The Ashes of Another Life
Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction. I do not own any of the character, places, names, or anything associated with the works of J.R.R Tolkien or the Lord of the Rings (books or movie, whatever). My characters are Anita, Leila, and Arlandria and that is all.
Authors Note: Just a few short things here for your guys; 1) Chapter titles are songs that I drew inspiration from while writing this chapter, at the end of each chapter will be the title and musical artists. I don't own them , have no association with them , I just enjoy the music. 2) Character pronunciation key: Anita's name is pronounced Ah-Knee-ta, and the shortened version of her name Ani is pronounced Ah-knee, NOT annie. It's kind of my little peeve. Leila is Lay-La and her named is shortened to Lei obviously pronounced Lay.
Chapter 1: The Stone
Two brown eyes snapped open, searching in the darkness. Had she really heard something or was it just the remnants of an already forgotten dream? Nope. There is was again.
*Thump Thump Thump*
Anita gave a soft groan and pushed the heavy black cotton comforter off her head, breaking apart the darkness and the stifling heat. Honestly it was far too hot where she lived in the desert for such a piece of bedding, but sleeping under it gave her a sense of solitude and comfort that the sheets just didn't offer. Still half asleep, her barely focused eyes sought her clock on the nightstand next to her bed.
LI:60 greeted her instead. Blinking rapidly to ensure she hadn't gone loopy during the night, Anita reached out a long slender hand and flipped her alarm clock back over. 09:17. She rolled her eyes upwards to where the offending sounds of shoes on linoleum was coming from. Her twin sister would be awake that early in the morning. No way, no way she was getting out of bed this early. Rolling over and putting her pillow over her head, Anita was determined to block out that awful noise and to fall back asleep.
*Thump thump*
"God dammit Leila," With one push Anita was up and out of bed, a mattress conveniently on the floor with no frame, the black comforter and just as dark sheets pooling up on the floor where she discarded them. Since she had fallen asleep in one of her Warped Tour tees she threw on a random pair of jeans she found in the mess of dirty clothes, shoes, and art supplies scattered about her bedroom. Throwing open her bedroom door she ascended the stairs up into the main part of the house. So few houses in Tucson even had basements to covert to anything, much less a bedroom, Anita wasn't real sure how her mom had found this one…. frankly she never cared enough to ask. At the top of the stairs she stopped and took a deep breath before she opened the door to the main house, knowing darn right well what awaited her on the other side. Thrusting the door open, she wasn't disappointed; blindingly bright desert sunlight of May. And of course her ever-so chipper sister had every blind in the house open to welcome the morning sunlight.
"Good Morning Ani!" Her twin beamed at her from across the kitchen at the stove, the smell of eggs and bacon filled the air. Anita flinched back, whether from the bright sun or her twin's cheery morning attitude she didn't know. Anita stared back blankly at her sister for a minute before she finally found her voice.
"Are you effing retarded?" No sooner had the words left her mouth than a firm yet not painful open handed slap landed on the back of Anita's head.
"You do not speak to your sister in that manner," Her mother was fast, and quieter than a cat on the prowl. When the twins had been younger they had come to the conclusion that their mother must have been a ninja in a past life. How else could you explain the fact that she never made a sound when she moved around, offering her ability to sneak up on her children constantly and yet somehow never be snuck up on herself?
"Ma, she woke me up"
"It is morning, you should be awake. The only people who sleep during the day are drunkards and those who have fallen ill… you are neither. And I will not have such language in my house, " Her mother continued to talk as Anita rubbed the spot on her head where she had been smacked, though it had wounded her pride more than it hurt her physically. It was obvious to anyone that met Anita's mother than she was not native to the US. Her English was too perfect, too proper. Like she had somehow never picked up the slang, or even how to use contractions. Honestly though, Leila and Anita didn't have any idea where their mother was from. Oh they had asked, but the conversations would immediately get strange. Always evasive and never giving an answer, their mother would become flustered and sometimes angry.
"Happy Birthday" Her mother leaned over and kissed Anita on the temple, then walked across the kitchen to kiss Leila too. They looked so much alike, Leila and her mother. Both tall and pale, white blonde hair and blue eyes. Being fraternal and not identical twins, Anita didn't share in the same traits that made it obvious she was her mother's child. She had made a stomach curling realization early on in life; if she didn't look like her mother, she must look like her father. Just the thought of it made bile rise in the back of her throat. The black hair, the brown eyes, even her love of art were traits genetically passed to her from Mr. Disappearing-Act himself.
At least she assumed so. In 18 years Leila and Anita had never once met their father, and they knew almost nothing about him. Leila asked constantly about him, wanted to know everything. Their mother however would shut that conversation down faster than you could blink, but it didn't stop Lei from asking over and over again. Anita had given up in childhood trying to get information about him, clearly her mom didn't want to talk about it and if her father had given half a damn about them he would be around. Based on what information the twins had gleaned from their mom it seemed that the man had only been around for their conception. So screw him. The effect of that though left two girls to grow up in a world not knowing anything about their family or their heritage. That made Leila more curious… it made Anita angry. It had also brought about an annual birthday ritual that made Anita see red and feel like throwing up all at once. Every year without fail….
"Momma?" Leila inquired form over at the stove. Anita slammed the cupboard door shut after retrieving a tall coffee mug to fuel her caffeine addiction. Here it came. Good ol' Leila. "I know I've asked every year since I could remember, and I swear this is the last time. Will you tell us who our father is?"
"Yes," And the world came to a screeching halt. The coffee mug fell from Anita's fingers and the fragile ceramic smashed on the kitchen linoleum, while Leila's eggs began to burn on the stove. All forgotten in this moment.
