I fell asleep that night, dreaming of unlimited wishes, of chaos and nirvana, of disaster and magic. And, disturbingly, of what Karyn might look like in a bikini with her new shape.
I awoke to the sensation of a sharp point of cold steel at the back of my neck.
My eyes flew open - the clock beside my bed was said it was almost a quarter past three in the morning - and said a word my mother would've blushed to hear me say.
"That's a fact," said a voice. "And you're in it up to your neck, kid!"
Rough hands pulled me out of my bed, and I found myself facing about a half a dozen folk, all dressed in black sweats and berets. Two of them, a man and a woman, stood facing my bed. The others were busy ransacking my room.
"Hey!" I exclaimed. "What's going on? Who're you people?"
The woman stepped up and, with a smile, backhanded me across the face. Then she grabbed my earlobe and pulled me forward. "Wrong," she said, still smiling wickedly. "We ask the questions - you just answer them." She looked behind me to the goon holding me. "Take him down with the others."
Without a word, I found myself hauled none-too-gently down the stairs and into the living room. There, looking as confused and terrified as I felt, were my parents and my kid twin sisters, Wendy and Mindy. They were surrounded by a platoon or two of the black-clad thugs
"Oh, Jon," Mom said, "You're all right!" She rose to embrace me, but the brute behind her pulled her back down onto the sofa. "Everybody stay put!" he exclaimed as my own captor shoved me into an overstuffed chair.
We looked nervously at each other, but no one spoke. Around us, more goons were tearing the house apart, looking for something.
The rock! The thought lept unbidden into my head. They wnat the stupid rock! Grandpa, what have you done?!?
After a while, the pair in charge strolled down the stairs. "Any luck?" the man asked.
"None," the one in charge replied crisply. "It's not down here."
The woman frowned. "It's not up there either."
My heart beat faster. Had I hidden it that well? Or was I wrong about what they wanted? And if it wasn't the rock, what were they after?!?
