Sincerely Yours, Bill Cipher

No Reason to Trust

Koa pulls his hands back. "Pacifica... What? No. No, no way, Pacifica. You were using me for a wish?"
"I'm so sorry," Pacifica whispers, her head in her hands.
"So you really are just like any other human. You really are just greedy, huh?" His hurt is so evident, I feel bad for the guy.
"No, no, Koa, that's not it!" Pacifica cries out. "I mean, kind of, but I would never hurt you to get something I wanted, but, well, even though this is-" She stops herself, looking for the right words. "It's not from a place of avarice. Koa," she looks up at him with tear-streaked cheeks, "two of my best friends are dying. Like, really dying. They may only have hours to live, and a Jinni wish is our last hope. I didn't know how else to get one. I figured that since you're not a vessel Jinni, if I captured your heart, that would be enough to grant me a wish."
"So you don't really like me," Koa says with a disappointed, frustrated frown.
"No, Koa, I do, just..." She looks at the floor. "Just not in that way. You see, I have a boyfriend, and-"
Koa slams his fists on the table and jumps up from his seat. "Pacifica, I trusted you! I know we've barely met, but you tricked me! Are you even part Jinni? I don't know what to believe anymore! I risked my behind bringing you in here where we could get caught, or frowned upon, and you were using me this whole time? Pacifica, I get so lonely. This was beyond cruel." He looks away with a grimace and takes his seat again. "But I know how important friends can be. If they're really dying... perhaps I would like to help. So continue. I want to know you're not really the player you seem to be."
     Pacifica sighs with relief. "Thank you. Long story short, my friends and I are under a type of curse. This has caused my boyfriend and his twin sister to fall deathly ill. This curse is getting more dangerous by the day, and if it doesn't end on its own soon, will end in all of our demises. So I need this wish badly. I want. Our curse. To end," she states desperately. "I don't want to lose them," she cries, her voice breaking.
Koa's gaze softens. "So these are the ones that would hurt the most to lose?"
     Pacifica smiles brokenheartedly as he references their earlier conversation. "Exactly. Look, Koa. You're very sweet. If we had met under different circumstances, and I wasn't already in a relationship, then maybe we could be something more. But I know that's not the case now, and I'm so sorry for playing with your feelings like that. You have no reason to trust me anymore, but I really hope that you do."
     Koa sighs and runs his fingers over his scalp. "Okay. I'm understanding the situation more now. But I still don't know how you found-"
     He's cut off by the door opening. Two middle-aged Jinn walk in, happily talking together. They shut the door behind them, and don't notice anything to be awry until they put down their stuff. Koa practically tackles Pacifica under the table.
     "Momma!" he exclaims, his voice an octave higher than usual. "Dad? What are you doing here? You guys don't finish work for hours yet!"
"We decided to get off early so that we could go on a date," Koa's father says. "It's such a nice day out."
"Koa?" his mother asks uncertainly. "Who's that who just hid under the table? One of your siblings...?"
That's a generous statement. Koa's family is much darker than Pacifica's pale color. This is not good.
Koa freezes up. "Just a friend."
"Then why would your friend be under the table?" his father asks skeptically.
Pacifica decides to stand, and I'm not sure whether that was her best or worst option. "I'm sorry," she apologizes with a smile. "I dropped an earring. It's lovely to meet you both. My name is Penny Westover. Koa's told me great things about you. He invited me over for a bite to eat, but I think I'm about to head out." She's shaking. She's scared, and rightly so. We don't know what kind of a threat these grown Jinn pose to us.
     Koa's mother's face wrinkles in disgust. "A human. Koa, why is a human in our house? With you?"
     "Momma, I can explain-"
     His father cuts him off with a slap to the face. Koa stumbles back against the wall, shocked. His father then walks up to Pacifica, grabbing her by the front of her shirt. She gasps in fright.
      Yule tenses up beside me. "Pacifica, if you need me to do something, I will," he murmurs to her softly.
     "Dad, don't touch her!" Koa shouts angrily, his hand pressed against his reddening cheek. He throws himself forward, pulling at his dad's arms, but he's thrown off, then restrained by his mother.
     "Jinn and humans are meant to stay apart, girl. You know that, don't you? The only way you could have found this place is through magic or manipulation. So which was it?" His grip tightens, and Pacifica coughs.
     "Please, sir!" she chokes out desperately. "Let me explain! I just need one wish. That's all!"
Koa's father scowls, throwing her to the floor. "Greedy little thing!"
"Stop it!" Koa screams, his glimmer flashing brighter as he grows angrier and more frightened. His cheek blazes red from his father's hand. "I can take care of this myself!"
"Koa," his mother warns, taking her son by the arm. "Leave him be." Her eyes flash with anger too. "We don't want you getting hurt."
Koa throws his mother's hand off. "She would never hurt me! She needs help, Momma, can't you see?"
"I see nothing but a being blinded by selfish desires," his mother growls back. "She must be eliminated so she can never find this place and hurt any of us ever again."
"Eliminated?!" In a panic, realizing he's outnumbered, he screams for his older sister. "YVETTE!"
His siblings must have been rushing in already, because Yvette and the little ones appear in seconds.
"Tell me," their father growls, towering over Pacifica, who still lays frozen on the ground. "Are you a witch, or a manipulator?"
"Neither!" Pacifica pleads, her eyes wide. "I heard the location from word of mouth. A genie a friend knew revealed the location through a wish."
     "What a despicable wish," his father growls. "So imposing. So selfish. You're friends with this person? That means you're like-minded!"
     "Dad, she's done no harm!" Yvette shouts at her father, obviously shocked and frightened as well.
     "No harm?" their mother cries out, looking at her son in horror. "She's surely done more than we thought! Look at the lipstick smudged on Koa's mouth!"
     Yvette takes a closer look at her brother. Walking up to him, she pulls her forehead to his and closes her eyes. Koa tried to pull back, but she had a firm grip on him.
     "Yvette, it's not what it looks like!" he exclaims worriedly when she pulls away.
Yvette gazes at him in dismay. "You're sad, Koa. And hurt. What did she do to you?" I guess Jinn can read emotions by touching?
"I didn't mean to hurt him!" Pacifica pleads.
Their mom's eyes darken. "So you admit it. You manipulated our son and expect to get away with a wish? Just who do you think you are?"
"Please, ma'am!" Pacifica shouts back quickly. "I'll do anything for this wish. Anything. Let's make a trade, a deal! I swear that this wish is not to hurt anyone, including yourselves. It's not even to my benefit! I just need my friends healed! Please, can't you help me?"
     Koa's father sits back, shocked. Then his eyes glint. "Anything? Would you be willing to die for this wish?"