The Legend of the Firewalker

by Steve Bevil [paranormal/YA]

  “Ha – they must be mistaken,” stuttered Jonathan.

  “Ah – give it a rest,” rang a new voice to the conversation.

  Everyone at the table turned their heads to find a smirking Stephen Malick walking past them to sit at one of the smaller tables alongside the window.

  “He’s cute,” perked up Angela.

  “How can you tell?” asked Lafonda sounding slightly annoyed. “He always has his sunglasses on.”

  Angela grinned. “I like the sunglasses. It makes you daydream more about his cute brown eyes – plus it adds to his bad boy image.”

  “Bad boy image – cute brown eyes? Please don’t add to his psychosis!”

  Angela smiled and corrected her posture. “Someone should invite him to sit with us,” she continued, her cheerful voice sounding more upbeat and almost melodic.

  “For what?” steamed Lafonda.“Leave Mr. Wonderful over there by himself!”

  “Why not?” asked Alan, mockingly. “Do I detect a little apprehension, Lafonda? Are you afraid he won’t like you?”

  “Uh – you don’t want to go there,” cautioned Nathan. “The first day of camp Mr. Wonderful over there almost drove us off the road…”

  “What?” interrupted Erin. “That arrogant ass drove you off the road?”

  “I still think he’s cute,” interjected Angela.

  Suddenly, everyone was interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. They looked up to find LaDonda Devaro standing there with a big smile on her face. Instead of the bright orange leadership shirt, LaDonda wore a gold one. “Good morning, everyone,” she said.

  “Uh – how come she gets a gold shirt?” whispered Alan. “My tan would look a lot better in gold.”

  “Shhh!” whispered Angela.

  “It’s the end of the week,” announced LaDonda. “And as planned, if the weather permits, we will be having a bonfire on the beach of Lake Charleston. So, I’m looking for volunteers to help Argus, the tourist and recreation manager for the lake, to set the fires – any volunteers?”

  There was silence at the table and Erin, Angela, and Alan averted their eyes away from LaDonda. Quickly, Nathan also looked away. He was hoping not to be called on.

  “I’ve already asked the group of counselors at the other table to volunteer to carry over the coolers, lawn chairs, snacks, and marshmallows,” she continued optimistically before pausing again. “Okay – so – no volunteers? I guess I’ll have to volunteer somebody.”

  Nathan thought he could feel LaDonda’s eyes scanning over him. It was like heat from an infrared laser.

  “Nathan,” she called out.

  “Why me?” he mumbled.

  “Nathan, since you have shown such fine leadership at camp already by wearing your leadership shirt and following the rules…” said LaDonda.

  He could feel another infrared laser on him, but this one came from Lafonda. Slowly, he turned around and discovered she had an overly zealous smirk across her face.

  “I am appointing you responsible for setting the bonfires for the rest of camp,” finished LaDonda.

  “What?” exclaimed Nathan. “The rest of camp – you have to be joking?”

  “It’s only on Fridays Nathan,” said LaDonda with an encouraging smile.

  “But that’s enough work for three people!” he moaned. “Besides, how is Lafonda supposed to escort sixteen hormonal, hyper teenagers back to the dorms by herself on Friday evenings?”

  “While I am more than happy to see Nathan finally have to do some work,” interjected Lafonda, “He does have a point.”

  “The bonfires aren’t until the evening,” explained LaDonda. “So, he should have plenty of time after his counselor duties to setup the area.”

  Feeling defeated, he slouched back into his chair. “And – what about help?” he cried.

  She smiled. “And as far as additional help,” she said. Everyone’s eyes at the table diverted once more. “Ah – yes, Stephen!” She called out. “Can you please come over here for a moment?”

  Instantly, Angela’s eyes lit up and she gave him careful attention.

  “Yes, Mrs. Devaro,” he answered promptly while taking a position next to her.

  “Oh, I’m running late!” said LaDonda. “I told Argus I would meet him five minutes ago.” She appeared slightly flustered. “Okay, Stephen, I need you to help Nathan prepare for tonight’s bonfire,” she explained before walking away. “And Nathan, Argus will meet you guys around six which gives you plenty of time to have dinner before you leave to go out there.”

