Amanda rolled her eyes. “She was going on and on about monsters and about something attacking her.”
“Yes!” agreed Lafonda. “And we were trying to help her, but she was so frantic, so terrified – she wouldn’t let anyone get near her.”
“I guess it was just a matter of time before Leah lost it,” shrugged Amanda.
“What do you mean?” asked Lafonda, appearing confused.
Amanda frowned and her green eyes gawked at her incredulously. “Everyone noticed how strange she was acting after her roommate Jamie died first semester, Lafonda,” sneered Amanda. “And it doesn’t take a genius to know she was having nightmares with all that late night screaming.” She leaned in. “But honestly, could you blame her mother if she had her committed?”
“Amanda, I don’t think Leah’s crazy!” Lafonda snapped in disbelief. “I just wish we could have helped her.”
“Well, the only people that could help her were campus security,” Amanda concluded coldly. “It eventually took five campus security guards to subdue her; thank goodness somebody called the police.”
Lafonda shook her head. “By the way, did you ever find your cell phone?” she asked.
“What’s going on, what happened?” interrupted Nathan, sounding confused and finally making his presence known. “Did this happen on campus?”
“Um, how long have you been standing there?” asked Lafonda, sounding annoyed. “You could have said something – but then again, it is you.”
“Sorry,” said Nathan, appearing frustrated. “But really, I didn’t mean too. It’s just – It’s just that…” His mind started to spin now. He wanted to tell Lafonda everything; that there were so many similarities in the story he just heard and the estranged girl he had been dreaming about. How could this be? he asked himself.
He had convinced himself so many times before that it was just a dream but suddenly now there was proof she could be real. Nathan’s palms began to sweat and he felt his face becoming flushed. And if she’s real. Then the unseen assailant would be real too!
“Um, Nathan,” said Lafonda. “It’s just that what?” Suddenly, she paused and stared intently into his face. “Um – Nathan, you don’t look so good.”
“He’s fine,” interrupted Amanda, her green eyes sparkling brighter. “Isn’t that right, handsome?”
“Uh, uh,” stuttered Nathan.
“Well, that doesn’t happen often,” responded Lafonda with a smirk on her face. “Nathan Urye lost for words.”
“I’m fine,” he answered, wearily. His mind continued to spin. Yeah, I’m fine,” he thought sarcastically. No big deal – just that my reality isn’t real and bloody girls and monsters are my new reality.
Lafonda sighed and then stared at him suspiciously. “Amanda, this is Nathan,” she said, “And Nathan, Amanda.”
“Well, Lafonda!” said Amanda, in a southern drawl. “Where have you been hiding this handsome man?”
Lafonda took a long look at her and then rolled her eyes. “Nathan also goes to IUCF and just finished his freshmen year,” she sighed. Reluctantly, she turned to look at him. “Nathan’s grandfather is our caretaker, and they both live here on the property.”
“Well,” said Amanda, flirtatiously. “I’ve never seen you on campus. How about you treat a lady to a dance?”
“I think – I need a drink,” stuttered Nathan, sounding a bit bewildered. “Or to most likely sit down.” He tried to force a smile. “And I would love to, but my feet are barely good enough for walking, let alone dancing.”
Amanda’s eyes appeared to flicker with fire in them again. “Oh – well, we will see,” she said, taking him by the hand. “I love a man with strong hands.”
“Oh, brother,” said Lafonda, underneath her breath.
Amanda turned around and displayed a wide grin. She then happily focused her attention back on Nathan. “Ready?” she asked, gently squeezing his hand.
Nathan suddenly had a blank look on his face. “Uh – yes,” he stuttered, still sounding confused. “On second thought – I’m ready, let’s dance.”
“What?” blurted Lafonda.
“Hey guys, what’s going on?” asked Jim, suddenly joining them. He stood next to Lafonda while snapping his fingers and dancing slightly offbeat to the music. “Let’s dance, babe!”
“You have strong arms,” grinned Amanda, squeezing Nathan’s bicep.
Abruptly, Lafonda grabbed Jim’s hand to stop him from snapping his fingers. “Not right now, babe,” she said, forcing a smile. “How about you go get us some punch?”
