Trollhunters: The Short Stories

Hang On, Jim

"Whoa, Claire," Toby said, noticing the panicked reaction. She turned to face him, taking a breath as she noticed the fetch in his hands.

"That thing again?"

"With this stupid head gear, I can't fit my head through, can you do it this time? Please?" He asked and Claire sighed.

"I don't want to look through that thing, it's creepy."

"You get used to it, Claire. Besides, the more we look through this thing, the better chance we might have to locate Jim! Maybe he's hiding and is waiting for us!"

"Or hurt," Claire knew she hated thinking like that, but that was the constant thought when she thought of him.

"We never know, it's better to look, right? Please, Claire, just this once!" Claire sighed and pulled the fetch from his hands, trying to ignore the cold and jagged stone that pressed against the palm of her hands.

"Fine, but you need to keep looking for me."

"Deal!" Toby said excitedly, moving from Claire to work as she stared down at the fetch. Claire gazes apprehensively at the eerie, shimmering portal before her, knowing that beyond its mystical veil lay another realm entirely. She hated that she was doing this, while seeing Jim would be beneficial for her, she was more frightened at what she would see. Toby had pleaded for her to look into its mysterious depths, and of course, his argument was valid, he knew all the right things to say.

If she just forced her head in, looked for only a moment, it would be over and she would no longer feel the anxiety of having to stick her head through, not knowing what to expect. A cold knot of fear coils in the pit of her stomach at the thought of what strange visions she might behold.

After all, would she see Jim? The allure of possibly glimpsing his face again makes her heart ache, yet the fetch's unnatural glow fills her with foreboding. What if this glimpse of the beyond leaves her forever changed, or drives her mad? She wishes to refuse, but cannot bear to disappoint Toby.

Steeling her nerves, Claire takes a deep breath and raises the fetch. As she slowly extends her head into its cold, tingling aura, her pulse pounds in her ears, the feeling surrounding her as if she stuck her head beneath a water's surface. This is it - the moment she will confront whatever awaits her beyond the veil.

Eyes squeezed shut, heart racing, she opened her eyes as she surfaced her head on the other side. The minute she did so, her eyes widened, she was in the back of a small cave, staring down golden spears that seemed to act as bars, leading to the view of a dark and much more frightening scenery. However, that was not what left her speechless.

It was the sight of darkened metal curdled near the door.

Jim.

She stared down his back, her mouth going dry and struggling to call out his name. He hadn't noticed her, back turned to her as he sat beside the door, curled into himself as he leaned against the wall, staring out at the world beyond his cell. He wrapped his arms around his knees, his metal finger tracing the patterns on the floor as he laid his head against his metal knees.

It seemed as if the world stopped, she could feel her heartbeat pounding rapidly in her chest as she caught sight of him. Her luck never fell short, while Toby endlessly tracked Jim, coming up short, the minute Claire stuck her head in, she found him.

Overwhelmed with emotion, Claire feels hot tears begin to sting her eyes and her throat constricts tightly, rendering her momentarily speechless. She blinks rapidly, trying to clear her vision, unable to believe what she's seeing. Could it really be him? After a long moment, Claire finally regains some composure and calls out tentatively "...Jim?"

She watched Jim's posture shoot up, his head turning to look at the voice that called him. The moment his eyes met her's, she could see the disbelief turn into nothing but happiness and shock. Their eyes were glued to one another, and Claire could tell that he when he turned he was expecting to be nothing there.

"Claire?" He breathed out and suddenly, Claire couldn't hold the tears back, mustering up a smile as Jim moved toward her, crawling until their faces were only inches away from one another. "Is it really you" He questioned, sitting on his knees and moving his hands to gentle cup her face and Claire felt as if the longing feeling of needing him was extinguished,

She suckled in a shaky breath, "It's me, Jim. It's me! I'm here!"

"The fetch! You located me through the fetch, that's incredible." Jim said, smiling as he let out a couple of tears.

"Toby has been looking all over the place, leaving candy, he has been so set on finding you. He can't at the moment, which is a long story but I looked for him and I can't believe I found you."

"It's so good to see you!"

"Are you okay? Are they hurting you?" Claire asked, noting how he was locked in a small area.

"I'm okay, I'm trying to hold on for you guys, I miss all of you."

"We miss you too. Jim, we're going to figure out how to get you home, we're going to save you." Jim smiled as he looked at her, his eyes watering. "We're in some building, trying to find the Creeper Sun antidote and we're coming for you, keep fighting, okay?"

"For you, anything. Is everyone okay?" Claire looked at him in disbelief, but, of course, he was worried for them.

"Don't worry about us, we're fine. We miss you," Claire responded and Jim smiled sadly, hating that they were working so hard to save him, however, before he could respond, the sounds of heavy footsteps echoed toward them and Jim's head shot toward the direction of where they were coming from. "What's happening?"

Panic shot in her throat as she noticed how tense Jim was, his eyes frantically looking outside of the cell as his breath picked up. He turned to look at her, eyes wide and swallowing lightly.

"Claire, I don't have much time."

"They're coming for you?" Claire asked, fear bubbling inside of her and she wanted to reach her hand through and hold him protectively. "I just found you." Her head turned to face the direction where she could hear the grumbles that the Gumm-Gumms let out and her heart nearly dropped.

"They're going to see you. Claire, before I go, I want you to know that I'll fight for you. I am so glad I got to see you, even for a minute." Claire sniffled, watching as Jim continued to look back, seeing the shadows of the Gumm-Gumms. "I miss you, Claire." He mumbled and pressed a haste kiss to her forehead as the sound of his cell opened, and Jim pushed himself to a stand, turning to face the guards and hiding Claire's head with his body.

Claire stared at the scene in bewilderment, frozen in shock and disbelief as the boy had gently pressed his lips to her forehead in a tender moment of affection. Her heart flutters at his touch, a blush rising to her cheeks. However, the moment shattered when she watched him throw himself forward, keeping her out of view from the guards and she stayed there helplessly as his arms were grabbed roughly, his body nearly being slammed into the ground as he was manhandled.

Jim grunted as a guard yanked him into a standing position and was nothing but rude as they dragged the boy out of Claire's view. She whimpered his name as she listened to his armor scrape against the rocky ground, his pained grunts echoing through the stone world and Claire's heart shattered. She wanted to force her way through this fetch, to fight those guards and pull Jim back into the safety of her arms, but the idea was impossible.

So, she can only watch helplessly as the boy who just kissed her so tenderly is dragged away into the darkness. "Hang on, Jim," she whispers desperately, clutching her heart, which feels like it might break in two. She says a silent promise that this won't be the last time she sees those kind eyes and feels the warmth of his affection and pulls her head from the fetch, her hands dropping the cursed item and touching the spot where his lips and hands last laid.

"Did you see him?" Toby asked, causing Claire to snap out of her thoughts and turn to the boy, seeing the candy in his hands as he picked up the fetch. Claire stared at him, breathing heavily as she realized she had an audience.

In that moment, nothing mattered more than the simple moment they shared and she remembered his words.

He would fight for her.