  She took a few steps forward before pausing again, “And Stephen,” she said firmly, “take off those sunglasses. I don’t believe your grandmother would approve of you wearing them inside.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he responded, promptly removing his sunglasses. He took a few steps towards Nathan. “So – I guess you’re Nathan?”

  “Umm – yes,” Nathan groaned. “We met the other day remember? You drove us off the road nearly killing us?

  “Oh,” Malick responded. He had a blank look on his face, but it soon faded into a sly grin. “Where is that girlfriend of yours?” His sly grin quickly turned into a full blown smile after his eyes connected to a fuming Lafonda. “The offer is still on the table to give her one-on-one driving lessons.”

  “She’s not my girl!” Nathan responded quickly. “She’s just a friend.” He glanced over at Lafonda and could have sworn he saw smoke coming out of her ears. “Can you just meet me at the north entrance to Lake Charleston?”

  “Sure,” said Malick, while smiling at Lafonda. “What time?”

  “Well, LaDonda said Argus will be expecting us around six,” he said, “So, I guess that means he will be waiting for us at the bonfire pits that are around Lake Charleston. So – how about we meet at five-forty-five, which will give us plenty of time to make it down the trail to the lake?”

  “Not a problem,” Malick said, while shooting Lafonda one last smile before walking away.

  “Ooh – Lafonda, he is so cute!” squealed Angela. “And I think he has a crush on you.”

  “Give me a break, Angela,” responded Lafonda, obviously annoyed. “The guy’s a narcissistic jerk and doesn’t care about anyone, but himself.”

  “Well, everyone makes mistakes,” shrugged Angela. “And I think this narcissistic jerk may deserve a second chance.”

  “I don’t have time for this,” grumbled Lafonda, rising from the table. She sighed. “Come on, Nathan, let’s go. It’s almost time to escort our group to their morning leadership class.”

  “I don’t know, Lafonda,” continued Angela, also rising. “I have a special feeling about this one.”

  “Yeah,” commented Alan, following behind her. “I’m sure it’s just your hormones.”

  The rest of the morning seemed to drag for Nathan and possibly for some of the campers by the solemn looks on their faces. The first class they attended talked about persuasive communication and how to inspire people to share your goals. Nathan found that class somewhat interesting and was surprised he didn’t have a hard time keeping his eyes open. He found the next class on exploring leadership styles a real snoozer and by the third class, Lafonda had to keep nudging him to prevent him from falling asleep.

  As the day progressed, the summer sun combined with the notorious Illinois humidity had everyone screaming for cold pop or ice-cold water. To make matters worse, the air conditioning unit for the last class of the day stopped working. Nathan was positive that no one was paying attention and even after several attempts by campers and Nathan himself, the instructor refused to cancel the class. It wasn’t until Lafonda pointed out that it was cooler outside and that they could finish the lecture outdoors that the instructor was willing to relocate.

  Nathan thought it was definitely cooler under the shade of the trees then sitting in a classroom. He welcomed any breeze at this point and with evening approaching, the sun was much more bearable. As the instructor went on about the importance of
having integrity and what it means to be an integral person, he gladly allowed his mind to wonder elsewhere.

  The birds, the trees, and the few students walking on campus were an easy distraction. It wasn’t until everyone started to stand up that Nathan realized the lecture was over. As the campers started to assemble in line over by Lafonda to be escorted back to Lawrence Hall, a familiar shape caught his eye. He thought that maybe one of the campers had walked away, but quickly realized that the familiar shape darting across the quad was Jonathan Black.

  Where is he heading off to so quickly? Shouldn’t he be helping Erin escort their group back to Lawrence Hall? He kept a watchful eye on Jonathan as his group headed back to the dormitory.

  Jonathan darted up the steps and into the Katherine Schmidt building. Nathan assumed Jonathan was most likely going to see Dr. Helmsley since the Department of Archeological Studies was housed there. Nathan knew this because he’d had a class in the lecture hall of that building his first semester.

