When Freddy and Michael peered out the glass of the front door, they spotted the old man from the magic store.
“Hi boys” the old man said from the other side of the door. “Can I come in, please?”
“How did you figure out where I live?” Freddy asked nervously.
“I’ll explain it to you…if you let me in.”
Reluctantly, Freddy unlocked and opened the front door as the old man stepped inside of his house.
“I’ve been waiting for you two boys to return to the magic shop” the old man said as Freddy shut the door behind them. “When you two didn’t come by today, I decided to take matters into my own hands and track you down myself.”
The old man pulled out what looked like an ordinary old telephone book, but with the words “Classified Teenager Phone Book” on it.
“You’re Freddy Benson?” the old man pointed at Freddy to ask.
Freddy nodded.
“And you’re Michael Scavolini?”
“Yes” Michael replied while looking down at the phone book. “How did you manage to get that?”
“Then I have the right place” the old man responded, closing the book and ignoring Michael’s legitimate question. “Mind if we take a seat?”
Despite the oddity of a guest dictating in his own home, Freddy nodded as the three of them made their way to the couch to sit. When they got comfortable, the old man took a deep breath and began his spiel.
“I thought after the first change, you would have thought to come back to the store, but evidently, Michael over here is stubborn and thinks he can figure things out on his own.”
Michael did not take this comment well as the old man pointed at him with judgement.
“For your information” he replied “I…”
Freddy coughed before Michael turned to look at him.
“I mean….we, already figured some of this stuff on our own.”
“Is that so?” the old man asked. “Well, what did you learn?”
“We learned how the changes are triggered. When Freddy gets…erm…turned on, he changes into a dog.”
“Right.” The old man nodded.
“And when he…um” Michael thought of a way to say this delicately, not wanting to talk about sexual stuff with someone who seemed to be three times his age, at least. “And when Freddy releases his seed as a dog, he changes back.”
“Very good” the old man replied with genuine enthusiasm, the first time he had done so to something Michael said. “It seems the ring made the right choice after all. Speaking of which, where is it?”
“Oh” Michael responded as he got up. “Let me go get it.”
Michael quickly ran upstairs to Freddy’s room to unzip his knapsack and grab the ring that fell to the bottom of the bag. When he retrieved it, he ran downstairs to show it to the old man, who promptly snatched it from his hand.
“Hey!” Michael responded.
“As I’ve told you before” the old man said as he pointed his finger at Michael “this ring is not for you. It’s for this young man over here.”
The old man handed the ring to Freddy who hesitated to take it.
“Actually,” Freddy interrupted “more than likely, Michael is going to insist on having it back again and I’m more than likely going to give it to him. You might as well just give it back to him now rather than wait for him to take it back later. If anything, he’s less likely to lose it than I am.”
A brief look of astonishment washed over the old man’s face as he could tell that Freddy meant what he said and that they were genuine thoughts as to the most likely outcome. Knowing internally that this was going to be the case, the old man slowly took back the ring and handed it to Michael.
“You’re so stubborn, you know that?” the old man told Michael. “You’re lucky to have the boyfriend that you have.”
“Not really” Michael replied curtly. “It’d be nice to have a boyfriend who didn’t cheat on me.”
“And you think you would have resisted the impulses of a dog any better?”
Taking a moment to ponder this, Michael had a genuine debate in his head over whether he would have been stronger than Freddy at resisting the impulses or not, especially since he would have determined the ejaculation cure sooner.
“You know it’s not true” the old man said to interrupt his thoughts.
A moment of silence passed before the old man continued, with Freddy feeling a sense of relief that he was being defended by him.
“Anyways, the ring chose Freddy over you, Michael, for a reason. Think about it this way. Let’s hypothetically say that the roles were reversed and that it was you who turned into a dog and not Freddy. Do you think Freddy would have been able to come to your rescue the same way you have done for him?”
“Hey!” Freddy said, angry at this criticism.
“I’m just being honest” the old man replied. “You may have the brawn, but Michael, as stubborn as he can be, has the brains.”
Michael smiled at the compliment, even though it was back handed, knowing it didn’t come easily from this old man. After the good feeling wore off, Michael got serious.
