Jim desperately fought an urge to yawn. It would be quite pointless to deny that an all-nighter in ambush had taken quite a toll on him. Not to mention that waiting for an attack that might have happened or not happened was too stressful.
Besides, no enemies this night wasn't a guarantee of them not appearing later, meaning Jim would most likely have another all-nighter.
He cast a look at Toby, who was snoring happily, never bothering with the ongoing lesson. Even if they took back seats this time, the teacher could still notice. Jim wished he could be as careless as his best friend.
Claire, on the other hand, apparently fared the best out of the three of them. She had explained this morning that having sleepless nights wasn't anything new for her. Right now, she had no trouble following the actual content of the lesson.
Perhaps, Jim himself should have tried to follow suit. Or maybe have a quick nap like Tobes. But no, his mind was too busy processing everything that had happened.
The recent fight with the troll.
The hanging situation with the current state of things.
Draal moving to his basement.
And, obviously, Barbara noticing her son's injuries.
The last was probably the worst. She hadn't bought Jim's excuses (though, who would believe that version?)
He knew his mom too well to have any delusions. Someone as stubborn as her would never let it go until she got the truth. Well, not that Jim himself was less stubborn, so there was no way to tell which one of them would give up faster. It could easily last for a while.
And this morning, he had made a cowardly decision, simply avoiding meeting Barbara. But for how long could that continue? It wasn't as if Jim could possibly avoid coming home.
He groaned. Seriously, who could pay attention to the lesson in that kind of situation? Claire turned to him, giving an encouraging smile.
Jim wasn't alone, at least, but he genuinely wished his trollhunting duties wouldn't complicate his life that much.
He wondered if Blinky and Aaarrrgghh would appear this night. Perhaps, they could give some ideas about what to do next. Jim nearly regretted not asking Draal to fetch those two. Though... Was his self-appointed bodyguard even allowed at the Trollmarket? The outcome of their death match seemingly hinted at the banishment. Jim hoped he had misunderstood that part.
The bell rang, signalizing the end of the lesson. By some streak of luck, the teacher had paid no attention to either clearly sleeping Tobes or seemingly distracted Jim. The next would be PE. Perhaps, some physical activity would help to forget all the problems.
The only bright side of everything was that Jim's injuries weren't such a hot topic anymore, partially because the peak of the uproar had been yesterday, and partially due to Mr. Strickler talking to students. Not to mention that this morning, someone had pranked the principal, creating another fresh stuff to discuss.
No, of course, Jim could still hear his name mentioned in idle chats - the gossip would course around for a while, that was granted. Still, it wasn't as bad as the previous day, and Steve kept a low profile just in case.
At least, one issue had been solved - Jim hated to imagine the situation when he had been forced to invent some excuses.
It was odd that Mr. Strickler had decided to play along, but perhaps, the teacher had gotten the hint. Somehow, Jim felt grateful for that, promising himself to apologize to the man once everything got calm.
Perhaps, it wasn't as bad, in the end...
* * *XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
If you wanted to live longer in the Janus Order, you should have been either extremely smart or had some set of unique skills. Obviously, the combination of both would have been even better.
Shen had always believed she could be described as the one belonging to both categories. Still, her wish for leadership remained just a wish, no matter how much she tried. Mostly, thanks to Stricklander, who had enough resources and wits to nullify any attempt at the riot.
Besides, changelings were rarely team players with a few rare exceptions. You could spend countless months on a plan only for it to be obliterated by a last-second betrayal.
That's why Shen had been so excited to discover that Stricklander's position had been shaking for a while. A temporary truce with several others to overthrow him had been convenient enough - even if all of them would have fought among themselves for the leader's position afterward.
Luckily, fate had been seemingly kind to Shen as two members of her team had perished surprisingly fast. Only Montgo had left - but that one had never shown any intent to lead the Order (he had been more invested in getting out of that 'humiliation').
With that Shen could easily try to take the position from Stricklander. Or so it had seemed initially.
You needed to be braindead not to notice his line of defenses. So Shen tried to improvise one way or another, mostly without any success.
She had thought that sharing the same civilian workplace as him would have given her a tremendous advantage - only to hit the wall at once.
A simple question 'Who's grown closer to Mr. Strickler recently?' should have given the lead about the Trollhunter's identity. Instead, she had only heard that everything had remained the same.
As Walter Strickler, her current leader, apparently, had always been friendly to a good chunk of the students' body, no one would have noticed anything suspicious.
Shen lacked information, keeping snooping around in the hope of getting anything that might have given a hint.
