AN: Thanks to everyone who added the story to their favorite list and following it. Thanks to 'Lavyanya' for being the first reviewer of this story. This is another chapter for you. Legolas is going to come in the next chapter. This chapter is mainly Katherine's back story. I hope you like it. Please review and let me know what you think of the story so far. Thank you!
Chapter 9: Tales Of The Other World
"And then the kiss of true love woken up Princess Aurora from her deep slumber."
"Did they live happily ever after?" asked Bilbo very curiously. Katherine and the hobbits were sitting under the moon light and sharing stories with each other.
"Yes Master Baggins, they did" said Katherine laughing a little. She was telling the hobbits fairy tales from her world. The ones she grew up listening to.
"Tell us the story of the mermaid. We don't have any mermaid story here" said Pippin boiling with excitement.
"Now now, you've already heard three stories today. We should save some for tomorrow. Besides, it's time for you to go to bed" said Katherine making the hobbits sulk. She must admit, she was having a great time with the hobbits. Even Bilbo seems to have started liking her. It could also be the fact that she wasn't wearing strange clothes anymore but a simple yet gorgeous silver elvish gown. It made her look magnificent. And didn't make her look like an alien anymore. Katherine held the gown as if she's quite used to of wearing them. Katherine was always very fashionable so wearing a dress instead of plain clothes wasn't a big deal for her.
"I can stay awake all night" said Pippin proudly. Hoping that Katherine would continuing telling them stories of her land.
"Yeah right" Merry scoffed at his cousin. Bilbo stood up slowly and sighed out heavily.
"Well I must go to bed. I tell you being old is not fun."
"Let me help you get to bed Mr. Baggins" said Sam politely, getting up with Bilbo and offering his help.
"Oh thank you my lad." Bilbo took Sam's hand and they started walking away slowly. Sam looked over his shoulder.
"Come on Merry, Pippin. You wouldn't want to miss breakfast in the morning."
Groaning Merry and Pippin got up and started walking away too. For a brief moment Sam's eyes met with Frodo's. Samwise knew Frodo wanted to be alone with Katherine for a while. Speak with her without anyone else hearing them. Once the other hobbits left, Frodo looked at Katherine. She has already told him, why Gandalf had attacked her when she entered Rivendell. Although she didn't say the entire truth but she didn't lie to him either. Katherine told Frodo that she didn't warn Gandalf about Saruman even though she knew the older wizard has gone evil. She claimed that Gandalf needed to witness Saruman's treachery with his own eyes. Otherwise he wouldn't have believed it. Katherine told Frodo that she also knew that Gandalf will be alright and that he would be able to rescue himself. Or she wouldn't have let him go to Isengard. Which wasn't true at all. But Frodo didn't need to know that.
Frodo never got mad at Katherine. He truly believed Katherine's intentions were clear. And she meant no harm. Frodo's blind faith in Katherine wasn't anything new however something new and different happened with Katherine. She felt guilty feigning to be someone innocent with Frodo. There was no explanation for what reason Katherine felt that way but she did indeed. It never happened to Katherine before. At least for a long time. It both confused and frustrated her. And truth to be told, it scared her a little bit. The changes Katherine felt in her wasn't acceptable to say the least.
"Your tales are really amazing" said Frodo with soft tone of voice. He really meant it.
"Yes they are" said Katherine with a smile. "My mother used to tell me stories every night before putting me to bed."
Suddenly Katherine felt heavy in her chest. She immediately stood up from where she was sitting and started walking away. It confused Frodo and he started following her too.
"What happened?" he asked Katherine worriedly.
"Nothing." Katherine said at once with stern tone of voice. Frodo frowned in confusion at the sudden change in Katherine's behavior. He felt a little hurt too. Katherine saw that but couldn't care about it that moment. "Just leave me alone."
Katherine quickly walked away from Frodo. Leaving the little hobbit with wounded feelings. Katherine ran off to her bed chamber. She was given a room to stay in Lord Elrond's house. Katherine got inside and closed the doors behind her. It's been years since she felt heavy in her chest thinking about her mother. She's used to of feeling nothing at all. Why? Why suddenly she is experiencing feelings regarding this matter? What is happening to Katherine in this place? Is it because she's in the fictional middle earth? Katherine looked down to her chest and saw the one ring. Gently hanging from her neck with a silver chain. Is it the ring that's causing changes in her? But why would it want Katherine to have feelings that she doesn't wish to have. The ring is suppose to corrupt people. Not mend them. No the changes aren't the ring's doing. Katherine's sure of it. But then what is?
