Infinity Ring (Legolas Love Story)

16. Pledge Of Allegiance

Ruth told me one or two weeks ago to record a faux meeting in between her schedule. She shared a secret to me: She was going to have a classified meeting with some key people in the country.

"That sounds very serious."

"When the word nuclear is in the book, then yes, it is serious, Leigh Ann."

Nuclear? She wasn't even supposed to tell me any of this, so I didn't ask any further.

These terrorists tortured me endlessly already for that sensitive information. But I was not going let my pain and Grant's death be in vain and risked the lives of the countless of innocent people.

I glared at him and swallowed painfully. Anger, hatred, agony and fear hung all over me. I answered with stern but shaking voice.

"I pledge... allegiance to the Flag of the United Sta-" he cut me mid speech, slapping me hard and kicked me in the gut until I coughed up blood.

"TELL ME!"

"I DON'T KNOW!" I cried and screamed in agony as he kept on his torture. His fist made contact to my face, my chest and stomach–all over me until I couldn't take it anymore.

I blacked out.

When I woke up, I was tied to a chair, a laptop sat in front of me. A video was playing on the screen, showing Ruth's horrified expression. It took me a while, but then I realized that it was a live feed. A voice behind me spoke.

"Madam Secretary; Mister President," he began. His voice was different. His English was much better even though I could still hear a Korean accent to it. "Thank you for agreeing to speak with me. Now let's get straight to the matters at hand. Give us the coordinates to the whereabouts of our ship carrying our intelligence and weaponry that you take away from us."

"Just tell us where it is, Madam Secretary, and we shall return your faithful, patriotic assistant to you, alive and in one piece," he mocked.

He chuckled darkly behind me at Ruth's and the president's silence. "Come on, Ruth. We both know how much you love Leigh Ann. How she reminded you of your dead daughter."

"Yes, we did our research. Give us the coordinates and you have my word, I will return her alive. No harm will come to your people in New York who are going to be celebrating New Year with their families, friends and loved ones," he said taunting them in an eeriely calm voice.

Ruth was now visibly breathing hard and trying to keep her composure in check while the president's face was purple from rage and frustration.

"D-don't give it to t-them, Ruth," I said shaking. The man behind me laughed and yanked my head back, causing me to grunt in pain.

I didn't know how much more pain I could endure, or how long I would last. I raked my brain past all the pain and hunger, thinking how best to help them find me.

"DC, Ibiza Night Clu-" before I finished my sentence I was yanked senseless by my hair painfully. I cried as I hit the cold hard ground, all while still being tied to the chair that held me.

I could only hope that they caught my information and hopefully catch these guys. They had to find me, or else, I would surely die.

Earlier I saw one of them, still fully covered in ski mask, long sleeved shirt, pants, and gloves. But I saw the fresh, smudged logo of Ibiza Night Club on his exposed wrist. I concluded that we were still here in DC. And by the reaction of my kidnapper, I was right.

The terorrist who earlier seemed calm as he talked to Ruth and the president, angrily threw punishing punches at me, ignoring the fact that we were still live with the White House. I didn't know how many times his knuckles met my face; but when I regained some consciousness, I think I broke my jaw bone. He pulled me back up to my seat to face the camera. My eyes blurred at the abuse and I couldn't see straight, but I could hear the President's angry shouts through the laptop speaker.

This time my kidnapper's fake patience was gone.

"You wasted my time, Mister President," he spat violently, "Now you and Ruth will get a front row seat as you watch your faithful assistant meets her maker. Her blood is in your hands."

He yanked my head back and dragged a blade on my collarbone and chest, drawing fresh blood off of me. I screamed and flailed,  my whole body trembled with the torment, but with my body being tied off there wasn't much I could do. Nowhere to run. All I knew was pain and agony.

I heard my agonizing scream pierced through the entire basement, over and over. My existence at that moment consisted only of pain. Heck, I didn't even remember my own name. At this point, death didn't seem like a bad idea; pleasant even. Then hopefully I would just stop feeling and forget everything.

Then I felt the knife on my neck. This time, as it sliced my flesh, I welcomed death like one would welcome an old friend.

***

The scene changed. Now I saw events like rolling videos.

I saw a news headline reporting that the Washington Police Department had taken into custody a North Korean terrorists cell who planned on setting off bombs on several locations at the city during the New Year's Eve. Their track was first found at Ibiza Night Club in DC from a classified informant. The North Korean government denied their involvement with the terrorist cell group in United States.

I saw a funeral. It was solemn. So many many people lit up candles and brought flowers. The president, Ruth and Luke was there, their expressions somber and crestfallen, along with other people I did not know. My mother came into view and placed her favorite cross necklace on the the beautiful, glossy brown coffin. Then it dawned on me:

The funeral was mine.

Now I saw Jake and mom, looking slightly older but their faces were of happiness and joy. Anna was a beautiful bride as she walked on the aisle. They exchanged their wedding vows and kissed. Now they were doing their first dance. Jake and Anna gazed lovingly at each other. Anna embraced her husband and whispered.

"If Leigh Ann were here, she would be very happy for us," she said as tears of happiness welled up in her eyes. My brother nodded and pulled away a bit, smiling at her before pulling her into a long kiss.

During the reception, my mom came to them and hugged them both. A man around my mother's age was there by her side, holding her hand as he congratulated my brother's wedding. The man looked down at my mom, his eyes filled with affection towards her.

Then I saw me in my medieval dress, standing in the middle of a vast, old forest. Legolas smiled at me. His eyes danced with excitement at everything around us; my expression mirrored his. We gazed at the mighty tree in front of us. Our faces were like children's who finally see for themselves that Santa Clause is real.

Gimli grunted beside us and exclaimed, "Lad and lassie, I would very much like to move on if you two finished praying to the tree!" I and Legolas laughed at him. Gimli huffed. The dwarf then rolled his eyes at us.

I saw Aragorn and Arwen kissing at a white stone courtyard lovingly. Their moments of intimacy ruined by two beautiful little children, a boy and a girl running towards them. The boy ran after the girl. With a high pitched shriek, the little girl yelled, "Adar, help!"

Aragorn laughed, "Come here, my daughter," he chuckled as he scooped up the little girl in his arms. Arwen caught the running boy and planted a kiss on his chubby cheek. The boy giggled at his mother's kisses, then brought a hand up her head, pulling a white petal off of his mother hair. The petal of the White Tree of Gondor.

***

[Author's Note: Tell me what you think about the chapter. I know it's dark, but do not fret, I'm not all about angst! Let me know what went through your head as you read this chapter. Your opinions and critics are welcomed! Thank you again for reading, my preciousssss]