Chapter Text
It felt like home when he fell.
White light blinded his vision. He wasn´t in pain nor was he hurting. The light felt like a warm embrace, lulling him into the darkness as he fell. It wasn´t the worst way to go. Maybe a bit stereotypical and depressing but he´d accepted his fate centuries before. And maybe he knew that was a lie, but in every lie held a small bit of truth. Then again, he was a compulsive liar.
The wind whipped through his hair and he heard himself scream as his limbs were distorted in the water. But when he opened his eyes, there was only that damn light again. And he was standing on that ledge for the fifth time. Again .
¨For fucks sake, can´t you just let me fall!¨
Rubbing his head, he felt his very much dry hair. Shaking his head, Theo just laughed . What the hell? Seriously, what in the Wattpad story was happening? The sleep deprivation finally got to him, he concluded. He could´ve chosen to focus on the fact that time had clearly passed on his phone, meaning this was real, but instead grabbed a rock and launched it into the sea.
¨You think this is funny?¨ He scoffed,¨You think I would´ve been here if I knew some fucker was playing with my head? I could´ve made $40 more bucks at my shitty job than I would´ve standing here. I could´ve already finished my rent payments but now!¨
Another lie. It wasn´t funny but rather.. ironic even beyond the grave he couldn´t just die. His phone lit up in his pocket, shining through his jeans. But he couldn't bring himself to care. He went to the rail again only to stop.
Sit.
…What?
Looking around there wasn´t anyone there. He made sure of that. Going again this time he physically felt his body being restrained.
Sit .
And without a thought, he backed from the ledge and stumbled back onto the off-white cobblestone layering the bridge ground. Looking around again, there wasn´t anything but the rain. Tapping his shoulder, whispering in his ear, begging for him to stay down. Sighing, he carefully brought out his phone.
When are you coming home? Typing into his phone, his breathing slowed.
Soon. Another beep rang from his phone.
Need to leave soon. Doc promised ice cream if were on time!! :D
He almost laughed, almost. Lifting himself from the ground he watched as across the parallel bridge filled with life. Honking and yelling. Late night drives and family road trips. Look around you, Theoden. And there it was again. Great.
Any reason someone's in my head?
What the hell, it´s no harm to start talking to some imaginary voice in your head. None at all. Totally normal. He could imagine Ariella laughing at him. She would say he had the luck of some horror movie character. Right, he needed to go drive her to the doctor´s today for some blood work.
The storm was raging. Bright beams of thunder striked the water as the dark clouds paraded around the sky. Water held no mercy, he knew that too well. It was a haunting image. Something someone he used to know would´ve loved to paint. The painting in front of him was tragic.
He had to leave. Willing himself, each leg lifted towards the city. That walk soon became a jog and suddenly he was running. Running away from the water, life, or the voice he didn´t know.
He just wanted to go home.
Go into the light. He heard the voice plead. Turn back, go back. Trying to ignore the voice became easier said than done.
I just worked too many shifts, this is fine. It´s totally normal to have a voice in your head, everyone has one. Mine´s just more..active than most. I should probably ask for some days off, yes, that what I need. I just need a damn break to fix this. And-
Theoden Láquénion you will hear what I say.
…
You´re not my mother. You can´t make me do shit. You´re just a voice.
You must follow the light. This is no mere voice, I am beyond what you can understand.
Great! I have a voice in my head with a god complex.
Theoden-
Yes, that´s my name random voice in my head.
Theoden you must listen!
Okay, Light Yagami.
You´re decision affects far beyond-
Not listening anymoreee
-beyond yourself or your life anymore.
Great. Find someone else for your quest.
You have the chance to go back. Back to your true home. Beyond the misty mountains and to your comforts. But you must listen.
…
True home? My home is here with my sister. With Ariella.
Look behind you and all your questions will be answered.
Yeah right-
Beep. Beep. Slightly startled, he jumped to see what was behind him. He should´ve been able to hear that. A small yellow taxi car waited in the street. The shades were darkened and the paint was barely attached anymore to the car. He could only see another passenger in the car´s backseat. And at that moment he knew he had officially Fucked Up and was going to be stuffed into the trunk in approximately 30 seconds.
