Fan Fiction ❯ Hybrid Rainbows ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )

Hybrid Rainbows

By Crayon Epistaxis

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from the wondrous movie "Labyrinth," I just like to toy with them in my head. Oh, and the song "Hybrid Rainbow" does not belong to me. It belongs to "the pillows." Also, Herpes is not one of my own original characters. Je is from the twisted imagination of my friend Edyuu, who happens to be 3 kinds of crazy.

Chapter 1

"Sadistic hag!"

"Bitch!"

"Oh look guys, she's crying! Haha!"

No, she wasn't, those incompetent fools! Oh, how she despised them so! If they had to beat her up to unleash the hostile violence harbored in today's youth, they could at least be quiet while they did so. She herself was only a few months their inferior, and was physically larger than many of them.

Their shoes were leaving white dirt prints on the sides of her black shirt. Mother would wonder. Best stop them now.

Charlotte rolled onto her back and stared up at her attackers. They were not strangers. They never were.

"G'bye Charlotte!" a few of them left, acknowledging the end of today's bullying session.

She lifted herself up and snatched up her backpack from the dry, white ground. Why those 7th graders had to beat her up at the beginning of her street, she did not know. At least it made it that much easier to get home before Mother. Gave her a chance to freshen up a bit. If mother ever found out about the beating she got everyday, she'd probably confront the parents of those kids, and that would be mortifying.

Once she arrived home, things weren't easier. Jessica had called, and Mother and Daddy were ecstatic. Charlotte was slightly jealous of her older sister Jessica. She was 200 miles away in college, living in the dorms.

She went through the living room and walked right to her bedroom without bothering to greet her parents. She was sure to lock the door. Charlotte threw her backpack across the small vicinity and fell into the bare cool mattress. This bed had never hosted sheets, because the 11 year-old hated sheets.

`Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here past the Goblin City to take back the child you have stolen.' ….Damn. That lousy book that she had seen at the library was glued to her mind.

"The Labyrinth," she whispered ever- so quietly.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. "Jessy wants to talk to you!" her father said through the door, embellishing the words as if this were a distinct honor.

Charlotte grudgingly rolled off the mattress, went to the door, opened it, and snatched the phone from Daddy's hand, shutting the door almost instantly after she did so. "Hello?" she spoke into the phone.

"Charly! Hiiii!" said Jessica in the annoying way that she talked.

"…"

"Hey lil sis! Guess who's coming down to visit today!"

"Um, you?"

"Haha! Nope! Herpes!"

Charlotte could hear her pulse in her ears. "Really?"

"Nooooooo. I'm just jerking your leg. God, you are so paranoid."

She didn't care about that last comment because her favorite cousin was coming! Herpes was over twice her age, but Jessica and herself worshipped the ground that he walked on. He was…..to put it simply, the black sheep of the family.

Jessica went on, babbling senselessly while Charlotte thought of all the wonderful times that Herpes and her had had together. The time when they filled water balloons with moldy milk, stood on the curb of an intersection in downtown and hurled them at passing cars. That was one of her most cherished memories.

Finally, Jessica had to go…but before she went she said very quickly, "Would you like Herpes' new cell number?"

This scared Charlotte for a moment. "Oh….is he in jail again?" A knot tightened in her stomach, in anxiety.

Her sister scoffed. "I meant his phone number, you stupid idiot. Do ya want it or not?"

"…Yes." She whipped out a pen (from her pocket) and took down the digits. "Okay. Thanks."

"I gotta go. Love ya. Oh, and sis?" Charlotte noticed a little hesitation in her voice.

"Yes?"

"….Try not to get too chummy with Herpes again. You know the crowd he hangs out with."

Charlotte's thumb slid over the phone, pressing the talk button very suddenly. How dare she! Insinuating that Herpes was not the brilliant, caring soul that he was! What a…..bitch.

_______________________________________________________________< /div>

Later, Charlotte convinced her mother to drive her down to the library. She'd been there just yesterday, Mother argued. But didn't she care about Charlotte's well-being and education? Charlotte argued back.

Charlotte swore in her mind that if Mother said no, she'd burst out crying. Of course, Mother gave in and went to find her keys. The library was not too far from here, just about 10 blocks. But that was too far for a young girl to walk by herself, and that's why Mother wouldn't let her go alone all the time.

"It'll only take 3 minutes," Charlotte promised her mother during the drive.

And she kept her word. As soon as they came to a stop, she sprang from the KIA and hurried into the building. The library for their town wasn't huge, but it wasn't that small. There were thousands of books, quite a few of which Charlotte had read.

Charlotte went straight to the L section. Her fingers slipped from binding to binding as she walked down the aisle. She knew what material they used for the older books. Newer books had paper bindings, but the older ones had some kind of strange fabric. Fabric that made her fingers itchy.

Then she saw it. The little red book that was shorter than the rest. She read the title, and a little smile curled unto her lips.

________________________________________________________________ ___

"Are you that ugly little scab that I see every so often?" A smirking face appeared in front of hers as soon as she opened her bedroom door.

Charlotte would've been angry that he had gone into her room, if it had been anyone else. She was socked with joy to see him. "Yes. Hello, you repulsive rat. It's way too soon to see your disgusting face again."

Years ago they had started this little game, tired of hearing so many phrases like, "oh, how adorable!" and "look how handsome you're becoming!" The truth of the matter was, both were reasonably attractive and charming.

End of Chapter 1