I had the feeling that the stranger's glances cut the darkness around me like paper. Restlessly, I stepped back from the window and leaned against the wall. Wasn't I perhaps seeing ghosts after all? Just because someone across the street was having a smoke didn't mean he was following us. I sighed. What I would give for a cigarette right now. It had been ages since I had taken a drag on one.
Something cracked and I spun around.
The door had opened and a shadow stood in its frame. My heart leapt in shock and I held my breath.
"It's me, Ina."
I expelled my breath again, relieved to hear Legolas' voice.
"Why did you turn off the light?"
Instead of an answer, I put a finger to my lips and waved him closer. He would notice, after all, he had elf eyes. And sure enough, I immediately felt him next to me. "Down there."
"I see it."
"Is it more than one?"
"No."
I took a shaky breath. "Do we have to run?"
"No."
I frowned and raised my head. His voice had sounded kind of angry. He had suppressed it, but I had a keen sense for that sort of thing, and it told me that something was very wrong here.
"What...?" so I started, but he wouldn't let me finish.
"I'll be right back. Wait here."
With that, he turned and was at the door in two steps. Before he could slip through, however, I had already set up in front of it and was glaring at him. I had not been mistaken. He was hiding something. "Where are you going?"
He crossed his arms, at least I thought he did.
"Legolas?"
"Let me pass, Ina."
"No."
I felt his hands close around my shoulders and push me firmly to the side. "Do what I ask of you for once."
"Do you command no more?" My voice had a biting tone, and I knew that our conversation was once again headed for a cliff at the end of which one of us would be left injured. And I had a hunch who that would be.
"I don't owe you an account."
"But a life."
He winced. Even my eyes were sharp enough for that. And there it was, exactly what I'd feared had happened. But I couldn't, no, wouldn't apologize. I was simply tired of it.
Without another word, he turned and left the room.
I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Shit. Why did our discussions always get out of hand? Why couldn't he just for once say what he was going to do? Why did he keep challenging me? I wouldn't stay here, anyway. He could forget that.
So I followed him and stepped out into the hallway. It was pitch dark, so I had to feel my way along the wall to make any progress at all. I could only hope that nothing was lying on the floor. I would probably trip over it right away and I didn't need that at all with my injury. It took me a while to reach the end of the hallway and enter a stairwell through another door. The glow of streetlights fell in from outside and made it easier for me to see.
With my heart pounding, I walked downstairs and as I stood on the street, the fresh night air blew my hair from my forehead. Feeling the wind on my skin was pleasant and reminded me of how stuffy it had been upstairs. But that was also the only thing that felt good right now. I felt guilty and stupid, like a little child who defied his mother's instructions. How did Legolas manage to do this over and over again?
Enough of that. It wasn't me who had to rethink their behavior. He was hiding something from me and I would find out what it was, damn it!
I turned in a circle one time looking for a landmark. I hadn't come out on the side my window was facing. So I had to walk around the building. Careful not to make a noise, I put one foot in front of the other and it wasn't long before I heard voices. I pressed myself against the brick wall and pricked up my ears.
It was two men, one of them most likely the elf. The two were arguing, and not very quietly. But I did not understand a word. Whatever language the two spoke, it was not English.
I frowned and pushed myself a little closer to the action. In doing so, I bumped my foot against a can lying on the ground, which rolled clattering into the gutter. I froze in mid-motion, but it was too late.
There was absolute silence for a moment, then out of nowhere a hand closed around my neck and pressed against the wall of the house behind my back with inhuman force. I cried out, but nothing more than a gurgle came out of my mouth. Desperately, I tried to dislodge the stranger's hands from my throat, but he was relentless.
My movements became slower and more uncoordinated, while at the same time my field of vision narrowed. If I could have at least seen his face, but he was wearing a hood. I could not see more than rough outlines under it. The only thing I could feel was his fingers around my neck, squeezing tighter and tighter.
"Let her go."
I blinked convulsively, trying to remember from where that voice sounded so familiar. For the life of me, I couldn't remember.
"Now."
Abruptly, the pressure around my neck eased and I collapsed on the floor, coughing. When I got my breath back, I crawled out of reach of his hands and felt the places where his fingers had dug into my skin. That was sure to bruise.
I felt unpleasantly reminded of my first encounter with the elf. Damn, hadn't these guys been taught any manners, or why did they get physical before asking questions?
Legolas knelt down beside me. "Let me help you, Ina."
He tried to lift me up, but I smacked his hand away and somehow managed to sit up under my own power. "Don't touch me!"
Even though I had reacted so harshly, he didn't back away and waited until I finally got to my feet, always ready to catch me. I hated him for that.
"You know the human woman?"
I raised my head. The raspy voice came from my tormentor, who was now casually leaning less than three steps away against the wall of the house where he had nearly strangled me a moment ago.
"She is with me." Legolas behind me sounded calm. Still, I sensed he was tense to the utmost - like a bow before a shot.
"Of course, how could I forget?"
The stranger sounded mocking, and I was glad Legolas was standing so close to me, because the danger he posed was almost palpable. Perhaps it would have been better to stay in the room after all. But now it was too late.
So I did the only thing that my dignity would allow and that would not give the impression that I was hiding under Legolas' skirt. I crossed my arms in front of my chest and asked, "My parents taught me to introduce myself. Didn't yours?"
Behind me, Legolas sucked in a sharp breath, but the stranger only gave a short laugh. Then he pushed himself off the wall and bowed exaggeratedly deep. "You are quite right, my dear lady. Morag, always at your service."
