Erika's POV
"Seriously... what kind of an idiot does this?!" Mattea was having yet another one of her 'loving freak-outs' over something Jas did. "I mean, what kind of neat freak do you have to be to post two pages worth of 'Rules for a Spotless Household' on the fridge?!" she read in a mocking voice.
"I don't know Matts, clearly she cares about this. How hard is it REALLY to..." I paused, reading the list which was clearly visible from all angles of the kitchen, "...separate the recyclables into 4 convenient categ... no you're right. She's lost it."
"I mean, if this was a nice apartment, I get it. But who cares? We live in a crap hole! I feel miserable just thinking of coming home after a long day."
"How convenient for you then, that our survival requires you to basically live at work." I really didn't understand how Mattea never felt tired or sick of her job. I, myself, was a waitress for 3 years, and at one point, it was just too much for me. The customer service industry is a hard one. As a flight attendant, I still deal with insanely rude people on a daily basis, not to mention insanely idiotic people. There is a saying that anyone working in aviation will be familiar with: people lose their brains as they enter the terminal building. However, I have more empowerment to say "Hey! Sit down and fasten your seatbelt! Your outburst is making other people uncomfortable, and you're putting the safety of this flight at risk!" but as a waitress, you have to smile and take everything people throw at you. But Mattea handled it like a champ. "what time is your shift today?"
"In 45 minutes," Mattea answered with a hint of disappointment in her voice, "I wish it was later, so that I can crumple up that stupid list and throw it at Jasmine."
"Aw, come on. You know you love her... most of the time,"
"Though at times like this, I question if we're even related," Joked Mattea, "Just because we're identical don't mean nothin'. Besides, I have different hair."
I went back to reading my magazine. It's been a very long day for me. I had two round trip flights to Atlanta, which were quite eventful and turbulent. I never admitted it, but I hate flying. I was terrified of it for the longest time, but the money was good, so I went through cabin crew training. Eventually, the fear went away, but the motion sickness never did. Any free moment I got on the flight, I was trying not to throw up. So, at the end of such a long day, I had just managed to make it home without falling over, changed into my comfiest PJs, made a hot tea, and now was waiting for Jasmine to come home with Chinese takeout.
Mattea was running around, as always, having waited until the last possible minute to get ready for work. She could never find anything in her room, and Jasmine has been begging to help her clean and organize it. I think that's a brave gesture, considering last time I was in Mattea's room, I could have sworn I saw something moving under a pile of her clothes. Nope! No thank you...
"Seriously where did Jasmine put my shoes?! I'm so late, I don't have time for this!" Mattea was losing it.
"For god's sake! You blame Jas, but have you SEEN your room?! Matty, can I not have some peace and quiet when I come home?! I just want to sit and read..."
"Maybe you can do that AFTER you help me find my shoes! Seriously, they can't be..."
Mattea and I both flipped around.
"Did you...?" "Yeah..." I answered, frozen, "Yeah, I heard that." There was a sound. It came from my room. It sounded as if something was knocked over. And then a grunt...
"Erika... Erika the front door is past your room! I'm scared. I don't wanna go that way.." Mattea's voice was shaking; the look on her face suggested she was just about ready to burst out crying and yelling.
"Okay Matts... stay calm... back up towards the bathroom," I whispered. She was clutching my hand so tight, to the point I was losing circulation. But I didn't care. I was just as terrified. Our neighbourhood was safe, but break ins were not unheard of. It is New York, after all. "Come on... shhh! Slowly. Jasmine will be home soon, we can text her and give her a heads... AHHHH!" the door to my bedroom opened, and someone was walking out. Holding hands, we screamed and bolted for the bathroom. Before we locked the door, I managed to get a quick look at the perpetrator. He was a big guy, dressed in... is that armor?! And he had long, thick blonde hair, and a beard, with a braided moustache. He looked quite young. Maybe late 20s early 30s? But he didn't look like anyone we've ever seen before. I could see him winning top prize at a comic expo or something. But, of course, I didn't think too long. I just needed a good visual to identify him later to the cops.
We were so shook up and scared, we locked ourselves in the bathroom, and the first thought was to get help.
"Matts, phone! Now! I'll call 911. MATTEA! SNAP. OUT. OF. IT. AND GIVE ME YOUR PHONE!"
"I... I... oh my god oh my god oh my god... I... I... don't... know..." she was in some serious shock.
"Mattea... I need you to look at me and give me your phone. Now!"
"I... don't... have it... w..with... m... m!"
"SON OF A B- WHAT DO WE DO NOW?!" Okay. If I wasn't scared before, I was definitely freaking out now. Then, we heard a voice,
"My ladies, please, pardon me. I did not wish to frighten you..." it was the perpetrator!
"AHHHHH!"
