Challenge Submission The Inheritance

[Lore N. Fables]

Author's Note:
I wrote this as a starter a while back, though it never truly went anywhere, (that was on me, long story that), I was truly proud of the starter and it can make for a stand-alone story in itself. It fits the brief for this month's challenge, so I figured, why not submit something I had been proud of writing, once upon a time? Without further ado, I give you The Inheritence.
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"For years, he filled a notebook with beautiful lies and impossible hopes. When he found a genie, he simply said, "I wish it was all true."
― T.R. Darling​

Autumn Harper stared at the letter, still unopened and in its envelope, in front of her. Shock, excitement, happiness and a few other emotions raced through her all at once. The acceptance letter she had been waiting on had finally arrived. She just couldn't bring herself to actually open it. What if it was a rejection letter? Then why the hell did she feel happy? It could be because the program she had applied for sent the letter out early, which would notoriously mean good news awaited.

"Are you waiting for it to jump out of the envelope?" Gregory Harper, Autumn's father said, as he came into the kitchen, heading for the coffee pot. "Unless it's from Hogwart's, I don't think that'll happen, sweetie."

"What if I didn't get in?" She looked at the letter and sighed as she turned her attention to her dad, who was getting a mug from the cupboard. "I mean, this could go either way."

"Well, you're not going to find out if you that envelope remains unopened." Pouring the dark steaming liquid into his I Got This mug his daughter had gotten him for his birthday and took a sideways look at the young woman seated at the table, looking every bit like her mother. "Would you want me to open it for you? Do you think that'll help?"

Looking down at the envelope she nodded, the happy feeling she had felt lasted only a moment before the doubt set in. "Would you mind, dad? Make it quick. Yes or no, k?"

Picking up the envelope, she dramatically threw her arm back and covered her eyes, pretending it was much too hard to look. Although it was closer to the truth than she would let on and earning a chuckle from her father as he removed it from her hand. Still looking away, she heard the rip of paper and a heavy sigh from her father. Unable to help herself, she looked back at him only to see him grinning and nodding his head.

"I got in?!" Autumn's face lit up, relief flooding her and that happy feeling returned.

"You got in. Seriously," her father chuckled, handing her the letter and returning to his cup of coffee. "You give yourself too little credit. I did read your admission essay, remember? Anyway, you might want to make sure your passport isn't expired. You're gonna need it."

"Wh--" The nudge with his mugged hand towards the letter made her glance down.

Dear Miss Harper,

We are pleased to offer you one of the six places we have available for an International Research-Based Doctorate Program, located in Jerash, Jordan. We ask that you respond within seven days of receipt of this letter to either accept or decline the offer. Please be aware that you will be responsible for the flight out and your passport. Once you arrive, your accommodations will be provided for you.

Again, we would like to welcome you aboard and look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you,
Dr James Adams, Dean of Archeology Dept.

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"Hey, Autumn, when you're done cleaning those, Doc wants you to catalogue the finds in the back lab. Something about extra credit?" Brian, one of the TSA's who delegated the 'Doc's' errands to those deemed worthy and the last few weeks she wasn't sure if she was being rewarded or punished. "I don't get why you would need extra credit though, you're a straight-A student."

"Yeah, well, every A student needs all the points they can get to keep that A," Autumn said, wiping the sweat from her brow and then climbed out of the small hole she had been dusting. "Especially after I broke a pristine and priceless clay bowl with the most unusual markings on it yesterday and the vein that popped out of the Doc's forehead when I told him… I need those points. I just hope I don't fuck up again."

"Holy shit! Ha!" Brian let out a shocked laughed but coughed to cover it up. Poorly, one could add. "That was you? Whoa… I mean, we've all been there, trust me. He'll be fine in a few days. Listen, don't beat yourself up, alright? If you need anything, you know where to find me."

"Thanks, Bri," she said with a smile. "I'm curious though, has anything weird been happening to anyone else? Like, yesterday, when I dropped that bowl, I dunno… I guess I need to get more sleep."

