Chapter 3: Escape?

The teenagers found themselves near the ambulances being tended to by one of the men who'd survived being swallowed by a goblin. Jason was still having some trouble hearing after the explosion. Lisa had a gash on her leg. And Ryan had a sore ankle from when he'd climbed into the classroom and fallen. All of them were covered with dust and debris. The EMT finished wrapping Lisa's leg with gauze.

"Hey," said the EMT. "Listen. I know you think you've seen some pretty crazy stuff tonight."

The three teens looked at him.

"You... We... We've all been exposed to some kind of chemical," explained the professional. "It's a hallucinogen. Do you know what that means?"

Lisa nodded.

"Why would someone do that?" asked Ryan skeptically.

"I think it's a terrorist attack," responded the EMT. "But don't worry. We'll get you checked out at the hospital, and you'll be fine."

An officer stepped up behind the EMT, and the teenagers stiffened. They knew he was a goblin. Well, they knew he could be a goblin. Maybe they had just been hallucinating. Being exposed to some mind altering drug sounded much more plausible than goblins or even aliens. The officer flipped open a small notepad, and readied his pen.

"I'm officer Dalton," he offered. "I need to take your names, so we can contact your parents."

"Um. Lisa Anderson." She pointed to herself. "That's Ryan White, and that's Jason." She turned to look at Jason. "I'm sorry. I don't know your last name." Her bottom lip quivered as she spoke. She hoped so badly this was all just some bad hallucination. It would make so much more sense.

The officer nodded. "Jason?"

Jason stuck his fingers in his ears, and wiggled them, trying to get his hearing to come back sooner.

"Jason, you were calling out for Sarah back there," said the officer. "Was that Sarah Williams?"

"Yeah," nodded Lisa, answering for Jason. She closed her eyes. "Sarah Williams," she repeated. "She helped us get out." Lisa looked up at the officer. "She tried to save me from... from..." She was remembering the strange man in the gymnasium. Was that just a hallucination too?

The officer continued, "Is that...?"

"She's dead," piped up Ryan, cutting off the officer's question.

"Dead?" The officer suddenly looked extremely worried.

"She died when the building blew up," added Ryan.

The policeman let both his hands drop. He paused. He swallowed. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." Ryan gave Lisa a look.

She frowned.

"I saw her die," he finished.

The officer quickly scribbled something on a fresh page in his notebook. He stepped forward, showing it to Jason. Jason looked at Ryan. He looked at Lisa. Ryan knew what the goblin was doing... if he was a goblin. The officer was asking Jason to verify Ryan's story. He was checking to see if Ryan was lying. What would happen if Jason said something different? Was Jason even in his right mind? He looked so out of it since the explosion. Could he even answer? And if he said the wrong thing, what would the goblin do to them? Would he eat them? Would he rip them to shreds like the tree-stump goblins? Ryan started holding his breath. He wasn't sure what was real.

Jason frowned. "She died," he shouted, not realizing how loud he was speaking. "Sarah died in the explosion."

Ryan let out his breath, while the goblin almost stumbled back from the news. A chill ran down his spine. The King would be furious.

"And..." The officer took in a deep breath, calming his nerves. "Who's that?" he asked the trio, "the girl in the other ambulance?"

"That's Mari Smith," answered Ryan, referring to a very much alive Sarah Williams.

When the school exploded, Sarah had been knocked to the ground, completely stunned. She'd just laid there not moving, not even blinking for a full minute. She'd been hit in the head with a piece of glass, and had the wind knocked out of her. But other than that, she was fine. Because of the explosion, along with Jason screaming her name, the group had been surrounded in moments.

The officer walked over to the other ambulance, and looked inside. Sarah was being checked over by another EMT.

"Mari?" asked the officer.

Sarah looked at him, and was immediately worried.

"I'm officer Dalton. Can you tell me what happened to Sarah Williams?" He was hoping the others were wrong.

The EMT finished putting butterfly tape on Sarah's head, and moved on to help the next person.

Sarah licked her lips. "Did she make it?" she asked. Sarah didn't know what the others said. She knew she didn't want this goblin knowing who she was, but she also knew contradicting the others could put everyone in danger. So, instead of answering his question, she asked her own. "Did she get out of the building in time?"

The officer sagged. He'd verified the story from three different sources. Sarah Williams had been in the building when it exploded. She was dead. The goblin started to move away. The King needed to know. He stopped. The goblin looked up at Sarah. If the King thought Sarah was dead, he'd start The Harvest. The officer smiled to himself. No one would know if he took advantage of the situation. He smiled at "Mari."

