Disclaimer: I make no money from this. All rights to the appropriate parties.

Chapter 1

Kelsey Williams sighed as she looked up at the white Victorian that was her new home. Robert, her uncle, walked ahead of her up the steps, pausing only to usher her across the threshold. The smell of roast lamb filled the pristine home, but Kelsey was too tired to be particularly interested in anything other than cleaning her teeth and falling into bed.

"I'll show you your room, then when you're settled, come down and meet the rest of the family." Robert smiled sympathetically. He shifted her small bag to his other hand and led her up the stairs, indicating the various rooms along the hall and explaining which belonged to whom. Arriving at the last door, he walked into the tiny room and set her bag on the single bed. "I know it's not much, but you can set it up however you like. We can go shopping tomorrow if you're up to it. Get you whatever you need." He shifted a little, unsure how to deal with his new ward. Making his excuses, he left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Looking around the bland shoebox that was her new accommodations, Kelsey felt a stab of longing for her old room. She ruthlessly crushed it, determined not to think of her old home. Thinking of home led to remembering why she couldn't live there anymore. And she was too tired to deal with that particular emotional tidal wave right now. Sighing again, the lithe brunette quickly tugged her shirt down to cover her scars, then unpacked her meagre belongings and put them away. Taking a deep breath, she turned and walked down the stairs to meet the rest of her new family.

"So Kelsey," Karen began as they ate, her tone carefully modulated to show the appropriate amount of concern. "Robert tells me you didn't bring very much with you. When can we expect the rest of your belongings to arrive?"

Kelsey kept her face carefully neutral. She already disliked this woman. "There isn't anything else coming, ma'am. Everything was destroyed in the fire." She knew that the pretentious woman was aware of this, and that the entire purpose of this awkward conversation was to establish the woman's dominance over the newest member of her household. Ruthlessly shoving down the stab of grief that came with the memory of the fire, she focused on keeping her tone calm and courteous. "Uncle Robert mentioned possibly shopping tomorrow for anything else I might need."

"I'm sorry, but tomorrow probably won't be possible." The woman smiled sympathetically, her eyes gleaming with malice. "Robert will be at work, and I'm simply too busy to take you. You will need to make do until the weekend. We might be able to arrange something then." Turning her gaze to the other young girl at the table, she continued. "Sarah, we need you to babysit Toby on Friday."

Sarah stiffened. "Again? Why do I always have to babysit? It's not fair!"

Karen glared. "Sarah, you will be babysitting on Friday and that's final!"

"Why can't Kelsey do it? She's older and doesn't have a life or anything! It's not like she is going to have anything else to do!" The whining tone was grating, and Kelsey would have done just about anything to make her petulant cousin stop.

"I don't mind, I can babysit if you like," she offered.

Karen's lips pressed together and her nostrils flared very slightly, but otherwise kept her face serene. "Thank you Kelsey, but it's Sarah's responsibility. And I'm sure you will have found something to keep yourself busy by then."

Kelsey nodded and went back to her dinner, correctly having interpreted Karen's response to mean 'I don't trust you, stay away from my son'. The Williams may be the only family she had left, but clearly she would not be included any more than strictly necessary. Her uncle may have taken her in, but her place in the family was obviously decided by the cold woman across from her.

"What?" Sarah glared, oblivious to the subtext of the conversation. "That's not fair! How come she gets to go out and do whatever she wants but I don't?" She banged her glass back on the table and shoved her chair back, stomping up the stairs and along the hall, slamming her door. Muffled screams of "I hate you" and "it's not fair" drifted back to the rest of the group.

Robert sighed and continued eating his dinner. Sarah had been getting worse, and now she had a new target in her cousin. Kelsey seemed like a good steady girl. He'd hoped that the two girls would become friends, and Kelsey's influence might smooth some of Sarah's rougher edges, but thanks to Karen's intervention, that would now never happen. Sarah would not forget this slight. Observing the quiet girl remaining at the table, he noticed how pale she looked. Clearing his throat, he decided to try to get to know his niece a bit better while he had the opportunity. "Sorry about that Kelsey. Sarah is," he floundered briefly, not wanting to speak badly of his little girl.

"Troubled?" Kelsey smoothly offered. Her voice was clear, and slightly deeper than most women's, but her accent was undisguisable.

Robert grinned faintly and inclined his head in agreement. "So tell me, what's Australia like? Even though my brother lived there, I've never been."

Kelsey rested her cutlery lightly over her plate as she thought. Lips twitching faintly, she decided not to fight the temptation, and carry on the grand Aussie tradition of confusing the hell out of the foreigners. "It's beautiful. We were having a bit of a drought, so there wasn't really any grass for the cattle, but the working roos are tough, so they weren't too bothered. The Drop Bears were getting a bit aggressive though."

