Between the Lines
By penpunk
Disclaimer: Anything you recognize from any book doesn't belong to me and I'm not making any money off of it.
(a/n) This takes place before the Lord of the Rings. This is also my first Middle Earth fic, so please; any helpful criticism will be welcome.
Chapter 1: Shadows of the Past
******************************************************************
Katherine Wellington sighed as she stepped out of the gate and into the busy crowd at Heathrow. It had been almost seven years since she had been in the United Kingdom, where she grew up. She left to study at NYU when she was eighteen, but was now venturing back to her former home.
Julie Wellington had just received her doctorate in ancient languages from Oxford University. She was the reason Katherine had decided to come back. She and Julie were going to celebrate her achievement as well as Kat's fast approaching birthday. Kat spotted her sister among the horde of people in the airport. Julie was quite different in appearance from her sister. Kat had blonde hair with crystalline blue eyes. Julie was the opposite with dark brown hair and green eyes. Kat was short compared to Julie who towered over her five-foot-five frame at five-foot-eleven.
"Kat! Hello sis!" Julie said with a bright smile.
"Dr. Wellington, I presume?"
"Hey, I like the sound of that," said Julie, laughing. "Dr. Wellington. . . I really can't get over that."
"Yeah, me neither. I'm so happy for you!" Kat pulled her sister into an embrace. They parted and both women turned to the right and continued on to pick up Kat's luggage.
"So, dear sister. How long do you plan to stay?" asked Julie as she hefted Kat's large suitcase onto the airport floor.
"Don't take the weight of my bag into consideration," said Kat with a slight smile. "I'm staying until the day after my birthday."
"But that's only four days!" exclaimed Julie. "So why the hell is your luggage so damn heavy?"
"I brought my camera. . . and some equipment. I plan on getting some pictures over here for my article."
"Oh," said Julie. The two sisters exited the busy airport. It was a typical rainy London day, the light rain drumming quietly all around them. "So, how is your job at the magazine? It's a travel magazine, right?"
Kat nodded. "I plan on writing my article on the plane ride home."
Julie flagged down a taxi and Kat piled her bags into the back. Julie told the driver to take them to Oxford.
"I know you'd rather stay in London, but I can't really get away from work right now."
"Work? You just graduated!" said Kat with a smirk.
"I know, but I was immediately put on an assignment for the university."
"Oh, so what are they having you do?"
Julie got a glimmer in her eyes as she slid easily into "professor mode."
"About a week ago, we got sent a leather bound book of parchment. Some hunter's dog was digging around come trees and found it wedged into the inside of the trunk of a tree."
Julie looked over at Kat. She clearly wasn't as excited about this as Julie was.
"When we received the book, it was first carbon dated," Julia's face twisted into an expression of confusion and awe. "From the dating, this book is old. . . really, really old. At first, we thought we made a mistake. It dated so old, that at the time it was supposedly written, there was no record of paper being used. We're talking before the earliest Egyptians."
Kat looked at here sister. She could tell that Julie really had a passion for her work. Her eyes could be read like a book.
"So what is the book about?" asked Kat.
"Well," began Julie. "We've only turned a few of the pages so far. For the supposed age of this thing, it's held up pretty damn well. Possibly the most amazing thing about this book is what's written in it. I have studied just about every ancient language, and memorized thousands of ancient runes, but this book. . . I'm totally stumped."
"You mean Julie Wellington doesn't know something? Oh my God!" exclaimed Kat with a smile.
"Very funny," said Julie with a playful sneer. "But seriously, the book is filled with a language no one at the university has ever seen. Everyone is stumped."
"Does it resemble another form of runes? Could it be a variation of another language?" inquired Kat.
"That's what we thought, but the style and script is so unique. It could loosely compare to middle eastern script, but loosely."
Kat pondered this for a moment before speaking again.
"So this book. . . where is it now?"
"At the university," answered Julie. "Why?"
"Say someone wanted to see this book. Could you get them in?"
"Well, it's in a high security part of the university."
"But you have the keys?"
"Yesssss," she said reluctantly.
"I just want to see it. I promise I won't break anything or get you in trouble."
Julie let out an over exaggerated sigh and nodded.
"And you laugh when I tell you you're the best sister in the world."
Julie looked at Kat for a moment before both girls were overcome with overwhelming laughter.
***************************************************************************
"No."
"Do it."
"No!"
"Fine, then we'll just go back to my flat."
"No, I'll do it."
"Okay, hold up your right hand."
"Fine. I, Katherine Elizabeth Wellington, do solemnly swear to not break, pocket, and/or botch up anything contain in this part of Oxford University. Furthermore, if said promise is broken, I will become Julie Ann Wellington's personal slave for the remainder of my existence, in this world and the next. Happy?"
"Quite."
