Disclaimer: as much as I wish I own the labyrinth and all its characters, I
don't. Please don't sue, I'm a student and I have nothing. Although I have
added a few characters of my own.
Kara rushed around her small bedroom, knocking things over and tripping over things she should have picked up days ago in a desperate bid to get ready for work. In the background the 'Labyrinth' soundtrack blared out of her hi-fi. The CD was currently living there. Lately she'd needed Labyrinth joy. She sang along with 'as the world falls down', finally finding the black shirt she was looking for. She pulled it on, quickly ran a brush through her long black hair, switched off the hi-fi, grabbed her bag and keys and was out the front door.
"Oh god, I'm going to be late! Again!" she exclaimed, breaking into a run as she looked at her watch. She worked part time in the offices of a small publishing company, doing data processing work mostly. Coma inducing as it was it paid the rent and helped to get her through university. Still in a panic borne mostly from having slept through her alarm - a rare enough occurrence in itself but given that it had happed the past three mornings it was slightly unsettling - she ran all the way there, up the three fights of stairs and landed in her chair five minutes past her starting time.
Well that's not too bad, she thought, congratulating herself on what had to be a record run. She was sure she'd get her breathing back to normal in about a day or so. Midway though her mental 'well done!' a shadow fell over her desk and she inwardly cringed.
"Late again, Grey."
She looked up at her boss, Arron de Winter. "Sir, its only five minutes. My bus was late," she lied. He looked down at her, wearing much the same expression she imagined he used on insects. He had a knack for making people feel tiny, insignificant and worthless. Worthless was his favourite.
"This is the third time Grey."
Another annoying habit of his - referring to you only by your second name. She suppressed a sigh and answered. "Yes I know sir. What can I say, public transport just isn't up to scratch anymore." She tried smiling up at him. Look I'm sweet and innocent and you don't want to fire me, she willed. She couldn't afford to get fired. Well she had some money saved but finding a new job was always hard and she needed a job to support herself. Landing this one had been a struggle she had no desire to repeat.
"Don't let it happen again." He snapped and stormed off.
Wonder if the aliens forgot to remove his anal probe, she thought. She began working, humming 'As the World Falls Down' to herself.
It was 11:50 am when Arron started to punish her for her lateness. Well it could have been her lateness or it could have been her back talk yesterday, but really when he marched into the office demanding to know where his package was, how else was she supposed to respond? He came to her desk and dropped a pile about half his height on her desk. Despite the fact that he was 5ft 9 it was still an impressive pile.
"I need you to get through this before you leave today." He told her before stalking off. Today was Saturday so she was in until five pm but even so she knew just by looking at the pile that it would take her well into the night to get through it. She suspected some of the other employees work would be diminished today but there wasn't much she could do about it. As an act of defiance she went for lunch and when she came back she could have sworn the pile had grown.
***
It was six thirty and the pile was finally starting to look smaller. She leaned back in her chair and stretched. Everyone but herself and Arron had gone home for the night. God knows what the hell he had do in his office but whatever it was, it wasn't so urgent that he couldn't keep coming out to walk by her desk every fifteen minuets. She had spent the entire day thinking of ways to kill him, dismissing each as too messy, too complicated, too likely to get caught when at around three she'd started entertaining the possibility of just wishing him away. She wondered if the Goblin King would come for a grown man who simply managed to act like a child. She stared at his office door, tapping her pen against the desk. The door opened and her eyes fell immediately back to the file in front of her.
"I hope you're not slacking off." He said. He really did sound like a petulant child.
"Nope, should be done in no time," she answered, aware of the hard edge in her voice. He frowned at her.
"I don't care if it takes all night, I need them processed for tomorrow." She resisted the temptation to start yelling that all sane and normal people took Sunday off so there was no possible reason he could need them for tomorrow and she'd been dealing with them all day so she knew they weren't that important anyway. She settled instead for sticking her tongue out at his now closed door. It didn't bring her as much satisfaction as telling him what he could do with the files in front of her, but it was all she was going to get.
"I wish the goblins would come and take you away, right now," she muttered. Just saying the words made her feel instantly better and she smiled to herself. Even if it didn't really mean anything, outside of storybooks and movies.
There was a loud crash from Arron's office.
What the hell?
She got up and approached his door cautiously. If he had just fallen and she saw him flat on his ass she'd probably be here till tomorrow morning with the amount of work she'd need to do to sooth his shattered ego. She reached the door and counted to ten before she opened it. Plenty of time for him to get back on his feet.
The office was empty.
