Author's Note: This story was inspired by all the Mary Sues that run off to Happy Happy Land (a.k.a Middle-earth) without so much as a backward glance. This fic is for anyone who every wondered why the heck most original female characters are so quick to wish themselves away from their families, friends, and the wonders of modern technology.

Enjoy!

+ CMBC

Disclaimer: Tolkien's characters and settings are his own. I don't claim them; I'm just borrowing.

Chapter 1: Movie Night Goes to Hell…Sort of

It had been raining all day. It had been raining all day yesterday, and according to the balding weatherman with the mole that could be seen from space, it would be a storm-filled weekend. Allison didn't care. This was movie night. A night like tonight was perfect for a horror flick-fest…but she was babysitting. No, she was "in charge." That's how her father put it when he requested that she look out for her siblings. She wasn't fooled. Allison would continue to be in charge of her younger twin sisters, Hallie and Laura, until he and their mother came back from Chicago the next day.

It wasn't Allison's favorite way to spend her time, at least not since classes let out. The curly-topped brunettes hit fourteen and suddenly became impossible. She loved them both, but they could be a little nuts. It had been two days of non-stop rain and hyperactive teenagers. Allison couldn't wait for the weekend to end. Her boyfriend Adam's comfortable apartment and something called sanity were calling to her. She was more than ready to heed.

In the meantime, the twins were refusing to sit through any of Allison's choices. They hated horror movies, especially if there was no one worth looking at. They weren't old enough to appreciate the genius of Vincent Price, or the beauty Boris Karloff was able to express in his role as a monster, despite being upstaged by the stiff walk and make-up that made Frankenstein a classic. So, what were they to watch?

"Pirates of the Caribbean!" The twins squealed.

"No way," Allison stated firmly, snatching the movie away from Hallie. "You two have watched this 82 times. You can quote the dialogue in your sleep, and I refuse to sit through another scene with either of you throwing popcorn at the TV every time Kiera Knightly appears onscreen."

"I can't help it," Laura said with a pout, "I can't stand her. She's not even that great of an actress. Oh, and speaking of popcorn; it's burning up."

As if on cue, the smoke detector began beeping like crazy. Swearing, Allison dashed into the kitchen. Two seconds later, she marched back into the living room and informed her sisters that if they even attempted to insert the DVD into the player, she'd feed their precious Legolas posters to Dumpy. Dumpy was the family dog, and he would eat anything he could sink his teeth into.

As soon as Allison left again, the twins both plopped on the sofa.

"Well, what should we watch?" Hallie asked quietly.

"POTC is out. How about Kingdom of Heaven?"

Hallie shook her head vehemently. "No, and I told you to get rid of that! It's a pirated copy. We could go to jail or something."

"Not if no one knows we have it. Saving Private Ryan?"

"Too gory for me. And I'm over everyone in that movie."

"Even the cute sniper?"

"Well no…but I might cry if I see him get blown up one more time. So?"

"So…."

The twins thought about it a little longer, and then, they had it. A classic. The first movie they went to see without dancing animated characters. And, the first movie that introduced them to the glory of hot elfishness that was Orlando Bloom.

"Thinking what I'm thinking?" Hallie asked, grinning impishly at her sister.

"As always," Laura replied.

Meanwhile, Allison was in the kitchen, wrestling with the almost unbearable stench of burnt popcorn and a smoking bag that would not fit into the overly-stuffed trashcan. Her dad usually took out the trash, and since he wasn't there, no one had bothered with it. Allison wasn't about to take the garbage out, not after hearing the distinct sound of squeaking the other night. Allison didn't want to know what made that creepy little noise and it would be her father's problem tomorrow.

She took a few moments to wave smoke away from the kitchen's smoke detector, since just a little would set it off again…and again, and again. She didn't feel like popping up every five minutes to make it stop, not after the day she'd had. Allison was in the process of putting a fresh popcorn bag in the microwave when a powerful clap of thunder scared the living crap out of her.

Hallie and Laura screams reached her from the kitchen floor (socks are very slippery on nice clean floors), so she didn't feel quite as stupid as she ordinarily would have under the circumstances. Smiling sheepishly, Allison rose from the kitchen floor, attempting a bit of grace to make up for how foolish she felt. Pressing the buttons on the microwave, she made a mental note to clean the machine later. Her mother would have a fit if she let it stay in its current condition.

