The Monster That Stole My Reflection

Chapter 2: For the Glory of Merlin, what the hell is happening to me?

Jim's POV

The fresh morning air awoke me from my slumber. I heard crunching as I cradled the leaves I was using as a pillow. Wait, leaves? I opened my eyes and saw that I was surrounded by a forest. The sun shone between the trees, making everything warm and bright. Where the hell am I? I questioned, quickly picking myself up off the ground. Leaves and dirt fell off my body as I stood up. I had no shirt on and the bottom of my pants were covered in mud. Why am I here? How did I get here? I repeated those questions in my mind as I tried to figure out where I am. I figured out that I wasn't too far from home. I began my walk back home and as I was walking I started to get a headache again. I held my hand up, trying to shield myself from the sun's blazing light.

When I finally got home I immediately had a shower. But before heading to the shower I checked if mom was still home, she wasn't. I washed all the dirt and mud off of my body. The hot water soothed my worries, it made me feel more relaxed and calm. I stepped out of the shower once I was done. I quickly snactched up the towel and wrapped it around myself. I then went to my bedroom. I didn't notice it when I had first walked in, there were claw marks on the windowsill. I brushed it off as probably a gobin trying to get in. But why would a Gobin try to get in the house? I still brushed it off tho. Maybe it was just a cat.

Once I was dressed I went back downstairs and into the kitchen. I saw a note on the fridge saying 'Emergency at the hospital, be back soon.' Once I made my breakfast I sat on the couch and turned the tv on. I decided to surf the channels to see what was on. When I came across the news channel I stopped. There was a report on an animal attack on the highway, the screen camera angle cuts to a shot of the car more close up. There were claw marks all over the car and the window looked smashed in. I didn't get a good enough look at it as the screen cuts away after a few seconds. I strangely got a sense of deja vu. Then a scary question popped into my head. One that I didn't even want to think about. 'Did Gunmar escape from the darklands?' I dashed to my bedroom and grabbed my phone. I immediately started dialing Toby's phone number.

"Hey Jimbo, what's up?"

"Toby! Have you seen the news?!"

"Yeah, something about an animal attack. Why what's the matter?"

"I... I think that was caused by Gunmar. I think that he escaped!"

"Jim, I think you're just being paranoid. You have been cooped up in your house lately because of what happened. And we really need to talk about Friday," I could clearly hear the concern from Toby's voice.

"I'm fine Toby, I just couldn't control myself." I said, trying not to say too much.

"If you say so Jimbo. Claire and I will check it out, you lay low." Toby said, I really wanted to check it out too but I wouldn't want to go against Blinky's recommendation.

"Ok Toby, call me when you get there. I want to know everything," Toby and I say our goodbyes and I hang up. Now that was taken care of, I let out a sigh of relief. I still felt nervous but with Toby and Claire on it made me feel a bit better.

Not too long after, Toby video calls me.

"Hey Jimbo, we're at the crash site." He turns his camera around so I can see the crash site. There were deep gashes in the road and the car itself. I couldn't really see much from the phone as the screen was a bit blurry and such a small screen. I regretted not going there myself.

"Is there anything that can indicate that Gunmar was there?" I questioned.

"Well yeah! There's these freaking huge claw marks everywhere! What else could cause this?!" Toby exclaimed.