As Jon ran, his cellphone rang.
"Whoever this is ... I'm kind of busy ... at the moment," Jon said into the phone, breathing heavily.
"Having fun?" It was the unknown caller.
"You son of a bitch!" Jon yelled into the phone. "What gives you the right to ..."
"You did," he said, cutting Jon off. "The moment you made that wish for something interesting to happen, I came into being. And for that, I am grateful." Jon could almost hear him smiling, if that was possible.
"Don't expect me to feel the same way," Jon said.
"Believe me, I don't. But that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun along the way."
"You call this fun?" Jon asked. He took the phone away from his ear for a moment, as he climbed over a chain link fence and dropped into someone's back yard.
"Be careful on that fence, Jon," the unknown caller said.
"How did you know that I was climbing over a fence?" Jon asked. "Are you watching me?"
The voice on the phone chuckled a little. "Of course I'm watching you. Every game needs a spectator."
Jon looked around, but didn't see anyone.
"You won't be able to find me, Jon."
"Where are you?"
"Even if I told you, you'd never find me. So, let's get back to the game, shall we? You better get Karyn or she'll remain that way when the game is over."
"What do you mean? I thought the game was over when I get everyone back to their house."
"Oh, that's true, but there's also a time limit. If you don't get everyone back to normal by midnight tonight, everyone will automatically be returned to their correct house and family ... but will retain the personality and lifestyle of whomever they are right now ... forever."
"Midnight? But that only gives me about seven hours. There's no way I can do it."
"Then you better get used to having a Goth Karyn around," the raspy voice said. Again, Jon could hear the smile in his voice.
Jon groaned, then was about to say something, but the line went dead. He put the phone in his pocket, then climbed up onto the next fence to get a better look around the neighborhood. The phone call had thrown him off track. For the moment, he had lost Karyn. He had no idea where she had run off to.
