Oh, my goodness. You guys are sooooo amazing! I got so many reviews for Chapter 7, it made me so happy every time! Again, ya'll are fantastic, thank you! :D I wish I could respond to each review individually here, but I only had enough time to write a shorter chapter and write a quick author's note. I will respond to those reviews on the next chapter installment, though! :) Thank you, all my lovely readers, for your patience for the newest chapter and for all of your incredible, awe-inspiring support. It seriously means the world to me, no joke.
So, enjoy Chapter 8 and feel free to leave any thoughts or comments in a review or PM! :D
The sun was shining brightly in the sky, glaring down at me with its intense heat. It hadn't moved since I had first landed in this hellhole, and I had begun to wonder if time didn't exist here, despite Hoggle's understanding of it. I stumbled along another stone corridor that looked just like the last one for the umpteenth time, feeling sore in my feet from my combat boots. Beads of sweat trickled down my face and my back and soaked into my plaid shirt.
I stopped to lean against the wall and inhaled deeply and gazed at the top of the wall across from me. How am I ever going to get out of here? I wondered hopelessly. Everything looks the same.
"This sucks," I groaned outwardly. I slid down the wall to my butt and propped up my feet and leaned my head against my knees, feeling the sweat from my forehead soak into my denim jeans. "I didn't freakin' ask for this... not literally, at least. Definitely not literally."
A spark of anger flared inside me and ignited into a roaring inferno. My felt my cheeks heat up and I raised my head, gritting my teeth.
"Damn that Jareth," I snarled under my breath. "Damn him." I began to feel something give inside me. Relief. I needed to vent. Oh man, did I need to vent.
I pushed myself up to my feet and straightened my back and squared my shoulders.
"Jareth!" I called loudly, indignance echoing in my tone like a sharp-edged sword. "I know you can hear me, someway, somehow! Well, newsflash, you royal son of a bitch... I AM NOT INTO YOU!" My voice resounded on the walls in an ominous echo. But I was on a roll, and the fire inside me was blazing and the fear that had been seizing my heart during this whole adventure was finally easing up. I felt invincible and a thousand pounds lighter.
"AND WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE," I hollered, balling my fists, "I'M GOING TO FORGET THIS DAMN PLACE, YOUR DAMN FACE, AND I'M GOING TO MARRY MY FREAKING FIANCE!"
My voice rang in the air like a gong until it faded, leaving me breathing heavily and clenching my fists so hard that my nails were digging into my palms. Beads of sweat dripped into my eyes, making them sting, and my knees were wobbly with exhaustion, but I finally felt a flood of confidence and relief flow through me, calming my weakened muscles.
"I'm going to get out of here if it kills me," I vowed, under my breath this time. "Take that, you royal ass."
I turned my gaze to the wall across from me and tapped my boot on the stone ground. "If only I could see the Labyrinth from a bird's eye view and see where I am..."
Then it hit me. I started towards the opposite wall and looked for a place where a lot of ivy vines were growing and where the wall happened to be severely chipped in corners of stone. After several moments of moving sideways while feeling up the wall and searching for sufficient ivy, I found a section of the wall infested with ivy, and beneath it the stone was chipping away. Whoever was supposed to take care of this place had neglected the stone beneath the wall.
"Lazy groundskeeper," I mused. "Well, this is karma, bitch." I stuck the toe of my boot into a particularly large chip near the ground and grabbed onto the ivy vines. I hoisted myself up, sticking the other toe into another chip in the stone, grabbing onto the ivy vines again. After a few agonizing moments, I made it to the top of the wall and perched there on my haunches.
The entire labyrinth was enormous, stretching as far as the eye could see. The channels of hallways were jagged and abrupt, as if the man who drew the blueprint had a sudden seizure but was too stubborn to stop mapping the damn thing. It hit me then how far away from the exit I was, for on the line of the horizon, I could see what appeared to be a gate (or at least, I hoped it was). Carefully, I turned and gazed behind me. The labyrinth seemed to stretch endlessly in that direction as well, proving how much progress I had made nonetheless, but not so much that I wasn't unable to see the Jareth's castle from where I was perched.
For a moment, just a quick moment, I could almost swear that I could feel him watching me. Perhaps from one of the castle's windows? Or by magic, somehow?
I turned back around abruptly, my spine prickling with paranoia. I shifted my feet out from underneath me and sat down on top of the wall, resting again while I could. God knows that I had quite a lot of walking ahead of me, I reasoned internally, so I might as well rest now.
Still, I felt that strange apprehension of someone's gaze tied to my back. Granted, I wouldn't be surprised if Jareth was spying on me while I attempted to - succeeded in - solving his labyrinth. But still... it sent shivers down my spine.
What about me was so damn captivating to him, anyway? My brain complained indignantly, now that it was spared the work of calculating endless hallways. I mean, sure I'm engaged to someone, but am I really worth all of this fuss? I'm a failing comedian for Pete's sakes, and he's some kind of royalty! Is this some kind of sick joke?
No, I realized with a drowning feeling. It's real. That look in his eyes when he stares into mine... that's not fake. That's freakin' real. Damn... I'm never going to get out of here.
The drowning feeling intensified and I felt my heart begin hammering like a possessed drum. He's going to do whatever he can to stop me from solving this labyrinth. Deal or no deal, that man is... he's in love. With me. Shit.
He did heal your knee, another part of my brain offered, almost coyly. He didn't have to do that, and then he helped you escape from the oubliette.
True, I gave in to that angle. But why? If I succeed, then he's Mr. Forever Alone again. Why help me? Damn, he's so freaking confusing. I hate him. I hate him so much.
Then why do you keep thinking about him?
The thought hit me suddenly like a mental slap to the face. I quickly got up from where I sat and began climbing down the ropelike ivy on the wall, not before giving the front of the labyrinth a quick scan for memory. I continued walking down the stone hallway as soon as my boot-clad feet hit the ground. Whatever it took to keep my mind busy.
There's nothing wrong with curiosity, I reprimanded my brain, too late. And I think I have every right to be curious. I was kidnapped, anyway.
By a man of royalty who is in love with you, that strange part of my brain countered with ease. That's not the worst scenario in the world, y'know.
Yes, it is. I turned down a hallway, using my memory of the labyrinth layout for reference. He's powerful, full of magic, and has the ego of Kanye West times twenty. I'm in serious shit, Brain, so quick distracting me.
Alright, fine... bitch. After that, it was finally quiet. I continued down the same hallway, my boots tapping on the stone ground.
Suddenly, a roar ripped through the silence. I froze, my heart thumping loudly and my blood chilling in my veins. It sounded inhuman. Silence fell like a suffocating blanket for a few seconds before the next roar tore the blanket to pieces, making me jump and nearly scream. It was so loud and so close that I seriously contemplated running the other direction and finding another way out of the labyrinth.
"Woman up, Jackson," I coached myself, hearing my voice crack with fear. "If you can sass a Goblin King and negotiate with a goblin, then you can fight whatever this thing is."
With a steadying breath I forced my feet to start walking again, ever-so-carefully down where the hallway opened into an opening with a fountain spurting crystal clear water. Just as I was tip-toeing around the corner of the hallway into the open, a large roar ripped out again. This one was different - it sounded like an avalanche. As if on cue, large boulders rolled across my field of view and hit the opposite wall, demolishing the fountain and spraying water everywhere and dousing me. The boulders caused a shower of dust as they slammed against the stone, then settled into silence.
"What the hell..." I mouthed, too terrified to speak as water dripped down my face and soaked into my shirt. More out of curiosity than bravery, I peeked my head around the corner into the opening between the hallways... and let out a blood-curdling scream.