Did I already post? Yes.

Why am I posting again? Because you guys are AWESOME, and you deserve it.

I don't own. You enjoy.

So the chaos ensues.

Chapter 28: You ruined my vacation

Friday Night

Jim prisoner walked his friends toward the steps of his cave, his sword at Alex's back. They kept trying to run off, and this only irritated Jim more.

He didn't dare speak English, his voice was distorted enough when speaking trollish that he didn't sound like himself, but his friends weren't idiots. They'd figure it out if he spoke; maybe.

When he confronted them near Rot Guts, they immediately dropped names.

"We know Jim and Claire! They let us in here, we just got lost."

"Please don't eat us!"

He said nothing, only rolling his eyes and mocking them by making talking motions with his hand.

They miss took the gesture and figured he didn't speak english.

As they walked, the continued to whisper.

"Do you think this guy even knows who Jim is?" Alex asked.

"I don't know, but if he protects them, probably."

"I don't think this guy needs to be protected, are you looking at that sword?!" Amanda whisper/yelled. Compared to the others, she was the only one reacting properly to getting captured by an 'unknown creature'. Trying to stay quiet, and quite visibly shaking.

"Where do you think it's taking us?" Alex asked. Receiving a sharp snarl from Jim, and caused the tip of his blade to her back. She whirled around and glared at him. "What was that for!"

He narrowed his eyes and stooped down to her level, lowering his voice and keeping a growl in it, he spoke. "I am not an 'it' I am a 'he'. Don't think I can't hear you, my ears are not decoration," Jim said. He wiggled them for show.

"You can speak english!" Kyle exclaimed.

Jim screwed up his face, an unappealing snear. "Stay here," he said then walked away.

Jim walked a few paces to Bagdwella's little shop, placing the sword on his back. "Bagdwella, I have a message for Arg."

"Of course, trollhunter." She said, eyeing the three humans.

"Send him to my cave, inform him about the 'guests'. Tell him no names."

She nodded and ran off, leaving Jim with the humans again. He pointed at the staircase and barked. "Keep moving."

Alex complained the whole way up, Kyle and Amanda tried shushing her, and Jim got a headache. His eyes kept twitching and ears flicked in annoyance of his friends.

"Is this a dungeon?" Amanda asked.

Jim shook his head, still doing his best to disguise his voice. "This is a cave, we don't have a dungeon yet. Otherwise, I'd be taking you there."

"So, if you can talk, do you know Jim?" Kyle asked.

Jim nodded.

"And Claire?"

"And Maggie, all very well," Jim said.

"Then you know we're their friends," Amanda said.

"No. I know that you snuck in here, and I know it's my job to deal with annoyances like you" They finally reached the top and he motioned them in.

"Woah, homey," Alex said.

"Sit," Jim growled, pointing to the couch.

While they did as they were told, he fished out a bag of zip ties from the kitchen. Then, one by one, them protesting all the while, cuffed their hands behind their backs, and discreetly removing their phones, pocketing them to be hidden later.

"Ugh… not very comfortable," Alex said, trying to look at her hands.

"Well then we're even, humans make me uncomfortable," He smirked.

"Why would you do this?" Kyle asked.

"Trollmarket is protected by several spells and safeguards. The only way you got in was with a horngazzle. Though I know for a fact, Jim, Maggie, or Claire gave you theirs. Trollmarket is also a secret, a word you three don't really seem to understand."

"Jim's been keeping this from us, we just wanted to know…"

Jim snarled in Kyle's face. "It's his job, to keep us secret. And it's not his secret to share. Now, stay here. Jim will return, and Arg might show up sooner," he narrowed his eyes and dashed out of the room.

A few minutes later, a massive grey troll strolled in, covered in green mossy fur. He looked distrustfully at the trio, sitting down near the entrance and only watching them from behind for the next ten minutes till Claire and Maggie arrived from Blinkey's.

The two girls didn't see the 'guests' at first, and the three were so frightened by the presence of the large troll, they didn't dare move.

"Hey Arg," Claire said happily as Maggie headed to the bathroom.

He grumbled, but smiled at the girl. "Claire," he said.

The three tensed at the creature's strong voice.

"What is it?" She asked, cautious.

Arg gestured with his head, and Claire gasped.

She ran around to the front of the couch and fumed. "What in Daya's name are the three of you doing here?! Jim brought you here, didn't he? Ugh, I swear, you three could have gotten killed coming down here. How did you get in?"

"Uh…" Amanda hesitated.

"It wasn't Jim that brought us here, Claire. It was a blue thing, he said he knew you," Kyle said.

Claire opened her mouth but Arg stopped her. "Got message, he say no names."

She slowly nodded. "Smart, that means he'll be here soon." She paused, taking a breath. "Maggie!" She shouted.

