A Rough Night

Simon Harris fell back in shock as he looked around the familiar confines of his room. The sudden teleportation had been what he wanted, bit it didn't make the jolt of suddenly being somewhere else any less disorientating.

His room was a decent size given the house in the neighborhood they lived in, spacious enough to let him work on his hobbies. He sat on his dark blue comforter on the queen size bed, looking at his desk ten feet in front of him in the corner where his computer was.

Mostly he wanted to stand up and pace around trying to process what was happening to him. His fingers clutched the bedsheets trying to ground himself in some sense of reality. Unlike the throbbing music that engulfed that party, his room was mercifully silent. He reached up and scratched rapidly at his scalp, trying to get his head straight, counting down from 5 to 1 and taking a few deep breaths.

He needed a drink.

Simon left his room unsteadily, heading towards the kitchen and the twin doors of the stainless steel fridge ahead of him. He opened the door and looked around trying to find the drink he wanted; a particular brand of peach iced-tea or ginger-ale.

He sighed in disappointment. They were out.

He shut the door to the fridge, his palm flat against the door and then stopped to look at the ring on his finger, fidgeting with it... could he?... He sighed and took a deep breath...

"I wish there was a cold bottle of ginger-ale in the fridge."

He waited, holding his breath, and felt a jolt in the fridge a second later.

Wasting no time, he opened the door to find a very chilled, glass bottle of ginger-ale sitting there waiting for him where only a moment ago there had been none. He held back an excited laugh and quickly retreated to his room, placing the drink on the desk and sitting in his chair, taking the ring off and holding it in his fingers to examine it closely.

Simon spun in his chair, opened a drawer and took out his tablet, writing down in his notes as fast as he could what he could remember from what had just happened:

• Jessica is bound to the ring
• The wearer of the ring is her Master
• Jessica was bound to the ring by her Mother
• If she's set free she'll be hunted
• She can grant any wish
• People don't notice what I wish for

He wasn't sure about that last one, but the way Kevin had reacted made him think. Simon read back the 'rules' to himself again and again, still trying to process it all. He held out the ring and stared at the bright emerald that was the color of Jessica's eyes, feeling unsure for a moment and how best to proceed. It was a lot of power and a lot he had to think about. The key to reality itself was in his very fingers.

"With great power comes great responsibility."

Sure it was from a comic book, but it didn't make it any less true for him in that moment.

He closed his eyes and thought back, the image of a little blonde haired girl laughing and smiling at a quiet little boy tortured by loneliness. He placed the ring back on his finger, a newfound resolve in his eyes.

"I wish nothing could take this ring from me. I wish this ring would immediately return to my hand if removed from my body. I wish that so long as I have this ring that no harm will come to me or those I care about."

His cellphone vibrated and he looked down to a message in all caps from Sam.

"WHERE R U?"

He picked it up and texted back.

Jessica sobbed as she curled up into a ball in the front seat of her friend's car. It had become more and more tense the further away they got from her house. A few text messages coming through as Sam looked over them and sighed.

"Paramedics say Kevin has a couple fractured ribs, broken jaw, multiple skin lacerations at the least and that cops are looking over at the scene to see what happened, but those videos are going viral on everyone's social media."

The blonde's sobs became quieter as her body flinched and she refused to look up at her friend. All she wanted to do now was wake up from the nightmare her birthday had become.

"What happened Jess? What did he do...?"

Jess opened and closed her mouth, wracking her mind for any semblance of a plausible explanation she could give. She couldn't even tell Sam what was going on with her or the real reason behind beating Kevin up.

Would Simon tell his sister? The closer they got to Sam's house, the more anxiety and terror washed over Jessica. Her friend thought she was looking out for her, but really she was her courier.

"Please Sam, take me home," Jess begged hoarsely.

"Not a chance. You'll stay with us and we'll straighten this out in the morning. If Simon saw anything between you and that asshole, we'll need to talk to him so he can straighten this out."

"I wish there was a cold bottle of ginger-ale in the fridge."

Jessica let out a gasp as she whipped her head up from her knees and felt her body shudder. His voice rang through her head and the warm wave of pleasure ripped through her and down into her shorts. She bit her lip and whimpered trying to avoid putting a hand over her crotch.

"Are you okay?"

Quickly Jess nodded her head, "I-It's nothing..."

Of course Simon made a basic wish, small and simple in function. Was it because he thought that way? He was always a bit blunt, it was annoying sometimes. Sam always said it was because she didn't understand.

As they rounded the corner, her friend pulled the car over, and then turned to look in the back seat with a sigh, "Here."

Sam held out a small box wrapped in paper, "I left mine at your house, but I guess it'll make up for something."

Jessica reached out to take it hesitantly, looking it over as the redhead held up her phone, "I'm going to text my brother."

The cheer captain nodded as her friend stepped out of the car to stretch her legs and text her Master. She looked down quietly at the box with its red paper and black stripes confused as to what Sam meant.

To everyone else around her, it was a party and her 18th birthday. She sniffled and rubbed her eyes with her sleeves, turning the gift over in her hands when her body suddenly jolted again,

"I wish nothing could take this ring from me. I wish this ring would immediately return to my hand if removed from my body. I wish that so long as I have this ring that no harm will come to me or those I care about."

Three in a row.

The tone in his voice, the conviction and clear cut resolve was... Different. Had he ever talked like that? And why did it have to feel so fucking good? Why did he have to do this to her? Why did it have to be that creeper that stared at her? Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!

"Okay, Simon is home for me to kill him so, um... Jess?!"

The blonde snapped to attention, whipping her hand from her waistband and rubbing her legs together in a frenzy. Jessica's face was flushed as she tugged at the hem of her top and watched the box hit her lap making her feel even more hot than she already was. Her clothes felt constricting and she tried to control her breathing.

"S-S-Sorry!"

Sam frowned, pulling her door closed and shook her head. She started up the car again, continuing to drive as Jessica looked down at the small box on her lap again. She picked it up and looked at it again without unwrapping it, breaking the awkward silence "Did Master buy this for me?"

Hearing the word **** its way from her mouth each time she tried to say Simon was humiliating.

"Yeah."

Jessica frowned as she thought of the wishes that had just been made. Her 'Master' had no intention of losing the ring or giving it up. He didn't know what she had done to his friend because of what happened...

"All those times you made Simon think he wasn't a human being, turns out you weren't human the whole time!"

She felt her hands clench down and her teeth clench as the sentence replayed in her head. Kevin was a bastard but he wasn't wrong. She did treat Sam's brother like he wasn't fully human because of how he was. That meant she had no idea what was waiting for her.

The car stopped and when her green eyes looked up again she found herself in the Harris family's garage, Sam unbuckling her seat-belt and motioning her inside, "C'mon Jess. Let's get you inside."

Without a word, she nodded and followed her inside the house and to her fate. She wasn't sure why but she brought the small gift with her lamely. As soon as they entered the house she looked up worriedly at the stairwell.

Jess froze when Simon appeared wordlessly at the top as his sister crossed her arms and looked right at him.

Sam pointed at them both, "I need a drink. You two stay right here until I get back."

Jessica looked up at Simon again, seeing his hazel eyes locked onto her.