Be Careful What You Wish For: A Zombie Apocalypse
Chapter 48: Nothing Is Ever Free

Chapter 48: Nothing Is Ever Free

"What?!?" screamed Jennifer, rushing into the kitchen so fast that she managed to shoulder-check the door frame. "What did you say?" she demanded, her wide, frantic eyes staring at the money in the third brother’s arms. "Jimmy, where did you get that?"

Ah, so the third brother’s name was Jimmy. You learn something new every day.

Jimmy cocked his head to the side as he glared at Jennifer. "What’s it to ya?" he sneered, gripping the money in his hands even tighter.

Clearly, Jennifer was not in her right mind as she rushed at Jimmy, clawing at him with only one hand as she tried to get to the money. "The money is mine! This house is mine! I wished for them, so that makes them mine!"

Even from this distance, I could see the whites in her eyes as Greed chuckled beside me. Taking another sip of the sweet tea, I continued to watch the drama unfolding in front of me.

Jeremiah, who must have followed Jimmy, stepped out of the shadows and backhanded Jennifer to the ground.

’Second payment accepted,’ murmured the voice in my head as a very disheveled Jennifer rose to her feet.

"Did you just hit me?" she demanded, looking like she couldn’t believe someone had the audacity to strike her.

Jeremiah scoffed before turning his back to the insane woman.

Ah, that was the second payment. The first was a pound of flesh; the second was her sanity... I wondered what the price would be for someone to wait on her hand and foot.

"Go put dat in yer room," instructed Jeremiah as he looked at Jimmy. "Den go back down and get de rest. Dere be even more tunnels under de house. Dey should ’old a whole bunch more stuff in dem."

Jimmy nodded frantically as Jennifer screeched and launched herself at Jeremiah, clinging to his back. Biting his ear, she ripped off a piece of flesh when Jeremiah flung her into a wall.

Once again coming unsteadily to her feet, she swayed back and forth as she wiped the blood from her mouth. "That money is mine. Give it back, or I swear to God, I’ll kill you."

"Ye crazy, bitch," sneered Jeremiah, approaching Jennifer and grabbing her neck. He still had blood pouring down the side of his face from where she had taken a chunk of it off, but he ignored it as he stared at her. "Yous donna get anything unless we gives it to ya."

"No," growled Jennifer, clawing at his hand as she tried to peel him off her. "The money and the house are mine. I wished for them; I claim them; they are mine."

Gripping her jaw, Jeremiah reached into Jennifer’s mouth and ripped out her tongue, throwing the thing on the floor with a splat.

There was the sound of gagging and a low moan of pain, and it wasn’t until that point that I realized that the other women had made their way into the kitchen.

’Payment received.’

"Damaris," murmured Elizabeth softly behind my back. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," the woman, Damaris, replied just as quietly. "I stubbed my toe."

Dropping my head down so no one could see the smile on my face, I bit my tongue to keep from laughing. Even the universe must hate Jennifer if the only payment for taking her tongue was for the wisher to stub her toe.

The sound of angry male footsteps leaving the kitchen made me look up.

Jennifer had collapsed on her side, panting hard as she tried to make a sound. Blood poured out of her mouth so much that I was surprised that she wasn’t choking on it. But, then again, she couldn’t die until she got waited on hand and foot.

"What did you think of the show, Little Bit? Did it make you happy?" Greed purred into my ear, making me squirm just a bit.

Nodding my head, I dipped it again before anyone could see the pure joy I didn’t bother to contain on my face.

’You’re the best,’ I announced in my head.

"He didn’t do anything," sneered Pride, clearly not liking me praise Greed. "This is your magic, it works exactly how you want it to."

"I can’t say I saw that coming," announced Damaris as she walked over to sit down beside you. "Who knew that wishes could actually come true? I just asked for it last night, and poof, Jennifer lost her tongue."

"Maybe we should wish for even more things," announced one of the other women as she, too, took a seat at the table. I could feel her eyes on me, but I was still keeping my head down as Pride and Greed argued in my mind.

"Prue," warned Elizabeth. I felt her stroking my head for a few moments before she topped up my glass of sweet tea. "There is no such thing as unlimited wishes. You should always be careful when you play with powers you know nothing about."

"But that’s not true now, is it?" purred Prue, as her eyes stayed on me. "But why don’t we ask our little Genie about that?"

"I don’t understand," I replied, lifting my head up to look at her. Greed was still maintaining contact with me, so I was able to see the calculating look on her face as she looked me up and down.

"You are the one who asked us what we would wish for... and poof, they came true. What else can you do?" she pressed, leaning forward on the table as if she was trying to reach for me. "Are there any limitations?"

"Limitations? On wishes?" I smirked at her, cocking my head to the side. "Like what?"

"Only three wishes? No making people fall in love with you? No bringing back people from the dead? That sort of thing."

"I think you’ve been watching too many movies," I shrugged, not quite getting the reference. But it didn’t really matter. "What kind of wish would it be if there were limitations on it?"

"So we can wish for anything and everything?" asked one of the other girls, her eyes widening in happiness.

"Emma," snapped Elizabeth, slapping the table in front of the girl. "I am telling you here and now to stop. Even if she could grant wishes, nothing in life is free. There is always a price to pay."

"You don’t know that for sure."