Disclaimer: I own nothing but my characters and plot.
A/N: ..next chapter
Chapter 2
Open Sesame
As I creeped closer to the crib, shock overcame me when I saw it was empty.
"Shit..." I mumbled and then yelled, "Robin, Robin, where are you?"
No answer except for te thunder clapping at me for my afwul babysitting job. I lost my baby sister. Before I could yell for Robin's name again, one of her smaller windows opened quickly. I gasped as rain started to come inside the room. Lightning lit the room and I dropped the flashlight from nearly jumping out of my skin. A white owl appeared near the open window and started to flap its wings frantically. I backed up, hitting the crib as the white owl still flapped. For a slight moment I almost forgot about my sister, but I called out her name again.
As if by magic, the white owl transformed into a fully grown man. I fell to the floor in fright. His black cape swirled and swished around him like a weeping willow's long, sad branches. With light blonde hair that was tousled into style, and a handsome yet stern face, the man didn't loko half bad. His apparel consisted of a black, leather top and tight grey pants which reminded me of spandex. .. ..
And then I realized...
"Oh Dog Gammit! Mom made me jinx myself! I am going to get raped in the rain!" What man in his right mind would wear grey spandex other than a rapist?
The man frowned and shook his head, "I'm not going to do...that.. I am here concerning your sister. My name is Jareth, and I am The Goblin King." His silky voice made me not want to hate him, but I couldn't help it. Not only was he here to hurt me, but my sister as well.
"I don't care who you are! What do you want with my sister? Where is she?" I questioned helplessly.
Jareth reached out a hand to help me up, and stupidly, I let him. As I stood up, he let go of my hand and answered me, "I'm not going to hurt either of you if that's what you're getting on about. I am simply granting a wish you made only a few moments ago. You wished that your sister would turn into a goblin and fly away. So, within time, she will become one of the goblins and live in Goblin City."
My worry was not on being harmed anymore, but on the sanity left in the strangely dressed man, "Wait...Wish...I never wished that!"
"Yes," He corrected me, "You said 'I wish you would turn into a goblin and fly away,' directly to your sister. I heard you. As the Goblin King I must grant these wishes."
I thought about it for a moment, "No!" It came to me, "I only told her jokingly that sometimes I wished she would turn into a robin and fly away. To joke about her name...Robin."
Jareth stepped closer to me, "I heard you say goblin.. Well, either way she's going to turn into a goblin..Unless.."
"There's an unless?" My temper was wearing thin and so was the storm outside.
He touched my cheek lightly, and I blushed. I always blush when I'm being touched, so no big deal.
"If," He began, "You solve my Labyrinth and reach the center of it, which is the Castle Beyond Goblin City, then you can have your precious sister back."
He waved his hands in front of me, and then I noticed I wasn't home anymore. My eyes searched the surrounding area seeing dead grass, dirt, dead trees, and a clock hanging on one of the tree branches. The clock had thirteen hours on it, not twelve, which was the oddest thing I had ever seen. Looking beyond where I was, I saw a maze large enough to be its own country, and in the middle far, far, away was a gigantic castle.
Stepping in back of me, Jareth whispered in my ear, "Looks quite difficult, don't you think?"
I turned around to face the man, "Not really. All I have to do is go through this maze and get to your castle, thus saving my siste. Correct?"
"Correct, but it's not a maze. It's a Labyrinth."
"Labby...Labby...umm.. right, Labby-Land. So how long do I have?" For some reason, the mispronunciation of the word labyrinth made Jareth chuckle.
He stopped laughing but kept smiling his brilliantly cute smile. For a criminal and mental case, he was pretty hot!
Pointing to the clock, he said, "You have thirteen hours to reach the center. If you fail, your sister will be a goblin. Simple enough, and a good amount of time. So, get started Kara, you have a long journey ahead of you." With that, he disappeared into thin air.
"I give in..It's just a bad dream. Come on, Kara," I told myself as I walked down the hill.
About a half a mile from the hill was a clearing. I looked to my left and saw what resembled a dwarf. He was short, pudgy, and his skin color was brown-ish. He had a dark brown, leather vest on and a little hat to match it. I watched as he walked up to a little fountain. I walked up to him and waved.
"Oh..It's you.." The dwarf had a raspy voice.
My eyes grew wide, "You know me?"
"Yeah," The dwarf looked up at me, "Jareth warned us about you. You are going to try and get your sister, Robin. We've only had one other person actually beat the Labyrinth out of the many who've tried. Maybe you'll be the second.."
"Hope so," I looked at the sky and then around me to see where to begin my escapade.
"I'm Hoggle by the way. No need to introduce yourself, Kara." Hoggle started to walk away.
"Wait!" I shouted, "How do I get into the Lab..umm..How do I get into the maze?"
Hoggle motioned me to follow him, so I did. We walked to the entrance to the Labyrinth, only stopping before the closed doors.
"What now?" I questioned dumbfoundedly, "Do we have to say, Open Sesame?"
No answer from Hoggle, but instead he walked a little closer to the doors and made a grunting sound. The giant iron doors swung wide open.
"Thanks, Hoggle.." I thanked the dwarf, and progressed into the entranceway.
Before the doors shut behind me, I heard Hoggle mumble, "Well, she's the first to get my name correct..."