Three Wishes Chapter 7

Christine gasped. “Tom!”

“Just keep driving, Christy. Don’t do anything stupid,” Tom directed her coldly. “We need to go somewhere private, so we can have ourselves a little chat.”

“What do you want, Tom?” Christine asked, terrified. “This is kidnapping, you know.”

Tom laughed. “Good ol’ Christine. Always making sure I know what I’m doing wrong. Don’t worry my dear, I don’t plan to keep you for long,” Tom answered. “Turn left at this next corner.”

Christine followed Tom’s directions until she finally pulled into a sleazy looking motel on the other side of town.

“Pull around to the back and park it,” Tom told her. His voice was cold, emotionless.

When Christine parked the car, Tom reached over the seat and snatched the keys from Christine’s hand. “Get out,” he commanded her gruffly.

Christine opened the driver’s side door and stepped out of the car. Tom emerged from the back seat and grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her with him toward a motel room. He pushed her inside after unlocking the door and shut the door behind him.

“Sit.” He directed her to the bed, giving her a little push.

Christine sat down on the foot of the bed with her hands clenched in her lap. She had no idea what Tom wanted or what he had in mind for her. He knew about Tariq, but Christine didn’t know how much he knew. She watched Tom move into the bathroom, and then come out a few moments later.

“What do you want with me, Tom?” Christine asked, trying to keep her voice calm. She continued to keep her eyes on Tom. It suddenly occurred to her that Tom was much the same coloring as Tariq. Black hair, dark brown eyes, olive complexion, but Tom was not as tall as Tariq and he was burly, where Tariq was slender and muscular.

“So tell me Christy, how is Tariq?” Tom asked, enjoying the surprised look on her face.

Christine couldn’t have been more surprised if he’d thrown cold water in her face. “How? How do you know about Tariq? How do you know his name?”

Tom just smiled evilly. “Let’s just say, Tariq and I have a . . . history together.”

Christine gasped softly. “No, that can’t be.”

Tom looked at her curiously. “Did Tariq tell you about how he became a Genie, my dear?” He reached down and caressed her cheek.

Christine turned her face away from his touch. “Tariq told me how he was betrayed by a friend.”

Tom laughed. “A friend, huh? Tariq was always so gullible.”

Christine looked at Tom in horror. “You, you can’t be Amid.”

“I can’t, huh? And pray tell, why not?” Tom asked, truly curious to her answer.

“Because, we were married for 7 years. Tariq made it clear that there were rules for the Genie. I never saw any Lamp.” Christine was confused. Was Tom a Genie or was he human again?

Tom smiled, but the smile never reached his cold dark eyes. “Ah, my dear Christine. That is easily explained. You see, while Tariq was being the obedient Genie, granting everyone’s wishes, I was investigating and finding out how I could get out of this blasted curse.” Tom strode over to the window and peered out through the curtain. He turned back to Christine and continued his explanation.

“I discovered that I could be released from the Lamp and it’s limitations without actually breaking the curse. I still have all the powers and immortality that go along with being a Genie, but I’m not stuck with that damned Lamp. I am free to come and go as I please and I don’t have to answer to anyone,” Tom finished.

“So then, what do you want with Tariq? It sounds like your quite happy with your eternal freedom, why seek out the only man who can take that all away from you?” Christine asked cautiously.

“I am quite happy with my life, Christy. I enjoy making you miserable and I enjoy the freedom that I have obtained. I do not want Tariq to ruin what I have achieved. If you know the story behind the curse, I am sure he revealed to you the only way it can be broken,” Tom replied, his dark gaze watching her coldly.

“Yes. He said that the only way the curse can be broken is for one of you to destroy the other. The curse would be broken and he assumed that the survivor would live out a normal life,” Christine answered.

“That is correct. My, my, Tariq has been a chatty fellow with you, hasn’t he? I do believe you are the first person he has ever revealed any of this to.” Tom’s gaze hardened as he approached her. Stopping directly in front of her, he grabbed her by the arms and hauled her up against him.

“Why is that, Christy? Why has Tariq trusted you with so much personal information? It isn’t like him. You haven’t been doing anything that would make me unhappy, have you?” Tom looked at her closely, her face inches from his own. “Have you slept with him Christy?”

Christine trembled violently as she shook her head. She could not allow Tom to find out that Tariq had made love to her. She swallowed hard. “I haven’t done anything, Tom, I swear. He’s just been talkative. Maybe he just decided to trust someone after 3,000 years. Maybe he’s tired of being a Genie and he wants to be released and he’s looking for someone to help him.” Christine tried desperately to keep her voice even. She prayed that Tom would not see through her lies.

