So, this chapter has been re-edited and fixed. There will be more to come, as well as a continuation of this story.

Prologue: Wishes!

"Err! Stop cheating, damn, you can't substitute every time I try to hit you!"

"Actually yes I can," I stated, "substitution jutsus' are part of the game therefore I can use them as much as I want."

"I hate you!" He yelled clicking the controller faster trying to hit me was another air-combo attack, which I ended up substituting again for what seemed like the hundredth time.

Yep, It was just another normal Saturday night, and since it was dark outside and I had nothing else to do today me and my brother Antoine(But I called him Ant for short which was something he hated because it reminded him that he was short for his age) were in my room playing Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 on our Xbox 360. And as of right now I was winning, like always.

I had picked Kabuto Yakushi and Antoine had picked his favorite, Itachi Uchiha.

I could tell Antoine was getting fed up with me, but I just couldn't help but mess with him, it was just so funny to see his face every time I won a match.

On the television, Antoine tried to hit me with Itachi's fireball jutsu, however once again Kabuto substituted it and appeared behind him. Ants' HP was already in the red and I hit him with a chakra dissection blade from behind, bring his HP down even more to the point that he barely had any, giving me some of his chakra orbs as a bonus. Itachi got up and started gather chakra, which I knew Ant' would to use for Susanoo in a last ditch effort to survive.

But, we can't have that now can we, I wanted to win this with a perfect score, my life was still at one-hundred percent and I planned on keeping it that way.

I pressed another button on the controller, making Kabuto threw an explosive tag, knocking Itachi a couple of feet away from him.

I looked over at Ant' as he kept muttering, "come on get up Itachi."

I smirked, this was end game. "I'm sorry to say this Ant', but you lose," I said in a cheery tone. I pressed Y then Y-B and Kabuto laid a scroll on the ground, got one knee, did a hand sigh and summoned two Kabuto cadaver clones on both sides of him.

"Forbidden: Dead Soul Jutsu!" The two clones rushed foreword and slashed Itachi with a chakra dissection blade on both sides at the same time dropping his life down to zero, then Kabuto walked pass, sinister and cool looking, and slashed him with his own chakra dissection blade, giving a evil smirk after he was done.

A huge player 2 wins appeared on the TV screen.

I looked over at Ant' with a huge grin on my face and said, "So Ant, was that considered over kill?"

"No, fuckin' hell!" Antoine gave a yell in outrage and slammed the controller down hard, luckily for me there was a sheet in front of my bed or it probably would have broken. "You fuckin' cheater! You can't substitute every time I try to hit you!"

"Yes I can, it's part of the game, so I can do it as much as I want," I said smirking at Antoine's anger.

"But, that's cheating!"

"Oh, you wanna talk about cheating?" I asked. "Need I bring up your 'sniping skills' on Call Of Duty, camper?"

"You know what..." he slammed his hand down on the mattress, "FUCK THIS GAME!"

I sighed. Cursing this loud was something he probably shouldn't have done, the door was wide open not only that but my older sister, Kim, was right down stairs in the kitchen cooking dinner, and the kitchen was right next to the stairs. So she pretty much heard everything Ant said.

"Antoine, watch your mouth! What did I tell you about cussing!" I heard her yell up stairs, Antoine looked at me with a 'this-is-all-your-fault' look.

"Kim, it wasn't my fault, Kevin was cheatin' on da game and I got mad! It's his fault!" He yelled back.

"I don't care just don't do it again, or I'll be washing your mouth out with soap," she stopped a moment before continuing, "...now both of you come eat before I change my mind and you both go hungry!"

Antoine got up and started walking out the room muttering cuss words under his breath, I stayed behind to put the game and stuff away.

My room wasn't really that big, I mean it was a pretty descent size but it was still small compared to my sister's room. I had four dressers, 2 small ones, 1 tall one, and 1 wide one that had a mirror attached to the top of it. I had a queen sized bed near my bedroom door with one of my smaller dressers close by it. And for the finishing touches I had 2 book small cases, one held my normal reading books and the other had my favorite books of all, Manga.

I had all different types of Manga. Naruto, Hell Girl, Elfen lied, Bleach, Inuyasha, D-N-Angel, Hellsing and Blood Plus, but my all time favorite at the moment was Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni.

