Jon sat at the bus stop for a full hour or two, staring at the pistol. His mind raced to find some way out of this nightmare, one that did not involve untimely death. However, he kept coming back to his own crimes and how he only had himself to blame.
Roger had been right. Jon was a coward, lacking the decency even to face his punishment like a man. Then again, he felt no shame in admitting that Roger scared him to death. For all that boy's talk about making his victims into better people and considering the consequences of his wishes, one could not deny his malicious intent and the pleasure he took in using people as tools. Couple that with ultimate power, and one truly had a monster in the making. No, anyone with any sense would be petrified.
Somehow, Roger had to be stopped, and of course, the task fell on Jon, the one who had started this whole mess. Chances of success: dismal.
Clenching his fist, he berated himself for the hundredth time. Why did he have to make that book club? Why did he have to choose that method of recruiting members? One by one, he mentally apologized to his five original victims, Sarah, Tiffany, Athena, Zelda and Biff, now better referred to as Buffy.
Buffy!
Suddenly, Jon blinked. A small inkling exploded into a full-blown epiphany. Thinking of how he had changed Biff into Buffy, he realized that he had done something different that time. Rather than simply wishing Biff to be someone who would love to be in his mom's book club the way he had done with Sarah, he had set things up so that every time he asked Biff/Buffy a yes or no question, the answer would always turn out to be yes. Could that wish possibly be still active? If so, could the right questions give him the edge he needed?
He had to take the chance. Jon stood up and tucked the pistol into his pocket. Leaving it behind would probably alert Roger. There was little doubt that his tormentor had ways of tracking him. Hopefully, he wasn't so obsessed with punishing Jon that he was literally watching him 24/7.
Just in case, though, Jon forced his steps to remain even as he headed back into town so as not to raise suspicion.
