Disclaimer:All references to the characters Jareth, Sarah, Hoggle, Sir Didymus, and the film Labyrinth belong to Jim Henson Studios and other pertinent parties. I do not claim ownership to the characters and / or the original source material.
Chapter 12. Escape
Thomas scrambled to his feet and pressed his back up against the wet wood of the cell door. A cry of alarm escaped him. The sound made the creature in the corner chuckle. It had to be a creature, Thomas reasoned, since no human thing had glowing teeth and eyes.
"Are you going to eat me?" he asked in a quiet voice.
"Me? Eat you?" the creature in the darkness croaked out. It had a drawl that Thomas didn't recognize. It laughed, more like a broken cackle in its breathiness and audible sound from unused vocal chords. The creature began to cough and hack and spat something up. A wet, glob of something smacked against the damp stones.
The creature wheezed, swallowed, and asked, "What makes you think such a thing?"
Thomas swallowed. "I… I just assumed…"
The creature closed its glowing eyes with a sigh. The eerie smile disappeared into the gloom of the cell. It shuffled on its feet and made a sniffling sound over the sound of chains rubbing against the stone beneath their feet.
"Always punished by others for being good," it bemoaned. "Good, I am, good I have done! Bloody goblin king, so tricky, tricky, tricky." The creatures voice dropped. "Tricked me, he did, and that girl… Now here I sit rotting away to nothing. Forgotten by him, forgotten by time, gone."
Silence punctuated by quiet sniffling filled the cell. Thomas shifted uncomfortably on his feet, and he felt a splinter from the door prick him through his dampening shirt. A mixture of aversion, guilt, and sympathy warred within him, and it made him feel even more uncomfortable.
"I…" Thomas began, but he stopped himself. Could he trust this creature? He couldn't even see it clearly in the darkness. The creature said it was good… but was it really? It was locked up in a cell… but so was Thomas, and all Thomas had done was get his cousin to become a goblin. In this backward place, what could "good" mean? Was the creature actually good-good or good in an evil kind of way? He paused in his mental questions. What would Charlie do? In turn, the thought of Charlie made him think of Aunt Sarah and her adventure through the Labyrinth. She hadn't judged the creatures she met. Most of them helped her after she helped them. Thomas took a step away from the door and toward the creature standing quietly in the corner.
"H-hey," he said quietly. "Look, I'm… sorry. I kinda assumed… y'know."
The creature stopped its sniffling entirely. Thomas heard a loud snort of snot.
"What did you do?" he asked. He heard the creature turn around, the soft clinking of chains echoing in the small room. Glowing, yellow eyes focused on him. Thomas amended his question. "What did you do to be thrown in here?"
"I helped one of the runners escape. From the Labyrinth and the Goblin King," the creature explained simply. The yellow eyes looked away as if guiltily. "Do good, I remember, so I try. I did good and stay here now."
"You helped a runner escape?" Thomas asked incredulous.
"I did, I did, and now I here." The creature must've shrugged because Thomas say the eyes close slightly and heard something shift. "A jail 'tis better than a bog."
"Is it?" Thomas asked. He tried not to shudder recalling the bog of eternal stench mentioned in the book, but he might've preferred being smelly and free than smelly and confined. Honestly, he hoped if he ever left this cell that he wouldn't have to encounter that part of the Labyrinth.
The creature mulled over Thomas' response. "You have a point there, I think." The smile – that luminescent smile from too white teeth in the darkness – returned in a flash. "You help me, I help you, agreed?"
"But, we're locked in here," Thomas pointed out.
"Give me something of value, young boy," replied the creature eagerly. "And freedom will be ours, yes yes."
White eyes were wide with anticipation as Thomas thought. He sensed a hand (or claw? Or paw? ) outstretched and waiting. Thomas ran his hand over his pockets
"A lock of hair atop your head," suggested the creature.
