Title: A meeting of worlds
Author: Kim, The Manipulative Little Monster
Rating: PG-13, to be safe, could change later
Archive: Sure. Just ask nice first
Feedback: The author is a feedback whore!
Summary: A crossover between the TV show Profiler and the Movie Labyrinth. A wish is made and can't be taken back. What it causes will change everything.
Disclaimer: I don't own Labyrinth. That's Henson's brain child. I don't own Profiler; That evil, evil man Steven Kronish does. ::shiver:: The text read from the Labyrinth novel actually comes from the novelization of the movie, I didn't write that. If you would like the link please email me for it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter One
The book sat there, much like any other. There was nothing extraordinary about the worn red leather of it's color, or the fading gold of the title that seemed to gleam in the low light. It sat there as it always had, abandoned on the far lower shelf of the children's library, with the other older books of it's kind. For the public the old faded pages with there little print was much to hard to read and on the back there was no hidden promises of being lost in the words of another.
Perhaps it was wrong to say that it was ordinary. Yes, it is much better to say that it seemed ordinary, for indeed this was the sort of book that changed young lives forever. When one touched it there was almost something electric and mysterious about that slight throbbing. And that was what drew the blond girl to it as she wandered around the dimmer corners of the normally brightly painted children's room.
The fact that she was able to go with her mother during the week day was amazing in itself but her Mom had been through a lot lately. The bad man had come and taken away her mommy's good friend, Coop. So on this rainy cloudy day, her Mom had wanted to spend some time together and promised to read her any book she wanted.
The little girl wanted a long old book, something her mother would allow her to snuggle and stay up late with. So far Angel had already read all of the little kids fairytales and Chloe wanted something new. Just when she had given up and sat on the floor against the painted form of Fang from Harry Potter, a book popped out of the shelf.
Chloe pulled her nose up as she picked it up, then dropped it as the weird feeling pulled up her arm. After her intensional gasp, she picked it up and found that she liked the feeling the book gave her. As she turned it over, the faded gold words almost shimmer in the light and she sounded out the title. "The Labyrinth." She smiled, she even liked the title.
She came running up and pulled at the sweater her mother's loose form was wearing. Sam Waters was staring at the big picture of Clifford as if she was in a dream. Black circles that couldn't quite be hidden by make-up shown through. As if being pulled back from a different place, she looked down at her daughter. In a monotone voice she spoke. "Did you find the one you wanted Chlo?"
A ghost of her smile was given to the child who was so much like her and she could only hope that someday Chloe wouldn't have to go through what Sam went through everyday. Unknowing of her mother's thoughts she spoke warmly and flashed a smile to the friendly librarian. "Mommy, can we take this one?"
An absent look was tossed to the worn cover and she nodded automatically. "Course, Chloe if that's what you want. Why don't you take out your library card and go ask Mrs. James to check it out for you. Tell her I said it was ok. I just want to grab something else."
She nodded with a smile, her voice filled with the joy of a child yet to know that evils of the world where a monster like Jack could kill two important people in her life and destroy countless other's in his mad quest. As her daughter walked away, ponytail bouncing and the guard moved automatically to follow, his eyes casting around. Sam trusted this one and knew that he wouldn't let anything happen to Chloe.
Quick steps returned Sam to the reference desk and she looked at the woman behind it. "Hello, I'm Samantha Waters, I called about the book on..."
The librarian cut her off. "Yes, Dr. Waters, I have that already for you." She handed Sam the book with a sad smile. "And don't you worry, dear. This will get better from here on in."
Sam smiled back, feeling almost like a fraud. "Thank you Mrs. Harlow, I am certain they will." She took the books and walked away, that plastic smile a mask on her face. She couldn't allow herself to deal with false hope. It never got better. Automatically she smiled and thanked the woman while she checked out the book then slow steps took her to the car.
She climbed into the front seat and looked at Chloe next to her, trying so hard not to open the book and start reading on her own. A little laugh was released and she pulled on her set belt, a look given to the darkening clouds. "Well, baby it looks like there's going to be a storm. How about we go home and get in our jammies and order a pizza then we can start reading your book, okay?"
All in all, Sam was proud of how normal her voice sounded and she hopped that the book would be interesting enough to hold her interest as well. All to often all she wanted to do was curl up into a ball. No one seemed to understand what Jack taking another lover of her's away seemed to do to her. As she drove out of the almost empty parking lot, the rain poured from the heavens as if the angel's themselves shared her grief.
