Cursed

Henry limped his way through the sand; he ran his hand through his hair. He took a shaky breath as he continued along the shore. He couldn’t get the fight out of his head, the voices continued to scream at him, to taunt him; unconsciously his fingers found the ever-darkening bruise that surrounded his eye. He winced. The pain in his ribs shouted at him to get some rest. “One day I’ll show them that they can’t keep beating me!” growled Henry

He continued to walk without a destination in mind, Henry didn’t care how far he walked, he just wanted to escape. ‘I can’t wait to get out of high school! If I can just wait five more months then I never have to see those bullies ever again!’ thought Henry venomously limping towards the caverns

           He sat down carefully, grimacing from the injuries that were forced on him by the football caption and the two quarterbacks. Henry knew he was different from the other kids at school; he kept to himself and unlike his peers, he preferred art to sports. This unfortunately isolated him from the rest of his peers, Henry didn’t have a single friend at Justice High School. He made a habit of leaving school a few minutes early, to get to his art club; only today a teacher had held him back and caused him to leave late. The jocks had waited for him, they grabbed him and yanked him to an area they knew no one would be able to see, where no one would be able to help him.

           Henry took of his socks and shoes before placing them in the shallow pool of cool water that sat beneath the rock he now occupied. He sighed as he tried to clear his mind, carefully he laid his head in his hands in an attempt to block out the afternoon. He almost couldn’t feel the physical injuries as much as he the emotional wounds. Rage began to build steadily within him, his hands curled into fists, his fingernails digging into his palms.

           “Why?!” howled Henry tears streaming from his eyes

When something hard bumped into his feet, he opened his eyes, blinking in confusion. ‘What the…’ muttered Henry.

 He almost couldn’t believe his eyes, there at his feet sat an old lamp; Henry looked around him. He couldn’t see anyone; it wouldn’t have surprised him if someone was playing a joke. He looked back down at the lamp; “This can’t be real, this isn’t Aladdin…its real life, stuff like this doesn’t happen.” whispered Henry, “I mean it can’t hurt to…I it doesn’t work I am going to feel so stupid.”

           He picked the brass lamp carefully with both hands, turning the object over to look at it from all angles. It was heavier than he expected. He tried to take the lid off to look inside, however, the lid wouldn’t budge. “This is going to be a waste of time; I just know it…yet again the art freak gets played to look the fool!’

           Reluctantly, Henry slowly started to rub the old lamp; a part of him really hoped that a genie would come floating out of the lamp. He waited for a few minutes, nothing happened…he rubbed the lamp again with a little more vigor. The minutes ticked by for what seemed eternity.

           Angry that nothing happened, he dropped the lamp back into the water and stood up. Henry started to pick his way through the rocks to get back to the sand to go home. He didn’t get too far when he heard a voice come from behind him. His heart started to beat a little faster, a feeling he didn’t recognize twisted around violently in his gut.

           “You’re just going to leave me here?”

           Time seemed to slow as Henry turned around; his eyes grew wide when he saw thick heavy smoke curling around the rocks. The smoke floated higher and higher, he didn’t know what to do, or think, let alone move an inch.

           There floating in front of him was a genie! The supernatural being looked like a regular person, the only thing besides the smoke and the fact that he came out of lamp that distinguished him from a human was that his skin was like silver. His eyes were an unnatural shade of green, black bracelets encircled his wrists.

           In the back of Henry’s mind something told him to run as far away as he possibly could…yet he was desperate to do anything to escape the beatings from the football team. He took a step closer; he was sure the genie could hear his frantically beating heart.

           “I’m glad to see that your willing to give me a chance Henry.” grinned Muhtal placing his hands on his hips

           “How…how do you know my name?” stammered Henry hiding his trembling hands in his pockets

           “I am a Genie…” replied Muhtal his smile grew wider revealing sharp pointed teeth, “my name is Muhtal.”

           Henry took another couple of steps closer to the creature, a million thoughts whirled through his head.

           “So, uh, let me guess…I, um, get three wishes.” stuttered Henry gulping loudly, “I already know the limits on what I can ask for.”

           “Very good Henry. Perhaps I should explain to you about what I am able to do for you.” informed Muhtal, “Yes, you get to make three wishes and no more…once the wish is made it cannot, under any circumstances, be undone…”

           “You can’t kill anyone or cause anyone to fall in love.”

           “Please do not speak until I’ve finished…” growled Muhtal glaring at the young man, “When you make your wish be specific. You don’t want to be vague, otherwise, you might get something completely different. Come closer.”