"Mari, would you like to come with me?" he asked.

Sarah looked worried. She heard how he'd called her Mari. She felt the sound vibrate through her. And he was asking her a similar question the other goblin-man had asked Lisa just before he'd used magic to chain her.

He held out his hand toward her. Sarah didn't answer.

"Do you wish to come away with me?" He gave her a comforting smile.

Sarah didn't answer. She didn't know what to do. If she answered him, would that give him power over her?

The officer watched Sarah carefully. He was drawn to the girl. There was something different about this one. The air around her tasted... The goblin licked his lips. It tasted like... What was that flavor? "What do you wish of me?" he finally asked, rephrasing his question before she had a chance to resist his words. "Mari," he added her name for good measure. He would have this woman.

"I don't need anything else right now," Sarah answered trying to sound like she didn't know he was up to anything. She'd said "right now," hoping it would make her answer powerful, and remembering the magic words that had brought the goblins to take Toby. The sound of the wrong name, Mari, made saying "no" easier. "Thanks anyway," she added, praying he would leave. He was blocking her only escape out of the back of the ambulance. She was alone. There was no one to help her. If this goblin decided to chain her, if he decided to take her, there would be no one there to stop him. And somehow she doubted she would be aloud to run the Labyrinth for her freedom.

Whatever was happening this night was different than anything she'd read about since she'd won her brother back thirteen months ago. She'd only been fifteen. But that didn't stop her. When Sarah returned to her own world, she been reading everything she could about goblins. She'd read theories about Fae, fairies, leprechauns, gremlins, and all sorts of strange demonic creatures. Was that what this creature was? Was he a Fae? She'd been asking her dad, a lawyer, all kinds of questions about law, and rules, and how to win verbal battles. She'd learned words were powerful. She'd learned knowledge could save a person. She'd learned a simple phrase could decide the fate of a baby. And she learned as much as she could as fast as she could.

But even with all that, sitting in an ambulance, facing a single goblin in disguise, Sarah was terrified. She felt like jello on the inside. It was hard to keep her breathing calm. And it was all she could do not to show panic in her face.

The goblin looked at Sarah, completely confused. Her reaction surprised him. Humans knew nothing of the goblin way anymore. The King had seen to that. But the way this girl had answered him...

"Mari?" Ryan said her name as he stepped into view. "Hey, babe. We're supposed to join the others." The redhead reached a hand out to help Sarah to her feet, and gave her a quick peck on her cheek.

Oh, thought the goblin. He chided himself for overreacting. He looked at the teenaged couple. That's why she hadn't been drawn to him. Mari Smith already belonged to another. She may have been a young woman, but she was no maiden. As long as mate lived no goblin could claim her. The officer frowned. He was disappointed. He'd rather liked Mari Smith. There was something special about her. The goblin moved on. He still had to send word to the King. His momentary reprieve was gone.

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When the four teenagers managed to join the group of survivors huddled near the burning school, they didn't stop walking. Even Lisa hadn't paused. As nonchalantly as possible, the group continued into the parking lot, ducking down between the vehicles. They meandered their way between two tall vans. Ryan was leading the way. Suddenly, he stopped.

"What is it?" whispered Sarah.

"What if we really are just hallucinating?" asked Lisa. "Maybe we should go back. We need to go to the hospital with the rest."

Jason opened his mouth to speak, but Sarah quickly covered it. She shook her head, bringing a finger to her lips. He still didn't have any volume control, and she didn't want him giving away their position.

"We're cut off," Ryan answered in a low voice. "They're out there." He turned back to Lisa, took her hand, and was careful to keep hidden behind the van they were using for cover. "We'll go to the hospital, babe, just not with them. That way we're covered whether it's real or not. Ok?"

Lisa nodded, and gave his hand a squeeze.

Ryan turned his attention back to Sarah and Jason. "We need another way out of here."

As if in answer to a prayer, sirens could be heard in the distance. "C'mon," said Sarah, quickly leading the way back to the emergency vehicles parked on the grass. Slowly and carefully, ducking as they went, the four made their way to the edge of the parking lot. All the while, sirens were getting louder, and the crowd was becoming more agitated.

"Hey, what are you kids doing over here?" It was one of the officers. He grabbed a hold of Jason who hadn't heard the man. Jason was so startled, he turned, punching the officer as hard as he could in the face. The officer hardly moved. It was like the punch meant nothing. Slowly, he moved his head to look down at Jason. The inhuman look in the officers eyes made terror rip through Jason's blood. He yelped.

