "Sarah, where's Toby?" he asked slowly, only seeing his daughter in hysterics on the floor. The crib held no baby.

"Dear, where's Toby?" Irene stuck her head through the door. "Why is Sarah in here?"

"Sarah, where's your brother?" Desperation was clear in his voice.

"He was taken!" Sarah cried out, lifting her head from the tear-soaked carpet. Robert and Irene widened their eyes in shock.

"Irene... call the police."

...

After the investigation turned up no clues, the officers expressed their sorrows to the distraught parents.

"If we find anything, we'll contact you immediately," the chief promised, scribbling down their numbers. "You're lucky your little girl wasn't taken, too." He could tell that the stern woman would have preferred it, but chose not to intervene.

"Thank you," Sarah's stepmother said quietly. After the door closed, both adults glared at Sarah. Tears still hung in her eyes. I'm sorry I couldn't save you, Toby. "Sarah, how could you let this happen to our Toby?" Her voice was quiet, which made it so much worse. "I thought..." she shook her head. None of them found the words. I'm sorry...

...

After that day, few words were said in the house. Sarah's father came home with whiskey on his breath, and Sarah's days at school became dark and desolate. Her classmates went out of their way to either pick on her or avoid her. Frequently, she found herself too upset to do anything but write in her journal. The girl decided to write to her baby brother-- not that he'd ever read them. She used the same journal she'd written about Labyrinth in. After school, she sat on a bench and began to write.

Toby,

I'm sorry I did this to you.If only I'd been faster, if only I could have reached you in time...

Tears spilled out of her eyes, and the notebook was wrenched from her grasp. "Give that back!" she protested, grabbing wildly for it. A tall, red-haired girl flipped through the pages.

"Listen what Freak wrote!" she chortled, holding the notebook above her head. "Dear Jareth, I wish you would come and see me sometime! Toby's being really mean to me again! Irene makes me so mad!" She laid a hand across her head dramatically, and everyone began to laugh.

"Give that back, Brianne!" Sarah cried out furiously, trying to snatch it.

"Goblin King, nobody likes me at home!" Brianne peered at Sarah over the edge. "Are you really using your fictional characters as penpals?" She read on. "You... ha! You want him to take you away to the Goblin City? How rich! I wish the goblins would come and take you away, Sarah. Right now," she mocked. The younger girl stiffened, waiting for the little creatures to grab at her and steal her away. However, nothing happened. But... she said the words! "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young girl whose stepmother always made her stay home with the baby!