A few seconds later, the girl burst out of the bathroom. "What? What is… it," she stopped as she saw the three, looking unamused. Turning to Arg and Claire. "Does Jim know," she asked.

Claire nodded. "Yeah, the blue troll brought them here. I think he went to get Jim," she grinned.

Maggie's grin matched Claire's, and an evil chuckle escaped her lips. "So you're saying they don't know yet?" Claire shook her head. "You said Jim made cookies?" She asked, laughing as she entered the kitchen. Mentioning something about popcorn as well.

"Is someone gonna tell us what's going on?" Amanda said, panicked.

Claire crossed her arms over her chest, grinning. "Right now, we're trying to figure out what to do with you."

Arg crawled forward a bit, scenting the newcomers. "Friends?"

Maggie shook her head laughing. "Not after this stunt."

"I don't know Arg," she said.

"Names?" He asked.

Clarie looked at the trio tied up on the couch and grinned. "Arg this is Alex, Amanda, and Kyle. Guys, this is Arg."

"Where are they?!" Jim shouted, somehow managing to keep his snarling to a nul. He stomped into the living room and glared at the three.

Maggie sat down with her cookies on top of Claire's trunk, a bowl of popcorn next to her. Ready for Jim's ensuing fit of rage.

"You three have some nerve! Why did you three come down here?" Jim's breathing was heavy, his glamored form showing every inch of rage, and conveying the same fear his troll form could.

The three cowered together on the couch, not having the gall to speak.

Claire walked up to him, gently putting her hand on his shoulder. "Jim, don't you think we should focus on how they got in?"

He shook his head, keeping his eyes on the three humans on his couch. "I know how, I want to know why."

"How…"

"Maggie," Jim said. "She needs to stop leaving her backpack outside the entrance. They obviously followed you from her house and decided to explore a city full of aggressive, hostile toward humans, tattle tale, trolls." He turned his head toward Maggie who shrunk under his gaze. "You'll live through hell in training for this."

She only gave him a terrified though cheeky grin.

Quickly turning his attention back to the others, he repeated himself, growling. "Why?"

"We wanted to know what you were keeping from us," Alex said.

"We had a lot of it figured out, but we needed to know more about your culture to piece it together," Kyle finished.

He raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"Genuine curiosity?" Amanda said in a shy manner.

Jim stepped forward, crouching in front of them. "Well, that curiosity, just left you in a whole lot of shit. You just lost your break, your freedom and your right to eat. You will sleep on this stone cold floor, you will not leave this room without permission. You may use the bathroom, but nothing else. Anything you want must be earned." He tilted his head, watching their varied expressions.

"Bu… But Jim, we're friends," Amanda tried, eyes brimming with tears.

"No, we were friends. Then you followed Claire here, and intruded on sacred ground. Now, I'm your warden," he stood. Dusting his hands on his pants, and turning to walk away.

"Why are you doing this?" Alex yelled, face red.

He froze, then turned back to glance at them. "Because, you wanted to know about my culture. Because I'm the trollhunter, and I keep my kind safe." He turned and walked closer, getting in their personal space. "Because, you were curious and wanted to know. Because I trusted you to mind your own business, and you didn't," he growled. "You wanted the pieces to the puzzle, now you've got them, so fit them together. You don't get to leave till you do."

"Jim…" Claire started.

"It's fine, I'm fine, they're fine. It's all gonna be fine. I'm gonna send for NotEnrique, Jager will be back. Don't expect me for a while."

"Can I untie them?" Claire asked, gesturing to them and raising one eyebrow.

A small snear appeared on his face. "No, they have to get out of them themselves," he said. Then left.

"Jim angry?" Arg asked.

Claire nodded slowly. "You know it's his job to keep the secret, and people keep finding out. He feels like he's failed. He's gotta go tell Blinkey what happened, and what he plans to do."

Arg nodded.

"Jim's best trollhunter." he smiled.

"Yeah Arg, you're right. It's these guys fault," Claire said. Shifting her gaze onto the three prisoners.

"What?" Amanda said, shrinking.

"Jim's told you what you can do to get out of here, you've got to earn your freedom. If you want out of the zip ties, you gotta get out yourself."

"How are we supposed to do that? We aren't some creature or warrior!" Alex yelled.

Maggie had finished her plate of cookies and popcorn, walking past she said. "Flex and twist, nitwits."

"Nitwit?" Kyle yelled.

"You think that's bad? Just wait till NotEnrique gets here. I think he's part of your punishment," the last sentence whispered with a wide grin.

Outside the cave entrance, loud roaring and snarls could be heard.

"What is that?!" The three yelled at once.

"That," NotEnrique came bounding in. "Would be a blue boy trying his best, and y'all just making his life hard."

Amanda shrieked when the green troll jumped on the back of the couch near her head.