As she pulled into the firehouse, for a spilt second she could almost swear she saw a white owl sitting on top of the roof. She blinked and was about to point it out to Chloe before deciding that she must have been imagining it. White owls didn't appear in the middle of the day and certainly not in down town Atlanta. She sighed and pressed her head to her hand deciding that she needed to get out of her head and get some sleep.
Half an hour later, the pizza was ordered and Angel had announced that she was going to be going out so Sam and Chloe would have the house to themselves. Safe and wrapped up in warm pajamas, the two sat back on the couch and pulled the throw around them. Candles were lit and the thunder started out sound, mingling with the pounding of the rain like a symphony of atmosphere.
"Okay kiddo, are ya ready to start reading?"
Chloe nodded, snuggling close to her mother. "Yeah, the title even sounds good doesn't it Mommy?"
Sam looked absently at the cover of the book. "Yeah, Chlo, sounds great. Do you know what a Labyrinth is? It's a great big maze."
The little girl nodded solemnly. "Really? Can we start to read now please?" Her voice sounded eager, and her hands twisted against the blankets as she saw her mother was ready to give in. Sam started reading, her voice loud and strong through the room. And in that moment the room and the nightmare faded away. They were back in the farmhouse and Jack and his killing and messages were far, far away.
" 'Nobody saw the owl, white in the moonlight, black against the stars, nobody heard him as he glided over on silent wings of velvet. The owl saw and heard everything. He settled in a tree, his claws hooked on a branch, and he stared at the girl in the glade below. The wind moaned, rocking the branch, scudding low clouds across the evening sky. It lifted the hair of the girl. The owl was watching her, with his round, dark eyes.
" 'The girl moved slowly from the trees toward the middle of the glade, where a pool glimmered. She was concentrating. Each deliberate step took her nearer to her purpose. Her hands were open, and held slightly in front of her. The wind sighed again in the trees. It blew her cloak tightly against her slender figure, and rustled her hair around her wide-eyed face. Her lips were parted.
" '"Give me the child," Sarah said, in a voice that was low, but firm with the courage her quest needed. She halted, her hands still held out. "Give me the child," she repeated. "Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City, to take back the child you have stolen." She bit her lip and continued, "For my will is as strong as yours ... and my kingdom as great ..." She closed her eyes tightly. Thunder rumbled. The owl blinked, once.
" ' "My will is as strong as yours." Sarah spoke with even more intensity now. "And my
kingdom as great ..." She frowned, and her shoulders dropped. "Oh, damn," she muttered. Reaching
under her cloak, she brought out a book. Its title was The Labyrinth. Holding the book up before
her, she read aloud from it. In the fading light, it was not easy to make out the words. "You have no
power over me ..."' "
Like any good mother reading a bedtime story, her voice lowered for dramatic emphasis. "'"One night," Sarah continued, "when the baby had been particularly nasty, the girl called on the goblins to help her. And they said to her, 'Say your right words, and we'll take the baby away to the Goblin City, and then you'll be free.' Those were their words to her. The goblins nodded enthusiastically. Toby was nearly asleep again, with only a light protest remaining on his breath. Sarah, enjoying her own invention, leaned closer to him, over the side of the crib. She was holding her audience in her spell. Launcelot was in her arms.
"'"But the girl knew," she went on, "that the King of the Goblins would keep the baby in his castle forever and ever, and he would turn the baby into a goblin. And so she suffered in silence, through many a long month ... until one night, worn out by a day of slaving at housework, and hurt beyond measure by the harsh, ungrateful words of her stepmother, she could bear it no longer."
"' By now, Sarah was leaning so close to Toby that she was whispering into his little pink ear. Suddenly he turned over in his crib and stared into her eyes, only a couple of inches away. There was a moment of silence. Then Toby opened his mouth, and began to howl loudly and insistently. "Oh!" Sarah snorted in disgust, standing up straight again. The thunder rolled, and Merlin gave it all he had. Sarah sighed, frowned, shrugged, and decided there was no way around it. She picked Toby up and walked around the room, jogging him in her arms, together with Launcelot. The small bedside light threw their shadows on the wall, huge and flickering.
