Labyrinth: The Keeper Chronicles, a prequel by Katherine Wynter Page A

dying.
    Jason closed Rebekah's eyes.
    He flew backwards away from the demon, landing on his back further down the maze. The impact forced what little air he had left to explode from him in a gasp, and he panted to catch it again. 
    A face appeared through the darkness above his.
    “Thank you,” Rebekah's mom said, “but get the hell out of my daughter's body.”
    Jason fled.
    He returned to his body to find Elder Xou looking down at him. The steaming remains of the Satyr had melted through the floorboards, and the others were long gone. The Elder crossed his arms. “You've been called before the Council. Prepare your affairs and present yourself for judgment.”
    Jason closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the floor.

Chapter Eight
     
    Rebekah sat up and scooted back on the bed, hitting her head on something hard. The bright lights overhead were painful, but when she pulled her arm to shield her eyes, something sharp tugged at her arm.
    “It's okay, you're safe. I'm here.”
    “Mom?” Rebekah let her mom guide her arm back down and looked around. Somehow, she'd gotten to a hospital. A machine in the corner had numbers and wiggly lines that made no sense to her, and a clear bag of some kind of fluid was hooked to her arm through a needle in the back of her hand. That was the pinch she had felt. Her mom sat in what looked like an uncomfortable recliner with a pair of blankets fallen around her feet. “What happened? How did I get here?”
    Her mom spoke in the same soft, calming voice she used when Rebekah had a nightmare as a kid. “Detective Nolan found you out in the woods near the old Lynn place. He called an ambulance and they brought you here.”
    The image of a man's face with a giant bull's nose and wicked horns flashed in her mind. Rebekah jerked back as if shocked and looked around, but there was no monster nearby. “I…mom, I think I'm crazy.” She shivered and rubbed her arms for a moment. “I saw…I saw…”
    “Shh, princess. It's okay. I won't let anything happen to you.”
    The bull-snouted monster’s face flashed in Rebekah’s mind and she shuddered. “But that, that thing…”
    “Wasn’t real. You’re perfectly safe now. Nothing can happen to you here.”
    “Promise?”
    “I promise. Why don't you tell me what you remember?” her mom asked, taking Rebekah's hand in hers.
    Rebekah took a few deep breaths and waited for the hair on her arms to lay flat before she began. Out in the hall, someone talked about the weather and a young woman laughed. The squeaky wheels of a cart or stand of some kind screeched down the hall. In the room behind her, the television blared a gameshow. “It's all kind of hazy. There was this maze I was lost in, and the walls of the maze were alive and had these vines that reached out and cut me. The monster was chasing me. It looked like a bull but also a man. He had big horns. He chased me around the maze. I kept getting lost and it was dark and hard to see. I…it didn't seem real. I knew I wasn't asleep but at the same time I couldn't believe what I was looking at. Does that make any sense at all?”
    “The doctors say they found enough LSD and mushrooms in your systems to cause violent hallucinations.” Her mom looked at the door but no one was there. “Do you remember eating or drinking anything?”
    “Water. The…thing gave me a couple bottles of water. Could that have been it?”
    Light shone through the slats on the blinds, lighting her mom's face in golden streaks. Her eyes were bloodshot with purple rings around the bottom, and her hair looked like it hadn't been washed in days. Her smile was tired. “Maybe. Honestly, I don't care. I'm just glad you're alive. You were unconscious when the police found you. The doctors want to keep you here for a few more days to make sure there's no long-term effects from the drugs, but then you can come home. Your dad will be here tonight, and we can drive back together when you're