"But now I've got a new job," he smirked. "Making you's suffer through… ah, how did Lake put it?" He looked back to see Jim, in troll form.

"I believe his exact words were, 'make them suffer with you're unique yet patronizing personality'."

"My pleasure," NotEnrique smirked. Looking over to Claire he smiled. "Hey sis, what's cooking?"

"Not much, just babysitting a bunch of delinquents," she replied.

"I resent that," Alex said. Freeing her hands and rubbing her wrists.

The other two looked at her in disbelief.

"How did you do that?"

"Flex and twist, like Maggie said."

"Good job, Pinkey. Not too bad for a fleshbag," NotEnrique said.

"Ugh, you are annoying."

While NotEnrique taunted them as they tried to get out of the Zipties, Arg left, and Jim, and Claire discussed what his plan was.

"I'm not sure I see the point of what you're trying to do here, Jim," she whispered.

The troll grinned. "Everything is earned, not given. They want out of the zip ties, they have to get out themselves. They want to know my secrets they have to figure them out themselves."

"Alright, that's fair, but no blankets? No food?"

"They're gonna have to work to get those things. Training, bargaining, other things like that. They want to learn about troll culture, they're gonna figure out exactly how it is to be a troll. Then by the end of it, they should have enough pieces to figure out it's me."

"Yes, but why not let them go?"

"They've pushed too far this time. I'm sick of people finding out without my saying so." He looked away from Clarie, focusing instead on the room.

She gently grabbed his chin, and tilted his face towards hers. "This is not your fault, it's not even Maggie's fault. You know how determined those three can be, they would have found their way in at some point."

"I guess, but still."

"Hey, so…" Amana stood, looking around. "Whose house, er, cave is this?"

"It's Jim's and mine," Claire said. "NotEnrique stays here sometimes too."

"He's Claire's brother," Jim said.

"What?!" The three yelled.

"Ohhh, that's a good story," NotEnrique smiled.

"What the hell is going on here?" Alex yelled.

"Exactly what Jim said," he stepped forward. "You came and trespassed, looking for knowledge about us trolls. So you will get it. You are here, starting from scratch, you must earn anything you need. Food, blankets, knowledge and finally your freedom."

"You keep saying that, does that mean you're not letting us go?" Kyle asked. "Claire?"

"Nope," she shrugged and shook her head, keeping a look of indifference on her face.

"But what about Thanksgiving?!"

"Unless you figure out what Jim's secret is, you will miss it, and your families won't know where you're at. You'll get no break, and thanks to you, neither will Maggie, Jim, or Claire."

…

After a while, the quiet yet irate troll excused himself. And Jim showed a while after, Maggie was put in charge of watching the three. Jim, Claire, and NotEnrique went into the third room.

"Get some sleep, you're going to need it for what I've got planned," Jim said. Keeping angry eyes on the three prisoners as he entered his room.

Maggie sat on the couch with a blanket and pillow, appearing to be reading from an old tome. When in reality, she was listening to the three whisper.

"What are we going to do? What have we gotten ourselves into?" Amanda panicked.

"A whole ton of deep shit," she said. Resting her smushed face on her palms. When the others gave her ungrateful looks she sat up. "What? It's what Jim said."

"And we have to figure out some way to earn our freedom? What is he gonna do to us?"

Kyle shook his head. "Guys, use your heads! We have cell phones."

Maggie had to stop herself from laughing at his 'realization'.

The three frantically searched their pockets and came up with nothing.

"Where are our phones?" Alex griped.

"Maggie, are they in the couch cushions?" Amanda asked hopefully.

Maggie raised an eyebrow and looked over the top of the large book. "You guys think Jim would actually let you have your phones? Jager, the blue troll, he took them when he tied you up. He handed them off to Jim, and he took them to a safe location… Maybe."

"Maybe?" Kyle asked.

The girl shrugged. "That's just the most likely thing that happened. I do know for a fact though, that Jager was the one who swiped your phones."

"Ugh, that sucks!" Alex said.

"STBY," Maggie chimed.

"I don't, I'm not even sure I can process all of this," Amanda said.

"Maggie, help us escape, please," Kyle said.

She shook her head, glaring. "Are you kidding, Ji… Jager would end me in training if I did that. You're the idiots who decided you wanted in on something bigger than yourself." She huffed, slamming the book shut she set it aside and settled down on the couch.

"Alright, than can you at least tell us where Jim fits into all of this?" Alex asked.

Maggie stayed silent for a thoughtful moment, then nodded. "Jim is the only reason these trolls, or anyone else on earth is still alive. Make sure you thank him in the night."

"Night?" Amanda asked, looking at Maggie and her friends.

"Oh," Maggie laughed. "We must have forgotten to tell you. Trolls, they're nocturnal," she grinned. "Good night, see you in a few hours. Make sure to get some rest, you're gonna need it."