"Hey man, what do you need?"
"Could you get me a new passport and ID? The next client is on a nearby island and can't use mine, those guys will find me."
"Sure, send me a pic of the old IDs."
"Hmm… about that, I don't look like the pics on my old IDs. A recent wish… backfired."
"That's fine, just send me a pic… Lemme guess, Xiz made you look like a monkey?"
"Yup."
He let out an audible sigh, "Sounds like something he'd do. At least you won't need a disguise anymore."
"Well aren't you optimistic. When would it be done by? I'll get Xiz to grab it from you."
"Two days. I'll email you my location."
"Ok... Any luck on your fight club stuff?"
"Haven't found it yet but I hear there's gonna be super powered battles so can't wait. If you want in…"
"Nah, I'm good. I gotta give the phone back to the guy I got this from so talk to you later then."
"Bye my guy."
I returned the phone to it's owner and gave my thanks. Afterwards, we bought a cheap phone off of Carl's list to snap some pics of me then emailed'em to Berny. A couple days later Xiz came back with the fake IDs and passport.
We went to the nearest airport. Our client already booked a first-class ticket for me. I was psyched since this was the first time I got to take first-class. We were going to Meubiaroe, a small island in the Pacific ocean. The flight security were fascinated by my awesome “cosplay”. I just told them I had a ton of prosthetics glued to my face so couldn’t take it off. I wore a mask the whole time I was in public; looks like the pandemic came in handy for once.
The flight was nice. I finally got to see the latest Seventh Sense, the food was delicious, and there was lots of legroom. After the movie, I set my seat into bed mode and fell asleep.
***
I slowly woke to the pitter-patter of rain hitting the cabin. Not much could be seen since the lights were dimmed. It was eerily quiet. It sounded like something was tapping on the window.
It had to be the rain, there was no way something could be making that sound, not 12 km (38,000 ft) in the air.
I heard lightning outside and felt the plane shook from turbulence. The tapping noises on my window continued, making my curiosity get the best of me. I had to open it and see what was going on.
I slowly brought my hand closer to the window, took in a deep breath, and then yanked the cover up to see… nothing. Just the wing of the plane, a dark and stormy night over the pacific ocean, and lightning flashing here and there.
I sighed in relief, getting ready to sink back into my seat when suddenly, lightning flashed brightly, casting a shadow in the cabin. I spun my head to the window and saw a dark, horrible, leathery, crooked hand with sharp talons slap the outside of the window, making me fall out of my seat, and roll into the aisle, startling a flight attendant. I muttered an apology as I realized what happened, brushed myself off and got back into my seat.
“Ha ha, very funny” I grumbled to myself as I watched Xiz get up and laugh hysterically at me, his hand turning back to normal. He was laughing so hard on the wing of the plane that the wind blew him off and he plummeted down, disappearing into the inky darkness of thunder clouds below.
“BOO!" yelled Xiz beside me, but I didn’t give him a reaction. I had a feeling he was gonna do this. “So, when we getting there?”
“Should be a couple hours left,” I answered while glancing at my watch.
“What’s the deal with this guy?”
“I don’t know, but he seemed pretty desperate so I should make a killing,” I replied while flipping through the movie and tv shows on the screen. I returned the remote to its holder since I already saw the good stuff. “What did you see when you did your recon?”
“Huge house, pretty nice, tropical, but there were a ton of guards and security. Barbed wire, armored guards, security cameras, sensors, and guard dogs. It seemed more like a fortress than a mansion.”
“Hmm, maybe he’s paranoid? I’ve got a feeling the wish will have something to do with this…”
***
We finally arrived at our destination. The bright sunlight hit my eyes as I stepped out of the plane, blinding me. It felt hot and humid here, mosquitos pounced on the new meals that just arrived. I swatted them away, already sweating in the heat. Our client, Cornelius Summers, let me know that he sent a ride for me so I scanned a crowd that was waiting for the new arrivals. There, I saw a tall, tanned, buff man in shades and a suit holding a sign that read my name on it.
I waved at him as I walked over, revealing my face to confirm I was the monkey man he was waiting for. The ride to the mansion was long. The driver, Maio, seemed intimidating at first but it turned out he was pretty nice, explaining the different sites on the island, pointing out nice spots he’s visited, and talking about work.
We finally arrived at the mansion, Xiz’s description being spot on. Barbed wire, armed guards, dogs, security cameras, and the likes surrounded a very beautiful mansion that was practically a castle. All it needed was a moat and drawbridge to complete the look.
