I let myself sink against the wall. So the owner of the necklace had shown up and wanted it back. Why hadn't I chosen someone who seemed less dangerous? Why had I pocketed the damn piece of jewelry in the first place? Maybe I could plead insanity if he turned me in?

I shook my head. No, he certainly wouldn't go to the cops, or he wouldn't have shown up on my balcony in a hospital gown. But that didn't make things any better. I sighed. If I was lucky, he would just never show up again. If I was honest, though, I didn't believe that myself.

I wiped my eyes with my hand. What if it was just a bad joke after all? I recalled the situation once again. But the more I tried to convince myself that it wasn't serious, the clearer it became that it was.

If I assumed he wasn't messing with me, a mountain of other questions rose up in front of me. Starting with why he was writing in a made-up language on the glass of my living room door. Or why he looked like he had escaped from a hospital? What the hell had I gotten myself into? I rubbed my forehead and closed my eyes.

I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I felt was someone shaking me by the shoulder. I turned away unwillingly and groaned in pain at this small movement. Every bone hurt, especially my neck.

"Wake up, sleepyhead."

I blinked and realized I was lying with my right cheek on laminate. Had I spent the whole night in this position?

Groaning, I scrambled to my feet and saw Julia sitting in front of me with a fat grin. "Did I take up so much space on the sofa that you had no more room?" she asked, holding a coffee under my nose.

After we had breakfast together, I said goodbye to her and once again inculcated her to be careful. She smiled away my concerns, but promised to call anyway when she arrived home. I closed the apartment door behind her and returned to the living room.

The necklace was still on the table. What was I going to do with the piece now? I had to get rid of it, that much was clear, whether to the psycho or to the garbage disposal, I didn't really care, the main thing was not to get more deeply involved in this than I already was. If I just threw the necklace in the trash, the guy would probably still keep showing up. So how did I get it to him without putting myself in danger? I could just leave it on the balcony. It was worth a try. If it was still lying there tomorrow, then I'd have to come up with something else.

I took a deep breath, closed my hand tightly around the necklace, and stood in front of the door.

Nothing to see.

I unlocked it and slipped out. Carefully, I crept to the middle of the balcony, bent down and put the necklace down. Then I listened. Nothing to hear. Relieved, I turned around to head back to the safety of the living room.

But I didn't get far.

He was standing right there, between me and the entrance. My heart stopped and I automatically took two steps backward until the railing dug into my back. I didn't make a sound, but my mind raced. Where had he come from so quickly? Would he hurt me? Was I supposed to scream?

We stared at each other.

He had adopted a seemingly relaxed posture, but in fact every muscle was tense, like a cat about to pounce, and he was watching me closely. Not that I would move even an inch from the spot.

He was still wearing the gown and his whole figure looked somewhat haggard. His face had to be naturally sharp cut, but now it looked almost sunken in. The long hair was sallow and untidy.

Minutes passed and at some point I took a frantic breath - I had been holding it without realizing it.

"What do you want?", I asked quietly. My voice sounded thin and shaky. He tilted his head slightly as if pondering my question. "If you want the necklace, take it!"
I broke free of my stiffness, very slowly, and pushed the necklace in his direction with the tip of my foot. His eyes flickered for a moment, then he pierced me again with his X-ray gaze.

"I don't want it, really," I tried again. "Do you understand me?"

No response.

"Do you speak English?"

He narrowed his eyes.

"Habla Espanol?"

Nothing.

Suddenly he became agitated - I could tell by the way he kneaded his hands. Then he cleared his throat and looked at me. "Help."
His voice sounded rough and brittle. It seemed as if he had to force his tongue to speak in the foreign language.

"What do you want me to help you with?", I asked helplessly, throwing my arms up.

I shouldn't have done that.

Not a second later, he had me pinned against the wall of the house. I was so shocked that at first I didn't notice anything but his ice-blue eyes and the raw power that still seemed to lie dormant in his haggard body. I tried to swallow and turned my head away as his breath brushed my cheek. Sweat broke out on me. Why on earth had I saved this guy's life?

"Let me go," I whispered, feeling tears spring to my eyes. "Please."

He seemed to consider, but then his grip loosened and he stepped back. I slumped down, not daring to look at him. He could have just killed me, damn it! Just like that! Why hadn't he done it?

I noticed him kneeling down and trying to get my attention, but I was still frozen. He began to speak and gesticulate, but I couldn't understand a word. At one point he sat down across from me and stared at the floor in frustration. His fingers played with the necklace. What was I supposed to do? Look for a portal? Or someone to read him back into his world? I sighed. The small sound made him look up immediately. He was alert, but not as suspicious as he had been a few minutes ago.

An idea struck me.

I slowly slid my hand to my pocket, indicating to him that I wanted to pull something out of it. I waited until he really understood what I was thinking of doing and pulled my phone out of my jeans. I saw him frown, but let me have it. I unlocked it and logged onto the internet. If I assumed he didn't know my language - or any language I knew - then I had to try to speak his. Did I have a choice? If I moved too suddenly, I might get pinned to the wall again.

Yesterday's forum probably wouldn't help me anytime soon - besides, I didn't need any stupid questions. Maybe there was some fun app or Google Translator for Sindarin?

I didn't care how poorly these programs translated, at least it was enough to communicate in a rudimentary way and that would be a significant improvement over my current situation.

I kept coming across grammar courses and dictionaries, but hours would pass before I could put together a sentence from them. It took me a while before I found what I was looking for: English to Elvish. There you go, I could live with that.

In the box titled "English," I entered my request: Take the necklace and leave, and clicked "go." Then I cleared my throat and read what was displayed to me in an unsteady voice.

A barrage of words followed, with him looking at me urgently, and equally quick disillusionment. It didn't work that way.

I tried around forever until we finally got to yes/no questions and I found out that he had actually escaped from the hospital, thought he was in danger, and couldn't just leave. Great.

By now it had gotten dark and I was freezing. Also, my stomach was growling audibly.
"Hungry?", I asked, pointing to my belly. He nodded.

I stood up and walked toward the balcony door. Before I reached it, he had positioned himself in front of it and was looking at me with that suspicious look.

"I'll be back," I grumbled, and he stepped aside. My tone had obviously spoken volumes. It took a while before I had made enough sandwiches and when I returned, he was standing in front of my bookshelf, stroking his fingers across the backs.

I wasn't comfortable with the stranger in my apartment, but how was I going to get him out? More likely, I'd end up on the balcony.

We ate in silence.

After emptying his plate, he raised his head and murmured, "Hannon le."

I didn't need a dictionary to understand that he was saying thank you and just nodded.

Now what? I looked at him, but he took the decision from me and stepped back onto the balcony on his own.

"Good night," I said quietly and closed the door.