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Chapter 1: water and ice

Walking into the strange new world, Lauren glanced around and heard the door slam behind her. It vanished but she was already heading into the Labyrinth. Channels of shallow water ran between the slimy walls of the maze. She had the feeling that if she followed the dry paths she wouldn't get anywhere, so taking a deep breathe she stepped into the water. It was freezing and went up to her waist. After some time of wading she felt her legs going numb. Great, just great. Her teeth began to chatter. Suddenly she felt a current in the, until then, still water. It tugged at her legs and she felt herself being dragged under. Gulping in a last lungful of air she was sucked under the surface. She ran out of air and blacked out.

When she opened her eyes she found herself staring at an icy ceiling. Frowning, she sat up. Looking around, Lauren noticed she was in a large ice cavern. The river that had brought her in lapped at her ankles. Her clothes were soaked and the cavern was cold. Knowing that the best thing to do would be to keep moving, she forced her frozen muscles to get up and start walking.

Jareth looked at her in his crystal. 'She's determined,' he thought, 'I like that.' He noticed that she was starting to shiver. A frown creased his forehead and something was reflected in his eyes.

Lauren didn't feel like she was getting anywhere. She was still walking in the cavern. It seemed like she'd been walking there for hours. How much time did she have left? Her body was beginning to suffer from exposure.

"You don't have to do this." The voice made her look around. Jareth was leaning against one of the large icicles, now dressed in a white poet shirt, white trousers and white boots that made him fit right into the icy landscape. "There is another way for you to get your friends out."

"And what would that be?" she hissed.

"Just stay here, in this kingdom."

Lauren gave a shaky laugh, "And get turned into a Goblin right?"

Jareth gave her a puzzled glance, "That was never the plan."

Lauren looked at him startled.

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" he asked gently.

Lauren just looked at him,

"I love you."

She just stood there. Shocked to the core.

"If you loved me you wouldn't do this to me," she said finally and turned away. She started to walk away. She hadn't got far when exposure caught up with her and she collapsed.

Jareth saw Lauren walk away and shook his head. He hadn't realised she was this stubborn. Then he saw her slump to the floor. He walked up to her body quickly and checked her pulse. She was alive. He just stared at her for a moment then sighing he scooped her up in his arms he carried her out the cavern