This is a Labyrinth fanfic, I just haven't got the Labyrinth part yet [=
Disclaimer: (even though I haven't used any of it yet) anything linking to Labyrinth I don't own. Sadly...
The Lost and Lonely.
Beatrix tentatively opened the front door. Hitching her college bag up her shoulder a bit, she glanced around the open door into the house. It seemed that no one was or if they were, they were watching TV in the 'family room'. Beatrix winkled her nose in disgust at the name.
Breathing a sigh of relief that aggravated her broken rib, she entered slowly, closing the door behind her silently. She tip-toed to the stairs as quickly as she could dare without risking making a sound. When she slowly and silently had reached the top she looked at the floor judging the distance even though she had done all this a hundred times. Beatrix braced herself and jumped stealthily over what she knew was a creaky floorboard underneath the plush carpet. The jolt as she landed had her almost crying out in pain as fire sliced through the side of her chest. Whimpering softly and clutching her tender side she crept to her bedroom door and opened it . Beatrix heard movement downstairs and her heart started beating frantically. She froze and waited for more sounds but none came.
Moving with a new sense of urgency Beatrix entered her room, not even glancing at the artwork on her walls that she usually stopped to become absorbed in. Instead, she emptied the contents of her college bag onto her bed and started rifling through it. From the pile of old letters and pens and a small red book she came across what she needed: a screwdriver, screws and two heavy duty bolt locks. Beatrix had 'borrowed' them from her college's construction department. It hadn't been hard to persuade someone to get them for her. They didn't even question her when she had blinked her baby blues and tried to be as charming as possible. She ignored requests for her phone number, thanked them and left without a backwards glance.
Concentrating now on what she had to do, Beatrix set about fixing the bolt locks in place soundlessly. Getting the screws to go in using nothing but her own strength was hard going after a while, especially considering her wrists were weak anyway having been broken a few times already. Gritting her teeth she slowly put in place every screw and made sure they were extra tight. Once she had put one lock on the top of the door and one on the bottom she slid the bolts into place. A mild sense of safety enveloped her the second that second bolt had slid into place but Beatrix knew it would only last as long as those locks did, which wouldn't be very long.
Beatrix set up a tape player on her desk, rewound it to the beginning and faced the speaker towards the door. She then picked up a backpack that already had a few clothes in. She put the small red book from her college bag in it, gently running her fingertips over the gold lettering used for the title as she did so. She then went to her jewellery box and took out anything valuable or sentimental, not that she had much of either in there. She had already sent off most of her valued things to her best friend to keep hold of until this night. So there wasn't much she had to carry, which was ideal.
Beatrix looked at her artwork with a sense of melancholy. She hadn't been able to save them. Her original plan had been to photocopy them, then leave the copies in the frames, but copying cost money that Beatrix couldn't afford to spend. Not to mention they'd probably only get damaged anyway. Beatrix took a photo of each one on her phone, trying to get them as perfectly lined in the frame as she could and choked back a sob. Gaining control of her breathing again, Beatrix made sure everything was ready and sat on her windowsill and waited.
After about half an hour the phone downstairs started to ring. Beatrix felt every tendon, ligament muscle and nerve tighten in her body, coiled and ready to burst into action. Sweat was starting to bead on her forehead and she wiped it away with the faux leather glove she was wearing. The ringing was suddenly cut off after a bit of shuffling and mumbling. Beatrix could practically hear the conversation. After all, she knew her mother well and had planned accordingly. It would be her mother calling to say that she and Steph, Beatrix's half sister, would be staying in a hotel tonight after Steph's ballet performance because they would both be tired and not up to the 2 hour drive back. Beatrix snorted in disgust. Maybe if her mother actually hit the speed limit she'd be back within an hour and would be able to prevent what Beatrix knew would happen as soon as the phone got put down. Well not tonight.
Beatrix was torn from her bitter thoughts by the unmistakable sound of a foot on the bottom stair. She was so attuned to His footsteps on those stairs she could even tell you which foot was on which stair. Feeling panic wash over her, Beatrix battled to keep the hysterics threatening to overwhelm her at bay. As a left foot hit the last stair Beatrix felt every single ounce of panic disappear, leaving only calm and anticipation. She was just as alert and could feel the adrenaline rushing through her body and the unmistakable creak of the floorboard gave away His position. In a single graceful movement, Beatrix hit the play button on the tape player, opened the window and swung a leg over the window sill. Making sure her bag was on her back properly and everything was as it should be waited for the first turn of the door handle. When it didn't open Beatrix's voice broke the silence.
"Go away! Leave me alone!" Beatrix's voice shrieked in the room. The door was being shaken. "what have you blocked the door with you bitch! It won't stop me!" an angry male voice shouted through the wood. "please just leave me alone!" Beatrix's voice shouted again a few seconds later. Smirking, Beatrix listened to her tape recording begging to be left alone and climbed out the window. Sliding down the pipe down the side of the house she heard a terrible crash as her door was knocked off it's hinges. Just as she reached the ground she twisted her ankle. Crying out in pain she looked up at her window to see a malevolent glare meeting her eyes. Making a rude, single-fingered gesture she ran into the darkness, limping and cursing.
It didn't take long for him to find her, limping as she was. Her stepfather wasn't the stereotypical abusive stepfather, he was physically fit and healthy, heck he occasionally did marathons! But those memories that refused to leave her of hot breath on her face in the dark propelled her. He was cursing unintelligibly at her and tears streamed down her face as she could sense him gaining on her. in a last desperate attempt to escape her nightmares she ran across the road as a pair of headlights approached her at high speed. Closing her eyes and shielding her face she choked back a sob and spoke. What she said was more of a comforting thing rather than actually believing it would work. Taking a line from her favourite book and altering it she mumbled repeatedly like a mantra at high speed: "I wish the goblins would come and take me away right now, I wish the goblins would come and take me away right now, I wish the goblins woul-" the headlight were almost upon her so she stopped chanting, opened her mouth and screamed.
It would be lovely if I could be reviewed. All feedback is more than welcome! Thank you!