***Sorry about all the time between posts. It's hard to write with school
and stuff heaping up on a person. Thanks to all the people who have
reviewed, and hopefully you guys will continue to enjoy this story.***
Part Four
The scream had shattered the peace of the house. It had rung out across the morning sky, distrubing the quiet breakfast the Lord of Rivendell had been enjoying. His children looked up at him in shock, a slight bit of fear flashing over their faces at the sound. It had sounded so terrifying.
Arwen reached for his hand, concern on her face. Elrond squeezed her hand back, glad to have his only daugther back in his house. He had a feeling that he would need her in the days to come.
His daughter Arwen and her husband had come from Gondor when they had heard of the incident of Orcs in the forests near Rivendell. Many other rulers and old friends had come when they heard of the Orcs attack and the strange women found afterward. But Lord Elrond had no answers for these visitors when they arrived. He knew nothing of the strangers, for they had been asleep since they were found half-dead in the forest. All were waiting on the ladies to arise, in hopes of having some questions answered. But they had not yet awoken, until now.
Lord Elrond had dropped his cup with a start at the scream, raising bewildered eyes to his sons and daughter beside him. They all wore the same expression on their faces. Arwen had turned her head to the south of the palace, eyes going to where the strangers were being kept. Her father understood without having to say a word. Their guests were awake.
Wordlessly, Lord Elrond rose from the table and made his way down the palace hallways. His children were right on his heels, many other Elves watching their trek to the south side. The scream had rang out only once, but it had been filled with such terror that the whole palace was in fear of it. Elrond only walked faster, footsteps clacking harshly instead of the usual silent tread of Elves. He spied the crowd growing in front of the room of one of the strangers. He was quick to push his way through, eyes bewildered at the sight before him.
The stranger sat on her bed, pushed back against the headboard with her legs drawn up to her chest. Her arms were clasped tightly around her legs, her face buried in her knees as she rocked back and forth. He could hear the mutterings coming from the girl, not able to make much of the incoherent rant. He looked sharply at the Elvish woman who was supposed to be waiting on the child.
She fell out of bed sire. the maid was quick to assure him. I came rushing in here with Fingrot at my side. But our appearance only served to distress her. She screamed and recoiled from us.
Elrond nodded, looking closely at the girl on the bed while he cautiously approached her. He could hear her ramblings more clearly now, though they confused him more than before.
"They're not here, they don't exist. They're not here, they don't exist. They're not here, they don't exist . . ."
The same sentence over and over again. Elrond furrowed his brow, sitting on the bed near the girl. She stiffened at the shift on the mattress, turning one eye to see who was there. He sat back silently, not wishing to alarm her further than she had been. She spoke in the Common Tongue, not surprising since she was human. But the problem was, she wasn't quite like the humans he had known in his lifetime. Her apparel, and the apparel of her companion, were odd to see the least. And for some reason, she seemed frightened by the presence of Elves. And her ramblings, it was as if she was trying to convince herself that the Elves were not in the room with her. She was strange, but hopelessly lost.
"How are you feeling?" he asked her tentatively. She shook her head, burying her face in her knees once more. She refused to answer him, refused to look at him.
"Child, what is the matter?" he pushed gently. "You must tell us. We cannot help you if you do not."
"You're not here," she whispered to him. "You do not exist."
"Child-"
"I am not a child!" she was quick to snap. "And this dream or whatever is so not fun anymore. You're not real okay? You're like a figment of my overactive imagination. Don't think I haven't figured out what really happened, because I did."
"Then what happened?" he asked her softly, exchanging concerned looks with his children.
"I'm in a coma," she revealed, jumping off the bed and scurrying into the corner furthest from her visitors. "Hunter crashed the goddamn car and I was really hurt because I remember that I didn't have my seatbelt on."
"Seatbelt? Car?"
"So I probably went head first through the glass," she continued, as if no one else had spoken. "I'm probably really really hurt in the hospital. Jenn is freaking out as we speak, and Hunter is trying to stop the cops from taking his license away from him again. And all of this stuff is not real, but stuff I made up in my mind. Hunter, well, he died because I was so incredibly pissed at him. Jenn got shot because I'm mad at her for sticking with the jerk off. And those things in the forest, they were manifestations of my problems with both of those two. And that's why they were so totally violent. And you guys, well, Grams always used to tell me stories about Elves and Fairies and stuff, so I know where you guys came from. Yep, this is all in my head. I made all of you up."