" '"All right," she said, "all right. Come on, now. Rock-a-bye baby, and all that stuff. Come on, Toby, knock it off." Toby wasn't going to knock it off just for being jogged. He felt he had a serious grievance to express. "Toby," his sister said sternly, "be quiet, will you? Please? Or --" Her voice lowered. "-- I'll ... I'll say the words." She looked up quickly at the shadows on the wall and addressed them theatrically. "No! No! I mustn't. I mustn't. I mustn't say ... 'I wish ... I wish ...'"
"'"Listen," said the goblin again. Every glowing eye in the nest, every ear, was open now. A second goblin spoke. "She's going to say it!" "Say what?" asked a stupid goblin. "Shush!" The first goblin was straining to hear Sarah. "Shut up!" other goblins said. "You shut up!" said the stupid goblin. In the hubbub, the first goblin thought he would go crazy with trying to hear. "Sh! Shhh!" He put his hand over the mouth of the stupid goblin. The second goblin shrieked, "Quiet!" and thumped those nearest to him. "Listen," the first goblin admonished the rest. "She is going to say the words." The rest of them managed to silence themselves. They listened intently to Sarah.
"'She was standing erect. Toby had reached such a crescendo of screaming, red in the face, that he could scarcely draw breath. His body was straining against Sarah's arms with the effort he was making. Launcelot had fallen to the floor again. Sarah closed her eyes and quivered. "I can bear it no longer," she exclaimed, and held the howling baby above her head, like a sacrificial offering. She started to intone: "Goblin King! Goblin King! Wherever you may be, Come and take this child of mine Far away from me!"
"' Lightning cracked. Thunder crashed. The goblins dropped their heads, crestfallen. "That's not right," the first goblin said, witheringly. "Where did she learn that rubbish?" the second scoffed. "It doesn't even start with 'I wish.'" "Sh!" said a third goblin, seizing his chance to boss the others.
"'Sarah was still holding Toby above her head. Outraged by that, Toby was screaming even more loudly than before, which Sarah would have not thought possible. She brought him down and cuddled him, which had the effect of restoring him to his standard level of screaming. Exhausted by now, Sarah told him, "Oh, Toby, stop it. You little monster. Why should I have to put up with this? You're not my responsibility. I ought to be free, to enjoy myself. Stop it! Oh, I wish ... I wish ..."
"'Anything would be preferable to this cauldron of noise, anger, guilt, and weariness in which she found herself. With a tired little sob, she said, "I wish I did know what words to say to get the goblins to take you away."
"'"So where's the problem?" the first goblin said with an impatient sight. Pedantically, he spelled it out. "'I wish the goblins would come and take you away, right now.' Hmm? That's not hard, is it?"
"'In the nursery, Sarah was saying, "I wish ... I wish ..." The goblins were all alert again, biting their lips with tension. "Did she say it?" the stupid goblin asked brightly. As one, the rest turned on him. "Shut," they said irritably, "up." Toby's tornado had blown itself out. He was breathing deeply, with a whimper at the end of his breath. His eyes were closed. Sarah put him back in his crib, not too gently, and tucked him in. She walked quietly to the door and was shutting it behind her when he uttered an eerie shriek and started to scream again. He was hoarse now, and louder in consequence. Sarah froze, with her hand on the handle of the door.
"'"Aah," she moaned helplessly. "I wish the goblins would come and take you away ..." She paused. The goblins were so still, you could have heard a snail blink. " ... right now," Sarah said. In the goblins' nest, there was an exhalation of pleasure. "She said it! "
"'In a trice, all the goblins had vanished in different directions, save only the stupid goblin. He squatted there, a grin dawning on his face, until he realized that the rest had left him. "Hey," he said, "wait for me," and he tried to run in several directions at once. Then he, too, vanished. Lightning flashed and thunder hammered the air. Toby gave out with a high-pitched screech, and Merlin barked as if all the burglars in the world were closing in.
"' The storm raged on over Sarah's house. The clouds boiled. Rain lashed the leaves on the trees. Thunder was followed by lightning. Sarah was listening. What she was listening to was an unnatural silence within the room. Toby had stopped crying, so suddenly it scared her. She looked back inside the nursery. The bedside light was out. "Toby?" she called. He did not respond. She flicked the light switch beside the door. Nothing happened. She jiggled it up and down several times to no effect. A board creaked. "Toby? Are you all right? Why aren't you crying?"'"
