Distorted Fates

by R. L. Weeks

  A few minutes later the gunfire and explosions seemed to stop.

  Just then one of the guards began to shout into his radio trying to figure out what was going on. At first, no one answered, but after he inquired several more times a voice that was different than who was talking before began to speak. They asked to talk to the Sultan, and after the guard handed him his radio, the Sultan addressed the mysterious voice.

  “Who is this?”

  “You know who I am.”

  “Jafar. What have you done?”

  “I want that diamond. Your daughter stole it from me.”

  “And you stole it from me.”

  “It was never rightfully yours to begin with.”

  A moment of silence between the two.

  “I have her and I’ve come to make you an offer. Your daughter for that diamond.”

  The Sultan’s eyes grew large, glancing back to the room with the diamond in it before he looked to Aladdin.

  “I have a plan,” he said but not into the radio. “Do you trust me?”

  Aladdin nodded.

  “I am going to place my trust in you as my daughter did.”

  “Wow Sultan, such a hard choice to make for you is it?” Jafar said on the other end. “If you take too long to answer, I’ll choose for you.”

  “I am here. We are coming down,” the Sultan responded while all of his guards gasped and began to try to talk him out of it.

  “I have a plan!” he shouted causing them all to fall silent. “We are going to bring the diamond down with us, but this boy will have it and watch over it. Jafar does not know of him, so while we do the exchange with a fake, it is secretly safe.”

  “Jafar is going to see right through this,” one of the guards warned as the men gathered their weapons and the Sultan handed Aladdin the diamond back inside of its brown bag.

  “Maybe, but it’s the only card we have to play right now.”

  The guards led the way back to the elevator, maintaining a protective circle around the Sultan with Aladdin and Abu close behind. Once they were in the elevator and descending the tower, the Sultan looked over to Aladdin.

  “No matter what happens, protect that diamond with your life and don’t let it fall into the wrong hands.”

  Aladdin nodded, looking down to the bag in his hands before tightly squeezing it.

  When the elevator stopped and the door opened, shouting could be heard from the lobby. The guards walked out first, guns up and scanning the foyer for danger before waving for the Sultan to follow. He then exited the elevator, pointing to a desk nearby and telling Aladdin to stay hidden there as he pulled something out of his back pocket and followed the guards.

  From where Aladdin was, he could see large metal shutters on what appeared to be the main entrance to the tower. On the other side, he could see dozens of men with guns shaking it and trying to get in. Abu was shaking, and Aladdin tried to comfort him as he could hear the Sultan beginning to shout at the men by the entrance.

  “Where is she?” he yelled, then demanding to see her.

  A second later and some of the men moved aside, revealing a tall, thin man with a beard and a woman in a red dress.

  Jasmine.

  “The diamond?” the man holding onto Jasmine’s arm asked.

  The Sultan then showed him whatever it was that he pulled out of his pocket and the man let go of Jasmine. The Sultan then nodded his head at one of the guards who hit a button on the wall and made the shutters rise. All of the men on the other side stood back until the shutters were gone, then raising their weapons at the Sultan and his guards while they did the same.

  “Let’s do this peacefully,” the Sultan said. “There is no reason for bloodshed Jafar.”

  Jafar reached his hand out first, motioning with his fingers to the Sultan to give him the diamond. The Sultan took a step forward, placing it on the floor before walking backward to be behind his men again as Jafar picked it up and peered into the bag.

  “Now for my daughter,” the Sultan demanded.

  Jafar stared at the Sultan before looking over to Jasmine and one of the men standing behind her. He motioned with his hand, and the man hit Jasmine in the back, causing her to fall to the floor.

  “Jasmine! There was no call for that Jafar!”

  “Do you think I’m stupid and that you would hand over the diamond that easily? Especially after just getting it back?”

  Jafar opened the bag in his hand and revealed another diamond that was similar in size to the real one. He threw it to the ground before pointing at the Sultan and his guards.

  “Kill them and capture the Sultan. If he resists too much, kill her, and then him.”

  “No!” Jasmine yelled, still on the floor as the men began to exchange gunfire with the Sultan’s guards.

  The men in suits who had been with the Sultan upstairs began to drop like flies while Jasmine all of a sudden stood up and began to attack Jafar’s men. She let out a scream which caused everyone to pause for a second as she hunched over and then growled. When she screamed again, this time it sounded more like a roar, and she suddenly pounced on top of one of Jafar’s men and then threw another so high in the air that he disappeared out of view.

  Aladdin watched in shock with his arms wrapped tightly around Abu as the fight exploded into mayhem. The Sultan was being pushed back by two of his guards whose protective suits were protecting them from the bullets. Jafar’s men advanced into the lobby, quickly overpowering the Sultan and his last two bodyguards and captured them. Aladdin didn’t know what to do, still hiding behind the desk and watching in horror as Jafar’s men continued to pour into the tower.