"Run!" Ryan shouted. He grabbed hold of Sarah's hand, and kept a hold of Lisa's as he pulled the girls away from the danger.

"Sarah!" the captured boy called out.

"What about Jason?" Lisa objected, but Ryan didn't answer.

"Get in," he ordered as soon as the trio reached the nearest ambulance.

Sarah took the driver's seat, and all three of them thanked Heavens the keys were still in the ignition. She started up the ambulance just as all the other back up emergency vehicles turned into the area. The noise from the other vehicles covered up the siren that started automatically when the ambulance roared to life. With the back end of the ambulance still open, but empty, Sarah gunned the gas. She turned the vehicle toward where they'd left Jason. She wasn't about to leave him behind.

"What are you doing?!" objected Ryan. "We have to get out of here!"

"We're not leaving him!" shouted Sarah.

"It's too late!" Ryan shouted back, but Sarah didn't listen. She was determined.

Sarah didn't have much experience driving. She'd only had her learners permit a few months. Even though she'd passed her test, Karen, her stepmother, refused to let her get her license and rarely let her take the car on her learner's permit. It had been more than seven months since she'd been aloud in the drivers seat, and she could tell it had been a while.

Minutes later the ambulance barrelled through where Jason had been. The disguised goblin was so startled, he let go of Jason to jump out of the way. Jason stood terrified, unable to move. Sarah slammed on the breaks, accidentally sliding the back end of the ambulance right up next to him. Ryan jumped out of the back of the vehicle, grabbed the stunned boy, and shoved him inside.

"Go! Go! Go!" he shouted the moment they were on board.

Sarah stomped down so hard on the gas, the box-like vehicle actually spun tires. She was about to breathe a sigh of relief when they left the parking lot. But she finally noticed the goblins disguised as strange gnarled trees surrounding the area. Some of the scraggly looking foliage appeared to be growing in the middle of the street. They were the creatures Ryan noticed while they'd been hiding next to the van in the parking lot. Ryan had been right. The escape route was blocked off.

"SARA!" the goblin-man she'd almost run over began to shout and point. "It's THE SARA!"

The scraggly gnarled trees heard the call. Little beady eyes opened to look at the ambulance. Sarah punched the gas, driving over one of the creatures before it had a chance to finish changing shape. But that didn't stop the others. In a matter of minutes the ambulance was being chased by a myriad of gremlin-like monsters. They were trying to get in. Ryan started using every piece of equipment he could get his hands on to knock the creatures back onto the street when they tried to climb into the back of the open vehicle. Lisa screamed, hitting a little goblin when it tried to climb through her window. Sarah tried to go faster when she heard the creatures scampering on the roof.

But Jason sat still, too stunned to move. He wished he could hear. He'd almost died because of the ringing in his ears. And worse, he almost got everyone else in trouble too. It wasn't fair.

As if things couldn't get any worse, a helicopter joined the pursuit. It had been called to the school along with all the extra emergency vehicles, the CDC, and Homeland Security. The goblin pretending to be an officer who Sarah had almost run over, used his pretended authority to redirect the helicopter toward the ambulance. He knew it wouldn't be long before a full scale man hunt would begin. There would be no escape. The Sarah would be captured. His King would be very happy indeed.

"Jason!" shouted Ryan. "Help me!"

Ryan's shout brought Jason out of his stupor. He grabbed the rod used for hanging IVs, and shoved a mangy looking creature back with a shout. Together the boys started making headway, knocking creatures right and left.

"They're on the roof!" shouted Jason. "Listen! They're on the roof!"

"What would you suggest!" Sarah shouted back, noticing Jason finally had some volume control.

"Hit the brakes," whispered Lisa from the passenger seat.

Sarah did. She stomped on the brakes hard. Ryan and Jason slammed against the wall in the back, and goblins fell off the vehicle, landing all over the road. Sarah didn't hesitate. She stomped on the gas, hitting several little monsters out of the way, and driving over others.

Two goblins managed to land on the front of the ambulance. Lisa punched another trying to crawl through her window, and Sarah turned on the windshield wipers in an attempt to force the last two goblins to fall off.

Unfortunately, the unintelligent creatures caught hold of the windshield wiper blades. If they weren't so scary, their situation might have seemed comical. The two smaller grey scabby creatures were holding on for dear life, and they were screaming.

"Whoa! Whoa! Weeee!" Finally, one of the windshield wiper blades snapped off, sending one goblin crashing into the other. They both hit the pavement hard, and the ambulance sped down the street goblin-free. The helicopter, however, continued its pursuit.

"We've got to lose that helicopter!" Sarah leaned forward, glancing up at the aircraft through the front window.