"MATTEA! Shut. Up!" I practically slammed my palm against her mouth. She was panicking; tears rolling down her face, yelling, hyperventilating. One of us had to think. Where was Jas?! She was always level-headed.
Then the perpetrator spoke again,
"I give you my word, I do not wish to harm you. My name is Fili. Fili, from the line of Durin. Please do not fear me."
"YEAH, SURE! YOU DO NOT WISH TO HARM US?! THAT'S WHAT ALL RAPISTS AND MURDERERS SAY TO THEIR VICTIMS! YOU DO NOT WISH TO HARM US, THEN WHY BREAK INTO OUR HOUSE?!" Mattea lost it. I was sitting on the toilet with my head in my hands, terrified as hell, and not being able to handle her crazy ass anymore.
"I assure you, my ladies, I have no knowledge of how my arriving in your home came to be. Everything here is… different. Strange. I do not know where I am and I require assistance and answers,"
Mattea seemed to be calming down just a bit, "Seriously," she turns to me, "he speaks so formally. Does he have an English degree or something?" then, at that very moment, it was my turn to lose it.
"Are you kidding me, Mattea?! Some nut job broke into our apartment, we have no way of calling for help, and Jasmine is on her way home right now, not warned, no idea what's taking place! What if he shoots her or stabs her soon as she walks through the door?!"
"I assure you, my lady, this is not my intention. I do not wish to harm you. I would never raise a sword against a woman. Do not fear me. You have my word that no harm will come to either of you. Please, I wish only to speak with you."
Mattea was pressed up against the door. I could tell she was calming down. Out of nowhere, she reached down for the handle and unlocked the door.
"MATTEA! ARE YOU INSA-", but before I got that sentence out, she opened the door, and there he was... the perpetrator. He really was wearing armor, and had a heavy looking sword at his side. But our attention quickly drifted to the blood that caked his face and hands. Dear god, we are not the first! He must have killed Mrs. Pottersworth down the hall before climbing over her balcony and into my bedroom window!
"What do you want from us?! Also, why are you wearing a costume? It's July. A bit early for Halloween, don't you think?" Mattea seemed to get some of her sass and bravery back. The man raised his hands, and took a step back, in a motion to not frighten us any further, it seemed. I noticed that he was a few inches taller than us and was very heavily built. Even the two of us could not take him down. He had strong, thick hands, and his whole body looked more fit than any other guy's I've ever seen. My ex, Oskar, was tall and well-built, but nothing compared to this. And then there was the hair and facial hair; golden blonde, long, wavy, braided moustache. It looked too real. I was tempted to pull on it and see if it comes off. But I was still shaking from head to toe and I cannot imagine that he would appreciate that. Mattea and I were quite small, and we had zero clue about self defense.
"I offer my sincerest apologies to the both of you; I had not wished to startle you, however, I find myself quite lost and confused. I should be dead. The last thing I remember was Raven Hill... being dragged by Azog through the tunnel, seeing Thorin, Kili, Dwalin, and Bilbo. I just wanted them to run. Azog pierced me, yet, I am still alive." He paused, "At least I think I am. What is this place? How did I come to be here?"
He looked over at us, and we just looked confused as hell.
"Sir, I think you may have had a bit too much to drink last night, at whatever costume party you attended," I started slowly, and gently, afraid of pissing him off in any way.
"Yeah, yeah!" Mattea chipped in, "We've all had those days! I know I have!"
"Now, why don't you give me a number of a buddy that I can call, who can come and get you, and all will be good! We will ignore the breaking in; we won't report it or call the cops. But please... just tell us how we can get you back to where you came from. We just want you to leave us in peace," I was satisfied with what I had said. I was calm and polite, though the guy did not look like he was understanding anything I was saying.
"My lady, I come from the Lonely Mountain. I do not know how I can get back, because I simply do not know where it is that I am."
"The Lonely Mountain? Is that a strip club? I can google maps it. You're in Brooklyn right now. Williamsburg. Corner of Hooper and Broadway, if that helps…"
"MATTEA!" I whispered, frustrated, while she was typing away in her phone. "Why would you ask him if that was a strip club?! That will piss him off... be gentle!"
"Well EXCUSE ME! The Lonely Mountain? Get it? Sounds like a strip club name." I rolled my eyes.
"You're friggin' crazy."
"There are no results for 'the lonely mountain' on google maps, sir."
"Forgive me, my ladies, but what is strip club?" we looked at each other as if he was simply messing with us, perhaps playing some prank that was set up by one of our friends. I lost my patience, because I simply didn't see it as funny. "Look, sir. I don't know who you are, or what your deal is, but just drop it! Kay? It's not funny! Now please! I offered to call a bud-" and at this point, a blinding white light filled the living room. It was like nothing we've ever seen before. We couldn't see 3 inches in front of us; we thought we suddenly went blind. And then, 10 seconds after it first appeared, it was gone. Nothing could prepare us for the shock of what we saw.
