Another few weeks has passed, and it is the day of James discharge from the hospital.


It is early in the day when the nurse comes in with the paperwork for my mother. "Jessie, I have some papers for you." He hands a clipboard and pen to my mother. "I just need you to sign these forms claiming your son is now free from our care." The male nurse said as he started to prepare me for going home. My clothes sat folded on the corner of the hospital bed waiting for me to dress, my possessions in a bag on top of them and my heart monitor in the process of being turned off and removed. I smile and stand up as my mother hands him the paperwork. Her caring smile beams at me as her hand came to wipe a tear of great appeasement as it rolls down her face. She and the nurse leave the room, giving me the privacy to change and become a step closer to being normal again. I gently pick up my clothes and smile, feeling the soft fabric with my thumb. I quickly get dressed. Standing there in the room I look around, suddenly feeling as if I wasn't alone. I was uneasy. As if my mind created someone to keep me company, out of the left corner of my eye, there sat on the floor a familiar pile of black stone. My eyes instantly race to the stones as my heart pounds furiously, forcing my gut to lynch itself full of bile. I fall to my knees panting, trying to hold in the poor food prepared for me. My resistance broke as it spoke.

'My-my, you don't seem to be in good health.' A cynical and disgustingly familiar voice sounded out of nowhere. To think this is how I get to see you suffer. All of it caused by your body.' The chuckles follow my searching ears as I dare look at it, but once I raised my head, I can not find her now. Slowly I manage to collect myself, I stand up and slowly opening the door, walking out. The feeling of an arm embracing me pushes the tears out. As if a husk, I mindlessly walk with my mother to the car, sitting silently the entire drive to our temporary housing. The whispers of others surround my mind. I can feel the stares of all those who see me and the sorrow in their heart. But I can feel the sense of power flow through me as if I was not alone in my journey to come.

Not even aware of where I was I climbed mindlessly into the bed of the first room. I close my eyes, just giving up on the day. Falling asleep soon after, I rest peacefully thinking of my friends. But as if played with, my dreams become a nightmare. Slowly I watch every person close to me be mutilated, beaten, and murdered by her. I shoot straight up out of bed in a cold sweat. 'It's just a dream...a dream...just a dream." I mutter, calming myself back to reality. As I look around the house I see her over and over but never looking straight at her. I never could find her when I try. "She's not here. It's safe. It has to be a hallucination." Convinced that's the case I wander into the kitchen and have a late night snack. Once finished I wash my plate in the sink, looking out the window. My phone buzzes and I pull it out of my pocket. On the screen, it showed a local alert story. Curious I open the article. It was a police report about a couple mauled by a bear camping in the forest near the school not far from where we are now. I keep reading, and the picture showed only two cuts in the tent to straight and far away to be a bear. A feeling of obligation fills my bones. Could it have been her? I wonder if it's connected, and eventually I give in, I grab my coat from the closet and head to the window. Opening it easily I climb out only to see the woman of stone again smiling straight at me. She taunted me by calling me to follow her. My feet guide me along the tree line, passing many homes slowly to avoid notice. As I walk by Dales family's house, I failed to notice someone start to watch from the top window. Two people creep out of the home and follow me deeper into the tree line. A few more houses passed by and soon I am secretly being watched by the never moving curious girl's innocent eyes.

A clearing in the trees calls me in, shutting out the world as I follow its natural path, coming to the camp. It housed no tent nor signs of ones being placed. I start to look around at the ground and the trees, my eyes become fixated like sunlight to plants leaves. Two red cuts in the white bark of the aspen trees standing out like a flag for the cursed. I gasp out loud and stumble back, my eyes rip apart the area and scour the ground and sky. "Where...where is she, why...why must I suffer!'' I shout as I try to stop my shaking limbs, expecting the voice to call out. Just as I guessed I hear her.

'you suffer so I can thrive. You are nothing but my food and enjoyment, a little toy I have grown fond of.'

My eyes shed tears like rainfall in the spring as I frantically search. "Leave me alone! You're nothing but a haunting memory!'' Two people watching me from nearby intently and think of intervening, but they stay down out of site as I keep freaking out." I'm not a toy! I want my revenge...I want to protect my mother, survive, I need to stop you!'' I scream out.

'Then if your fate allows you the chance flesh bag, you must take it!' And with that, the voice stopped. Panting, my tired shivering body sits on the ground, my eyes staring straight at the tree while pondered what she meant.

"If she's indeed made of stone I can't win," I said to myself, rocking back and forth. "If she comes after me and Dale is near she would kill him with me." I calmly start to think of the possibilities, and I assess my choices. "I need to protect my friends!" Standing determinately now, I head home, never noticing my two followers. Crawling back in through my window I sneak inside to find my mother sitting on the couch waiting for me.

