Jim Lake Jr. x reader || Daylight

Ch. 19: Escape from the Darklands -- Magic and Killer Instinct; Pt. 1

As Toby and I speed down the hills of the woods, him wearing that awful glamor mask, I wanted to scream.

He looked so much like him...I mean, he was literally wearing his face, he had his voice...but he wasn't Jim...

Once we had stopped biking, Toby took off the mask with an irritated look. He looked up at me with a forced smile. "Today was a good day at school?" He offered, me smiling back as I nodded slowly.

"Yeah." I tightened the strings on my hoodie and watched Toby put back on the mask as we headed to Jim's room.

We said hello to Miss Lake, oblivious Miss Lake, and headed up the stairs.

Toby took off the mask once more, plopping on the floor with a groan.

"I want him to come back..." Toby had never sounded so sad, his usual smile was now a tired frown...

"Tobes --" I sat next to him and sunk into my hoodie, even more, watching as he looked my way. "I know it seems really tough right now-" I was trying to do that thing, that thing that made Jim feel better. I had become really good at that, without even knowing, without trying...

But, I struggled to form words as Tobey tried to hold back his tears.

"It's awful right now...but! Um-but," Tobey shook his head as I looked at the floor with tired eyes.

"We'll figure it out. Don't worry...we've been doing a lot of research and I think we're close. We'll save Jim --- we'll see him soon." Tobey just nodded as we sat in silence, our week seemingly on repeat as we craved to see OUR Jim...

╔══════╗╚══════╝

"All right! You're getting really good with your sword!" Tobey gave me one of his now rare genuine smiles as we trained together, me ducking one of his swings.

"Thanks! Let's see if we can grab a bite of food and head to the library, Blinky thinks he's found something." I de-transformed and was left in my long-sleeve shirt, it is on the tighter side as my loose sweatpants warmed up my sore legs.

I had de-transformed, meaning I had no more magic available. Yes, that's what was supposed to happen...but as Toby looked at me with an alarmed expression, me scanning myself for what the problem was...I almost screamed.

My hands...

"Your hands!" Toby rushed to my side as he watched my hands, the blue purplish mist that was usually only on my sword now surrounded my hands like airy electricity.

My eyes grew wide as I shook my palms forcefully with alarm, the mist going away within seconds.

"W-what was that?" I looked at Toby as he shook his head unknowingly.

"D-do you think Killahead had an effect on you?" I stared at him confused.

"Like, you were, even if it was for a few moments, apart of the bridge itself. Killahead is one of the most ancient magical artifacts that belong to the troll kind. It had to have some kind of effect on you..." Toby, the man with the plan, the man with a genius mind.

But, as I thought about it more, it clicked.

My mind, my genes, my blood had somehow had been rearranged...causing some kind of reaction during the horrifying process that was me being a part of the bridge...

"Magic? Are you saying I have magic?" I let out a shaky breath, waiting for Toby to laugh and shake his head with a, "No."

But he nodded, looking around nervously. "Let's keep this on the low for now. Just until we know more about what's going on."