Katherine was really puzzled. She detected internal changes in her and she didn't like it a bit. This shouldn't happen. She needs to be more careful. Guard herself more strongly. Katherine stalked off towards the bed and dropped herself on it. Better get some decent sleep before the middle earth drama resumes tomorrow. However sleep didn't come to Katherine. After tossing and turning for a while, Katherine got up. She just can't sleep. Katherine thought about taking a walk outside. It might help her calm down a little bit. Even though Katherine found no sensible reason for her to be anxious in the first place.
Katherine had only walked for a while when her eyes fell on a little hobbit. Frodo was simply standing there, leaning against the balcony and gazing at the stars and moon. He was quite lost in his own thoughts. And he looked a bit upset too. Katherine recalled snapping at Frodo. She shouldn't have done that. He was only feeling concerned for her. Katherine sighed out heavily and walked up to Frodo. Thinking about ways to make up to him. And again Katherine couldn't help but wonder, what the hell is wrong with her? Since when did she care about hurting someone's feelings. For a moment Katherine even stopped and decided to turn back but her feet suddenly got minds of their own. They took her to Frodo.
"Can't sleep huh?" Frodo was startled a little as Katherine suddenly spoke up over his shoulder. He turned to look at her.
"Katherine" he gasped out.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." She said with a smile. "I can't sleep either."
"Are you alright Katherine?" Frodo asked worriedly. Looking intensely at her face. Katherine sighed out a little.
"Yes, I'm fine Frodo. Don't worry." Silence fell over them and they stayed quiet for sometime. Both gazing at the night sky.
"I apologize to you for earlier." Frodo spoke up, breaking the silence in the process. Katherine looked at him with confusion.
"What are you apologizing for?"
"I must have done something wrong. You suddenly got angry. I am sorry if I said anything that hurt you. I didn't mean to" said Frodo anxiously. Katherine's usual hard gaze softened. This little hobbit is so innocent. How can someone be so pure?
"No, Frodo. You did nothing wrong. I am sorry for being rude to you for no reason. I just.." Katherine sighed out heavily. "Is there anyway I could make it up to you?" Katherine asked really wishing that Frodo would give her a chance.
"You don't need to apologize for anything Katherine" said Frodo sincerely. "But since you asked, how about you tell me another story from your world." Frodo smiled at Katherine as he made that request. Katherine couldn't help but smile back.
"As you wish Mr. Frodo" said Katherine playfully.
"Now which story should I tell you." Katherine started thinking. "You know Frodo almost all the story is the same. A princess or a queen or someone important faces danger, a prince charming or a knight in shinning armor comes and rescues her and afterwards they live happily forever. No one tells a story about a normal ordinary unimportant girl." Katherine said the last part more to herself than to Frodo.
"Such ordinary girls never really have a happy ending" said Katherine with deep tone of voice. Her gaze unfocused as if she's remembering a memory of the past.
"Do you know of any story about an ordinary girl? I would like to hear that" said Frodo eagerly.
"I certainly do" said Katherine. She didn't know what occurred to her but Katherine started telling Frodo a story.
"In a residence area of London, lived a little girl named Angel."
"Angel?"
"Yes Frodo. Angel was loved by all. But she was the apple of her mother's eyes. The mother loved her little angel more than anything. When Angel was an infant, her mother wouldn't leave her side for a second. She'd spend hours playing with the baby. Teaching her to speak and walk. The love between mother and daughter only increased with time. Angel loved hearing stories. About princesses, and fairies, and about middle earth as well. Her mother would tell her new stories everyday. Everything was fine. Everyone was happy. Angel and her mom and her dad, they were the example of a perfect little happy family. But then one fateful day, everything got destroyed."
Katherine's voice thickened as she said that. Her eyes unfocused. Frodo's eyes widened a little bit. And he curiously asked. "What happened?"
"A terrible accident. Angel and her mother were traveling. It was raining heavily. The roads were very slippery. One thing led to another and before Angel could realize what was going on, she and her mother were in grave danger. The mother would not let anything happen to her beloved daughter. She managed to save Angel but couldn't save herself. She died."
"That is terrible" said Frodo feeling sad for the girl in the story.
