Claire rolled out of bed slowly, groaning. Her alarm was just out of reach, which was immensely frustrating. Her head was hurting too. She didn't recall drinking anything at the party, but her head felt heavy as if she'd been on something.
Nuñez ragdolled herself out of bed. She still had Douxie's number in her pocket, but didn't feel like ringing him just yet. But she was curious as to whether he could help them locate Jim. That could wait until she'd had chance to speak with Toby first, but that could further wait until after she'd got herself some food. The poor girl was starving.
She sneaked downstairs and tried her best to avoid running into her parents. Thankfully, the house seemed vacant, whether they were out or still in bed.
Claire sighed to herself and headed off out the door, petting her cat on the way out. She figured she'd go and get breakfast out, go for a walk to clear her head, catch up with Toby and then go to see Douxie. The morning air ruffled her brunette locks as she meandered down the street. Jim crossed her mind briefly as she walked slowly. She couldn't tell if she was angry with him for hiding things from them, crushing hard on his new body - also the horns and extra 'floof' of his troll form were quite cute - or worried about him going missing like that. After some time of wandering, she concluded she definitely felt all three.
Claire paused, she realised she'd got lost in her thoughts again and ended up somewhere she hadn't intended to.
A house lay before her that stuck out of the surrounding neighbourhood like a sore thumb. It was a retro looking bungalow with the blinds closed in the large windows at the front. Claire drew closer to it, confused as she'd never seen this place before.
"Claire?"
The girl startled back to reality and tripped over her own feet in panic, faceplanting the tarmac.
"You should really watch where you go." Aja Tarron stood to Claire's left with her hand extended.
Nuñez immediately grabbed the blonde's hand and was pulled to her feet. She's so strong! Claire's brain panicked in awe of Aja.
She stumbled a little and composed herself, leaning against the trash can to try and appear casual. Aja could see Claire was apparently nervous, but it was endearing.
"Heyyyy! Aja, w-what are you doing here?" Claire asked with a shaky smile.
Tarron looked confused, "I live here, this is the Mothershi- house that I live in."
"OH," Nuñez erupted into peals of nervous laughter, "YOU LIVE IN THIS HOUSE. HA, WHAT ARE THE ODDS I'D JUST SEE YOU HERE AT YOUR HOUSE RIGHT?!"
"Claire, you seem...unwell. Do you need medical attention?" Aja asked with genuine concern.
A singular pale hand brushed lightly across the girl's shoulder, leading her to nearly leap out of her skin. Aja's wide irises were the colour of the choppy ocean on an overcast day, a soft grey blue hue. Wisps of almost white hair fell across Aja's cheeks. Claire felt her own face flush warm. This girl had no right looking so ethereal!
"I'm okay...kinda. Just tired after the party last night." Claire giggled awkwardly.
"It was the most lively of shin-digs!" Tarron exclaimed with her arms thrown in the air to show her enthusiasm, "The oaf with the golden hair invited me and I brought my little brother too, Mother said it would be a good chance to meet other humans! Varvatos didn't want us to leave though..."
Claire pondered the strange turn of phrase but decided it was best not to question it. A moment of awkward silence passed between the two, Aja pulling her phone out and standing there texting aimlessly.
"WOULDYOULIKETOCOMEWITHMETOGETBREAKFAST?" Nuñez unexpectedly found herself blurting aloud. She clapped her hands over her mouth, embarrassed.
"Hm?"
Claire tapped her fingertips together as she stimmed nervously, "I was just gonna go and get waffles for breakfast from the café in town, thought maybe you'd like to come with me?"
"Sure, sounds lively!" Aja clapped enthusiastically in response.
Claire didn't quite know how to react, but simply answered with a nervy grin. The two started a slow walk in the direction of the town centre.
On the walk over, Claire kept glancing across at the girl beside her. She wanted to speak but the lump in her throat made it hard to even choke out a single coherent word. Aja didn't seem to mind her silence though, in fact, Aja was perfectly content to bask in the early morning sun. They had strayed off the normal route and were now wandering through the forest. It was peaceful here.
The pair dawdled further down the path, up until Aja stopped dead in her tracks. Tarron's ice coloured eyes were brimming with terror. Claire followed the blonde's gaze.
Before them was a smattering of what looked like blood. The ground was torn up, as if a wild animal had attacked its prey.
"What happened here?" Aja asked, seeming nervous.
Claire shrugged it off a little, hiding her nerves in an attempt to look cool and stoic, "Probably a uhh...a bobcat or something or a bear taking out a deer."
Aja knelt down besides the ground and ran her pale fingers over the dirt. Her face twisted into a serious expression.
"There was a struggle. Whatever did this wasn't hunting for food, it was hunting for sport."
"How can you tell?" Claire queried.
"Varvatos trained me to spot these things so I know how to find culprits for attacks. I began my training at a very young age," Aja spoke sternly, "I can tell that something was pounced on a while away and dragged over here. The victim pulled away and attempted to fight back here, but was slammed into the ground and taken over there."
Aja pointed to their right, deeper into the trees. Claire gulped, she really wasn't feeling like it was good idea to follow this any further. Especially since it could've been one of the trolls that they'd learned of from Jim.
"That sounds interesting, but maybe we should go get those waffles? The b-breakfast menu has gotta finish soo-"
Before Claire could finish her sentence, Aja was on her feet and had taken off through the trees, following the trail of blood and scratched up trees. Claire hesitated but sighed and ran off after the spritely teen, yelling for her to slow down. Aja was remarkably fast and agile for someone her age. Nuñez could barely keep pace.
They eventually reached a pile of rubble on the floor. The scene was a mess of blood, claw marks and torn up foliage. Aja picked up one of the rock pieces in confusion. Meanwhile, Claire walked a little further round and saw what looked to be a hand. She instantly realised that this must be a troll, like that Bular one that Jim and Toby had killed. He had turned to stone and shattered too. Claire began to breathe faster, until something caught her attention.
A single word had been etched into the earth in a state of panic.
Killahead.
She'd heard that before. It had something to do with Jim and the trolls, to do with Toby. She pulled her phone put and snapped a photo of it, texting it to Toby. Then she rapidly scuffed the dirt to get rid of the word before Aja saw it.
Aja seemed to be distracted by something else now. She was touching one of the chunks of broken troll. Claire walked over, trying to urge her to leave but she seemed too distracted. Aja stepped backwards and the ground around the two girls began to glow a soft pale blue. Both freaked out mildly as the light split into a series of strands and bound them to the floor.
A young man clad head to toe in black leapt out the bushes with his left hand outstretched. A pair of hazel eyes landed upon the contents of his trap, staring at the two familiar looking girls struggling against the magic.
"Claire?!" He asked, going to free them both.
"Douxie?! What the fudgeknuckle is this?!" Claire responded as he helped her up.
"Well, I was waiting for you to call me, but I guess now is as good a time as any to give you some answers."
"After you let us go!" Aja grunted in frustration.
"Sorry, I'll get on that."
Douxie let Aja free too, backing away to start his long explanation, only to find a gun pulsating with a soft cyan light pressed up against his chest.
"By the order of House Tarron, I demand you tell me who you are and what you want with the royal family."
YOU ARE READING
For Whom The Bell Tolls (Trollhunters continuation/Evil Jim AU)
Fanfiction"Time unfolds differently, like a flower. The Trollhunter will know what to do." James Lake Jr. is close to losing his mind. Nearly being driven mad by repeatedly resetting the timelines to save his friends, to save Toby from an inevitable fate. N...