At this point Sam paused, much to the distress of both of her listeners. "Chloe, are you really sure you want me to read the rest of this?"
Chloe looked with shining eyes on her mother. "Yeah, I want to see if the Goblin King comes."
Sam sighed, so her eight year old daughter was already starting to fall for the bad guys. This was going to be bad. "Alright Chloe, one more chapter then you have to go to sleep, it's way past your bed time."
Jack grin as Sam's sweet whiskey voice rolled through the words of the old book, loving the faces she made to amuse Chloe. The book seemed a bit long for such a little girl, but he was sure she could handle the scariness of it. After all, real life for her had to be much scarier then that. Another cigarette was lit as he settled back, the sweet smell of roses wafting over his nose.
If only he could get rid of Jill so easy. Shannon Lesser had been a mistake, he could see that now with his hindsight. She was starting to become a handful and it seemed he had twisted her to well. She was no longer the pretty dumb little thing who had taken the rap for her older boyfriend. She was Jill, a creation, a monster. Jill was his own personal fucking Frankenstein.
Not that it mattered. In seven hours him, Sam and Chloe would be on his private plane to the island he had ready. Jack wasn't about to admit it, but maybe killing Coop had been a mistake. Sam wasn't adjusting very well to it. It was almost as if she was playing at being her. Bailey and John and the other morons at the Violent Crimes Task Force may not get it, but he did.
He was her soulmate. He knew her better then anyone else on this earth.
Six hours and forty-seven minutes til they where away from Atlanta and all the memories that went with it. And now Jareth had made his big appearance in the novel and the chapter was done. A quick glance to the camera showed that Sam and Chloe were tucked safe into their beds. Another keystroke and the camera angle changed once more. Two guards, both Sam's favorites. It didn't matter he wasn't going to kill them.
He didn't want anyone to know he had taken Sam until it was much to late. Instead he would drug them and cause the power to go out in the house, cameras would go off. In the morning when Bailey came to check up on Sam, all he would find was a note in her hand writing saying that she was going away for a few days to reflect about what had happened. She would call him and explain later.
'Well, not really,' he thought, a smile on his face as the thunder boomed once again, the pale silver streak of lighting crashing through the sky. It was as if God himself had fallen in line with the right of Jack's plan. Suddenly up and down the street, the streetlights blinked then went out.
Jack almost cheered. A quick reach was made to the back of his car and he picked up the small container that contained the gas and the mask that went with it. His time table had been pushed up but that was alright. This was an opportunity much to good to miss. The pilot of the plane was called as he opened the car door, rain diving down on him. Quick steps were given and he showed up at the door.
A swipe of the cloned card from Sam's wallet was given and the door opened, running on it's own auxiliary power. He pulled the pin on the canister and rolled it into where the two guards were asleep on duty. Normally he would have taught them a lesson, but tonight he couldn't. He only had thirteen minutes before the alarm went off at the VCTF that the power was down.
An odd little thought shook him. Thirteen minutes, thirteen hours in which to solve the Labyrinth. Now there was a coincidence if he ever heard one. Such strange thoughts were roaming through his head tonight. A quick look was given to his Rolex and he decided that the guards were asleep by now.
Guided by the penlight, he walked slowly to the elevator and again used the cloned card to make it work. Almost silent steps were taken deep into Sam's private sanctuary. It hadn't changed very much from the last time that he had been there, and yet it was totally different. He was almost awed as he inhaled the scent that was exclusively her. Roses and jasmine. Sensible yet sweet. He reached slowly for the larger needle in his pocket and slowly opened the door to Sam's bedroom. For a moment all he could do was stand over her, in wonder as always when he say her face to face.
He never heard the little steps, or the sound of the door that had opened when the elevator dinged. He didn't see the blond girl in the little white nightgown follow him to her mother's room, knowing who he was. And he didn't hear the little voice whispering the words, hoping against hope that they would work before the bad man could hurt her Mommy again. "I wish the goblins would take you away right now."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter Two
Lighting flashed and thunder roared once again. All around Sam's bed room things started to move with giggling tones. Quickly Jack turned around to spot a very pale Chloe almost hiding behind him. She was whimpering and instantly he put his arm around her, trying to shield her from seeing the things that wiggled under the blanket's with her mother. In a soft even tone he spoke, his voice not showing the terror that was in his eyes. For everything that Jack had done, he had never seen anything like this.
