Ch. 2: "An Eye For An Eye"
If the initial long corridor had been eerie, this part was thrice as unnerving. The light was dim, as though filtered with smoke. It had an unclean feeling. The hair on the back of Michael's neck stood up; he could hear wailing in the distance. He glanced uncertainly over his shoulder and saw a blank wall. He tentatively reached out, and felt clammy stone. "No other way but forward, then." he murmured, suiting the action to the word.
As he moved deeper into the Labyrinth, the sound of crying became more pronounced. It sounded like some truly wretched soul was sobbing their heart out in the bowels of the maze. He found himself looking about for the weeper as he wound his way through the twisting paths. The crying struck a deep chord in him. But there was not a living being in sight; even the macabre fungus had disappeared.
The noise became louder and louder, driving him almost frantic. Then he turned a corner and found her. A girl, sitting in a shallow niche in the wall. He approached her slowly, yet she started and looked about her fearfully anyway. "Who's there?" she called, voice thick from long hors of crying. She drew her legs up to her chest defensively. Michael stepped towards her slowly, hands raised in a gesture of harmlessness.
"I am Fr. Michael Adams. Why were you crying?" he asked her. She looked to be about Cath's age. At his question, her pale face rumpled in despair.
"I... I'm supposed to be running the Labyrinth. I wished my half-sister away, I didn't mean to! I did it as a joke! But now she's gone, because I'm lost..." she trailed off with a whimper. He was only an arm's length away from now, and could make out the details of her face even in the dim light. She was undersized, and there was something Asian about her features. She sounded American. What shocked him, though, were the horrible scars that marked the skin around her eyes. Light blue eyes, unfocused and staring past him.
"Perhaps we can find our way to the centre together," the priest suggested, desperate to comfort the child in any small way. She smiled at him weakly, and reached out a grimy hand to him.
"I'd like that..." she said wistfully. He took her hand and helped her up. She did not release his hand, instead tightening her grip painfully. Unnaturally strong, she pushed the shocked priest against the wall. The teenager's left hand was crushing the breath out of him, she didn't even seem to notice his double-handed efforts to relieve the pressure on his ribs. She took a rusted knife from somewhere in her clothing as he gasped vainly for breath.
"Don't struggle," she growled, finger tracing his left eye," It'll just make things worse. Don't worry," she giggled, "It's in the nature of an exchange. My eyes for yours. And then I'll be able to see again..." The tip of the knife touched the skin next to his eye. He managed to draw in a shallow breath. The knife cut into him. The priest reached out and touched the girl's emotionless face, gasping, "Heal in the name of Christ!" in a breathless rush.
A strange look came over her. She dropped the blood-tipped knife and released the priest to fall to his knees. As he knelt gasping, the light suddenly came through clearly, and Fr. Michael saw it bathe her in a special radiance. The filmy blue cleared to show sharp green, and joy suffused her face. Still gazing upwards, she fell to her knees, then sprawled on the stones.
Fr. Michael felt her limp wrist. Then he stood, still wheezing slightly, and turned to walk away after sending up a quick prayer for her soul's repose. He nearly collided with the Goblin King standing not a handspan away. Fury radiated from the strange ruler. "You'll only make it harder on yourself if you insist on performing miracles on every wretch in the place." Jareth remarked in a mild tone that belied the anger that burned in his eyes. "Her own nature led to her downfall. Foolish and arrogant, she challenged the Labyrinth, and the Labyrinth destroyed her. You've seen fit to reverse my justice. I won't warn you again: Do not attempt to interfere with the Labyrinth." This warning delivered, he disappeared.
Badly shaken, the priest continued his journey.
Author's Note: I surmised that miracles would be more effective in the strange world of the Labyrinth. After all, "God works in mysterious ways..." and there are no ways more mysterious than the twisted paths of the Labyrinth. Heheheh...