The next morning, he couldn’t go to school.
After the doctor inspected him, it appeared that he had suffered a mild
concussion and sprained his knee. Though he was glad that he wouldn’t have to
go to school for several days because of it, the pain was something that made
Eli wish he had just stayed unconscious. But then he remembered the nightmares.
In the dreams, he was running through a gray,
empty field. At first everything was unnervingly quiet – even his footsteps
made no sound, causing him to question whether he was actually running instead
of floating. But then there was sound, and he wished it had come back to being
silent. Still no footsteps, just trumpets. Trumpet sounds, more and more of
them as he ran further, forming a dissonant soundscape that felt like they were
assaulting his brain with their sheer volume. The same dream repeated over and
over again through the night, and each time he would get closer to his goal,
which appeared to be someone riding some kind of animal. He always tripped near
the end of the dream, causing him to wake up and clutch his knee in pain.
Jonah would come and visit him regularly to
tell him what had been covered in class and what the homework was. He told him
that after Eli collapsed on the cemetery they all rushed him to his house. No
one seemed to remember the Ouija board pointer moving on its own. Eli dismissed
that memory as a result of his concussion. Still, Eli found it odd that only
Jonah seemed concerned enough to come visit him.
“Oh, those two have just been busy lately,” Eli
reassured him as he shook his long bangs out of his eyes.
“They’ve taken up
some extracurricular stuff but they said they want it to be a secret, so hell
if I know what that’s about. They’re still pretty worried about you. I’m sure
they’ll come visit you once they have more time.”
“That’s okay,” Eli said with a smile. “So this
is all the stuff you covered today?”
“Yep. And here’s your algebra homework.” Jonah
handed him a file that looked disturbingly thick.
“Jesus Christ, that’s huge.”
“Yeah, but it’s due next week, so don’t sweat
it. Oh, but the teach said the stuff in there will be on the test.”
“Awesome.” Eli scowled as he scanned the pages.
He put the file on his desk and adjusted his leg in bed. “So, you got time? I’m
bored as hell. We could play a game or something.”
“Sorry, man. I gotta go. I promised these guys
I’d show them that place…”
“You mean, the place where this happened?” Eli
pointed at his forehead and then his knee. Jonah slowly nodded. “Wow. Let me
know who’s next to bust their head open.”
“Ha ha. It’s not my fault you got too scared to
function.” Jonah glanced at his phone. “Right, it’s about time I left. See you
tomorrow, I guess?”
“Yeah, see you.” For a few minutes after Jonah
left, Eli sat on the bed, gazing at the ceiling. With nothing better to do, he
grabbed his algebra homework and started filling it in. After ten minutes, his
mind began to wander, and soon he found himself in the gray space yet again.
This time around, he woke up as soon as the trumpets sounded. When he opened
his eyes, he noticed that it was already dark out. He turned on his desk light
and his heart sank. His homework was filled with his own handwriting, and yet
he was sure that he hadn’t written it.
Greetings, Eli. I have
come to serve you. Tell me your wishes, and they shall be granted.
“What the hell?” Eli had never heard of people
writing in their sleep, but no other explanation made sense. The thought calmed
him down a bit. He scoffed: “Yeah, right. Like my homework is haunted by some
wish-granting genie.”
To his horror, his hand started moving on its
own. In jerky motions, it held his pen tightly, even though he tried to resist
it, and scribbled down another sentence.
I am no genie, and yet
your wishes shall be granted.
“Mom! Dad! Help!” Eli shouted, but there was no
response. Then he remembered that they would be out that night. He was left all
alone with whatever was guiding his hand.
There is no need to
fear, child. I am on your side. Simply tell me what you wish, and you shall
receive.
“Why should I believe you?” At that moment,
memories of that fateful night came back. Eli remembered how Jonah mentioned
demons. He felt cold sweat on his back. “Wait, you’re not a demon, are you?
You’re here to tempt me with wishes and take my soul?”
Your soul is safe, his hand wrote. My only task is to grant your wishes. I ask
for nothing in return for that. I grant your wish, simply, and you must live
with your granted wish.
“There’s no way you can make that happen.” And there’s no way I can risk it. I know how
these things work. The genie uses my precise wording to make my wish into
something bad.
I would never do that,
the hand responded
to his thoughts. I will do all in my
power to ensure what you wish is given to you. I am bound to serve you, Eli.
“I don’t believe you.” Eli’s heart was beating
fast. He wasn’t sure he could take this much longer.
So you don’t. But
what’s the harm in trying?
There was something tempting about that. Eli
was always afraid of such things, but the very possibility of this being real
gave him goosebumps – the good kind. If I
wish for something small, I don’t think there really is a possibility that he
can turn it against me, Eli thought. “Fine, have it your way. I wish my
homework would just do itself.”
Your wish has been
heard.
Eli felt that he finally regained control of
his hand. Confident that he still had time until next week to finish his
homework even if the demon lied to him, he put away his homework. The pain in
his knee felt stronger and his head hurt again, blurring his vision. He took
some painkillers and lied down. “Now here’s something I really wish for,” he
said in a whisper as he slowly drifted away into the land of dreams. “I wish I
felt better. So I can leave this prison and just… see her again.”
To his immense surprise, he woke to find that
his leg did not hurt anymore, and his vision was good as new. “No way…” he
whispered as he stood up on his own two legs for the first time since the
accident. He ran up to the desk and glanced through the homework file – all the
answers had been filled out. Eli couldn’t help but snicker. With a demon at his
side, he felt he could do anything.
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