CHAPTER 4

Oh, God… what… the hell… happened?

Mike slowly awoke in a haze, his head throbbing in pain. Forcing his eyes to blink open for a moment, he glanced at his bedside clock. 7:00 am? Dammit, that's way too early for a Saturday.

Knowing he wouldn't be able to get any more sleep with his headache, Mike slowly sat up in bed. Gonna need some Tylenol…

As his brain started to power up, he tried to recall what he had been doing yesterday that could have put him out like that. He knew he hadn't been drinking. Let's see, I watched a movie, got the call from the Maestro, and then… the locket! It was all coming back to him; the glowing stone, the song that opened it, that strange blue cloud…

"Good morning, Master."

Mike was suddenly scared fully awake by an unfamiliar voice coming from the corner of the room. Immediately thinking of a home invasion, he instinctively dove to the floor beside his bed and, opening the thumbprint gun safe beside his nightstand, retrieved his Glock 19 handgun.

Crouching on the floor by his bed, he spoke with authority. "Who are you?! How did you get into my home?!"

"Please do not be afraid, master. My apologies for startling you." The voice sounded incredibly sweet, almost angelic.

Not letting his guard down for a second, Mike slowly peeked around the foot of his bed. He could tell the voice was coming from a girl kneeling in the corner of the room. "Show me your hands. I need to see that you're not armed." He was certainly not military or police, but Mike's dad had taught him many times how to effectively protect himself in the event of a home invasion. Rule one was never to assume anything.

"Of course." The girl slowly opened her hands, extending her arms out to her side as she did so. "I can assure you that you are in no danger."

She certainly seemed harmless enough, appearing maybe twenty-five years old or so, but Mike still kept his weapon close at hand as he slowly stood up. "With all due respect, ma'am, I'll be the judge of that. Who are you? How did you get into my apartment?" He didn't see any broken windows in his bedroom, and could tell by looking out his bedroom door to the entryway that the front door was still securely locked.

The girl smiled. "Do you not remember the events of last evening? You opened my vessel, bringing me into existence. For that, I am eternally grateful, master."

"Vessel? You mean the locket? The last thing I remember was opening it, then getting blasted in the face with a cloud of blue smoke…"

Nodding, the girl continued, "Very good master. That smoke was my essence. Before you released me, I had no physical form. My essence enveloped you as it did in order to determine the proper form for me to take."

Mike held his hand up. "Woah, woah, slow down there. I'm totally lost now. Oh, and why do you keep calling me master?"

The mystery girl flashed a huge smile, lighting up the room. "Because I am your servant genie. By releasing me, I am now bound to be your slave for eternity."

Mike could see where this was going. Very cute. Stuart and the trombones must have cooked this up. The ASO low brass section was renowned for their elaborate pranks, particularly Stuart McKay, the principal tuba. Knowing them, this prank will keep going until I expose them myself. Mike decided to play along for the time being. Sensing no further danger, he laid his handgun on the bed, still within easy reach, and slipped on his glasses from the nightstand.

"Ok, so you're a genie? And you say that you now belong to me?"

"That is the correct master."

Now that he had relaxed a bit, he could see that this girl was absolutely stunning, perhaps the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She wore a tight, black t-shirt with a plunging V-neck and a pair of blue jean shorts, just long enough to be tasteful and not slutty, but just short enough to show off the pale skin of her gorgeous legs. Though she was still kneeling, he could tell that they were toned to perfection. He couldn't see for sure from this angle, but it appeared that her ass was quite round and curvy, especially compared to her slim waist. Based on her slightly exposed midriff, her stomach was quite flat, and led upwards beautifully to her perky, D cup breasts. He now studied her face, which was, in a word, angelic. Perfectly proportioned, and framed by a small pair of adorable dimples, she reminded him a bit of the actress Kate Bosworth. Her eyes were an enchanting shade of emerald green. Finally, he noticed her perfectly straight hair. Tucked behind her ears and cut to just above shoulder length, it was the most beautiful shade of red wine he had ever seen in his life.

As he studied her, he suddenly realized how intently he had been staring. He broke eye contact for a moment, but she simply smiled right back at him; she didn't seem to mind one bit that he was drinking her in.

Grinning right back at her, Mike decided to see for how long she would be able to keep up the charade. "Alright then, genie. Tell me about your powers. I assume you are able to grant wishes of some kind. What kinds of wishes can you grant? And how many do I receive?"

She nodded. "Since I am your servant genie for life, you can receive an unlimited number of wishes from me, as long as they are within the realm of my nature. As a genie designed to be a sexual servant, my primary powers allow me to grant almost any wish that is in some way erotic in nature. Additionally, I am authorized with unlimited power to keep my master and myself safe from all harm, as well as healthy from any ailments. Finally, I also have extensive powers of anonymity and privacy, so as not to draw any undesired attention towards my master."

Sexual servant? Stuart's pulled crazy pranks before, but he's never done anything as off the wall as this. I wonder who this girl is? An actress? Call a girl perhaps? What's the endgame of this prank?