Unnaturally Beautiful

Chapter 01: To Start Things Off

Sixteen years had passed since Sarah defeated the Labyrinth, making her a beautiful, thirty-two year old woman. She tapped the calendar, more specifically, the little square labeled 14. “Soon to be thirty-three.” She said, counting the squares from now until then, “In just three days.” She sighed, doodling a strange-looking flower on the edge of the calendar upon her desk. She really wasn’t getting any work done.

Sarah was a drama teacher at Avery High School, now and then making the three hour drive to the nearest city to appear in the latest play. More often she played a secondary part, but sometimes, just sometimes, she’d get the star role. She found teaching more rewarding though. The kids never gave her problems, always having fun and participating. It was hard to believe she got paid for this.

She hadn’t mentioned the Labyrinth in many years. At first, she’d told her friends non-stop, often using her adventure as a bed time story for Toby. A few years passed and she began to believe that maybe it was a dream, maybe her imagination was more vivid than she’d thought possible. By the time she was twenty-five, she’d completely convinced herself that it hadn’t happened, that it had in fact been a dream.

Sarah had married her college sweetheart, a psychology major by the name of Aaron Stevens. The good doctor had set up his own practice in her home town. They lived in the suburbs not too far from her parents’ home, a twenty minute drive tops.

Sarah’s daughter was six now. She’d named her after her own mother, Claire. All in all, things were good, life was good. She was successful in all aspects of her life. She was even getting along with her stepmother for the time being. The only stress in her life was the planning of her birthday party.

Sarah tapped her calendar again, drawing a circle around the day in question. It was to be held at the park, in the evening after school let out. She’d invited her father, her stepmother, and Toby of course, but she wasn’t quite sure who else she should invite. Aaron was going to get off early and pick Claire up from school. She’d already invited Madeline, a dear friend and coworker, who taught freshman English. Who else?

It had never really occurred to Sarah that she didn’t have many friends. She shrugged it off and thought little of it. It was just going to be a small party then. She counted, seven total, including herself. But she’d ordered a rather large cake. Would they be able to eat it all? She considered inviting Ted, the algebra teacher that seemed to have a crush on her. No, Aaron didn’t much like him.

She sat back in her chair. Guess it’d just be seven then. It made her happy that her and her husband still loved one another enough to be jealous. They’d had a hard time in their marriage once, just after Claire had been born. Aaron had become consumed with his work, but it hadn’t led to anything serious, just a couple of extremely long talks and an argument or two.

The bell rang and after a few minutes, students began filing into the room. It was her last class for the day.

“Mrs. Stevens, is it true that Tobias is your brother?” A young blonde asked, chipper as ever.

Sarah smiled, nodding. Her half-brother never allowed anyone at school to call him Toby. In fact, he even argued with their parents about it. Seemed he only let her call him by the childish name. Somehow, it made Sarah happy.

“Duh! You didn’t know that?” A young man said, speaking to the blonde.

The girl, a bit of an airhead, frowned, “No, I just found out. I couldn’t even believe it. I mean, he’s nothing like Mrs. Stevens.”

“Yeah, how come your brother acts so strange, Mrs. Stevens?” A girl from the back asked, her brunette haired tied up in a manner that had to be painful.

Sarah sighed, waving the matter away with a simple gesture. She really didn’t feel that it was proper to discuss her little brother with other students. True, he was a bit odd, but it was probably just a phase.

Toby was sixteen now, halfway through his junior year. He was nearly as tall as Sarah now, though much thinner. He no longer had his strawberry blonde hair. It had darkened as he’d aged, becoming a light, honey-colored brown by the time he was twelve. No one knew his hair color now though, since he’d started dying it when he was fourteen. Sarah had no clue where he bought the dye or how he managed to do such a good job with it, but every time she saw him, his hair was as black as a raven’s wing, even tinting blue in the right lighting. He’d let it grow well passed his ears, no bangs. The school required that he keep it in a ponytail. She also never saw him without black eyeliner outlining his big, piercing blue eyes. A lot of the kids teased him by calling him a vampire. His complexion didn’t help. No doubt a trait from their father, Toby’s skin was as pale and creamy as her own.

“Mrs. Stevens?”