Her determination had finally lead to the result when a certain student named James Lake Jr. arrived at school looking as if he had survived a severe beating.
Shen had heard about that boy from other teachers, mostly in the context that he had always been the most frequent visitor to Strickler's office.
And that was the detail that made her deduction fall apart.
Stricklander had had no motive to be that close to anyone before some student had become the Trollhunter. He was smart but not a prophet.
Did it mean that Jim Lake had some other importance to him? It had to be that. Shen grew even more convinced once she learned that the kid had been the first one Stricklander had tried to pass as the Trollhunter.
No one would have told the correct name. Then why would he have thrown this one under the bus?
Why would anyone use this exact kid as a fake lead?
No, nothing made any sense.
Until Ms. Longhannon had given a surprisingly interesting piece of information.
As a kid, Jim Lake had demonstrated some atypical behavior. Correction - atypical for a human child, but surprisingly within the norm for a troll whelp.
Meaning...
Yes, the only correct answer would be Jim Lake was a young changeling. The one seemingly inexistent in the Janus Order's records, but defacto working under Stricklander as his most trusted subordinate.
Getting someone like that would be a piece of cake for the head. In the end, all the records went through him. Finding a recruit with potential, sneaking him away while forging the proof of his death. It was surprisingly easy, now that Shen had thought about it. She was surprised it wasn't common practice in the Order. Or was it?
It didn't matter right now. No, now Shen should have tried to put the great Stricklander into checkmate position. His own actions bringing his downfall would be so poetic.
Her plan involved exposing Jim Lake, making him come to his superior, and showing that to Barverra.
Nevertheless, something kept bugging Shen. It was as if her intuition tried to tell her something. She shrugged it off - her deduction made the most sense, and her plan should have been peerless.
The first step involved inviting Lake to her office. If he refused - well, that would be worse for him. A regular student had no reason to say no to the school counselor.
However, Shen was sure he would come. Stricklander had probably provided his protege with detailed instructions on how to act. A meeting would be the best way to get off the hook.
The foolish child would never see the incoming trap. Shen smirked, mentally picturing the course of action.
Some conversation to make him relax. The boy would expect the mental trap - and she would attack from an unexpected angle.
Treating the kid to some tea with a 'surprise'. Shen had some skills in potion-brewing after all, using her beverages to loose tight lips or control those who were careless enough to take a drink from her.
But in this case, she would be using something else. Refined gravesand - unlike the regular one, it only worked for trolls invoking the most primal of instincts. You needed to have exceptional willpower not to expose yourself.
And Jim Lake? Oh, come on, the kid was doomed.
And after getting exposed his first action would be coming to his beloved superior and teacher, where Shen would be waiting together with Barverra.
Yes, that one should be working, that was for sure...
* * *XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
It seemed the day would end without any complications. Jim silently thanked whatever higher forces blessed him. Even Mr. Strickler made no attempt to have another conversation. Coach Lawrence, on the other hand, called Steve over.
"Oh, I guess, Psycho Steve reaped what he sowed," Toby commented, looking in that direction curiously.
Jim sighed. Trolls had influenced his school life way more than anyone would anticipate.
His pessimistic side told him it might have only gotten worse eventually.
"Jim!" Eli approached him in a hurry, panting heavily. "Ms. Shen is looking for you!"
Oh no.
Yeah, he had relaxed too early, totally forgetting that Mr. Strickler hadn't been the only one wishing to have a talk yesterday.
Jim looked at Toby, hoping for some advice, but his best friend just shrugged awkwardly. He turned to Claire then.
"I think you should go," she said loudly and then added in a whisper: "Just keep your lies consistent, OK?"
Claire was right, besides wouldn't lying to the stranger be easier?
On the other hand, 'stairs' would count as a lame excuse, but well, it wasn't like he had the time or enough imagination for the better one.
Jim dragged his feet to Ms. Shen's office hoping to finish with it as soon as possible. He entered after knocking - hadn't she asked him to come herself?
"Greetings, Mr. Lake," the counselor beamed. "Nice to know that you aren't scared to talk to me. Apparently, Mr. Strickler tends to exaggerate. A lot."
"I guess," Jim mumbled, not too sure how to respond. Yesterday he had noticed some kind of animosity between two teachers. Being caught amid an ongoing personal conflict was far from his desires.
"Don't be so shy, take a seat," Ms. Shen continued. "Tea?"
"Oh, no, no need to bother," Jim responded hastily. He should have dealt with everything fast and drinking tea somehow implied a long conversation.