The guards let us in after seeing Maio, opening the gates. We followed a small road that led to the front steps of the mansion. Cornelius stepped out of the front doors as Maio let me out of the car.
“Welcome! I’m so glad you could make it, Rumey” exclaimed the short gentleman while raising his hands in the air, giving me a great big hug and lifting me off of the ground. “Come in, come in. Desmond, please grab his bags. Tired from your journey?”
“Not much, I slept most of the flight here. I’ll keep this bag with me Desmond” I replied, hugging my duffel bag that had the paw inside.
We walked into the house, passing by some suits of armor in the hallway, massive paintings of his family, and a large chandelier. We reached the living room and sat down on the couches.
“Well Rumey, let’s cut to the chase. You said that you can grant any wish, right?”
“Kinda, but there are limits to what I can do. I can’t grant something too crazy.”
“What wishes have you granted so far?”
“I made it rain in a dried up farm town, brought back the dead for a grieving mother, and turned myself into a monkey-man-thing, as you can see.”
“Dried up farm town?” thought aloud Cornelius. “Emerald Fields? Didn’t it get destroyed by a flood just a few days ago?”
“Yeah, the wishes have consequences. Farm town got flooded, the kid brought back from the dead looked like an undead, and me trying to save someone turned me into this.”
“Hmm, you did prove to me that you have some supernatural control before so I guess what you’re saying can be true. Turning off my lights and sending a demon after me was a bit much though.”
“You wouldn’t have believed me if I didn’t do something like that.”
“Okay, my wish that I want you to grant for me is…“ he leaned forward and looked straight into my eyes. “make me immortal.”
“...”
“...”
“Immortal?” I said quizzically. The words left a strange taste in my mouth. “Hmm, that sounds kinda cosmic.” I looked to Xiz to see what he thought.
“Well, can you do it?” Cornelius questioned, leaning back into his chair and looking at me quizzically.
Xiz finally spoke. “Well, I can’t make him immortal immortal, but I can get him close to it. I mean, even I’m not immortal. Maybe live longer than average, give some great regeneration, that kinda stuff.”
Cornelius couldn’t hear Xiz so I relayed the message to him. “I graciously accept. What will be the price for this then?”
I could imagine holding the money now. Just the thought made my mouth water. This time, I leaned forward, hands clasped together, looked straight into Cornelius' eyes and said “$20 million.”
“Deal” he instantly replied, sticking his hand forward to shake.
Wait wait wait, he accepted way too easily. Damnit, this stuff again. I could’ve made way more. Screw this, I’ll try more.
“$25 million.” I replied coolly, leaning back into my chair, arms crossed.
“Wait what? You can’t do that, we agreed on- You know what, fine. It takes two to tango. $19 million.”
“Hold up, no no no, you’re supposed to go up, you can’t go down” I replied in surprise, eyes opening up wide.
“$18 million!”
“No, please, let’s go back to $20 million. I accept it, now let’s shake.” I exclaimed while sticking out my hand.
“$17 million!”
“Okay, okay, deal, $17 million.” I stammered.
Cornelius paused, squinted his eyes at me as if checking to see if the lesson was learned, then smiled and shook my hand. “Deal, you suck at haggling my friend.”
I let out a sigh and grumbled “yeah, tell me about it.”
We then discussed the next steps. Half up front and then the rest after he’s got proof the wish is granted. He agreed to the next steps, sent me the first half to my crypto wallet, and I went to a secluded room to grant his wish. I looked around to make sure no one was watching, took out the paw, and then said “I wish that Cornelius became immortal”. Another finger slowly curled inwards, leaving 2 still pointed outwards making an L, almost mockingly. I put the paw away and went back to the living room.
“Do you feel any different now?” I asked Cornelius as I sat down.
“No, nothing yet. Same as usual” he answered. “How long does this usually take?”
I noticed Xiz stood behind him wearing scrubs, surgical gloves, and a surgical mask. “Not that long. Few minutes to an hour is what it usually takes” I replied.
Xiz took the mask off his chin and covered his mouth with it, gave me a thumbs up while holding some scalpels, saws, and needles. He then turned into a thick, inky black smoke, floating into the ears, nostrils, and mouth of Cornelius. Of course Corny couldn’t see all this but he did start coughing. I could see he spewed some of the smoke out but it just forced its way back into him. He fell out of his chair with a fit of coughs.
His butler ran up yelling “What did you do to him?”