Sarah pulled herself from her thoughts, brushing her thick, brunette hair back and out of her eyes, “Yes?” She asked, rising, smoothing the wrinkles out of her dress shirt, ensuring that it was still properly tucked into her new, crisp blue jeans. It was Friday after all, casual dress for the faculty.

The girl in the back looked annoyed at having to repeat herself, “Can’t you at least tell us why he dresses like that?”

She sighed, “That’s just how he dresses. Now come on, get your playbooks out. I know none of you have memorized your parts yet.” A few claps of her hands and they got moving, digging through their backpacks. A few of her students had forgotten theirs and had to share. Not surprising. It took about ten minutes, but finally they were sitting in a large circle reading their lines.

Going back to her desk, she sat and shuffled through some worksheets she’d been trying to grade. It seemed her thoughts were wild today though. She just couldn’t concentrate. Her mind flew back to the last question the girl had asked. Why did Toby dress that way? She honestly had no clue.

It appeared that he was some kind of Goth, although not to any extreme. There were some students that had piercings and chains and glitter. Not Toby. He just wore black, always. Black jeans, black T-shirt, and black trainers. He never wore jewelry and didn’t paint his nails. So, again, nothing extreme, but enough that she’d been tempted to question him on it. She hadn’t yet because she already knew her stepmother, Karen, often argued with him about it.

Lost in her thoughts, the last class seemed to whiz by. Before she knew it, the bell was ringing and the kids were clambering to get out the door. She took her time packing her things up, knowing Toby’s last class was up on the hill. It’d take him some time to get to his locker in the main hall.

She waited for him their, spotting him easily as he turned a corner and started her way, “Hey,” she greeted, “Need a ride home?”

He shook his head, tossing his books into his locker with more force than necessary, “No, I don’t mind walking.”

She nodded, their parents’ house was fairly close, an easy walk. The park was also nearby. Sarah remembered doing a lot walking in her high school days. It had been fun. Toby tossed the last book in his locker and slammed it shut, throwing the lock into place and clamping it shut.

“Should you be so rough with your stuff?” She asked, knowing it was something all the students did, though she didn’t understand it.

He shrugged, tilting his head so his hair fell away from his face so that he might smile her way, “Why Sarah, you sound like a teacher.”

She shoved him gently, turning for the exit, “Shut up. You’re making me feel old.”

He laughed, knowing this was a sensitive subject, “And just how old are you going to be in three more days?”
She grinned at him wickedly, “None of your business. Hey,” She said, taking the opportunity to change the subject, “That reminds me, do you know if Karen wants to do anything else?”

Tobias, as liked to call himself, laughed, “Is Mom butting in on your party planning?” He knew well enough the pain his mother could be, knew she was trying to take control.

Sarah sighed, “She means well, she doesn’t want me planning my own birthday party.”

“Whatever. She just thinks she has to be in charge of everything.” Tobias said, stopping at the end of the sidewalk outside the side exit they’d come through. This was where they parted ways since his sister parked in the teachers’ parking lot to the left and his path led him on down the sidewalk along the road to the right.

“Do you know if there’s anything she wants to do or not?” She asked, hands on hips, pretending to be more annoyed that she was.

Tobias shrugged, “She said something about the cake.”

“No! Tell her I ordered one, a big one. There will be enough for everyone, and I already paid for it. Okay? Tell her.”

“Alright, alright. I’ll tell her. Is that it?”

Sarah was silent for a moment, deciding whether or not she should ask, “Do you know what they’re getting me?”

He shook his head, “You’re worse then a little kid.”

She frowned, “Do you know or not? God, you sure are being difficult today.”

Tobias laughed, finding it more than amusing to tease his older sister, “No, I don’t know. They won’t tell me cause they know I’ll tell you.”

She nodded, silence coming between them for a moment or two, “Alright. Guess I better get home then. Sure you don’t want a ride?” She asked again. She didn’t always wait for her brother after school, but when she did, she made a point of asking if he wanted a lift.

He shook his head, “No, I’ll walk.”

“Okay. I’ll see you Monday then.” She said, turning to go. Toby called out a goodbye, and she waved over he shoulder. Her little, red, Honda four-seater was waiting for her in the usual place, parked beneath a leafy oak tree. With much party planning waiting for her, she got in, started the engine, and headed home. Waving again to Toby as she passed him.

