Coffee and Three Wishes (On going-unedited)

Chapter 4

Giselle

News headlines slammed into my thoughts in bold letters: 'A twenty-one year old woman was found dead in her small studio-apartment.' Damn Mike and his stories.

Then a realization of no one would hear me scream struck me even harder. Mrs. Romberg, who I lived above her garage, was away visiting her sons and the Kane's house next door was more roisterous than a subway on a Monday afternoon.

My flight or fight response kicked in to brake me free of my rigid state. Survival instinct had me choosing to fight. I grabbed the first thing within my reach and threw it at the intruder with all my might. The glass swan figurine passed its target and shattered with a loud crash. Those golden orbs didn't move or flinch; they maintained their blood chilling fixation on me.

"Get out of my house! I'll call the cops!" I yelled as I reached for the snow glob next and rolled my arm above my head in a clear threat. The hefty weight in my hand gave me a splinter of assurance toward the damage it could inflect.

The figure in the corner didn't budge.

Glancing at my discarded bag where my phone was, my path was blocked by the husky. The Canine seemed oblivious to the lurking danger. To my dismay, he was relaxed, wagging his tail and looking at me in what appeared to be a happy expression.

"I'm warning you, get out!" I shrieked again as I drew my arm farther. The thundering sound of my heart was louder in my ears than my voice.

I felt an icy shiver run down my spine and settle in my knees as the air around me shift. Those eyes weren't only glaring at me, they were intensively charged with ominous rage. Terror swallowed me whole, I'd never felt anything like this before.

An anxious whine echoed from the husky followed by alerting barking. For a dangerous split of a second my gaze shifted to the black dog; he was no longer happy or wagging his tail. The abnormal movement caught in the corner of my eye filled my soul with grave eerie.

My head snapped and a horrified scream was lost in my chest and I slammed farther back to the shelved as the orbs darted in my direction floating in wisps of pitch black smoke. He wasn't merely standing in an unlit corner, he was surrounded by darkness.

My body retaliated by flinging the snow glob I had at a death-grip. The echo of shattered glass didn't happen neither did it surge to reach its target. Instead, it remained suspended in midair right before my eyes then instantly swallowed by the inky, swirling tufts. All the weird and creepy stuff I'd been through the past few days came nothing close to what was happening.

A violent gasp ripped out of me when it halted a couple of inches away from me. There were no features, no face or body, only a pair of eyes surrounded by darkness and animosity. My mouth ran dry and my heart leapt to my throat. Trembles shook my entire body and my knees threatened to give up. Those wisps reached around me until they blocked my vision from anything else. I shrank back and away from them, but the wooden plains pressed against my back and kept me there.

"Listen, human," he spat, "and listen carefully 'cause I'll be saying this only once. Three wishes were bestowed upon you. I'll give you one day time before I come back to grant them. Are we clear?"

My breath froze in my lungs as I stared in disbelief at... at whatever this was. Desperately, I tried to make sense out of what I was seeing. I must be making this up. Maybe I hit my head and the swelling is making me imagine things. Yeah, that must be it.

Clearly I didn't believe the cockamamie idea that my lunatic-self came up with because in a matter of seconds- cold sweat trickled down my back as I began to hyperventilate.