Elrond was very confused by her ramblings. She seemed to be very desperate, frantic to try and explain all of this away. The things of which she spoke of, cars and cops, were foreign to him. It was as if she was not of this world, but that was not possible. At least, to his knowledge it was not possible. He turned to his children, seeking Arwen with his eyes.
Go bring me your husband he commanded her. She needs to see one of her own.
Arwen gave the slightest of nods before turning to leave the room. Elrond looked back at the girl, seeing she was still in the corner talking to herself. She was a mess, hair in a wild mane, eyes wide and panicked. Her hand was brought to her mouth as she bit away at her nails in fear. She didn't look at any of the Elves assembled in her room for more than a few seconds at a time. She shut her eyes periodically, mumbling increasingly as she did so. Every time she opened her eyes, she seemed to be very disappointed. It was as if she was trying to make them disappear with sheer will.
"Child," he approached her once more, hand outstretched in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. "We wish you no harm."
"You can't harm me," she laughed nervously. "I'm dreaming all this. You're not real and therefore you cannot harm me. This is all in my head."
"We are as real as you are," he tried pleading with her.
"You can't be," she wailed in distress. "Because if you're real, this is all real. And Hunter did die and Jenn is hurt and those things-oh God, what the hell were those things in the woods?"
"Child, please let us help you," Elrond pleaded, approaching her a bit closer. She recoiled from his hand, dodging out away from him.
"Just stay away!" she shrieked. "I know you're not real, but just stay away! I don't want this, any of this. I just want to be home with Jenn and even that idiot Hunter because he was a jerk but he shouldn't have died. He didn't die, this is all in my head."
"We won't hurt you," Elrond tried again. "But you have to understand. We can't help you until you realize that we are real."
"People with pointy ears are not real!" she shrieked. "Maybe on Star Trek, but whatever, I always hated that show. And another thing, Elves aren't real. You're not here, you don't exist. Just like Mom used to say,even though Grams used to say differently, but Grams was senile in the last days, so you can't really take her word for it. You're not real, you're things of fiction, and none of this is happening-"
Father came the whisper at his side. Arwen approaches with Aragorn.
He nodded, resignedly turning away from the frantic girl in front of him. She was still mumbling to herself, closing her eyes and trying hard not to cry. He shook his head sadly. She needed to accept the truth before they could help her. He did not know what she feared or how she came to his city, but he knew one thing.
She did not belong here.
*****
She couldn't understand why they weren't going away. This was her imagination and she could very well make them go away. And yet, they remained whenever she opened her eyes. They had to go away, they were unnerving. They were so eerily beautiful, so pale and tall and regal. It wasn't natural the way they looked. Their skin was so soft and unblemished, eyes so clear, it wasn't right.
She was dreaming all of it. She remembered the stories her Grams used to tell her when she was younger. These things fit her description of Elves to the tee. So it was logical that she was just dreaming all of this. All these things were just images she had seen before in her life. They were all just coming to the front because her mind was working overtime while she was injured from the car crash. That made sense, it made perfect sense.
So why didn't she believe herself?
The dark-haired one in front of her wasn't helping matters much. He kept on approaching, saying such reasonable things. And he wasn't threatening in the least. But he couldn't be real. None of it could. It was just too bizarre to be real, too scary.
The one in front of her finally backed off. She gave a sigh of relief, sinking to the floor. She kept her head down, eyes on the floor. Maybe now they would all go and she could wake up in some hospital bed with Jenn next to her and Hunter looking on guiltily from the door. Because he was always sorry, the only problem was he was sorry so much of the time. He just never learned and was made the same mistakes.
Someone was kneeling in front of her.
"Go away," she muttered unhappily. "Just go away so I can wake up already."
A hand was put to her chin. Unwillingly, her face was brought up, green eyes meeting a kind face. A kind human face. Her eyes went to his ears, as if trying to verify that he was for real. Normal ears, tanned skin, a few wrinkles here and there, he was human.
"I don't want this to be real," she whispered pleadingly to him. "I just want to be at home with my sister. Hunter too if that's what it takes to get me out of here."
He gave her a sad smile.
"Your sister is well," he informed her. "She is resting no more than three doors down. The arrow caused her to loose a lot of blood, but the healers were able to restore her to complete health. She is fine, sleeping off her injuries. But as for your other companion, I am sorry my lady."