“Maybe,” Tom said, looking down at her. He raised his hand and cupped her chin with his hand. “You really are quite lovely, Christine. I should never have allowed you to divorce me.”

Christine tried to break free of his hold but with no success. “You didn’t allow anything, Tom. I left, period. We are divorced and you have no right to hold me here.”

Tom pushed her back on the bed roughly. “Don’t worry, Christine. I do not plan to hold you prisoner. I have other uses for you right now.”

Christine watched as Tom moved back over to the window. “What are you planning to do, Tom?” But Christine was already afraid she knew.

“You are going to help me get rid of a Genie, that’s what I am planning.” Tom turned back to face her.

Christine shook her head in horror. “No! I will not help you kill Tariq.”

“Kill? No, my dear, I do not wish to kill Tariq. To do so would render me mortal and I do not wish to lose my eternal freedom.” Tom shook his head. “No, what I have in mind is to put Tariq back in his lamp and then to bury it where it can never be found and you are going to help me accomplish that.”

“How did you manage to get released from your Lamp? You mentioned that you did research. You obviously found some way to escape the Lamp, but yet keep your immortality and your powers,” Christine asked carefully. If Tom was able to get released from his Lamp, then maybe she could help Tariq be released from his.

Tom smiled wickedly at her. “Nice try, Christine. I have no desire to have Tariq walking this earth along with me, always wondering when he might decide to seek revenge for Carina.”

“You’re a real bastard, Tom, you know that?” Christine glared at him. She didn’t care anymore if Tom hit her. She wasn’t going to be afraid anymore. Christine decided right then, that she was going to help Tariq in any way she could.

The evil smile faded from Tom’s mouth as his face hardened. “You have no clue as to the kind of man I am, Christine. Don’t screw with me.”

“How do I know you still have your powers? I’ve never seen you use them,” Christine taunted, trying to get as much information as she could.

Tom raised an eyebrow and grinned again. “You really want to know, Christy? Do you really want me to show you that I still have the powers of a Genie?”

Christine swallowed hard. She needed to know, but was afraid of what Tom might do to demonstrate his power. Slowly she nodded her head and before she could blink again, she was flat on her back on the bed. Tom lay across her, pinning her arms above her head. Christine gasped and began to struggle.

“No, get off me,” Christine pleaded hysterically. But her struggles only managed to excite Tom more as her small slender body wiggled beneath his own.

“That’s it, Christy, fight me.” Tom laughed. “I love it when you fight me.”

Tom leaned his head down and kissed her hard. He pried her lips open and forced his tongue so deeply into her mouth that he almost gagged her. He moved one hand down and roughly squeezed her breast while grinding his hips against her womanhood.

Christine cried out in fear. Oh god, he was going to rape her. No, she couldn’t let that happen. “Please don’t do this, Tom. Please, I’ll do whatever you ask.”

Tom raised his head from the trail of rough kisses he was leaving down her throat. “Of course you’ll do whatever I ask, Christy. Because if you don’t, I will make your life a living hell.” He kissed her lips almost gently. “And you know I can and will do it.”

When Tom moved his head down lower, her shirt and bra disappeared and he lowered his head to roughly take a nipple into his mouth. Christine screamed.

“Shut up, bitch!” Tom rose up and slapped her hard. “You scream again and I make you wish you were never born.”

Tears streamed down Christine’s face as she ceased to struggle, all the fight having gone out of her. Her face hurt where Tom had slapped her and a bruise was already forming. “Oh Tariq, where are you?” Christine whispered softly. “I need you.”

Tariq paced the living room floor frantically. Christine had been gone for several hours and he was beginning to fear she wasn’t going to return. Where could she have gone? Why hadn’t she returned yet? He knew she’d been upset about the time restriction. He’d really screwed it up this time.

Tariq threw his head back and cried out in frustration. “Damn you, Amid! You couldn’t be happy with just taking Carina away from me, but you had to destroy any chance of future happiness for me too.”

Tariq picked up a drinking glass from the coffee table that he’d used earlier and threw it against the wall. It shattered, shards of glass flying everywhere. Tariq’s dark eyes blazed with anger and hatred. He’d fallen in love with Christine and unless he found Amid, there was no chance to have a life with her. His face softened as he thought of Christine.

“Where did you go, my princess?” he asked softly, his voice filled with worry. His gaze fell on the broken glass. With a slight flick of his wrist, the glass was sitting on the coffee table again in one piece. He sighed.

Suddenly Tariq stiffened. “Oh Tariq, where are you? I need you.”

Pain and fear slammed so hard through his body that he stumbled under the force of it. Falling to his knees, he clasped his head in his hands, trying to clear the pain that stabbed his brain. When it subsided, his head snapped up, his eyes blazing. “Christine,” he growled and disappeared.