Jareth's Return

Dori(1)

"Warm up with wedges. Then irons, concentrating the most on your Five and Seven, lastly, your woods. For those, work on Three and Five. Don't. Touch. The Driver. Head down, easy swing, dont turn your body first, that's why you are hooking. " As much of a douche as this guy may be, he knows his golf. He stepped back to watch the practice swings, lingering more than he should have on her waist. Dori shivered at the almost palpable feel of his eyes on her body, like ghostly hands.

She tried to ignore the sensation and turned most of her thoughts towards the Labyrinth; the world in which she truly wants to be. Because if there was a Labyrinth, there was a Jareth. Jareth was what she truly wanted. Jareth, with the wild hair, the tough, seemingly evil countenance that draws her in and makes her want to get underneath it, see past it. She wondered what he would be like under that shell. Would he be sweet? Passionate? Calm and quiet? What would she give to hold his hand, feel him touch her cheek, have his hand on her waist as they danced in the Masquerade Ball. She sighed to herself. If only.

Sooner than she realized, she was done. "Go putt for one hour, and chip for another." Coach Daniels told her. She checked her watch, saw it was seven, and tried to calculate in her head. She had spaghetti sauce in the crockpot, keeping warm. It wouldn't take long to cook some noodles up, surely her father could do that on his own? No, he wouldn't be too tired, she believed. Dori's father worked at a big time construction company, and he was pretty high up on the totem pole, though she couldn't always remember what his title was exactly.

She supposed she could risk an hour, or so. "Fine." He turned and walked away without saying goodbye. "Asshole." She muttered when she thought he was far enough away. So, Dori went about her business, singing songs from the Labyrinth soundtrack.

Soon enough, she was bringing the clubs back into the clubhouse and storing them in the closet, near the cart garage. She passed the younger man working the register, "Bye, Hal. See you next week!" she smiled brightly.

"You most certainly will, Dori!" He winked cheekily. It was no secret that the twenty-four year old fancied Dori. He doesn't compare to Jareth. No one does. She, as always, waved off his flirting and started her trek home, though it was darker than normal.

She hated the dark, especially by herself. Not really the dark itself, but what was in the dark; the things she couldn't see, that went bump in the night. The clouds covered the moon on this night, which was kind of odd for late spring day. Odd and creepy. One thing that bothered her the most was one side of the road was a small forest, but that's what she gets when her family lives on the outskirts of the small town.

To distract herself, she started singing. She does that a lot, she noticed. And when her emotions were significantly high, she sang from the Labyrinth. "There's such a sad love, deep in your eyes." and on she went. This was her favorite song from the Labyrinth, and her favorite scene. She would give up a lot, to be able to trade places with Sarah.

By the time she got to her porch she was to the end of her song and completely wrapped up in her thoughts of Jareth. "Falling in love. As the world falls down." She walked into the kitchen, still humming the tune, her mind, still wrapped in the arms of her Goblin King, not bothering to turn on the light.

She didn't see him sitting at the table as she walked to the pantry.

She didn't hear him get up as she pulled out the box of noodles.

She didn't know he was there until he spoke.

From right behind her.

"Why are you late?"

Dori screamed and jumped, causing her to drop the pot she had pulled out. She whirled around to face her father, "Practice ran a bit late, sir," trying not to meet his eyes.

"How come?" Uh oh. He seemed to be in one of those moods tonight.

"Just talking to Coach Mardin about Mrs. Mardin's birthday." Please buy it. Just stop asking. Please. She started the water for the noodles.

"Yeah, he loves to talk, that one." Her father chuckled. Maybe he's in a good mood tonight. "I already ate, so I'm going to go upstairs and take a shower." He hugged Dori from the side and kissed the top of her head. "Night."

"Goodnight, sir." Dori loved her father at times like this. She listened to him trudge upstairs before deciding she wasn't really hungry tonight. She turned the burner off, dumped the water into the sink, rinsed the pot and went up the stairs to her room.

After changing into pajamas, Dori climbed into bed and started the Labyrinth over; her usual nighttime routine. Maybe I'm a little obsessed with this movie, but I can't help it. Jareth is just so wonderful. She started to doze off, dreaming about replacing Sarah in the Labyrinth, fighting her way, not to save her baby brother, but to be with the lonely Goblin King.

"THEODORA EVELYN WISEMAN!" Dori jolted up in her bed at the sound of her father's voice. She stood up just as her father came through the door, her head pounding from the blood rush.

"I just had a voice mail from Coach Daniels about you. Late every day? Back talking? INSULTING A COACH?" He pointed at her with his right hand. How could she have missed the belt in it? "How dare you disrespect me like that? How dare you embarrass me in such a way?"

Dori supposed she should have seen this coming. She shouldn't have believed Daniels would give up that chance to get her in trouble, so easily. She turned around and lifted the back of her shirt, making sure she covered her chest.

She knew what was coming.

This wasn't the first time.

But that didn't make it hurt any less.

She almost screamed when the first lash came. An icy burn, spread across her back. Tears streaming cold-hot tracks down her cheeks. More blows came. Whimpers followed every one,

Two hits. No more.

Three. Please.

Four. Let it stop.

She lost her cool at five. "THAT'S ENOUGH." She realized what she had done and her heart plummeted.

"What did you just say to me?" Her father asked, deathly quiet.

"I'm sorry, sir." Dori whimpered into the wall.

"You DO NOT tell me what to do." He hit her harder with every other word. She couldn't tell how many more she got before her legs gave out. As she was falling, her father lashed out again, this time catching her neck and face.

She hit the floor with her vision blacking out and breathless from her tears. The last thing she saw was the clock positioned at midnight. The last thought to pass through her mind, I wish....Jareth.

And the world fell.