The Legend of the Firewalker (31 page)

“What the heck was that all about?” asked Alan. “Why did you say if Leah comes home? Where is she?”

“What’s going on?” asked Erin. “What’s up with all the ruckus on the stairs tonight? The girls on my floor were complaining about loud noises. They said it sounded like a fight on the stairwell. I came out here and that’s when I saw the weir
dest thing.” She pointed to the exit at the bottom of the staircase. “I saw two guys dressed in black walk straight through that door, but the entire door was like engulfed in a blue light. And when I reached the bottom to investigate, the blue light was gone and so were the guys. I checked the lobby too. Unless my eyes are deceiving me, I promise you, those guys just disappeared.”

Alan held out his hand to Nathan. “Give me back my cell,” he demanded. “Are you going to tell me what’s g
oing on, or should I just call Lafonda?”

Nathan took a deep breath. It was Jonas’s basketball in Erin’s hand.

“Angela is missing,” Nathan said.

“What?” blurted Alan.

Nathan nodded and his face frowned sympathetically. “Yes,” he said. “Jonas, Andy, and Eva Marie are also missing.”

Alan’s mouth fell open. “You got to be kidding me,” he said. “Is this a joke?”

Nathan shook his head and gave Alan back his phone. “I’m not joking,” he said. “And Leah’s missing too. That’s why Lafonda called; she was calling to tell me about Leah.”

“That’s crazy!” groaned Alan. “We have to call the p
olice.”

“The police are on their way, but trust me,” responded Nathan, “they can’t help us.”

Alan looked confused. “What are you talking about?” he asked.

Erin pointed her thumb to the exit again. “Does this have anything to do with those guys dressed in black?” she asked. “And who are they?”

Nathan nodded. “Yes. But I can’t explain right now.”

She had a doubtful look on her face. “Are they some type of gang?”

“Gang?” spouted Alan.

“No, they’re not a gang, but some of the campers might think they are,” he responded. “And for now, I think we should keep it that way.”

Frustration was building in Alan’s eyes. “We need to go after them!”

“That’s what I plan to do,” responded Nathan sympathe
tically. “And I think I might know where they’re heading next.” 

“Then I am going with you,” vowed Alan.

Nathan reached into his back pocket. “You can’t,” he said. “I need you to stay here with the others.” He gave Alan Angela’s cell phone and suddenly sadness gripped his face. “Sam and some of the other campers have been injured and the paramedics are on their way. With Lafonda gone and now Angela, I need you guys to stick around and make sure everything is all right.”

Erin nodded. “Okay,” she said. 

Alan rolled his eyes in protest, but proceeded up the stairs.

“Erin,” said Nathan. He
stuttered a little before speaking. “I need a favor— this is very important.”

She took a few steps closer and stared at him intently. “What?” she asked.

“When Lafonda gets here,” he said. “Under no circumstance can you allow her to leave Lawrence Hall.”

She looked confused. “But
—”

He grabbed her by the arm. “Please,” he said. “It’s really important. It’s a matter of life or death.”

“Okay, okay,” she said. “Relax. I’ll keep an eye on Lafonda.”

Nathan started towards the exit but spun back around. “What time is it?” he asked.

“Almost midnight,” she responded.

“I hope I still have time.”

“Nathan,” she called out.

He turned around again, and for the first time that night he could tell that Erin was worried.

“I sure hope you know what you are doing,” Erin said.

“Me too,” he mumbled. “Me too.”

Nathan stepped out of the stairwell and into the lobby of Lawrence Hall. The rush of cool air greeted him, and so did the glaring red and blue lights from the ambulance sitting out front.
Good, they’re here
.

He caught a glimpse of Samantha being examined by a paramedic, while a watchful Hugo towered over them. A trickle of campers and counselors began to fill the lobby.