With certain legalities out of the way, Julie took out her keys and unlocked the large door. The next door needed a code for entry, which Dr. Wellington provided. Julie led Kat through a long room filled with cases and cases of papyrus, parchment, slabs of stone, and anything else that has ever been used to write on. Taking a right at the end of the row, Julie came to a case and unlocked the top drawer. Before retrieving the book, Julie put on a pair of gloves.
"Well, here it is," said Julie as she placed the book carefully on the surface of the case.
Kat looked at the book with awe. The leather cover was beautifully detailed. The aged green leather was covered with a motif of vines and leaves all in silver. Julie watched her sister take the sight of the book in.
"Beautiful isn't it?" asked Julie with a slight smile. Kat could only nod. She had been in love with books since she learned how to read. It was one of the reasons she was a writer. This book though . . . it was beyond words.
Julie carefully opened the cover and revealed the script she was talking about. She was right. It was very unique.
"So how are you going to go about deciphering all this?" asked Kat as she lifted her eyes off the book.
"Well, I was going to tell you about this later, but oh well," said Julie with a smile. "I volunteered to go investigate the sight where the book was found. Would you like to come with me? It's the day of your birthday, but it's not far from here."
"Sure, I'll go," said Kat. "I can take some pictures while we're there."
"Great," said Julie as she began to hide all traces of the unauthorized visit.
***************************************************************************
Kat had grown up in England and was familiar with most places in the south. This did not stop Julie from taking on her lecturing tone and acting as tour guide for the day. Most of the car ride to the sight where the book had been found was spent talking about possibilities of the book's origin, which led to Julie talking about the origins of other languages and so and so on.
Julie pulled into a small wayside and parked the borrowed car in front of a small restaurant.
"This is it," said Julie as she turned off the engine and made to get out of the car.
"What is?" asked Kat.
"This is our destination," said Julie as she pointed towards a large grouping of trees. "That's where they found it."
The map Julie was provided with was helpful in finding the exact location of where the book was found. The large grouping of trees looked about as old as the book was said to be. Julie came across the particular tree where it was found and started to walk around the area, hoping to find something to help in her investigation. Kat looked around a bit, camera in hand. It was a clear day, much improved from the gray and rainy weather they had experienced the last two days. She got a few good shots before resuming her search for something that would help Julie.
Kat searched around the base of the tree and stuck her hand in the space where the book must have been found.
"Who would put such a beautiful thing into a bug infested hole?" asked Kat as she withdrew her hand.
As she spoke, Kat's stomach churned. She felt a widening around her, a feeling of space, as if she were suspended over a bottomless pit; suddenly she smelled flowers and incense. Kat blinked rapidly, reaching out to the tree to keep her balance.
She turned to Julie. "What?"
"I said 'Whoever put it there didn't want it to be found most likely.'"
"What did you say before that?"
Julie frowned, confused. "Before?"
"Yeah. You called be something, it began with an 'E'; a word I haven't heard before. Ene-something? Or maybe it was Ele. . . ?"
Julie eyed her skeptically. "I think all this fresh air is getting to you."
"Yeah, maybe," said Kat as she shook her head. "Did you find anything?"
"No, did you?"
Kat shook her head. "Come on, let's go get something to eat."
***************************************************************************
Julie treated her sister to dinner at the little restaurant they parked in front of. The food was excellent and the dessert was sinful. Julie paid the bill and both girls walked outside, getting ready to leave, when Julie's phone rang. She covered the phone with her hand for a moment.
"It's Ron at the university. This may take a while."
Kat looked from her sister to the trees they had walked through earlier. The setting sun was casting its rays on the trees beautifully; too beautiful for Kat to miss.
"I'm just going to go back into the forest for a few minutes," said Kat as she got her camera.
Julie nodded and returned to her phone call. Kat started towards the woods, snapping pictures as she went. She entered the canopy of trees and was awed by the way the setting sun delicately brushed the leaves and branches of the trees and cast golden rays to the ground. Kat came back to the same spot she and Julie had searched. She circled the giant tree where the book was found, camera clicking away.
Kat stopped to change her film when something on the ground caught her eye. Film forgotten, Kat bent down and lifted the silvery object off the ground. It was a simple silver chain with a small pendant of silver and an emerald in the middle.
Then it happened - instantly and without warning. Kat's sensations snapped and she was caught in a whirlpool of energy, spinning with so much force that she could taste sound and hear smell. She was being pulled down rapidly. Nausea rose in her throat and pressure built in her head until her ears popped. Through flashes of color, Kat saw a woman. Dark and elegant, she hurtled toward Kat from below. In panic, she reached out to stop her, but screamed as she passed right through her, through her flesh, her bones, severing her from her body in a bloodless surgery. The last thing Kat saw before darkness was her mouth, open in the terror of a soundless scream.
***************************************************************************
Leave a review and tell me what you think.
