Chapter Text
The feeling started as a coldness in her head and a sudden bright euphoria.
It was sickening, nearly putrid, and as she found herself walking back out to her—her?-car, all she saw was him. Bear. She felt as if she was a part of him, and she figured, oh okay.
She felt bad for him, was all, but something was clawing at her insides. Desperate, she said something about her cat dying? Her cat. Wait.
This was so weird and it was then something said inside of her—you want him. And Nikki blinked and looked and felt the feeling and she was revolted. It was a hungry, gnawing feeling, and she said:
”No,” under her breath and then a coldness hit her head. It spread from her head to her back to her toes, and she found herself trying to pull him out of the car to what, hurt him, this was —
this is what he wants.
and it was so foreign and she saw dark shark eyes in front of her face, no, in her mind and there was teeth.
let me him eat you up
“No!”
and it was a thought then. But it still echoed in her mind. She felt encased and smoother and everything was slipping away and something foreign was all over her and—
A telephone rang.
She blinked. She was in a room with brown walls. Like it was made of cookies. And there was a window and it was dark outside. And a telephone was ringing.
She could see it.
Nikki picked up the receiver.
“Hello.”
Said a voice. Nikki thought this was a dream.
“It’s not a dream. You are Nikki Freeman, aren’t you?”
The voice sounded bored and put out.
“You can speak to me.”
”I can’t,” she said and then she could. Somehow. It was like giving this nightmare more power. It was like —
“Good. We at the One Wish Willow company strive for full customer satisfaction. I realize this is not your wish but we want this to be as humane as possible. For you.”
Outside the window, she briefly saw Bear. Bear. The windows were her eyes.
“Help me!” she screamed.
“I’m trying to.”
”Not you. You are a figment of my fucking imagination.”
She knew better.
“You know better. But you don’t know why. You are the lucky recipient of a romantic wish.”
“Bear!” she called out.
”Yeah, his.”
”He made the wish. Unfortunately it seems you don’t feel the same way.”
you didn’t care enough, bitch. My cat!
“What is that?” she asked, trembling.
”Love for you since we can’t make love from nothing. It made a new side of you.”
”That’s not love.”
And something passed over the window and it was an empty face with big eyes.
“What is that?!”
”That is what we are calling you about,” the voice said, exasperated. “We need you to become one with that piece. Let her and you become one. It won’t hurt. At least I don’t think so.”
”No,” she whispered after a long silence.
“It will get worse. What is so bad about loving someone?”
…as if she was the one…
”How did he do this?”
”He made a wish on our product.”
”Then let me make one.”
”You aren’t a paying customer.”
A long silence.
”There’s a monster outside and you can’t help me? You could make a wish.”
”I can’t do that as an employee.”
”Please, I’ll…” and her whole body hurt.
“Yes?”
She was quiet, waiting to wake up. Bad dream. But that was a trap too. If she slept, she’d be eaten.
“How much did this cost?” she asked in a distant voice.
“Two dollars and fifty cents.”
Nikki hung up the phone.