Chapter 2: The Wish

"Where are we?" I asked curiously.

"This is my place. Do you like the design? I manage it myself," he said, boasting again.

I looked around and it was all pitch black. I couldn't see anything and even if I walked around there was nothing but darkness. The only thing that was visible to my naked eye was the mysterious man. He has this glow in him that I have never seen nor felt before.

My grandma used to tell me when a person is weak or near death, he can see the spirits of the dead like they are inviting him to go with them to the afterlife. I've been weak and sick my whole life, and I'm used to seeing dead people. Some wanted my attention and tried to communicate with me, but I ignored them.

To be honest, it scares me to death to see spirits walking and lurking around along with the living. A lot of them were grieving and asking for help and sometimes their appearance was unpleasant and scary. I can easily tell the living from the dead by the light that illuminates their bodies. Each individual has a distinct and different glow, like the DNA and fingerprint or a unique IP address, and the man in front of me is one of a kind.

"Djinn, are you a spirit?"

"I'm not just any kind of spirit. I am a supreme being!" As expected, he was full of himself. "Stop calling me Djinn. I have a name and it's Dylan!" His name sounds normal. Supreme Being or not, he doesn't scare me. I sense no harm in him, not a tiny bit. Unlike the vengeful spirits that I've encountered before, they all want to hurt the living. Dylan acts as if he was just a normal human being. "Aren't you scared of me?"

"Nope," I quickly replied. "Can we go back to the wish thingy? I haven't eaten breakfast, and I'm starving!" I casually said.

"Why do you need to eat breakfast if you're going to die after I grant your wishes?" he sarcastically said. "Oppps... sorry, how rude of me to say that to someone who doesn't take death seriously!" he implied rolling his eyes as if my death was worth something to him.

"Why do you care?" I mumbled. "Death is inevitable, why do I have to prolong it, if I'm just going to see the people I love suffering from taking care of me?" Tears started to fall from my eyes.

Maybe this is my ticket to escape from everything. I don't want to burden anyone anymore. This can finally end their agony of watching over me. They don't have to take care of and protect me, and they will finally be free of responsibility from me. They will no longer feel obliged by the promise they made to my grandma. I don't want to be weak and vulnerable. It has to stop now. No more pains, no more problems, and worries.

I could feel his cold hand on my shoulder, giving me a gentle pat. "Sign this agreement, and I'll grant all of your wishes," he said confidently.

I looked over the paper and when I tried to read the terms and conditions, it was all blurry and hazy. "I can't read what it says," I complained. I tried to read it over and over, but it's getting blurry. "This is a scam! You're a trickster!" I furiously said.

"Hey, hey, hey, wait up! You can accuse me of anything, but I am never a scammer," he said while waving his hands at each other while trying to explain. "I'm just a contractor, a businessman," he added.

"Why can't I read it?"

"Here, let me explain what it says," he took the piece of paper from me and pretended that he was reading it. "It says, I that you are given three wishes... blah, blah, and blah in exchange for your soul. Blah, blah, blah, this contract is not transferable and non-negotiable blah, blah, blah. That's it!" He grins.

"Is that all?" I doubtfully said.

"You know what? Forget it. I'll just return you to your place and forget everything that has happened," he irritably said, starting to roll the paper.

"No, wait! I want to sign it!" I immediately grabbed the paper from his hand. "How can I sign this? Where's the pen?" I asked him.

He takes out a small knife from his body and walks closer to me. He gently holds my hand and sticks the knife's tip into my index finger, making a small cut. "Use your blood," he whispered. I followed exactly what he said and duly signed the paper. After signing the paper, it vanished in thin air right before my eyes. "Now that the deal has been made, may I ask what are the missy's wishes?" He excitedly asked.

I took a moment of silence, trying to think of a wish. I was so focused on death that I forgot all about my heart's desire. I wanted so much to give something to the people who take care of me, but I couldn't trust the Djinn. He may do something tricky, and I don't want to involve them in this. This is the first time I will wish for myself, so I decided to be selfish just this once...

"I only need one wish!" I said.

"Are you sure?" he raised his eyebrows and started to sound serious. "You've just made my job easy!" He smirked.

