A/N - If I say too much, I'll spoil the surprises in the next chapter. Take two guesses what shows up next...
Disclaimer - *checks* Nope, still own nothing. Sorry. (Of course, if I DID own the rights to anything LoTR-related, I wouldn't tell you. Then I would be mobbed by fangirls, all foaming at the mouth, demanded I hand over the rights to [insert chosen heartthrob here]. I still want to live!)
Where There's The Ring, There's....
"No," Ria whispered, sliding down off the sideboard in disbelief and horror. "No!"
"Yess, yess, my Precious, oh, my Precious!" Gollum rejoiced.
"Smeagol," Ria croaked. "Come here."
"No! You wants the Precious! You can't have it! It's mine, my own! My love, my own... my Precioussssss..."
"Smeagol, get over here NOW or I will get the dress!"
Gollum sulked, but against such a threat he had no defence, and reluctantly he slouched over to where Ria was standing.
"Smeagol," Ria said tremulously. "Is that really the Precious?"
"Yes, it is! It's mine, my own -"
"Yeah, I know. Shut up, I'm trying to think..." Ria's mind was whirling out of control. What could she do now? She had to get rid of it. That much was obvious. But how? And where? How could she destroy it if she had no idea where to go? At least in Middle-Earth Frodo knew where to go to destroy it, Ria thought miserably. The only problem was in getting there. Here, however, I need not only to get there, I need to find out where the hell I'm supposed to destroy it in the first place. And there's no Rivendell, no wise Lord Elrond to tell me what to do...
Gollum was stroking his Precious, murmuring to it. Ria watched, sickened. The Ring had already poisoned Gollum's mind, but it would poison him more if she didn't do something about it. But what could she do? Would they have to go through all the pain of destroying the Ring all over again? Where could they go?
Ria leaned back against the car behind her and closed her eyes, her mind racing as she desperately tried to figure out a plan. Could she just throw it in the ocean? There was no Sauron here to search it out, thank goodness. Who knew if the Ring had the power to corrupt Earth-people like it did to the people of Middle-Earth? Was the only reason it was still affecting Gollum because he was originally from Middle-Earth? She hoped she could just toss it in the Pacific or something, she really did. If not, she would have to find a very active volcano, and finding one and getting there would be much more difficult than just -
Suddenly, Ria was aware of the pounding of hoofbeats somewhere in the street. What could that be? she wondered. The Riding Club didn't meet on Saturdays...
Her mind made a leap to the impossible. Oh, NO. As if she didn't have enough troubles already...
In the street, she heard the high, unearthly ululation of what was unmistakeably a Nazgul. Ria's heart froze. We're all gonna die, she thought bleakly.
Gollum shrieked in horror. "No! It is the Eye'sss servants, hisss servantss of death! They will find us, they will seek us out! They will destroy usss! Go away," he whimpered, scampering under the Model T and cowering there. "Go away! Go to sleep -" And Ria knew that in his insanity, Gollum was no longer on Earth. He was back in Middle-Earth, leading the hobbits across the Dead Marshes, with the Nazgul swooping about them and the potency of the Eye beating down upon them. "Don't look at us," he moaned. "Don't look at me! Go away!"
Without warning, there was a pounding at the museum door. Ria couldn't hold back a shriek as she too, scrambled under the car to cower next to Gollum. The poor thing was whimpering in pure terror. Ria knew that he had had way more experience with the Nazgul than she had - obviously, and remembering some of the things Tolkien had told of them, she was inclined to join Gollum in whimpering. But in the next moment, the Nazgul had broken the door down (Solid metal, Ria thought in amazed fright. They broke through it as though it were wood. We're all gonna die!), and were swarming in, swords drawn.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N - aaaaaahh! Action at last!