When they got home she went to her room to change into her pajamas. As she reached for her bag she thought she had heard a sound, like a scream. She turned and looked out the window but could see nothing through the darkness. The warning in the pit of her stomach was overbearing and she left out the door, still dressed in her wet bakini and barefooted.
She found her way on the dark path to Samara's house and froze, staring into the window. The shades were drawn over all the windows and all was dark, except for in one room. Another scream called her attention to that window. She saw a smaller form that she could only guess was Samara being beaten savagely by a taller form. She gasped and thought of running to the door and stopping it, but something kept her from going. Instead she stood there and watched for five long minutes until it ended. Then the light in the taller shadow left and all that could be heard was the small, muffled sobs coming from Samara. Her shadow moved to that shade and it opened, revealing her bloody and mangled face. Hope's eyes widened as tears flooded them and she stood there, silently sobbing and watching as the child, who was sobbing loudly, stared back at her.
Hope knew it was safe now and staggered over to the window, forcing herself to get closer to Samara. She walked up to her till she was only a foot away and stopped as her tears fell. Samara did not speak but simply stared at her as her face bled.
Hope did not know what happened next. All she felt was something hard strike her on the back of the head and everything went black.
Hope woke up in a dark place, shivering and cold. She was still wet from the previous night and was trying to remember what had happened. A small trail of light shined in through the crack in the wooden wall her body was leaning against. She stood up, slightly dazed from the throbbing headache she now had, and slowly began to piece together what had happened. As her eyes adjusted she began to realize where she was. It was some sort of shed filled with garden supplies. How had she ended up there?
She knew she didn't have time to try to remember. Smeagol was probably wondering where she was. She felt her way to the door and tried to push it open. It wouldn't budge. She tried again. Still nothing. She was trapped. Her anger raged and she shook the door violently, shouting for help.
"Is anybody there?" she shouted. "Get me out!" There was no answer and she began to tire of shaking the doors. At last her strength was spent and she collapsed in tears.
Her stomach was roaring from not eating in a long time. She was wet and freezing. Her bakini was covered in dirt and mud and her hair was probably a mess by now. She was at the end of her rope.
A click.
The door slowly came open and standing there was Samara with a small key in her hand. Hope stood to her feet, slightly confused. Samara tried to speak.
"H-Had to... w-w-wait till..... mommy and... d-d-daddy were... gone," she stuttered. Hope caught a glimpse of the cut, just above Samara's right eye and everything seemed to come back. The beating, someone hitting her on the head from behind, darkness.
"Are you all right?" she asked frantically. There was the sound of someone heading in that direction.
"G-go!" cried Samara. Hope turned and ran as quickly as she could and was soon out of sight just as she heard a shout of anger.
She ran all the way back to Smeagol's house and staggered into her bedroom. There she changed her clothes and took care of her hair, fighting back tears the whole time.
Smeagol stepped in a few minutes later with a strange look in his face.
"You were gone, all last night," he said questioningly.
"Smeagol," she said, a look of desperation on her face. "They're beating her. I'm not sure who it was, but they're beating her! I saw it with my own eyes. She's in danger."
"Wait, who is?" he asked confused.
"Samara. I saw them beating her last night and then one of them hit me on the back of the head and stuffed me in a shed." She showed him the gash on the back of her head. Smeagol's eyes widened and he seized her by the arms.
"Are you all right?"
"Never mind me. They're going to kill her if someone doesn't put a stop to this!"
"We'll let my grandmother know. She's the matriarch of these lands. She'll make it end."
"Okay," whispered Hope. She broke into tears and Smeagol embraced her. "Oh god," she muttered. "I can't believe this is happening."
"It's going to be all right, Hope."
They did let Tabby know and she planned to make a visit there that evening. Hope slept for a few hours, under Smeagol's watchful eye and did not wake till late in the afternoon.
Smeagol was reading by the fire when Hope walked in with a blanket around her shoulders. He looked up and she smiled at him, slowly approaching the sofa. She sat down next to him and he put his arm around her, allowing her to rest her head on his chest.
"Feeling better?" asked Smeagol.
"A little," she muttered. "I'm still tired but I knew I had to get up."
"Tabby told me to let you be," he muttered. Hope smirked and then sat up.
"Smea, look, there's been something on my mind that I think we need to talk about, especially after last night." He looked at her and then adjusted his seat.
"All right," he said, nodding.
"About what I said, about you and I... I may have said things I didn't mean. And I was wrong to kiss you on the neck."
"So you did..." She blushed and nodded. "Why do you think it was so wrong?"
"Because I know that you and I will never happen and I was too forward and I'm sorry. I'm not ready for a serious relationship yet."
Smeagol shook his head.
"When are you going to trust men again, Hope?" he asked. "I understand if you're mad after your friend died, but not all men are like that. Some of us really do mean it when we say we care or we think a girl is pretty."
"Smeagol, it's not that I don't trust men. I just know that it would never work out." She sighed and shrugged. "I'm afraid of getting hurt."
"If you spend your life, running from love because of fear, then you might as well not live at all."
"You don't understand, all right?" She shook her head and stood up. "Just forget about it okay? Forget anything ever happened."
"No," he said, standing up as well. "I can't forget about it because it was real. The way I feel for you is real and I don't know how to prove it to you." He turned his back to her and threw his hands up in the air. "Do you know how hard it is, loving someone who doesn't trust you and won't give you a chance? Give me a chance. Let me show you it's real. You can't just judge right now that it'd never work between us unless you've tried." He turned again and saw she was in tears.
"Smeagol, you're young. You don't know what love is yet and neither do I. Please. Don't force us to make a mistake we may regret in the end. I don't want to lose you as a friend." He walked up to her and placed a hand on her cheek, brushing a tear away.
"And I don't want to lose you," he whispered. She stared into his eyes, almost making him feel she was reconsidering. "Please," he whispered. "Give me a chance." She closed her eyes and withdrew.
"I can't," she muttered. "Not yet." She turned and left outside, leaving him to stand there and stare.