Soon the police would arrive and so would LaDonda. He figured now was a good time to slip out unnoticed. He had a gut-wrenching feeling as he stepped outside through the kitchen. The door slammed shut behind him, and he was alone in the parking lot. “I hope Sam will be okay,” he said. He remembered seeing the cut on her arm and how relieved she had been to see him. Feeling frustrated, he slammed his fist against the dumpster. “I feel like I am deserting them!”

He looked to see if anyone was around and then headed towards Jonas’s house. Nathan sprinted as fast as he could, cutting across unfenced yards and through a co
uple of alleys. He turned a corner, and a couple of feet in front of him were the railroad tracks that ran behind Jonas’s house. He remembered the modest home with a sloping roof and white trim, and headed up the driveway to the back of the house. All the lights were off, except for the one on the front porch. It was a little past midnight and, as he expected, there was no train.

“I hope I am not too late,” he mumbled to himself.

The back of the house was completely dark, but there was a faint glow of light from one of the back windows. “I hope he’s still there,” he said. “I hope they didn’t come for him.” Nathan stood atop a brick that rested against the house to get a better look inside the window. “If he’s gone, how on earth will I get in?”

Inside the window, he could see Bobby playing video games in the dark with the light from the television reflec
ting on his face. Nathan lightly tapped on the window, and in a flash Bobby turned off the television and hopped into bed.

Nathan chuckled. “Bobby,” he whispered while contin
uing to tap on the window.

Bobby slowly opened his eyes and stared at the window for a moment before getting out of bed. “Jonas?” he asked.

Nathan smiled. “No,” he said. “It’s me, Nathan.”

“What are you doing out there?” asked Bobby, while rai
sing the window. “Is my brother out there too?”

“No,” he said. “Have you seen him tonight?”

Bobby shook his head.

Nathan glanced around the room. The box for Bobby’s video game
Wizards and Warriors
was on the floor, and there was a
Wizards and Warriors
poster on the wall. “I need to talk to you,” he said.

“Am I in trouble?” Bobby asked. “Please don’t tell my mom. If I get in trouble again, I won’t be able to go to my brother’s closing ceremony tomorrow.”

Nathan chuckled. “A strange man is looking through a little boy’s window in the middle of the night and you think you’re in trouble?”

Bobby tilted his head and folded his arms across his chest. “You’re not a stranger, Nathan,” he said. “We’ve met, and b
esides, I’m not a kid. I’m almost ten years old.”

“Okay, all right,” said Nathan. “I want to show you something, but first you have to promise me you won’t be opening windows anymore for anyone after tonight.”

“Okay,” said Bobby, pausing to take a seat on the windowsill.

Nathan took a quick glance at the poster on the wall again and stepped back. “Um, Bobby,” he said.

Bobby looked back at him with eager anticipation.

“Have you seen anything strange or odd lately? Any weird creatures or people, like in
Wizards or Warriors?”

Bobby’s face suddenly looked peculiar as if he was tr
ying to remember something. “There was this black cat in the tree once,” he said. “It was really hairy, not like Lacey. It growled a bunch and it had sharp teeth.”

“What did the growling sound like?”

The boy twisted his lip and stared off somewhere over Nathan’s shoulder. Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he spoke again. “Like Lacey, but when she’s been accidentally stepped on — I think?”

Nathan nodded. “Gotcha,” he said. He took a few more paces back, standing closer amongst the trees. “They must have erased his memory, like they did with Jonas,” he thought. “And they probably did the same thing to their dad.”

Nathan held his arm out with his palm facing upward toward the sky. He could feel the energy building in the muscles in his hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the anticipation building on Bobby’s face, and he grinned. Slowly he released the energy, and a stream of white and blue lights began to hover over his hand, coalescing into a swirling ball of energy.

“Whoa!” said Bobby, attempting to hop out of the wi
ndow.

“Hold on,” Nathan chuckled, quickly closing his hand and heading over. “It’s way too late, and you need to stay inside.”

