by DL Colon
A Genie’s Kiss
D.L. Colón
Copyright
Copyright © 2015 D.L. Colón
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means without prior written permission of the copyright owner. This is a work of fiction.
Other Works by D.L. Colón
The Lost City: Drake’s Revenge
The Lost City: King’s Inheritance
The Lost City: Blaze’s Inferno (Coming October 2015)
Prologue
In the year 2450 humanity has made incredible developments in science and time travel has become possible. Earth has become a world where spaceships, time travel and cars flying through on the air is everyday life. Life on other planets has been discovered and they live now amongst us as equals.
Recently it has become quite difficult to find people willing to time travel. Since the launch of the project there have been several people who volunteered and were never seen again. The Science Division starts doing tests to see if they can find travelers who might survive. During one of those tests they come across Roy Hudson.
Roy Hudson is a simple guy with no goals in life. His sole purpose is to play RPG games, ones of adventure. During the testing the Science Division do a genealogy screening and are able to trace his bloodline back to Aladdin, so they decide to scout him out. At first Roy denies them, but when they mention time travel he thinks of getting stuff for himself and going on adventures and he can’t refuse.
Roy has wanted to time travel ever since he was a child and he has always dreamed of going to ancient ruins, finding treasures and fighting bandits. Roy went to the Science Division and they test him. When he passes all of them he is surprised for some reason, but they proceed to explain the process of time travel and that he must return at all cost. They tell him that at the beginning there will be some affect on his body from the time traveling, but none would be serious.
After weeks of doing test runs with virtual programs Roy is ready to do his first time travel jump, but they tell him that he will not be going alone; they have chosen a partner for him.
The first time Roy meets his partner, Michael Ripper, they are preparing for their first time jump. Both of them set their bracelet and push the button in the center, sending them back in time. When they arrive at their destination Roy feels nauseous and vomits up his breakfast. Michael appears beside him, but is in better shape than Roy and doesn’t seem to be bothered by Roy’s weak stomach. They have traveled to 2014, where everything began to change for humanity.
After exploring the general area for a few minutes they returned to 2450, so the Science Division can run more tests. After several trips into the past and future, the Science Division presents their completed reports to the world and dub time travel safe.
After that Roy Hudson and Michael Ripper went their separate ways and everyone in the world started to time travel. Some became rich thanks to it, but not Roy Hudson. He wanted to explore the ruins that are no longer available to mankind in 2450.
When the head of the Science Division heard what Roy’s plans were he called him into his office. “We have created a name for every category of time traveler and what you want is scavenging. Roy Hudson, you are the first Time Travel Scavenger, which is something we may deem a worthless category.”
Roy doesn’t care what they say, he is happy because he has fulfilled his dream. He is now able to time travel and explore ruins like he can do in his video games and he isn’t going to let it go to waste.
Chapter 1
Roy is opening the door of the bar he likes to visit when he travels to this time. He is going to see his friends in 2014. They don’t know Roy is a time traveler, but they like hearing his stories. It gives them something that takes their minds off the meteorite that is approaching earth. Roy slowly takes off the protective goggles he uses for desert travel and hides his time travel bracelet as he sits down at the bar and orders his drink. While he takes a sip of his whiskey on the rocks his friends appear. They are dressed in business suits, which signals Roy that they must have stopped in as soon as they got out of work to see if he was there.
They sit beside Roy, who is still in his desert clothes and has grown a goatee, and look him over. One of the people who came to see him says, “Hey, Mr. Hudson, it seems you’re still living up to your name. Still in your work clothes, huh?”
Roy turns around to see who it is and grins. “Ah, Brock, it seems you haven’t changed since the last time I saw you. Work’s treating you well?” Roy notices his two other friends with Brock and adds, “Phantom, Blake, it seems you two are doing well since the last time I saw you. How is everything?”
Brock clears his throat and answers, “Work is treating me well, Roy. Do you have anything interesting you want to tell us?”
Roy motions for them to sit beside him and orders a round of drinks for his friends before he starts talking. “Well, now that you mention it there is something I want to ask you.”
Phantom nods and says, “Go ahead.”
Roy grins and asks, “Have you ever heard of genies?”
Blake looks at Roy like he’d lost his mind and answers, “Yes, we have all heard of them. There is an animated movie about them where a famous actor did the voice. There are also several television shows that feature them.”
Roy looks at them dumbfounded and face palms himself, “I mean real genies, not fake genies.”
Brock scratches his chin and says, “He seemed pretty real to me when he came out.”
Phantom and Blake nod their agreement and Roy shakes his head in astonishment. “That means that you haven’t heard of them or seen them. You will like what I have to tell you then. I met a genie on my last expedition.”
Brock shakes his head. “That’s a lie. Genies don’t exist, Roy, you know that. What you saw was probably a product of your imagination or a hallucination from being in the desert too long.”
Roy takes a sip of his drink and looks at his friends. “Listen to my story and you can decide for yourself when I’m finished.”
Brock, Phantom and Blake nod their agreement and take a sip of their drinks before Roy begins.
