Lost And Lonely - A Labyrinth Fanfic [UPDATED VERSION]

8) Faint Light

As the girl stood completely motionless, Jareth walked over and plucked a lit candle from its sconce, holding it between his thumb and middle fingers.

"Follow me." He spoke softly, not wanting to stress the girl any more.

Raven obediently followed the Goblin King, nearly on the verge of tears. She'd just given up her own future for the child; something she thought she would never in a million years do. She caught herself off-guard.

"W-where are we going?" Raven's voice nearly squeaked.

"I thought I would show you to your room, allow you to adjust to your new life here."

"Ah..." She whispered. "Why do you need a candle if its daylight out?"

"We will be going through parts of the castle that are not lit during the day, and those corridors are pitch black. Wouldn't want you to stumble and injure yourself, hm?"

"Maybe I wanna stumble..." Raven muttered.

As they walked, Jareth led her to one of the dark corridors, holding his arm out for the girl. Hesitantly, Raven took his arm out of fright of the pitch blackness before them.

They walked at a steady pace, moving past other rooms and doors that showed up along the stone walls, illuminated by the candle light. One room caught Raven's attention, and she slowed down when they came up to it.

The room was full of stairs. Stairs on stairs, on walls, and even the ceiling. A single crystal sat silently on one of the steps; silent and unmoving.

Jareth admired her curiosity of the room, and he allowed her to look through the doorway for a moment. He then gently tugged on her and they kept walking; their footsteps quietly echoing against the castle walls.

Finally entering another part of the castle, there was light from the sun outside. They came up to a door and Jareth unhooked his arm.

"And here we are, your room. Shall I leave you to settle in?"

"Uh... yeah..." Raven mumbled, clutching her side above her left hip. Jareth noticed, and his eyes inspected.

"Are you not well?" His voice was worried, and almost higher than usual. He moved her hand and spotted a tear in the fabric of her sweater, and a blotch of crimson colored the edges of the hole.

As soon as he realized she was injured, the girl collapsed and Jareth dropped the candle, his hands quick to catch her before the floor did.