Briefcase Full of Souls - Part III (fiction)

Part 2

Chapter One

After getting a cab back to his car, Gabriel checked into a hotel room and plopped down on the bed. He lay there staring at the ceiling for a long time with nothing going through his head except a lingering, nonspecific, anxiety. After almost half an hour of that he got up and opened the mini-fridge. After looking at the prices he had to remind himself that he no longer had a job. He picked up the TV remote and just stared at it with apathy. Ultimately, his conscious mind solidified a single thought; I’m sticky and smell bad.

After showering and scrubbing the blood out of his clothes in the sink, he left them to dry on the radiator. Exiting the bathroom wrapped in a towel, he looked over his worldly possessions; car keys, wallet, fetish thong thingy, broken phone, shoes in need of new soles (Ha!), that little leather charm thing. He put the thong around his neck, threw the phone away, and sat down on the bed tossing the little charm from one hand to the other.

His reflection in the TV screen stared back at him. His only remaining companion. That guy looked tired, lost, and a little bit unstable. Would hate to be him. No direction, no bearings, nothing left to hold onto.

“What are we going to do?” He muttered.

“I’m going to need you to speak up and be a little less vague.”

“You’re telling me.”

“Yes. I am.”

Gabriel frowned at his reflection. He turned his head towards the bathroom door and the presence of the Arabic looking woman there caused him to tumble off the bed and out of his towel.

“Who the fuck are you‽” he barked as he stood and wrapped the towel around his waist.

The woman peered at him. “I’m Ishmianthe.”

“Who?”

“Ishm--” she rolled her eyes, “Rapunzel.”

“Rapun—Oh!” Gabriel stuttered with sudden realization. “I never actually saw…you.”

“You did actually.” she said as she leaned against the wall. “I just don’t always look like this.”

“I’m sorry, you startled me.”

Ishmianthe nodded slowly. “I noticed.”

“…Uh…”

Ishmianthe sighed and placed a hand on her face before dragging it over her head. “This is going to be one of those conversations isn’t it. Just speak your thoughts one at a time so we can move on.”

Gabriel sat down on the bed trying to get his brain working again. He examined Ishmianthe trying to find a starting point there. Her features were lovely with olive skin and shoulder length dark hair with a slight greenish tint to it. She was barefoot wearing a long skirt made from some sort of dark blue material that appeared to undulate in waves and a short sleeved grey canvas blouse that cut off a few inches below her bust. Around her forearms were ribbons of pink coral that snaked up to her elbow; two more rings were around her ankles.

“Heh, I Dream of Jeannie.” Gabriel said with a slight grin.

She shook her head. “I don’t know what that means.”

“You…” Gabriel voice became somber. “You look like someone I knew.”

“That’s understandable."

"She was an genie."

"The proper respectfull term is Djinn. Although, Suriya was more specifically an Afrit."

"You knew her‽"

"Of course." she shrugged. "Why do you think I called out to you to help release me in the first place? I felt her on you."

Gabriel's surprise sloughed into a crestfallen expression. "She's dead."

Isthmianthe's eyes shot wide, then she clasped her hands and squeezed her eyes shut. There was no way for Gabriel to fully read her expression or even really understand what she was doing now. But after a long pause, almost imperceptively, a light flared once behind her right eyelid. Ishmianthe smiled a private smile.

"I know." she said.

Desperate to change the subject, Gabriel spoke up. "So you were like her...But watery?"

Ishmianthe cocked her head and smirked. "I would actually say that she wished that she was like me. But I can't fault her for choice of lovers. One can't help but admire one's betters."

It was at this point that Gabriel looked particulalrly perplexed, so the great and glorious avatar of primal forces decided to take pity on the shaved monkey. "You had a problem?"

"Oh. I just...I don't know what to do now."

"That's hardly a dire concern." Ishmianthe scoffed.

"I think it is! In the last twenty-four hours, I was shot at, learned my wife died pregnant, got beaten up, quit what would be considered my job, threatened, saw a friend die, deemed 'insignificant', and then half-assed framed for murder. I damn well think I should be doing something!"

Ishmianthe's expression was neutrel but her eyes bore down on Gabriel with the weight of eons. "I would suggest you do not raise your voice at me in that fashion again."

Gabriel's mild paralysis subsided and he muttered, "I'm sorry."

"Now," Ishmianthe said, placing her hands on her hips, "Which one of those things you listed did you have control over?"

Gabriel started to argue that none of them had been under his control, but the look on Ishmianthe's face made him think before speaking. "I quit my job."

"Then I suggest you go and get it back."

"But Bastiaan's an asshole!" Gabriel whined.

Ishmainthe raised an eyebrow. "You were working for the apprentice?"

This time it was Gabriel's turn to give an incredulous look. "How do you not know that?"

"Boy, I have spent the last one-hundred-and-fifty-one years bound to the body of a southern debutante. I am still learning how the world has changed since my imprisonment and do not know the current situation of all my past aquaintences."

"I'm sorry. I forgot."

"Was the reason you came under the employ of Bastiaan important to you?"

"Yes." Gabriel said softly. "More than anything."

"Then focus on that. Make it the core of your being. Besides, service and duty are noble persuits."

"I'll try." Gabriel nodded to himself. "...How come you don't know what I Dream of Jeannie is? It's a famous TV show."

"Roberta didn't care for television. When she wanted entertainment, she read, listened to music, or fucked."

"Oh." Gabriel said, trying to forget that last mental image. "Um, thanks. You've helped."

"Then, I will leave you to it." Ishmianthe said and walked back to the bathroom door. "Hold on to the charm. I still owe you a boon."

"But I thought--" Gabriel began.

Ishmianthe turned her head to Gabriel and said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "You have to ask for it." Then steam rolled out of the bathroom in a great opaque cloud, enveloping the creature and dispearsed leaving no trace that she had ever been there."

To be continued...

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