Disclaimer: We do not own The Labyrinth, or any of its characters. And as much as we wish it… we do not own David Bowie.

Chapter 1:

"I wish…"

The bright sun shown down upon the large, vast market. Sounds of merchants and customers arguing drifted along the long, narrow street with the soft strands of the local band in the background. A young girl in her upper teens strode into the market, seemingly out of place amongst the older generation of merchants.

Her hair was a soft brown, with caramel highlights than glittered in the sun. Her small form was lost amongst the older, taller adults. The girl wore small rimmed glasses, which gleamed when the sun hit them ever so right. Her face was flawed, and unlike every other popular girl. She had a small case of acne, which was hidden with a little bit of cover up. When her emotions got the better of her, her brown eyes darkened to an almost pitch black, and glittered when they filled with happiness.

Her outfit consisted of a long, flowing light blue skirt, with a brown roped belt. The skirt continued to down covering her brown sandal covered feet. He top was white with small, almost unnoticeable floral patterns on them. The sleeves were long and flew past her wrists, almost covering her hands. When the wind blew and lifted the sleeves up, one could see a small bracelet, with woven silver roots and a small glossed glass ball in the center.

The girl strolled down the street, eyeing the different tents as she went by. The vast colors and sounds excited her, making her trip to the market pleasant. As she passed an emerald tent, she paused and turned to look at the expansive array of trinkets and fruit. The tubby little man in the back showed no notice as to her arrival. The girl simply shrugged and continued her search. Her eyes caught the sight of white amongst a sea of dark blues and greens, making her stop and examine the foreign object closer.

"Ah, my dear, you seem to be out of place."

The strong voice snapped the teen out of her thoughts. She turned, in the voice's direction, wondering who would want to converse with her. Her eyes settled upon a tall blond, wild haired man, standing to the left of her, his body turned in her direction. His clothes were tight against his body, but strangely out of place for downtown Chicago. His shirt was eccentric, a poet's shirt, that matched her shirt perfectly. His dark blue jeans were also tight and left nothing to the imagination.

The girl blushed as the thought came to her mind. She shook her head, trying to dispel the adult things that came to her mind. When the girl raised her head again, she noticed the man's dark blue eyes staring intently at her, as if waiting for her to respond.

The girl shifted on her feet before responding. "I'm sorry, have we met?"

The man smirked. "Perhaps…"

At the man's answer, the girl's face turned sour. Oh how she hated men like this one, the one's talked in riddles and one lines. 'They play at love to get sex' her old philosophy teacher's voice filled her head. She knew that she should leave and forget the person in front of her.

"Look, I'm not interested in a date, or any favors," the girl spat out, her stance turned hostile and defiant.

The man roared with laughter. "Little one, I'm merely making conversation with an interesting female," he smiled "Is there anything wrong with that?" The man titled his head at an angle, giving a boyish charm to his features.

A sheepish grin fell over the girl's face, as she felt stupid for her previous actions. "Oh, I'm sorry… I don't know why I jumped to conclusions so fast." She held out her hand. "My name is Katrina."

The man eyed her hand before taking it in his own and bringing it up to his lips. "A lovely name," he paused and titled his head to stare at her. "For a beautiful girl." He finished before softly releasing her hand.

The girl blushed, idly wondering how a stranger could comment her so, when even her own acquaintances, knowing her for so long, hardly did.

"Do you know me for somewhere?" she inquired again, feeling that she knew him.

The man chuckled before replying, "Perhaps, I am hurt that you do not remember."

She groaned. Again with these ridiculous riddles. Oh how she loathed them. The man, sensing her distress, again picked up the conversation.

"I believe we share a common interest for literature." He pointed down the way. "I've seen you time and again down at the used book tent, always with your nose in a book."

The girl beamed. Finally, she thought, someone with a love for literature. "Oh! Yes, I visit that tent every time I come to the market; I've been trying to find an old book, called the…"

"-Tell Tale Heart?" He finished for her.

A look of puzzlement came across her. "Yes, but how did you know?"

"A lucky guess," He remarked "It is my favorite book as well."

Even though he explained himself, the girl couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity from her. But she shrugged it off for the moment and accepted the man's response. "I can't seem to find it anywhere." She frowned "My grandmother used to have a copy, but she sold it before she passed."

She turned her attention back to the man who know held an old green covered book with the words The Tell Tale Heart printed in gold.

The girl's eyes shown in amazement as the man held out the book to her. Her eyes shifted back and forth between the book and the man, silently asking the question in her mind.

He grinned and took her arm. The man turned it over and put the book in her open palm. When he curled her hand around it, her gaze fell upon the treasure.

"For you, my dear" He whispered to her.

When she tore away her gaze from the book, the man was walking away. Panicking she called out to him, "Wait! Why did you give this to me?"

Without pausing or turning around, the man replied, "It's a gift love…nothing more and nothing less."

She simply stared as the man faded from her vision, the book still clasped between her fingers. The people from the market, who seemed non existent as she conversed with the man, suddenly came back into view.

As the wind picked up and tossed her hair, she softly whispered the question on her mind…

"Who are you?"

T.B.C

Thank you for reading the first chapter of Behind the Crystal Ball! Now please hit the nice little purple button at the bottom and leave a review!

Till next time,

Ja ne!

Next time on Behind the Crystal Ball:

" I can't stand you anymore! I hate my life and I hate you…. I wish the goblin's would come and take you away right now!"