The Fourth Man

Footsteps

Footsteps

Jonathan stood, isolated on the new beach he found himself on. He called out for Nerpato several times, but it was no use, there was no-one to be seen across the vast expense of the beach.

Jonathan started to wander away from what was not too long ago the direction of the Fontaine Docks, but was now just a further expense of the same rock filled beach.

Jonathan didn't know how far he had walked; the beach just looked endlessly the same, but it was after the sun was at his hottest that he saw a figure up ahead.

The figure wasn't moving, and soon it became closer as Jonathan advanced. It certainly wasn't Nerpato, the figure seemed smaller and slightly bulkier, and it seemed to be dressed in different clothes.

Jonathan was about 10 metres from the figure, who was a evidently a man, when he froze. It couldn't be. But there, standing right in front of him was his father.

"Dad?" he called out. His father turned away from him, and he didn't say a word. But he did begin to walk along the beach. Jonathan called out again, but his father ignored him and carried on walking. Whenever Jonathan tried to run and catch up with him he couldn't, he seemed to always stay at least 10 metres ahead.

Not after long the figure of his father cut across the beach and walked along the edge of the beach by the cliff. Strangely, Jonathan noticed his father was leaving no footprints, although he had large black boots on. His feet seemed to barley touch the sand as he strode purposefully on.

All of a sudden his father disappeared. Straight into thin air. Jonathan stood perplexed. He came to the conclusion that he had imagined the figure of his father, he was sure he had been drowned, or so the supervisor had said. But then he noticed the footsteps.

They were quite long strides, and made by just one person walking in bare feet, as the small indentations of the sole of the foot and the toes showed. These certainly weren't made by his father figure, as there was no trail, before the one that started at his feet.

Curious, Jonathan set off, following the footprint trail. Could this perhaps be Nerpato's track? He could have taken his work boots off for some reason. But it didn't seem to add up to Jonathan. The footprints only went one way, and they appeared all of a sudden in the middle of the beach. Where was he? He lost Nerpato in a dense packet of fog, and when it cleared he found himself on this mysterious island. Where his dead father roamed ahead of him, and bare footprints suddenly appeared in front of him.

Jonathan followed the trail for some time, before it seemed to veer off into the cliff by his left. On closer inspection the footprints headed straight into an entrance constructed into the rock of the cliff. It was dark inside, and very narrow, but curiously Jonathan proceeded down the passageway after the footprints.

Quite abruptly the passageway opened out into a rock-cut four walled room, lit dimly by bare electric bulbs. But Jonathan wasn't alone, four teenagers were deep in conversation around a centrepiece rock, seemingly carved with strange symbols.

"Nerpato?" Jonathan asked, seemingly recognising his friend.

"John?" Nerpato asked, as the four teenagers wheeled around.

"Who the hell is this?" Demanded Quaker

"This is Jonathan," said Nerpato "Who I lost in the fog before. Jonathan," Nerpato addressed him "These are three others looking for the Fourth Man, they got lost here too."

Jonathan greeted Siggy, Exo, and Quaker individually.

"So then," said Jonathan "Which one of you doesn't have any shoes?"

"What?" asked Siggy "What do you mean? We all have shoes on."

"But I followed footprints in here," said Jonathan

"Probably mine," offered Nerpato

"No," retorted Jonathan "the footprints appeared out of nowhere, and they were barefoot marks."

"What?!" asked Nerpato puzzled "Then who's footprints are they?"

"Well it seems," said Exo gravely "We aren't alone."