April Fooled

Early morning walks on the beach were the norm for Alex, Jason and I. Jason's girlfriend never joined us, she preferred sleeping in, but he was like me. A morning person. Our mother had been a morning person too.

Alex swung our hands and laughed with Jason as they talked, but I stared out at the sunrise. I was paying enough attention to know that they were planning a horrible joke for Amanda when she woke up and I rolled my eyes.

They were like kids again when it came to April first. They loved it. They turned into completely immature ten year olds instead of the twenty four year olds they were. Alex and Jason had been best friends growing up, but I hadn't started dating Alex until more recently. It had taken years of him trying to talk me around to going on a date with him before I finally said yes. We had only been together three months, but he had already basically lived at the beach house with us. Amanda, my brother's girlfriend, had been a fixture in our household since we were young teenagers. Jason didn't waver when it came to her, he had seen what he wanted and went for it and he wasn't about to let her get away. He doted on her and spoiled her and basically worshipped her. Personally, she wasn't my favorite person. She didn't love Jason nearly as much as he loved her and I was fairly certain her 'new job' was a cover for her cheating on him. I couldn't tell him that though, it would devastate him.

I looked up at Alex and he grinned down at me like a kid. "I hope you don't have any of your tricks planned for me," I said lightly.

He chuckled, his eyes shining.

"Dude, no. She has zero sense of humor when it comes to pranks," Jason said quickly. "When she was thirteen, I did the saran wrap one and she didn't speak to me for four whole months, like, literally! She was pissed. I had to beg her forgiveness and offer to do dishes for a week before she would finally talk to me again."

Alex kept grinning down at me. "One of the things I love about your sister is that temper of hers. It's hot as hell. All that fire in that tiny little package. You should see how wild she is in bed."

"Dude! Gross! No, not something you say! It's bad enough I have to hear you two, I do not want details!"

I slapped Alex's arm and shook my head. "Don't make my brother puke before breakfast."

Alex only laughed and bent low to pick me up and throw me over his shoulder. He ran towards the water as I squealed and laughed, kicking at him.

"Don't you DARE!" I yelled, clutching his back. "The water is freezing right now!"

"Hey... what the hell?" Alex asked, setting me down and stepping out into the waves. He picked up a long blue, ornate bottle that looked old. Ancient. "This is cool as hell!" he said, his eyes bright.

"What is it?" Jason asked, joining us.

"You think it's one of those like, super expensive alcohol bottles that are all pretty so you can keep them?" Alex asked, turning it upside down to look at the bottom. "No stamp or label," he muttered.

"What's it smell like?" Jason asked. "Vodka? I bet it's vodka."

Alex turned it back over and tugged on the stopper, but it was wedged in tight. He held the bottle between his legs and pulled with all his might and it finally came out with a loud popping noise.

The wind blew then, hard enough to make all of us stagger back and I turned to hide my face from the blowing sand. It died down in seconds and I turned back around.

A man was standing next to Alex, tall and slender. He looked exotic in nothing but a pair of very loose black pants that almost covered his tan calfs.

"What the hell man?" Jason stammered, surprised.

"Don't sneak up on people!" Alex said angrily, stepping back in front of me as if to protect me.

"You have found my bottle, you get one wish," the man said darkly.

I giggled.

"Right man. April fools. Where's the camera?" Alex asked.

"Holy shit, this is kind of awesome. The costume, the props. Is this a TV show? Or did a friend put you up to this?"

"One wish," he demanded of Alex. "So I may return to my home."

"Riiight. Ok, so why one, I thought it was three wishes?"

"One wish, mortal."

"The dude is really in character," Jason laughed, moving around him to look him over.

"So one wish, anything I want?"

"Most anything. I will not bring back the dead."

"Yeah, gross, no. No walking dead shambling around. What do you think, Jay? Should I do it? See what sort of trick this is?"

"I dunno man, look around. I don't see a camera crew and what would be the point of this as a joke? Oh, haha, got me, I wished for a million bucks."

"One wish," the tall man insisted angrily.

I peeked out from behind Alex and the tall man looked down at me, his eyes piercing. He looked young, my own age, but his eyes... he was an ancient creature. I looked at the bottle in Alex's hand and it really did look old. Centuries. I looked back up at the man and he was still watching me. I ducked back behind Alex, feeling a little nervous. I didn't think this was a joke.

