Hello. Well, this is my first Labyrinth fic and, well, I hope you like it. Please review. I love them, all of them. A special thank you to my wonderful friend, Kelly, who beta read this for me. Without her, I would be nothing, just a lonely shadow in the vast universe that is fanfiction, just a speck on the endless horizon, just a – yes, you guessed it! It was, in fact, Kelly who wrote this little thank you! Anyway, I (Kelly) am looking for more beta reading work, so if anyone who reads this fanfiction wants a beta reader, please leave a review about the story and leave your pen name, email and the name of the story you want beta read and I'll do it for you as long as you put a thank you to me in your story.
The Innocence of a Child: Chapter OneSummary—Toby is a witness to the murder of his father and the rape of his mother. Now the New York detectives of SVU have the case, but what they don't know is that the person who attacked the Williams family is not human; far from it. He is after Sarah, who was put into a mental hospital for three years until they released her into the custody of her good friend, Jareth, the Goblin King.
New York, Queens
Note: Toby is almost Seven, if you do not understand this read the other two chapters
"Hey, Mike, help me get this sofa," asked a boy around eighteen. Another boy about the same age growled, jumping out of his car and grabbing the other side of the sofa.
A woman came out of the building. "Hey, you two, don't drop that because I will not give you another one."
Both of the boys nodded. "Whatever you say, Nick." Carefully, they slid the sofa into the back of their truck.
"Hey, Max, I'm going to go and smoke, okay? You and Nick go do something."
Max watched him turn the corner. "Mike, be careful. I don't need you getting hurt; your sister will kill me."
Nick came up beside him. "You're right, I would."
Mike turned the corner to see the back door to the building. He frowned, walking up to the door and opening it a little. There was a door inside, and it was open. It had the number "28" on it.
He walked into the apartment. "Hello, is anyone in here?" He heard a soft cry. "Hey, you can come out; I won't hurt you." He turned the corner from the hallway to the kitchen, where he saw a blood soaked sheet on the floor, a knife laying on it. Beside the knife lay the body of a man in his late forties, covered in his own blood.
Panicked, Mike yelled, "Max! Nick, get your ass in room 28 now!" He kneeled down next to the man, putting his fingers on his throat, looking for a heartbeat but not expecting one. The man's skin still had warmth, but the life had definitely left it. Mike knew the man could not have died long ago because he was just beginning to stiffen.
Moments later, Max and Nick ran into the room, Nick stopping dead in her tracks the instant her eyes fell on the body. She cursed under her breath as Max took out his phone to call the police. Mike stood up. "I'm going to see if there's anyone else that is injured in this place." Max nodded by means of response.
Suddenly, a soft cry came from a room in the back of the apartment. Nick's head shot up in surprise and she quickly joined Mike as he headed in the direction of the noise. Together, they reached the door and opened it, revealing a woman lying on the bed. She must have been around her mid-thirties, drenched with deep, red blood. The cry resounded and Nick walked into the room, looking around for its source. She soon found a young boy of about six, crying in the corner closet and clinging to a small, brown teddy bear.
"Explain to me what happened," said Detective Elliot Stabler, looking at the blood that was splattered all over the apartment.
"Two boys, and one of the boys' sister found them when the one called Mike saw the back door open. He led them to this apartment and found a woman and a man. They have a six year old son, who was crying in the corner closet when they found him."
"Where did they take them, and were the parents alive?" Elliot asked the man.
The officer rubbed his chain, saying, "They took the mother and kid to the hospital in Manhattan, and the father was murdered." Elliot nodded, thanking him for his time, before heading to his car and making his way to the hospital.
Det. Olivia Benson looked at the boy. He was holding his bear tightly in his tiny arms, rocking back and forth. It broke her heart how he looked so alone, all that he had known in the world crashing down in an instant. Now, all he had was a teddy bear and a small, white room that smelled of cleaning products and medication. Casting her emotions aside with a sigh, she walked into the room and sat down on the bed next to the silent child. The doctor had said that he hadn't said a word since he arrived at the hospital. "Hey, my name's Olivia. What is yours?" she asked him, extending her hand.