“But, I’m not thirsty,” whined Jim, sounding disappointed.
Lafonda crossed her arms; frowning at him and Jim lowered his head. “Okay,” he said, reluctantly walking away.
“And you,” she said, grabbing Nathan’s arm, so that Amanda dropped his hand. “If anyone is going to be dancing, it’s going to be the birthday girl.” She leaned in and then took him by the hand. “You owe me the first dance, remember?”
“Uh – Lafonda!” Amanda moaned.
“Uh – Amanda?” protested Lafonda. “Go find Steve!”
Triumphantly, she led him out to the dance floor and Nathan nonchalantly followed. “Lafonda,” he said, slowly. “Um – what just happened?”
Lafonda looked up towards the ceiling and then quickly rolled her eyes. “I don’t know,” she said. “You tell me.” She relaxed her arm a little, so that he could lead. “One second you wanted to sit down and then suddenly, you wanted to cut a rug with Amanda.”
“I, I, don’t remember,” he said, sounding flustered.
She glared at him. “You don’t have to play dumb,” she said. She gestured in Amanda’s direction; she was standing with her entourage of admirers again. “Amanda has that effect on men.”
Nathan slightly shrugged and then shook his head. “Who is Steve?” he asked.
“Steve is Amanda’s boyfriend,” she grinned. She tilted her head to look around the room. “And I don’t even think he’s here.”
“Lafonda,” he said, taking a pause. “I apologize if things got weird back there.” He recalled what he had overheard from them earlier. “Things have been a little – strange lately.”
“Yeah, for both of us,” she said, after catching a glimpse of Jim watching them on the dance floor with two drinks in his hand. “You know, Nathan,” she continued. “You’re not that bad of a dancer – when you’re not thinking about it.”
“Oh,” he responded, sounding surprised. “I didn’t realize moving to this slow of a song is considered dancing.”
She smiled. “Nathan,” she uttered, softly. “What happened to us – I mean, to our friendship?” She looked longingly into his eyes. “I almost never saw you at school and you barely even speak to me now that we’re home.”
Nathan twisted his lip. Well, he thought. You and your friends are rich and I’m not and I feel like an outsider because of it. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again. And to top things off, I keep dreaming about a girl that I believe is being attacked by monsters. He sighed. “It’s complicated,” he finally responded.
“What’s so complicated about it?” she asked. “Why don’t you just tell me?” Lafonda suddenly appeared a bit flustered. “Is there something that I did wrong?”
He paused for a moment. He could feel the tingling sensation starting to build in his hands. “You wouldn’t understand,” he said.
Lafonda frowned and ceased from dancing. “How can I understand if you won’t tell me?” she protested, crossing her arms.
Nathan quickly looked down. His hands started to tremble now. “Lafonda,” he sighed impatiently. He then softly placed his hands on her shoulders. “Just trust me – this has nothing to do with you.” He paused. “You did nothing wrong.”
“Hey, guys!” interrupted Jim, while holding out the two drinks in his hands.
“Nathan!” said Lafonda suddenly. She had a look of concern on her face. “Your hands – are they shaking?”
>
Nathan could feel his face turning red and he quickly withdrew his hands from her shoulders. “I think – I’d better go,” he stuttered, nervously.
“Nonsense,” spouted Jim. He had an ornery look on his face. “You can hold the drinks while I dance with my girlfriend.”
“Jim – don’t start,” warned Lafonda.
“No!” he said, with a shrug. “You’re obviously now in the mood to dance – so let’s dance.” Lafonda frowned and in protest, he shoved the two cups of punch into Nathan’s hands. “Here!”
“Jim,” said Nathan, sternly. “Please take these drinks back – I am not in the mood for this.”
“Ha!” blurted Jim, while nodding his head. “No, I think you are more than capable of holding the drinks while we dance.”
“Oh,” sneered Nathan. “And I think you are absolutely incapable of not being a complete jerk!”
“Stop it guys!” exclaimed Lafonda. “I’ll take the drinks.” She reached for the two drinks in Nathan’s hands and glared at Jim. “And Jim – you can dance by yourself.”
