AN: Wow, it's been so long since I created a new story, I forgot the disclaimer! So here it is:

I do not own The Hobbit or anything related to Middle Earth. The book and movie belong to J.R.R. Tolkien, Peter Jackson and Warner Bros, respectively.

I hope this strays from the overused "girl-landed-in-Middle Earth plot" although, I suppose, that's what it is. If overused, I hope this is at least an original and refreshing approach. Feedback is greatly appreciated and encouraged!

Chapter II

A Foe in the Forest

Everything was black.

I lay on my back as my head still swam. All I wanted to do was to stay there and catch my breath and make my head stop spinning. The hard textbooks in my school bag poked into my back, making it very uncomfortable so I ended up opening my eyes sooner than I'd have liked. Although it was still dark, it didn't compare to the blackness behind my lids. I wondered if I had been knocked unconscious. There had been at least another two hours before nightfall so it didn't make sense but I didn't think on it very long.

I heard whispers above me, sharp and urgent and overlapping. I couldn't make out any words, if there were words to be made out at all. No, it wasn't voices, was it? No. There were trees high above me and their leaves shifted in a breeze that I couldn't feel and rustled against each other in quiet murmurs. That was it, right? The soft whispering of-

A loud sobering crack resounded some ways behind me as if a tree branch was split in two. Or perhaps it was just a twig instead and much closer than I thought. My heart started to beat faster and suddenly I knew I was in danger. I quickly remembered why I was so out of breath and why I had been running so hard. How could I have forgotten in so short a time? God, I was so stupid! The hunter had to be right behind me!

I leapt to my feet and sprinted through the woods, determined to make up for my momentary lapse. C'mon, Emily! Faster! I was battered and sore and barely able to manage a jog but I kept going. I willed my head to clear and focused through my dizziness. Keep going, keep running, I chanted. Keep going. Keep running. Faster!

Soon, I started to work up a sweat and didn't understand why I felt like I was in a sauna. Was my blood pumping that hard? I wanted to shrug off my winter coat and my backpack which was obviously slowing me down but I felt like I couldn't. I didn't want to pause for even a second in fear of my pursuer.

There were many large roots and branches on the ground that I constantly had to watch out for. More than once, I found myself tripping and stumbling through the woods. The ground was wet and the grass slippery as if it had just rained, making it all the more difficult to run. He had to be close by. My house had to be close by! If only I could see the chimney smoke or the wooden gate, I'd be safe! Faster, Emily! Faster!

The hunter's image flashed through my mind as I hobbled through the dark wood. His false façade turned ill. The snow hares he managed to kill, hanging from his belt like prizes. Oh, those poor poor rabbits! I've never felt more like one, running scared and blind, hoping to find a safe hole to crawl into. It was the hunter's eyes that were the most unnerving. His cold cruel eyes that had bore into mine, that held unspeakable acts and twisted thoughts behind them, all for me. He wasn't going to just give up. He wasn't going to stop until his sick plans were satisfied, until I was dead just like those poor rabbits.

Dead.

Or worse.

A well placed stone sent me lurching forward and I braced myself for impact. I landed hard in thick mud which squished through my gloves and into the knees of my stockings. I felt winded and tired. And so very afraid. Suddenly, all the weight of the world dropped upon my shoulders, grinding me into the mud as if gravity wouldn't allow me to stand. I couldn't go on. I couldn't bring myself to get up or move even though I tried. Desperately, I looked around, expecting to see the hunter's red coat through the trunks of trees or hear another rifle blast. He had been right behind me. I had heard his footfalls so close before. He couldn't have lost me when I fell down that hill. I had to hide. I had to get away. I had to get home! I couldn't let him get me. I couldn't let him…

On shaking hands, I started to move. I wasn't able to stand so I crawled my way over to a tree trunk and pressed myself against it. My breath came in short bursts and my chest heaved. Again, I was reminded of how overheated I was yet still, I felt the chill of the snow that had melted through my… clothes. The realization hit me like a ton of bricks.

There wasn't any snow.

I looked around frantically. From what I could see, the entire forest was devoid of snow as if the storm never happened. How long was I lying there on the ground? Not long enough for all the snow to melt! It didn't make sense.

My fear seemed to double as I looked around. Now that I actually saw the forest (which wasn't much because it was very dark), I realized how unfamiliar it looked. These weren't the pine trees that bordered my house, these were tall and ancient and somewhat sinister. The trunks were thick and twisted with branches and vines that wove together far overhead, blocking out any light source from the sky. I really couldn't guess if it were day or night.

I tried to shuffle back more into the trunk and winced at the sound of my soles scraping against the knarled roots on which I sat. This whole forest was quiet. Absolutely silent. Not a bird or insect or anything made a sound. It was unnatural. And as I sat against the tree, I knew that I wasn't safe there and that I had to keep moving. I recalled being told that when you're lost you should stay in one place so its easier to be found. But I didn't want to be found. I really hated the thought of leaving the tree and having my back exposed to whatever (or whoever) was out there but there was little choice.