"Hello Chloe. Can you tell me what you just did?"
Any other time, Chloe Waters would have been screaming holy bloody murder at the thought of Jack's arm being wrapped around her shoulders. Hell, she would have screamed at the very thought of him being in her house. She whimpered as the din from the room grew in volume. "I called on the Goblin King for help."
Jack groaned and muttered under his breath. "You have got to be fucking kidding me." He pulled her deeper into his embrace, his tone soft and normal, able to be heard. "Now, Chloe, we both know that, that was only in a story. It's not real. I know you love your Mommy very much and don't want her to be hurt, but you have to tell me the truth so I know how to help her."
The penlight had gone out so Jack couldn't see the widening of eyes nor the quivering of lip that what Chloe saw over his shoulder had caused. Tears flowed more freely down her cheeks and wet the black shirt he was wearing. "B-b-b-but I AM telling the truth! Look!"
And with that she pointed to the barred window, where a snow white owl was trying to tap his way in. On his feet in a barely visible predatory move, he pulled Chloe's light form to stand behind him. He peered into the darkness, looking to the bed where Sam was starting to stir. As his attention was distracted the window blew open and the white owl flew towards his face.
Quickly his arm was pulled up and he turned around, still trying to shield Chloe from the owl's attentions. Lighting flashed again and a long shadow moved across the floor towards him and the little girl. Jaw dropping, he moved closer to the bed as if trying to shield his beloved Samantha who would turn into his fierce little tiger Sam any second.
Chloe watched as her mother woke up and Jack guarded her. 'Grownups.' she thought, the child part of her mind knowing totally what to do. You act like you where the person in the story. She moved to stand before the Goblin King, the chin so like that of her mother's standing proud and straight as she spoke in a steady questioning tone. Jack made a grab for her, his voice a hiss. "Chloe get back here. You don't know what this guy is going to do."
But she did. He would stand there watching her until she spoke. "You're him aren't, you're the goblin king." For her perception she was rewarded with a sardonic little smile. "I'd like you to go away now please, if it's all the same."
Sardonic arms were crossed as those mismatched eyes watched her, amused that such a little girl was reacting true to form while the grownups in her life were watching, hunched together even though they were mortal enemies. "What's said is said."
Sam stood up despite Jack's best efforts to keep her hidden. In her best hostage negotiator's voice she spoke. "Would someone mind explaining to me what's going on here?" Already her mind was working, she was profiling him as she spoke. 'Guy followed us from the library, locked up in the delusion that he is indeed the goblin king. He finds it is a stormy night and decides to reinforce his fantasy. Probably had an early fixation with the novel.'
Jack saw his beloved's eyes move, and knew what she was doing. Well, he had seen this guy turn into an owl and was willing to bet that he was who he said he was. In a quiet tone he spoke, putting his hand on her arm. "Samantha, wait a minute."
Chilled blue stare was thrown to Jack as she pulled away from his restraining arm. The look on her face clearly spelled out, 'Don't you fucking touch me.' Jareth watched the exchange a small smile on his face. Chloe watched him as they seemed locked in the vignette. When the Goblin King spoke, his voice was a mask of pure enjoyment. "Well, let me assure you, Dr. Waters that I am indeed who I said I am."
A dismissing look was given to the grownups before he turned back to Chloe. For the first time she really took a good look at him. He did seem to be something out of a fairy story or a Halloween costume gone awfully wrong. His hair was high up on his head in pointed spikes, like a mockery of that late night movie she had seen, with that Tina Turner lady in it. He wore a shirt like a pirate, open to revel his bare chest and the large necklace he wore under it. On his legs were what she could only describe as very tight tights, higher and tighter then the ones she had seen when Angel and Mommy took her to the ballet.
On his fingers there were leather gloves, half covered by the fluffy lace ruffle he wore around his wrists. Over this all he wore a leather coat with a freaky looking high collar and make-up. Chloe sneered and took a step back, her voice filled with awe. "I can't believe your Mommy let you go out of the house like that and it isn't even Halloween."
Over next to the bed, Jack laughed, he couldn't help it. The whole thing seemed totally surreal to him. He was certain at this point that he had gotten really drunk and was having an odd nightmare. Anytime now, he would wake up back in the car and Samantha would be reading the story on which all of this was based. Yes, he could wake up anytime now.