"One wish!" the man yelled.

"Jesus, dude, alright. What do you think, Jason? A billion dollars? April, what do you think? Our own private island? Being a famous rockstar?"

"An end to world hunger?" I answered, rolling my eyes. "No more cancer?"

"Dude, how is your sister so altruistic when you are such a selfish bastard?" Alex teased Jason.

"One wish!" the man raged, looking like he was poised on violence.

"Jeez! Ok, I mean, it's like... a huge decision man. Fine. I want ten billion dollars in my bank account."

"Done," the man hissed, moving closer to Alex. "We did not talk price or trade, yet your wish is made. Dealing with a djinn is never very wise, now the deal is done, I get to name MY prize." His grin was malevolent as he stepped back. His eyes went to me and fear spiked up my gut. White took over my vision and I started to scream, but it was lost in the void of nothingness.

I opened my eyes to a small tower room made of what looked like copper metal. The sunset lit the large arched, open windows like fire. The arches came up to points and I sat up and looked down at the red satin sheets with the colorful netting gathered back. It was all very far east exotic.

I stood and my feet were bare, the little blue gown I was in was a babydoll style that barely covered my hips. I looked out the window and there was land. A field of open and manicured grass with walkways and flowers, little pools. Further out was an orchard and a garden. Animals moved through the space, docile and tranquil. The entire scene was like something out of a movie, a perpetual state of beauty.

I turned to look around and noticed the heavy trap door and the pulley to open it. I pulled it open and looked down the narrow, winding stairs. It was lit by firelight and I could see all the way to the bottom. I eased down the stairs, but the room below was empty, so I hurried down and to the arched door. I stepped out and looked back. It was a lone tower on the edge of what looked like a rainforest, looking out into the meadow in front of me.

It was all so stunning. I tried to feel the air, but it felt like nothing. Not hot or cold, just... perfect. The only sound was the trickling of water and an occasional bird. I stepped out onto the lush grass, soft and cool on my feet and started towards the open sort of building I could see. It shone like copper like the tower did.

Part of me wondered why I wasn't more afraid, why I was so calm, but I knew it was the nature of the place I was in. It was the tranquility of this entire place.

I padded all the way to the building, petting animals as I passed. A cat, some sort of boar, some sort of small deer with spiky horns, what I was pretty sure was a jaguar. They all came to me as I passed, curious and not hostile. I only pet them as I passed and kept going.

The building was larger than it had seemed, the ceiling high. There were no walls, just unending peaked arches. On the floor inside were rugs scattered, some overlapping and cushions everywhere. Piles of them strewn about with no real pattern. I walked through to the next 'room' and it seemed like a dining room with a low table and cushions to sit on.

I heard noises then, the sound of metal on metal and I followed it to a huge kitchen.

The tall man was there, his back to me as he cooked at the old fashioned stove. I stood for a moment, wondering what I should say.

"Your name is April," he said loudly. "Unfortunate name for you. I would give you another."

"I like my name!" I said indignantly. "My grandmother named me!"

"Neferdag," he announced.

I had no idea what that meant. "Where am I? I want to go back."

"No. The fool lost you. He traded without naming a price."

"I wasn't his to lose! I am my own person, not some extension of him that you can punish him with."

"For his greed he lost his love. Sit, Neferdag."

"That is not my name! And it's an awful name!"

"It suits you. Sit."

I looked at the cushions and down at the short gown. "No thanks."

"It is a command, not an offer."

"Not until I have clothes that are decent!" I said angrily, then swayed. I was sitting on a cushion in the corner near him and not back behind him where I had been.

He glanced over at me, his eyes taking all of me in before turning back to what he was doing.

I tried to get up, but my legs stayed folded under me. All I could do was lean up and try and cover the little blue panties that matched the gown.

"I want to go home!" I said angrily.

"This is your home now, Nef."

"My name is April!"

"No longer. Neferdag."

"I hate it!"

"I do not care. You speak too much."

"So send me back!"

"It cannot be done. I will not be found again until next year on April first."

I stared up at him, confused. "Since when are genies associated with April first?"

"It is my own personal joke. They should suspect, but they never do. They always call out a wish without asking the price first."

