A hot summer day was nearing its end. The sky started turning crimson but the people from the hotel were still walking around the hotel’s outdoor swimming pool. Farina was lying on a deck chair, wearing a hat and big sunglasses, holding a book in her hands. She wasn’t reading the book, her attention was focused on one man still swimming in the pool. 

Farina watched the man get out of the pool and saw another man give him a towel, all the time watching the other people in the pool area like a hawk. As they started to walk towards the hotel two more men in white shirts followed them.

'Only three bodyguards at the pool. Time is making him sloppy.’ Farina thought to herself while watching the man enter the hotel. After the man left, she remained in the pool area, waiting to see if anybody will follow them. After a while, seeing that no one followed, she got up and put her plan in motion.

The man she was watching was an old acquaintance of hers, if you could call him that. Farina remembered the first time she met him, his name, Ted Edwards at that time meant nothing to anybody. Now his name is famous, written in magazines and celebrated on television and on the internet as the future savior of the world, all thanks to her and his deceit. 

As famous as Ted now was, he kept his whereabouts really well hidden from the public and with so much wealth he hired an army of bodyguards. All of that made him harder to track down and get close to him. But after years of searching and trying to get to him, he started to get sloppy and Farina finally had him within her grasp. She knew that the three men at the swimming pool weren’t his only bodyguards, they were only the ones who followed him where he went. The rest of the bodyguards were probably in the presidential suite, guarding it. 

The first time Farina met Ted was when he stumbled upon her vessel while rummaging through stuff in an abandoned building. At that time Ted was a nobody, a homeless man living in the streets, rummaging through dumpsters and abandoned houses to find food. While he was searching through an abandoned building, he saw her vessel shine in the dark. He picked it up, opened it and released Farina into the world. 

At first, Farina looked at the man that released her and started moving towards him. She saw him back away from her, scared of unusual appearance, her dark skin, claws, her black eyes and her white hair, holding her vessel. As a Jinn, she had to grant a wish to whoever released her but she hated humans and granting their wishes. She didn’t want to grant a wish to the man in front of her, so she planned to just take her jar away from him. 

“Give me back my vessel.” Farina said.

“What… What are you?” Ted asked with a tremor in his voice.

“It’s better you do not know. Give me back my vessel and I will not hurt you.” Farina said knowing that the man didn’t know she can’t hurt him while he’s holding her vessel.

“Are you a Genie? If I released you that means you have to grant me three wishes.” Ted said.

“What is your name?” Farina asked.

“Ted… Ted Edwards. Why?” Ted asked.

“I’m not that thing you said. I am a Jinn and the vessel you’re holding belongs to me. Give it back to me and no harm will come to you Ted Edwards.” Farina said.

“No, I’m not giving it back. You are a Genie and you have to fulfill my wishes.” Ted said.

Jinns were not patient or nice creatures, the thing that the man spoke about was a fairytale. Jinns didn’t like humans and would kill them in an instant, without any regret or a second thought and they hated that they had to fulfill wishes to humans who released them. Farina had the urge to kill Ted but as long as he had her vessel she couldn’t harm him. She looked at him and, trying to fool him, said. “You talk nonsense. Jinns do not grant three wishes to humans.” 

“No, I know what you are, you are a Genie and you have to grant me three wishes.” Ted said.

Angry that her plan to fool the human and get her vessel back wasn’t going well, Farina said. “Stop talking about your human nonsense. Every one of you humans asked for three wishes but as a Jinn I can grant only one wish. I will grant your wish only if you give me my vessel back.” She relented because she needed her vessel back. Jinns alone had limited magical powers the vessel was the one that gave the Jinns true magic.

“Just one wish?” Ted asked.

“Yes, one wish. All of you humans are the same, you all wish for wealth and fame so ask for it and let us be done.” Farina said with spite in her voice. For her, all the humans were the same. The same ugly, vicious and arrogant creatures that acted like everything in the world belonged only to them and that they could do anything they wanted without consequences.

“Yes, I wish for unlimited wealth and worldwide fame.” Ted said.

“As soon as I grant you your wish Ted Edwards, leave my vessel on the floor, leave this place and no harm will befall you. Deceive me and you will feel my wrath. Are we agreed?” Farina said.

Stolen story; please report.

“Yes, grant me my wish.” Ted said.

Farina chanted the wish and after she finished, she said. “It is done. Leve my vessel as we agreed and leave this place.”

As she said that, Farina saw an evil smile starting to form on Ted’s face. He opened the jar, thinking that opening it will trap her inside and that he will be able to use her to grant him more wishes. But nothing happened, because Jinns can enter and come out of their vessels at their own free will. Jinns stay in their vessels when they need to rest and replenish their magic and humans are the only ones that can force a Jinn out of its vessel. She was still standing in front of him, realized what he tried to do and said. “You coward, you dare to deceive me. You cannot trap me in my vessel.” She started moving towards him, hoping he would drop her vessel so she could kill him, and shouted at him. “For your deceit, you will pay!” 

