Hope sat on the bed in her room, guitar in her lap as she strummed away at random chords, trying to come up with a melody put words to. After recovering from the painful reality that there would be no rock bands in this place she decided that the only way there would be good music is if she wrote some herself. The problem was... it was easier said than done. Her finger hit the wrong string too hard and groaned at the awful sound it made.
"Dammit!" she growled, and set the guitar down. She glanced out the window, trying to find something to distract her, and noticed how late it was. It was dark outside, and she had hardly realized the time had gone by at all. Better luck in the morning, she thought, and set the guitar down so it was leaning against the wall, and went to blow out the candle.
She was about a foot away from it when as strong smell got her attention. It
was putrid and made her gag, taking a giant step back from the door. It
reminded her of the time she had found a dead mouse in her room back at
home (the mess had kept it hidden pretty well...). But this was stronger. If it
was something dead, it was definitely something bigger than a mouse.
Covering her nose she opened the door and stepped out into the hall. There
was nothing there but the dim light of the fireplace in the common room.
Tabby must still be up, she thought.
She wandered down to the common room, wondering if Tabby could smell it was well, but stopped when she saw there was no one there. She could still smell whatever it was that was causing such a stink, no matter how tightly she pinched her nose shut. Wandering through the room, she looked around, hardly aware of the person watching her in the shadows of the hall.
The smell was coming from behind the sofa. That was the only place it could have been coming from. She trudged over to it and was not but a few feet from it when she saw a pair of hobbit feet. "Smeagol?" she asked. There came no response and she hurried over, moving the chair out of the way to see who was laying there. The body was pale with dark circles around the eyes and mouth. There as bruising around the neck, and its eyes were wide opened and glazed over, staring at the ceiling but seeing nothing.
It did not move. It did not breathe.
"Deagol?" she cried. "Deagol!" She dropped next to him, shaking him,
attempting to rouse him, even though she knew it was too late. "Deagol,
what happened! Deagol!"
"It won't wake... no... never..." hissed a voice. Hope's skin crawled down her spine and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She knew that voice.
"What have you done?" she cried, turning around. What she found made her scream. Smeagol was standing at the other side of the room, the shadows lining his face. There were dark circles under his eyes as if he had not slept in years, he reaked, and his hands were covered in blood. One hand was gripped tightly into a fist, clutching onto something protectively.
"It's oursss... it's oursss!" he hissed, giving her a dangerous look. "It knows
too much... yess, preciousss... jussst like him!" He pointed to Deagol's body.
"We musssn't let it tell... no! Never! -Gollum!- -Gollum!-" He took a few
steps towards her, and she was on her feet, running for the door.
"Don't you touch me!" she screamed. She forced the door open and
stumbled outside, falling on her palms and knees, pine needles pricking and
cutting her. She tried to stand but she couldn't. Her body suddenly felt like it
weighed a ton, and she could barely move. Smeagol's loud breathing was
coming closer, she could hear his footsteps. "No!" she screamed.
"Somebody help!" Cold clammy hands grabbed her shoulders and forced
her up to face him. Hope screamed, praying that someone would hear her.
Smeagol stared at her with dark eyes when suddenly his expression changed
and he looked at her slightly confused. "Hope?" he asked. His voice had
changed and Hope looked up at him. He shook her gently. "Hope? Wake
up"
----
Hope's eyes snapped open and she found herself on her knees on top of her bed, Smeagol's hands firmly on her shoulders with a worried look on his face. Tabby was standing in the doorway looking just as confused. It took Hope a moment of blinking and looking around frightened before she realized it was only a dream. Tears flooded her eyes and she flung herself into Smeagol's arms, burrying her head in his shoulder. For a moment, both of them forgot about the secret they were trying to keep from Tabby.
"Poor dear had a nightmare I'll warrant," said Tabby, pleasantly oblivious.
"I'll go make her some tea. No doubt she has a headache from your shaking
her, Smeagol."
She left and Smeagol kissed Hope's head lovingly. "It's all right," he whispered. "It's over." Hope said nothing. In her heart, she knew it wasn't over, but yet to come. But she couldn't tell him. No matter she did, she couldn't tell him. She just wished she could stop him. "Hope, you're shaking..." he whispered, holding her tighter. "What happened? What did you see?"
"Nothing," she answered. "Just a dream"
-
(A/N: Save a hobbit! R&R! You'll thank yourself later! Cheers!)