CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Harrat's wish replayed in my head for several seconds. "I wish you to kill her, I wish to kill her, I wish you to kill her…" His finger was still pointing at me.

It was as if everything around me, all the fighting, was now going in slow motion. I looked at Gene and our eyes locked for a brief moment. We both stood perfectly still. His eyes were full of fear. That is when I realized that I wasn't afraid. Even though I knew that Gene had to obey his master, that he would have to kill me, I could not bring myself to be afraid of him.

Gene made his way towards me. I could tell he was fighting the urge. His steps were slow. Suddenly there was a knife in his hand. I didn't bother trying to run; I knew there was no use.

"Go!" Gene yelled at me. "Run!"

I shook my head slowly. I would not run. I still wasn't afraid, even though Gene now had a weapon and was advancing, even though everything around me was still going in slow motion.

"Go!" Gene tried again.

I ignored him this time, and just stayed frozen in my place. Gene reached me a few moments later. I didn't even flinch, as he got close enough that if he moved one step to the right, our lips would touch.

"Why won't you run?" he whispered in my ear.

I turned to face him. "I trust you," I said simply. That was all there was to it.

Gene lifted the knife. I could see his muscles straining against the force that was pulling him to do what he had to do. The knife was coming down at me. I closed my eyes, feeling almost at peace. I heard people yelling around me, not from the fighting though. They were yelling at me, telling me to move, calling for Gene to stop. I wanted to tell them that there was nothing to worry about, but I knew they would not understand.

No knife ever came down on me. I never felt even the tiniest scratch. When I opened my eyes, Gene was on the ground in front of me, the knife gone. He was staring at the ceiling of the cave, his face filled with pain. I realized that the fighting around me had stopped. Harrat was staring at the lamp in his hands as if he had just lost a child. Everyone else's eyes were on Gene and me.

I kneeled down and Gene looked at me.

"I knew," I said, tears in my eyes.

"You weren't even afraid," Gene said, voice strained.

"I'm sorry." I didn't have anything else to offer. "I couldn't stop it. I knew I couldn't."

"Don't be sorry," Gene objected. "I have a future now. I won't just cease to exist. I was getting a little worried. I was down to the last half hour there."

I smiled through my tears. "You try to sugarcoat everything don't you?"

"Yes," Gene said. "But I won't lie. It hurts like hell."

I heard an enraged yell and the sound of something breaking. I looked up. Harrat had thrown the lamp against the wall, and it had cracked and broken to the floor. He pointed at me. "You will pay for this!" I had never seen anyone so mad.

"Can you get up?" I asked Gene.

"No," Gene said. "But I can manage to teleport myself eventually. Go."

I hesitated.

"They can't hurt me," Gene said. "Go."

"We have to make a run for it," Rachel said from behind me.

I turned away from Gene and ran with everyone else, out of the tunnel in which Jafar and Aladdin had escaped. The forty thieves, realizing that there was no point in chasing us down, ignored Harrat's orders. He was still yelling and raging when we reached the tomb and escaped into the outside world. The tomb was high up on a mountain. The edge of the mountain was nearby. But the beautiful view could not lift my spirits.

I felt no joy in being outside once again. The swelling in my eye had gone down considerably. The skin on my arms had begun to heal. But I was filled with more pain than I had been in before. I remembered only one other pain like it, when I was informed that my dad had died in a car crash. That was how I felt now, not truly excepting what had happened, but still somehow knowing it was true.

"Ebony!" Rachel yelled suddenly. "Watch out!"

I hadn't even realized that I had stopped walking. Rachel was pointing at something behind me. I turned to see Harrat charging out of the tomb, knife in hand, straight towards me. With Rachel's warning, I was able to jump out of the way just in time. I landed hard on the grass near the mountain's edge. Harrat's momentum almost brought him over the cliff edge, but he stopped himself and came back after me. I rolled out of the way as he tried to stab the knife down at me and kicked, aiming for the hand that held the knife, so that he would drop it. Harrat tried to avoid my kick, but he went the wrong way. I ended up kicking him in the stomach and he flew back. Suddenly he was gone from sight. It took my a while to realize that I had accidentally kicked him over the cliff's edge.

I stood very still, staring at where Harrat used to be. I had just killed someone….I had just killed someone. The thought kept running over in my head, just as Harrat's command to kill me had run over and over again.

"It's okay Ebony," I heard Rachel say beside me. "It's okay. He would have killed you, and all of the rest of us. He never would have stopped. It was an accident."

Slowly, shakily, I stood up. Today had been much too taxing. I collapsed into my younger sister's arms.

I woke up at Ali Baba's house with the sun shining. Gene was there, relaxed on the couch next to me. Everyone rushed to me to see if I was okay. I told everyone I was fine. It was not the truth, but I did not want them to worry about me, and I did feel better about what had happened to Harrat.

Gene was still in a lot of pain, but Arth informed us that the pain would reduce eventually. Then Gene would just get sick, and start to fade. Arth defined 'fading' as slowly getting more transparent.

"How much time does he have?" Aladdin asked.

"I'd say a week or so," Arth said, not wanting to lie.

"I want to have the ceremony for Aladdin," Gene said to Ali. "We have to do it soon."

"You don't have to do that, you know," Ali said. "We don't have to pass you down."

"Yes you do," Gene said. "I have to do it. Please."

Ali could not deny Gene his last wish. He nodded. "In two days we will have it."

I looked at my mother, not even needing to ask. "Yes, we can stay for the ceremony," she said. "But we are leaving right after that."

I decided not to argue. I knew that she was just trying to do what was best for me. I gave her a hug instead and said, with meaning, "I love you, Mom."

"I love you too, Ebony."

"I'm sorry," I added.

"Its okay." My mom pulled away from me to look me in the eye. She held my face in her hands. "I'm proud of you, Sweetheart," she said. "I'm so proud of what you have done. And your father would be too. You have a big heart and a good head. Very few people could have done what you did in the last few days. But don't get me wrong," my mom smiled. "You are still being punished for not telling me."

"Thanks, Mom." It was the closest moment we had shared since my dad had passed away.

Then Rachel and Meghann came to hug me. "We're so glad you are okay," Rachel said. "We thought that Harrat guy would kill you."

"We were so scared," Meghann added.

"Don't worry about me guys," I said, smiling at Gene over their shoulders. "I have my very own hero." Gene smiled back at me.