There, laying in the middle of our living room, was another one of whatever Fili was. Heavily armored, heavily built, long brown hair, beard. He looked a bit younger than Fili. Definitely late 20s.
Everyone in the room was silent for a few moments until Mattea whispered, "What sort of sorcery is this?!"
"Kili!" Fili exclaimed and ran over to the guy on the floor. "Kili! Are you wounded, brother?"
"This cannot be real! I watched Azog pierce you with his sword and throw you over the edge of the cliff!" spoke the 'Kili' character.
"I know, brother,"
"Fili! You lay dead at my feet, and yet you are alive and well in front of me now!"
"What the hell is happening...?" I whispered to Mattea, only to see her shocked and confused face next to me. The one who was named Kili continued speaking.
"Brother! Tauriel; she was being attacked by that foul orc, Bolg! I tried to save her. He killed me, with a sword. I was dying. How am I here? Wait, where are we?"
"Oh for god's sakes, what sort of crazy is this?! What do you want from us?!" I cried out, but Mattea grabbed my shoulders, and turned me to look at her,
"Did you NOT see that bright white light, and then this man appears in our living room?! I think there is some magic here! I've never believed in magic or witchcraft, or any of that crap before, but do you deny what we saw? I don't think that they came from a strip club, Erika!"
"Yes, but Mattea... you want me to be acting normal right now?! Two medieval humans, with massive weapons, who could easily kill us at any moment, just appeared in our living room! What do you want from me? Oh my god, I'm going crazy, I need to lie down. Is this happening? Is this really happening? Do I need mental help? They say flight attendants are exposed to high levels of stress and radiation. I must be at the end of the rope," I practically ranted to myself, as I crawled into a ball on the couch, very much aware of the three sets of eyes on me.
Kili, with a confused look on his face turned to Fili. "Brother, where are we? What sort of world is this?"
Just then, I heard the very distinct sound of a door unlocking, and Jasmine's voice.
"... as if, I'm just some idiot who is easily robbed." Jasmine talked to herself before raising her voice, "Oh, hey ladies! By the way, we are never going to Kung Fu Palace for takeout again. They tried to rip me o-… what is going on? Who are these clowns?"
She looked over at me, sitting on the couch, my head in my hands, and then at Mattea, who looked terrified and confused at the same time, before raising her voice and clapping. "Hey! Ladies! Hello! Wake up! What is going on here?"
"They um," began Mattea carefully, "They appeared in our apartment."
"They... appeared?" Jasmine had this tone, with amusement, disbelief, sarcasm in her voice all at the same time.
"Yes, Jas! They APPEARED! First the blonde one. We thought he broke in. We ran and hid in the bathroom! Then he assured us he wouldn't hurt us, so we opened the door. And about 3 minutes ago, there was this piercing light, and this one," Mattea pointed to Kili, "appeared! Erika! You saw it! Help me here!"
I lifted my head up. "I don't know what I saw. There was a light and he did appear, but guys, this is crazy! Tell that to anyone, and they will put you in a facility! I mean, Matts! Look at Jasmine. Does THAT look like the face of someone who believes?!" I indicated with my hand.
"Okay, how the hell could you two do drugs?! Erika! You were supposed to be responsible! I know Mattea is a lost cause-"
"HEY!" Mattea tried to protest, but Jas kept going.
"What were you taking? Crack? Heroin? It must've been something strong to bring on such hallucinations, of men appearing! You bring two strangers into our home! Who gave you two drugs?! Was it these two? HEY! What did you two give my sisters?!"
"Jas! Stop! Calm down! You know we've never once in our lives done drugs! Hell, I've never even done weed! You think we're on Heroin?! Come on!"
"What do you mean, 'come on'?! How do you explain people 'appearing' in our apartment?!"
Then, we heard Mattea's freaked out voice, "like that..." we looked over, and she was pointing to the bathroom. Once again, we saw the unmistakable piercing white light fill the space. Jasmine charged forward, but soon as she got near the door, she shielded her eyes and backed up. Once the light had disappeared, we saw yet another figure standing in the doorway, and then the voices of Fili and Kili filled the room.
"Uncle!"
"Thorin."
I hope you enjoyed the first chapter :) as I mentioned in the introduction, this is me re-doing my 'An Unexpected Journey to the Afterlife' story. So far, I'm re-doing the chapters I had posted under that name, and once I get the other two done, I will delete that story and continue updating this one with new content! I am changing the story a bit. For example, in the last story, the OC's name was not Erika, but Danika. And she had a child. But I am excited to see where this story goes! While I have some ideas I think you'll like, I'm open to suggestions! Have a great day, everyone!