Chapter 2
Roy is smiling as he recalls what happened to him. Brock interrupts his thoughts when he asks, “Are you going to tell us?”
Roy laughs and answers, “I am sorry. I was lost in thought for a moment. My story starts like this; I was going to visit one of the greatest temples in Egypt. I was on my camel in the desert on my way to the temple, since I had to leave my car behind. As I was heading toward the temple a sandstorm started.”
A sultry female voice interrupts his tale. “Did you mention a sandstorm? They fascinate me.”
Roy and his friends turn around to see who spoke and Roy grins. “Ah, Christina long time no see. Come and join us. I am telling them about my last adventure to one of the greatest temples in Egypt and yes, I did mention a sandstorm.” Christina moves to sit closer to Roy. Phantom turns to look to where Christina is heading. Roy clears his throat and looks at Phantom, “Don’t even think about it, mate.”
Christina looks at them and laughs. “They can look, but they can’t touch. You know that, Roy.”
Roy looks at Christina with a wicked grin and says, “You heard the lady, mates, she just said she is mine.”
Christina gasps and replies, “I never said that.” Then her tone changes and she adds seductively, “But that’s up for consideration,” and she winks at Roy.
They all laugh at her as Roy takes a sip of his whiskey and motions for the bartender to make a drink for Christina before he starts talking again. �
�As I was saying, friends; I was caught up in a sandstorm. I put on my sand googles and covered my face with my sand cloths while I tried to get my supplies from the camel. He went crazy while I was unloading him and ran away, leaving me with only my backpack, which practically had nothing in it but a bottle of water, some dried food, my flashlight, a lighter and my sleeping bag. My compass was still on the camel, so I didn’t know where I was heading. I finally found a cave to shelter me from the storm and I took my flashlight out and guided myself through the cave. I walked until I was so tired and hungry that I couldn’t continue. I took out a piece of the dried food and built a small fire with some dried bushes I found in the cave. After I ate and drank the last of the water I took my sleeping bag out and went to sleep.”
Christina interrupts Roy and looks at him with interest in her eyes. “Did you encounter any spiders”, she asks, “because I hate those eight-legged disgusting creatures, ugh.” She sticks her tongue out in disgust.
Roy teases her by saying, “Nah, I didn’t encounter any, but I can tell you that they taste good if you fry them.”
Christina shakes her head and says, “I don’t want to hear it. Go ahead and continue with your story.”
Roy looks around and sees that their drinks are empty so he motions the bartender to get them refills and a small plate of ham, cheese and crackers. The bartender approaches Roy and asks quietly, “Are you going to pay for all this?”
Roy answers just as quietly, “Put it on my tab and I will pay it before I leave.”
The bartender nods, brings them all fresh drinks and the plate of food then removes their empty glasses and leaves. Roy puts a one hundred dollar bill on the counter and the bartender picks it up and shakes Roy’s hand. Roy grins as he takes a sip of his drink and says, “Now let’s continue.”
Chapter 3
“Where was I? Ah, I remember. I fell asleep and when I woke up the sandstorm had already stopped so I gathered my stuff, shoved it into my backpack and started walking the way I thought I came, which was actually the opposite direction from where I was walking. Since I couldn’t pinpoint my location without my compass I assumed I was lost, but I kept walking because I saw a light at the end of the cave. As I approached the opening a giant spider jumped in front of me.” As Roy is saying this he touches Christina’s shoulder, which causes her to jump and scream and everyone starts laughing.
Christina hits Roy on the shoulder and says in a teasing tone, “How dare you scare me like that.” Then her expression turns serious and she asks, “Well, did you kill it?”
Roy smiles and answers, “Well, let’s find out. When I encountered the spider I tried to hide so it wouldn’t find me, but it did in the end and all I could do was run until I found a spear on the ground. I stabbed the spider, but all it did was make it follow me faster. As I was running I saw a door that lead to a temple I didn’t know was there and since I had a big spider chasing me I couldn’t stop to read the temple’s name. I saw one door with a sign that signaled to enter and as I was running toward the door the spider stopped. I turned to see what was going on and saw a sign on the other side of the door that said; Do not Enter! Forbidden Temple of Shangri-La. As I was running to get out I triggered a trap and the floor tilted and turned into a slide. As I was sliding I was trying to evade some rocks and I didn’t notice the slide was ending until I fell on top of a mountain of sand and a rock hit me on my head.”
Blake interrupts him by asking, “Wait. You’re telling me you found the Lost Temple of Shangri-La?”
Roy nods, “Well, that’s what the sign said.”
Phantom hits Blake on the back of the head, “Just let him finish, man.”
