Hello out to there to anyone who is taking time to read my new fic! This is not my first story, but it is the first one on this new account! I have a lot of other stories going on another account, but I needed a break from those, and this universe is my next victim! No need to worry though, I'm really excited for this one, and hopefully I can update on a "regular" basis, but it is almost midnight here and I go back to school tomorrow. It's not like I have a good sleep schedule anyways, right? This chapter and the next are mainly going to be getting to know my character and getting her into Middle Earth! Reviews are loved, flames are not. Follow me on tumblr spnspider01644, and start requesting stuff and if you do, I'll make a one-shot blog! This story will have a playlist, so if you're interested in that, PM me, or review and I'll put it in an upcoming chapter! In this chapter, no one actually exists in a real world, they are all just figments of mine or Tolkein's imagination.

This is a line kindof…. I just wanted to use strikethrough… sorry… deal with it, I like strikethrough…

Mina Prenderghast was not pleased. Not only was it extremely difficult for her to try writing an essay while babysitting an six year old, but the essay itself was complete bull. Why the hell would Dr. Bernard want the class to write a paper based solely on a book, whenever he taught a Video Production Topics course?

Mina didn't even want to take that stupid class. Hell, she didn't even know why it was required for a majoring degree in Music, and it pissed her off.

Sighing, she once again tuned out the sound of the Teen Titans, Go! theme song and went back to writing the essay. The blank word document in front of her seemed to taunt her as she tried to come up with an opening statement for her paper on Bram Stoker's: Dracula. The only thing that eventually shook her from her writing stupor was the loud crack of lightning, the following rumble of thunder, and a small shriek from the six year old, Emmett, as he climbed from his perch on the couch, into her lap.

"Minnie, what was that?!" His small voice made her smile and look away from her computer and into her nephew's hazel eyes.

"Ah, don't worry kid; it was just Cyborg and Beast Boy makin' another mess outside." His eyes lit up at that and he pulled his soft DC Comics blanket closer to him.

"Really?"

"Oh yeah, totally! I'm pretty sure they're gonna blow up a few more things before they leave though, so we might want to go ahead and get you ready for bed. They don't wanna get you trouble with your Dad." She stage whispered the last part, and the little boy gasped, quickly nodding his head as he scrambled toward his stay-over bag, pulling out a pair of PJ's.

She stood and stretched her sore muscles, then went and undid the extra bed in her apartment, seeing as her roommate went back to Florida for Christmas break. After tucking the hyper first-grader into bed, she straightened her University of New Mexico hoodie and moved her essay writing station to the couch and flipped through the channels until she came across an old episode of Friends, and started writing again.

Ten minutes had passed when she heard another roll of thunder; only this one was ten times louder. Glancing at the shut door in the hallway for a moment, she went back to her paper as the rain pounded on the windows and lightning flashed.

Eventually giving up on trying to focus, Mina stood up and went to the window and looked out, seeing the trees on the mountain-side thrash violently in the wind.

"This is insane…" she mumbled quietly as more static electricity lit up the dark sky. Shutting the blinds, she went back to the couch, and stared blankly at the meaningless infomercial on the television. Turning back to her laptop, she noticed the screen had gone completely black. Her eyes widened and she quickly ran her finger over the mouse pad and sighed in relief as her essay popped back up onto the screen, then froze when she saw what had been written below her almost-complete essay.

Be prepared

She squinted at the text trying to figure out where it came from when she heard a knock at her door. Standing up slowly and looking through the peep hole, she saw her brother and his wife; she quickly opened the door and apologized.

"I am so sorry! It's been a long night, c'mon in." They walk through the door and shake off their rain coats, and hang them on the hooks.

Mina's brother, Jackson, looked at her and noticed the dark circles under her eyes.

"Mina, have you been sleeping at all? You look like you've been living off of coffee and cereal for at least a week!" He asked her, concerned. She responded by rolling her eyes and scoffing.

"Well, gee, thanks… It's actually only been four days." She turned on her heel and went into the kitchen. "Coffee, tea, water? Anyone?" She asked grabbing mugs. Jackson's wife, Anna, responded.

"I'll take water. Jackson probably wants coffee, even though he's too uptight to say it." Mina laughs and grabs the drinks and brings them back into the living room, only to have her phone start ringing loudly. Quickly excusing herself, Mina answered the phone and walked into her room.

"Hello?"

Silence.

"Who is this?"

When she finished her sentence, what had silence a moment ago turned into heavy, ragged breathing. Before she could hang up, she heard a low growl. Mina pushed the red button and threw her phone onto the bed, petrified. She brought her shaking hands up to cover her mouth to hold in a scream, when she saw a glowing rune-like symbol on her window. Slowly walking over, Mina examined it. The window then shattered, a scream tearing through her throat until all she saw was black.

(this is a break or time skip)

Mina's head was pounding. She didn't even want to open her heavy eyelids in fear of what she might see, but consciousness won the battle and her eyes fluttered open, a white room and a steady beeping noise were suddenly perceived. Mina could feel a bandage on her head and another on her right cheek, and eventually felt more on her arms and legs as she moved her stiff limbs. The light-pink haired woman looked around the room to see a glass of water on the side table next to a TV remote. Grabbing the glass, she sat up, her joints quietly groaning in protest. The door swung open and a small mop of black hair peeked in.

"Minnie?! Mommy, Daddy, Minnie's awake, she's awake!" The door then proceeded to open wider, revealing Jackson and Anna, looks of relief washing over their faces.

"You guys look like you haven't seen me in forever…" Mina said, watching as their expressions grew dark again. "What happened to me?"

"After the window… exploded, the Doctors said you went into some kind of shock, which caused you to pass out. It was pretty serious; your nose was bleeding and everything… You were standing so close to the window when it exploded that a lot of glass went into your skin, really deep. Some of the stitches split in your sleep, and you're gonna have to be careful. There'll definitely be a few scars, too. Apparently the storm got so bad last night that the pressure suddenly, like, rose or something, making the glass shatter at an insane rate." Jackson hadn't paused once, and her face was stoic. Before she could ask anything, Emmett piped up.

"We gochu a pwesent, Minnie! So you can re-re…um…" his mother whispers something into his ear and his face lights up again. "Recobur quietly and quikwy!" The kid looked so proud of himself. She smiled as much as she could with the bandages and turned to him.

"Awesome! What'd you get me?" The little boy only replied with a small giggle and set a gift sack onto her legs.

"Jus open it, Minnie!" She laughed and opened the small package to find a copy of her favorite children's book, The Hobbit, and a black obsidian ring, with rainbow quartz accents. Mina examined the ring with curiosity and held the book in happiness.

"Oh my god! This is beautiful! Thank you three so much… You know you didn't have to…" She looks at them in thanks.

"Minnie, what's a… H-Hobbit?" His bright eyes were inquisitive and she looked at him.

"Well, why don't I just show you?" She opened the small paperback book and began to read.

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort…"

And there's the prologue for you guys! I'm really excited for this story, but go ahead and send me some things that could be fixed, because I'm writing this stuff in the middle of the night, going to bed around 2, then waking up at 6, so I'm not exactly thinking completely straight as I write this new story… Go ahead and please read, review, and recommend, because I want some cool new internet friend, as long as you're not a creepy old guy… *shivers*… anywho, I am now going to try and sleep some! Have a nice day or night or second breakfast and I'll get a new chapter up when I get some feedback and… get it… you know… written… Lots of love to my lovelies! -Megan