Sarah was the only one that could make him smile these days. Tobias loved his sister more than anyone else in the world, and though she was always there for him, he still felt lonely. There were things he couldn’t tell her, things he wanted to share with someone special. It was embarrassing, but he’d never had a proper girlfriend, had yet to have his first kiss. And Tobias found himself longing for that more and more these days.

His mother was a pain in the neck, constantly hounding him for his attitude and his appearance. It seemed she had nothing better to do. Though he loved her, after she was his mother, she really was driving him nuts.

His father, on the other hand, was someone he’d never fully come to love. While the older man was kind, it had always been obvious that he favored Sarah. Still, Tobias considered his father to be a dear friend and preferred to go to him with issues and what not rather than his mother.

Rich kids in their fancy cars whizzed by, calling out. He ignored them, unsure whether or not they were speaking to him or not and not really caring. He’d always had very few friends. There were those he spoke to and those he ate lunch with, but they knew little about him. He hadn’t had anyone over since he’d started high school, which his mother continuously reminded him of. He’d mentioned it to Sarah once, and she’d laughed, saying that his mother had done the very same with her, urging her to go out on dates. How annoying.

As far as grades were concerned, Tobias could care less, which was funny since he was doing rather well, an A/B student. He never studied and copied whenever possible. He never took his books home and only got whatever reading done he could manage in his P.E. class, which by the way he was failing because he refused to dress out. It just didn’t feel right to get naked in front of a bunch of strange boys. Especially since he’d caught himself staring a number of times.

Tobias kicked a chunk of loose pavement and watched it tumble against the curb. When had he started finding guys attractive? Maybe it was natural to acknowledge another guy as being attractive. There were plenty of girls he knew to be attractive. It was all rather confusing. He honestly had no clue in what direction his sexuality pointed, and lately, he found that he didn’t much care. It was too confusing and made him stressed.

He paused to look in the park’s direction for a moment, wondering if he should take a quick walk around the lovely pond before heading home. No, it was Friday evening. Kids would be there playing basketball and what not. He didn’t feel like dealing with his classmates.

He could hear his mother’s heeled footsteps approaching the minute he stepped through the door.

“Toby? Why are you late?”

He rolled his eyes, “Is that a problem?”

She stopped before him, crossing her arms, “Don’t get defensive. You know I don’t mind if you have plans. You should make plans at your age.”

Tobias sighed, deciding he didn’t want to hear that lecture and answering her first question, “I was talking to Sarah about her birthday. She wanted me to tell you that she’s already ordered a cake and already paid for it.”

“Oh.” His mother answered, uncrossing her arms and stepping out of his way as he moved to pass, “Do you have any homework?”
He shook his head no, heading for the stairs and his bedroom.

“Okay, I’ll call you when dinner’s ready.”

He continued up the stairs waving over his shoulder. He could hear her going back to the kitchen and was thankful. His room was Sarah’s old room, all her childhood things were stored in the attic. He moved to his twin-sized bed and flopped down on his back. If he closed his eyes, he could still remember what it used to look like. He spent many hours playing in her room with her toys. He still had Lancelot, the teddy bear propped up on his dresser.

He thought back to the bedtime stories she used to tell him about goblins and mazes and fairies and monsters and kings. He’d loved when she told him those stories. He remembered when he was really young, she had told him they were real, that it was a place underground. He’d believed in it for many, many years. Long after she’d stopped.

Deep down, Tobias still believed. At least, he liked to believe. Wouldn’t it be amazing to be whisked away to a magical land filled with such things? He sat up and leaned over, reaching down and grabbing his journal from the floor where he always left it. I was a present from Sarah a couple of years ago. He wrote in it endlessly, but he was barely half way through the nearly three-inch thick book.

He flipped to the last several entries, rereading his own thoughts. It was mostly musings on his life, his sexuality and his relationship with his parents, but now and then… He flipped to an entry written in purple ink.

What did Sarah used to call the short one? He’d been her dearest friend there, in that place. And there was something about a brave one, a knight, and a great big hairy one. I can’t remember the names she used to call them. And the king. I can’t even remember his name. All I know is that she once believed that she’d been there, and even though it was a dangerous place she’d been trying to escape, she’d loved it, and had described it to me as one of the most beautiful, magical places. I wish I could go there, to the underground.