"I insist."
Her smile might have been friendly, but Jim couldn't help but shiver at it. Somehow, he really dislike this lady even if he couldn't explain why.
"I hope to discuss your relationship with other students," Ms. Shen continued, forcing a cup into his hands.
"I've told Mr. Strickler already that it was just a misunderstanding," Jim said firmly. "We had no fight with Steve."
He mentally patted himself for formulating it this way. Now he could simply leave after putting that stupid cup somewhere.
However, the response was not a thing he would ever anticipate.
"Oh, I know you had no fight with Mr. Palchuk. However, there's a complaint regarding your attitude."
"What?" Jim seriously wished he had misheard, but no, the teacher repeated that ridiculous statement.
His attitude? No, obviously, it wasn't like he had never gotten into some trouble in school, but Jim could say he had always kept with rules enough not to be piled with the local troublemakers.
Either than Ms. Janeth, annoyed with his constant skipping of rehearsals, no one seemed likely to complain.
Jim was already trying to formulate some kind of excuse when he heard the continuation.
"Ms. Longhannon refuses to stay in the same room as you."
Now it stopped making any sense altogether.
"It can't be!" he protested. "I did nothing to offend Shannon."
No matter how much Jim tried to recall the last few weeks, he failed to remember when and how he could possibly insult the girl. Hell, he wasn't even sure they had ever had a proper conversation!
"I'd say the correct term would be 'scare' rather than offend," Ms. Shen responded calmly.
"It's some kind of mistake, how could I possibly..." Jim began, fully intending to solve the misunderstanding when it hit him.
Scare.
A clearly odd choice of word - most people would have never described Jim Lake as someone capable of scaring.
But...
But Jim himself knew better than anyone that he could absolutely terrify people.
No, that couldn't be. No one could possibly know about those outbursts during his kindergarten years.
It had to be something else.
Jim felt his throat getting dry, so he sipped some tea he initially had planned to refuse. The taste was slightly bitter - but well, at least it wasn't as disastrous as the one his mom would make.
"Mr. Lake, you're unnaturally quiet," Shen said with some concern. "You OK?"
Jim nodded absentmindedly. Somehow, he felt odd - it was as if the entire room started to drift away. On the other hand, it didn't feel like he was close to fainting - his mind remained clear.
He blinked once, then twice. Nothing helped - if anything, his eyesight turned even more blurry. Not only eyesight acted weird - all the sounds turned too loud and grating.
Ms. Shen was talking about something, but Jim failed to catch the meaning. Her voice sounded so unpleasant, no, annoying, no, irritating.
Right, he didn't like her from the beginning. Most likely, he had felt she was horrible.
Horrible?
The wrong term, too weak to describe...
It was more like she was dangerous. Yes, that one! She was an enemy, someone meant to be obliterated!
If he didn't act fast, she would use her chance and attack him!
A weapon, Jim was in dire need of one.
Shen's voice had already turned into a cacophony. He would do anything to silence that.
His eyes traveled across the room searching for an appropriate weapon. Nothing seemed good enough until he accidentally looked at his bag.
Wow, how could he possibly be so slow? He had a perfect weapon in his possession - the one with the ability to destroy the enemy before him.
Daylight, his trusted partner. Shouldn't it be the best for getting rid of the annoyance?
Jim's hand sneaked inside the bag.
Surprise attack. Yes, that one would do.
He could already picture a foolish lady impaled.
It would be easy, so easy...
Ouch!
Jim jerked his hand back as a jolt of electricity coursed through his fingers around the amulet. Had that thing just attacked him?
No way!
A sudden shock cleared his head a bit. What had he tried to do just now?
Somehow, the recent memories stayed blurry too. Jim could only tell that he felt extremely hostile towards Ms. Shen out of nowhere. What was wrong with him?
"Something wrong?" she asked. Fortunately, her voice sounded normal this time.
"Just a bit stuffy here," Jim muttered, not sure if he himself could buy that explanation.
He shook his head trying to get rid of the remains of the previous annoyance. Perhaps, drinking some liquid could help? He sized a cup of finishing tea in a gulp.
It only got worse - the world reverted to its blurry and overloud state. Jim sized his temples, fighting the sudden urge to... Hell, he could even tell himself what exactly he wished to do!
Shen's face suddenly appeared right before him. Had she actually looked like that before? Sharp teeth, glowing yellow and red eyes, and horn. A troll, it was the legit troll! Jim had seen enough of those already.