I've watched anime before and fell in love with it almost instantly, after five episodes I was completely hooked on it. Now, don't get me wrong. I am not in any way an otaku (then again, I might just be lying to myself). I've just always been into horror and mystery books. Hell, most of the normal novels I read are horror and/or mystery books. But there was just something about Higurashi that drew me in faster then I could blink.

It took me only about ten minutes to straighten up my things. Looking around the room, I gave a nod in approval. "Yep, this will do just fine for now." I went over and picked up my Naruto game and put it on the top shelf in my closet with my other games before I headed down stairs. Hopefully, Antoine wouldn't be mad at me over his lose. It may have been just a game, but he could be a pretty sore loser at times.

XxxX

When I got to the kitchen, Antoine and Kim were already sitting at the table eating dinner. I sat at my seat, which was right next to Ant, and looked at the food that in front of me. There were four large plastic bowls on the table, one was filled with shredded cheese, one was filled with lettuce, and the other ones were filled with tomatoes and ground beef and there was also a tray of taco shells.

This could only mean one thing, taco night!

"Yes, tacos!" I gave a cheeky grin and reached over the table grabbing three taco shells from the tray and put them on my plate. I filled each shell with shredded cheese, lettuce and ground beef. I didn't really care much for tomatoes, I never really like them much.

"So, Kevin, what took you so long getting down here?" Kim asked taking another bite of her taco.

I took a bite of my own food and answered her, "I was cleaning my room, someone decided to throw a temper tantrum earlier because they got their ass kicked in Naruto, again."

"You know that isn't what happen! You cheated!" Antoine looked at Kim, while pointing his finger at me, "and how come he can say cuss words and I can't?"

Kim just shrugged her shoulders and answered plainly. "Technically, ass is not a cuss word, I can stand that. But, what I can't stand is a thirteen-year-old dropping the F bomb two times a second."

"I'm not thirteen, I'm fourteen, jeez," Ant' muttered. "Get it right, Kim."

"Please boy, you won't be fourteen until July, you've got a whole month to go, short-stuff."

"Can you please stop calling me that?" Antoine whined.

"Sure~, I'll stop. When you grow two more inches," Kim responded smirking, putting up her middle and index fingers.

I chuckled silently as Ant' grumble under his breath and went back to eating his food, I looked over at Kim and smiled.

I really enjoyed nights like this because Kim was usually still at work during this time, she apart of the Philadelphia police department or PPD for short, so she spent most of her time patrolling around South Philadelphia at night, which isn't the safest place you want to be. But, before she joined the police force, she used to be in the U.S Marines.

Kimberly was her full name, but we called her Kim. She's a very beautiful women and anyone who knew her would tell you that, she had short brownish, black hair that came down just above her shoulders, light brown skin, brown eyes and a hour glass figure like my late mother. Plus ...she was a major, major tom boy and rarely wore anything girly like dresses or skirts. Not to mention her love for knives, swords and firearms.

Antoine was a whole other story all together; lets just say he is the trouble maker of the family, always has been. He couldn't go one day without doing something he wasn't supposed to. He had brownish, black hair styled in dreadlocks that came down a little bit past his shoulders, he was about five-foot-one or five-two and his eyes were dark brown, close to being black and he wore a kind smile on his face. Most of the time, it could turn sneaky at the drop of a hat. Other than being a trouble maker his other hobbies were martial arts and any sport that could make him break a sweat; mostly basketball.

As for me. Well, I was just your average guy, my name was Kevin but most people I know just called me Kev' for short. I got most of my looks from my grandfather on my mother's side of the family who was Native America. I had brown eyes, and brown skin, and straight black hair, that actually used to be a little longer than my sister's hair until I began getting it cut a few years back. I didn't really have any other hobbies besides reading Manga and playing video games, unless you counted cooking and baking.

After I was finished eating, I got up and put my plate and cup in the sink. "Oh yeah, Ant', just so you know it's your turn for dishes," he looked up at me with an annoyed expression on his face.

"I know that," Antoine muttered.

"Of course you do, I was just making sure."

I walked out of the dinning room and took a seat on the couch in front of the Television. There wasn't really anything on so I decided to turn to Dane Cook's stand up on comedy central. It was a really funny one. Especially the part when he talked about the Kool-aid man, about 30 minutes into the show I yawned and got up and stretch.