“So the ring obviously chose Freddy for a reason” he said. “The question is why? And what do we have to do to pay off the debt from this ring?”
“Ah, that’s a very good question!” the old man replied.
“One you should have told us about before we took it from the store.”
“There’s a reason for that. I had to keep some of this stuff secret or I wouldn’t have been sure if you would have agreed to help me.”
The old man got up from the couch as he began to pace across the room.
“You see, I am the owner of a magic store where I collect and sell magical items of supernatural origin. I am able to keep myself afloat not by money, but by the powers that I possess. I am not normally a pawn dealer of magical goods, but one day, a scoundrel, who I knew was a thief, came into my shop to ask me to buy this ring.”
The old man pointed to the ring in Michael’s possession, which caused him to stare at it as the bug on top of it glowed slightly.
“I immediately recognized the ring because it was…”
“One of the powerful Ruggeri rings!” Michael interrupted. “I’ve been reading all about it while doing my research into this curse.”
“Vey good” the old man replied. “So you know that most of his magical items have been stolen.”
“That I did not know. The only thing I could find was that they were lost.”
“Figures that's what would have been reported. It's not for the magical world to tell mere mortal humans the truth in these sorts of situations. Anyways, when I saw this item, I immediately recognized it as one of the stolen rings. The man was desperate for money and so, in order to take it from him in order to track down who had previously possessed it, I agreed to pay him something like $8000; way below what this ring is actually worth on the magical black market. When he went on his way, I began to use my magic to conjure up a profile and tracked it down to the man who stole it from the national museum of Rome in Italy. And that is why I have come to you two boys tonight.”
Freddy and Michael looked at the old man, nervous as to what his request might be.
“When I tracked down the origin of the ring, I discovered that the other two missing Ruggeri rings, along with his magic mirror, were in the position of a powerful wizard. What I need you two boys to do in order to pay off the debt of taking possession of this ring is to help me get back the stolen items and have them returned to where they rightfully belong.”
Freddy seemed excited about this action packed adventure, but Michael was feeling a sense of nervousness and dread.
“Is this really a good idea?” Michael asked the old man cautiously. “I mean, if this wizard is as powerful as you say, couldn’t he be powerful enough to conjure up magic that could do us great harm or kill us?”
“The ring chose Freddy for a reason” the old man responded. “If it didn’t think….”
“Wait” Freddy interjected. “This ring has a mind of its own?”
“Sort of, but not in the conscious sort of way as a human would. More like that of a tree.”
“Weird” Freddy replied as he scratched his chin and kept listening, while Michael’s nerves continued to grow unabated.
“As I was saying” the old man continued “if it didn’t think Freddy was up to the task, it wouldn’t have chosen him to bestow upon him this power.”
“So if I go and rescue these items from this wizard, the curse will be broken and I’ll be human again?” Freddy asked.
“Precisely.”
“Then what are we waiting for? I’m sick and tired of having to wear a collar and deal with fleas. Let’s get these rings so we can end this stupid curse forever!”
Freddy stood up triumphantly as Michael showed more hesitation.
“Wait a second” he interjected while also standing up. “If this wizard stole the items in Italy, are we going to have to get on a plane to travel all the way there?”
“No” the old man replied. “In fact, I’ll be bringing the wizard to you.”
The old man walked to the door as he got ready to leave.
“One of the last things I did before Freddy took possession of the ring was that I put a homing spell on it, specifically so that the wizard who stole the other ones would know where it was. By tomorrow afternoon, he will be here and your adventure will begin. Good luck, my two young warriors. May the spirits grant you success.”
The boys called for the old man as he left before he quickly opened and shut the front door behind him.
“Wait!” Freddy called to the old man.
“We still have more questions!” Michael added.
Freddy and Michael ran to the front door and looked at the glass to discover…
“He’s gone” Freddy announced. “Where could he have gone?”
“Maybe he has the magical powers to just disappear” Michael responded. “But if he has that kind of magic, why couldn’t he take care of this himself?”
“I don’t know? But if it’s what it’ll take to end this curse, I’ll do it.”
Just as the boys finished their conversation, they heard the front door knob moving again.
“Maybe he heard us and will answer our questions now” Freddy said.
As they looked into the glass again, they spotted, not the old man, but….