"Yes, I'm sure and I wish----"

"Go on," he excitedly said. I can see the sparkling look in his eyes.

"I wish for a kiss!" I looked into his eyes, giving him a big smile.

"Why would you waste your wish for a kiss if you can ask for a lot of things?" he said panicky. "You could wish me to free you from all of your diseases!" He suggested.

"Yeah, then you will take my life later. What's the point of being cured?"

"You can wish to be rich and experience a wealthy life!" he said.

"But then again, I cannot take all my wealth in the afterlife," I explained.

"You can travel around the world," he insists.

"How can I enjoy a pleasurable life knowing that I will be dead anytime you please?"

"Then why a kiss?" he asked curiously.

"Not just a kiss, I want the same as the one I've seen in the movies!" I happily said. "A passionate kiss filled with love and feelings," I explained.

"Why?" His brows furrowed. I bet he still didn't get my point. "Why exchange your life for a kiss? I don't understand humans. You can be a simpleton yet, unpredictable sometimes," he sounded sad and disappointed.

"I've never been kissed. I just want to feel loved not in a platonic way but romantically and be kissed before I die," I sheepishly said, tucking my hair behind my ear.

"And you want me to kiss you?" He raises his eyebrows, looking at me as if he is waiting for my confirmation.

"Well, yeah, who else is going to kiss me?" I confirmed. He is actually kind of cute even though he has pale skin and dark circles around his eyes. He may have a slender body, but I can feel his muscles when he held me earlier. He looks quite okay to me. I mean, I haven't met a lot of guys in my seventeen years of existence. Living in the hospital my entire life has narrowed down my options for dating and meeting other guys. "You can kiss me, right? Unless, of course, you're dating someone else?"

"M-me, dating? N-no, I'm not dating anyone at the moment. I've been busy collecting souls," he stutters while scratching his head. We shared a minute of an awkward stare at each other until I broke the silence.

"Have you kissed anyone before? Don't tell me it's your first time as well?"

"Me? Of course, I've kissed someone before... lots of girls, I mean, I love kissing... I kissed a lot of spirits, humans, and even other types of female entities," he keeps on explaining and acting very defensively. "Geez, missy, what makes you think that I haven't kissed anyone before?" he keeps going on and on about him having lots of experience with kissing.

"Shut up and kiss me!"

He was a little bit hesitant when he came close to me. He runs his fingers through my hair, gently holds the back of my neck, and slowly brushes his lips with mine. He quickly noticed that I felt uneasy, so he parted his mouth from my shaking lips.

"Missy, just relax and stay calm. I won't hurt you," he assures me. I nodded my head for confirmation.

"Kiss me as you mean it," I whispered to him.

We stared at each other for a moment and before we knew it, our lips were locked with each other. His tongue slips and wanders inside my mouth. I could feel in his kiss the pure desire as he pressed his lips to intensify the kiss. Gentle but rough at the same time. Playful and yet passionate, he holds onto my arms and clings them to his shoulder, then, his hand slowly runs down my body and wraps it around my waist. So close, our bodies have now become one.

Suddenly, I felt a massive current of energy inside my body. Feels like thunderbolts and fireworks, exploding inside me. Flowing like napalm that scattered all over my nerves. My inside started to feel a burning sensation. It was extremely hot. I was burning from the inside out. As much as I wanted to stop, the power flowing inside me is too addicting, nothing I’d ever experienced before. My heart rate goes faster, and I can hear my heartbeats louder until he reluctantly pulls himself away from me. He's panting, breathing heavily and deeply. Then, he whispers...

"W-what are you?" his voice was shaking, not out of breath, but out of fear. He feared me.

"Dylan? Am I going to die now?" I asked in confusion. I waited, but no one answered. When I opened my eyes and looked around me, I was back in my bedroom alone. No Djinn insight. "Guess I get to live another day," I said to myself and was still bewildered by what just happened.

I can still feel the strong energy inside me. My body feels lighter, stronger, and healthier. Like something inside me has awakened. He restores a missing part of me and made me whole again. For the first time, I don't want to think of dying, not anymore. Dylan makes me feel better. He makes me feel ALIVE.