Here's chapter three, guys! Sorry for the wait - the real world sadly called my attention away from the Labyrinth for a bit ;-3 Thanks so much for your patience! Enjoy!

Toby watched the door close behind his mother and father, allowing an impish grin to creep over his young face. As always, his wide-eyed innocent look had worked perfectly. The smiling and nodding throughout their lecture - no running, no horseplay, no touching the stove or anything in the kitchen, stay inside and keep the door locked - had them convinced that their little angel couldn't possibly get into any trouble while they ran to the corner pharmacy for his father's prescription pills. But in his brief seven years of existence - soon to be eight, he reminded himself gleefully - he had learned that even the fifteen minutes they'd be gone would provide him with plenty of time to get into whatever mischief he pleased.

And today, he had his heart set on the most forbidden area of all: the attic.

There was no time to lose; he ran for the staircase. Already a sturdy, lanky boy, and tall for his age, he had no need of the handrail as he bounded up, nimbly taking them two at a time. At the top he paused to shake his sandy-brown hair from his large, bright eyes, then sauntered over the to the rope that hung from the ceiling and, pulling it carefully, managed to open the trapdoor and extend the rickety little ladder. Climbing up into the attic at a crawl, both hands carefully pulling him up, he grinned. He felt like a pirate.

"Avast, ye scurvy dogs!" he bellowed, delighted that his mother was not here to tell him to use his "inside voice." Fearless sea captains didn't need to use their inside voices when taking over an enemy ship. "Prepare to be boarded, ye scum-sucking bilge rats!"

To his satisfaction, only an echo answered his shocking battle cry. Had his mother been here, he didn't know what would upset her worse: the shouting, or his shocking language. "Heheh. 'Bilge rats.'" He snickered to himself as he hoisted himself up onto the attic floor. He wasn't sure what exactly the words meant, but he'd watched enough pirate movies to know they had to be pretty bad.

Climbing to his feet, he stared around the dusty space in awe. It was larger than he'd thought, and very dark, with the only sunlight peeking through a small slit in the boarded-up window. Boxes and trunks were stacked everywhere, flanked by the occasional lamp or bookshelf and a dirty old teddy bear that was nearly as big as he was.

He had never been up here before; it wasn't allowed. The thrill of doing something forbidden and independent excited him. Creeping towards the nearest pile of boxes, he whispered, "The fearless Captain Tobias has come to reclaim his treasure...but who knows what dangers and traps lurk in this creepy cave? Probably all kinds of....bad stuff."

Brushing the dust off the largest box in the pile, he made out the scrawled words "Sarahs' old books." That gave him pause. He wasn't sure his big sister would like him pawing through her stuff. But how would she know? She was away at college. Besides, he'd take great care not to hurt any of her things. Although he'd never admit it aloud, he loved his beautiful sister more than anyone in the world. No one else understood quite like she did how fun it was to escape into the worlds of the imagination. His parents and teachers despaired that he seemed to prefer pirate ships to fire trucks. But Sarah understood, and for that he would adore her forever.

Lifting the flaps of the box with some difficulty, he was disheartened by the stacks of boring-looking books inside. Although he was already an avid reader, these looked mostly like high school textbooks, the nearest of which was labeled something that started with "Trig." He was about to turn away when something shiny caught his eye. It looked like a crystal ball. He reached for it, but it seemed to sink out of sight when his hand got close. Determined, he started pulling heavy books out of the way, chasing the crystal as it seemed to withdraw from his fingertips, reaching deep into the depths of the box.

Standing in the dark in her apartment, Sarah watched her little brother rummage through the box through Jareth's crystal. For a moment she couldn't breathe. This could NOT be happening.

"That crystal ball is yours..." she gasped. "You planted it there."

Jareth merely smiled, watching her face. Tearing her eyes from the shadowy image of her brother, she turned furious eyes on him. "What are you up to? What is going on, Jareth?"

"Merely providing the boy with a little encouragement," he confessed. "He has to dig deep to find what he's looking for."

Sarah's eyes widened in understanding, then shot back to the crystal. An incomprehensible sound escaped her as she watched her brother, nearly swallowed by the size of the box, emerge from the very bottom with a small book in his hand.

"That's not fair," she whispered before she could stop herself.

"Now, where have I heard that before?" the Goblin King mocked, a sneer curling his regal features.

In the dark of the attic, Toby traced his finger curiously over the little red book. This seemed older than the others, and much less boring. Holding it close to his face, he squinted to make out the spidery gold letters on the cover.

The Labyrinth.