But he didn't. The Goblin King raised his left arm in a grand sweeping gesture, almost as if summoning something. Seemingly insubstantial a bubble appeared, silhouetted against the shining blue and deep black of his clothes. A monotone clap was issued, shattering the silence with mocking tribute. Sam had gotten away from Jack and was now standing behind her daughter like an angry tigress. Her voice was soft. "Neat trick. Got anymore."
Sam and Jack were once again joined in the ignored state as Jareth rolled the crystal over his gloved hands. Back and forth it worked itself, Chloe's eyes following it like a snake to it's charmer. Her voice was soft and almost eager. "What is it?"
The ball was still rolled over his gloved fingers. "It's a crystal, nothing more. But if you turn it this way and look into it. Do you want it?" He looked at her intently, seeing the want in her big blue eyes. "Then all you have to do is forget about your mother and her pet serial killer."
Chloe's nose was pulled up as she looked at the king before her. "My mother? I didn't wish my mother away."
"But you did. That was your first thought. You wished her away inside your head in order to protect her. Then out loud you wished away the famous Jack of All Trades. By binding contract, they both belong to me."
Sam's eyes widened. After all she had spent five years hiding from someone she thought owned her. Her voice was soft and deadly. "I don't belong to you..." He cut her off with an up stretched hand. His voice was soft as well.
"However. If you decide that you want to fight, Chloe. There are rules that even I must abide by. You are not of age to run the labyrinth. So you must pick one of the two people you wished away and use yourself as a hostage so they finish." An appraising look was given to the grow-ups who now were motionless behind the little girl.
"I have to fight. My mother would fight for me." She looked so grown up standing there, fingers pressed to her tiny waste. A miniature Sam. The crystal in his had shifted until it became a mirror. Very quickly he shifted it back and forth. The three were once again almost hypnotized by the shining silver, and they didn't know that they had been separated until it was to late.
Sam looked around her room, finding she was alone save for Jareth. She narrowed her eyes to him and spoke almost through grit teeth. "Where is my daughter?"
"You know very well where she is."
"Why must you quote the book every step of the way? Don't you have anything original to say?"
Jareth smiled, a chilling smile of a snake as it watches a mouse struggle. "You had better change your thinking, Sam. You're no match for me."
Sam took a slow breath through her nose before she decided to change her tactics. "Look, Mr. King was it? My daughter is only eight years old and she didn't know what she was doing. How about we call it a fair trade? You keep Jack and I can have Chloe back. Then we're both fair and even. Now, can I have my daughter back?"
He sighed softly then used the tone people used for speaking to children much dumber then Chloe Waters. "Your daughter is there in my castle." His arm was stretched towards the large twisted castle deep in the center of much darker labyrinth then she had imagined in the words of the story. "Do you still want to stand here and try to talk me out of this?"
Sam walked towards the window of her room, not noticing as the familiar surroundings shifted into the tan pale expanse of the wastelands over looking the Labyrinth. In a soft murmur, she spoke as if trying to offer herself some assurance. "It doesn't look that far."
"It's further then you think and time is short. You have thirteen hours in which to solve the Labyrinth before you and Jack belong to me. Forever. Such a pity, Chloe should have just taken the crystal and lived happily ever after. Gods know it would have been better then the nightmare she has living with you."
Angrier then she had ever been in her entire life, Sam whirled around to look at him, wishing she had her gun. He was gone, fading into nothingness with the thirteen hour clock right next to him. She yelled, sure that he was watching her progress from somewhere. "I love my daughter very much, and she loves me. If it wasn't for Jack, I would still be with Tom and she would have a happy family."
Righteous anger fueled stomping steps forward and she moved down the hill. "It doesn't look so hard, but that idiot could have waited at least until I finished the damn story!"
Almost as if in a mockery of her anger, that pounding ticking of the clock continued on, totally unmoved by the angered words. Suddenly, out of the fog the doors to the labyrinth appeared.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter Three.
A familiar and yet unfamiliar voice rang out of the darkness. For just the barest of moment's, Sam's mind touched a place where she didn't want to go.
The voice was gruff, intense. "We got another one." An almost squeak was heard.
"Gotta get this guy."
"My responsibly"
Sam blinked through the fog. Her voice filled with concerned wonder. "Bailey is that you?"
"No, I'm Hoggle. Who are you?"
