I could see pools of black tar like liquid flow out of the places where the bullets had hit.

"Are you bleeding?"

I was truly concerned now.

"Yes funnily enough I am now that you mention it." He chuckled softly through his painfully gritted teeth.

"Are you in pain?"

I placed my hands on his torso, then on his chest as if touching it would stop the blood.

"Yes sweet excruciating pain my dear. You need not fuss over me child. I'm just injured I'm not dying. I am immortal remember, so I'll live."

I heard a furious screaming hollar.

"Demon! You killed them. You gave the orders and you killed them all. They are gone because of you. Demon scum! You disgust me. You revolt me you demon freak of nature. your mother frowned upon the day of the birth. May your father forever curse the day you were born!"

I could see a man running down the slope which lead down to our abandoned camp.

"I saw you touch him, you harlot! If you were not so pretty I would spit in your face."

The whole thing would have been rather humorous if he hadn't been carrying gun while he was running down the slope.

When he finally arrived to the camp it became quite clear who he was.

He was the only survivor of the rebel ruffians.

He managed to grab ahold of my hair and he nearly yanked backwards but he was rather vigorously intervened.

The ruffian let out a loud sobbing howl.

The Wish master viscously dug his long black nails into his forearm.

"If you dare even dream of harming her in anyway I will do more bodily harm to you than your small sex driven brain could ever imagine. If you touch her again I will make sure it is last thing you ever touch. I'm sure you would hate to lose this good strong arm of yours. Oh maybe you'd much prefer to lose an hand. You can survive without a hand. It would prove to be difficult but worse things could happen to you I assure you. For instance you could lose your soul. By the way are you right or left handed?"

"Let go of me devil scum."

"Scum, on the contrary you are the scum. You make your living trafficking young women into slavery. You give children to old men. You sell the innocent to feed the wicked desires of men.

You are a crusher of dreams, you are a poisoner of hopes. Men are low but you sink lower.

In fact if I may be so bold you're not even fit to be the scum on my shoes but you have the audacity to call me scum. What do you suggest we do with this scum?"

"I don't know you tell me. You were supposed to teach me what one does with scum bags like him.

Teach me. I'm a quick learner."

"Granted. I recommend we give him a wish".

"What do you mean we?"

"I mean I shall give him a wish. Make a wish scum".

"No allow me to grant him a wish after all I am one of your kind".

I knew nothing about granting wishes but still I was bold enough to tell him I would give that disgusting ruffian a wish. What was I thinking? Was I even thinking at all? At first I was smitten with him, but then I despised him or so I thought and now I was beginning to love him again.

It was all very confusing. I wasn't sure what love was but there was this extremely warm admiration that swelled in my heart for him. It was more than admiration, it was more than a infatuation. He had defended me, he had defended my honor. It would almost be chivalrous if he didn't possess such a antagonistic character.

I liked him now. At first I had been shocked by his natural Djinni form but now I was accustomed to it's grotesque nature. There was something strangely beautiful about him. He had these eloquent gestures and his movements especially the way he walked was both cumbersome and adroit, Herculean yet graceful. His skin was both rough and smooth at the same time. I'd touched him after all and somehow I had no regrets.

He ever so gently brushed the edge of my chin with his thumb.

"You're sweet but you must allow the master to take this one. How is the student to learn if the teacher does not demonstrate?"

Yes he was the wish master after all and he had been a Wish master for countless centuries. He probably had the experience spanning over thousands of years so naturally I had to agree with him.

"Give me your wish. Anything you desire will be yours. Money, fame, power anything you wish."

"Why would you give me a wish, demon? You are nothing but trickery. Surely you intend to fool me in some way, desert viper. You are a snake in the sand. What is your fee?"

The ruffian responded to the Wish master's offer.

"Fee. There is no fee, there is no payment. I only require your dreams, your desires, your longings, your wishes. I feed on wishes alone. What I require of you I promise will be small. I have but one small request before I grant your wish".

The Ruffian was spellbound now. He was hooked and he hung on his every word now.

"What is your request?"

"My request is simple: Leave this place and never return."

"If I should return what will become of me?"

"The Ghouls shall devour you, both flesh and bone. I promise nothing shall be left of you after the Ghouls are done with you".

"Why did the Ghouls not devour me the first time?"

"Ah I told them to spare you".

"Why spare me?"

"So I could grant you a wish. None of those men were worthy of my wishes".

"I thought you said I was nothing but scum."

"I have granted wishes to both the pure and the degenerate. Though I am not prejudice I do however choose very carefully whom I grant wishes to."

"Very well. Fair enough but if this is more trickery I shall shoot you right between the eyes. I wish...I wish...I wish to be the most influential businessman in...in all the world. The richest businessman there ever was."

