I was becoming a little apprehensive. It seemed that maybe Alexa was taking things a little too seriously. I was worried about her abusing the ring’s power. I was determined to refuse to go along with her unless I approved of her idea. “So what’s your plan?” I asked.
“It’s kind of elaborate,” she said. “You know that forest outside of town?” I nodded in response. “I was thinking we go there, and we get her there, too, like we did with Rick. Now once we’re there…we hunt her!” Her face displayed an extreme eagerness to test out the other side of our werewolf bodies.
I didn’t like where this was headed. I remembered that my original wish gave her that desire, but I thought the wish for control might have calmed that down a bit. “Alexa,” I said slowly, “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I don’t want to…”
“No, no, no,” she cut me off quickly. “I don’t want to kill her. I don’t even want to hurt her. I just want to put some fear into her.”
Now I wasn’t sure what she meant. “How so?” I asked.
“OK, I see why you’re nervous,” she said. “But I told you that she thinks she has some power over me. I want the tables to be turned. I want to have power over her, even if it’s for such a short time. I just want to make her think that we could do…well, whatever we wanted to her.”
“We could just wish that,” I reminded her.
“Yea, but that’s no fun,” she pouted. I recognized that I was fast becoming a sucker for her pouting. “Come on, I know you want to get out there and run and hunt because I do, too.” I had to admit she was right about that, but I didn’t verbalize that to her. “Look, you’re probably thinking I’m getting power mad, but I don’t have any other axes to grind. After this, I want to try some other ideas. Let’s just do this.”
I could tell that I wasn’t going to dissuade her. I also was afraid of the consequences of not going along with her. I felt I could trust her, but I certainly didn’t want her making wishes without me involved, and thought there was a small chance she might do that.
“OK,” I said. “But you’re going to have to make some assurances,” I demanded as I slightly prodded my finger at her.
“I will!” she promised.
“Fine. I wish we were in the forest,” I said. We were instantly transported to the forest. It was dark, of course, save for the light of the stars and moon that crept through the trees. It was light enough for us to see each other, so I guessed we wouldn’t have a problem with our guest, either. The sound of nature was all around us with crickets chirping and owls hooting. There were probably other animals around as well. Since I was a werewolf I wasn’t worried about any other predators. I also had the ring which would prevent any complications.
“It’s a little chilly,” I said. She agreed as she rubbed her hands over her arms. She looked at me for a few seconds. “Hey, this is your show, get it started,” I said.
She cleared her throat. “I wish that Mindy Christopher would appear in this forest with us at the conclusion of my wish and that no one would realize she disappears from wherever she currently is.”
For the second time, another person stood in front of us. She was a little taller than Alexa and had shoulder length blonde hair. Her figure was not as shapely as Alexa, though still healthy, and she also had breasts that were probably a C cup. She wore a low cut, black cocktail dress and was holding a wine glass. She looked around in confusion as she tried to get her bearings. Then she spotted us. “Alexa?” she asked.
“Well, hello, Mindy!” Alexa said cheerfully. “It has been too long,” she said in the same tone. She was overacting just a bit.
“Where am I?” Mindy asked. “I was at a cocktail party at the agency.”
Alexa said, “I wish you would let me explain everything before you ask any more questions.”
“OK,” Mindy said meekly.
“Here’s the easiest way I can sum this up,” Alexa explained. “This is my partner/lover Joey. Joey received an amazing gift earlier today and he has shared it with me. It grants any wishes we make. I wished that you were here, and so now you are. I brought you here because I feel that you and I have some…unfinished business. Now before you go asking what, let me just say that your answers will determine what happens from here.”
Alexa stopped talking so Mindy was now able to ask questions again. “What unfinished business?” she asked.
“Oh, just that little lifetime deferred contract you tricked me into signing,” Alexa answered.
“That?” Mindy asked as she took another sip from her glass. “That was almost two years ago. Why, are you looking to come back? We’d be happy to use you.”
Alexa sighed heavily. “Obviously you didn’t believe me when I told you I was quitting for good,” she said. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have had me sign that thing and wouldn’t think that now.”
“So what about it then?” Mindy asked.
“When you called me and told me that you had full power over me, that really pissed me off,” Alexa explained. “I’m not sure why you couldn’t believe I wanted to leave modeling, but I guess it’s because you could never think of doing that yourself. But I meant it. So you went and concocted some bullshit about me signing a lifetime contract with you without telling me that’s what it really was. And you didn’t even bother to do it yourself, you sent someone else!”
“And?” Mindy asked with disinterest as she took another sip of wine.
Alexa’s anger increased. “Oh, I wish you didn’t have that wine anymore,” she said. The glass disappeared from Mindy’s hand as she was about to drink from it again. “Did you really think that I wouldn’t be mad at you for that?” she demanded.
“I knew you’d be mad, Alexa,” Mindy replied. “That was you. Most girls would be thrilled to have that security, but you were just…so different. You didn’t seem to love being a model. Hell if any of us knew why. But that wasn’t the reason I had you sign that contract.”
“Then what was?” Alexa asked.
“Business, purse and simple,” answered Mindy. “You know what it’s like to be a model. You know how competitive it is. You were still in your prime. I had to protect the company. It would have been pretty embarrassing if I had let you go and you started working for someone else. Yea, I tricked you. There was no way you were going to sign that contract and I knew that. I did what I had to do.”
“Company gal to the end, huh?” Alexa asked. “What if you’re lying?”
“Well, if you can really wish for things, and it seems you can, why don’t you wish to know?” Mindy challenged. “You’re not going to get anything different.”
Alexa believed her because she did not make such a wish. “I have one more question, Mindy,” she said. “Do you still think you control me?”
“My company controls you completely,” Mindy replied with resolve.
Through the low light, I could see the expression on Alexa’s face sour. Oops, I thought to myself. That was a very poor choice of words.
“If that’s the way you feel,” Alexa said as I watched her hand clench into a fist, “you need to be taught a lesson.”