"Guess that's enough laughs, a guy needs his beauty sleep." I joked, pressing the television's power button on the remote. I was about to head up stairs to the comfort of my own bed, when the doorbell rang.

"Damn it, and right when I was about to go to sleep." I walked over to the front door and looked out the peep hole, I couldn't really tell exactly who it was, however, I could tell it was a lady. Then, I remember the peephole got broken. It slipped my mind how; not that that's really important.

Who in the hell would be here at eleven something at night, anyway?

"Who is it?" I asked suspiciously, I didn't know who it was but I knew getting visits at this time of night in this neighborhood usually meant trouble.

"Who does it sound like Kevin?"

Wait a minute. I know that voice anywhere!

I opened the door and came face to face with the women I hadn't seen for the past month and a half.

"Grandma!" I said in a happy tone.

"Yes, the one and only, so, can I come in."

"Yeah, of course, of course," I step to the side and let my grandma walk in, then I closed the door behind me and locked it.

"Antoine, Kim! Grandma's back from her trip!" I called into the dinning room. After a second or two they came walking out of the dinning room with similar smiles on their face.

"Grandma! It's nice to have you again!" Antoine said, as he ran up and hugged her. "So how was your trip? Was it fun?"

"Yes. It was very enjoyable," she then looked over at Kimberly, "It's nice to see your at home Kim, I actually came here first because I wanted to check on the boys, I thought you'd be at work today."

Kim walked up to Grandma and gave her a hug, she had to lean down slightly because she was taller than her, then she pulled away smiling. "It's nice to see you too, Grandma. Why are you back home so early? You said you'd be spending the next few months in Indian."

"Well, I was in Indian," Grandma then patted Antoine on the head. "But, I didn't want to miss out on my grandson's birthday. Actually, speaking of birthdays, I brought some gifts back with me."

"You know, you don't have to bring us back gifts every time you come back from a trip, Grandma," I said.

Kim nodded and added her own say in it, "he's right, you really don't have to keep spending money on us all the time. Save some for yourself sometimes and-."

"Yes, yes. We've been through this before, Kim, and what do I always say?" Grandma asked smirking slightly.

Kim signed and answered in a annoyed tone. "What you say goes into one ear, goes out of the other."

"Exactly, now come along Kevin. I need you to help me get these things out the car."

"Sure, no problem, Grandma."

I follow her out the house to the car, which was a dark blue Lincoln continental. It was dark out and the only light out at this time of night were the lights from the street lamps that dotted the neighborhood. The road was empty and there wasn't anybody outside ...well that's if you didn't count the people who hang out on the block, down the street by the bar.

Grandma opened the backseat of her car, inside there were 3 boxes. There was one big box with air-holes on top of it, 1 smaller box in yellow gift wrap, and a medium sized box in army green gift wrap.

"Kevin, you get the big box and the medium sized box. And I'll get the small one, okay?"

I nodded and grabbed the boxes I was instructed to, my Grandma grabbed the other smaller one, then we walked back into the house after she'd closed and locked the car doors.

We put all the boxes on the coffee table, and just as I had predicted the first one to ask which ones belonged to who was Antoine. "Which ones mine?"

"Wait a moment, Antoine," my Grandma said sternly, as we put all the boxes from the table to the couch.

I wasn't going to lie I was pretty excited even though I didn't really show it, but I was also pretty nervous too. Why was I nervous, you might ask. Well lets just say my Grandma had a habit of bringing home some pretty strange and supernatural stuff, like this one time when I was in elementary school she had taken a trip to Jamaica to visit an old friend and when she came back is gave me an old book. Turns out it was a voodoo spell book. At first I laughed about it, I thought it was a fake book that would never work. But man, was I wrong about that.

One day, when I got fed up with some of the bullies at my school and my curiosity got the better of me. I was only ten years old at the time, and a very mad kid at that, so I decided to try one of the spells on one of the bullies that picked on me, which it happened to be more of a curse than a spell. But, the next day the one that I cursed came into school with a broken arm, and that's what I wanted to happen. Ever since that day I've been cautious about anything my Grandma gave me. No matter how small it was, even good luck charms.

"Okay so what did you bring back this time?" I asked curiously.

She smiled and moved the big box with air holes onto the floor. "This box right here is for Antoine since his birthday's coming up next month."

