Labyrinth - Short Story Fanfic

Chapter 2 - Into the Labyrinth

"Hello, Delilah."

Delilah shivered, many outcomes coursing through her head at the speed of light.

"Who are you?"

The strange, dark-cloaked man shrugged, chuckling. "Do you care so little for your sister as to not even ask for her first?"

The criticism struck her. "What have you done with Isabelle, and how do you know my name?" She demanded.

A frown creeped across the intruder's face and he speedily stepped towards Delilah. She backed away, hitting the wall as the man grabbed her throat, his nails digging into her neck. She gasped.

"I'm the Goblin King, Delilah, didn't you know that?" The said Goblin King whispers in her ear and she trembles.

"What is said, is said." He lets go and Delilah regains her air via gasping and breathing heavily. Words couldn't describe how terrified she was.

"I didn't mean it-"

"And you think I should care?" The Goblin King laughs, his voice echoing through her house.

"Please, I'll do anything to have my sister back unharmed. Please." Delilah begged. Her hands shook as she tried to maintain eye-contact.

"Anything, hmm?" The King smirked and pulled out a glass, tennis ball-sized orb and twirls it while grabbing Delilah's hip and pulling her close to him. He let's the orb roll out of his hand, but it doesn't even touch the hardwood floor.

Instead, the world around Delilah swirled and distorted. Her vision blurred but returned to normal in seconds. She was no longer in her house, but on top of a hill next to an old oak tree. The sky was a dim orange with no clouds within view.

Delilah held her left hand on the tree for support as her dizziness reduced slowly and the Goblin King stepped away from her. She stared at a vast maze, a large castle in the center of it.

"My labyrinth. I made it just for you." The King said proudly. "How much time do you think you'll need to get to the center, darling?"

Delilah frowned, looking at the huge maze. She would need all the time she could get.

"Two days at the most."

The Goblin King laughed and Delilah's face flushed a deep red. With a maze as big as that, two days seemed quite reasonable.

"That is far too easy for you, Delilah. What is the fun in that?" The Goblin King asked rhetorically. He then pulled out a brown leather watch and set the hand straight on thirteen.

"Six hours."

Delilah's eyes widened, and she shook her head. "I can't! You know I can't." She turned away. How could she solve the whole labyrinth in just a mere six hours? She was bound for failure. "That's too little time."

The Goblin King smirked and handed her the watch. "I believe in you, Delilah. Whatever you desire will be in my castle at the center of my labyrinth. Have fun."

Delilah turned back to face the Goblin King, but he had disappeared. She could hear a faint echoing laugh in the distance.

Oh, what had she gotten herself into?

Delilah put the watch on and set off to the beginning of the labyrinth. She had got to thinking as she opened the door that began the maze—or, what she thought was the beginning of the maze. It was just one long hallway left and right. She turned left, her right hand on the right wall until she could feel nothing, but saw a wall that her hand should have felt. She walked through it, realizing that this was the real entry to the labyrinth.

However, Delilah had been thinking of her friends. She didn't know whether to hate them or not. For example, they gave her the note that started all of this, but then again they didn't know it would actually work, or that Delilah would give in to the nonsense she had once called it. They had, in fact, said it was "just for fun."

But this was no fun at all.

~°•°~

Delilah checked her watch. One hour has passed. She was still lost in this vast maze. It seemed like she was going in circles. A sudden horrific thought shot through her head.

What if the walls moved?

Delilah shook her head, willing the thoughts away. That wouldn't be fair. Could the Goblin King do such a thing? He seemed like it. Such a vile man, Delilah thought.

She found a small open space in the labyrinth with five doors all around her. Which would she choose?

Delilah examined the first door to her left. No door looked different from the rest. All we're equally scratched and old. Delilah noticed that, in fact, the doors were actually all the same. There was one long significant tear from the top left to the doorknob. It was the exact same tear for all doors.

It was difficult to choose at first, but as Delilah thought more of it, she found that it didn't really matter if all were the same in the end anyway. She opened the first door she picked.

...

Dead end.

Delilah found her way back to the small area that held the many doors, but noticed that the path she had come through had been closed off now.

Delilah walked up to the path that led back to the labyrinth she was in before and made a distinguishing scratched line from the left of the door to the doorknob. Now she would not lose track. She went through the next door.

Dead end.

~°•°~

Delilah was about three doors in before she found the distinguished scratch she had made earlier.

"Okay," she mumbled to herself. "Not this one. This leads back out to the maze where I came here."

Delilah moved on to the next door, but stopped. The same noticeable scratch. The next had the same, and she soon found out all had the same scratch mark. But Delilah knew she didn't go to each door and make the same scratch!

"That's not fair!" Delilah yelled at the doors. Of course, nothing happened. She was stuck in a dilemma. She checked her watch again.

"Three hours already?!" Delilah gasped, then started to panic. She wasted her time! What was she going to do? Isabelle would be stuck with that monster forever, and Delilah in the labyrinth!

She slumped to the floor, leaning against a random door.

But then, she got an idea.

Delilah began turning the crown on her watch counterclockwise. The hands on the dial began moving back to the number one o'clock. Perhaps this would buy her more time. It was the only option and the best thing to do at the moment. It was worth a try.

Again, her vision blurred and distorted. She could hear the Goblin King's echoing laugh.

Delilah was back where she was three hours ago.