With great regret, I have to say that none of the characters of the Labyrinth belong to me. No matter how much I wish a certain Goblin King was mine…


The sun was beginning to set and shadows were slowly starting to make their descent. I was staring off into the trees and spotted a flash of white and gold amongst the branches. I strained to see what the figure was, but it was too far away. I couldn't help but to go outside and get a closer look. The trees loomed over me as I approached the ever darkening forest. I scanned the shadowy branches again and found the figure nestled high in the branches. I squinted and could make out what seemed to be an owl.

"Hello," I called.

The owl looked down at me from the tall trees. He stared at me for a few moments, then spread his wings and landed on a branch closer to where I stood. Upon closer inspection, it was one of the most beautiful creatures I had ever seen. Its feathers seemed to practically glow and its eyes were endless dark pools. I found myself entranced by it immediately.

"Hello," I repeated.

The owl cocked its head and cooed softly. I reached my hand forward on impulse to try to stroke its seemingly soft feathers. As soon as my hand got close enough to its face, it snapped at me with its beak. I immediately drew my hand away from its reach.

"Now that wasn't very nice," I chided.

The owl cocked its head again and seemed to chuckle. It turned its attention away from me and flew a bit deeper into the forest. I knew that I shouldn't go into the forest with the sun going down, but I wanted to get closer to the magnificent animal. I started toward the bird until I was only a foot or so away from the branch it perched on. Before I could get any closer, the bird spread its wings and flew even deeper into the forest.

I looked back towards the edge of the woods and decided that it wouldn't hurt if I followed the bird a little further. When I reached the bird a second time, it stared at me with calculating eyes before spreading its wings and flying to another branch deeper in the forest still. At this point, the only thing I was worried about was following the bird. Again, when I got to the bird it glanced at me then flew away. I followed the bird five or six more times before I got tired of its games.

"Now listen here," I stated in a firm voice, "You're beginning to annoy me and I'm not going to get lost following a stupid bird."

I turned to walk away and heard feathers ruffle behind me. I felt a small rush of wind and could hear wings flapping. I turned back around and saw the bird flying towards me with anger in its dark eyes. I ducked just it time to avoid the bird's sharp talons and covered my head with my hands to fend off another of the bird's attacks. Instead of trying to attack me again like I thought it would, the bird continued flying away into the woods.

I watched as the bird disappeared into the darkness. After I could no longer hear the bird's wings flapping, I realized that I was in the middle of the dark forest alone. I turned to try and take in all of my surroundings. The trees seemed much more sinister than they had before. Their branches looked like claws reaching out to tangle and tear at me. A cold gust of wind disheveled my raven colored hair and gooseflesh broke out over my arms and neck.

I shivered involuntarily and wrapped my arms around my torso for warmth. I had no choice but to try to find my way out of the ever-dimming woods. I started walking in the direction I thought I came from. At first I thought I was making progress, but all the trees looked the same and I didn't even have anything to mark them with. I wasn't keeping track of the time, but it had to have been a couple hours since I followed that darned owl into the woods.

Think Sarah! What can you use to help you find your way back? My thoughts trailed off until I had a brilliant idea. I could use the stars! In high school, they taught us that Native Americans used the stars to find their way when they got lost. I looked up into the sky, and my hopes came crashing down. There were no stars. There wasn't even a cloud in the sky either. The sky was just black. Pitch black. I started forward again; there was no way I was spending the entire night wandering around in the woods.

I walked in the direction I thought was North, and then I veered off to what I believed to be West. I was beginning to worry. What if I didn't make it out of the woods for another few hours? I sat down to try to clear my head. I leaned back into a tree and rested my head on the rough bark. I closed my eyes and tried to slow my breathing. That's when I heard it. It was a low growl that seemed to be coming from behind me. I dared not turned around. There were a number of animals that lurked in the forest that growled. None of which I had ever planned on meeting. I opened my eyes and made the decision to run. I darted forward and sprinted as fast as I could.

I couldn't hear the beast behind me, but there was no way I was stopping. I kept running until my lungs started to burn, then I ran some more. I swiftly maneuvered around the trees and tried my best not to trip over my own feet. I ran until I literally couldn't run anymore. I was healthy, but by no means was I an athlete. I stopped to catch my breath, and to make sure that there was nothing following me. Once I was positive there wasn't anything following me, I couldn't help but to sit down again. My legs hurt from running and my lungs were on fire. I took deep breaths and I tried to think rationally. Every time I tried to form a plan, fog seemed to roll into my head and cloud my mind.

I tried to stand up, but my legs now felt like rubber. Was I just tired from running? That's possible, but I wouldn't feel like this if I was just tired. It almost felt like the time I drank at my Senior Prom in high school. I most certainly did not have any alcohol earlier. Was it possible I was drugged? That also seemed a bit too far fetched. It tried to stand up again, but I fell back down. My vision started to cloud over and I quickly became much more tired. I tried to keep my eyes open, but it was to no avail. They fluttered shut, and I heard someone chuckling. I opened my eyes, but I didn't see anyone before they closed again. They chuckling continued and then I heard footsteps coming closer to me.

I tried again to open my eyes, but I was so impossibly tired.

"Well hello precious," said a deep and deliciously dark voice.

I was barely able to open my eyes to see a man standing before me. I couldn't make out the details, but I could tell he was attractive. I mentally scolded myself for thinking that of all things in this situation. Although I couldn't clearly see his face, he seemed all too familiar. He had a certain air about him, like someone I think I had meant before. His voice was also too familiar. I knew I had heard it before, but where? I wanted to ask him who he was and why he was in the woods, but I couldn't get my mouth to form words. The man knelt down next to me and ran his hand over my dark hair.

Now that he was closer, I realized that his smell was familiar as well. I definitely knew this man from somewhere. He stopped running his hand over my hair and knelt closer to me. I could feel his warm breath on my neck. He smelled like… peaches? He leaned even closer and placed a kiss right above my collar bone. My senses immediately sharpened and I tried to back away from him. My body was still useless, but my thoughts were running wild. I had to get away from this man, but how? Millions of bad scenarios were going through my mind. How in the hell did I end up in the forest at night alone with this man? I tried again to form words, but I was only able to mumble.

"Hush now Sarah, you're okay." Somehow the man knew my name. I'm almost certain that if I had meant a man like this before, I would remember. He placed another kiss on my jaw and another on my cheek. This time I was able to muster enough strength to place my hand on his chest. He chuckled softly at my actions.

"Oh Sarah, after all these years, you're still trying to fight me."

That was when I finally realized who hovered over me. It was the same man that kidnapped my brother nearly five years ago and made me run his dangerous maze. The man that hovered only inches away from my face was the Goblin King himself! I tried again to weakly push him away, but my hand was beginning to feel like a weight.

"Sarah, please, I promise that this won't hurt… much." That was the last thing I heard before everything finally went black.

Author's Note: Thanks for taking the time to read! As many other authors here on this wonderful site, I crave reviews. I can't get enough of them! I have written several fanfictions, but this is my first time publishing any to this site. With that said, any criticism is greatly appreciated!