Dawn

Chapter Eight: The Fire

“Woah”. I hear Michael say, “This is so awesome”. He pauses after every word.

“Oh, yeah”, I reply.

I look over at Jessie. Her eyes are already big and wide but it seems as if they doubled in size. Her eyelashes really make them seem even more wide.

Ashton has a little half smile as he looks around at the ten, small sized buildings. Two of them are different shades of blue. One of them has greek columns in front of the door. The other one has a blue bead curtain. Each of them have a small little waterfall that goes to a small pond on the side. It has a metal carving or framework of a water droplet. The buildings match what Jessie is wearing.

There are two black buildings with red trimming. One of them has a big pit filled with polished stones all along the sides of it. Another one has two large bowls (about five feet in diameter) filled with the same kind of stones at the front. Both have a metal artwork of a flame or fire above the door. Ashton.

Another pair of buildings are white and completely smooth. One of which has greek columns at the front of it and there are wind chimes hanging from the roof. The other one has long, white curtains that are blowing in the wind. It looks absolutely beautiful. They have a metal framework of a cartoon gust of wind. Michael.

There is one last pair of buildings. They are green and brown and blue. It is like the walls are completely made of plants. On one building, one wall has a trellis with flowers and vines. The front porch of the building  has more vines growing on it. It really does look pretty. The other building looks like it is made of long grass and wood. Maybe it was a log cabin at one time and grass and vines or moss grew on it, but the brown and green goes well together.

There is only one building that I see that looks like my outfit. It is a very small white building. It seems to reflect the sunlight. Maybe, it’s made of metal. The window panes are black and so is the roof and doors.The door has a clock above it that looks like my tattoo on my wrist. I wonder about it and then the bus driver calls us up to the fire pit in the middle of the camp.

The fire pit is about as big as a full-sized tennis court. It is filled with the same stones as the black buildings. The pit walls are raised about two feet. It’s made of stone and is filled with stone. I can tell there is something else in the pit; it’s not just stones. The bus driver brings the helpless boy up to the front of the pit where we are all crowded. I want to see what is happening so,I move to the front of the camp. The boy is standing on the edge of the pit. I notice my friends followed me and they’re standing behind me. The man looks at us and points at Ashton. “You”, he says.

Ashton’s face looks even more pale than usual, “M-me?”

“Yes, you. Come up here”. He has an incredibly evil look in his eyes.

Ashton swallows hard and nods his head. He steps up onto the pit and asks the man, “W-what do you need me to do?”

“Light this pit on fire”.

“What? I don’t have a lighter or anything”.

“You are one”. The man looks at Ashton as if he knew exactly what he was talking about.

“I don’t get this. How am I supposed to light a fire without a lighter?” He crosses his arms and looks up at the man.

“Bend over and put your finger onto one of the rocks”

Ashton did as he said.

“Now repeat after me”.

Ashton nods his head, “Okay”.

“Viribus ignis, lumen in cisternam hanc igni”.

Ashton closes his eyes and repeats the chant, “Viribus ignis, lumen in cisternam hanc igni.” All of the sudden, the pit fills with flames. Ashton’s face is filled with shock. “I actually did that”. He whispers. He looks at his hands and inspects them really hard. They look fine to me. He jumps off of the pit and back onto the ground. Ashton looks at me and smiles then gives me a high-five.

“You did it, Flame Boy”, I say.

Ashton blushes and looks away, “Yeah, I guess I did”. His voice sounds sad.

I look up in the direction he is looking in just in time to see the bus driver up on the pit wall with the boy’s shoulder still clenched in his hand. “Now, for the real excitement”, he says with an evil grin on his face.

He looks at the boy and the boy looks the other way. “Just whatever you’re gonna do to me, make it fast”.

What is he going to do? I ask myself, Please don’t make it that harsh.

The man pushes the boy into the pit. Just before he hit the bottom I could see his face filled with fear. I feel hot tears start to fill up in my eyes and eventually (after about two seconds) run down my cheeks. Before I can even realize it, my feet start to move one in front of the other towards the man. I hear painful screams coming from the pit and a welp starts to build in my throat. I look at the man with anger. “What did he do you?” I scream at him. “He didn’t hurt anybody! You didn’t have to kill him!”

I hear the screams start to fade. It was over. The boy nobody knew just got killed by a man that he didn’t know.

“I will talk to you in private at the main camp building”, says the man. He points over to a small, yellow building at the end of the row.

“Fine”, I shoot at him. I trudge towards the yellow building and I can hear Jessie and Michael’s yells wanting me to come back but I ignore them.

I need to talk to this man and that is what I will do.