"It was indeed. But it was only the beginning of endless misery for Angel. The day of her mother's funeral, Angel thought it was the worst day of her life. It turned out that she was quite wrong." Frodo kept listening attentively. Not making a single sound. He was getting very lost in the story himself.
"Angel's life had turned up side down in a blink of an eye. She couldn't remain a child anymore. She had to grow up very quickly. At least mentally even though she was only ten years old. No more bedtime stories, or childish demands. No more going to the parks or the zoo or the museum on weekends. Her mother used to make their weekends very eventful. Angel even had to learn to take care of herself in short time. It appeared to people around her that Angel has lost only one person in her life but she was the most important one. Angel became so lonely with passing time that she didn't even have anyone to talk to. There was no one she could pour out her heart to. No one to share the pain with. Angel's father, no doubt a good man but didn't really care about his daughter's silent suffering. He was more busy finding himself a new wife. Although he told everyone that he wishes to get remarried soon because Angel is motherless and she needs a mother figure in her life but in reality he was only trying to fulfill the empty place of his wife." Katherine didn't realize but her voice became bitter. Frodo noticed it but he remained quite.
"What happened next?"
"Well Angel started growing up all by herself. Her step mother never really wished to be her mother. And her father didn't care about that as long as he had a perfect family to show off in the society. Coping with the loss and pain, Angel started moving on with her life eventually. But fate wasn't done with her yet. She was condemned to more suffering." Katherine paused for a moment and she closed her eyes.
"It was heavily raining that day. It was the second storm in Angel's life that was going to destroy everything for her once again." Katherine reopened her eyes but her gaze still unfocused. "Angel was at school-" Frodo didn't stop Katherine to ask what is a school. He couldn't interrupt Katherine as she was really into the story.
"She was going to perform in a play, so Angel had to stay after the classes. She couldn't take the school bus like other days because of that. After rehearsal was over, Angel started waiting for her step mother to come and pick her up from school. Even though she should've already been there. For half an hour, no one came. Angel thought, her step mother must have forgotten. She tried calling her and her father as well from the school phone but no one picked up. Angel would have walked home if the rain wasn't so terrible. Having no other choice, Angel kept waiting for either of her parents to realize that she hasn't returned home yet and then come and pick her up from school." Katherine breathed out a heavy sigh.
"The school was closed. It was getting dark outside. And Angel was simply sitting there alone, and waiting. You do realize Frodo what could happen to a little girl sitting all alone in a secluded place at night. Miles away from home. She could be easily spotted by bad people. Very bad and nasty people." Frodo's heart started beating loudly in his chest as he realized where Angel's story is going.
"Did something happen to Angel?" Frodo asked fearfully.
"Yes Frodo. She was indeed very unfortunate. Angel had no idea where that man came from. Was he there from the beginning? Keeping an eye on her like a predator. Or he just happen to stumble upon Angel. But that man come closer to Angel and started talking to her. Angel even though a little girl but she was very smart. She knew she shouldn't talk to strangers. She told the man the same thing. To which that man laughed out loud. He didn't give up though. He offered her chocolates, candies and food, even offered to take her home. Angel denied all the offers. When the man ran out of patience, he dropped his polite act and started hitting Angel angrily. Scared to death, Angel tried running away but the man was too strong and fast. He didn't let her escape. That horrible man dragged Angel inside the school building and did terrible things with her. Terrible things Frodo. Angel wanted to die that day."
Katherine inhaled a deep breath before continuing the story. "The man left Angel when he was done with her. He did spare her life but Angel wished he had killed her after all the things he did to her. Angel didn't know how long it took for her to put herself back together and drag her bruised and beaten body outside of school building. The rain had finally stopped. Angel managed to get to a telephone booth and she called her grandmother this time. Something she should have done hours ago. Angel's grandmother couldn't come to her school as she lived very far away. But she called her step mother and scolded her good. She asked her to immediately go to school and bring Angel back home."
"Within half an hour Angel's step mother got to school. Her pathetic excuse for not coming earlier was that she was busy in yet another kitty party with her friends. And she completely forgot about Angel. However when the step mother saw angel and really looked at her, she got shocked as Angel was in a real bad shape. The step mother started panicking that moment. She didn't care about what happened with Angel though. She was worried about getting blamed for it and getting yelled at by Angel's father and grandmother as she was suppose to pick up Angel from school and she didn't. The step mother quickly took Angel to a nearby hospital. She even bribed the doctor not to file a police report and threatened Angel not to say a word to anyone. The step mother did take care of everything very discretely."