"Done. When you return back to civilization that position shall be yours. Now go and if you see my face again I shall require much more than a hand from you. The next you see my face I shall require your soul. Begone ruffian. Your new position in society awaits".

The man shook slightly but then he took off in a run and rather clumsily made his way up the slope.

"How are your wounds?" I went back to touching where the bullets had pierced through his bedazzling skin.

"I don't need a nurse child. I'm fine. Do not worry I will recover. Oooh that stings. I don't wish to be rude but could you possibly refrain from touching me for a moment? I must admit I do enjoy your touch quite a bit but maybe you could touch someplace different perhaps."

"Really? What would you prefer I touch instead?"

I smiled in a challenging sort of way.

"Use your imagination. Surprise me, touch wherever you wish just don't touch those affected areas. They still sting."

"Oh I'm so sorry. It wasn't my intention to harm you in any way. It must still be tender from the bullets. Oh by the way I don't what it was that you did back there but thank you. I could very well have taken those bullets. He could've killed me yet you protected me. If you hadn't been here I could have been kidnapped again. I could be the property of some old man. The way you defended me from that man was very noble of you. I can't help but have this incredible admiration for you.

Will he really be the richest businessman y in the world when he returns back to the city?"

"Oh yes of course he will for a time. For a time he will enjoy it and life will be good to him but what he did not know is that his earthly pleasures shall be short. When he agreed to give me all his dreams and desires, he gave me his own soul to pay for all his pleasures. He practically placed his soul into my hands. When he sees my face again his soul shall indeed belong to me."

"So you did trick him after all. Is the soul always required as payment for a wish?"

"Only when one is granted one wish. One wish equals one soul. Anyone granted 3 wishes shall keep his soul but in the end shall lose their life.

When the one who awakens me is granted 3 wishes my kind shall be freed from the void and the Djinn shall rule the earth once more."

"You want me to help with that right?"

I nearly gulped from the pure uneasiness.

"You need not help with the gathering of the souls just help me find the gem and the one that released me from it."

"I knew it; You do gather souls after all."

I crossed my arms and smiled smugly.

"Yes I know, you caught me, I deceived you. I lied to you yet again. I do apologize. I hope you aren't angry with me".

"I think I very well should be but no I'm not angry with you. You were all fired up when I accused you of taking souls; it struck me as rather odd since I hadn't angered you beforehand. Your manner was furious but I noticed your eyes were calm. Your eyes didn't match the mood that's how I knew you were lying. Also most people would be frightened of you and I'm not scared of you in the least so I see things that others don't normally see. I saw what you wished to hide from me. What I wonder is why you wished to hide such a thing from me?"

"I was afraid you might become more disgusted by me. You already had called me a monster, you made yourself very clear how you felt about me"

"I'm sorry for calling you that. I was confused, you understand. I wasn't aware of what felt I for you.

I thought I hated you but when I dug deeper I found that that was not the case. I suppose

I could say the human in me was repulsed by your natural djinni Form. The human in me hated and despised you. However Djinni in me admires and adores you ".

"That's very...what's the word... insightful of you. However do you really adore me?"

Did I adore him? I wasn't quite sure. I suppose in some aspects I did adore him but on the other hand he was a soul sucking demonic entity. However the weirdest thing was that bit of information about his character did not even bother me in the slightest I felt a small twinge of guilt for a few moments but then there was that wave of admiration that overtook me once more.

I didn't feel sorry for that ruffian that most likely was responsible for my capture.

Perhaps if he had been someone who was pure of heart I would have had more sympathy. I had no sympathy for the man now.

He gave up his soul. He signed away his soul. He agreed upon having his soul be taken. He was the fool. He knew it was all trickery but he still sold his soul for a few moments of pleasure.

It was his fault. He had no one to blame but himself. Humans were clearly idiots. They were cruel and most of them were useless scum that clung to the earth.

I rested my head against his chest.

"Does this answer your question?"

"Yes quite satisfactorily". His harsh voice changed to a soft growling purr.

"When will he see your face?"

"When his soul is ready he will see me in his mind's eye."

"When will his soul be ready?"

"When I find the gem his soul shall be mine".

"Is the gem very far do you think?"

"Oh no the gem is not far. I sense it is very close."

"How close?"

"Close enough I could almost touch it. We'll head back to the city. We'll search the pawnshops first. Then we'll ask the merchants. If it isn't found that way we can begin to hunt down the thieves hiding in the shadows. Abandoned areas are the best environment for black market dealers. The Gem will be found regardless of who has it in their possession. I may find it faster since I have you on my side. As the human saying goes Two heads are better than one. Follow me sweet Anna".