Disclaimer: Didn't do this last time. Wella lot of it is mine, in fact everything in this chapter belongs to me, however anything familiar to the Lord Of The Rings saga does belong to Tolkien.

Sorry this took so long

Chapter 9, Adrenaline

Anna rounded the corner. Her frantic footsteps made a loud 'clap' as they hit the pavement; barely registering amongst theslow rumble of thunder.

'What month is it?' She wondered, just as it began to rain. Heavy droplets fell on to the ground around her. She had run from the alleyway as fast as she could with the ice covering the ground. She was relieved when she saw the streets in front of her.

The alleyway only got icy because it was shaded by the overhang of large oak trees, but now on the streets the pavements had been cleared of any dangerous ice that the morning brought with it, and grit lined the roads.

Her short breaths fogged and hung in the frozen air. She chanced a look behind her shoulder. Nothing.

Anna had been running for some time now. She was on familiar ground. She had the advantage, for once.

The adrenaline pumping through her veins was the only thing stopping her from collapsing on her feet. Her head thumped to the rhythm of her fast pulse. She was so scared, but a part of her was excited. She had no idea why, but the chase… Something about the endless chase left her feeling exhilarated. She didn't slow down. She couldn't. If they caught her –

Still she ran. She wouldn't let them near her. She wouldn't be killed, to die like her father. No. A loud thunder clap brought her to the present time. It rumbled like bin men in the morning, scraping the green containers across the tarmac of the drive early on a Wednesday. But now it was dark, and she wasn't lying awake in her warm comfortable bed. She hadn't seen her bed in a long time. Though the ones in Rivendell were just as comfortable, there was something your own bed brought that no other could.

They hadn't even followed her through the portal, but a part of her wouldn't stop running. It felt natural, stopping wasn't something she considered.

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She had lost them. There had been no sign of them for miles. The weather took a turn for the worse. Dark clouds formed overhead and she found her self soaked before she had a chance to put her hood up on her red jacket. She started making her way back through the criss-crossing streets when she heard a scream.

Her natural curiosity got the better of her as she stopped in her tracks and looked up at the small window. The building surrounding it was old. A warehouse. Abandoned. Well it used to be. She stood up on the large skip outside it and just about managed to look through.

That's when she had seen it. More men stood there. They were not like the other "men". They were human. They were crowded around a younger man, the screaming man. They were trying to console him. One held him down firmly but gently while another tried to get him to drink something, another wrapping his knees in thick bandages.

Despite the calm feelings his companions tried to lend the man, his fear seem to be in the air, keeping Anna where she was. Frozen to the spot. There was another man, weeping. At every scream that echoed from the fragile form of the injured man, the other would physically shiver, more sobs racking through his body. One of the other men bid him near and he obeyed.

---

Sarmil made his way to his beloved companion Laflin. Both shook, one from great pain another from his heart breaking. Sarmil felt the guilt building up. He couldn't take it. He knelt down and took Laflin's hand in his own

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," He began. Laflin put a shivering finger to Sarmil's lips signalling the other man to stop. It took all of his might to do so and Sarmil could barely make out the small sounds as his best friend spoke to him

"Don't…" he whispered weakly, hating himself for not being able to say more.

Sarmil grasped Laflin's hand tightly. He could feel the cold creeping up on Laflin through the touch of their fingertips.

"No, no," Sarmil shook his head in denial. The others, knowing what was to come, took a few steps back and resided in guarding the doors. Leaving these precious moments to the two.

"I love you," Sarmil told Laflin, "You're the only person I've ever trusted. You're my best friend, I'll never lose you, not really."

Laflin smiled. A ghost smile. The expression looked out of place among the white ashen face, and the blood that lay atop it, of the dying man, but it was there nonetheless. "I…love you too.." He managed to choke out. He couldn't manage the same sentimental, memorable words of his best friend. He too could feel deaths cold icy grasp and he didn't like it at all. He shuddered in its presence, the corners of his eyesight growing dark. A shadow closing in.

He let go of the confines of this world, still clasping his best friends hand.

A horrible cry rang out through the Winter skies.

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Review Replies

faeriekittie306animelover: Wow that name's hard to remember! Thanks for the review, and there's nothing wrong with a bit of begging ;)

Estel: Of course you're more than one person. I mean there's Jo, and Estel, and Gollum! Hate evil Elronds, well...I like evil Elrond when its a situation between him exiling Estel, but not any other time :) -waits for your postcard from Rome- oh and your exams are soon!