"Oh no! I didn't! I couldn't possibly have!"
"Oh, but you did," Stated a smooth voice behind her.
She spun round, almost falling over in the process. Yeah, real graceful, she thought as she grabbed the doorframe to steady herself.
He was leaning against her desk, watching her with a cool expression on his face. His blonde hair, startling in the dim light. Not exactly as he was in the movie...well of course not...David Bowie wasn't the Goblin King after all.
"Oh my god! Not happening! No way is this happening!"
He laughed, standing gracefully and moving towards her. He placed one hand on the doorframe next to her head and leaned slightly in to her.
"I can assure you it's all perfectly real." His voice was barley above a whisper.
"Is he...?"
He nodded. She sobered suddenly, straightening a little. "Do I have to go get him?"
"Well those are the rules if you want him back."
She crossed her arms and looked at him steadily. "No, am I under obligation to go get him back. I mean I don't like him very much." Ok maybe that was...unfair but Arron was a grown man and, unlike a child, he could take care of himself. Couldn't he?
He smiled at her, "No you don't have to as such, but there is a forfeit for not going."
She chewed her lip, struggling with her conscience. Actually if she was going to be totally honest she was struggling with the thoughts of what a forfeit might entail, what would happen when Arron was discovered missing and everyone knew she'd been the last person to see him alive and accepting that this whole thing was happening in the first place and she wasn't suffering some sort of delusion bought on by low grade company coffee.
It wouldn't be right to leave him and you know it! The very annoying voice in her head screamed at her.
But the guy is such an ass! She argued back.
That's not the point; you got him into this mess now go get him back out. Yikes! That voice sounded like her mother's.
"Oh darn! I can't just leave him there, sorry but I can't. As much as I would like him as a goblin in a land where he can't annoy me anymore, it wouldn't be right." She ranted, still sounding like she was trying to convince herself and not him.
"As you wish." As Jareth spoke the words she realised that she was no longer standing in the office but on the hill at the edge of the labyrinth's entrance.
She looked at the Goblin King.
"You have thirteen hours in which to complete the labyrinth before your baby...er...boss becomes one of us forever. Such a pity" With that he disappeared, leaving her alone, only the sound of his voice echoing in her head to keep her company. She squared her shoulders, stiffened her resolve and tried not to start screaming.
"If I get you out of this you owe me big!" she told the still air.
Kara rushed around her small bedroom, knocking things over and tripping over things she should have picked up days ago in a desperate bid to get ready for work. In the background the 'Labyrinth' soundtrack blared out of her hi-fi. The CD was currently living there. Lately she'd needed Labyrinth joy. She sang along with 'as the world falls down', finally finding the black shirt she was looking for. She pulled it on, quickly ran a brush through her long black hair, switched off the hi-fi, grabbed her bag and keys and was out the front door.
"Oh god, I'm going to be late! Again!" she exclaimed, breaking into a run as she looked at her watch. She worked part time in the offices of a small publishing company, doing data processing work mostly. Coma inducing as it was it paid the rent and helped to get her through university. Still in a panic borne mostly from having slept through her alarm - a rare enough occurrence in itself but given that it had happed the past three mornings it was slightly unsettling - she ran all the way there, up the three fights of stairs and landed in her chair five minutes past her starting time.
Well that's not too bad, she thought, congratulating herself on what had to be a record run. She was sure she'd get her breathing back to normal in about a day or so. Midway though her mental 'well done!' a shadow fell over her desk and she inwardly cringed.
"Late again, Grey."
She looked up at her boss, Arron de Winter. "Sir, its only five minutes. My bus was late," she lied. He looked down at her, wearing much the same expression she imagined he used on insects. He had a knack for making people feel tiny, insignificant and worthless. Worthless was his favourite.
"This is the third time Grey."
Another annoying habit of his - referring to you only by your second name. She suppressed a sigh and answered. "Yes I know sir. What can I say, public transport just isn't up to scratch anymore." She tried smiling up at him. Look I'm sweet and innocent and you don't want to fire me, she willed. She couldn't afford to get fired. Well she had some money saved but finding a new job was always hard and she needed a job to support herself. Landing this one had been a struggle she had no desire to repeat.
"Don't let it happen again." He snapped and stormed off.
Wonder if the aliens forgot to remove his anal probe, she thought. She began working, humming 'As the World Falls Down' to herself.
It was 11:50 am when Arron started to punish her for her lateness. Well it could have been her lateness or it could have been her back talk yesterday, but really when he marched into the office demanding to know where his package was, how else was she supposed to respond? He came to her desk and dropped a pile about half his height on her desk. Despite the fact that he was 5ft 9 it was still an impressive pile.