“Relax, when I went through my metamorphosis it was kinda painful at first, but now I’ve never been better” I reassured him.
It only got worse. He kept coughing, then gasped for air, then his breathing became normal but it looked like he felt pain throughout his body. Corny yelled in agony as his pupils dilated, turning his entire eyes into a dark void. His once tan skin turned pale, almost translucent, white and papery. I could see some strange, branch-like growths coming out of the sides of his face with red spikes at the end and a long white tail with huge transparent fins on it.
As suddenly as those transformations came, they faded away. His eyes turned back to normal, the tail shrunk away, the strange branches got pulled back into his face, and color returned to his skin. He stopped yelling in pain, just taking in deep breaths.
“What the heck was that?” Cornelius stammered. “Is it over?”
Wow, why does he get to turn back to normal but I’m still stuck looking like a monkey.
Xiz appeared beside him, giving himself a small bow as his scrubs turned back into his normal, strange outfit. “He’s good now”, said Xiz, with a thumbs up.
“Yeah, it’s over. You’re not mortal anymore” I announced.
“I’ve gotta test this out. Clarence!” he yelled. A strong burly guard in what looked like riot gear walked over.
“SUP BOSS” beamed Clarence.
“Stab me” exclaimed Corny.
“Woah woah woah” I hesitated. “Let’s do something small first.”
“No, go big or go home. Start stabbing!”
Clarence yanked out a knife from the side of his arm. “YOU GOT IT BOSS” he hollered as he went to town, stabbing away with blood spewing everywhere, turning the seat Corny was sitting in and surroundings a rich crimson, his shirt in shreds, mangled flesh and bone visible. Corny’s eyes rolled back into his head and body went limp.
Clarence stopped when his right arm got tired which took a while for such a mountain of a man then tossed the knife to his other hand and continued until it got tired too. He wiped the sweat off his brow but ended up covering his forehead in his boss's blood, leaving the knife still embedded in his chest. Nothing happened for a few seconds.
“I THOUGHT YOU MADE HIM IMMORTAL?” Clarence yelled.
“Me too” I thought aloud. “Maybe it takes a few seconds?” I shrugged.
Then I noticed what was happening. His wounds were slowly closing up at first, but then they started picking up speed. His chest started rising up and down slowly as everything healed, then he gasped for air. He looked around as if someone had woken him up from a dream with a trombone to the ear and then calmed down.
“Wow, that was extremely painful… but it worked. Amazing!” he spoke in astonishment, looking at where ghastly wounds once were now fully healed, not even leaving a scratch.
There was still blood everywhere so Corny showered and then changed into something else. Desmond transferred the rest of the money to my crypto wallet. I waited in the dining hall for Corny to join me for dinner. I tried to refuse but he insisted it was the least he could do for how I had changed his life. He got his chefs to make us some gourmet pizza and joined me soon afterwards.
We spoke over our delicious meal about some stuff, me unwilling to share much about how I do what I do, and him being an open book, talking about his multiple businesses and how life was like on the island. I took some pizza and, while no one was looking, gave it to Xiz who was chilling under the table, petting Corny’s many cats. I finally mustered up the courage to ask the million dollar question.
“So Cornelius, why do you want to be immortal?”
He paused, mid bite on his slice and then slowly placed it back on his plate, putting his hands together. “Long story short, I’m cursed and I think this may be the only way to break it.”
I raised my eyebrows. “What do you mean? How’d you get cursed?”
“I didn’t cause this curse. It’s always been a part of our family for multiple generations. A few centuries ago my great x 12 grandfather made a wizard angry for some reason and then he placed a curse on our family. He said that every time a male adult reaches the age of 30, they will die. Ever since then, like clockwork, many family members have passed away from this terrible curse. Just suddenly disappearing on their 30th birthday, leaving blood and destruction everywhere. We’ve been trying to fight it, we gathered wealth over multiple generations, hired the best to protect us but nothing. Witnesses? Dead. Body guards? Dead. Mercenaries? They tried running away and still ended up dying. The curse always wins in the end. I want this hellish, never-ending cycle to come to stop. That’s why I have all these guards, security measures, and live in a fort. My birthday is the next night and I’ve been desperate for a fix but thank God I found you.”
“Oh man, I’m so sorry to hear that. I hope you do end this” I replied, mulling the whole story over in my head. Looks like curiosity is gonna get the best of me, hopefully it won't kill this cat. “Well, I’ve got some abilities that may come in handy with your situation. Can I stay?”
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