"Did Angel really not tell anyone?" asked Frodo curiously. He found himself hating the step mother.
"Angel wished she didn't tell anyone because when she did, the response was quite unexpected" said Katherine with suspense.
"Angel found out that her father was out of town for business purpose. She realized that's why he didn't take her call. It would take a few days for her father to return home. Angel stayed locked up in her room most of the time. She couldn't sleep at night because of the nightmares that plagued her dreams. There wasn't a moment of peace for her as she was going through heavy emotional turmoil. Angel was completely terrified and scared all the time."
"Poor Angel" said Frodo sadly.
"When her father returned home, Angel's step mother warned her again about not saying a word to her father about what happened to her. However when Angel met her father, she didn't care about any warning. She embraced him tightly and started crying out loud. Angel told her father what happened to her expecting him to take care of her. Provide her comfort and strength. Do her justice. However, instead of affection, Angel received a slap from her father."
"What? Why?" asked Frodo getting shocked himself.
"Because someone had already poisoned his mind. Angel's step mother feared that her threat wouldn't work and Angel might tell her father everything. That's why she already told her father that Angel has developed a new habit of telling lies and make up stories because she simply hated her step mother and wanted to get attention from people. And unsurprisingly Angel's father trusted his wife more than his daughter. He yelled at Angel for telling such filthy lies. He accused her of trying to disgrace their family for selfish reasons.
When Angel showed her father her bruises, her step mother quipped in and told her father that they were self inflected. And that she saw Angel hurting herself with own eyes. It made Angel's father more enraged. Instead of love and care like Angel hoped for, she received severe punishment from her father. Angel was asked to put out her hands and then her father started hitting her palms with a stick repeatedly so hard that it left a bloodied scar on her palms every time."
"What a cruel man!" exclaimed Frodo with anger.
"During her punishment, pain, sadness, anger, hatred overwhelmed Angel. So much that she started feeling scared. Angel had only two options before her. Either she could've snapped and let out all the emotions or turn it all off and not feel anything at all."
"What did she do?" Frodo asked anxiously. Katherine looked down at the little hobbit.
"What do you think Frodo?"
"She abandoned her feeling" whispered out Frodo as he figured that out.
"Yes, Frodo. She did. She shut the doors of her heart and let it sank into the darkness. Angel emptied herself of all the feelings and emotions. And when she did that, she finally found peace. Because Angel didn't have to care about anything anymore. She didn't care if her father wronged her instead of loving her. She didn't care what her step mother did to her. She even stopped caring about what that man did to her. Nothing mattered to her anymore. Nothing at all. Being void of emotions was a gift for her. Angel could finally be calm instead of being an emotional wreck. Yes, there was no love, no joy left in Angel but she was more than happy to be rid of the pain and sadness and most importantly the fear. Angel never regretted what she became afterwards. She went on living her life like that. And that dear Frodo was her happily ever after."
"But that can't be her happily ever after. Angel must start feeling like a normal person again" said Frodo getting all too serious. There were a lot of terms, Katherine used in the story that Frodo didn't understand but he understood Angel. And his heart broke for her.
"No Frodo. Angel doesn't want to change. She won't let anyone change her. Besides, it may be the best thing for her" said Katherine with a soft yet mysterious smile.
"But that-" Frodo immediately started protesting but Katherine cut him off.
"Relax Frodo. It was just a story. No need to get so worried over a non-existing person" said Katherine with a smile.
"But I felt very close to Angel. As if I know her" said Frodo more to himself than to Katherine. She laughed a little at that.
"That's because I'm a good story teller. Now you should really to go bed and get some sleep. I'm feeling sleepy myself" said Katherine to the little hobbit and sent him off to his bed. Once Frodo went out of sight, Katherine sighed out heavily. She looked down at her palms. They looked normal but if one had keen eyes and looked closely, there are still a few fainted scars that could be seen among the lines of her palms. She traced one scar on one hand with the forefinger of her other hand.
"You do know her Frodo" said Katherine to herself and she slowly dropped her hands to her sides. She started walking towards her bedchamber. Hoping to finally catch some sleep. After all she was feeling a little light in her heart at the moment. What Katherine didn't know is that a certain ranger heard and saw everything and he couldn't describe with words the amount of pity he felt for her.