"Where were you?" She asked, keeping her voice calm and collected.

"I was outside trying to clear my head."

"Don't lie to me James," she sighs. "Why the hell did you sneak out anyway."

"I didn't want to wake you...your room is right above the front door, you would have heard me come in and out." I try to justify myself.

"Is this the truth James? Was this just a walk outside? Or did you try to run away, or try to find some peace of mind." She says skeptically to me.

"Mom I swear, I just needed to clear my mind." I said, hurrying up the stairs and running into the room I sleep in for now. Closing the door, I slide down to the floor. I can't believe I just lied to my mother. A long sigh forces its way out in my exhaustion of tonight. Tomorrow I have school too, so I crawl into the small, unfamiliar bed. Closing my eyes, I am greeted with the same nightmare again. The next morning it's the same, starting with me waking in a panic at the sound of my alarm on my phone.

I stand up and stretched, stumbling into the bathroom. Taking off my shirt, I'm staring now at the marked body I was forced to take. I lean down and splash water on my face and wiping it off with a towel before standing up to style my short blonde hair. I go through my morning routine before going downstairs to eat my breakfast only to find that it wasn't made. I was unfortunately in a hurry, so I grabbed a piece of toast and walked out the door.

Today I was going back to school. It's been almost a month now since I last walked these halls. I dread the attention I know I will receive from staff and students alike. I know some will blame me, some will pity me, but that's up to them on how they see me. The first few steps I took on the sidewalk was full of nerves, but eventually, it felt normal. Each step I take is a part of my old life. A few minutes and I was standing at Stacy high. My school seemed so empty now, but everyone who is here looks so depressed, some better than others. The second I walked onto school grounds, I felt all their gazes land on me again. I bury my head in shame as I cut through the crowd of students. Walking into my class, I see my old spot. Relieved I sit down, but to my surprise, everyone near me acted like I was normal. They made small talk with me they didn't blame me. They also didn't pity me. I was so close to crying, but I was saved from the judgment but before I could shed a tear the teacher walked into the room.

"Welcome back class. I hope you had a lovely weekend and are ready for learning. Today we will be covering the history of mythology. Specifically the old English tale of the trolls. Beasts of stone that were believed to live for centuries that resided underground, as they are deathly allergic to the sun."

' Listen, kid; this is about me. You learn this, and you will be an even better toy to play with.' The voice says from the empty seat next to me, taunting me. Joking about me and my plan to stop her. The class continues for about an hour, and the tale seems like it could be real, just to remind me that it was I saw it after the bell rings. Out of the corner of my left eye, I saw the obsidian beast...or better known as a troll sat watching, staring at me. It got up and wandered the halls. I start to follow it, walking by many students and ignoring them all, including Dale and Max. When I ignored them, they became even more concerned about me. They end up keeping an eye on me they notice I am walking out of school. They rush after me not wanting to lose sight of me. They try not to draw attention, but due to what happened at the party all my friends are well known. Dale and Max end up catching Alice's eye, and she notices them leaving. She try's to stay in school but seeing them head to the forest sparks her vast curiosity, leading to her escape from school.

"Where are you taking me? " I ask haro shadea.

'You're the one walking the path. You know better than I do.'

"Stop with the damn prophecy talk, I know you're leading me somewhere, and once you stop I will destroy you so your only a pile of pebbles!" My voice shakes from fear of this troll, but it soon disappears once it steps in the sun." Your...your not real!" I smile but then I frown." Wait if you're not real then I'm...insane." I stop dead in my tracks and look around. I walked back to the campsite. Dale and Max finally catch up to me, and they hide in the bushes behind me. Alice lost sight of Dale and continued to walk in the direction they went. Eventually, she sees the clearing and in the middle was me. Out of fear of being spotted she hides, unfortunately, being clumsy she bumps into the two guys following me. Dale looks at Alice, shocked and surprised.

"What are you doing?!" He whispered, annoyed.

" I can say the same about you, Dale. why are we following James?" she asked concerned.

"He's been talking to himself, and he's freaking out at the same time, we think he's gone insane."

She looks even more concerned. "Is this a joke to you guys? He's the only survivor of a massacre that happened in his own house, he's got all of their blood on his hands in his mind." Alice said, annoyed. She pushed Dale out of the bush, startling me. I end up jumping back a few feet, expecting it to be that troll. I see Dale, and behind him standing up, I see Max.

