A New Journey Awaits

Chapter 3

No ones pov
Jim walked into his house. No one was home. Or so he thought. He walked into his room. It was the same. Then, the toilet flushed and Jim froze. Mr. Strickler walked out of the restroom. Jim hid himself out of view. The teacher went down stairs and Jim followed him, without being noticed.
"Mr. Strickler?!" Jim acted shocked. "What are you doing in my house?"
"Young Atlas." he said surprised. "You're dead! You died in the Darklands!"
"Um I'm pretty sure I'm right here and alive." Jim said. "What are you doing here?" He said threateningly.
"Haven't you seen your friends yet? Didn't they tell you?"
"Tell me what?"
"I now live with your mother. She asked me to, for company and support."
"What?!" Jim shouted. Just then a car honked out front. "Mom? Mom!" Jim yelled and ran out the front door. He ran to the car. Before his mother could fully stand up, Jim had pulled her into a tight hug. Barbara hadn't even realized what was going on until she looked down to see her lost son. She hugged him tight. He ignored the pain in his arm, trying to stay off of his left leg.
"Ow, Mom. My arm." Jim groaned in pain. She gave him a concerned look.
"What's wrong with your arm?" She asked.
"Um, it's.. broken. So is my left leg." He told her.
"What? Broken? How?"
"It's a long, crazy story." He said as Strickler walked over to them. "You won't feel the same about some people afterwards." He said shooting the man a dirty look.
"Come on, honey, let's get you to the hospital. You can tell me there." She said sympathetically to her son. He got in the car. "Hey, Walt, an you hold down the fort?" She asked Strickler.
"Actually, I would like to hear the story." He said, getting into the car.
"Oh, uh.. alright. Jim, is that okay with you?"
"Yeah, actually he's a big part of it." Jim said, unhappily. His mother gave him a strange look.
---
At the hospital, while Jim was being checked out, he told his story. "I found an amulet in some rubble, with Toby, by the bridge. It was saying my name, so I grabbed it. Then later that night, I thought I heard raccoons in the basement, but it was two trolls. Blinky and AAARRRGGHH!!! They told me that I was someone called the Trollhunter. The next day, I found out what the amulet was capable of. That night, me and Tobes were almost killed by a troll named Bular. He needed the amulet to free his father from the Darklands. We had, fortunately, ran into Blinky and AAARRRGGHH!!! We escaped to a place called Heartstone Trollmarket. Home to all good trolls. After that we faced all kinds of challenges: gnome, goblins, fire cats, vulture trolls, Draal, and changelings." He explained.
"What's a changeling?" His mother asked.
"Why don't you show her, Walter." Jim suggested. He sighed, and transformed into his troll form. Barbara gasped.
"I was going to tell you, Barbara-"
"When? If Jim hadn't came back, you never would have told me would you have?" She yelled. Strickler panicked on the inside.
"Draal tried to kill him!" He yelled and pointed to Jim.
"What? Jim, is this true."
"I might be dead if Draal hadn't saved me at Killahead bridge!" Jim retorted.
"You... make a good point." Strickler said in defeat.
"What? What is Killahead bridge?" Barbara was scared.
"A portal to the Darklands. Which is where I was for the past year, trying to save Claire's real little brother." Jim said.
"You know what? We can finish this at home. I have to process all this in my mind. Also the results are here so... yeah." Barbara said.