Bobby’s eyes were wide and he beamed. “Are you a wizard?”

Nathan grinned. “No,” he said, “I am not a wizard.”

“Then you must be a warrior!” said Bobby.

Nathan pursed his lips in a lighthearted way and nodded. “Not quite,” he said, “but I appreciate the compl
iment.”

“How did you do that?” Bobby asked.

“One sec,” Nathan said. He peered into the window and climbed in. “That’s why I am here tonight — I need your help.”

Bobby’s face frowned in the same way Jonas’s did when he didn’t understand something.

“Don’t worry,” said Nathan. “You can do it too.”

“Me?” asked Bobby, his eyes wide in amazement. 

“Yup,” he said. “And Jonas can do it too. And so could your dad.”

Bobby’s face radiated. “What do you need me to do?” he asked.

“Okay, I need you to close your eyes and focus,” Nathan said. “Listen closely and follow my instructions. This is like level 99 of
Wizards and Warriors,
and you only have one board to go.”

Bobby’s eyes were closed shut, his entire body looked stiff, and his hands were balled into fists.

Nathan smiled. “Are you ready?” he asked. “Do you have your game face on?”

Bobby nodded.

“Okay,” said Nathan. “I am going to tell you exactly how Jonas does it. Take two steps back from the window and hold out your hand. Now, I want you to think about Jonas and your dad—think about all the good times you’ve had together. Imagine that feeling growing, getting stronger!”

A few moments passed and silence fell on the room. N
athan was about to give up, but Bobby’s arm slowly started to tremble.

“Now,” Nathan said. “Release it through your hand!”

A small bluish-white light slowly crept from Bobby’s hand as he instinctively traced the window.

“You did it!” Nathan said.

Bobby opened his eyes to a glowing blue window. “Amazing!” he said. He turned to face Nathan. “Did I do that?”

“Yup,” said Nathan, while inspecting the window. “You did it, just like Jonas!”

Bobby beamed. “Like Jonas?”

Nathan nodded then smiled. “Yup,” he said. “Exactly like Jonas!”

“And my dad?”

“And your dad.”

With caution, Nathan slowly put his hand out of the window, and then his head. As expected, everything on the other side appeared frozen and shrouded in gray — the trees, the grass and the houses. Everything was as it was in his dreams about Leah and in his dream about Grimm Cemetery.

“Okay,” Nathan said, while standing in the room. “It’s way past your bedtime, mister.”

“I figured you were going to say that,” Bobby said, while climbing into bed.

Nathan grinned. “Now remember,” he said, taking a seat on the bed, “no more opening windows for anyone whether you think you know them or not, and no more video games!” He headed towards the window. “Oh, and no using your powers
— at least until tomorrow,” he said with a wink.

“Nathan,” Bobby called out, “is my brother in tro
uble?”

“Everything will be all right now,” he said. “Thanks to your help. Now off to bed. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

The Space In Between was just as Nathan remembered it. The moon and the stars shone exceptionally bright, and to his dismay, Nathan was way across town and nowhere near Grimm Cemetery. By now, he figured the portal that Bobby opened had closed and there was no sense in turning back.

He continued to jog down the lifeless and muted streets, pausing here and there to catch his breath, sometimes sto
pping in awe at the barren streets and empty houses. “I sure hope Jonas can get us out of here,” he said to himself.

He recalled his dream about Grimm Cemetery, the black and r
ed-hooded figures, their swords and the malicious blond woman dressed in white. He huffed. “Yeah, that’s if I can figure out a way to save them.”

By the time he reached Lawrence Hall to begin the trek down Lawrence Road to connect to Route 7, he felt hop
eless. Until now, he had never really realized just how far away Grimm Cemetery was. “At this rate,” he grumbled, “I’ll never make it in time.” When he was a kid, he used to bike there from campus with friends, but being that he was in the Spirit Realm, he was almost certain that any bike he found would be unmovable, practically frozen.