"What are you two doing here?" I ask. I was scared and worried about their safety near me. "You two need to go...you will only get killed if you stay near me." I slowly start to back away from them. "Trust me. just go save yourselves." I say stepping in a small pile of green glop. I look down, and I pick up my foot and look at it. "Eww, what is this goo?" I lean down and pick a handful up, and I pull it apart revealing a black marker and this blue and silver disk. The strange disk felt warm in my hand, warmer than the goo. I notice the writing on the side I start to read it out loud. "For The Glory Of Merlin, Daylight Is Mine To Command." I look at it intently.

"James, can I see that?'' Dale asks, intrigued and curious. I nod and toss it in the air to Dale. The disk flipped in the air and seemed to glow, and the inside pieces appear to rotate. Before it reached Dale, it spun in place and flew right back to my hand. I grasp it tightly, astonished at what I saw.

"What...did you two see that?!'' I ask, spooled up with excitement. Max looked just as surprised. But Dale seemed calm and observant. It was strange seeing this side of him. As I continue to watch Dale, I see him slowly point behind me. "Dale?" I asked, confused. As if to answer my question I hear a sniffing noise and a grubby voice.

"Wakka wak chakka." I slowly turn, and this grubby green thing on spindly legs is holding the marker and sniffing my shoe with the green ooze on it. It then takes off the marker cap and frowns. In two swipes it draws on a french style mustache. "WAKKA CHAKKA!" It lets out a battle cry, then violently it rushes up my leg, jabbing me with the marker. Dale runs over and rips it off of me, throwing it into the trees by Alice. She covers her mouth as it sniffs her. It then cries out, and twenty pairs of glowing eyes light up around the three of us. They charge the three of us, leaving Alice alone. The army of green things target me the most. I lean down and grab the thickest stick I can find. One by one I beat each green blob that comes close knocking them back, trying in vain to holding them at bay. Soon they overrun Max, trampling him and close in on Dale and me.

"MAX, DALE! Run! they want me, not you. Just run!" I demand as I swing aimlessly trying my best to save myself. Max and Dale look at each other.

"James, Run with us." Max pleads, crawling to my side helping me fight.

"I can hold them off. Just Go!" I shout. Dale shakes his head and grabs my arm and starts to run, pulling me along. I grab Max's arm, and we sprint south towards the city. Alice sees the green army chase us and she chases after them. It takes about ten minutes of running through the town before the three of us make a mistake and run into a dead end alley. As we run, we notice the fence at the end of the lane, and we skid to a stop immediately turning around only to see twenty green men slowly walking towards us, taunting us as they slowly advance. Alice stops and hides inside a nearby store looking down the alley she watches as she hides. She soon realizes she looks like a crazy girl, so she then starts to act like she's shopping as she watches intently.

The beasts rush towards me, tired of playing around. They leap into the air, landing on me. My pocket starts to vibrate, and I hear a new voice, calm and collected, it was strong, and it was empowering. "For The Glory Of Merlin, Daylight Is Mine To Command!'' It shouts out as the disk in my pocket flys out and hovers in front of me. The innards start to spin around, and six orbs float out and circle me before piercing into my heart, lifting me up off the ground as flashes of blue surround me. A feeling of weightlessness overcomes my body, and I end up falling to the ground in this suit of silver armor. Quickly I rush to my feet and look around, the green men froze in place. Materializing in my hand is this long, silver blade, something you would think a brute would use due to the width of the blade. Once formed it started to change size to accommodate me. I then get in a mediocre stance, barely able to control the blade. I start to advance at the force and one by one they start to fall. The red brick walls start to be painted green with each swing. The remaining few we trapped in the corner tries to flank me, pushing me out of the way and causing me to fall to the ground, laying in a pool of goo. The blue light surrounds me again as the armor vanishes, and soon the amulet falls onto my chest the glow faded away before my one of my two friends stood before me.

"Ja-James that... WAS SO COOL!" Max yells with a huge smile. I forgot how crazy he was with supernatural events and objects. "Ca-Can I, please study that amulet?!" he begs as he helps me up onto my feet. I push him away and start walking away.

I stop and look back at him. "No. I need this Amulet thing." Once I walked away, Max picks up the marker the leader had and smiles. He starts to walk, but he is followed by a lost beast all the way home.


Later that night in an old log cabin, the surviving goblins circle the fireplace, and they start communicating with each other. their chat is ended as haro shadea walks in and grins. Slowly drawing her blade, she laughs. "Let the true fun begin. Oh, James, you will be the best troll toy I've ever had the time to feed off."


In The House of the Nuñez's. Alice lays on her bed staring at the ceiling. "What happened today. What is up with James and that disk, the monsters, the massacre..." After being lost in thought, she nods determinedly. "I'll ask James tomorrow I must find out about this."