Toby was warm and comfortable. Foggy threads of a dream lingered in his mind, disjointed images that disappeared before he could fully grasp them.
He rolled over and snuggled his pillow trying to fall back asleep and maybe even return to his dream.
After a few minutes both the dream and sleep evaded him and a rumbling in his stomach finally roused him. He disentangled himself from his sheets and slid out of bed, rubbing his eyes. Grabbing his gameboy from his nightstand he bounded down the stairs for breakfast.
Entering the kitchen he paused, he had the strangest feeling that something was off but he couldn't figure out what was it was. Shrugging he opened the cupboard and grabbed a box of sugary cereal with glee. Plunking down at the table he stuffed cereal into his mouth while virtually catching coins and avoiding fireballs on his gameboy.
The cereal was soon forgotten as Toby's brows knitted in concentration, his gameboy beeped a little tune and he fist pumped the air, grinning. "Yeah! A new record!" Reaching for his spoon he frowned, his cereal was a soggy mess, he made a gagging face and dumped it in the sink.
He wandered into the den and snuggled into the corner of the couch to play a new game. Glancing at the empty easy chair an odd feeling of unease.
The house felt unnaturally quiet so he turned the TV on for some background noise but the feeling didn't go away. He got up and checked the office, the desk was tidy and bare, why did he imagine it should be piled with paperwork?
Running upstairs he checked the other rooms. In the room across from his was a queen size bed and a big window with heavy curtains but there was no decoration, no personality, it was sterile like a guest room, or a hotel room. Why did he expect it to be warm and welcoming? The ensuite bathroom was equally barren, why did he expect the smell of makeup or shaving cream. The examination of the next room was just as fruitless, it had a single bed no pictures, no posters. He frowned, why were there so many guest bedrooms? There was no one else in the whole house.
But who was he looking for?
Wandering back to his room he noticed a few photos on the dresser. They were all of him, him as a baby, him at soccer, or him on vacation at Disneyland. But he was always by himself, why was he alone?
His eyes alighted on a photo of himself holding up the award of merit at school. He scratched his head, hadn't he taken that photo with his pare-
Rising panic griped him, where were his parents?
He ran through the house again, the master bedroom was lacking the flowered bedspread and the bottles of perfume on his mom's dresser. The den was missing his dad's newspaper, there was no mug of coffee on the coffee table. The kitchen was devoid of the smells of cooking and baking and the table was lacking the vase of flowers that his mom had collected from the garden.
The whole house had been stripped of any trace of Robert and Karen Williams.
His stomach churned as his breathing became laboured. This has to be a nightmare, it had to be! He turned to the large window by the table, the curtains were closed. His mother always opened the curtains to let the morning light in. Throwing open the curtains his heart sunk, there was no sunlight, there was no garden. Only his own reflection, distorted like a funhouse mirror. He ran to the front door, tugging at it with all his might but it didn't budge.
Spinning around he sprinted towards the stairs, as he reached the landing the grandfather clock began chiming. He glanced at the time, eleven o'clock. He shook his head, it couldn't be eleven already? He looked again at the clock face and his stomach dropped. The numbers on the face were not spaced right and the number at the top was XIII.
His heart pounding he ran up the stairs, as he stepped into his room the door clicked closed behind him.
He stood there a moment unable to remember why he was there or what he had been doing. He looked around the room, his posters and toys were all in their places, what was he looking for?
He began to rifle through his things, searching for clues. One by one he tossed his figurines and stuffed animals to the floor, when he got to Lancelot he paused.
The old worn bear had been Sarah's, she had given Lancelot to him when he was little.
A memory clicked into place, Sarah had wished him away!
More memories flooded back. Of Sarah and her boyfriend making him run a stupid maze to get his parents back. Of her refusing to help him when he was stuck in the web. His grip tightened on the bear and he raised his hand to hurl it at the wall.
But another memory surfaced, one that sent a wave of guilt through him, halting his arm in midair.
He had wished his parents away.
And this nightmare is what it will be like if I don't get to the castle in time. I will go back home, but without my parents.
He crumpled into himself, burying his face in his knees, the guilt threatening to swallow him completely.
Another memory surfaced. Of a tiny goblin proudly proclaiming that the Lady had beaten the Labyrinth.
Yes Sarah had wished him away, but she had also won him back.
Hope bloomed in his chest as he wiped away his tears, he would beat this!
But he had to find a way out of this nightmare first. He flung open the curtains of his window but was only greeted by his own distorted reflection. He tested the latch and was unsurprised when it wouldn't budge.
He grit his teeth. Well, I'm getting out of this one way or another! Grabbing the wooden vanity chair he threw it as hard as he could at the window.