He flip back further. There were countless entries where he’d tried to recall the things his sister told him. Lately, Tobias found himself more and more obsessed with these memories. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but he liked to think that this magical place was his escape, whether it was real or not. It was something else to think about rather than parents and school and being lonely.

…………………………..

The weekend passed with little to no excitement. Monday was at hand, the day of Sarah’s birthday. Tobias hadn’t known what to get her. He didn’t have any money, and he refused to take what his parents’ had offered for the occasion. So, he’d decided to give her his art project. It was the semester exam, he’d spent a lot of time on it, really trying his best.

Tobias walked into his art class, gathering his things from his cubby and taking his usual seat. He didn’t wait for the tardy bell or for the teacher to tell them to get to work. The project was supposed to be a painting depicting a powerful dream, but Tobias had already talked with the teacher. His wasn’t going to be a painting like the other students’. He rather hated oil painting and while he liked to water paint, that just wasn’t what he wanted for this project. He wanted it to be dark, and it was looking great with simply pencil and ink. All he had left to do was darken a few places.

The drawing wasn’t that big, a mere eleven by fifteen inches. The other students had talked Mrs. Flowers down, claiming they’d never finish anything larger. Tobias was finished well before the bell, standing back to give it a look over. It was of a myriad of faces and hands, all little demons. Faces he thought he recognized.

“That looks marvelous, Tobias.” Mrs. Flowers said, approaching, “Are you finished?”

He nodded, turning to the older woman, “Can you grade it today? I plan to give it to my sister for her birthday.” He wasn’t sure if it was that he’d said so much, he rarely spoke, or if the drawing itself for a woman’s birthday gift surprised her. Either way, she didn’t say, nodding after she recovered, a broad smile on her orange-painted lips.

Tobias kept the drawing rolled up in a cardboard tube for the remainder of the day. He’d have liked to have it framed, but he wasn’t so sure Sarah would want such a drawing on her wall. Still, he considered it the best he’d ever done. It deserved to be in a frame whether she wanted to hang it or not. But where would he get one?

He sighed as the final bell rang, rising from his seat and starting for the door. The teacher was still talking, but he ignored him, leaving along with several other students. He decided Sarah would have to get her own frame on his walk down the hill towards the main hall. He knew she’d already be gone, having hurried off to get everything ready for the party.

“Tobias, right?”

He slammed his locker shut and turned to find a petite girl before him, “Yeah?” He asked, noticing this girl was wearing a strange, flowing garment that consisted of black, purple, and many, many chains.

“I was wondering if you wanted to hang out some time?” She said, making it a question, her gaze glancing from the floor to his face and back down again.

“No thanks.” He answered, watching her smile droop into a frown. There were just too many things about this girl he didn’t like. She dressed as though she wanted a lot of attention her parents probably weren’t giving her. She looked dangerous, but was obviously pretty shy. She just wasn’t herself. And that was enough for Tobias to refuse her. He seemed to be turning down a lot of girls lately. Was he really that interesting?

He left the building and started slowly for the park, using a Sharpie to write a birthday wish to his sister as he walked. He had to give everyone time to get there and set things up. He didn’t want to be there early and have to deal with his mother and Sarah arguing over arrangements.

The park was pretty secluded. The party was being held near the pond in a spacious area between three Weeping Willows. There was a large, white picnic table there, a floral print tablecloth thrown over it, piled with dishes and presents. Everyone was already there as Tobias approached. His mother and father were seated next to one another on one side, looking happy enough. Aaron, Sarah’s husband, was sitting opposite them, holding Claire in his lap. Sarah handed her daughter something, a toy of some kind, and the little girl smiled, showing it to her father.

“You’re a little late, aren’t you?” His mother said as he took a seat beside his father.

Tobias smiled at the two cakes. One was very large with beautiful ivory icing and roses, pearls decorating it’s surface. The other was average-sized, chocolate, toped with white chocolate shavings.

“Shall we eat then?” Sarah asked, taking a seat beside her husband.

The food consisted of turkey sandwiches and deviled eggs. It wasn’t Tobias’ idea of a filling dinner, but there was so much… He definitely filled up.

Claire finished first, waiting like a good girl until everyone was finished before asking, “Can I have cake, Mom?”