"I need you to get through this before you leave today." He told her before stalking off. Today was Saturday so she was in until five pm but even so she knew just by looking at the pile that it would take her well into the night to get through it. She suspected some of the other employees work would be diminished today but there wasn't much she could do about it. As an act of defiance she went for lunch and when she came back she could have sworn the pile had grown.
***
It was six thirty and the pile was finally starting to look smaller. She leaned back in her chair and stretched. Everyone but herself and Arron had gone home for the night. God knows what the hell he had do in his office but whatever it was, it wasn't so urgent that he couldn't keep coming out to walk by her desk every fifteen minuets. She had spent the entire day thinking of ways to kill him, dismissing each as too messy, too complicated, too likely to get caught when at around three she'd started entertaining the possibility of just wishing him away. She wondered if the Goblin King would come for a grown man who simply managed to act like a child. She stared at his office door, tapping her pen against the desk. The door opened and her eyes fell immediately back to the file in front of her.
"I hope you're not slacking off." He said. He really did sound like a petulant child.
"Nope, should be done in no time," she answered, aware of the hard edge in her voice. He frowned at her.
"I don't care if it takes all night, I need them processed for tomorrow." She resisted the temptation to start yelling that all sane and normal people took Sunday off so there was no possible reason he could need them for tomorrow and she'd been dealing with them all day so she knew they weren't that important anyway. She settled instead for sticking her tongue out at his now closed door. It didn't bring her as much satisfaction as telling him what he could do with the files in front of her, but it was all she was going to get.
"I wish the goblins would come and take you away, right now," she muttered. Just saying the words made her feel instantly better and she smiled to herself. Even if it didn't really mean anything, outside of storybooks and movies.
There was a loud crash from Arron's office.
What the hell?
She got up and approached his door cautiously. If he had just fallen and she saw him flat on his ass she'd probably be here till tomorrow morning with the amount of work she'd need to do to sooth his shattered ego. She reached the door and counted to ten before she opened it. Plenty of time for him to get back on his feet.
The office was empty.
"Oh no! I didn't! I couldn't possibly have!"
"Oh, but you did," Stated a smooth voice behind her.
She spun round, almost falling over in the process. Yeah, real graceful, she thought as she grabbed the doorframe to steady herself.
He was leaning against her desk, watching her with a cool expression on his face. His blonde hair, startling in the dim light. Not exactly as he was in the movie...well of course not...David Bowie wasn't the Goblin King after all.
"Oh my god! Not happening! No way is this happening!"
He laughed, standing gracefully and moving towards her. He placed one hand on the doorframe next to her head and leaned slightly in to her.
"I can assure you it's all perfectly real." His voice was barley above a whisper.
"Is he...?"
He nodded. She sobered suddenly, straightening a little. "Do I have to go get him?"
"Well those are the rules if you want him back."
She crossed her arms and looked at him steadily. "No, am I under obligation to go get him back. I mean I don't like him very much." Ok maybe that was...unfair but Arron was a grown man and, unlike a child, he could take care of himself. Couldn't he?
He smiled at her, "No you don't have to as such, but there is a forfeit for not going."
She chewed her lip, struggling with her conscience. Actually if she was going to be totally honest she was struggling with the thoughts of what a forfeit might entail, what would happen when Arron was discovered missing and everyone knew she'd been the last person to see him alive and accepting that this whole thing was happening in the first place and she wasn't suffering some sort of delusion bought on by low grade company coffee.
It wouldn't be right to leave him and you know it! The very annoying voice in her head screamed at her.
But the guy is such an ass! She argued back.
That's not the point; you got him into this mess now go get him back out. Yikes! That voice sounded like her mother's.
"Oh darn! I can't just leave him there, sorry but I can't. As much as I would like him as a goblin in a land where he can't annoy me anymore, it wouldn't be right." She ranted, still sounding like she was trying to convince herself and not him.
"As you wish." As Jareth spoke the words she realised that she was no longer standing in the office but on the hill at the edge of the labyrinth's entrance.
She looked at the Goblin King.
"You have thirteen hours in which to complete the labyrinth before your baby...er...boss becomes one of us forever. Such a pity" With that he disappeared, leaving her alone, only the sound of his voice echoing in her head to keep her company. She squared her shoulders, stiffened her resolve and tried not to start screaming.
"If I get you out of this you owe me big!" she told the still air.