But why would an enemy be here at school?
It didn't matter.
As long as he killed it, everything should be fine, even if that damned amulet refused to cooperate!
Its clawed hand reached his face and Jim sized it, expecting to feel the stony texture. Yet, it was squishy and soft, no different from a human hand.
The face before him was human too.
No.
No, no, no.
He couldn't.
Wasn't it another of those frenzies?
There hadn't been any for years, so why now?
So what?
A stray cruel thought tried to fight the quickly diminishing remains of common sense.
He had to get out - as fast as possible. Away from this lady, out of her office.
Until something unforgivable happened.
Jim bolted out, ignoring Ms. Shen's calls. A part of him hoped he would feel better after leaving the office - but no, the world outside of it felt even more bizarre and threatening.
The voices kept turning into an unperceivable mess, and the faces morphed into inhumanish mugs.
Everything just screamed danger, so Jim ran and ran, not even sure anymore if he tried to get away from the menace or before he himself turned into the menace.
Someone yelled as he passed them - for some reason, those sounded like a threat. Jim wasn't even sure if he could trust his current twisted perception of the world.
"Jimbo!"
Someone attempted to block his way. Someone looking like a blur of orange, yellow, and red...
What was their name again? Jim couldn't tell, even though something deep inside of him desperately screamed not to hurt that one.
"Tobes, not now," he nearly growled, showing Toby aside.
If he failed to identify his best friend at once, it was way worse than Jim could imagine.
"What's wrong?"
Another blur, this time purple, approached. No, not a blur - Claire, her name was Claire.
"Don't get close!" Jim yelled desperately. "Fetch Douxie!"
The message took all the focus he still had as his consciousness kept deteriorating.
He ran.
No one followed.
Good. Only enemies would have pursued him.
No, that was wrong.
Everyone and everything was hostile.
Especially outside.
He had to hide.
Somewhere safe.
Where?
His home, obviously. That was his lair, his territory. He could easily wait for the incoming attack there, instead of running around like a headless chicken.
Besides, hadn't he been heading in that direction already? His instincts knew better, that was for sure.
How much time had passed until he reached the so-much-desired destination? Did it actually matter?
The key went into the lock, opening the door. A quick step inside, then another one.
No, wait, he should have been careful. Enemies were going to attack any second. Perhaps, they had already infiltrated.
Even if the world was still blurry, he should have sensed their presence.
He checked room by room, not finding anyone.
Good. More time for preparations then.
He threw away his bag in annoyance. The useless amulet had betrayed him already, refusing to yield to a simple command.
Whatever.
It was his house, obviously, he could find something more dependable as a weapon.
Another quick stroll led him to the kitchen. He had no need to see as he headed towards them - his old trusty kitchen knives, always sharp and in a peerless condition. Using those to cut just vegetables was such a waste.
He would get a better use for them tonight.
The handle of the biggest knife felt so right in his grip. He contemplated picking another one, but no, one was enough for now.
He was the hunter lying in the ambush, and the enemies daring to attack his den should have regretted their hasty decision.
Some steps reached his ears.
Wow, they came so much quicker than expected, but who?
The enemy was crying something.
Calling the name? A backup or something?
He peeked out carefully, trying to identify the intruder, and his blood boiled.
It was her! The most vicious and dangerous out of all the enemies!
Unless he killed her, he would never be able to have a peaceful life!
* * *XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx
Barbara had genuinely hoped to talk with her son this morning before he headed to school only to discover that Jim had been out even before she returned.
Ok, that was simply unacceptable. Her son was actively avoiding her as if their relationship wasn't not that trusting already.
Barbara's mind trailed back to the previous night. Shen's poisonous words about Stricklander's protege refused to leave her.
Any troll close to Jim counted as a potential danger. A young one would be even worse - those had always been akin to tickling bombs.
And apparently, that bomb had detonated already. Barbara was one hundred percent sure her son had fought Stricklander's protege.
Most likely, Jim himself snapped, invoking something inhuman - yes, that would be a legit reason why he had lied about stairs instead.
After all, she knew better than anyone how scared and ashamed her son was when it came to his primal instincts.
Not that it mattered - Barbara had already executed the mysterious young changeling several times in her head, each time inventing a more gruesome death.
There could be no mercy here. Not when it came to her dear child. And the one who traumatized Jim both physically and mentally couldn't deserve even a quick death.
But all of that should have waited until Shen finished with her part. Tonight would be the time, and before that...
