Forget me not

Chapter 27

The forest rushed by, and I felt about ready to pass out in his arms. I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. I could do neither. It was a while before Elrohir stopped in the forest and let me down gently from his arms. I fell to the ground, shaking and holding my head in my hands. I couldn’t look at him. I tried to force myself not to see him. I couldn’t bear it, I needed to see his face.

I looked up at him only to see he was glowing and holding his head in his hands. He seemed to be mumbling to himself, but I could not hear what he was saying. After a moment, his eyes shot up from the ground and the glow faded a little. He reached out to me.

“Merewen, you have to get away from me!” He collapsed to the ground and the glow became brighter. I shuffled backward away from him, but his hand reached out in an instant and grabbed my ankle. “You are going nowhere!”

I screamed at the menacing look in his eyes. He stood and towered over me. “I told you, I would be with you. I only want to be with you. Can you not see?” He shuddered and grabbed at his head again but seemed to push whatever was bothering him back away and looked back at me. “Why did you have to go to him? He does not love you, not like I love you.”

I shook my head and wept. I whimpered as he squeezed my leg tighter. “I… I didn’t…”

His body convulsed, and his eyes softened. “Merewen! You have to run!”

I tried to stand, but he didn’t let go of my leg. The fire returned to his eyes, and he pulled on my leg to cause me to fall flat on my back.

“You didn’t what? You are a little whore! Did you know that? One minute you are with me, and the next you take him to your side.”

“I… I did not take him. He helped me. He brought me back. I was fading! Elladan, I did not mean to—”

“You did not mean to… indeed!” He fell on top of me and pinned my arms to the ground. “You meant everything you ever did with him. Every kiss you ever shared, every embrace you fell into, they all were in spite of me! You watched me die, only to sleep with the next elf that crossed your path?!” He kissed my lips roughly, and I could not turn my head, for he held it in place. “You are a whore, Merewen! Nothing but a dirty wench that the whole town has had a frolic with!”

I wept and struggled against his hands. “Elladan, that is not true!” I tried to pull away, and his eyes turned again, back into the soft and loving eyes of Elrohir.

“Merewen, you are strong! Fight him! I cannot!” Suddenly, his hand reached back and struck me across the face, and when I saw his features again, he was Elladan.

“Elladan, I love you! I loved you then and I still do. Why are you doing this to me?”

*****

“That is not Elladan. It is him in a sense, but with death he was corrupted and is no longer the being that we all loved.” Gandalf’s voice rang clear and threatening among the people surrounding him. “He has been tortured with death, and when he returned, inside of Elrohir, he was warped. There is nothing we can do. He cannot be reasoned with. Even if he hears all he wants to hear, even if she tries her best to convince him of it, it will not help. He is so consumed with rage and his soul so corrupted with his own tragic death that he will abuse her until her death.”

Inwe fell helplessly into tears and Haldir’s arms. Elrond only shook his head and asked, “What will happen to Elrohir?”

“Elrohir will either be pushed so far back into his subconscious that he will cease to exist, or he will kill himself to keep Elladan from harming Merewen.”