"How?!" Lisa voiced her distress.

Jason leaned forward between the two front seats, and flipped a switch, turning off the siren and emergency lights. "Take Fuller's Avenue," he suggested. "It's got lots of trees and a tunnel bridge."

Sarah turned onto Elms Street, taking Jason's suggestion.

Ryan reached over the top of Jason, flipping the siren back on.

"What are you...?!"

"Got an idea," Ryan cut him off. "Sarah, stomp on it," he ordered. "If the cops catch up to us, we'll never get away." They all knew the helicopter was probably radioing for back up. It wouldn't be goblins coming after them, but they would be in trouble all the same.

Sarah accelerated as fast as she dared. Elms Street turned into Fuller's Avenue, and the trees started giving them some coverage.

"What's the point if the helicopter can see our lights?" Jason objected.

"Trust me." Ryan looked at Jason. "Just listen and do as I say."

"Ryan, are you sure..." Lisa started to object.

"Hush, babe." He held up a finger.

"There's the tunnel," informed Sarah.

"Jason, when I say, shut off the lights and sound," Ryan gave out orders, hoping his plan would work. "Sarah, move into the right lane. When I say, stomp on the brakes hard, but don't turn the wheel or we'll flip."

Sarah started lifting her foot off the gas.

"No! Don't slow down!" instructed Ryan.

She pressed harder on the accelerator, trembling at how fast they were going. Jason reached out, holding his hand above the switch.

"Lisa buckle up and brace yourself." Ryan half stood up, reached across Sarah, and buckled her in as well. "Not yet," he warned.

They could hear police sirens heading in their direction.

"Wait for it."

Sarah accelerated a little more.

"Not yet," Ryan repeated, glancing at the helicopter. "Wait." He knew the timing had to be perfect. "Almost there." The group of teens was almost to the tunnel entrance. "NOW!" he shouted.

Jason hit the off switch, and Sarah slammed on the brakes as hard as she could, skidding the vehicle to a stop. The helicopter flew by as though it was following them through the tunnel.

"Turn right! Turn right! Turn right!" Ryan barked. "Go! Go! Go!"

Sarah obeyed, turning right onto the residential side street, and stomped on the gas. How would she ever explain this to her dad if they got caught?!

Ryan reached forward flicking off the headlights. "Keep going," he said.

Three police cars with lights blaring whizzed past behind them, flying into the tunnel.

"We need to find a place to ditch the ambulance," said Jason. "They'll be back. Aren't all city vehicles chipped or something?"

"We could go to my grandma's house," volunteered Lisa. "She lives around here."

"How close?" asked Sarah.

"Two blocks up and seven or eight over," Lisa spoke as she pointed. And Sarah started driving in that direction.

"Wait," said Ryan, "We should ditch the vehicle before we get close to your grandma's."

"You're right," agreed Jason.

Sarah turned the ambulance in the opposite direction, and the group was quiet for several minutes.

"What about there?" asked Lisa, pointing toward a house under construction. The garage was finished, but covered by a large piece of plastic that had blown open instead of a garage door. It was perfect.

Sarah pulled the ambulance into the driveway. Jason and Ryan got out, and moved the plastic out of the way. Sarah pulled in, and turned off the vehicle. She and Lisa sat quietly. Sarah looked down at her hands, noticing for the first time how they were trembling. She took a deep shuddered breath, and ran her hands over her face.

Goblins, she thought. How could there be goblins? She thought about how she'd ended up in the Labyrinth. She thought about how hard she had to fight to get her brother back. And she thought about how scared she'd been when she'd had to confront the Goblin King face to face.

He'd tempted her. On every level Jareth had tempted her into giving up her brother. But she hadn't given up. She hadn't given in. She'd won. She'd won! Why were the goblins back? Why were they after her? And why were they capturing people. It wasn't fair! Sarah hit the steering wheel with her palm. It was supposed to be over. It was supposed to be done. She shouldn't have to deal with this anymore. It's not...

"It's not fair," said Lisa as Ryan opened her door.

Sarah was surprised. Lisa had said what she was thinking.

"It's not supposed to be like this," the blond started to sniffle. "It was supposed to be a fun date, just a Halloween dance."

"I know, babe." Ryan wrapped his arm around Lisa, letting her lean against his shoulder.

Sarah pressed her lips together. "It's just the way it is," she whispered a lesson she thought she'd learned during her trip through the Labyrinth. But even as she said the words, her eyes teared up.

"Hey," Jason opened Sarah's door, startling her. "C'mon. What are we waiting for? We've got to get moving."