Antoine didn't waste any time tearing the box open to get to what was inside. "No way~! Kevin look what Grandma got me!" he stuck his hands in the box and pulled out a small, sleeping kitten, that looked like it was about four or five months old. "Thank you Grandma, I always wanted a cat!"

"Well I hope you can take care of it, I don't want a dead cat smellin' up the house." Kimberly said bluntly, "you do remember what happened to your hamster, Jim, right?"

"Hey that was different! Besides this is a cat so it will be easier to take care of!" He looked at the cat in his arms and smiled. "Now what should I name you, hmm~? I know, I'll name you fluffy!"

"Your not naming her fluffy, Ant," I said shaking my head.

"And why not? Fluffy is an okay name for her."

"No, it's not."

"Yes it is, it's my cat so I can name it what I want!"

I rubbed my temple in frustration, there was no way I was letting him name the cat Fluffy. I don't care if it's not my pet. It's too over used, not to mention it is more so for a rabbit than anything.

"Okay what about this, if I can pick a name that sounds better than Fluffy, that's what we'll call her from now on, deal?"

"Hn ...fine but I'll doubt you'll find one," He answered in a cocky tone. I mean really there are hundreds if not thousands of names that sound better then Fluffy, "But nothin' Japanese." Damn it!

"Okay how bout' ...Emily!"

"Nope."

"...Betty!"

"No."

"..Sara!"

"Nada."

"...Ichigo?"

"I said nothin' Japanese." Damn!

I walked over and looked at the cat in his arms, it was a black cat but it a purplish tint to it in the light. The kitten's eyes were also a kinda blueish/purple color too, as odd as that was.

Then it hit me, there was only one Endless Witch that this kitten reminded me of and her name was-.

"Bernkastel."

Antoine looked up at me and blinked a few times, "what did you say?"

"Huh? Oh nothing I was just thinking out loud." I answered.

"Yeah, but what did you say?" He asked.

I sighed and answered him. "I said, Bernkastel," I already knew he wasn't going to name it that but even so-.

"What kind of name is it?"

I looked at him in slight surprise that he actually wanted to know more about the name. "Well actually I don't know much about the name beside the fact that it German," I then turned to my Grandma, who had been listening to the conversion this whole time. Maybe she knew more about the name. "Grandma, you've been all over the world ...do you know anything bout' the name Bernkastel by any chance?"

"Hmm ...if I remember correctly Bernkastle is the name of a well known wine-growing center in Germany called Bernkastle-Kues, their wine is very good, the finest in my book. Maybe, I should buy some next time I go to Moselle valley."

Antoine lifted the small cat over his head and smiles, "Bernkastle ...hmm? You know what, I like the way that rolls off the tongue. Well, welcome to the family Bernkastle, but I'll call you Bern for short! the name's sorta long."

"Oh my god! Grandma where did you get this!" We all looked over and saw my sister had already opened her gift. And in her hands as I expected was a gun.

"What are you so happy about? It's just a gun..." Antoine said to her as he pet his new cat, Bern.

Kim looked at him as if he was crazy. "Just a gun! Do you know what this is?"

"No, but it's still just a gun."

"That's not the point ...this right here is a 1930s Beretta M1935, it was used during World War II by the Italian army! They don't even make these anymore!" Kimberly explained, before turning her attention back to the gift giver. "Thank you, Grandma."

"Your welcome Kim. Now Kevin here is your gift." Grandma handed me a small box with yellow gift wrap on it. What supernatural thing did she get me this time? At this point I really wouldn't be surprised.

"Well, go ahead Kevin! Open it, open it!" Antoine chanted.

I sighed as I started undoing the gift wrap. What did she get me this time? I mean this box is pretty small, however, it made no difference to me. There was still no telling what it could do. Whatever it was.

I lifted it out the box and starred at it. The thing fit perfectly in my right hand. It was small, about the size of a child's hand but it was hairy. Really, really hairy, sorta like a monkeys hand but I still wasn't sure if that is what it actually was. Grandma wouldn't get me something like that ...would she? "Umm, Grandma ...what is this?"

"That Kevin is a monkey's paw." My Grandma answered smiling.

"Wait ...so you got me a fake paw."

"Oh no, you're completely wrong Kevin, that paw your holding is 100% real, child."

My right hand started to twitch as if telling to drop the paw right then and there, "Wait so this thing that I'm holding is a real dead monkey's hand, you mean the thing that grants wishes and all that jazz."