"What?!" Anita said sharply. Every year as far back as the twins could remember, Leila's yearly birthday request was shot down without explanation. Ani had just come to accept that her mother didn't know who the dad was, Leila just wanted to know the big secret of it all.
"It was a long standing agreement between your father and I, that when you two came into your own that you would be allowed to meet him. Since the custom of this society is 18, I will allow for you to meet him if you choose so." The level of emotion in the room was toxic. Anita's face contorted as every emotion possible washed over her. Leila just looked befuddled, torn between the lifelong desire to meet her father and the obvious pain that it was causing her mother.
"You knew?!" Anita finally blew up, "You knew this whole time where he was and you didn't say anything? God almighty mom!"
"Anita lower your voice please, " Her mom sat at the kitchen table with a hand to her temple as Anita's voice rose. Ani made a sound that was a cross between growl and sigh of exasperation, threw her hands in the air and stormed back down to her room slamming the doors behind her. Reaching her bedroom the first thing she reached for was her stereo. Cranking up the volume, the guitar riffs of Killswitch Engage filled her room. She knew her choice in rock music made the rest of her family crazy, but she loved being able to scream right along with the music. Immediately after the music started Anita headed over to her punching bag which hung in the farthest corner of the room to let off some steam.
The whole time her mother had known? For as long as Ani could remember, even for as long as Leila could talk she had been asking about their father, and their mother would simply brush off the request as if it were nothing. And the whole time, for the past eighteen years she had known where he was,and had been in communication with him? And what about him? Did he know where they were and just hadn't bothered to introduce himself? Why should she make the effort to meet him and to establish a relationship when it clearly wasn't on his list of priorities? No. It wasn't going to happen. Anita was perfectly content to remain in Tucson and hate him from a distance, wherever in the hell he was.
Some hour later Anita had finally exhausted herself and she just flopped down on the floor. The music cut off without warning. She had known Leila was standing for about 5 minutes now, it was a strange kind of spidey sense she shared with her twin, she was just trying not to acknowledge her.
"I know how much this upsets you," Leila started off calmly.
"I really don't think you do," Anita cut her twin off.
"Hey that's not fair, I don't have a dad either in case you forgot."
Anita sat up and turned to Leila who had made herself comfortable on the bed, " Lei it never bothered you the way it did me. You accepted it like it was totally normal for a dad to abandon his kids this way."
"We don't know what happened…"
"Whose fault it that?" Ani's voice was rising again," His! If he has stuck around we wouldn't be in this situation." Silence filled the room while the girls just stared at each other. It was a very long minute before Leila finally spoke.
"I want to meet him. I want to know what happened between him and mom. I want to know about our family, about our heritage. And I don't want to go alone. I guess he doesn't live nearby, actually I think he lives really far away since mom said it would be "quite a journey" to see him. She said if we wanted to go to let her know so she can make arrangements. Anita please." Leila knew Ani didn't have the heart to say no to her, and Ani knew that Lei knew. Pleading was just overkill.
"I am only doing this because I don't trust your safety if you go alone." Leila lunged across the room and hugged her sister in a death grip, then quick as a bunny was running up the stairs to tell her mother. Anita lay back on the floor and stared up at the ceiling, her shoulder length black hair sprawled over the mat and her side swept bangs falling carelessly across her eyes. She wouldn't cry, she hadn't cried in years over her father. He didn't deserve the tears. There was however a hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach that she associated with him. It wasn't longing or sorrow, and it didn't burn like rage. She wanted answers, really only one answer. Why hadn't he wanted them? What sin could have possibly been committed to abandon his wife and twin daughters?
It took nearly a full week before everything was set for their departure. Anita and Leila had agreed the visit would be limited to the length of the summer, after all freshman year of college started in August and they had to be back for that right? Anita trudged all her stuff up from the basement, two suitcases were for clothes, one backpack carried sketch books, miscellaneous art supplies, plus her precious electronics, and of course there was her guitar. Leila only had her clothes insisting that there would be 'stuff to do' where they were going. Strangely they still didn't know where they were going. Mom hadn't explained a thing, only thing they knew was they were leaving and going somewhere. All this secrecy didn't sit well with Anita. Hauling the last of her stuff up from her room and into the kitchen, Anita was startled to see a very old man with a long gray beard sitting at her kitchen table across from her mother and her sister.
"Anita, this is friend of your father's. He is here to help make the journey…easier for you and your sister. His name is Gandalf." The old man had bright blue eyes, long gray hair and a beard that had never seen the working end of a trimmer she was sure. He reminded her of a monk.
"Gandalf? Nice ta meet ya Gandalf," Anita received a dark look from her mother and Lei as she over annunciated the man's name.
" A pleasure my dear."
"I'm sure it is," she mumbled under her breath and she sat near her sister at the table, Leila of course was sitting so prim and proper; the very picture of what a young lady should be. Her mom got up and poured two cups of tea. Anita and Gandalf sat studying each other in silence.
"Ahh so how long will it take us to get where we're going?" Leila asked, unable to stand the tense silence.
"It will not feel like very long at all my dear." He replied, not taking his eyes off of Anita. Their mother came back and set the tea in front of the twins.
"This will help you not to feel sick as you travel." Both of the girls accepted without question. As soon as the first sip had been taken, Anita noticed her mother was crying. "I am so sorry, I want you both to understand that. I wish I had told you sooner, but I had not the strength of heart. Please forgive me."
Before they were able to question their mothers sudden flood of emotion, Anita and Leila passed out.
The Stone- Ashes Divide