The Legend of the Firewalker (2 page)

“It’s okay,” said Lafonda, reaching out to give her a hug. “If you need anything, just know I’m next door.”

Carefully, Leah placed the sweatpants in the box and turned around to say goodbye to Lafonda as she began to close the door. “Will you … stop by tomorrow?” Leah asked.

“Of course,” Lafonda smiled, poking her head around the door. “I still need your address. I plan to visit you in St. Lo
uis this summer.”

Leah smiled as Lafonda closed the door. A little time passed and she no longer heard Lafonda scolding Steve for the comment he’d made earlier; just faint laughter and the chatter of voices from other girls on the floor could be heard. Leah wiped the sweat that was beading on her forehead as she continued to pack. She reached up to the built-in shelf above her desk and grabbed a rubber band to pull back her hair.

It sure is warm in here
, she thought to herself. She leaned over to stretch out her hand over the air conditioning and heating unit that was underneath the double-paned windows to check to see if it was on.
Well, that would explain it
—
the air conditioning isn’t on.  

She opened the panel to the controls and messed with the knobs, but nothing worked. Frustrated, she slammed the panel shut and opened the window.

Leah continued packing and started humming to herself to pass the time. She thought of turning on the radio but remembered that she had already packed it. She entertained the thought of turning on the TV, but unplugged it instead.
No distractions!

As she worked, Leah used the bottom of her white shirt and the corner of her sleeve to stop the sweat from running down her face. Now and then, a drop or two would fall on a box. After drawing up her shirt again to pat her forehead, she noticed that it was completely soaked. “Ugh!” she uttered. “This is so disgusting!”

Irritated, she headed towards the door and caught a glimpse of herself in the large door mirror that had been a must-have for Amanda. She frowned as she reluctantly examined herself in the mirror. Her pulled-back, shoulder-length brown hair was fuzzy, and loose strands of it stuck out arbitrarily. Her fair skin, now covered with sweat lines, was also red from all the wiping.

Leah shook her head and glanced down in defeat but i
mmediately noticed that her once white shirt was covered in dust and the bottom half was wet and misshapen. “Ugh!” she groaned. “I look like crap!” Quickly, she turned her gaze from the mirror. “I must look like a homeless person standing next to Amanda. No wonder I can’t find a date!”

She made a quick assessment of her side of the room and pretty much decided that everything was packed.
I guess it’s time for a shower,
she thought sarcastically.

Leah opened her closet door and pulled out the clean clothing and hand and body towels she had put aside for he
rself while packing. Stepping out into the hallway, she immediately noticed the lights at her end of the floor were off. It was incredibly quiet, being that it was the end of the semester and the last day before move-out. “Someone on the floor must be playing a joke,” she murmured.

She headed over to try the hallway light switch located on the opposite wall, but nothing happened.
Gosh,
she thought.
The circuit breaker must be tripped or something
—
and on our last day here.

Paying careful attention not to
bump into the round tables in the common room, she slowly headed towards the bathroom. “Well, at least the bathroom lights are still working,” she said aloud.

She froze as soon as she entered the bathroom because it was equally quiet. “This is definitely weird,” she mumbled, while shaking her head. 

Leah placed the items she was holding on one of the sinks lined against an enormous wall mirror. She looked down to wet her toothbrush under the cool water as the shadow of what looked like a person entered the shower area. She jerked up. “Hello?” she called out.

Her stomach twisted in knots as she waited, and her hand trembled slightly as she shut off the water. The silence was deafening, and she cringed at a muffled creaking noise. “R
elax, Leah,” she sighed, composing herself. “It’s probably just the water pipes in the shower.”

Leah bent over again to rinse her mouth out with water, when a soft, high-pitched wail reverberated from the shower area. “Hello?” she cried out.

Instinctively, she looked into the large mirror and immediately turned around to scan the room. The sound continued to screech like grinding metal. “What is that?” she mumbled.  

Leah looked intently around the room for anything that could have made the noise.
Surely, the person in the shower must have heard that,
she thought. Taking a deep breath, she shook her head.

“These nightmares have me so paranoid. I need to get a grip on myself!”

She turned back around to begin brushing her teeth, but another high-pitched sound pierced the air. “Leeah!” a voice shrieked out.

Leah froze instantly. Goose bumps shot down her back. “I know that voice,” she stuttered, her hands trembling in fear. “It’s that woman’s from my dreams!”

Panic rippled throughout Leah’s body and her heart throbbed forcibly against her chest. She struggled to move. “Leeeahh!” the metallic voice rang out again — this time louder, echoing and bouncing off the walls.

Frantically, Leah’s eyes raced around the room for the source of the sound. “This can’t be real,” she said, her voice trembling. “It’s
— it’s just a dream.” As Leah spun around, her mind flooded with images of the shadowy figure that hunted her in her nightmares. “This just can’t be!”

Suddenly, a loud bang came from one of the shower stalls, followed by the sound of quick footsteps. “Move Leah, move
,” Leah whispered.

Quickly, she scanned the room and against one of the walls, shoved in a corner, was an old broom. With broom in hand, Leah crept over to where she heard the noise to defend herself from what she thought was her mysterious attacker. After all the terror-filled nights, she didn’t want to run an
ymore. She didn’t want to live in fear. She wanted to face her pursuer. 

“Aaaah!”

The sound of two different screams echoed throughout the hallway and the bathroom. “Oh, my God, Leah!” said Lafonda, stepping out of the shower stall. “You scared me.”

Still a little shaken, Leah stood there with broom in hand. She took a couple of deep breaths to try to relieve the tigh
tness she still felt in her chest.
What will people think about this one?
she thought, as her cheeks and ears reddened. She could only imagine what people were saying about her and her middle-of-the-night screaming. “Lafonda, I — I ...”