"I get what you mean and," he looked back over his shoulder and then leaned in a little closer to Autumn, lowering his voice as he spoke. "Weird shit happens around here all the time, just no one ever talks about it. They say it'll bring more bad juju. I just go with it."

"Just go with it, huh?" Raising an eyebrow and casting a sceptical look at the TSA. "Thanks for the pep talk."

"Anytime!"

With that, Brian was off to continue doling out the afternoon's assignments and positions. Back catalogue wasn't too bad of a place to be. It was quiet and she was still surrounded by ancient artefacts that she would be able to study for a moment. Maybe she might even stumble across something that could change the way history was seen. Ahh, the fancies of the inspired mind…

Five hours later she was elbow-deep in pottery, a few knives and an extremely flashy necklace that didn't look so clean about an hour ago. Picking up the pendant, she had decided to take it straight to Doctor Adams and show him the find, more or less to make up for her mistake the day before.

"Hey! Where ya off to in such a hurry, hmm," Brian said as she ran into him. To be honest, she hadn't seen him there, especially at such a late hour.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Brian, I didn't see you there. What are you doing down here? Shouldn't you be at dinner?"

"That's why I came down," he answered nervously. "You weren't at dinner and I thought I'd come to grab you."

"Oh, well, I appreciate the thought. Are you alright? You seem a little… Off," Autumn didn't know how else to describe it. He'd been acting funny for the last few days and at first, she tried to 'just go with it', but that vibe had started seriously creeping her out.

"Actually, there is something that's been bothering me," he admitted, combing a hand through his thick, dark hair. Removing his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose he then turned his steep grey eyes on Autumn.

"Oh, no you don't," she said, feeling the nausea already making an appearance at the way he looked at her. "That shit isn't gonna fly, Dr Luv. Go try that on the other interns that fawn all over you. I'm good thanks."

"That's not what I meant," he sighed, placing his glasses back on his face. "I need your help, alright? That pendant that you have in your hand. Well, it's mine. I can't summon what's inside because I'm related to what's in there."

"Uh-huh… And, I'm the reincarnated Cleopatra, sent to catalogue ancient clay bracelets to earn a doctorate and take over the world. One uni classroom at a time." Autumn scoffed but something about what he admitted and the way he did it seemed as though he was telling at least a partial truth. Still, she couldn't help the scepticism.

"Oh, come on, Harper, I'm being serious. I know you study the Djinn and I know you know about how they work. Tell me if I'm wrong on the relationship thing." The look on his face was harder for Autumn to read. He hadn't called her that in months. Not since their last debate on Vassago… Maybe he really was telling the truth…

"Fine," she sighed, deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt, but only because she was curious about this Djinn herself. "What if what you say is true? Why do you need my help, hmm? You can't trust a djinn, even if you are supposedly related to it. They're tricksy and their wishes always come at a price."

"Those are the tales, Harper," he said nonchalantly, more relaxed than she would have thought in such a short amount of time. She hadn't even agreed to help him. Yet. "Look, it's my brother, Eddie, alright? Don't ask me how the hell he got stuck in there, he just did. I need your help to get him out."

"Yeah, the 'don't ask' part REALLY makes me feel the need to help your ass out," she said, rolling her eyes and reaching her hand out to him with the pendant dangling from her fingers. "On second thought, I don--"

"Please, Harper," he pleaded, his hand closing around hers, holding the pendant in place. "I can't tell you how he became the djinn because I don't know. Please? I don't know who else to turn to…"

Looking down at the hand that gripped her, she felt the firmness in the way he held her hand but she also felt the slight tremor. It was subtle and could mean two things. He was emotional about this or he was lying and at that moment, she let her woman self get in the way of her logical self.

"Fine… What do I need to do? How can we help your brother?"

His face lit up instantly, relief flooded his overall body and crushed her into a bear hug. "Thank you! Oh god! Thank you, Autumn!"

"Yeah, yeah," a muffled noise squeaked in Brian's shirt as he held her. "Let me breathe so we can get this over with, alright?"