"Oh… Sure," replied Thomas. He tried to tug at his hair but not even a strand came loose from his close-cropped hair. With a frustrated noise, something warm with claws gripped Thomas's arm and pulled him down. Thomas tried not to pull away. The creature, soundlessly, had come within inches of him, and the smell of musk and unwashed fur was overwhelming. He could see the creature better up close now. Covered in fur, the creature reminded him of a cat or hyena given slightly human features. A canine grin plastered a face with cat-like eyes that glowed yellow in the pale light. A nose on a muzzle set upon a human-like face sniffed the air with a hint of superiority. The creature rose up onto its tiptoes so it haunches were stretched out. Thomas glanced down and noticed that a short tail tried to swish excitedly, but it was so weighed down by grime that it barely moved. Thomas felt a tug at his hair, and he heard the clip of sharp talons. The creature immediately let go of him, staring at the gold tuft in its claws.
"Stand aside, lad, and once the door's open, you shall lead the way," the creature stated in a gleeful tone. Thomas did as he was told, and he watched the creature rub the strands of his strawberry blond hair between its clawed thumb and forefinger. Slowly, the hair lengthened and thinned before hardening into a pair of small rods with notches at their ends. Thomas wouldn't have known since he had never seen one, but the odd implements were lock picks made from his hair.
What the creature did next was stranger yet. Biting on the end of one of the lock picks, it nodded in satisfaction. Leaning over, it breathed upon the door where the lock would've been on the inside of the door. Then the creature shoved one of the lock picks into the door, and to Thomas' amazement, one of the small rods went into the wood. The second soon followed but at an angle. The creature worked silently, and Thomas thought he heard soft clicks of metal on metal. A shifting, a grunt from the creature, a change in angle, and then a pop resounded in the small cell.
"Open the door, and onto day's light," whispered the creature with a triumphant grin. Wiping its hands, the small rods with notches magically turned back into Thomas's hair, which fluttered to the ground. Thomas reached up to the little window with bars that let the only light into the cell. He hesitated for a moment as he gripped the door, but he pushed outward. The door swung open on its poorly maintained hinges. Thomas smiled. He listened for a moment before glancing into the hallway. There were no guards.
Slowly and warily, Thomas led the way out of the cell and down the hallway he had been marched down earlier. He glanced back at his companion who didn't think they needed to be so stealthy. Thomas relaxed a little. The hallway was barely wide enough for them to walk side by side, but somehow they managed.
"Do you have a name?" he asked quietly. "And what are you? That was amazing."
"I am a pooka called Harvieu."
"Har-view?"
The creature shook its head. "Harvieu."
"Ar-vay?" Thomas tried again.
The púca scowled and grumbled a few words in a strange language.
Thomas thought a moment. "Can I just call you Bob?"
"You may call me Harvey, lad," it replied with a sigh. "Now then… onward we go to freedom."
On his hind legs, Harvey strode calmly and confidently down the hall. Thomas followed quietly and obediently. He couldn't see a thing, but he was confident Harvey's golden eyes were glowing in the darkness. The young man felt relief and hope with each step because those steps brought him closer to saving himself and Charlie.
His eyes adjusted as they continued to walk. Harvey moved silently on his padded feet. Up on his haunches, he was almost as tall as Thomas. He wondered if Harvey ever walked on his front paws and if his talons made noise at all. He figured they probably didn't. Only the sound of Thomas' stocking feet made a sound. Thomas was deep in his thoughts about Harvey when a skittering noise caught his ear. He bumped into Harvey who had stopped abruptly. Thomas backed up.
"You're out? How can you be out?! Who let you out?!" squeaked something with glowing red eyes at their feet.
"You will be leaving us, and you will say nothing of this to anyone," replied Harvey calmly. He shifted and Thomas heard talons clicking together. He could only assume that Harvey was showing all of his sharpened teeth in a menacing grin.
"I'll tell them! I'll tell them you're out!" shouted the rat that wasn't a rat. It took off running.
"After him!" cried Harvey as he lunged forward. In the darkness, Thomas saw Harvey fall to all fours and rush after the rat-like creature.
"Hey! Wait! Maybe we can talk to it?"
"I'll tell him, and he won't be happy!"
"Fat chance, puny ratling," Harvey growled back. He darted to the side and blocked the ratling's escape. It squeaked and scrabbled for purchase on the wet stones. Before Harvey could take a swipe at the ratling to capture it, the ratling found its feet and darted back down the hall. Harvey shouted angrily, "Get back here!"
