Chapter 10: The Growing Power of Sound
"If you're referring to the old man who just tried to cook my brain, then yeah we've met. Him and his groupie." I said a little more snidely then I intended.
"Not a groupie; that would be his daughter." The genie's voice rang in my head, curtain or no curtain of protection. "Though he has many groupies, as you might call them."
"Daughter? Would that make the man at my house. . ."
"His son, yes." The genie said with a strange expression on its face. I waited a moment trying to collect my thoughts, and to determine where I needed this conversation to go. The genie never seemed to want to talk long, and there were things I needed to know.
"He asked about your box. When he saw it was empty he seemed to know you were gone, which would mean he knew about you specifically. You want to explain that?"
The genie's dark eyes regarded me passionlessly for a few moments before it spoke. "Yes, I will tell you part of his story, though the rest you will have to discover on your own. I meat Dolkoff over 1000 years ago when he opened my box." I nodded my head my worst fear being realized. God the genie had given him the gift too.
"I did not give him anything human." The voice was incredibly hard. "I was forced from my prison to serve him with three wishes, which I did. He did not know that on the completion of his third wish that I and my box would vanish to be hidden somewhere else for some other poor fool to discover." It looked at me again for long moments before going on.
"His three wishes were. To have power over others, to command them with his mind, and to have endless life, to never grow old, and last, to be unbelievably wealthy. I gave him all three in some form or another." Now the genie smiled. I felt all the hair rise on the back of my neck, and a shiver went through me to my core. There was nothing pleasing in its smile.
"I take it he didn't get exactly what he thought he was getting?" I said softly, not intending to whisper but doing so nonetheless. The smile on the genie vanished and I found myself grateful for the respite.
"No human, he got EXACTLY what he wished for, no more, no less. But as I told you before, I can see into the hearts of humans and never do they wish for what would make them happy, for these things are often burdens as well as blessings." I sat thinking of my own new found joy at life, and yet the struggles I had faced and would continue to face. I nodded my head as I looked back to the genie.
"Your power is a gift from me too you, and his is dwarfed by what you in time will be able to do. I gave you your gift as you call it, as reward for the service you rendered me. When you showed your character, I was intrigued and I gave you more. I am curious what someone like you could do with so much potential."
My mind raced. I needed to keep it talking, but some part of me now had an ugly thought. What if I had only received this power because the genie hoped I would deal with this Dolkoff character for it? The genie's face was impassive.
"You must develop your gift. You have not pushed yourself much in this human; you have let the learning come as it would. Still, I gave you an elegant thing, his power is only as powerful as his limited mind could imagine. He hoped to use his children to gain more wishes from me, but never again will I aid him. I would kill him; though the magic that bound me to that box prevents me destroying any I served outright, even now that I am free."
"So you're saying I have the power to defeat him? Does that mean destroy him? I'm not a killer." And the vision of the man in the club immediately came before my eyes. "I don't want to be a killer." I whispered. The genie was silent again before responding, and now its voice sounded impatient.
"You will be what you must human. I tell you this though. He has learned to use his power to open the minds of those with potential. Thus his children gained their lesser powers and others as well. In time I do not know what he could achieve. He has killed many times in his life, and always taken what he wanted. You can stop him. It is up to you to decide. I have given you everything you need."
"I could use some help!" I snapped.
"Then make some." Snapped the genie. With the last word it was gone and the shop seemed unnaturally quiet and empty. "Make some?" I thought, "What the hell does that mean?" then a chill went down my spine yet again this morning. What was it the genie had said about my power and Dolkoff's? That mine was elegant, and far more powerful than his. That would mean anything he could do I should be able to do, and more.
He had unlocked the power in his children's minds, and his followers. Could I do that? I had no idea even where to begin. Even if I could give someone this gift, would I want to? How many people would abuse it, how many would it be more of a burden then a gift? The moral implications of this seemed far worse then even using the gift on someone else.
I stood and nearly fell to the floor. I had no idea how tired I had become just sitting on the stool. Well, I had done a lot while just sitting on that stool I thought. I sat back down and reached for the phone.
I drank some coffee and ate some breakfast I had delivered to the shop, and I found I recovered very quickly. I spent the next several hours of the morning having the craters come and crate items to be delivered, then those same items shipped off. I had a few customers, mostly lookers but one usual who bought a fine old mirror, mostly though I spent the morning thinking about the genie's words, and the hidden meanings and implications.
It was right that I had not really pushed myself to test or learn about the gift. I didn't really know where to begin, but then again I hadn't really tried anything yet. I ordered a large pizza for lunch planning to have leftovers for dinner. The pizza delivery girl was cute, but I stayed out of her head; I was so busy with my own thoughts. I sat munching on a slice when a voice nearly scared me off my chair.
"You got a hot piece for me?" It was Wendy standing on the other side of the counter smiling at me.