She felt the few tears trickle down her cheeks. She never had liked him, but he was Hunter. Jenn loved him and he was okay at the beginning. She liked him in the beginning. She supposed that's why Jenn stayed for so long, because there was a chance that the nice Hunter would come back out. And for all the crap that the jerk pulled, he never hit either of them. It didn't make him a prince, but it didn't make him a complete monster.
"I didn't really want him to die," she whispered to the man next to her. "I just said it cause I was angry, I didn't mean it. But then he really was dead and I just couldn't believe it. It's just so much better if it was a dream, because then he's not really dead and I never said that to him. I didn't mean for it to happen, I was just angry."
"It was not your fault Orcs were in the forest with you," the man informed her. "You could not have stopped them from slaying your friend. But you and your sister are safe, you should have some solace in that."
"But this all can't be real," she insisted, eyes pleading with him. "None of this is real. Elves don't exist and there aren't blue and green monsters running around shooting arrows at people. It just doesn't happen. This isn't normal, it doesn't happen in real life."
"It is quite common here," he assured her.
"Then where is here?" she demanded, rising to her feet. "Because I don't belong here if stuff like this is normal. Where I come from, none of this stuff can happen. It's not normal, it doesn't happen!"
"But it does here," he told her firmly, gripping her by the arms and leading her to the bed. "You need to understand that this is all real. As soon as you can, then we can help get you to where you do belong."
"You can do that?"
"We will try," he promised her. "I swear it."
She nodded, giving him an appraisingly look. She turned her gaze to all the people, er, Elves waiting outside her room. She kept nodding to herself, as if affirming all of it. The tears started trickling down her cheeks again.
"It all happened," she whispered. "Oh God, how am I going to tell Jenn? She loved that idiot, and he's really gone, and we're not home-how am I supposed to . . . to -"
She broke out into a full fledged sob, turning burrow herself back under the covers. She cried for a good long time, getting all of it out of her system. She felt the hand on her back, trying to soothe her. She heard the Elves flutter around the room, some people drying her face and murmuring sweet melodies to her. Very slowly, she drifted back off into sleep, the events of the past few days catching up with her. She was so exhausted, she felt so numb all over. The last few days had been too hard on her emotionally and physically.
And it wasn't even over yet.
*****
Part Four
The scream had shattered the peace of the house. It had rung out across the morning sky, distrubing the quiet breakfast the Lord of Rivendell had been enjoying. His children looked up at him in shock, a slight bit of fear flashing over their faces at the sound. It had sounded so terrifying.
Arwen reached for his hand, concern on her face. Elrond squeezed her hand back, glad to have his only daugther back in his house. He had a feeling that he would need her in the days to come.
His daughter Arwen and her husband had come from Gondor when they had heard of the incident of Orcs in the forests near Rivendell. Many other rulers and old friends had come when they heard of the Orcs attack and the strange women found afterward. But Lord Elrond had no answers for these visitors when they arrived. He knew nothing of the strangers, for they had been asleep since they were found half-dead in the forest. All were waiting on the ladies to arise, in hopes of having some questions answered. But they had not yet awoken, until now.
Lord Elrond had dropped his cup with a start at the scream, raising bewildered eyes to his sons and daughter beside him. They all wore the same expression on their faces. Arwen had turned her head to the south of the palace, eyes going to where the strangers were being kept. Her father understood without having to say a word. Their guests were awake.
Wordlessly, Lord Elrond rose from the table and made his way down the palace hallways. His children were right on his heels, many other Elves watching their trek to the south side. The scream had rang out only once, but it had been filled with such terror that the whole palace was in fear of it. Elrond only walked faster, footsteps clacking harshly instead of the usual silent tread of Elves. He spied the crowd growing in front of the room of one of the strangers. He was quick to push his way through, eyes bewildered at the sight before him.
The stranger sat on her bed, pushed back against the headboard with her legs drawn up to her chest. Her arms were clasped tightly around her legs, her face buried in her knees as she rocked back and forth. He could hear the mutterings coming from the girl, not able to make much of the incoherent rant. He looked sharply at the Elvish woman who was supposed to be waiting on the child.
She fell out of bed sire. the maid was quick to assure him. I came rushing in here with Fingrot at my side. But our appearance only served to distress her. She screamed and recoiled from us.