I rose on unsteady limbs. My muscles moaned in protest and my bones barely supported my haphazard movements. As quietly as possible, I crept through the overgrown woods which were starting to feel more like a jungle. I ducked below hanging vines and stepped over fallen branches. My progress was sluggish but I couldn't risk outright running like before. If I sprained an ankle, I'd be as good as dead (assuming I wasn't such already).

A thought struck me, a desperate one, mind you. I reached into my coat pocket and lo and behold, there was my phone. I didn't even remember tucking it into my coat but with the chaos before, it's understandable that I overlooked such a minor act. I touched the screen and it sprang to life. Immediately I saw I had no reception which wasn't a surprise. My luck was all crap! I swear it couldn't get any worse. And just as the thought formed, I felt it.

It.

There was a presence ahead of me- ominous, cold and powerful. It was almost a tangible aura of negativity. I could sense it radiating outwards from a source I was too afraid to look at (assuming the dark forest would allow it anyway). My eyes were glued to the screen of my cell phone. Its dull glow put me on edge. It was the only light in the forest, practically a beacon. After what seemed like a century, the phone's backlight dimmed then finally went out as it always did, thirty seconds after I used it. I was in darkness again but it was hardly reassuring.

I dared to slip my cell back into my pocket, slowly and hopefully indiscernibly. Other than that, I didn't move or look up. I knew something was there. I could practically feel its eyes boring into me, rooting me to the spot as if a pike had been driven through me into the forest floor. My breathing stilled in my chest as its own reached my ears- slow and slightly rasping as if the air were being sucked through a steel grate. Then from the unsettlingly quiet woods erupted a piercing scream, no, a screech. Loud and inhuman like the squealing of tires, nails on a blackboard and a tea kettle whistling all at once. First it was behind me and then beside me. And then more screeches joined in the earsplitting chorus to the point where it seemed to come from the trees of the forest itself. I dropped to my knees without thinking, clamping my hands over my ears in an attempt to dull the horrific sound.

Several things clicked into place within my brain, then out of place then back again.

I identified the noise almost immediately after the shock of it assaulting my eardrums wore off. It sounded just like the Ringwraiths in the Lord of the Rings movies. I wanted to dismiss it but it was unmistakable. It wasn't just my nerd brain acting up, there really was nothing else I could think of that sounded like that. Aside from a tea kettle whistling, screeching tires and nails on a chalkboard but the likelihood of all those being in the forest was slim, apparently slimmer than fictional bad guys. Of course, I had no idea why or how I was hearing the creepy grim reapers' call in the middle of No Where Woods but I didn't have time to consider the oddity of what was happening. The shrieks died down, leaving me again in the unnerving silence. I'm not sure what was worse!

I waited, not knowing what else to do. The presence was still there, I could tell. Just as thick and chilled as before. Running would have been a better option than kneeling at the mercy of whatever the hell made that sound but the phrase "deer in the headlights" comes to mind. I was terrified, short and simple. That paired with the fact that I hoped it or they would lose interest was enough to keep me from moving. It was basic T-Rex logic- if you don't move, it can't see you. So long as I kept perfectly still, maybe it would just-

It charged me.

There were no footsteps. No warning. It was suddenly just everywhere. Sweeping over my frame like a black mist, enveloping me in its icy embrace. I think I was standing again but not of my own doing. It was like being stuck in a wind tunnel with the howling rush of air taking my breath and pressing me into myself. Yet at the same time, it was nothing like that. There was no wind at all. Actually, it was more like as if an invisible hand was holding me tightly, not crushingly tight but enough to say "I've got you now" or "You're mine, bitch". I got the message either way. It was the presence, I realized. Now much closer and practically in front of me.

Actually it was.

"Do you know me?" the presence asked slowly. It was a male, his voice both a hiss and a hum.

My heart skipped a beat. Maybe two.

I knew that voice. I loved that voice. The deep baritone that was like velvet and silk all at once. The low rumble like thunder that made my heart tremble. The words formed by that voice were never spoken but only came out as a purr. That voice, I recognized immediately, just like the screeches. It could belong to none other but the lovely Benedict Cumberbatch. That exactly was where my fleeting fancy ended because I knew that whoever had his voice was no friend to me. If the screeches had been Ringwraiths then it was safe to assume that whoever (or whatever) had spoken was from the same place- namely, Middle Earth. It was absolutely absurd but fear seemed to allow the notion to make sense.

"Y-yes?" was my uncertain reply although I didn't recall consciously saying it.

There was a sharp pause then he spoke again in the same low tone. "Name me."

My nerd brain filed through the movies, scanning for Cumberbatch. He wasn't in the trilogy, duh, but the British actor had been cast for two parts in The Hobbit movies. Smaug the Terrible was one and I knew it couldn't be him for the dragon never resided in a forest (to my knowledge). So that left the other. The one that I didn't want to admit to be true. Had I a choice, I'd have picked the dragon without hesitation. Although Smaug was ruthless and could barbeque me in five seconds flat, I honestly would have felt a lot safer with the fire-breathing lizard. Because I knew that the person, the creature, the monster here before me was far more dangerous and much more sinister.

"Name me," he ordered again. His voice was the same as before, no lower or louder in pitch but now, it was laced with a silent threat. The "or else" basically tacked on the end.

With a shaking voice, I nodded and answered him. "The Necromancer."