Lifestyle of a Bisexual Djinn

"You're welcome," I said to Aileen, and she threw her arms around her father. Hours later, Aidan Jenkins made a miraculous recovery that astounded the Toronto General Hospital staff. They were actually about to send the old man to an hospice, if you can believe that. I willed myself to be invisible as Aileen embraced her father upon his waking. It felt like the right thing to do. I didn't want to intrude.

In the ether, I thought about my life, my old life, I mean. I thought about my parents, Lincoln Woodson and Mariam Abbas. I briefly checked up on them prior to leaving Michigan. They're doing alright, I guess. They find life hell without me, their only son, but they're both seeing other people. I wish I could come back, but not like this. It's against the Rules, somehow, I simply know it, down deep in my now intangible bones.

"You kept your word, Maher, and now I keep mine, I set you free," Aileen said to me, three days after her father's miraculous recovery. She was quite enthusiastic, and I guess I shared that sentiment, for many reasons. I looked at her and smiled, astonished that she was actually keeping her word. I stood there, quietly awaiting...something. I thought of Afreet the Djinn, and how he'd vanished after killing me. Would I vanish like that?

"Nothing is happening," I said softly, and Aileen looked at me, anguish on her lovely face. I could tell that she was sincere in her desire to free me. She went back to her book of incantations and flipped through the pages. She tried spell after spell. Nothing. Finally, I'd had enough and informed her as much. There was no point, really...

"Maher, I am sorry, I'll find a way to free you, I promise," Aileen said, and I nodded gently. Inwardly, I felt disappointed. I had been looking forward to resuming my life as a mortal man. I was going to return to Michigan, and be reunited with my parents. Sadly, even as a Djinn, I knew that fairy tales like what I had in mind simply could not come true. Even in a world where magic is real...

"It's alright," I said, and I closed my eyes, turned away from Aileen and willed myself elsewhere. Invisible and intangible, I floated around the here and there. Los Angeles, Vienna, Accra, Melbourne, Lagos, Tokyo, I flew past all those cities and their myriad, unique populations as I continued to roam. Aileen called for me, but I ignored her. I didn't mean to, but it's nice to know that I can. I do have some free will. Cool, right?

As I soared through the heavens, I also detected the Others. Beings of great power that live in this world and have been there for a long time. I saw them the way one sees other cars speeding past on the highway. Scanning them with my supernatural gaze, I sensed that many were at my current level of power, though a few superceded me. Among them, I detected a few who really bear close watching...

I will return to Aileen, not because she's my owner because I don't acknowledge any being as having ownership of me, but because I have a new mission. A new awareness fills my mind. Climate change. Geological catastrophes. Mass beaching of marine wildlife. Plagues affecting human beings in tropical areas. Long thought to be the works of nature, all of these seemingly unrelated events bear the imprint of the cleverly disguised unnatural...

I, Maher Abbas, have always been a lost soul. I've always looked for a purpose. I sought fulfillment in a lifestyle of adventurism, I did the bed-hopping thing with female lovers and male lovers. I wasted a lot of time at NMU drinking and partying. I tangled with supernatural forces, and died, and now I am reborn as one of the Djinn. I had to die in order to learn how to live. Now I have something to live for. With Aileen as my ally, I intend to protect this world.

"Aileen, we must talk," I said to her as I returned to her dorm, twenty four hours after my departure. Aileen, who was sitting on the couch, wearing a tank top and pajamas, didn't even appear fazed by my supernatural entrance. I like to appear and disappear in a cloud of purple smoke. May the Gods and the late great artist formerly known as Prince forgive me. Don't ask.

"You needed to get some air, I can dig it, catch, Maher," Aileen replied, and she tossed me a beer. I caught the bottle of Alexander Keith's, a neat brand from Nova Scotia, Canada. I was more of a Heineken man when I was alive but hey, who says you can't improve when you're dead? Smiling, I popped it open and then plopped down on the couch next to Aileen, who was in the middle of an episode of The Handmaiden's Tale.

"After the show, I got something I want to discuss with you, it's about saving the world," I said, nonchalant as ever. Aileen nodded, and then took a sip of her beer. Leaning back on the couch, she stretched her legs, brushing against mine several times. I looked at her, and she smiled but said nothing. This is one strange gal but I like her style, I thought to myself. Don't know what the future holds for Aileen and I but since she's an amateur witch and I'm a newbie Djinn, it's going to be epic...