“Forget it!” Jim huffed, attempting to bypass her. “I’ll take them.”
Suddenly, Nathan’s hands shook uncontrollably and fruit punch began to spew erratically from the cups. Desperately, he tried to control his hands, but couldn’t. Just as quickly as it had all started, it was over; and both cups were now empty.
Nathan’s eyes met Lafonda’s as he slowly realized where all the juice had gone.
“Who’s the jerk now?” said Jim coldly, as he tried to wipe the red juice from his white shirt and black jacket.
Nathan allowed his eyes to follow Lafonda’s gaze as she began wiping her dress. “I’m sorry,” he stuttered. He looked on in horror at the once flowing white dress that was now stained in red and stuck to her body. “I am – so sorry.” Several people that were on the dance floor had horrified looks on their faces and some tried not to let on how bad her dress looked by turning away. “I’m just – gonna go,” he muttered, turning to cut through the crowd."
4
PARTY’S OVER
Nathan passed by LaDonda and Roy on his way out of the room. He could tell by the perplexed look on their faces that they were curious as to why he was in such a hurry. He was pleased that neither stopped him because he was way too embarrassed to stick around and he didn’t want to relive what had just happened by having to explain it to them.
He kept his head down low and his hands continued to tremble uncontrollably as he bolted towards the front door of the Devaro Mansion. He was outside now and the summer night air was cool. What is wrong with me? He worried, taking a moment to look down at his hands.
His hands looked normal besides the shaking and they felt warm even against the cool air. After careful inspection, he also noticed that they were a bright red. That must be from the fruit punch. The juice must’ve stained my hands.
“Hi, Nathan,” said a voice that was unfamiliar to him.
Immediately, he shoved his hands into his front pockets and turned around to find Jonathan Black staring at him from the front door. Nathan gave a quick smile and tried to turn away, but Jonathan proceeded towards him anyway. “Uh – hi, Jon,” he said, after clearing his throat.
“It’s such a beautiful night,” said Jonathan, while looking up towards the sky. “Oh and look, there’s also a new moon.” He smiled and then returned his gaze back to Nathan. “And I prefer Jonathan by the way.”
“Oh, yeah, sorry about that,” said Nathan, appearing slightly anxiously. He took a few steps backwards towards the cottage. “I’ll remember that – Jonathan.”
“I thought I would turn in early to get a good start out at the Cahokia Caves tomorrow before meeting with Dr. Helmsley,” Jonathan announced quickly before Nathan could inch away. “Tomorrow is supposed to be a beautiful day as well.” He paused, briefly repositioning his glasses. “Would you care to join me?”
“What?” asked Nathan surprised. He was hoping the conversation wasn’t going to last long. “Join you?”
Jonathan grinned. “Well, I was talking with your grandfather and...”
“Uh-huh,” uttered Nathan while nodding. He expected anything started with ‘I was talking to your grandfather’ to be followed by some request of some kind. “You were talking with my grandfather.”
Jonathan paused again and took a dry gulp. “I was talking with your grandfather and LaDonda…”
“LaDonda!” interrupted Nathan again.
“Can I please finish?” asked Jonathan. He paused for a second as if he was awaiting a response. “I’ll take your silence as a yes.” Nathan raised his eyebrows and Jonathan smiled. “After learning from Roy and LaDonda of your Cahokia ancestry and that your mother, Grace, was a descendant of the Cahokia tribe,” he continued enthusiastically, “I thought you might want to join me tomorrow at the dig site.”
Nathan’s eyebrows were still raised and were now accompanied by a frown. “Dig site?” he muttered, “Tomorrow – at the caves?”
“Yes!” exclaimed Jonathan. “It’s so exciting that after all these years they are still finding stuff! His eyes were as wide as saucers now. “Considering that whatever we discover is a part of your history, you could experience more first-hand about yourself and your people.”
I think I’ve learned enough about myself for one day, Nathan thought, recalling what he had just learned from Lafonda and Amanda about the reality of his nightmares. He got a warm feeling in his chest and began to think about his mother. Besides that she had married his dad, Michael Urye, he didn’t know a lot about Grace Sequoya. Everything he knew about the Cahokia tribe, he’d learned on school field trips to the Northern Cahokia Tribal Museum.
