#bergen_county

And stays there.

Breathing in dirt and loam, and making mud with his eyes.....

And a lick on his face.

Adam rolls away from it.

A grab and yank.. and something has him

Adam hangs there, twisting. Some faint struggling.

The creatuer, the chimera doesn't look like anything he's seen, tall, lanky, and ..hollowed out, like it's chest and belly is empty

A hollow man

"So.. this is despair"

"Delicious" it says

Adam wiggles, a sad fish on a hook.

"You want me to kill you. Well, I was here for the Rabbit ... I can't kill the Carpenter, would that I could... but if I killed the rabbit, I'd steal joy from the holiday.. the eggs would grow stale... the spring would be wet and dreary. All would be empty... like me."

More energetic wiggles. ".... don wanna die........"

"Well, that's even better..."

Adam kicks.

And as he kicks, the creature laughs, until 7 foot plus solid muscle slams into the monster's side.. and a voice booms "Get the fuck away from my son or I'll rip your damn head off!"

And Adam stumbles free

And falls, and staggers back to his feet, wiping mud and leaves from his face. He remembers enough to put his back against a tree

And sees his father duking it out with this thing. Kyle's had training, but.. not as much as his son.

"RAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!" Adam charges in! Ok, no weapons. Not a -lot- of hand to hand training. And not really focused but BOY is he looking for trouble!

"get offf meeee so ican kill you both"

Neither Thomas elder or Thomas younger seems inclined to do that.... and as they fight. They hear..singing?

As suddenly stone clubs appear in their hands

Adam knows how to use a club! Well, a staff and a mace and that's close, right???

Yup! NOW he's packing a punch!

"Argh!" The thing strikes at him but Adam avoids.

Adam does not retreat; in fact, this may be an outlet for his emotions. He attacks again and again.

And Kyle hits it over it's head with his own club.. the hollow man cries out in pain

Can Adam take out its legs? He will try!!

Adam hears a deep voice and "Stone strength be yours, Son of Adam" And suddenly he's SMASHING that leg, cracking it! Is this what being a troll feels llike?

Doesn't matter! Hit it! Hurt it!! KILL IT!!!

It screams tries to run... Kyle pins it "The spine, son, it still has a spine!"

Not for long, if Adam has anything to say about it.....

And the spine is shattered, the thing screams "No!" then whimpers... "I could have stopped it... " A whisper "now... eggs will have garish colors... cats will be...fluffy..." and it disolves

turning into a mass of empty egg shells

"Son you okay?"

Kyle says

Adam keeps hammering at it. Or what it was. Lots of shell-shards.

"Well.. you work it out" Kyle says taking a few moments to breath as eggs are shattered

Klump has walked away.. it is better for father and son to talk

Eventually it's just mud. And he is exhausted.

"I.. know it hurts" Kyle says "The first time I got a 'this is going too fast too close' speech from a girl... I felt like she had told me that everything I was, everything I wanted to give her... was.. worthless. It cut the heart out of me, or so it felt...no... worse.. it felt like the heart was still there, but open and torn and the wound would never heal. " The troll admits

"I don't know if..that's how you feel exactly, only you know, but...I'm sorry it did" he says

Adam weeps, nods. Speechless.

His father says "I could sell you a lot of bullshit about how it'll be better... it will, but that doesn't change the now... I could sell you on how therea re other fish in the sea... but we both know that metaphor stinks. You want me to lie to you? I lie or at least exaggerate for a living. One thing that isn't a lie is, you're not alone. You know where I am, and your mother is, and maybe we've been a bit neglectful... but..." He winces "Ow" And turns

An eerie chuckle and a shift in the shadows. From the other side now, another swipe at his ankles.

"Something scratched me" Kyle says ..seeming a bit faded... "But son, the important thing, is, you're not alone... and while we may not understand your pain fully, we are always there is you..." A wince "Son of a bitch!" a reach to the ankle "Sorry, not you Adam. I .." there's a scratch

"What the heck." he says "I feel dizzy"

She darts in and out, buoyed on the dark glamour already gathered, a sneaking shadow that melts before you can focus on it, bleeding him from a dozen tiny scratches until only the old Kyle remains. Glutted and happy, Lovecraft purrs at her own cleverness as she melts away again.

Kyle now looks barely a troll... but he's also only left with glamour that's... "Oh god." he says and folds his head into his palm "I may join you in crying. I am.. an absolute creep."