An Unwanted Surprise

Song- "Blunt the Knives" by the Hobbit Cast

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I woke up on Thursday morning late.

My phone buzzed with the reminder about my meeting today at four. I got up and did the dishes and swept the floors. I cleaned the living room and arranged the pillows, opened the curtains to let in the light, and turned on some music.

Three o'clock.

I put on the the tea water and filled the coffee pot to get it ready and wasn't sure if he would be staying long or not but just in case I had food in the fridge to make a dinner.

At 3:45, the doorbell rang. I tightened my pony tail and made sure my skinny jeans, blouse, and flats didn't have any smudges on them and opened the door and was shocked to not see a little old man and a stranger, but instead, a man about as wide as my doorway. He wore a muscle shirt and had tattoos up his arms and all over his bald head. His ear was pierced and a leather jacket was slung on his arm and he held a backpack.

He held up his phone and squinted at me. "Are ye Abigail Baggs?" He asks in a thick and guttural Scottish accent.

"Uh....y-yes." I stuttered and my eyes widened at him. He shoved his phone in his pocket and marched inside. I raised an eyebrow and closed the door.

"Uh...do I know you? Am I supposed to know you? Are you the guy who's hiring a writer?" I asked and he turned to look at me with a slightly amused grin.

"No." He looked me over and I felt self conscious and just turned and went to my room and pulled on a zip up hoodie and closed the door to my room.

I came out again to find him digging through my cabinets and I scoffed. He was munching away on my potato chips.

"What's your name?" I demanded. "You seem familiar with mine but I have no idea who you are." I said indignantly.

He looked at me and said through a mouthful of chips, "Graham." I raised an eyebrow.

"Ooohhhkkkaaayyyyy." I said and crossed my arms when there was another knock at the door. I opened it to reveal another man. This one was older- possibly in his fifties- and had graying hair and cheery blue eyes.

He smiled. "Hello, lassie. Am I at the right place?"

"If you're looking for Abigail Baggs, then yes." I say with a fake smile and he didn't catch my sarcasm and just came right inside.

"Evening brother!" He called to Graham and there was a loud thunk and I didn't even bother going into the kitchen now.

"Ken, my brother, it's been ages!" Graham was saying and I rolled my eyes.

No sooner had I closed the door, then there was another louder knock. I opened the door and my eyes widened and my internal monologue was "Damn."

There were two younger very good-looking guys, both with beards and shorter hair. They looked to be in their early twenties, a little younger than me, but still hot. They had bags like Graham and Ken did and I frowned at them. They were cute but if these guys thought they were having a sleepover in my apartment, they were dead wrong. Don't care how gorgeous your face is.

"Oh! Are you Abigail?" The blond one asked and I nodded.

"Yup. And you two are?"

"Dean." Said the blond.

"Aidan." Said the brunet.

I nodded then said, "Were either of you two hiring a writer?" They both gave me the same smirk that Graham gave me and it prompted another scowl from me.

"Nope." They both said and I could only assume they were brothers. Dean looked a little older than Aidan, though.

There was now shouting and loud laughter coming from my kitchen and I was beginning to get a headache, so I marched into the room and said angrily,

"Hey!"

They all went silent and turned to look at me. "Who the hell are you all and why are you in my apartment?" I demanded.

Aidan looked at Dean, then Dean looked to Graham, then Graham looked to Ken and he sighed heavily.

"You'll have to wait fer the rest've us t'get here, lassie."

"The rest of you? What do you mean? There's more Scottish people running around New York?" I demanded. They seemed to think my annoyance was amusing and snickered to themselves, then Ken said,

"Well...four of us are here, so we're waitin' on nine." He says with a nod and the other three nodded too.

I ran a hand through my blonde hair and let out a heavy sigh. "Great. This is just great." I muttered and turned and went into the bathroom for a moment to clear my head and get some privacy for a moment. Then I remembered something.

The book was still on the kitchen table.

I marched back out, grabbed it, then shoved it into my back pocket. There was another knock and I grumbled a few choice cuss words then opened the door to five men and my jaw clenched.

They introduced themselves one by one as Mark, Adam, Jed, Peter, and John. They all came in, nodding to me enthusiastically and dropped their backpacks and coats all over the floor with my shoe rack.

My eye twitched.

There was another knock. I opened the door and just left it open as three men introduced themselves as William, James, and Stephen.

Soon enough there were twelve men in my kitchen, sitting on the counters, chairs, and table, and leaning against the wall and doorframe.

I watched them from the living room and suddenly noticed something.

Every one of them had tattoos, were buff, and they all had guns on their hips and slip knives in their pockets. I swallowed hard.

Everything came horribly into focus and the book in my pocket felt like it weighed a million pounds.

There was a gang in my apartment.

And the man that wanted to hire me was most likely the gang's boss.

"Hey, You ok? Abigail? Hello? You gonna be sick? If you are then you should run now." Aidan was standing in front of me waving a gloved hand in my face and I flinched and stepped back away from him.

"Why are you all here?" I demanded, crossing my arms defensively.

The brothers looked at each other, "Why, we're here for you, of course."

I clenched my jaw. "And what could I possibly have that you want?" I demanded.

Dean chuckled. "We don't know. But our Uncle knows something about you. Something, according to him, that the Defilers want."

"Defilers. Seriously? So let me get this straight- you're a gang, and there's another gang called the Defilers?"

Aidan nodded. "Yeah. You got that book from Mr. Ian didn't you? It should have explained everything."

"What? No it just told me about mythical creatures and stuff that isn't real." I say frustratedly.

They smirk at each other. "So you've read it then? Cover to cover?"

"Yeah."

"Even the gems section and the-"

He was cut off at the sound of three hard pounds on the door.

"Miss Baggs. Yer employer is here." Graham says with a dark smirk and the other men all turned to look at me, one fatter one eating an apple off of his knife.

I gulped.

What had I gotten myself into?

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Here is a key to make it easier for you to follow along, considering all names have been changed. (I used the actor's real names for this book, all except for Abigail 😉)

Bilbo Baggins- Abigail Baggs
Gandalf the Gray- Mr. Ian
Thorin Oakenshield- Richard
Fili- Dean
Kili- Aidan
Dwailin- Graham
Balin- Ken
Dori- Mark
Ori- Adam
Nori- Jed
Bifur- William
Bofur- James
Bombur- Stephen
Oin- John
Gloin- Peter

I will add names to the list as more characters are introduced. I hope you enjoy!