  “So – are you ready to spend time with Mr. Wonderful this evening?” asked Lafonda, interrupting his concentration.

  “Uh – do you mean Malick?”

  “The one and only,” she sighed as they walked back to Lawrence Hall. “I hope he won’t be more of a nuisance out there than a help.”

  Nathan’s mind began to wander back to Jonathan again as Lafonda continued to complain about Malick. “Did Jonathan say anything about leaving camp early at breakfast this morning?” he asked.

  “Nope,” she responded confidently. She paused for a moment and then shrugged. “Well, at least not that I remember – why are you asking?”

  “Umm – I was just curious,” he said.

  Nathan was more than just curious, but definitely didn’t want to involve Lafonda at this point. She would more than likely make a big deal about it, but he wanted to know what Jonathan was up to first.

  At dinner that evening, Nathan felt more than a little restless. He was so deep in thought about everything that had happened over the past two weeks that he might as well had been sitting in the cafeteria alone. Lafonda, Angela, Alan, and Erin were so involved in trashing Jonathan for leaving Erin again that they didn’t notice how quiet Nathan was and if it wasn’t for Alan’s request for him to pass the ketchup bottle, he would have thought they didn’t realize he was there at all. Erin continued to complain about how Jonathan, for the third time that week, had said he needed to leave the afternoon class early and that this time, he claimed he needed to go back to Lawrence Hall to talk to LaDonda.

  Nathan was puzzled to hear this. Even if Jonathan made a mistake and meant that he was meeting LaDonda at Schmidt Hall, he knew that he wasn’t telling the truth because LaDonda was waiting for Nathan in the lobby after they had returned to Lawrence Hall. Malick was waiting with her – she wanted to remind them both about meeting with Argus after dinner to set-up for the evening’s bonfire. Unless LaDonda is skilled at being at two places at once, Jonathan was definitely hiding something.

  He noticed Jonathan never showed up for dinner either, which made Erin angrier because she couldn’t yell at him. Malick didn’t show up for dinner either, not that he ever sat with the group or anyone else anyway.

  Shortly after dinner, Nathan reluctantly headed out to meet up with Malick. The walk over to the North entrance to Lake Charleston wouldn’t take long, so he waited until the last possible minute.

  The North entrance to Lake Charleston was actually located on Lawrence Road, which ran directly behind Lawrence Hall. In the beginning of first semester and toward the end of second semester, when the weather was nice, Nathan would often go out to the lake to get away from campus, even though the time probably would have been better spent studying.

  As he crossed over Lawrence Road, his thoughts were still occupied over the events of the past two weeks; his nightmares, the possible reality about Leah, his periodic burning, red, and itchy hands, the mysterious blue eyed-dog and now the strange behavior of Jonathan Black. He wondered what other bizarre and crazy things he would encounter this summer – aliens?

  The north entrance to the lake was really a trail through the forest preserve that surrounded the lake. The trail was about a fifteen-minute hike to the lake, which also connected to another trail that led to the Cahokia museum and the Cahokia Caves located behind the cliffs overlooking Lake Charleston. As he approached the entrance, Nathan was surprised to see Stephen Malick waiting for him. He had just assumed that Malick would be late or wouldn’t show up altogether.

  “This should be interesting,” he mumbled to himself.

  Malick continued to lean against the north entrance forest preserve sign. “Hey man, about time you showed up!” he said with a grin.

  Instantly, Nathan pulled out his cell phone. “It’s barely 5:45 p.m.,” he snapped.

  “Ha, my watch said 5:45 two minutes ago,” Malick boasted.

  “Whatever,” mumbled Nathan. “Let’s just get this over with.”

  Quickly, Nathan trotted past him and entered down the trail first. Nathan had used this trail many times before, so he had no apprehension in what direction he was going as the trees began to darken out the evening sun. He found himself picking up his pace as they walked deeper and deeper into the forest. He didn’t want to pretend that he liked Malick and hoped that if he walked fast enough, he wouldn’t have to put up any pretense and have some fake conversation with the guy. Irritatingly, because Malick was taller than Nathan, his longer legs actually allowed for him to keep up.