"Monkeys have paws, Kevin," she said. "And yes, it's legit. Infused with Chinese black magic to make your wishes extra strong. At least that's what I was told."

I became nervous and my hands became sweaty, I really wanted to take the paw and throw it in the trash. But, I didn't want to hurt my Grandma's feels. I could take the voodoo spell books and hunted dolls, and good luck charms, but this. This was a tad bit much.

"So do you like it, child?" She asked innocently.

I stayed silent for a while before giving a nervous chuckle and noddes. "Hehe, y-yeah. It's the best gift I've ever gotten. Thank you, Grandma."

"You're very welcome, Kevin. Anyway, I'd best start getting home. An old lady needs her rest you know."

"Okay. Thanks again for the gifts Grandma and remember if anyone tries anything, use the taser gun I got for you," My sister said still eying her new firearm.

"I'll be sure to keep it close," Grandma smiled and picked up her purse, before walking to the door, then she turned back to me looking like she had forgotten something. "Oh yes, and Kevin. I almost forgot."

"Yes, Grandma?"

"The man who sold me that paw said you have to be really specific when you make a wish, or it might backfire on you."

"Uh ...I'll keep that in mind."

"I'm sure you will. Well, goodbye everyone I'll see you later, " she said walking out the door.

"Okay, bye Grandma!" then the door shut.

Kim looked down at her wrist watch and yawned, "I don't know about you guys, but it's 1 o'clock in the morning and I've got a few hours before I have to go to work so just make sure you clean up any mess you make while I'm a sleep." She said, putting her gun back in the box. She walked up the stairs, and I heard her room door slam shut.

"So, does that thing really grant wishes?"

Me and Antoine both looked at the paw, it was pretty hard to believe that something so small could do anything. But seeing as Grandma was the one that brought it back, I didn't have a hard time believing it. "I don't know it might work but I think it would be better to just put it in the back of my closet with all the other things Grandma gave me."

"Oh, come on, stop being such a bitch."

"Ant," I said in a warning tone. "What did sis say about cussing'."

"What, it's not like she can hear me, damn. I still think you should try it out. Ya know just in case."

I sighed, I really didn't want to even try it but if it did work. What would I wish for? "Okay, so what would you ask for, Ant?"

"Uh, lets see. Money. Wait, how about we wish for Obama to win the election twice in a row."

I grinned. "As if he needs a wish for that to happen."

We both laughed loudly and sat on the couch. Afterward we sat in silents for a while, until Antoine talked again. "If you're that worried about wishin' for real world stuff, wish for something fake, you know something that would never come true."

"Yeah, like what?" I asked.

"Um, lets see, in that Manga you read ...uh what was it called When They Cry or some shit like that."

My eye twitched a little, I really hated it when he talked about my Manga like that. "What about it?"

Antoine looked at me and smiled still petting Bernkastel. "Well there was a girl that always got killed in it, what was her name? Rita or something?"

"You mean Rika."

"Yeah Rika! Why don't you wish for something like ...I wish Rika didn't died or something."

I looked at the paw and sighed. "Alright, then I'll wish for something even better then that," I held the paw up and spoke my wish. "I wish that Rika Furude could be sent to a world were she could live without fear of being killed!"

I don't where those words came from, maybe it was just me feeling bad for her, or maybe I was just playing around, or maybe it was both? But two things started to happened. First: there was a weird feeling coming from the paw. Sorta like the muscles in the hand were moving. Second: I notice the paws index finger started to move inward, until it was bent like it was trying to make a fist.

I felt my heart skip a beat at the site, I looked at Antoine and he looked back at me. "D-d-did you see that? It just moved."

"Yeah, t-that's some scary stuff bro." He got off the couch and started walking up stairs, with a scared looked on his face. "I don't know what freaky shit Grandma gave you, b-but just keep it away from me!" Then I heard his door slam.

Now it was just me and the monkey paw, there was no way in hell I was putting this in my room after what I saw. So I decided ...to put in on the TV stand.

I walked up started walking up stairs, before I got to the middle step I turned and took one last look and the paw, then I sighed and made my way up to my room. This was just one more thing to add to my collection of freaky and supernatural things.

Little did I know the wish I made would change my life forever.

Don't worry, there will be more to come!

Peace~!