"Dr. Samantha Waters." Yes, she spoke in her most professional no nonsense tone. Her hand was extended to the gruff looking little man who was standing before her. He looked so much like Bailey, Sam thought she was going to faint. Same dark hair, same wrinkles, same lame ass hat. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish as the miniature Bailey, er Hoggle walked towards her.
"Did ya swallow a bug or something? Your mouth looks like yer a Bog fish. Anyway, that's what I thought."
Sam was still working her mind out of the shock that threatened to drown her. "I just, you remind me of someone I know. A bog fish?"
"Yeah, a fish that lives in the Bog of Eternal Stench."
"The, the Bog of Eternal Stench?" Sam wobbled on the feet, not liking the shades of gray that she was expressing. Her world was black and white and there where most certainly no Bogs of Eternal Stench in her world.
"Are ya alright, lady? You sure aren't going to get very far if your already turning ghostly white and wobbling. Sarah didn't even freak out until she got much farther along."
The name Sarah put the spring back into her step. "You knew Sarah? Wait, I am using you to allow myself to reinforce my grief brought on psychosis. This is a manifestation of me using a child's book to escape the realism of my life. I simply need to sit down and not play so that my rational mind will eventually return to the logic of conformity, and I'll be in my room to call Melinda."
Hoggle shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Oh, brother. Poor Chloe. She's gonna be lost. The rat who calls himself Jareth shoulda let her run. At least then she would have made it into the gates."
He allowed her to sit there feeling sorry for herself for another five minutes before he pulled out a cigar and lit it. After pulling the sweet smoke into his lungs, he quite calmly reached down and pulled up Samantha's arm. A quick touch of the burning tip was given to her inner arm, causing her to yelp it pain as her top layers of flesh fried away.
Sam looked at the man, shocked, her fingers holding the scalded flesh. "You just burned me! You just burned me! What the hell did you do that for?"
Hoggle looked at her, one bushy brow moved into an arch. "So you would get off your ass and start moving. You are now to twelve hours in which to solve the Labyrinth. Don't you think you should get going?"
He watched her blow on her burning arm as if trying to cool it before he sighed and pulled her hand away from it. "Leave it alone, Sam! Know that when ever it burns you aren't crazy you're really here and you really did to get through this. You have twelve hours left, thats seven hundred and twenty minutes. Other wise you're stuck here, forever."
Steely blue eyes were turned towards him, at last filled with something other then that scary disbelieving vacant look. Her voice was cold and filled with a newer, deadlier tone. "How do I get into the maze?"
A relieved sigh was made as he pointed to the great doors that opened with his point. "You gets in there and god help you, cause Jareth certainly won't."
Sam made a nod to the little man before she moved through the open doors her head held high. She was sure she could do it. After all, she caught killers for a living, how hard could one maze be? Her voice was a soft whisper as she started to move to the right down the stick choked hall. "Piece of cake."
_________________________________________________________________________
Chapter Four
Jack wasn't sure that he had fainted and the sudden loss of that ever important control unnerved him. Very slowly he became aware of his surroundings and with the well honed instincts of his chosen let's call it... profession, a steely brown gaze shifted around the room and all the... things inside of it. For the barest of moments he wondered if he had simply been drinking and fainted.
The first thought in his head was, 'Oh my god, I've died and gone to Barbie's Dream Hell.' And that's exactly what it seemed like to him. It seemed that the Labyrinth shifted to each person's personal perception of what they thought the hallowed halls should be. Well, actually Jack hoped so, because otherwise this Jareth was more insane then he was.
Chloe's was pink. Nauseating, disgusting, Bismuth pink. And shiny plastic. Everywhere. Liberally splattered on the walls were stickers. Stickers and painted furniture and wild scenes of impossible people standing in lame mockeries of gross-out childhood style. It seemed the only real scrap of furniture was a monstrous mountain of pink and white plastic. It was ornately shaped and seemed to almost have cravings of unicorns with rhinestone horns and dolphins with rainbow paint covering the whole bloody thing. And of course, what would a throne be without a king?
The Goblin King sat on the fake velvet pad, looking even more disgusted with the currant state of his throne room then even Jack was. One high-heeled boot was cast over the way to high arm as he glared around his room. The serial killer took slow steps towards the goblin king, fully intending to offer the king a bucket and a flick of his pocket knife. However, first things first, he needed to protect Chloe then find Sam and get them all out of here.