Elrond nodded, looking closely at the girl on the bed while he cautiously approached her. He could hear her ramblings more clearly now, though they confused him more than before.
"They're not here, they don't exist. They're not here, they don't exist. They're not here, they don't exist . . ."
The same sentence over and over again. Elrond furrowed his brow, sitting on the bed near the girl. She stiffened at the shift on the mattress, turning one eye to see who was there. He sat back silently, not wishing to alarm her further than she had been. She spoke in the Common Tongue, not surprising since she was human. But the problem was, she wasn't quite like the humans he had known in his lifetime. Her apparel, and the apparel of her companion, were odd to see the least. And for some reason, she seemed frightened by the presence of Elves. And her ramblings, it was as if she was trying to convince herself that the Elves were not in the room with her. She was strange, but hopelessly lost.
"How are you feeling?" he asked her tentatively. She shook her head, burying her face in her knees once more. She refused to answer him, refused to look at him.
"Child, what is the matter?" he pushed gently. "You must tell us. We cannot help you if you do not."
"You're not here," she whispered to him. "You do not exist."
"Child-"
"I am not a child!" she was quick to snap. "And this dream or whatever is so not fun anymore. You're not real okay? You're like a figment of my overactive imagination. Don't think I haven't figured out what really happened, because I did."
"Then what happened?" he asked her softly, exchanging concerned looks with his children.
"I'm in a coma," she revealed, jumping off the bed and scurrying into the corner furthest from her visitors. "Hunter crashed the goddamn car and I was really hurt because I remember that I didn't have my seatbelt on."
"Seatbelt? Car?"
"So I probably went head first through the glass," she continued, as if no one else had spoken. "I'm probably really really hurt in the hospital. Jenn is freaking out as we speak, and Hunter is trying to stop the cops from taking his license away from him again. And all of this stuff is not real, but stuff I made up in my mind. Hunter, well, he died because I was so incredibly pissed at him. Jenn got shot because I'm mad at her for sticking with the jerk off. And those things in the forest, they were manifestations of my problems with both of those two. And that's why they were so totally violent. And you guys, well, Grams always used to tell me stories about Elves and Fairies and stuff, so I know where you guys came from. Yep, this is all in my head. I made all of you up."
Elrond was very confused by her ramblings. She seemed to be very desperate, frantic to try and explain all of this away. The things of which she spoke of, cars and cops, were foreign to him. It was as if she was not of this world, but that was not possible. At least, to his knowledge it was not possible. He turned to his children, seeking Arwen with his eyes.
Go bring me your husband he commanded her. She needs to see one of her own.
Arwen gave the slightest of nods before turning to leave the room. Elrond looked back at the girl, seeing she was still in the corner talking to herself. She was a mess, hair in a wild mane, eyes wide and panicked. Her hand was brought to her mouth as she bit away at her nails in fear. She didn't look at any of the Elves assembled in her room for more than a few seconds at a time. She shut her eyes periodically, mumbling increasingly as she did so. Every time she opened her eyes, she seemed to be very disappointed. It was as if she was trying to make them disappear with sheer will.
"Child," he approached her once more, hand outstretched in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. "We wish you no harm."
"You can't harm me," she laughed nervously. "I'm dreaming all this. You're not real and therefore you cannot harm me. This is all in my head."
"We are as real as you are," he tried pleading with her.
"You can't be," she wailed in distress. "Because if you're real, this is all real. And Hunter did die and Jenn is hurt and those things-oh God, what the hell were those things in the woods?"
"Child, please let us help you," Elrond pleaded, approaching her a bit closer. She recoiled from his hand, dodging out away from him.
"Just stay away!" she shrieked. "I know you're not real, but just stay away! I don't want this, any of this. I just want to be home with Jenn and even that idiot Hunter because he was a jerk but he shouldn't have died. He didn't die, this is all in my head."
"We won't hurt you," Elrond tried again. "But you have to understand. We can't help you until you realize that we are real."
"People with pointy ears are not real!" she shrieked. "Maybe on Star Trek, but whatever, I always hated that show. And another thing, Elves aren't real. You're not here, you don't exist. Just like Mom used to say,even though Grams used to say differently, but Grams was senile in the last days, so you can't really take her word for it. You're not real, you're things of fiction, and none of this is happening-"
Father came the whisper at his side. Arwen approaches with Aragorn.