"So every year you just kidnap someone?!?"

"No. I have never taken a mortal as payment before. Their sight, their legs, their livelihood. Always something they love most. In his case it wasn't just you. All of that money was stolen from other accounts and corporations. He will serve a long time in your mortal prison."

"Why would you do that?"

"He did not specify where the money was to come from," he shrugged. "So I got to choose."

"Why wasn't that his price?"

"His price was you, that was just for his foolish wish."

"You are an awful person!"

"I am not a person. I am Djinn. You mortals are tedious with your wishes to be wealthy and famous and... well endowed."

My train of thought derailed. "People wish for that?"

"More often than you would imagine. Enough talking. Sit quietly."

"I'm not a dog! You can't tell me to sit and stay and be quiet! I am a..." I meant to say 'person', but no sound came out. Nothing at all. I couldn't speak. I glared at him and his glance at me was amused.

All I could do was watch him while he finished cooking, bowled it and walked away.

Seconds later, I was sitting in the dining room at the dining table as he set the large bowl down and sat down himself.

He filled a plate and set it in front of me. It smelled... odd. Unlike anything I had ever smelled before. I scowled down at it, then back up at him. He lounged down, almost laying down, holding himself up on one elbow.

"Eat," he said, nodding at the plate.

I shook my head furiously.

"I prepared this with my own hand, mortal, it is an insult not to eat it."

I picked the plate up and threw it at him.

It disappeared before it hit him and he sat up, looking down at me dangerously.

"My good will only goes so far, mortal."

He waved his hand and we were in a dark, dank room. A cell. The stones were wet and snakes coiled around the bars, huge spiders skittering across the ceiling and dropping down on a strand they spun as they dropped.

If I had a voice I would have screamed.

He stepped back, behind the bars and shut the door to the cell. "Perhaps a few days here will cool your temper."

I shook my head, still trying to scream as one of the spiders dropped down and I tried to move away. A hiss made me jerk back from the snake who had widened its neck and opened its mouth, showing it fangs.

I looked at the man pleadingly, shaking my head, so terrified I almost peed myself.

We were sitting at the dining table and he was lounging again as I trembled and shook. I looked around, panting and looking all around me for snakes and spiders. I looked at him and quickly wiped my eyes before taking a bite of the food on the plate in front of me.

It was spiced like I had never tasted, but I couldn't decide if I liked it or not. I knew I couldn't eat but a few bites, I was about to vomit.

I put the fork down, still shaking.

"I know your fears, mortal," he said idly. "Do not test me. I thought you might be amusing for a time, but if you prove to be trouble, I will simply leave you there to rot."

I nodded, wide eyed.

He disappeared and moments later, I was back in the tower. The pulley wouldn't open the door. The fixed sunset light faded to darkness and a golden hued moon.

I curled up in the bed, though I wasn't tired and tried to think of a way out of this. There had to be a way.

I jerked awake to sunrise lighting the horizon and sat up, blinking. I looked down and the silk dress was red and longer, all the way to my feet. I jumped up and tried the pulley and the door opened right up. I didn't hesitate today as I went down and ran all the way to the building.

He wasn't in the kitchen this time, so I wandered some more, listening. I paused in the vast library, making a note of it for later and kept looking.

I finally found him after going up some stairs to an open room. He was sitting in a cushioned window seat, looking out at the view.

I moved over until I knew I was in his peripheral and sat down on one of the cushions.

"I do not really have a care for mortals and the way they destroy and kill and hate. The jealousy, the anger, the violence. It has only grown over the centuries, the weapons larger, more destructive. Humans are petty and self serving. Still... it has been long since I have known pleasures of the flesh."

Dread welled up in me.

"So that is the real reason you took me," I said softly, a little surprised at hearing my own voice.

"Not the only reason."

"Do you have a name?"

"We all have names."

"We? There are more of you?"

"There are four of us. Four brothers. I am called Abrax."

"Abrax? If I am good, be a companion to you for the next year... will you release me?"

"There is no release for you, Nef. You no longer exist in that world. Only here."

"Are you saying I am dead? And this is like... heaven or hell?"

"More of a purgatory. You are not dead, but you have no earthly host anymore."

"Could I wish for one?"

"It does not work that way. You must find my bottle and open it. You cannot do that from within it."