  Suddenly Aladdin saw a flash of red to his right. When he glanced over, he noticed Jasmine running at full speed towards him. Before he could react, she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him with her as someone began to shoot at them and the bullets smashed into the wall and desk where he was hiding. She sprinted towards a different looking elevator off to the side, sliding the door up and pushing Aladdin inside quickly followed by Abu. As she lowered the door, she fired a gun she had picked up at Jafar’s men who rounded the corner and began to open fire. She struck some of them as another door closed, and the elevator suddenly began to descend.

  A minute later and the doors opened up, revealing an underground parking garage full of cars and other types of vehicles.

  “Follow me,” Jasmine ordered as she exited the large elevator and began to walk past some of the parked cars.

  Aladdin followed, looking down at Abu before returning his gaze to Jasmine.

  “Are we going to go back and help your dad?” he asked.

  Jasmine came to a stop and glanced back to him, sighing before turning to an old rusty looking car parked nearby.

  “He’s Jafar’s prisoner now, but we have what Jafar really wants. As long as we are in possession of that diamond, Jafar won’t harm him.”

  Jasmine walked up to the rusty car and placed her hand on top of it.

  “Right now I have to get all of us out of here, and once we are safe, I can devise a plan to try and get my father free. I am so sorry for getting you wrapped up in all of this.”

  Aladdin scratched the back of his head and looked puzzled wondering why out of all of the cars in the parking lot Jasmine was standing beside the oldest looking one.

  “Is that what we are escaping in?” he asked.

  Jasmine smirked before she squeezed something on top of the car and yanked down.

  The image of the old car was just a picture imprinted on a tarp covering another vehicle that was hiding underneath. Once the tarp was on the ground, Aladdin’s eyes grew large when he saw what was revealed beneath it.

  It was a bright purple sports car and judging by the looks of it, was fast.

  Jasmine opened up the scissor door and climbed inside, starting it up.

  The car came to life, blue neon lights turning on underneath the car and on the inside. Aladdin thought it was the coolest thing and qui
ckly ran up and placed his hands on it.

  “What is this thing?” he inquired having never seen such a beautiful car up close and in person before.

  “It’s my, magic carpet ride I guess you could say?” Jasmine replied with a smirk.

  “Wow,” Aladdin said as he took in all of the fine details.

  “We have to get going, get inside.” Jasmine then said as the door on the other side raised.

  Aladdin quickly ran to the other side of the car followed by Abu. Abu jumped in first, climbing into the back seat while Aladdin got in and sat on the passenger side. After the doors lowered the light on the ceiling turned off. The dashboard then lit up with dozens of numbers and lights. Aladdin then looked over to Jasmine who was tapping on a screen before she looked over at him.

  “Buckle up,” she said, pointing to the seatbelt on the other side of him.

  Having never actually been in a car before, she aided him in doing it. Once he was fully connected, she looked forward and out of the windshield.

  “Ready?” she asked.

  “Ready,” Aladdin responded, and with that she revved the engine and peeled out of the parking spot, speeding towards a metal gate that opened just in time, and then they flew out onto the street and then sped off into the night, the tower quickly getting smaller and further away behind them.

  The End

  Snow White and the Seven Cyborgs

  B. J. Hardy

  Once upon a time, in the not so distant future, there was a rich and powerful man who lived in a great city. He was an extremely handsome man and one could say that he was the quintessential bad boy billionaire. He was quite a playboy until one day he met the most beautiful woman in all the land. She captivated his heart, and he soon proposed marriage to her. His name was Dylan White, and she was Marie Heather. The two made quite a beautiful, handsome couple. Many people were jealous of their fairytale seeming life together, most especially a coven mate of hers named Darice. Both were witches, and even though Marie had not cast a spell on Dylan to entice him into falling in love with her, Darice was certain that she had. That would be something against all conventions of the coven of white witches and it infuriated Darice. Mostly she was just plain jealous of Marie’s good fortune and hot hunk of a husband, especially since Darice and Dylan had previously been lovers.

  As Marie and Dylan’s love for each other grew stronger by the day so too did Darice’s despise. She insisted to the coven that their sacred rules had been violated by Marie, and demanded they investigate. To appease their covenmate they did launch an investigation, but the findings were that no witchcraft had been used on Dylan to cause him to fall in love with Marie. It was purely natural and most likely true love. This just infuriated Darice. She determined to expose what she knew had to be the truth.

  During this time Marie started a new career as a paranormal romance novelist, and her first book became a New York Times bestseller. This did not sit well with Darice. Even though she had many lovers of her own, as she was extremely beautiful as well, she desired what Marie had, all of it. She started to make devious plans to take what she wanted. Then Marie got pregnant and it seemed to be almost too late for her coven mate’s nefarious plots.

  One day when Marie was just starting to show, she was editing a proof copy of her latest novel and upon turning a page she cut her finger on the paper. It wasn’t bad, but she did bleed some. As she looked at the bright crimson stain on the pure white parchment a thought came to her. A thought which became a wish. Marie wished for her child to be a girl, and not just any girl. She desired that she have skin as white as the pages in her book, and lips and cheeks as red as her own blood. Then since the cover to her book was mostly a jet, glossy black, she wanted her daughter’s hair to be just as black and shiny. Little did she know that the elemental powers were listening.