The boy looked up at her, biting his lip. He didn't talk to her, just simply stared at her for a few seconds before she drew her hand away and looked down at the bear he was holding.
"Well, if you won't tell me your name, can you tell me the name of your friend?" Olivia hoped he would at least say something; it couldn't be healthy to hold everything inside of him when such a life-changing event had happened. She was relieved when he finally spoke.
"His name's Lancelot, and my name's Toby. I want Sarah. Please bring her; she can help."
Olivia looked at the boy with pity and sadness. "Where is Sarah, Toby?"
He frowned. "Mommy said that she had to go away, that people didn't like her boyfriend and took her away about a year ago. Daddy had done everything he could, but they still took her. Mommy said that even if I can't see her, she's still in my heart and that she will never leave me because she gave up her dreams and came back for me."
Olivia took Toby's hand. "Can you tell me who hurt your mommy and daddy?"
Toby nodded and told her, "It was an ex-boyfriend of Sarah's. He came looking for her but she wasn't there. He didn't believe us when we told him, so he hurt Daddy, then Mommy. He told me if I ever said anything he would kill both me and Sarah."
Olivia looked hard at this boy. He was a rare one; he was either not afraid of this man, or he was mature far beyond his years. "Toby," she asked, "are you afraid of this man?"
"No, Jareth will always protect me and Sarah. He took Sarah away to protect her," Toby grinned.
"Toby, who is this Jareth and do you know where he and Sarah are?"
Toby nodded. "Yes, they live in the—" He was cut off when the doctor walked in.
"Detective, I think I have something to tell you."
Olivia stood up and walked to the door, waiting for the new information. "What happened to the mother?"
The doctor stared at the boy across the room, not looking at Olivia as he spoke. "The boy is fine, but the mother was barely alive when they found her. She lost a lot of blood; whoever did this beat and raped her badl and he did it more than once. She is in surgery now. She's bleeding internally, but thankfully we were able to get her here before she lost too much blood to survive." He paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "The father was murdered and – well, I'm surprised the boy's talking, most would be in shock."
Olivia nodded in agreement, then proceeded to inform him about Toby and her conversation. "He said he wasn't afraid of the man who did this and keeps asking about a girl named Sarah."
"She's my sister," Toby spoke up. Olivia's gaze left the doctor and landed on Toby, who had climbed down from the bed and was now standing by her leg. "Olivia, please get Sarah back – she's the only one that can save Mommy."
The doctor looked between the boy and the detective, who had kneeled down next to Toby, waiting in silence to see what she would say.
"Toby, I will do everything in my power to get both your sister home and your mommy healthy." Toby's face broke into a grin as he jumped up and hugged her.
"Thank you very much."
Suddenly, the door swung open and in walked Elliot. "Hey, I just got back from the apartment, they're looking through it now."
Olivia nodded her head to him before turning back to Toby, who was still holding her leg. "Toby, this is my partner, Elliot."
Elliot waved and smiled at him, and Toby smiled back. "Hey, little guy," Elliot greeted.
Instantly, Toby knew he liked this new guy. Olivia put her hand on his shoulder, saying, "Now Toby, I have to go and check up on your mommy. Then, I'll see if we can find your sister, but I need to know where she lives and her last name." Toby ran over to a table on which several clean sheets of paper were scattered and began to scribble Sarah's address and whole name on one of them. When he was through, he returned to Olivia's side and handed it to her.
"Thank you, Toby, you have been a great help," she told him, pocketing the slip of paper. Toby nodded before laying back down on the hospital bed, falling asleep quickly. Olivia looked over to Elliot, who was looking at the boy; there was something about him that neither detective could put their finger on. She then looked down at the paper, which read:
Sarah Emerald Williams, New York Mental Hospital.
She looked up at the sleeping Toby in surprise, then shifted her gaze to Elliot. "His sister is the Sarah that we helped a few years back."
Well, I hope you liked it! Please review, I love getting and reading them. Remember to leave your pen name, email address and story name in a review if you want Kelly as your beta reader for nothing but a sentence of your story and a moment of your time to thank her. This story would pretty much suck grammatically and descriptively without her, and she's great at what she does. Thanks for reading!