"I wish ..." Officer Chase began.
"Stop!" a new voice rang out. This one belonged to a woman.
Danielle Chase turned and saw a group of people walking towards her. She didn't recognize any of them, though. There was a little girl, a muscular teenage boy wearing dark girl's clothes, a teenage girl, a woman, and a man that had a shaved head, goatee, and was covered with tattoos - he was the type of guy that looked at home in a prison ... although behind bars, not walking around freely. But Danielle knew that appearances could be deceiving, especially today.
"Who are you?" the officer asked.
"We're here to help," the little girl said. "That thing you have in your hand. It's a wishing stone. I've been looking for it all day."
"How do you know about the wishing stone?"
"Who the fuck cares?" Vic spat out. He turned towards the newcomers. "Don't just stand there. Grab that bitch! She made me get stuck in place. Me and the guards can't move."
"Why did you do that?" the little girl asked Danielle. "I can't believe someone would treat Amy Johnson, the most perfect and innocent person in the world, like that."
"That's not Amy Johnson. It's Vic Rudolph."
"What? Listen, I've known Amy for years. That's Amy Johnson," the little girl said.
"Then I wish you'd know the truth that it's not her," Danielle said. The stone glowed, granting her wish.
Karyn fell backwards, suddenly feeling dizzy. The others caught her, so that she wouldn't fall to the floor.
"Are you alright, Karyn?" the teenage boy asked. Then he looked up at Danielle. "What the fuck did you do to her?" he snapped.
"I made her see the truth."
Karyn looked at the girl she knew as Amy Johnson, but the officer was right. It wasn't her. It looked like her and she even thought that it sounded like her, but it wasn't her. It was confusing. Like she was being told two truths. But the truth that this girl was a man named Vic Rudolph came from the stone. And she knew that the stone wouldn't manufacture a lie, unless it was told to. She heard the wish, so she knew that this new truth had to be the truth. Even if it didn't make any sense.
"This cop's crazy," one of the guards said. "Go for help. Or at least stop her from whatever she's doing."
"That won't do any good," the tattooed man said. "She has the stone. She could erase all of us from existence, if she wanted."
"But you won't, will you?" Karyn asked, regaining her balance.
"No, I won't. I just want everything to go back to normal," Danielle said.
"That's why we're here," Karyn said, taking a step forward. "That stone belongs to my friend Jon Madison."
"Jon is your friend?"
"That's right. How do you know about him?"
"I made a wish to know what was happening. I guess some information about Jon was included." She paused. "Why would your friend cause all of this?"
"It was an accident. But he really wanted to fix it. That's why we've been tracking down the stone all day."
"And now you've found it."
"That's right," Karyn said, taking another step forward.
"Do you know how to fix things, to make everything return to normal?"
"We think so," the teenage girl said.
"But you need to give me the stone," Karyn said.
Danielle thought about it. This Karyn girl seemed like she had a plan, but her friend was the one that made all of this happen in the first place. Sure, maybe it was an accident, but was it wise to put the power of the stone back into the hands of someone who could make things worse? Maybe it was better off in Danielle's hands.
"Well?" Karyn asked, holding out her hand.
