Sméagol's Redeption

Chapter 66

Lea was still awake a few hours later. She was struggling to fall asleep with so many frightening thoughts running through her head, and she couldn't seem to calm her fears at all. Her heart jumped when she heard Sméagol's footsteps upstairs, because she knew he was getting ready to go looking for the ring. This is it, she thought to herself. This is your last chance to see him. He could be gone forever when you wake up.

Her heart began racing as she heard him tiptoeing down the stairs. She tried to think of what to do. Should she try to stop him? Would that make him resent her? Should she pretend to sleep, and just let him go? What if he didn't find the ring, and he came home alright again? There was still that possibility. She heard him reach the bottom step, and head for the door. Well, what are you gonna do, Lea? She asked herself. She turned towards the direction of the front door, and heard Sméagol turn the handle. "Sméagol?" she said. Her heart began pounding as soon as she said his name. How was he going to respond.

Sméagol turned around to see Lea getting up from the couch. "Lea?"

She slowly approached him, shaking like an Earthquake.

"What is it, my precious?" he asked sweetly. "Are you alright?"

Sméagol's sweetness made this even harder on Lea. "Um... where are you going?" she asked nervously.

"Going? Oh, nowhere, Precious. We were just going to sit outside for a bit."

"You were going to look for the ring, weren't you?"

"What?" Sméagol said awkwardly. "Oh, no, no, no, Precious, no," he laughed nervously. "Why does it think that?"

"I heard you talking about it when I got out of the shower. You and Gollum were planning on going out to look for it while I was asleep."

Sméagol stopped in his tracks. "We must get the Precious," he said desperately. "We must get it back."

"But, why?"

"We wants it," said Gollum. "We needs it."

"No, you don't," Lea protested. "You don't need it."

"Why does it fight us?" Gollum asked, frustrated.

Lea fought tears as she spoke. "Because, that ring caused you nothing but pain and misery, and it made you do things that you now regret, and wish you never did. I mean, even if it can make you live forever, and give you power, is it really worth what you would be giving up?"

"Like what?"

"Like me!" Lea cried. "Or, do I not matter to you as much as the ring?"

Gollum grabbed onto the door handle. "Must have the precious," he said angrily.

"But, why?! Why do you need it so badly?! Why is it so important to you?!"

"Because, it's ours," Gollum growled, "ours!"

"Fine. Fine. If you really wanna find the ring, I can't stop you, but I wish I could be your precious instead." Lea burst into tears. "For a while, I honestly thought I was. I guess I was wrong."

Sméagol looked at her for a moment, completely torn.

"Must go," Gollum said as he hurried out, and slammed the door behind him.

Lea ran back up the stairs, sobbing hysterically, and grabbed her phone off the bedside table.

Meanwhile, Bri and Damian had just finished cleaning up after the party, when Bri's phone rang. She picked it up immediately. "Hey, Lea," she said sweetly. "No, you didn't wake me. Wait, what's wrong, Honey?" Her jaw dropped. "Oh, no," she said.

"What?" asked a worried Damian. "Is she okay?"

"Of course. Yeah, come on over. Okay. I'll see you in a sec. Okay, bye."

"What's wrong?" Damian asked as Bri hung up.

"It's Sméagol. He's gone looking for the ring."

"Oh, shit."

While Lea made her way over to Bri's house, Sméagol roamed through the streets, looking for the ring. Then, he stopped for a bit, and remembered the devastated look on Lea's face before he left. He headed for Aini's house, and knocked on the door with tears in his eyes.

"Sméagol?" Aini said as she opened the door. "Is everything okay?"

He suddenly broke down sobbing.

Aini pulled him into a big hug. "Hey, what's wrong?" she said calmly.

"We went to look for it," he wept. "We went to look for the Precious."