Robert blinked. "Working roos? And what's a Drop Bear?"

Kelsey nodded mildly, taking a sip of water. "Mm. We don't use horses for our work like you guys do. We ride kangaroos. Mine was a Big Red called Little Blue. And Drop Bears are dangerous bloody things. They look like a koala, but they drop out of trees onto you and attack. They kill a few tourists each year."

Karen looked horrified, though whether at the thought of riding a kangaroo or tourists being killed by wildlife was unclear. "I've never heard anything about that! If they are so dangerous, shouldn't there be some sort of warning?"

The girl nodded and sipped her drink again, straining to keep her amusement from her face. The drink smothered the chortle threatening to escape. "The Wildlife Board keeps the attacks pretty quiet. We need the tourists. And they are usually pretty safe. It's just the ones that don't take proper precautions that get hurt."

"Oh? What precautions?" Robert tried to look interested rather than disturbed.

"You rub Vegemite on the back of your neck. The Drop Bears hate it."

Robert blinked. "Vegemite? I thought you ate it?"

Really getting into her story now, Kelsey nodded eagerly. "Oh we do! But we use it for lots of stuff. It's really good for making soup, and greasing engines too!"

Both adults looked faintly ill.

Her eyes shining with humour, Kelsey smiled. Too easy. Unable to stop a yawn, she covered her mouth with her fist. "Sorry. Really long flight. Do you want help washing up?"

Karen and Robert both blinked and looked disconcerted.

Realising, Kelsey corrected herself. "Oh, sorry. Haven't had a chance to get used to the different lingo yet. I meant to offer to help wash the dishes."

Understanding, Karen hurriedly refused. "No no, that's perfectly alright. You go get some sleep. You look like you need it."

Kelsey translated mentally; 'don't you touch my good dishes. Now go away so I don't have to look at you.' "If you're sure. Thank you for dinner." Rising, she carried her plates to the sink, and returned to her room. Quickly grabbing her toiletries, she cleaned her teeth and got into her pajamas, tumbling into bed.

Despite her fatigue, she slept fitfully, her dreams filled with fire and screaming.

Four months had passed. Kelsey was still firmly the outsider, but the "preferential" treatment Karen bestowed on her led to extreme antagonism from Sarah. Kelsey knew her obnoxious cousin felt that Kelsey was receiving the affection and attention that Sarah deserved, but her attempts to explain that this wasn't the case had resulted in various objects being launched at her head. She decided that it wasn't her problem and kept to herself after that.

Which was why she was sitting in her room listening as Toby cried and Sarah shouted at him. Her heart broke for the little boy, but her attempts to assist Sarah with babysitting had ended… Badly. Between Sarah and Karen, Kelsey hadn't been game to try it again.

Silence. Kelsey went onto high alert, the back of her neck prickling at the abrupt change. Something was horribly wrong. Creeping out of her room, she ghosted down the hall.

Peering around the half open door, Kelsey blinked in surprise. There was a man in there talking to Sarah. Tall and clad in what looked like a black leather breastplate and skin tight pants, his blonde feathery hair stood up in carefully arranged chaos. Fine features were highlighted by winged eyebrows and dramatic eye makeup. A breeze seemed to wrap around him, causing his cloak to shift lightly, and the light to glint off... Was that glitter swirling around him? He spun and twirled a crystal ball between his hands, contact juggling with a mastery few could match. The movements were mesmerising. Kelsey was careful not to look too closely at the crystal. She may have been a girl of the modern world, but she was well read, and this man was definitely not human. She wasn't willing to risk being pulled into whatever magic he was weaving. Silently, she listened.

"You know perfectly well where he is. He's there, at my castle." The man swept his arm back dramatically as he stepped aside, the window giving way to show an orange landscape, a twisting labyrinth surrounding an ominous and equally twisted castle.

The man and Sarah took a step forward, and Kelsey quickly stepped into the room, darting through the portal behind them. The man was so intent on Sarah that he didn't notice her flatten herself on the ground behind them, hidden by the hill and boulders.

"You have thirteen hours to solve the Labyrinth, before your brother becomes one of us, forever. Such a pity..." He faded away, leaving Sarah alone.

"Well, come on feet!" Sarah started down the hill towards the labyrinth walls.