Barbara had to talk with Jim, trying to mend the broken trust and at least attempting to teach him some self-acceptance.
She went to buy some groceries - obviously, not to cook dinner herself - but her son would definitely appreciate having more available ingredients. The weather was good, and she even managed to formulate some lines she could use in the incoming talk.
The door was open when she returned.
Odd. Wasn't it too early for Jim to come back? He still should have had some more lessons.
Yet, the door seemed to be opened with a key, not broken. Barbara felt some anxiety building inside.
"Jim? Are you at home?" she called, expecting some kind of response. It didn't even matter if it was an awkward greeting - as long as her son was safe, anything would do.
Surprisingly, Jim stepped out of the kitchen, his hand gripping a knife tightly. Was he cooking?
No. Barbara's instincts screamed it was wrong.
Jim's expression had never been that hateful.
"You!" he yelled. "How have you dared to come here, to my house?!"
He was definitely not in a sound mind. Barbara wondered if Jim realized it was his mother before him.
She judged the situation immediately - it would be pointless to fake a shock.
"Jim, put the knife down. Now!"
Her tone was collected and commanding. Anything else might have only made it worse.
"You'll regret your decision," Jim hissed. It was as if he hadn't heard her words at all.
She had miscalculated - it was already a disaster. Her son attacked without any reservation, cutting the distance in one swift leap. Barbara nearly missed that one - only her tremendous battle experience helped her to dodge it.
Anyone else would have gotten a knife to their guts.
That was some impressive battle prowess coming from someone who had never been locked in a death battle.
Though, probably, it wasn't the right time to admire Jim's talent as he didn't plan to stop, making a rather dangerous swing.
Barbara cursed, jumping back. She had always known that as a half-troll (especially the one from Gunmar's lineage) her son was prone to sudden bounds of uncontrollable rage, but shouldn't there have been some trigger at least?
Otherwise, that would have been too random.
Random. A trigger. Barbara froze inside as she remembered having a jar full of gravesand in the house. No, obviously it wasn't easy to just randomly stumble upon it, not to mention, it was marked with a skull and bones symbol, so Jim would have never mistaken it for some fancy spice, but...
What if he had sniffed it? Who knew how much gravesand was needed to cause such a reaction?
That could wait for later. Right now, her main priority would have been taking the knife away from her son and then trying to calm him down.
That should have been easy, shouldn't it?
Another swing - and Barbara grabbed his wrist, twisting it so Jim would have dropped his dangerous toy.
And... It didn't work. He trashed, fully willing to kick and even bite her, never letting go of the knife.
She should have applied more force, even if it might have come with the danger of damaging his wrist.
No, Barbara would have never physically harmed her son.
Another kick - and he got free. Sure thing, unlike her, he didn't bother about holding down.
Perhaps, she should have stopped too. Why not assuming her true form, restraining her frenzied child, and then making him come back to his senses.
While still a troll? Barbara already hated herself for having such a weak thought.
She dodged once more, wondering if it was possible to lead the knife to a trajectory where it would stuck in something.
Yes, it was a good plan, it was a...
If only Jim hadn't fought with such crazed determination! Not only that, his swings weren't as random or chaotic as they seemed initially - he attacked aiming for vitals.
And that was a horrible miscalculation of hers. The last thurst would connect, no matter how she would try to avoid it. It would be either a mortal wound or a flesh one. She made a split decision, forcing his hand away. The knife plunged into her thigh, barely avoiding a femoral artery.
The next second, Barbara pinned her trashing son to the floor, using her entire weight to keep him still. Luckily, the surge of adrenaline dulled the pain.
Now, all that remained was calming Jim down. For better or worse, his mother had grown up in a community where using (and quite often abusing) gravesand was a thing. Obviously, they had invented the method to break trolls out of that kind of rage.
Barbara had never had trouble using it, but doing that to her own child?
No, being indecisive right now would have brought more harm than good.
The key would be substituting the rage with a different primal emotion.
Fear usually worked the best, and Barverra, the Herald of Doom, exceeded in that field.
"I'm sorry," she apologized, fully aware her words would mean nothing to Jim in his current state. Was it her attempt to silence her consciousness?
Barbara closed her eyes, channeling as much of her true self as possible.
'Just imagine it's not Jim but the one who made him suffer.'
Surprisingly, it worked - their eyes met, and she unleashed as much murderous intent as possible.
The hatred in Jim's expression gradually changed to terror and eventually confusion. Barbara turned away at once. He would come to his senses soon, and she'd rather avoid traumatizing her son even more.