By penpunk
Disclaimer: Anything you recognize from any book doesn't belong to me and I'm not making any money off of it.
(a/n) This takes place before the Lord of the Rings. This is also my first Middle Earth fic, so please; any helpful criticism will be welcome.
Chapter 1: Shadows of the Past
******************************************************************
Katherine Wellington sighed as she stepped out of the gate and into the busy crowd at Heathrow. It had been almost seven years since she had been in the United Kingdom, where she grew up. She left to study at NYU when she was eighteen, but was now venturing back to her former home.
Julie Wellington had just received her doctorate in ancient languages from Oxford University. She was the reason Katherine had decided to come back. She and Julie were going to celebrate her achievement as well as Kat's fast approaching birthday. Kat spotted her sister among the horde of people in the airport. Julie was quite different in appearance from her sister. Kat had blonde hair with crystalline blue eyes. Julie was the opposite with dark brown hair and green eyes. Kat was short compared to Julie who towered over her five-foot-five frame at five-foot-eleven.
"Kat! Hello sis!" Julie said with a bright smile.
"Dr. Wellington, I presume?"
"Hey, I like the sound of that," said Julie, laughing. "Dr. Wellington. . . I really can't get over that."
"Yeah, me neither. I'm so happy for you!" Kat pulled her sister into an embrace. They parted and both women turned to the right and continued on to pick up Kat's luggage.
"So, dear sister. How long do you plan to stay?" asked Julie as she hefted Kat's large suitcase onto the airport floor.
"Don't take the weight of my bag into consideration," said Kat with a slight smile. "I'm staying until the day after my birthday."
"But that's only four days!" exclaimed Julie. "So why the hell is your luggage so damn heavy?"
"I brought my camera. . . and some equipment. I plan on getting some pictures over here for my article."
"Oh," said Julie. The two sisters exited the busy airport. It was a typical rainy London day, the light rain drumming quietly all around them. "So, how is your job at the magazine? It's a travel magazine, right?"
Kat nodded. "I plan on writing my article on the plane ride home."
Julie flagged down a taxi and Kat piled her bags into the back. Julie told the driver to take them to Oxford.
"I know you'd rather stay in London, but I can't really get away from work right now."
"Work? You just graduated!" said Kat with a smirk.
"I know, but I was immediately put on an assignment for the university."
"Oh, so what are they having you do?"
Julie got a glimmer in her eyes as she slid easily into "professor mode."
"About a week ago, we got sent a leather bound book of parchment. Some hunter's dog was digging around come trees and found it wedged into the inside of the trunk of a tree."
Julie looked over at Kat. She clearly wasn't as excited about this as Julie was.
"When we received the book, it was first carbon dated," Julia's face twisted into an expression of confusion and awe. "From the dating, this book is old. . . really, really old. At first, we thought we made a mistake. It dated so old, that at the time it was supposedly written, there was no record of paper being used. We're talking before the earliest Egyptians."
Kat looked at here sister. She could tell that Julie really had a passion for her work. Her eyes could be read like a book.
"So what is the book about?" asked Kat.
"Well," began Julie. "We've only turned a few of the pages so far. For the supposed age of this thing, it's held up pretty damn well. Possibly the most amazing thing about this book is what's written in it. I have studied just about every ancient language, and memorized thousands of ancient runes, but this book. . . I'm totally stumped."
"You mean Julie Wellington doesn't know something? Oh my God!" exclaimed Kat with a smile.
"Very funny," said Julie with a playful sneer. "But seriously, the book is filled with a language no one at the university has ever seen. Everyone is stumped."
"Does it resemble another form of runes? Could it be a variation of another language?" inquired Kat.
"That's what we thought, but the style and script is so unique. It could loosely compare to middle eastern script, but loosely."
Kat pondered this for a moment before speaking again.
"So this book. . . where is it now?"
"At the university," answered Julie. "Why?"
"Say someone wanted to see this book. Could you get them in?"
"Well, it's in a high security part of the university."
"But you have the keys?"
"Yesssss," she said reluctantly.
"I just want to see it. I promise I won't break anything or get you in trouble."
Julie let out an over exaggerated sigh and nodded.
"And you laugh when I tell you you're the best sister in the world."
Julie looked at Kat for a moment before both girls were overcome with overwhelming laughter.
***************************************************************************
"No."
"Do it."
"No!"
"Fine, then we'll just go back to my flat."
"No, I'll do it."
"Okay, hold up your right hand."
"Fine. I, Katherine Elizabeth Wellington, do solemnly swear to not break, pocket, and/or botch up anything contain in this part of Oxford University. Furthermore, if said promise is broken, I will become Julie Ann Wellington's personal slave for the remainder of my existence, in this world and the next. Happy?"
"Quite."