He soon realized that Jonathan was still there and decided to fake a yawn. He thought about stretching to add to the effect, but remembered how red his hands were and opted to leave them in his pockets instead. He also noticed that his hands continued to tremble slightly, but figured it was a good idea to just leave them there. “Thanks for the invite,” he said. “But I think I’ll pass. I still have to pack for camp on Friday.”
Jonathan’s bright blue eyes were still filled with excitement. “Did you know that the Cahokia tribe once occupied most of what is now Southern Illinois before they became known as two separate tribes?” he asked. “And that most scholars attribute the separation to a massive drought that caused famine in the area?”
“Yes!” howled Nathan, yawning with both arms stretched out in the air.
He now thought it was worth the risk, but Jonathan’s eyes continued to gleam. “Archeologists have found artifacts that suggest there was a migration of clans from the tribe’s southern borders to this area right around Lake Charleston!” He grinned. “Can you guess why they migrated to this area?”
Nathan huffed and began to stare at the cars lined up around the driveway. “Uh – the water?” he mumbled.
“Yes, exactly!” cried Jonathan, while quickly fixing his glasses. “Isn’t that amazing?”
“Yes – amazing,” sighed Nathan.
Jonathan smiled and enthusiastically nodded his head. “And did you know…”
“Jonathan!” blurted Nathan and Jonathan looked so startled that Nathan lowered his voice. “Not that I wouldn’t mind continuing this most stimulating conversion, but I did promise my grandfather that I would – that I would – let the dog out.”
“Oh, you have a dog!” said Jonathan, enthusiastically. “Isn’t that wonderful?”
Nathan frowned. He didn’t quite understand why he would use the words wonderful. Jonathan continued to smile and repositioned his glasses again.
“What kind of dog is it?” he asked.
“Uh – uh,” he stuttered, trying to think of something.
“Yoohoo, Jonathan!” called an all-familiar voice. They both turned around to see LaDonda standing at the front door to the Devaro Mansion. She was waving her hand, trying to get Jonathan’s attention. “Good, you’re still here!” she shoute
d. “I would like for you to meet someone before you leave.”
Jonathan smiled. “Well, I guess I’d better see what she wants or rather see who this person is,” he said. “Then, I guess I’ll grab the car and head out.”
Nathan opened his mouth to say something, but then paused after looking at the sea of identical silver BMWs parked around the long U-shaped driveway. “Good luck with that,” he chuckled.
Jonathan caught his gaze and then chuckled too. “Thanks,” he said half-heartedly as he headed towards the house. “I guess we’ll have most of summer to talk.”
“Where is he going?” asked LaDonda when Jonathan got to her.
“Oh,” said Jonathan, walking back inside the house. “He said he had to let the dog out.”
“The dog?” she asked, sounding confused. “What dog? Nathan doesn’t have a dog.”
The walk back to the cottage was agonizing. Nathan’s mind was going a mile a minute worrying about his constantly trembling hands and his dreams about Leah. The thought of all this being real and not just a dream was frustrating. His mind just kept circling; coming to the same questions over and over, to which he had no answers.
“How could this be possible?” he asked himself sitting on his bed. “How am I dreaming about her?” He sighed heavily while kicking off his shoes. “Am I psychic or something?”
Nathan felt like he had just entered into a freak show starring himself as the main attraction. The voice of the show announcer played in his head, Step right up to see the boy who can see you in his dreams and make an awesome milkshake with his trembling hands.
“I need to get off this weirdness train!” Nathan shouted, throwing himself down unto his bed. “Why do I have to be so weird?” He stared hopelessly at the ceiling. “I’m already the poor brown kid that lives behind the Devaro Mansion.”
He shook his head and groaned. “After tonight, with the whole fruit punch incident, I’m sure everyone has added strange or weird or worse, loser, to my trophy case of adjectives.” He sighed again. “And to make matters worse, I can’t get the shocked look on Lafonda’s face out of my head.”
The Legend of the Firewalker Page 5