Time Limit

Swinging From The Gallows

'She climbed up on the chair, her eyes staring in front of her like a sleepwalker's...She adjusted the noose around her neck.

Hugo was there to see she did she what she had to do. She kicked away the chair...'

Ariel Marilyn shuddered with both bliss and terror as she set down her favourite Agatha Christie book, And Then There Were None. (A/N: Anyone else who likes this book? I love it!) She sighed and stared out the window, yawning. It was midnight, but she just couldn't sleep. She hesitated, then went to the bookshelf in her room and pulled out a Lord of the Rings book. As a proud LotR fangirl, she never got tired of the books. As she sat down in her chair, a figure slipped out silently from the adjoining bathroom, pulled out a handkerchief and clapped it over Ariel's face.

"Mmph!" Ariel tried to scream, but it was no use. The intruder had a grip of steel as she slammed Ariel forcefully against the wall. Ariel gave a tiny moan as she slipped into unconsciousness.

《》

When she woke up, Ariel found herself still against the wall, gagged and with her wrists bound behind her. The hooded intruder smirked as she grabbed her victim and, with shocking strength, lifted her up onto a chair, forcing her neck into a noose. Too late, Ariel realized what she was going to do and tried to struggle, but it was of no use. The intruder stepped forward.

"Since you're going to die, I might as well show myself. You won't live to tell the tale, my beautiful Cordelia," she laughed. Slowly, her gloved hands reached up and pulled the hood down.

"Mmph!" Ariel gave a muffled cry of shock as she stared at the figure standing before her. Grinning maniacally, the girl reached forward and swiftly yanked the chair from under Ariel's feet.

"Ck - ck - ck - "

As Ariel choked out her last breaths, the figure replaced the chair in its original position, pulled the hood up and quickly disappeared into the shadows.

"No!" the screams that had grown so terribly familiar sounded once again, throughout the dorms of the Lord of the Rings fandom.

As chaos reigned outside, Alex knelt beneath Ariel's hanging body, choking and sobbing, tears threatening to rip his face to pieces. Next to him, Hayden was crying silently, somehow unable to find anything to say. They didn't notice the white card on the ground near the body. Once again, it was the same blood red words and eerie quill pen. Once again, AVE OMNIA VATES.

With a bitter laugh, Alex began to sing- a final tribute to his love.

So one last time, I need to be the one who takes you home

One more time, I promise after that, I'll let you go...