With certain legalities out of the way, Julie took out her keys and unlocked the large door. The next door needed a code for entry, which Dr. Wellington provided. Julie led Kat through a long room filled with cases and cases of papyrus, parchment, slabs of stone, and anything else that has ever been used to write on. Taking a right at the end of the row, Julie came to a case and unlocked the top drawer. Before retrieving the book, Julie put on a pair of gloves.
"Well, here it is," said Julie as she placed the book carefully on the surface of the case.
Kat looked at the book with awe. The leather cover was beautifully detailed. The aged green leather was covered with a motif of vines and leaves all in silver. Julie watched her sister take the sight of the book in.
"Beautiful isn't it?" asked Julie with a slight smile. Kat could only nod. She had been in love with books since she learned how to read. It was one of the reasons she was a writer. This book though . . . it was beyond words.
Julie carefully opened the cover and revealed the script she was talking about. She was right. It was very unique.
"So how are you going to go about deciphering all this?" asked Kat as she lifted her eyes off the book.
"Well, I was going to tell you about this later, but oh well," said Julie with a smile. "I volunteered to go investigate the sight where the book was found. Would you like to come with me? It's the day of your birthday, but it's not far from here."
"Sure, I'll go," said Kat. "I can take some pictures while we're there."
"Great," said Julie as she began to hide all traces of the unauthorized visit.
***************************************************************************
Kat had grown up in England and was familiar with most places in the south. This did not stop Julie from taking on her lecturing tone and acting as tour guide for the day. Most of the car ride to the sight where the book had been found was spent talking about possibilities of the book's origin, which led to Julie talking about the origins of other languages and so and so on.
Julie pulled into a small wayside and parked the borrowed car in front of a small restaurant.
"This is it," said Julie as she turned off the engine and made to get out of the car.
"What is?" asked Kat.
"This is our destination," said Julie as she pointed towards a large grouping of trees. "That's where they found it."
The map Julie was provided with was helpful in finding the exact location of where the book was found. The large grouping of trees looked about as old as the book was said to be. Julie came across the particular tree where it was found and started to walk around the area, hoping to find something to help in her investigation. Kat looked around a bit, camera in hand. It was a clear day, much improved from the gray and rainy weather they had experienced the last two days. She got a few good shots before resuming her search for something that would help Julie.
Kat searched around the base of the tree and stuck her hand in the space where the book must have been found.
"Who would put such a beautiful thing into a bug infested hole?" asked Kat as she withdrew her hand.
As she spoke, Kat's stomach churned. She felt a widening around her, a feeling of space, as if she were suspended over a bottomless pit; suddenly she smelled flowers and incense. Kat blinked rapidly, reaching out to the tree to keep her balance.
She turned to Julie. "What?"
"I said 'Whoever put it there didn't want it to be found most likely.'"
"What did you say before that?"
Julie frowned, confused. "Before?"
"Yeah. You called be something, it began with an 'E'; a word I haven't heard before. Ene-something? Or maybe it was Ele. . . ?"
Julie eyed her skeptically. "I think all this fresh air is getting to you."
"Yeah, maybe," said Kat as she shook her head. "Did you find anything?"
"No, did you?"
Kat shook her head. "Come on, let's go get something to eat."
***************************************************************************
Julie treated her sister to dinner at the little restaurant they parked in front of. The food was excellent and the dessert was sinful. Julie paid the bill and both girls walked outside, getting ready to leave, when Julie's phone rang. She covered the phone with her hand for a moment.
"It's Ron at the university. This may take a while."
Kat looked from her sister to the trees they had walked through earlier. The setting sun was casting its rays on the trees beautifully; too beautiful for Kat to miss.
"I'm just going to go back into the forest for a few minutes," said Kat as she got her camera.
Julie nodded and returned to her phone call. Kat started towards the woods, snapping pictures as she went. She entered the canopy of trees and was awed by the way the setting sun delicately brushed the leaves and branches of the trees and cast golden rays to the ground. Kat came back to the same spot she and Julie had searched. She circled the giant tree where the book was found, camera clicking away.
Kat stopped to change her film when something on the ground caught her eye. Film forgotten, Kat bent down and lifted the silvery object off the ground. It was a simple silver chain with a small pendant of silver and an emerald in the middle.
Then it happened - instantly and without warning. Kat's sensations snapped and she was caught in a whirlpool of energy, spinning with so much force that she could taste sound and hear smell. She was being pulled down rapidly. Nausea rose in her throat and pressure built in her head until her ears popped. Through flashes of color, Kat saw a woman. Dark and elegant, she hurtled toward Kat from below. In panic, she reached out to stop her, but screamed as she passed right through her, through her flesh, her bones, severing her from her body in a bloodless surgery. The last thing Kat saw before darkness was her mouth, open in the terror of a soundless scream.
***************************************************************************
Leave a review and tell me what you think.