The Actress

Future Rita remained confused as she recalled never making any harmful wish on Jill or anyone. It made absolutely no sense. Was Max toying with her? Then again Max wasn't known for his humor.

"Max," she said.

"Maybe," said Max, "that caller was a blessing."

"What do you mean?"

"That caller must have really pissed you off if you had Jill in mind."

Future Rita looked at the body of her young self, staying quiet without even breathing.

"Rita?" Max asked.

Could Rita have possibly disrupted the time line and inadvertently revived her past self's career? She was all in panic mode, realizing the grave error she had made. Quickly, she made a last ditch effort to aid her past self, slowly dying from blood loss.

"No! No!" Future Rita shouted. "What have I done? This can't happen to me."

Her past self stopped breathing and she went right to work performing CPR, desperately trying to bring her back and save what could have been a brighter future.

"Rita?" Said Max.

"Max!" Future Rita shouted in tears. "Call the police! Call the paramedics! Call anybody! Hurry!"

"Rita, what's going on?"

"Don't do this to me! Please don't do this! I need to be alive! I want to be alive!"

She pumped her chest and applied mouth to mouth, with little to no effect.

"Damn it!" She cried. "Don't you die! I need this! I fucking want this! Wake the fuck up! You wake the fuck up!"

Future Rita kept repeating the process, going as far as driving closed fists into the chest; anything to jump start that heart.

"No," she said, "don't you leave me. Wake up! Wake up! Please! Wake up! Wake up!"

The damage had been done and a chance at a comeback had slipped away. Future Rita collapsed on the floor, crying whatever tears she had left before becoming extinct.

"I was suppose to be a star," she cried. "I was suppose to be a star."

Future Rita faded away like a puff of smoke, leaving behind a crime scene and an unsolved murder.

The neighborhood was in a state of shock once word got out on what happened to their famous neighbor. Turns out the assailant easily broke in due to Rita forgetting to lock her patio door. The police were left with questions but no answers. Someone broke in but nothing was taken. There were no fingerprints other than Rita's. Was she a victim of a jilted lover or a deranged fan? Max showed up devastated and heartbroken, feeling responsible for not taking care of her.

"I should have been here," Max spoke to one police officer. "I was so worried about her even though we argued."

"What was the argument about?" The officer asked.

"She lost a part in a movie that was to be filmed in two months and point the blame on me. The last time I spoke to her I was giving her the good news that she got it."

"How long you've known her?"

"A long time. Very long time."

"You have any idea who did this? Did she have any enemies?"

"Well, she did piss off plenty of people, only because she couldn't contain her attitude. Though she did say someone on the phone was giving her a hard time."

"Who was it?"

"She never told me. She never got a chance."

Max regretted seeing Rita being carried away in a body bag and shipped to the coroner's office. He would rather remember her for all the good and bad times they had together. Her murder would remain a mystery for years to come; nothing more than a cold case gathering dust. They always say be careful what you wish for and you might just get it. For Rita Barnes, making a wish became both a blessing and a curse. In life she was a star, but in death she became a legend.