The pooka lunged one last time at the creature, but the ratling was too fast. The rat-like creature squealed and disappeared into a darker spot in the slimy, stone wall. Growling, Harvey clawed at the hole like a cat after mouse. Thomas, panting, put a hand on the creature's shoulder.
"That's enough!" he cried and then swallowed as the yellow feral eyes turned on him. They glared. Harvey's shoulder tensed under his hand and shrugged Thomas away. Instinctively, Thomas took a step back. "If we can get out before he can tell, we'll be safe, right?"
The pooka's eyes blinked and looked away as if thinking. Thomas heard a dull click –click-click-scraaaaaap of talons coming from inside the hole. The young man started down the hallway.
"Come on, we're almost to the stairs and another door," Thomas hedged. To his relief, Harvey rose back onto his haunches and shrugged past him to lead the way again. Harvey moved quickly, and Thomas followed. A few silver of light appeared and grew larger as they hurried forward. Behind the door, they heard the ratling and goblin guards talking. Thomas and Harvey skidded to a halt a few steps from the door.
A gruff voice said, "Doubts it. No ones escaped."
"Believe me!" cried the ratling. "Open the door! They were right behind me!"
"I checks. You goes tell the Kings. You wid me."
Everything happened so fast. Metal clanked. Footsteps drew closer. The ratling protested profusely in a high, panicked tone. The light began to disappear behind the goblin guard's shadow. Thomas drew in a breath to speak. Harvey whirled and seemed to swirl into a black mist. Yet the mist had substance. He became a dark, opaque sheet with glowing yellow eyes, and Harvey pressed Thomas against the dank stone wall… just as the door swung open. Sharp talons pricked Thomas' cheek and he swore he heard Harvey growl in his ear. Thomas stared out through a haze of… something. The door's shadow kept them hidden from the goblin guard's sight.
"Dun see nothin'," muttered the goblin down to the ratling. Thomas watched the ratling scurry out into the light spilling into the hallway. Through the haze that was Harvey, he saw the ratling turn and turn in astonishment. It wore a grey tunic covered in dust and dirt over its dingy white body. Red eyes looked back and forth over white whiskers. Nervously, it pawed at its naked pink tail. The ratling was obviously taller than a normal rat but not as tall as a small child. Behind the rat, Thomas could easily see the goblin guard. He was similar to one of goblins who had brought him down to the dungeon- flat faced with round cheeks and beady, black eyes. A grubby, stubby hand reached up and scratched at one of its chins.
"Dun see nothin'," muttered the goblin gain down to the anxious ratling.
"But they-I saw-they were," stammered the ratling. The goblin gave the smaller creature an incredulous look. The ratling threw down its tail angrily. "I'm not lying! That púca-"
At that moment, many things happened at once. The goblin harrumphed and turned on its heel. The ratling gasped as something in the shadows moved. Thomas felt the opaque mist that was Harvey ripple and peel away from him. With a gleeful cry, Harvey morphed into his hyena-catlike form and pounced on the ratling. It squeaked in fright. The goblin turned, but he was pushed aside by Harvey landing on him and pounding down the hallway on all four feet. Thomas scrambled and ran after his strange companion.
Yet a thought struck him. He paused and turned and his gaze landed on the iron ring of keys lying on the ground. His eyes met those of the angry goblin struggling to get back up. Lunging, Thomas made a grab for the keys at the same time as the goblin. Swiftly, Thomas turned on his heels and took off running with the keys. The goblin's shouts echoed around him in the dungeon's hallway. He slipped but stayed on his feet as he tried to catch up to Harvey and the next dungeon door.
Thomas couldn't see it, but the goblin stopped yelling after they turned the corner. A familiar figure stood in the darkness, outside of the touch of lantern light. The ratling re-emerged from the darkness, all signs of anxiety gone. Both of his minions turned to him, eager for approval.
"That will do," his majesty said with a nod of his head. He affected an air of nonchalance, and before disappearing, he flippantly commanded, "You may return to your posts."