Where's Jim? (Trollhunters)

Gone

After a long day at school, Jim was more than ready to go to Trollmarket. It was a warm day out, pleasant enough that he'd been biking through the forest without much of a care. He just needed to drop his stuff off at home, and then grab Claire and Toby. It would be interesting to see what training Blinky had prepared for him, and he's sure that his friends will be more than amused to see him absolutely fail the first few times. 

His enjoyable bike ride was interrupted by something jumping into his path. Jim tried to stop in order to not hit it, but was forced to swerve at the last second. He had never seen this thing before, a giant green mass with scaly skin. It slowly stood up, tall and humanoid. Okay, this was not good. He needed to get away now. 

He didn't get the chance to go anywhere when a hand wrapped around his chest, yanking him back against another tall body. A foul-smelling cloth was shoved over his mouth and nose, muffling his cry for help before it could ever leave his mouth. The green creature had a smirk on its face, watching with glee as Jim's world started spinning. The last thing he remembered was a cackle before the world went black.

Barbara sighed softly at the boy on her doorstep. Toby had arrived just a few short minutes ago, looking for her son. Many hours had passed since Jim was supposed to be home, the sky outside already turning orange. "No, Toby, he's not here yet. You know how he gets when the weather is nice outside. I can try to call him, if you'd like."

"That would be awesome, Mrs. Lake." Toby's grinned.

"Of course. give me just a second." She smiled as she picked up the phone, dialing Jim's number with ease. It was nice to see that Jim had other people besides her to worry about him. That boy could get in his head sometimes, and it was good to know he had such strong ties to people his age. She'd worried once that he'd never fit in with his peers, so this was definitely a comfort.

The phone rang a few times before cutting to voicemail. "This is Jim. Just leave your name and number and I'll get back to you ASAP."

Barbara frowned this time. Jim didn't ignore her calls often. Then again, it was apparent that Jim was having a difficult time recently. She could remember more instances of them arguing in the last year than ever before. Perhaps she'd made him angry again? Maybe Toby would have a better idea.

She turned towards Toby. "He's not answering me. Can you try to call him? I may have angered him again."

"I don't think that's the case. Jimbo was pretty happy today, but I'll definitely try it myself. Give me just a minute." Toby fished his own phone out of his pocket, putting it up to his ear and letting it ring. 

Barbara's heart started to sink when Toby's phone started ringing the same message. She had a bad feeling settling into her gut, even though she knew it could be something as simple as his phone died. "You got the same thing, didn't you?"

"Yeah. He may be at Claire's, though! Or maybe he left his phone here today. He's definitely done that before." Toby said brightly, although both could tell that it was meant more for comfort than belief.

"Maybe. You can check his room, if you like. Maybe he snuck in on us."

"Thanks, Mrs. Lake." Toby started up the stairs.

"If he's not there, then let me know. I don't have a good feeling about this." Barbara turned back to the window, hoping to see her son hurrying home. 

Toby opened the door to Jim's room, looking around at the walls. Nothing was out of the ordinary. His backpack was gone, but that wasn't surprising considering they'd been at school all day. Okay, so negative on Jim being home. But there were still other places he could be. Although it was rare, he could have just gone straight to Trollmarket.

He walked back down the stairs. "Okay, he's not here, and his backpack is still gone. Let me try to call Claire, see if he's with her."

"Alright. If he's not with her, we may have to consider calling the police. Oh Jim, where are you?" She whispered, turning back out to the window. The sky was getting much darker now, preparing for the moon's arrival. If he was out there biking still, it would be difficult for him to see. 

"Claire here."

"Claire! Hey, it's Toby. Is Jim with you by any chance?"

"No, I haven't seen him since school let out. I was actually about to call you and ask about that. Is something wrong?"

"We can't get ahold of him. I'm going to check my house, just to make sure, but if he's not, we'll need to go to the market. If we still can't find him, I think we're going to try the police." Toby whispered into the phone.

"Oh shit, this is serious. Okay, if he's not there, then call me and we'll meet at the canal."

"Copy that. Thanks, Claire." Toby ended the call.

"He's not there, is he?"

"Not with Claire. I'm going to check at my house, and then if we can't find anything we'll go to the market. If we still can't find him, I guess we'll have to call the police then."

"Be safe, Toby. And if you do need to go out to town, stay together with Claire."

"Will do, Mrs. Lake. I'll let you know if we find anything." Toby left Jim's house, running to his as fast as he could. Okay, so Jim wasn't at his house or Claire's. Toby's was left, but it was just as likely that he wasn't at any of these places! He loved watching Jim be the Trollhunter, but sometimes he couldn't handle the stress that came with it. 

Toby ran up the steps to his house. "Come on, Jimbo, please be here. Please please please." He panted as he ran around the house, which also held no trace of his best friend. Okay, to the canal then. He hopped on his bike and began pedaling, hoping and praying to whatever was out there that the trolls knew where he was.

Claire was waiting next to canal when he arrived, tapping her foot. "Any sign of him?" 

Toby shook his head. "No sign of him, and he's not answering his phone. I think something might have gotten him."

"Let's check the market first. If he's not there, then we'll need to get his mom to call the police. Come on, let's not waste anymore time." She hopped into the canal, opening the door as Toby got off his bike and followed shortly behind her.

They ran into Trollmarket as fast as they could, looking for Blinky and Aaaarghhh!!!. Claire found them first, sitting in the library as Blinky read many books all at once. "Blinky! Have either of you seen Jim?" She asked as she skid to a halt, Toby having to bend down and catch his breath behind her.

"I have to say no, unfortunately. I had quite a spectacular training session planned for today, but he has not been down here since last night. Why?"

"None of us can find him. Come on, Toby. Looks like we'll be getting the police involved after all."