Eddie on the Edge of Everything

6: The Cloak to Many Places

"Aunt Vera!" called Aunt Vicky from downstairs. "What was that noise?"

"Edwina!" yelled Aunt Vera.

"Just dropped something," I replied. "Sorry." I threw the glowing rock on my bed and turned to Novus. "You need to get lost before they find you here and call the police," I whispered. "How did you even get in here anyway?"

"My cloak, duh." Novus flapped the folds of his cloak. It sparked in the morning light. "A very rare piece of Djinn technology only given to wish-hunters. Each glowing dot is a star."

"So what it teleports you or something?"

"Yep. In short bursts of course. I simply wish where I need to go and the cloak takes me there."

"Ok so that's way cool," I said in awe. "But you really need to get out of here. I have school."

"Looks like to me you are packing for something other than school." Novus lifted the flashlight out of my backpack. I snatched it out of his hands.

"Whatever dude. Just leave me alone." I looked at the black box attached to his hip. "Why not use that box again to mess up my life?"

Novus looked around my trashed room. "Seems like you've messed it up enough."

"You called it an Alcemator. What does it do? Give you powers or something?"

"Not exactly. It's also Djinn technology. The device is filled with stardust made from powdered wishes. I give it a shake, and it lets me make the impossible possible, whatever I want, just by wishing."

"Then wish yourself gone. I mean it."

"It has its limits. No big wishes of course and it runs out of fuel after so many uses, so I prefer to use it sparingly."

"Sparingly? You wasted a wish last night to trash my aunt's house and get me into trouble. My aunt's destroyed my room because of you."

"You forced my hand. I didn't want to do it."

I sat down and slipped on my shoes. "You'd better apologize!"

"I warned you, Eddie," said Novus checking out the broken dollhouse and the green alien figure. "I gave you a chance to give me what I wanted, but no, you didn't want to listen."

"You broke into my aunt's house and ate our food. You think I would listen to a strange man who just did that?"

"I guess I took the wrong approach." Novus bowed. "I apologize, Eddie."

"Thank you," I said, throwing the backpack over my shoulder and grabbing the glowing rock off the bed. I went to open the door. Novus reached out and held it closed.

"Now if we can get back to business." Novus pointed to the glowing rock in my hands. "That wish, give it to me. Then I'll be off."

"What if I don't want to?"

"Then I'll take it from you."

I laughed.

"If that's so then why haven't you done that yet. You can easily overpower me. I'm a kid after all." I stuck out my tongue.

Novus smirked.

"Clever." He kicked my broken camera across the room. "Typically, I would just take that wish from you, but that particular one is... special. Seems for it to work properly we have to strike a bargain. "

"A bargain?" I walked to the window juggling the glowing rock between my fingers. Novus stood behind me and pleaded.

"I'll give you anything you want in exchange. Fame, fortune. Name it."

I looked down at the glowing rock. It wiggled in my hands.

"I still don't understand what this thing is or how I got it, but if it means that much to you, I'm sure I can part with it under one condition."

"Name your price," said Novus.

"I want to run away."

Novus folded his arms and leaned against the wall.

"Running away won't solve your problems. Trust me, I know. I've been running all my life."

"I want to go on an adventure across the galaxy." I thought of my parents launching into space and the heat of the fireball when they died. I sighed. "I want to see the universe just like my parents and dance on the stars. I want to leave this terrible place." I wiped the tears forming in my eyes. "And I want you to take me."

"Hold up!" cried Novus shaking his head. "I'm not about to be some intergalactic tour guide and babysitter."

"That's what I want. You give me an adventure, and I'll give you my wish. Deal?"

"No deal!"

"One year," I said.

"No, no, no," he responded.

"One month!"

"No, I said, no!"

"Two weeks then. Final offer."

"One week," he said.

"Two weeks," I said sternly. "Final offer. If this really is a wish like you say, I think two weeks is a fair bargain."

"Fine," said Novus dropping his arms by his side. "But that's all. No more. After two weeks I bring you back here to Earth, to your aunts. I'm sure once you see how terrible this galaxy is you will be begging me to bring you back."

"Alright then," I said reaching out a pinky. "And after you fulfill your promise you can have my wish."

"Deal." Novus also raised a pinky. I performed the classic pinky promise sealing our deal. "What a strange Earth custom," he said.

"It's called a Pinky Promise. No one can break it." The wish glowed on and off as if understanding the bargain we just struck.

"So what now?" I asked. "Do you wrap me away in your cloak?"

"It's not that simple," he said biting his bottom lip. "The cloak takes you to many places, but it can only carry one person."

"So what do we do now?" I asked. "We walk. You must have a spaceship."

"We get out of here before anything else happens. That's the first step." Novus looked at the strange watch device on his wrist.

"What else could possibly happen?"

Suddenly another bright light and a loud crack filled the air outside. We rushed to the window to see what it was. Standing in a smoking circle stood a woman with long red hair wearing a cloak just like Novus.

"Something like that." Novus pinched his forehead. "Dang. Another Wish-hunter, and this one is the worst."