Chloe was sitting on the ground in front of an old fashioned looking blackboard, complete with colored chalk. Shaky lettering formed out the Alphabet in a crude childish hand. She was holding a long pointer and tapping it lightly against each letter while the goblin sat enraptured, reciting back every word. From the grin on her face, he was guessing that Chloe was enjoying playing schoolmarm to some Muppet-looking rejects.
A small sigh of disgust was made before he looked even farther around the room, looking for anything that might be useful as some sort of weapon. And a quick exit. A little flash of light, and his gaze was drawn to what appeared to be a large mirror in an ornate plastic frame on the wall. Perhaps it was better to say it was mirror-like, for the surface was shimmering, like that warped, fake tape they used for children's play mirrors. The images with in were distorted and slowly shifting, almost as if they were viewed through murky, moonlit water.
A quick step was taken towards it as what appeared to be to huge wooden doors shifted into frame. The large and imposing wood was almost zoomed in upon and Jack's sight was met with a little man, as out of place here as he was himself. He leaned forward, almost as if to touch the scene when he heard voices. Hardly discernable, and almost too far away, but he could hear them if he strained enough. Inwardly he spoke, his tone cold as the thought entered his head, 'Malone?'But that thought was pushed away as impossible.
Impossible. That was really almost to funny coming from the man who was standing in the Goblin King's Barbie throne room, staring into a paste mirror, watching as if it were a television screen. A little laugh was made as Jack wondered for the first time if he was somehow crossing the line between organized and disorganized psychosis.
But there was no time to absorb that, for once again that slow ripple morphing affect was happening again. And now his view was something that he had looked upon so many times before. He drank it in as man who welcomes the sun after a long, cold, winter's night. And for the moment, his world was totally right, submersed in blond hair and sad blue eyes. A soft sigh was made, intense in longing and in lust, "Oh, Samantha..."
Sadly, he didn't have long to reside in that blissful welcomed state, and the grimness of the situation fell across him like an icy shadow. Gloved fingers were pulled into tight fists as he saw her. She was in a word, unraveling. For a moment, an intense remorse hit him, this was his fault. He had broken her to this point. A seize was made to his ego for the barest of seconds before he saw the almost Malone press that lighted cigar to her flesh. The noise he made wasn't quite a growl and wasn't quite a scream, it was an almost indescribable sound of anger as he turned and started to almost stalk towards the Goblin King who was sitting non chantey on his throne, playing with a whip.
Jack's voice was chilled, a warning state that would have made most men cower away from and wish that they had a gun. Not that it would have done them much good. He had almost reached the throne, fingers reaching into his pocket and flicking his butterfly knife open as he did so. "I am going to make you wish you hadn't done that!"
A casual blink of a heavily shadowed lid was made as he watched Jack come forward with that blade. His face shifted into a sneer as Jack got almost close enough to touch him, the blade's edge coming to rest just above the tightly encased thigh before one leather encase hand was cast out, stopping the killer in his tracks.
To Jack, it seemed like he was encased in a bubble. The world outside of him was visible, but shot with an iridescent rainbow of pastel colors. The butterfly sang over the seeming insubstantial prison, the sharpness of the blade causing nothing but the spreading of the rainbow around and the marring of his vision. No longer able to hear what was viewed on the mirror, he could only half-see the picture of Sam entering the maze.
Jareth stood by, arms crossed over his chest in a trademark manner before he turned to Jack with a cold smile on his face. The words that Sam had spoken seemed almost like to sweet of a memory, to much of a cliche to ignore. "Well, Jack, tell me how do you think I should answer her little comment? Tell me, did you get so far into the novel that you even understand what that means?"
The responding voice was cold as he flicked the butterfly closed and kneeled down in an almost dismissive way to adjust the tie of his shoe. "It means, Jareth, that you most certainly need to come up with some new sort of obsession rather then an obscure reference to a long forgotten story book. After all, who reads fairy tales anymore anyway? The world is about flash and substance. You have neither. What you have and what I understand is that your tights are to tight and cutting of the oxygen supply to your brain. Something I will have to change after I am out of this little balloon you put me in."
Pale painted lips opened and shut slowly before he spoke again. Two egos this big would
most certainly have to clash sometime, right? Well, of course and Jareth was not about to take this
sort of thing lying down. One gloved finger lightly flicked against the bubble and it constricted even
tighter.