"Hey," Allison called as she strolled out of the kitchen, "the popcorn should be done in a couple minutes, so remind me t-" Allison froze mid sentence. Hallie and Laura were staring in stunned silence at the TV. They hadn't even acknowledged her presence. Gaping in horror, Allison could see why.

The TV screen static was swirling. What's more, it seemed like something was coming out it. A few seconds later, something did come out; a hand.

All three girls screamed and hopped onto the couch.

"Turn it off Hallie!" Laura wailed.

"No! You turn it off!" The twins clung to each other, whimpering. They then turned to stare desperately at their older sister.

"I know you two don't expect me to…to…" The terrified plea in their eyes shut Allison up. She sighed roughly, warily eyeing the arm that was reaching into their living room. Sometimes a big sister has to do what big sister doesn't want to do.

Allison eased off the couch and crept around behind the large television set. She thanked God her parents hadn't purchased a high definition television just yet. Otherwise, this would have been tricky. She grabbed a hold of the plug.

"Hurry, Allie!" Hallie yelled. "Both arms are through now!"

She tugged at the wire with all her might, but the thing wouldn't unplug.

"What the hell?"

She pulled and pulled, but it was useless. Suddenly, something strange happened to the wire; it became insanely hot and began to glow. Allison dropped the wire with a cry of pain. It quivered for a moment and then went still.

Ignoring her throbbing hand, Allison took her sisters by the arms and ran out of the living room.

"To my room! NOW!"

The twins didn't need to be told twice. They fled upstairs to a room that they had previously been forbidden from entering. The sound of the door slamming was deafening.

Allison didn't follow the girls upstairs right away, pausing listen to the sound their TV cracking apart from the force of whatever was coming into their world. A tiny part of her wanted to go back and see what it was. The limbs seemed human, at least from what she could tell. Maybe whomever they belong to wouldn't hurt them.

"Allie! Get up here now!"

Snapping to her senses, Allison ran up the stairs and slid to the end of the hallway. She didn't want to fall again and this was no time for slamming into walls.

She tried her door but it was locked.

"Open up, damn it!" She beat on it furiously. "It's me! Let me in!"

"Way to go, moron. You locked her out."

"Hallie, you go unlock it! I'm scared!"

"No, you do it! You locked it in the first place!"

Allison stopped banging on the door and listened. Despite the loud bickering, everything felt very quiet. That's when she heard the footsteps.

"Hallie! Laura! Hurry up, it's coming up the stairs!"

Both girls screamed, and suddenly the door was open. Allison dived through the doorway and Laura quickly locked it behind her. Hailie crawled under the large bed, and Laura went into the closet.

"Why doesn't this door lock?" she moaned.

That just left Allison, who was busily looking around for a weapon. She could hear the footsteps, and was wondering why it seemed this being, whatever it was, didn't rush in and get them. He, she, or whatever it was, was being very leisurely about whatever it planned to do. Hundreds of scenarios flashed through Allison's head, and she didn't like any of them.

There was a shadow under her door; the strange being was standing right outside.

"What's it doing, Allie?" Laura hissed from the closet.

"Will you stop calling me that? It's Allison. And I don't know what it's doing. It's…standing there."

She didn't mean to be so crabby, but tense situations made her irritable. She saw the shadow shift a little. Just what was going on out there?

There were three taps at her door. No one said a word. A few seconds later, there were another three taps, longer and slightly louder than before. It wasn't a fist doing the knocking.

Allison tried to match the sound to an object, but her mind was numbed by fear. It was probably the end of a knife, anyway.

"Don't open the door!"

"Of course she's not going to open the door, Hallie. She's not that stupid."

"Laura, I'm not going to open the…what do you mean 'that stupid'?"

"You know," said a voice, "it's very rude to keep someone waiting." The voice was old, gruff, and very authoritative, and it was coming from the other side of Allison's bedroom door.

Author's Endnote: Think you've seen this before? Think you know what's going to happen next? Well, stop thinking so much; you'll get a headache. And I promise you, this story will take a turn that you cynics out there aren't expecting.