Chapter Text
PART ONE: TOBY
Toby Williams had no memory of his visit to the Labyrinth of the Goblin King, or his near-miss with Fate. How could he have? He was too young, barely a year at the time. But something lurked in the recesses of his brain, something… half-remembered, as from a dream. And what dreams he had! Dreams called to the surface by the sad, sweet, almost… enchanting, singing of his sister, Sarah. He could not recall the first time he heard the song. It seemed, somewhere, beyond the reach of his earliest memories, the song, its tune, and its lyrics were woven into the furthest reaches of his brain.
And when she sang, as she put him to bed, across the years, Sarah would invariably, inevitably, wind up sitting in the bay window, looking out at the stars, her chin resting on her crossed hands, an unmistakable air of sorrow, and longing surrounding her, like some invisible miasma. He couldn’t recall when the idea first struck him, but strike him it did, in time: Sarah was lonely. She missed… someone, that much was obvious. But he had no idea who it could be. But as Sarah had a good decade and a half on him, almost an adult herself, by the time he was born, he could only assume that perhaps, Sarah mourned someone from her youth, someone the song reminded her of. Growing up, he had searched for the song, but there was no record of it anywhere. And Sarah, though she sang well, showed no other inclination for songwriting, or even making up little tunes. So, he very much doubted that she had originated the song. So, that begged the question, who had taught it to her, and why… Why did she sound so sad, when she sang it?
The song shaped his upbringing. Quite possibly, it was the first thing he remembered. He was three when his parents died. Sarah, mere months away from turning 18, was given full custody of him. She worked a dead-end job, graveyard shift at the local diner, which also doubled as a truck stop, on the way through town. She put herself through college, with a debt that could re-sink the titanic, and always seemed to have a plethora of friends to watch him, for a couple of hours, while she did homework down at the library. But, one thing he never saw in her life, one thing she never brought home, was a boyfriend.
When he was ten, and she was in her mid-twenties, he asked her about it. It wasn’t like she couldn’t get someone to keep an eye on him for two hours, here and there. Sarah had merely smiled. Shrugged. Patted him on the head, and sighed. When pushed for more of an answer, she simply shook her head and sighed sadly. “I’m not ready to talk about it, Tobs. And, hey, just because I don’t bring anyone home, to meet my much younger brother, doesn’t mean I don’t date. Besides, someone might think I’d had you in high school, and wouldn’t that just be a pain in the rear to explain? No, I… I just don't think the time’s right, yet, Kiddo.”
He grinned at her response. He’d been young enough when Mom and Dad died, that he couldn’t clearly remember them. Sarah could have simply raised him to believe she was his mother. But she didn’t. She kept pictures of his parents, alongside posters, and theater tickets to her mother’s plays. She’d never had to tell him. He already knew. It was all either of them had left. One night, as she sang him to sleep, his favorite stuffed bear, - an old, raggedy-looking thing called Lancelot, wrapped tight in his arms, he lay watching her face fall as she sang. Whatever haunted her, crossing her face like a shadow, he sat up in bed slowly, unable to contain his curiosity any longer. “Hey, Sis… Where’d you learn that song? And why do you always look soooooo sad when you sing it?”
Sarah stopped, looking up at him curiously, though something else flashed across her face, it was gone faster than he could blink. She leaned forward, tousling his hair. “Mmm-mm. I think that’s quite enough of playing Twenty Questions for tonight. Goodnight, kiddo. Don’t let the goblins bite.” She stuck her tongue out at him playfully, winked, and hit the light. In the dark, a salt lamp served as his nightlight. Sarah had claimed it would protect him, but from what, he had no idea. He lay down, his wide eyes darting frantically across the room, resting on this or that shadow, jumping whenever the old furnace creaked in the basement below their tiny apartment.
Finding no safe place to rest his weary eyes, eyes that were so heavy they refused to close, or be still, he sat up, shoving his blankets away from him, and heaving a great sigh. Resting his head against his window, he closed his eyes, trying to focus on the soft stillness of the falling snow. Except that, as he listened to the silence, not all was still. Through the snow, the sharp sound of hoofbeats striking the road sounded, which was weird. Cuz, the snow muffled everything, even the cars. Curious now, Toby crawled along his bed, and sitting up on his knees, peeked his eyes over the sill.
And screamed.