"We are inside your bottle?"

"In a manner of speaking. Think of it as a doorway. When it is opened, I am pulled out."

"And you couldn't pull me out with you?"

"You are mortal, you cannot leave this plane once you are here. There would be no body, no host, nothing. Do not focus on leaving, it cannot happen. You are here until I say you are not, then you will be nowhere."

"Dead?"

"Yes."

"But what will I even..."

"Stand and remove the dress. I would look at your flesh."

"I... don't really want to do that? Please? I..."

"Do not become tiresome, do as I ask."

I stood shakily, but hugged myself as I stood there. "Look... it's not ok to just make a girl undress for you! It's wrong!"

He turned to look at me full on and the dress was gone. I covered myself as I glared at him.

"You just want some puppet you can control, make me do whatever you want? You should have just made some illusion to look at! It's no better!"

"Must I need quiet your tongue again, Nef?"

"That is NOT my name!"

"Be grateful I deigned you worthy of my presence and did not just dispense with you outright. You are here at my sufferance, girl. You will learn to act accordingly. Move your hands Or I will strap you to the cross."

I had no idea what that was, but I didn't want to find out. I clenched my fists at my sides and stood there, humiliated. His eyes looked me over and he stood up, circling around me.

"You are well versed in pleasures of the flesh?" he asked, reaching out and wrapping one of my curls around his long, slender finger.

"What does that mean? Am I a virgin? No. Am I a whore? No. Alex is the only guy I have been with."

"Do you know the ways of bringing a male to fruition with your lips?"

"I..." I blushed furiously. "I know how to go down on a guy, if that's what you are asking."

"Come," he demanded, sitting down among the cushions and reclining back.

"I am NOT going to do that for you!"

"You will do as I say. Would you prefer the place of your fears? It is not so much that I ask."

"You can't just make a girl..."

"This is the final time I will warn you, Nef. Come."

"That's NOT my name," I growled, moving towards him.

"On your knees," he directed, motioning between his legs.

I went to my knees as tears welled in my eyes. As soon as I was down, his loose pants were gone and I could see all of him. The slight trail of hair down his lower belly to a small, fine thatch just above his long, slender cock. It was as dark as the rest of him. I looked up at him, trembling and he stared down at me with his black eyes, framed by his black hair.

"Proceed," he demanded, with a nod.

"Look, can we please talk first? Just..."

He leaned up and took hold of my hair, physically pulling my face down between his legs. "Take hold," he growled.

I shifted my weight to my other hand awkwardly and tried to reach up and take hold of his dick. I was shaking so badly, my other arm was about to give way under me.

"Put your lips to it," he commanded.

I pulled his cock closer, his hand holding my head in place and kissed the side gently.

He let out a shaky breath as his cock twitched and began to thicken, getting hard. "Do not stop," he breathed.

I kissed again and again, pulling it close until he finally released my hair and laid his head back as his cock thickened and pulsed. I kissed gently along the ridge, watching his face in confusion. Was this actually what he wanted? Not a blowjob? Just kisses? He seemed to be enjoying it as he watched with hooded eyes and parted lips.

I turned my head and kissed all the way around the tip before sliding my lips along the ridge and back, licking all the way up.

He let out a shuddering sigh and his hands closed tightly around the cushions, as if he were close. Was he? How long had it been for him?

I licked along the edge again, watching as his eyes widened slightly, then turned my head down and spread my lips over the tip and down, taking him into my mouth.

He made a small noise, then he throbbed between my lips and shot into my mouth. I pulled back quickly, stroking with my hand as I spit out his cum with a grimace.

His body went from tense and taut to languid as his cock began going soft. He laid his his head back again and watched me with a considering look.

I moved back and tried to cover myself, then my dress was suddenly back. "Thanks," I whispered.

"I would have that pleasure daily," he announced, sitting up. "It is as good as I remember. Perhaps moreso. I would also have you the other way and I would see you brought to fruition as well."

I stared at him, not saying anything. I knew if I spoke my mind it would piss him off.

"Go now. I wish my privacy."

I got up and left, not saying a word, though once I got out of his sight, I wiped tears from my eyes. I went to the garden and sat down by a pool. A little rabbit joined me, smelling my fingers and my dress before hopping up into my lap so I could pet her.