"Oh, right," he said, letting go of her. "Let's go back in there, so we can do this in private."

"Greeeat, make it sound dirty, why dontcha," Autumn drawled, turning around to head back into the back room. "Not like this doesn't look bad enough as it does already."

"Are you saying you wann--"

"Can it, Bri," she said dryly. "Just tell me what I need to do, so we can get this over with."

"Well, first you need to rub it," he said, trying not to laugh.

"Fucking seriously?"

"Oh, com'on! Haven't you ever heard of the rubbing of the lamp?" Hiding behind an innocent expression this time, earning a dramatic eye roll of his brother's champion.

"I swear to-- When this is over…" Autumn muttered as she began to rub the pendant, trying in vain the first couple of tries. The third, however, the gem in the centre began to glow. "I think… Hey, I think I did something!"

"Holy shit…" Brian's eyes grew wide, he removed his glasses to rub his eye quickly and then replaced his glasses to blink. "You did it, Harper…"

"I am the Great Mahatma! Master of Vassago's Gem! Who disturbs my slumber?" A low voice echoed majestically.

"You've got to be kidding. 'Disturbs your slumber?' I thought you were waiting to be rescued?" Autumn looked at the eerie smoke that had drifted from the gem, materializing into an odd-looking man, who resembled Brian none at all.

"Good point, Eddie," Brian said with a chuckle, reaching forward to hug the third party now physically in the room. "Man, it's good to see you."

"Yeah, you too," the djinn replied back, with a slap on his shoulder after the hug was released. "I see you got help. Look, it's simple, lady. All you gotta do is wish for my freedom. That's it."

"Uh-huh. That's it," she said, not buying that for a second. "What about the price?"

"Pri-- What are you talkin' about? I paid that price already! Are you gonna help me or not, huh? I've been in that damn necklace for… What year is it? You know what? Nevermind, it doesn't matter. Point is, the only time there's a price is if you're foolin' with a dickheaded djinn who's bored. I am not bored. I would like to get the fuck outta here. No tricks."

"I dunno… That sounds a little too convenient," she said, starting to really feel like she shouldn't have agreed to help. Then again, she had never encountered a djinn before so for all she knew, this character could have been telling the truth. "Maybe we should get Doc Adams down here, maybe he could help out?"

"Doc? Are you crazy? He'd want to cart Eddie off and have him studied for science! Please, Harper, I'm beggin' ya," Brian pleaded. She'd never heard him sound like that before and it had seriously pulled at her heartstrings.

"I have a feeling I'm going to regret this…" Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she inwardly prayed she was doing the right thing. "I wish for Mahatma's freedom!"

It happened so quickly that it seemed like slow motion. The wind in the room picked up and swirled around the djinn and Autumn. His laughter filled the room in a thunderous roar as the room began to swirl with smoke. Her hair flew into her eyes as it whipped around her head. Feeling a crushing weight on her shoulders as something made her drop to her knees, her hands planting on the ground before her as gold bracelets clasped around her wrists. The laughter she heard only seemed to get louder as she was stripped of her street clothes, looking down to see orange silks.

"Fucking orange?! I look, hey, not so bad… I KNEW this was a trick!!"

Her voice was tiny as the smoke in the room began to clear, swirling it's way back into the red gem of the pendant. Looking down, she began to panic. Her legs, torso, oh goodness, her whole self had started to become one with the swirling smoke that was returning to the pendant.

Gone…

"Holy shit," Brian breathed. "You fucking lied to her…"

"She wouldn't have made the wish any other way," Eddie said, adjusting the jeans he now found himself in. "Now, take this," he said, picking up the pendant from the spot it had dropped when its magic had been put away. "And put it back in the suitcase you took it out of. It's already got a home at an auction house with a few potential buyers in mind."

"Seriously? What if you never got out of there?"

"Oh, I would have gotten out," he said in a voice that told Brian he would have killed in order to achieve his freedom. "Now, let's get something to eat. I'm starvin'."