Frank woke up on the stairs realizing he had wet himself, he stood up confused and embarrassed heading to the bedroom to change his clothes. As he reached the top of the stairs he saw a copy of himself waking up, seemingly having wet himself too. "Thomas?" the man mumbled.
Thinking quickly, He punched the impostor in the back of the head knocking him out again and injuring his hand. Who the fuck was this guy, why does he look like me, and why is he talking about my son? Frank wondered. Frank raced to grab rope and duct tape, he never tried tying someone up before but was going to make it work, the safety of his family was at stake!
Quickly he returned and like a spider ensnaring their meal, Frank made a multitude of knots and bound his hands into fists with duct tape, bound his arms and legs together with the rope, and finally slipped a slip knot around the guys neck in case he had to get nasty...
Feeling assured the man was under control he slipped into the bedroom and changed clothes. This was all in the span of a few minutes, as Frank came out in fresh clothes the man was waking up.
"Ow! You hit me... you tied me up? What's going on here Thomas, what's the meaning of this?"
"I'm asking the questions, Why do you look like me and what have you done with my son?!"
The bound man stared in confusion as the situation dawned on him, "Oh boy." was all he could mutter as the color drained from his face.
"Where is my son!" the captor screamed.
Bound Frank knew that any other day, and especially while his son is missing and there is an intruder in the house, he wouldn't believe in magic, so an explanation would be out of the question. So Frank began to lie like he's never lied before.
"We have your son. He's fine. It's you we wanted anyway." The bound man gave his best sneer.
"Me? what did I do?" Frank 2 asked.
"You looked close enough to me. It still cost thousands upon thousands of dollars in cosmetic surgery, but whats that compared to the millions of dollars we would get from infiltrating your company and stealing all of the data to sell it on the black market." A sly smile crept across Frank 1's face.
Frank 2 gasped audibly. Names, addresses, phone numbers, social security numbers. literally millions of peoples' data compromised. His job would be gone, the company's reputation would be destroyed and it would eventually go under, Thousands of jobs would be lost, million's of lives would be ruined..
"It was as simple as getting the upper hand, taking your badge, telling IT that I forgot my password and got myself locked out. Surely people would know this face." Frank 1 smiled a winning smile sending chills down Frank 2's spine.
"There is a sedative solution I set up in the shed to keep you unconscious until 10 am tomorrow. Once I knocked you out and hid you safely away I would text a special code into an application I downloaded on your son's phone and he would be returned. I would take your place for the evening, be at your work by 8, get IT to let me in by 9:45, say i'm sick and leave by 10. you struggle to free yourself until 10:30, by 11 the data is already sold."
"We are going to send that code now... where did you leave that phone?" Frank 2 asked.
"Downstairs." Frank 1 guessed.
The Franks carefully maneuvered down the stairs. Frank 2 made sure that Frank 1 didn't accidentally kill himself on the stairs believing his son's life was in danger. They found the phone by the couch where Thomas had left it...
"Open the wishing app " Frank 1 said, not recalling its full name.
"The Wish Granting App?" Frank 2 questioned.
"Yeah." Frank 1 feigned disappointment. "You gotta type 'I wish I was Thomas again.'"
"Don't you mean 'had' Thomas again?" Frank 2 glared suspiciously.
Frank 1 glared back, and then calmly explained "Use proper English and you will never see your son again. They will immediately know something is wrong and they will destroy all loose ends, including you, me, and Thomas."
Frank 2 typed it in, his hands shaking and his palms sweating. He read it three times and showed it to Frank 1 for confirmation who agreed. He clicked send.
A few seconds later the cell phone chirped that it had a new message.
"Thank you for your interest in The Wish Granting App. You used your free wish 0 days ago. Unlimited wishes are just 5.99 a month. If you would like to enroll click here!"
Frank 2 followed the link only to be presented with the parental lock. He was emotional and faltering, "Its your birthday." Frank 1 offered. Frank 2 gave a sideways glance.
"We're good at what we do." Frank 1 said without skipping a beat
"Purchase Confirmed!" The phone chirped with a popup followed by two emails. Then the phone in Frank 1's pocket received an email and chirped, raising the suspicion of Frank 2, "Did you get your hands on my phone?"
A second later a text came through, "Thank you for your interest in The Wish Granting App. Your purchase is confirmed, and you may now enjoy unlimited wishes! Your pending request is being processed."
There was a brilliant flash as the phone emitted more light than seemed possible, filling the room and making the world fall away. the light receded as quickly as it came.
"What was that?" Frank 2 asked.
"Confirmation the message was received." Frank 1 unknowingly told the truth.
"Huge waste of baaaahhhh" Frank 2 doubled over in pain, groaning and crawling. Frank 1 watched in horror as Frank 2 collapsed and fell unconscious.
Horror turned to fascination as his arms and legs shrunk and body hair receded. A moan escaped as his chest shrunk. the pitch raised noticeably throughout. His face rearranged, the beard shadow which could never be shaved close enough to disappear, just faded away, and finally the clothes Thomas was wearing earlier today materialized on him as the slacks and button up disappeared. Frank idly wondered if his outfit was lost forever or returned to his room...
"Thomas, Thomas. Wake up son!"
Thomas' eyes popped open and he scrambled to his feet looking at his dad in duct tape gloves and bound with rope. He had taken a seat on the couch and had been trying to wriggle his way out but the slip knot around his neck had begun to tighten itself so he was stuck waiting for help.
"I wished I was just like you dad, and so I was just like you, but not you. I didn't remember being me, because you don't remember being me..." Thomas stared realizing his mistake. "I'm sorry dad."
"Hey buddy, I know you did it because you love me, now go get the scissors and we can deal with this."