Kelsey waited, cautiously peering over the top of the hill. Chuckling slightly as Sarah was bitten by a fairy, she shook her head. Sarah thought fairies were nice, and that they granted wishes? What did they look like, genies? Clearly Sarah had been reading the wrong sort of books. Listening to her cousin insulting the dwarf by getting his name wrong again, even as he helped her, Kelsey scowled. The stupid girl would get herself trapped or killed if she didn't mind her manners. The fairy races were sticklers for social niceties, and they did not forget a perceived slight.

Waiting until Sarah was inside and the dwarf had returned to his fairy extermination, Kelsey slithered down the hill and cautiously approached, tugging her shirt down nervously. Stopping out of spraying reach, just in case, she cleared her throat quietly and waited for the odd little man's attention.

With a yelp, the dwarf spun around to face her, face paling beneath his tan. "Who are you?" He growled, taking a few steps back even as he waved his spray gun menacingly.

Hands held out carefully, Kelsey tried to keep her posture non-threatening. "Hello. Hoggle, isn't it? I'm Kelsey."

Hoggle glared suspiciously. "What do you want?" His tone was belligerent, but his fingers still tightly gripping his spray gun revealed his anxiety.

Kelsey shook her head. "Just hoping for information at this point." Taking off one of her rings, she held it out towards him. "I'm willing to barter for it." The greedy look on Hoggles face let her know she was right in her assumptions about the nature of dwarves.

"And just what kind of information would you be after?"

Kelsey thought carefully before responding. She knew Fairy Folk took almost as much delight in twisting requests as genies did, and she wanted to make sure she got the information she needed. "Firstly, I would like to know where I am, and who the blonde man talking to my cousin prior to her entering the labyrinth was. Secondly, I would like to know if there is any way I can ascertain the welfare of my other cousin, Toby, who I believe is currently in the castle; and if so, how to do it." Thinking quickly, she decided that was a sufficient amount of information in exchange for the jewellery. It was only quartz and silver plate after all. Her clear blue eyes watched the dwarf steadily.

Smirking, Hoggle snatched the offered ring, stuffing it into a pouch on his hip. "Well now, I suppose I can answer that. You're in the Underground, in the Goblin Kingdom, outside the Labyrinth. The blonde man was probably Jareth, the Goblin King. As for your cousin, if he is in the castle, then you should know all this. And you now have less than thirteen hours!" Turning, he returned to his fairy genocide.

"I don't know all of this, and you didn't answer my final questions. As for having thirteen hours, I have no idea what you are talking about. Sarah was given thirteen hours, but I was given no such restriction." Kelsey waited patiently, knowing that a deal was a deal, and she would get her answers if she played the game.

"Jareth didn't speak with you?" Hoggle looked back at her in surprise.

"No. You are the first person I've spoken with."

Frowning, Hoggle eyed her again, taking in her cargo pants, moccasins and tank top. "But you wished your Toby away?"

Kelsey shook her head. "I didn't make any wishes. I heard Toby stop crying suddenly, and went to check on him. There was a blonde man talking to Sarah, and he said Toby was in his castle. I slipped through the portal behind them. I don't think either of them know I'm here."

Hoggles jaw dropped at the last, and he blinked uncertainly a few times. Jareth had been so focused on the Sarah girl that he hadn't noticed a tag along? That little titbit was worth much more than the ring the girl had bartered! Not that he would tell her that. "Well then, no wonder you don't know nothing! Sounds like that Sarah wished away your cousin. She has thirteen hours to win him back, else he stays here for good. But you shouldn't be here! If you're thinking of helping that Sarah, you'd best be forgetting about it! Bad enough you're here uninvited!"

Kelsey stepped forward, interrupting his tirade. "I don't intend to help her. I just want to know that Toby is alright."

"Then you'd best be getting to the castle then. Though the Fates know how well you will be once Jareth finds out about you!"

Kelsey nodded solemnly. "Thank you Hoggle. You have been very helpful. Blessings upon you and yours." Kelsey wasn't certain of the correct protocol in this instance, but the folklore she knew indicated extreme politeness was key.

Grumbling under his breath, Hoggle waved a hand and the doors to the labyrinth creaked open. "I ain't going to help you get through, but you can get in there. And don't say I didn't warn you about that rat Jareth!" Stomping off, the squat little man disappeared into the brush surrounding the walls.

"Thank you again Friend Hoggle!" Kelsey called after him, not willing to risk causing offense by not thanking him for his generosity in opening the gates.

Wandering inside, Kelsey paused. There was a blank wall directly in front of her, and the paths ran directly to either side, forming one long corridor with no visible breaks. Closing her eyes she listened carefully. A faint shriek of a tantrum and words that sounded vaguely like "it's not fair" came from her right. Grinning, Kelsey followed her petulant cousins ranting.