The Wish

*Does Contain Death*

A musty musk hits me first, before my eyes even open. The darkness surrounds me leaving me disoriented. The hair on the back of my neck stands straight up, pinging me with a sense of fear. My eyes open in search of familiarity, finding none.

The room I've been transported to is nothing like home. The walls are burgundy and seem to emulate darkness, almost like an aura of danger. While the floor is soft and fuzzy like some sort of carpet, yet it squelches with every step. I turn myself around in a circle there’s no doors, nor windows in this empty box I find myself stuck in.

A threatening presence watches over me as I observe my surroundings. I force myself to relax, this will all be over soon, I hope.

Crash!

The sound makes me jump nearly a foot backwards. Chains rattle to the floor, clanging around as they fall. I see them come into view from just beyond the shadow cast on the wall in front of me. The chains are made of some heavy metal that makes an odd sound. I don’t recognize it from Earth. Although, I don’t think I’m on Earth right now…

A form slinks forward, just peeking at me. A pair of red colored eyes peer into my soul, glowing around slits for pupils. Cat-like eyes, almost circular. The slits expand and constrict within the eyes, I take another step back. My shoes squelch into the floor once again. I pull my arms to cover my torso, trying to protect myself in whatever way I can. I don’t know where I am or how I got here, but one thing’s for sure.

I am not safe.

The creature slides closer, revealing its body in the minimal light from above me. A black claw reaches out gripping the wall for support. These claws are at least three inches long and thick, with razor sharp points on the end of each one, they shine with sharpness. There’s only four claws on each hand and the rest of the form steps out.

A sharp breath traps itself in my lungs with fright. My eyes wide with shock at what I’m seeing before me. The slender body saunters forward, its skin is scaly like a dragon, but sharp. My eyes drift up the form, scanning everything. The lanky body, intricate shadowy scales, and then the face… Two pairs of horns rest on top of its head, and sharp fangs hang out of its lips. It smiles at me and I cower away.

“Hello, Jordan.” The voice is like nails on a chalkboard scraping down.

“Who are you?” I counter.

It moves closer to me, the chains rattling closer to me. With each step I fight the urge to flee into one of the corners and cry like a child, but I stand my ground. It leans down so we’re face to face and nudges my chin upwards with a sharp claw. I tense up, but comply with his demand. Our eyes meet and fear trickles down my spine, sending adrenaline out into my body.

“I am King of the Umbra. The Devil, as you humans like to say. You called me to your aid, don’t you remember? The wish you want to make.”

King of the Umbra? King of demons. Umbra means demons from Hell, basically.

I think back to before I came here… Sitting on my bed with my face shoved into the pillow. I got home from school tired and worn out, but still wanted to do something fun with my friends. When I called one of my friends he basically blew me off for his girlfriend. Which would have been fine, except he always does this when we have plans.

I lay in bed bored as hell and wished for a way to get rid of her.

To get rid of her…

My eyes find the king again and he smirks at my understanding. I take a step away from him, but he grasps my arm tight. I shake my head wildly as he drags me closer to him. I can’t kill her. I can’t get rid of her. I wasn’t being serious! Just trying to be annoyed.

I shut my eyes tighter than ever, spots flickering behind my lids. A voice speaks to me in my mind, sounding just like my friend. Open your eyes, Jordan. Nothing can hurt you here. I don’t believe that I am safe here with the literal Devil, but open my eyes with a sense of hesitancy.

The room I was in has changed. My feet stand on solid ground, some type of hardwood, but the color and pattern is unique. There’s no good way to describe its beauty. The room echoes with my steps and I turn around to find a grand throne in the middle of the room. Upon it is the king who looks just as terrifying as before. This time a crown has molded itself to his head, jutting up behind the horns. It looks gold, but I can’t imagine it’s made of gold. Little red gems stand alone along the spikes going higher than his horns.

I take a few steps forward until I’m standing inside of a drawing on the floor. It’s drawn in some waxy substance. An upside down star with a circle encapsulating it. The room fades into darkness and I hear steps coming towards me.

One by one, candles flicker to life around the circle with me in the center. They are blood red and shaped into odd designs. I can’t make out what they are or represent, but they remind me of some ancient statues and carvings from history class.

“I will need some of your blood, Jordan.” The faint voice rings in my ears and I hold out my arm without realizing it. I didn’t move myself, but somehow my arms stuck straight out ready to be used in whatever crazy ritual this is.

“Very good.” I can feel the creepy smirk on his lips. Out of the darkness his clawed hands shoot towards me. One holds an engraved dagger with fancy symbols I do not recognize, and the other has some sort of wetness on his. I unclench my hand and he slices it with ease. The sting makes me hiss in pain as he shakes my hand with his out slick one.

When he lets go, my palm is healed. A thin scar left in its wake, runs over my palm. There’s no more pain, only the scar. I tuck that thought from my mind and focus on the ritual. Manic laughter sounds around the room, bouncing off the far walls and traveling back to me.

“You have no idea what you did!” The King's voice is harsh and dark. He’s happy I did this, I’m not sure why. I don’t particularly want to find out…

My breathing increases and I start to panic. What have I done?! I sink to the floor, curling up in a ball to calm down, but I can’t. Everything’s happening too fast, I never wanted this wish to come true. My eyes shut instinctually and don’t want to open. The noises begin to fade around me and I feel myself slipping farther and farther away from reality.

My eyes fly open and I spring up from my position. I’m back in my room. The walls are thin and blue, my curtains flung open with light streaming in, the hardwood floors so familiar and squeaky. Everything is back to the way it was. I breathe a deep sigh of relief and turn to my door.

I freeze when I see my wall. Scratchy writing in royal purple liquid drips down my wall with the consistency of blood, reading;

Don’t worry, Jordan, your wish will come true soon enough!

Heavy footsteps rush up the stairs to my room, the door flies open. My dad stands there out of breath and white as a ghost. His breathing is hard and fast, he lifts a shaky hand to me. His phone is open with a message or a call log, I can’t tell.

“Jordan… It's your mom. She was in a crash. We have to go,” he says.

I freeze in my tracks. Mom… No. The King… My wish… I grab my shoes and a coat and run downstairs meeting my dad at the car. We drive fast to the hospital, arriving as we hear a code blue alarm blaring through the intercom.

Everything feels so unreal as we’re whisked away to the back to see my mom. She’s laying in a bed, with nothing hooked up to her. She’s in bad shape. Cuts all along her face and arms, bruises everywhere else. She looks deathly. A doctor comes up to us and places a hand on my dad’s shoulder.

“Tell me you can save her!” He wails.

“I’m so sorry, sir. We tried everything, but our efforts were futile. She passed away.” My dad breaks down right there in the doorway, while I stand there frozen in my spot. I can’t believe my own mother is gone.

I hear the faint ringing of the King’s laugh in my ear and fury bubbles within me. More voices from down the hall pull me back, it sounds like my friend. Oh no… My mind puts together the dots. His girlfriend and my mom were in the crash and they both died.

I sink to the floor next to my dad and begin to cry. I lost my mom, and my stupid wish came true. The cost of getting rid of my best friend’s girlfriend was my mom. It was killing my own mother.

Every wish has its price, Jordan. Yours was your mother.

Those words send me over the edge of emotion. I become a sobbing uncontrollable mess on the floor of the hospital. My mother’s dead body in front of me, my best friend and his dead girlfriend down the hall, and my dad next to me on the floor in grief. How could this have gone so badly?

The End