  Dylan and Marie had a baby girl not long after, and they named her Snow Lily White after Marie’s favorite flowers. Sure enough, her skin was pure white, her lips and cheeks crimson red, and her hair was ebony black. Immediately after their baby was born, Darice began to put her evil plot into action. It was the perfect time to tempt Dylan because he and Marie couldn’t have relations for a while. Darice cast a spell of lust onto him, and it worked. He started to have a keen interest in Marie’s supposedly good friend. It wasn’t long before they were having an illicit affair. The coven found out about the romance and knew that witchcraft had to be at work to overcome true love. They confronted Darice with their findings and cast her out of their fold. It only infuriated and maddened her, and so she sought vengeance on the coven. She hired a professional arsonist and a nice fire caused by non-magical means awaited them at their next meeting. They were consumed in the blaze. Darice had completely gone over to the dark. She knew fully well that there was no going back after that, so she embraced the darkness. The coven weren’t the only ones who found out about the affair. Marie did too, and it shattered her spirit. She died not long after from a broken heart.

  lan asked Darice to marry him. She was delighted and accepted even though he insisted on her signing a pre-nuptial agreement. However, she wasn’t faithful to him as she kept some of her favorite lovers on the side. This only increased her paranoia. It was imperative that Dylan not find out and being that he had many means available to him, she knew she needed an edge. She found this advantage in a new highly sophisticated prediction program she acquired, and then imbued it with some magical spells to make it even more powerful. Darice would often ask it if Dylan had found out about her affairs. She even gave it a name.

  “Mirror, Mirror, has my husband discovered my infidelity?”

  “No, he has not.”

  This would make her smile, because she finally had everything she desired. Her vanity was also appeased by her program.

  “Mirror, Mirror, who is the most beautiful woman of all?”

  “Why it is you, of course.”

  Snow grew under her step mother’s ever watchful eye, and though Darice would treat her with apparent love and kindness whenever Dylan was present, it was quite a different story when Snow’s father was not home. The young girl was made to do all kinds of menial chores and tasks just to spite her. This was irrespective that they had several cleaning robots to do these tasks. She had a patient soul though and did what her step mother demanded without quarrel.

  Then one day Darice asked her AI program, “Mirror, Mirror, has my husband discovered my infidelity?”

  “Yes, he has.” It answered.

  Darice immediately panicked. “What! When… how did he find out?”

  “He grew suspicious for unknow reasons and hired a private investigator to trail you. Wait one… oh, he has just scheduled an appointment with his lawyer.”

  “Crap!” Her mind went into instant damage control mode.

  There was no trying to assuage him at this point, as was obvious by him contacting his lawyer, and that left only one thing for her to do. She went to perform a dark ritual right away, one which would have grave consequences. It took all her power and nearly killed her in the process, but that evening as Dylan was being driven home in his limo, a crane fell from a nearby building and crushed him to death in the car. This was a one-time only deal she’d made with the dark elemental forces, and further such use of those elements was forever out of her reach. It took Darice weeks to regain her strength from the powers she’d summoned. Her father’s death hurt Snow White immeasurably, and the poor girl would never quite be the same.

  Now Darice was free to have any lover that she desired, but the bulk of Dylan’s fortune was safely nestled away in a trust fund for Snow when she turned eighteen. There was just enough of an allotment for keeping the household, and a tiny smidgen of luxury. Darice was vexed beyond belief. She asked her trusty AI prediction program what could be done to free the money completely for her own use.

  “Only the death of Snow White will allow that, and only by natural causes or an accident as per the stipulations of your late husband’s
will.”

  “Damn it! I can’t summon another accident.” Darice rubbed her chin. “Mirror, Mirror, what is the best way to kill someone where it will look like an accident?”

  “Push them off a cliff with no one looking.”

  “How about off a building?”

  “Too many potential witnesses any where there are tall buildings. This is why I specified a cliff.”

  “Right. Damn.” Darice sighed. “Oh well, I’d hate to kill the poor wretched thing anyhow. I’d much rather she suffered.”

  Poor Snow did suffer too, and every day as her evil step mother became extremely cruel to her. This went on for a couple of years, and Snow White began to withdraw into her own mind.

  Then one day when Snow was seven years old, Darice asked her program, “Mirror, Mirror, who is the most beautiful girl of all?”

  “Snow Lily White is the most beautiful girl.”

  Darice was shocked, and the next time she looked at her step daughter she finally saw it. Yes, her mother’s beauty was finally showing itself on her. There was no way on Earth that she would allow the girl to mature fully with such loveliness, and she knew that if she ever wanted the entire fortune Snow White had to perish.

  There were some logistical problems that Darice had to calculate before she could even formulate a plan. Doing in her step daughter there in the States would be far too risky because of the amazing level of technology that law enforcement had at their disposal. No, it had to be done somewhere such advanced technology wasn’t as readily available to the police and investigators.

  “Ah! My lover Eric might be able to help.” It came to her.

  “Mirror, Mirror, would killing a person in a remote location in a far less developed country be a viable method of disposal?”

  “Yes. That is a grand idea.”