“I forgot my body wash,” Lafonda grinned, but it quickly faded into a look of concern. “Wait
— Leah, are you okay?” 

Leah tr
ied to force a smile. “I’m fine,” she said, trying to sound convincing.

Lafonda secured the towel wrapped around her and frowned as she scrutinized Leah’s face. “But you don’t look okay,” she said.

“I’m fine,” Leah said again, now more convincingly than before. “Really, I was just frightened by the noises.”

Two girls from the floor entered the bathroom. It looked as if they were unaware of what had just transpired, but they looked on suspiciously.

“Frightened?” asked Lafonda, in a low whisper. She quickly took the broom out of Leah’s hand and placed it back in the corner. “And what noises?” 

“You didn’t hear the noises?” asked Leah. A worried and tired look washed over her face. “But you were
… in the shower, right?”

“Yes,” said Lafonda, still puzzled. “But I didn’t hear any noises.” She paused. “Wait, I did bump the shower wall with my elbow; and I did yell out from the pain.”

“No, that wasn’t it!” interrupted Leah. “And you didn’t call my name?” 

“No,” Lafonda said, while shaking her head. “I didn’t call your name.”

“I must be just rattled because the stupid hallway lights aren’t working, and the heat,” Leah stammered.

“What do you mean?” asked Lafonda, as she peeked out into the hallway. “The hallway lights are working.” She paused. “I know that there is a storm
—”

The sound of someone fast approaching could be heard from the hallway and they both turned their attention t
owards the bathroom entrance. A tall and slender girl who lived on the floor stood in front of them. She was trying to catch her breath. “Lafonda!” she let out. “I thought I heard your voice. I just walked past your room and I think your phone was ringing.”

“Oh, shoot!” said Lafonda, pausing to secure her towel again. “That must be my grandmother calling about tomo
rrow.” She started to take off running, but noticed that Leah was following behind her. “Wait — aren’t you going to get your shower?”

“Oh,” said Leah, while staring at the towels in her hands. “I guess I forgot my body wash too.”

Lafonda smiled and Leah trailed behind her as Lafonda darted off towards her room. The hallway lights were on just like Lafonda had said and the air was cooler. Several girls from the floor were laughing as Leah walked past them.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they were laughing at me with all the craziness going on in my life. And Jamie’s death hasn’t made things any easier,
she thought.

She was pretty sure everyone knew about her nightmares due to her frequent middle-of-the-night screaming, but she had started to feel proud of herself. It was the end of the school year, and even with everything, she had managed to finish the semester without withdrawing from school like her mom and Amanda had wanted her to.

Leah took a deep breath and relaxed her shoulders. She was determined not to let anything get to her. The following day she would be home in St. Louis, and she could put the whole nightmare behind her.

The narrow hallway from the bathroom to her dorm room opened up to the common area that was frequently used by the girls on the floor to hang out. On most nights, you could find people playing cards or studying at the round tables. “Hey, Leah!” one of the girls from the card game called out. “You think we’ll have a chance to get a good night’s sleep with this storm?”

Another girl at the table let out a stifled chuckle. “I mean, it would be nice to sleep through the night for once without your screaming.” Sounds of laughter suddenly filled the room. “Maybe you should sleep with the lights on!” the girl laughed.

Leah could feel her cheeks turn red as the blood rushed to her head. “Sure!” she let out, her voice shaking with anger.

She walked quickly to her room; trying to beat the laughter before it ended. Forcibly, she closed the door behind her and sighed heavily as she pressed her back against it. “Can this be over any faster?” she yelled. In frustration, she tossed her toothbrush and her towels on the floor. “Ugh!”

At that moment, a gust of wind rushed violently through the open window, knocking the lamp on her desk onto the floor. The room was suddenly in complete darkness. “Grrreat!” she said, in a drawn-out huff.

She bent over to pick up the lamp but felt a little uneasy as lightning from the approaching storm created strange shadows around the room. As the sound of thunder filled the room, she stumbled to find the socket to plug in the power cord.
Duh
, she thought.
I should just turn on Amanda’s lamp.
As she reached out to turn on the lamp, she paused. She had an eerie feeling that someone was standing behind her.
No one is behind me
, she thought, as she extended her arm to turn on the lamp.

“Aaah!”

There was a burst of light in the room followed by a loud crack as the lightbulb from Amanda’s lamp shattered into many pieces, landing across the table and the floor. Startled, Leah jumped back, withdrawing her hand. At the same time, the door to her closet slammed shut, causing her to let out a stifled scream. Quickly, she spun around, her heart pounding against her chest.

Leah stood in the dark frozen with fear. Through the darkness, she could see that a strange mist had begun to fill the room, and when lightning struck, there was no thunder to follow.

Leah dared to take a step forward. She felt the glass from the lightbulb crunch beneath her tennis shoes, but there was no sound from the crunching glass. Leah waved her hand through the air, and the air seemed to ripple like water. Nervously, she looked around the room. She noticed the light underneath the door from the hallway was gone, and she could no longer hear laughter. The posters of male models on Amanda’s side of the room, which once were vibrant with color, now appeared to be in black and white. “It’s like my dreams!” she stuttered, in a panic. “Everything is washed in gray!”

Suddenly, there were shuffling noises all around her, and goose bumps formed on her arms and legs. She took a deep breath in, and when she let it out, she saw it take form in the air. Her heart was racing fast now. Leah bolted towards the door. “Help!” she yelled.

Spontaneously, the closet doors from both sides of the room flung open, stopping her in her tracks. Several small shadows darted in and out of the closets. Leah screamed in horror because she had seen them before, surrounding her, chasing her, in her dreams.