He nodded, resignedly turning away from the frantic girl in front of him. She was still mumbling to herself, closing her eyes and trying hard not to cry. He shook his head sadly. She needed to accept the truth before they could help her. He did not know what she feared or how she came to his city, but he knew one thing.
She did not belong here.
*****
She couldn't understand why they weren't going away. This was her imagination and she could very well make them go away. And yet, they remained whenever she opened her eyes. They had to go away, they were unnerving. They were so eerily beautiful, so pale and tall and regal. It wasn't natural the way they looked. Their skin was so soft and unblemished, eyes so clear, it wasn't right.
She was dreaming all of it. She remembered the stories her Grams used to tell her when she was younger. These things fit her description of Elves to the tee. So it was logical that she was just dreaming all of this. All these things were just images she had seen before in her life. They were all just coming to the front because her mind was working overtime while she was injured from the car crash. That made sense, it made perfect sense.
So why didn't she believe herself?
The dark-haired one in front of her wasn't helping matters much. He kept on approaching, saying such reasonable things. And he wasn't threatening in the least. But he couldn't be real. None of it could. It was just too bizarre to be real, too scary.
The one in front of her finally backed off. She gave a sigh of relief, sinking to the floor. She kept her head down, eyes on the floor. Maybe now they would all go and she could wake up in some hospital bed with Jenn next to her and Hunter looking on guiltily from the door. Because he was always sorry, the only problem was he was sorry so much of the time. He just never learned and was made the same mistakes.
Someone was kneeling in front of her.
"Go away," she muttered unhappily. "Just go away so I can wake up already."
A hand was put to her chin. Unwillingly, her face was brought up, green eyes meeting a kind face. A kind human face. Her eyes went to his ears, as if trying to verify that he was for real. Normal ears, tanned skin, a few wrinkles here and there, he was human.
"I don't want this to be real," she whispered pleadingly to him. "I just want to be at home with my sister. Hunter too if that's what it takes to get me out of here."
He gave her a sad smile.
"Your sister is well," he informed her. "She is resting no more than three doors down. The arrow caused her to loose a lot of blood, but the healers were able to restore her to complete health. She is fine, sleeping off her injuries. But as for your other companion, I am sorry my lady."
She felt the few tears trickle down her cheeks. She never had liked him, but he was Hunter. Jenn loved him and he was okay at the beginning. She liked him in the beginning. She supposed that's why Jenn stayed for so long, because there was a chance that the nice Hunter would come back out. And for all the crap that the jerk pulled, he never hit either of them. It didn't make him a prince, but it didn't make him a complete monster.
"I didn't really want him to die," she whispered to the man next to her. "I just said it cause I was angry, I didn't mean it. But then he really was dead and I just couldn't believe it. It's just so much better if it was a dream, because then he's not really dead and I never said that to him. I didn't mean for it to happen, I was just angry."
"It was not your fault Orcs were in the forest with you," the man informed her. "You could not have stopped them from slaying your friend. But you and your sister are safe, you should have some solace in that."
"But this all can't be real," she insisted, eyes pleading with him. "None of this is real. Elves don't exist and there aren't blue and green monsters running around shooting arrows at people. It just doesn't happen. This isn't normal, it doesn't happen in real life."
"It is quite common here," he assured her.
"Then where is here?" she demanded, rising to her feet. "Because I don't belong here if stuff like this is normal. Where I come from, none of this stuff can happen. It's not normal, it doesn't happen!"
"But it does here," he told her firmly, gripping her by the arms and leading her to the bed. "You need to understand that this is all real. As soon as you can, then we can help get you to where you do belong."
"You can do that?"
"We will try," he promised her. "I swear it."
She nodded, giving him an appraisingly look. She turned her gaze to all the people, er, Elves waiting outside her room. She kept nodding to herself, as if affirming all of it. The tears started trickling down her cheeks again.
"It all happened," she whispered. "Oh God, how am I going to tell Jenn? She loved that idiot, and he's really gone, and we're not home-how am I supposed to . . . to -"
She broke out into a full fledged sob, turning burrow herself back under the covers. She cried for a good long time, getting all of it out of her system. She felt the hand on her back, trying to soothe her. She heard the Elves flutter around the room, some people drying her face and murmuring sweet melodies to her. Very slowly, she drifted back off into sleep, the events of the past few days catching up with her. She was so exhausted, she felt so numb all over. The last few days had been too hard on her emotionally and physically.
And it wasn't even over yet.
*****