  “So,” said Malick with excitement in his voice, breaking the silence. “You ready to get that bonfire going and perhaps burn down the forest?”

  Nathan froze. He stopped his crusade to somehow turn his fast pace into an unnoticeable sprint out of the forest, to glare at Malick. He wanted to give him the most pissed-off look possible. He wanted to paint him a clear picture without saying a single word.

  After a moment, he finally responded to a smirking Malick. “Look, let’s not pretend that you actually give a crap about anyone, let alone this forest,” he scowled. “You might as well drop the act. If given a chance you probably would love to start a forest fire – destroying the trees and everything in it!”

  “Ouch!” said Malick and Nathan continued on his warpath down to the lake.

  “What’s got your underwear in a knot?” shouted Malick as he trotted after him. “You and your girlfriend are so uptight!”

  Nathan froze again, but this time was stopping to size him up. Malick stopped too, but was more concerned with fixing his hair as it blew effortlessly in the wind.

  You’ve got to be kidding me, Nathan thought, as he stared at the James Dean replica standing in front of him. Is this guy just a bad boy wannabe or does he just naturally look and act this way? He shook his head. The guy might be taller and a little older than me, but I can definitely take him.

  With confidence, he moved closer towards Malick. “Look, I know you are from like Planet Stephen Malick or something,” he spouted. “But here – on Earth – people usually don’t appreciate their lives played with!”

  “Oh – that,” he responded, as if being caught off guard, “I thought you were over that, you didn’t seem too bothered by it earlier.”

  “Ha, if the – it – you are referring to is you forcing us off the road with your car,” he yelled. “Then yes, I am definitely, absolutely, bothered!”

  “It was just a joke!” stammered Malick. “I swear – you and your girlfriend act like you have never played chicken before.”

  “Great!” scowled Nathan. “I’m glad that you had a good laugh at the expense of others and for the last time – Lafonda is not my girlfriend!”He shook his head and immediately continued on his blaze down the path.

  Frustrated, Malick trailed behind him. “Fine!” he yelled. “If that is what you guys tell people – I mean, it looks like something more is going on there than just friends.”

  7

  A LITTLE COMPETITION

 
As the summer sun descended in the sky above Lake Charleston, the cliffs overlooking the lake created a foreboding shadow of the night to come. A welcoming cool breeze embraced Nathan, causing tiny ripples in the water and shimmers of golden rays to dance carelessly across the water’s face.

  Nathan stood there as he normally did upon first sight of the water, but this time it wasn’t just the beauty of the lake that captured his attention.

  It was something that Malick said in the forest that bothered him. There was no doubt in his mind that Malick was a jerk and he shouldn’t put much thought into the ramblings that spilled from his mouth. He contemplated what Malick had said about him and Lafonda and just shrugged his shoulders. But what was it that he said that bothered him so much?

  Another breeze passed over him; embracing every inch of him, but he was unable to relax and receive it. But why? he asked himself. He paused and then examined the palms of his hands. They were tense, but normal. But why were they so normal when he was so tense? And why was he so upset?

  He drew a big breath, sighed and thought that Malick was right. He wasn’t that upset about the car thing. Granted he wasn’t particularly thrilled that he’d been forced to depend upon Lafonda’s driving skills for his life, but he wasn’t angry about it.

  He paused for a moment and then suddenly, he realized why he was so irritated. With everything going on that summer; with his hands, the strange occurrences, and Leah, he felt like everything was coming at him all at once and now that he was a counselor at leadership camp, he had no time to deal with anything.

  Nathan sighed again and relaxed his shoulders. The last thing he wanted to do now was build bonfires with Stephen Malick. He glanced down at his hands but disappointment washed over him. The last time he remembered being this frustrated his hands had shaken so uncontrollably that he’d spilled fruit punch all over Lafonda’s dress at her birthday party.