Go into the car.
What the hell? Do you want me to end up in a ditch! Or maybe you´re really one of those parasites that feeds on their host´s body and is trying to take over my body. I´ve seen a movie like that. Sure.
Trust yourself. This will answer all your questions. It will help you, and your sister.
…my sister too? I will go all Karen on your invisible ass if this is some MLM recruiting scam.
Taking one last step, he opened the car´s door to see a blonde-haired teen in the backseat.
¨Theo? Why are you here?¨ He had just thought the same thing.
¨I needed to get back home. Why are you here?¨
The air was much cleaner than he´d expected. Unlike most of New York´s faint smell of pipeweed and pastries, it smelled like the forest. It smelled like home something he hadn´t smelled in a long time.
Unconsciously he scooted closer to his sister in the car. Ariella was wearing some corduroy overalls with a white over-sized t-shirt with her black Doc Martens that were evidently stained. Beside her was just a small bag with another shirt and pants hanging out the zipper in case the blood work required an overnight stay.
She was always the more dressed-up one for sure. He just wore a black striped button-up and blue jeans that were god know´s how old and unwashed. The curse of the night shift.
Leaning over he noticed as she kept eying the driver.
¨Why did you get in the taxi?¨ she whispered,
¨What?¨
¨The driver said that you´d send it to me. I know you would never send a car for me. Not a car like this. Everything was telling me to stay away but..I didn´t. For some reason, I didn´t. I know you´re not dumb, you wouldn´t blindly get in a car like that. So something made you enter.¨ More like someone.
¨It´s hard to explain,¨ He answered choosing not to mention the voice that led him from the cliff, ¨It..smelled..like something I hadn´t smelled in a long time.¨
If anyone was angry, she was angrier.
¨What!¨ She whisper-shouted, ¨you got into some random sketchy car because ´it smelled familiar´! Where the hell did your survival instincts go?¨
¨Don´t act like you had some better reason you got into this car! We´re both here probably about to go missing so you better find some better reason were about to die!¨
¨…did you see the driver at all? Maybe we can find a way to find their name and alert the police before we die.¨
¨No. I just saw a passenger was in the back and I assumed that they weren´t dead so I could get in.¨
Looking to the front, he saw as the car turned a corner and passed a green light. The buildings were taller and more narrow than he remembered. He could see the neon lights of an apartment high up as they turned past. Beleriad Lane. Peering at the street name they´d entered, he realized that neither Ari or he had told the driver where to go.
¨Excuse me sir-um miss, where are you going?” He waited only to receive silence as a response. Great.
Instead he saw Ari reach into her pocket. Her eyes widened and soon she began rummaging through the bag.
¨Excuse me,¨ Theo tried again, ¨Where are you taking us? Don´t pretend like you can´t hear me!¨
Looking to his right he saw Ari still searching through her bag relentlessly. And then she stopped. Her head shot up at the driver and her body stilled. His eyes fluttered and he felt his stomach drop as they turned past another unknown corner.
¨Ari, Ari!¨ He pleaded,
¨It´s gone.¨
¨What´s gone?¨ Her face still faced the front of the car, almost in shock.
¨My..my phone. It´s not here.¨
¨What the hell! Did the driver take it?¨ Looking at her, she was still entranced by the view,¨Ari! What´s happening? Please, fuck, please tell me you´re joking.¨
Finally, he glanced out into the front window. His heart dropped. They were driving faster into a rail guard. Faster and faster they approached the ledge.
¨Ari! Ari! Stop the car! Stop!¨ Reaching for his seat belt and door handle he couldn´t move. The world was spinning as he felt the door locked. They were trapped with no way out.
¨Stop the car! We´re going to crash!¨ Suddenly they were launched back into their seat and he felt that cold, distorted feeling again. He felt his arm twist in pain and air caught in his hair. And suddenly his screams stopped, just like when he was on that ledge.
There was white. It was soft again and warm. It felt like a forest´s embrace. It felt like her .
But most of all, it felt like home.