           Henry’s feet began to move the rest of his body closer to Genie. He wasn’t sure he wanted to get closer, however, he seemed drawn to the creature. When he was standing directly in front of Muhtal, his hands began to tremble harder.

           “Do you have three wishes in mind?” asked Muhtal his green eyes glittering in the fading sun, “Remember be specific.”

           Henry already knew what he wanted; he didn’t have to be asked twice to state his desires. He had been wanting the same thing for three years.

           “I’m ready. I want power, strength and the ability to defeat my enemies.”

           Muhtal’s smile grew sinister, he placed one hand on Henry’s shoulder; he could feel the boy’s pain and despair, his longing to fit in. ‘This is my chance to be set free!’ smiled Muhtal tightening his grip on the young man’s shoulder

           “Are you sure this is what you want?”

           “Yes, one hundred percent yes!” stated Henry his voice filled with conviction

           Keeping one hand on Henry’s shoulder, Muhtal raised his other hand slowly; the genie kept eye contact with the boy. Henry ignored the gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach, something was trying to warn him, but he was tired of getting beat up and humiliated. He focused his unwavering gaze on Muhtal.

           Muhtal snapped his fingers just as the sun descended into the water. The moon’s pure soft light surrounded them. Henry straightened his posture, he looked down at the rest of his body, he tested his muscles; he frowned a little. ‘I don’t feel any different.’

           “How do I know it worked?” asked Henry quizzically

           “Just wait a few moments and you will have everything you’ve ever wanted.” growled Muhtal his sinister smirk seemed to grow more malevolent by the second

           Before Henry could ask any more questions, a searing pain scorched his body; a pain filled howl ripped from his throat. Henry looked down at his hands, his hands grew larger, his nails became dangerously sharp claws! The pain overtook his body, he sank clumsily to his knees; Henry looked up at the genie, his eyes grew wide with pleading. Muhtal began to shriek with laughter as Henry’s body continued to shape-shift into a horrific beast!

           Terrified, Henry looked into the pool of water, the reflection he saw horrified him. Staring back at him was a creature with cruel yellow eyes and sharp white fangs, black fur replacing his skin. He could feel a thirst for vengeance filling his veins.

           “Did I forget to mention that you needed to state that you wanted to remain human?” sneered Muhtal, “Every night when the moon reaches the highest point in the night sky, you will become this beast; you will have an unquenchable thirst to wreak havoc on all who have ever done you wrong…you know what the best part is: you won’t be able to control yourself.”

           Henry glared at the genie, he opened his mouth to scream at him, however the only sound that came out was a blood curdling howl! He prepared to leap on the genie, to force him to remove the curse.

           “This curse will last an eternity Henry…there is no turning back.” snarled Muhtal his eyes narrowed with pure hatred, “The first life you claim will set me free from this prison! I will turn back into my human form once and for all…unfortunately you will remain a monster to never again be human, a werewolf with a hunger to kill, a lust to feed on your enemies, because that is what you wanted, isn’t it, Henry? To defeat your enemies?”

           Despair filled Henry…Muhtal was right, but all he wanted to do was to have the courage and strength to get the football team to leave him alone. Henry leapt as fast as he could towards Muhtal, however, the genie simply disappeared. Muhtal roared with laughter, he watched Henry whip around, snarling at him.

           “Good bye Henry and good luck because once you start…you won’t be able to stop.”

           With those words, Muhtal disappeared, leaving Henry alone by the caverns. Henry had never felt more alone in his life. ‘I’m a monster, a beast! This isn’t what I wanted, I just…I wanted…’ thought Henry as regret fill his heart

           The moon rose to the highest point in the sky, a powerful and deadly urge to kill overtook Henry. With his newfound strength, he launched himself full speed towards the beach; he could hear the drunken laughter of the football captain and his friends. Suddenly, he stopped and watched the football team and the cheerleaders laughing and having a good time. Rage poured into his veins as he watched them.

 Unable to help himself, he slinked into the shadows; his yellow wolf eyes never leaving the captain, his tormentor. Salvia dripped from his fangs; he would bide his time until he could take down the cruel footballer. Henry knew that when he had destroyed every single enemy of his, the urge to kill would never leave him. He could never go back to the life he once knew; his future had been destroyed and now he would live the rest of his days as a beast that everyone would fear. This was his curse. No one would be able to stop him. He was unstoppable, filled an incredible power. He was a:

A beast.

A monster.

A demon.