Roy takes a sip of his drink and continues. “As I was saying, the rock hit me on the head and I lay there for a minute before I got up and saw a skeleton at the end of the room holding a map and a key. I said to myself; this is why I love being a scavenger, it’s a clean job. Well, it’s not a clean job, but you get the idea. Anyway, I got the map and saw that it had a weird symbol on it. When I looked at the key I noticed it had the same symbol that was on the map so I started looking for an exit. When I saw a corridor going in the opposite direction from the skeleton, I got my stuff and I started walking. I passed a set of corridors along the way, but I kept walking until I came to a door at the end of the passage. I started looking at it and touching the walls to see if there was a way to open it. I tried, but had no luck. I was about to give up when I noticed the door had the same symbol on it that was on the map, and key. I saw a small keyhole and put the key into it. Once I put the key in, the door started opening on its own. When it was open I looked inside and couldn’t believe my eyes.”
Blake asks in an intrigued voice, “What did you find? Gold?”
Roy nods and answers, “The whole room was full of gold money, and sitting in the middle of the room was a lamp on top of a pedestal.”
Blake interrupts again, “What did the lamp have to do with anything?”
Roy answers, “That’s what I’m about to find out for myself.”
Chapter 4
“Inside the room there were some traps that I had to navigate through before I could make it to the lamp.” Roy told them.
Phantom interrupts him by asking, “What kind of traps?”
Roy looks at him for a second before he continues, “Well, for one thing the money had to be a trap because no one would have left all that money inside a room for a reason. They must be protecting the lamp, so that anyone who enters the room is distracted by the money and ignores the lamp.”
Phantom snorts at Roy’s comment. “I don’t know if you are stupid or just playing dumb, but you know temples only have rooms like that because they are protecting their riches not a stupid lamp made of gold.”
Roy rolls his eyes at Phantom’s words. “That may be true for most temples, but after you hear what happened you might change your mind. Now back to the temple; I walked further into the room, picked up a gold coin, flipped it over in my hand and slid it into my pocket before I walked to the lamp. I gingerly reached out a hand and lifted it from the pedestal, but once I did the gold surrounding it lost all its color and turned black. I took the gold coin from my pocket and it had become black, too. I threw the coin with the rest of them on the floor and started looking at the lamp I had in my hands. It was gold, but it was really dirty so I used my head gear to clean it. Once it was clean I looked at it closer and noticed one spot remained dirty so I wiped it again. While I was trying to clean the lamp it started to tremble and started releasing a white mist. This surprised me and I dropped the lamp and it cracked. Out of nowhere I felt something fall on top of me and heard a feminine scream. I lay there for a moment before I said, ‘You can get off me now. You are heavy.’ Whoever was on top of me got off and stood in front me while I got to my feet. As I was gaining my balance I heard the feminine voice ask, ‘Do you need help?’ and she stretched out her hand to help steady me. I shook it off, since I was going to give her a piece of my mind for falling on top of me, but when I looked up what I saw wasn’t what I was expecting and all of my words got caught in my throat.”
Blake interrupted Roy by asking, “What was in front of you that made you react that way?”
Roy gets a dreamy look in his eyes and he answers, “The most beautiful woman I have ever laid my eyes on.”
Christina feigns hurt and with a pouty voice asks, “More beautiful than me?”
Roy looks at Christina and answers, “You are beautiful, but she was on another level. No one can compare to her. Her beauty was out of this world. Now, let’s continue; I was mesmerized by the beauty of the woman in front of me. She had eyes as green as emeralds, creamy white skin and blonde hair that put the color gold to shame.”
Brock interrupts him this time and asks, “What was her name?”
“If you will stop interrupting me I will tell you. Now then, I asked her, ‘What’s your name?’ She answered with the sweetest voice I have ever heard, ‘I am the femal
e genie, Akasha.’”
Blake loudly interrupts Roy again, “You found a female genie? Did she grant you a wish? Did she go with you? Do you still have the lamp with you?”
Phantom hits Blake on the back of the head and says, “Calm yourself, man, and lower your voice. We are at a bar not a football game.”
Roy clears his throat and continues, “I was astonished at this turn of events and I had to ask, ‘Do you grant three wishes?’ Akasha answered irritably, ‘No, I don’t grant three wishes, I only grant one.’ Akasha looked around and saw the lamp lying on the ground and said, ‘Oh no, you cracked the lamp. This isn’t going to end well. You couldn’t keep your hands steady and you dropped my lamp.’ Suddenly we were sucked into the lamp.”
Christina grins when Roy pauses and says, “I like her. She has an attitude. What happened once inside?”
Roy grins back at her and says, “That’s next, but first let me get my drink refilled. I’m thirsty.” He signals the bartender, who ignores him until he takes out a hundred dollar bill. Then he comes running. Roy smirks and says, “Money talks.”
Chapter 5
Phantom, Christina, Brock and Blake are all looking at Roy with questioning looks. Roy asks, “What?”
Phantom answers, “I don’t know if you are lucky or cursed, man.”
Christina adds, “Not only did you lose your camel, but you are chased by a big spider you couldn’t kill.”
Brock completes her sentence, “Then you end up in a cursed temple in who knows where and you find a lamp.”
Blake finishes by saying, “And inside the lamp is a genie. Not just any genie, but a female genie. Then you break the lamp and get sucked into it. With one of these situations happening I would say you are lucky, but having all of them happen at the same time, it’s more than impossible to be lucky. You really have big bad luck.”