Tobias smirked, “Which kind?”

“Toby.” Sarah said, shaking her head.

“What? I-” He said, almost laughing.

Sarah moved to uncover the cakes, “You had a tone.” She then turned to her daughter, “Which kind, honey?”

Tobias managed to suppress his laughter, but the same couldn’t be said for Aaron and Doug, Tobias and Sarah’s father.

“I don’t know what all of you think is so funny. I wasn’t sure if we’d have enough cake so I brought another.” Karen said, causing the others to laugh harder.

“What’s so funny?” Claire asked, scrambling off her father’s lap, hurrying around the table in order to take her plate from her mother.

Sarah shook her head, trying not to laugh, “Nothing. Toby’s just being silly.”

They didn’t eat even a fourth of the cake. Karen and Sarah cleaned up while Aaron and Doug talked business. Tobias was helping Claire with the toy she’d brought along. It was some sort of pony that had hair that would grow if you turned the little crank in it’s side one way and shorten if you turned it the other way. Only, it didn’t work that well and to get the hair to grow long again, it had to be pulled out with a bit of strength Claire didn’t possess.

“Is everyone ready to do presents?” Karen asked, gaining their attention.

Everyone moved back to the table, Sarah sitting in the center. She got a lovely new comforter from her stepmother and a fifty dollar gift card to Macy’s from her father. Aaron gave her a beautiful silver necklace with a turquoise butterfly pendant and from Claire she got matching earrings, no doubt bought by Aaron as well. She turned to her brother, a bit surprised when he held out an ugly looking cardboard tube with scrawled black writing upon it.

“My goodness Toby, you could’ve at least wrapped it.” Karen said, shaking her head.

Sarah read the message aloud, “Was it a dream? Or was it real? To fond memories. Happy birthday, Sarah.” She smiled, curious as to what could be in this ugly tube. Her brother offered no hints, simply smiling at her.

She didn’t waste another moment, pulling the plastic cap off the end and peering inside, “A drawing?” She asked, looking up again. Still, her brother only smiled. She knew he liked art and did rather well in it. What could it possibly be of? She carefully pulled it out, making sure not to smear it with her fingers since it appeared to be done mostly in pencil. It was a very dark drawing, the image didn’t become clear until she’d completely unrolled it.

“My God!” She gasped, rising to her feet, staring down at the picture.

“You’ll have to get a frame for it. It’s the best I’ve ever done.” Tobias said, pleased with his sister’s shocked expression.

Sarah covered her mouth, staring. It was the goblins. She recognized some of these faces. They hadn’t been friends in her dream, but she’d seen them there. They’d been there in her dream! She’d described a few to Toby when he was little, the one’s whose names she’d never really forget, but she’d never described in any detail the multitude of others. There had been so many, some of these faces she didn’t know. And yet, there, perfectly depicted, were a few that were just as she’d seen them.

“What kind of drawing is this?” Their father asked, leaning across the table.

“Monsters? Is this any kind of birthday present for your sister, Toby?” Karen asked, looking at her son in disappointment.

Sarah quickly shook her head, “No, I love it.” She quickly rolled it back up, carefully slipping it back into the tube.

“You’re going to frame it, right?” Tobias asked, curious of his sister’s reaction.

She quickly nodded, “Of course.”

The party came to an end fairly quickly after that. Sarah just didn’t seem to be in a playful mood after looking upon her gift from Tobias. She felt a little guilty, but maybe everyone else was ready to go home too. Karen and her father looked a bit tired. She suggested they head on home, and finally convinced them to do just that after agreeing to let Toby stay and help. Claire was falling asleep sitting up, so she asked Aaron to take her home, loading up all the leftover food and cake in the trunk of his car.

She put her gifts in the back seat of her Honda, watching as her little brother folded up the tablecloth. He looked strange standing amidst rolling green grass, full trees, and the white picnic table, a figure dressed all in black folding floral-print cloth. She smiled when he looked up at her, brushing a few strands of glossy black hair out of his eyes. He glanced around, seeing that they were finished and started her way.

To be continued…

Please don’t be discouraged. This was just to get things started. Can’t very well jump head long into the romance bit of it, can we? No worries though, things should pick up in the next chapter. Stay tuned!