That look. He’d seen it before. How he despised that look.
“I said, come, Jinny. Now.”
From off to his right, Royal heard a second voice. “What about me, Royal?”
He turned to face the voice. A second Jinny stood in the distance, poking her head around a wide maple trunk, her blonde hair a tempting fall over her shoulder.
Another one?
“Don’t you want me to come with you, too?” the second one asked.
Royal swallowed.This is stress, just stress. She’s not really there.
“Afraid of ghosts?” Jinny Number One taunted.
The two Jinnys broke into a graceful run, heading toward each other. As they passed, their hands touched. From behind them, a third Jinny appeared.
“What’s going on?” Royal demanded. “Stay still. You’re making my eyes blur.”
“Hello, big brother.” Jinny Number Three waved and winked. “Have you missed me?”
The first Jinny danced behind him, skirting out of his reach. “Why settle for one when you can have three?”
“That’s right,” said Jinny Two, blowing him a kiss. “You like being surrounded by women, don’t you? It makes you feel powerful.”
“Stop it!” Royal’s head pounded. His bear growled, unsure what was happening. He nudged the creature, beckoning to it, but it remained in its hole. It didn’t know what to do with all the blondes, so it cowered and hid. “This isn’t happening.”
“What’s the matter?” asked the first Jinny. “Are we too much for you? Would you prefer to see us stuffed and silent in your gallery?”
“Shut up.”
“Because I have news for you,” she continued. “We can speak. We have minds and hearts of our own, and we’re not alone.”
From behind the abandoned rest stop, a fourth Jinny ran. She rushed past him, her fragrance lingering in the air. “Royal, I bet you can’t catch me.”
He hurried back to his car. He didn’t want these Jinnys. They weren’t as good as the original.
“You can’t hide from us,” one of them called. “We’ll always be with you. You made sure of that.”
“No,” he muttered. “No, no, no.”
They followed him to the car in a slow, measured pursuit that would give him nightmares. He had to get rid of them. He fumbled in his pants pocket for his car keys. As he did, his heart beat out of his chest.
Memories of his gallery assaulted him. All of a sudden, a thousand Jinnys watched him, their pretty faces marred by hatred. The other Jinnys, the ones from his gallery, wanted revenge. Would they spring to life too?
With the four behind him, Royal pulled his car keys free and clicked the unlock button.
A fifth Jinny popped up on the other side of the car. “Hello, handsome. Going my way?”
Royal screamed. He opened the door, hurled himself inside, and locked it behind him.
It didn’t matter. The five women had him surrounded. They leaned against the car on all sides, calling his name. He couldn’t escape their wicked smiles. They dragged their slender fingers over his windows, tempting him back into the open. One of them tried the door and wagged her finger at him when she realized it was locked.
You may have escaped them, big brother, but I’ll always be in your head.
Jinny, the original one. If only he could lock her outside.
“Please,” he begged, hunching over, clutching his chest. “Just go away. I want all of you to go away.”