The whole room cracked and imploded, becoming a whirlwind of toys and shattered glass. Toby threw his hands up to cover his eyes.
Everything went grey.
...
Consciousness returned slowly,
Sunlight filtering through branches, a breeze in his hair, an insect buzzing nearby.
He twitched, sitting up with a gasp. With bleary eyes he inspected his surroundings. The corridor was half overgrown with vines and roots.
Near his feet flowers in a kaleidoscope of colors glowed, beckoning him.
Mom would like these. In his foggy state he reached out to touch them.
At the thought of his parents he paused, glancing at his outstretched hand he noted the tiny puncture marks in his fingertips.
Memory flooded back and he dropped his hand and carefully stood, stepping around the treacherous blooms.
He tried to find his bearings. Ahead of him the stone corridor became patchy with greenery creeping through the cracked stones. In the distance branches were visible above the wall.
Hoggle had been guiding him to the forest. Glancing back at the empty corridor he had come through he hesitated only a moment before heading towards the trees.
...
As Jareth approached the castle he noticed a rather ragged group about to enter the main doors, he flew into the throneroom window and alighted on his throne, transforming as he did.
He frowned when he noticed that Sarah had not yet returned from the study. Karen and Robert were so intent on watching the crystal that they didn't even notice him. They did jump however at the shrill voice emanating from the hallway.
"Sire, I have urgent news!" Sir Didimus burst into the throneroom, bowing low. The fireys limped behind him looking rather bedraggled. They attempted to bow as well but their efforts caused a few limbs to tumble loose.
Karen stared wide eyed, her face turning a unflattering shade of green.
Jareth feigned a bored expression. "Yes Sir Didimus?"
Sir Didimus bowed again, "Sire! The fireys say that a ferocious beast attacked them in the forest. As you can see, they barely made it here, and have..."
Jareth formed a crystal and gazed into it, his eyes widened. "That is new!"
Looking into her own crystal Karen gasped. "And Toby's heading straight for it!"
...
Sarah leaned back in the old armchair and stared at the beams in the ceiling. She practiced a few breathing exercises, trying to calm down before facing either Jareth or her parents again.
Her glance slid down to the rest of the study, it was simply furnished in sturdy dark wood, all of the walls were lined with bookshelves floor to ceiling. She stood to examine the titles, most of the tomes were appeared quite ancient, many in languages that Sarah did not recognize. Among them a familiar title caught her eye, she pulled it out.
The worn brown cover simply said "The Labyrinth, a history."
Her eyes widened as she opened it, the inside cover was decorated with detailed hand made maps. She began leafing through the pages in search of answers but paused.
There was no time for this, she chastized herself, Toby might be in danger.
Returning the book to its place she closed her eyes and though of the throneroom.
...
As Toby walked on the cracks broadened, the broken stones buckled by roots and vines. Finally the crumbling stone was overtaken entirely by huge, ancient trees.
Here and there tiny shafts of sunlight filtered through the branches leaving dappled spots of green and gold, illuminating a small path almost hidden in the undergrowth. He followed it but as the shadows became deeper with fewer spots of light, he began to doubt his choice. He spun around to turn back but the path ended abruptly behind him. All around him the shifting shadows suddenly seemed more substantial.
His stomach twisted.
Somewhere nearby some leaves rustled, Toby called out. "Hello? Pottsy?... Hoggle?... Ludo?... Is that you?"
The rustling resumed and a low rumbling resonated, sounding like a far away lawnmower.
Toby spun around again but could see nothing but trees, bushes and vines.
Among the knarled undergrowth a sliver of sunlight illuminated a flash of orange. It disappeared as soon as it had appeared but Toby was sure that it had been orange fur. He gulped, what kind of creature stalked him? Did they even have any large carnivores in this place? He gulped as his imagination began to supply suggestions.
Toby broke into a run, desperate to put space between him and whatever this was. As he ran he heard the creature break it's cover but didn't dare turn to get a glimpse. He ran, his heart pounding in his ears so loud that it almost drowned out he sound of his pursuer hot on his heels.
Breaking through a large bush he skidded to a stop, he had almost slammed into stone wall. It was too smooth to climb and too high to jump. He was hedged in!
Spinning around he glanced behind into the forest, the foliage obscured his view but the rumbling noise had not stopped and it was getting closer.
In the shadows between the leaves two spots of light blinked in unison, observing him. There was a crash of branches as whatever it was bounded through the leaves towards him.
Toby screamed, throwing his hands in front of his eyes.
...
Author's Note
So... yes another cliffy. What do you think is stalking Toby?
A huge thank you to mae-E, Gloria47, Guest2021, Guest and Labyrinth Lover3 for the reviews!
As usual I don't own Labyrinth or its characters. I do own my O.C.s