Chapter 11
Katrina walked away from Olivia and Marissa and sat down on the velvet couch in front of the warm fire place and reached for a box, made of cherry colored wood, and opened it to reveal a beautiful golden ring. Olivia and Marissa watched as Katrina lifted the ring out of the box and examined it. "So what are you going to do with that thing?" Marissa asked looking at Katrina curiously. "Well this is Caleb's ring you know," Katrina continued. "So I was thinking about giving it back to him soon." Katrina than put the ring back in the box and closed it shut "But I first have to make a few wishes of my own before I give him the ring." Katrina said with a small nervous laugh in the back of her throat. "I would imagine that your first wish would be getting rid of Miss nutcase over at the mansion." Olivia said laughing. "Oh I wish it was that easy but it really isn't." Katrina replied taking a sip of her water that was on the table. "So Katrina, are you up for telling the story of that particular ring to our little friend Olivia over here?" Marissa asked sitting down next to Katrina on the couch and smiling at her. "Oh I would love to hear the whole story behind the ring." Olivia said grabbing a chair and sitting right in front of the coffee table facing Katrina. Katrina hesitated at first but soon decided to tell the tale of the ring that is supposed to be in Caleb's hands but is instead with her. "Alright, I will tell you the things that you need to know about this ring," Katrina continued "This ring was given to Caleb centuries ago by his father and it has gone down the Morley line centuries before that. Every Morley that had a hold of the ring had more power than many men could dream of, it was all in the power of the ring. The reason this ring is so special is because it can project almost anyone who wears it and grants the most amazing wishes." "Oh that sounds wonderful." Olivia interrupted. "Oh you'd think having everything you want, or shall I say wish for, is amazing and grand but when you hold this ring in your hands and make wishes consequences happen, extreme consequences happen when the wrong person holds this ring and starts making wishes on it." Katrina stopped and than continued after a small pause "Have you ever heard the phrase, Be Careful What You Wish For?" Katrina asked and both women shook their heads yes and Katrina continued "Well with this ring you must be extremely careful how you word wishes and how they affect you and others around you. At first, when you are wishing on the ring you don't notice the immediate power of consequences but soon you start to see the consequences and you start becoming obsessed with the ring and the powers that it brings. It causes whomever has the ring to go mad at times with all their wishes. Unfortunately, there is only one way to stop the ring and the powers it grants because once it grants one wish, one small teeny, tiny wish, the ring grabs hold of you and your soul and you no longer control what you do or see, the ring is your savior. Anyways, the way to stop the ring is to have a selfless wish and no some ordinary selfless wish, a selfless wish in the eyes of everyone in town and God. It's a wish that doesn't benefit you, a wish that benefits everyone and that's when the ring can no longer give a consequence. Every selfish wish has a price to pay but a selfless wish causes the powers of the ring to become confused and it's powers soon start to die out and fade by this one good deed." Katrina stopped with her story when she saw that Olivia had a question but Katrina already knew what she was going to ask. "And to answer the question I know you want to ask, if you continue to ask for selfish wishes than the consequences get worse and worse, until the ring becomes your whole life and soon your life is taken away by one last wish that you make." Katrina finished telling the story and waited to see if Olivia had another question. "Okay tell me this, say I wished for happiness for myself, what would happen?" Olivia asked looking at Katrina. "Than you'd get happiness in your life but the consequence would be, for those that you care about deeply or feel love for, would feel sadness and grief and they wouldn't feel the happiness that you feel. Something is always taken away when you make wishes on this ring and it may not be taken away from you, not yet at least, but it is taken away from the people that you care about. Also before you ask, even the person with the darkest soul and the coldest heart has someone in their life which they care about." Katrina finished and than started to get up "Well I think I am going to make my way to the mansion. I think you've heard enough about the ring to tie you over for the next night." Katrina said and than started to go out the door with Olivia and Marissa following.