Ted knew that the vessel was important and that there had to be a way to make the Jinn grant him more wishes so he turned around and, still holding her vessel, started to run away. Farina followed him but as she got out of the abandoned building, she saw a crowd of humans, strange things passing at great speed in front of her and buildings so tall that it looked as if they were touching the sky. Seeing how much the world changed and seeing humans stare at her, she stopped chasing Ted and returned into the abandoned building. In the building, she managed to summon enough magic to change into a human shape. The magic started to leave her body as Ted got farther and farther from her. The loss of her vessel left her feeling incomplete. In the human shape, she once again left the abandoned building determined to get her vessel back and punish Ted for his deceit.

Ever since then Farina was trying to get to her vessel and to Ted. All the time she felt a force pulling her to her vessel, that was enough to know where he is but wasn’t enough to get to him and retrieve what was stolen from her. With his wealth, he moved around the world with her vessel surrounded by an army of bodyguards. But now, at this hotel, she finally had a chance to get her revenge. Time and wealth made Ted feel untouchable, but in her eyes it only made him look vulnerable. She sneaked into the personnel part of the hotel and stole one of the staff uniforms. She hurried to her hotel room and ordered food to be delivered to her room.

After a while, Farina heard knocking on the door and let the staff member with the food trolley into her room. She knocked out the staff member, got his staff key, changed into the staff uniform she stole, hid two guns with silencers in the food trolley and got out of her room. Now, looking like a member of the hotel staff delivering food, she took the food trolley and using the hotel staff key went up to the presidential suite. As she got out of the elevator, she saw two men standing in front of the presidential suite door. 

‘Stingy on the bodyguards again.’ Farina thought to herself as she pushed the food trolley towards the door. One of the bodyguards stopped her to search the food trolley for anything suspicious and as he bent down to check the lower part of the trolley, Farina took the guns from the hiding spot and shot both bodyguards. As their lifeless bodies fell to the ground, she pushed the door open and entered the presidential suite. Inside, she saw the two men in white shirts, the same men from the pool area, another man sitting by the door and Ted talking to the man who handed him the towel earlier. 

Ted turned towards her and started saying that they didn’t order food but Farina reached for her guns, tucked behind in her pants, and shot the two men in white shirts in the head. The man that was talking to Ted, dropped him on the floor telling him to hide, reached for his gun and started shooting at her. She hid behind the couch, saw the man by the door pointing a gun at her, fired and hit his hand. She fired again but this time she shot him in the chest and he fell to the floor. 

‘Only one man left.’ Farina thought to herself as the man hiding behind another couch fired at her. She fired a few shots but couldn’t hit him. She changed her tactics, fired two shots to make the man hide, jumped over the couch she was hiding behind, leaped over the room and laned on the couch where the bodyguard was hiding. She stood on the couch, looked down, behind the couch, at the bodyguard and shot him from above. 

With all of the bodyguards dead, Farina walked over to the bed, crouched down and pulled Ted out from under the bed. She grabbed him by the neck and slammed him against the wall.

“Hello, Ted Edwards. Stingy on the bodyguards, are we? All this time made you sloppy. You thought I gave up chasing after you?” Farina said.

Barely able to speak with Farina holding him by the neck Ted said. “Who the hell are you?”

“Oh yeah. I forgot. When we met I didn’t look like this.” Farina said and changed back into her normal form. Her Jinn form.

Seeing her change, Ted was overwhelmed by fear. He started to hit Farina’s hand that was holding him and, hitting and kicking, tried to get free. Even as a Jinn without her vessel she was stronger than him so she slammed him against a wall again.

“Calm down now, you coward. If you keep squirming like that, we won’t be able to have a little talk about what you have done.” Farina said as a malicious smile appeared on her face. “First things first. Where is my vessel?” She asked.

Ted pointed at the safe in the corner of the room and Farina, still holding him by the neck dragged him over to it. “Open it!” She yelled at him.

“No. If I open it you will kill me.” Ted said.

“Oh, don’t be like that. I will kill you either way. The only difference is that if you open the safe your death will be quick. If you don’t open it, I will cut you up into pieces while you watch. What will it be?” Farina said.

“Please don’t kill me. I didn’t want to take your vessel from you. I wanted to give it back to you but I couldn’t find you.” Ted begged and Farina looked at his eyes with a piercing stare. It almost looked like she was looking directly at his soul.

“Nice try. You could have at least faked some tears. Now, what will it be? Will you open the safe?” Farina asked.

Realizing that Farina saw right through his lies, Ted opened the safe. Farina reached in and took out her vessel. She felt the magic rush through her body and started to feel complete again. Her eyes focused on Ted who was now crying and begging her not to kill him. Still holding him she tightened her grip and snapped his neck. 

Farina looked at her vessel with a smile on her face, looked at Ted one more time and felt satisfied that what he did to her was made right. Leaving the room she used her magic and teleported away.