Edward got to his feel and stood beside me. “See? Now you try, Justin.”
It should have been the easiest thing in the world. I stooped just as Edward had done with my face to the ground facing the fire pit, and I blew. The small flames died. Pathetic. Edward had said tenderly and I’d blown harder than the Big Bad Wolf.
“Too much!” Edward laughed. “It’s not a birthday cake. The air you’re blowing contains oxygen but it’s also cold. Remember, we need oxygen and heat. Tender but firm.”
Edward knelt and I got to my feet to leave him the stage. He blew again softly, holding it for almost a full minute. The flames reappeared. Edward stood up beside me. He extended his open palm, giving me the fireplace. “Your turn again, Justin.”
I frowned. This time I had to do it the right way. I couldn’t blow such a simple task. I knelt, stared for some seconds at the fireplace and at the dancing, little flames, and blew. Once more, I blew too hard, or in the wrong way, or maybe too gently because I killed the flames. I look up at Edward, wondering what I’d done wrong. He winked and made a stupidly wide smile, from ear to ear and motioned his hands as if making some invisible thing flow.
Okay, okay, I’d try again. Point taken. Besides, I wouldn’t allow Daniel to call me a loser because I couldn’t start a fire. I turned back, facing the fire pit, raised the sunglasses a bit, and glared at it not angrily but intently. I blew for a third time being so very careful, pumping a gentle and steady flow, not of air, but of my own breath—I fed the fire with life, not with plain air. The ashes and coal crackled. Large flames appeared and the wave of heat made me sat up from my stooping position and tilt backwards.
“Well done, Justin!” In his excitement, Edward dropped to his knees beside me and passed an arm over my shoulders, softly squeezing my body. I clapped like a kid and my chest expanded. Delight welled up inside me and I felt powerful, capable of ruling the world if I tried hard enough.
A large grin drew itself on my face and I breathed in, full of pride. I’d just stopped being a loser despite whatever Daniel or anybody else had said. Edward squeezed me again and it felt like electricity flowing through my bod. In my burst of happiness, I hugged him. “I did it!”
Edward hugged me back. His aroma flooded my nostrils once more, transforming into fuel feeding intense passion in my body. I hugged him harder.
Somebody coughed. We parted as if somebody had pushed a button activating a spring between us. Daniel stood outside the supplies tent. He glared at Edward and me, pursing his lips. In one hand, he held a basket full of eggs and an orange juice jug, in the other two large pans. “What the hell are you guys doing?”
Edward rose to his feet. He flushed, but managed to keep his matter-of-fact tone. “Don’t be a girl and stop fussing, Daniel. When you ask somebody to do something, first check if he knows how to do it. Justin had no clue how to light the campfire. But he just happened to be a very fast learner.” He turned to me, keeping on his business-like tone. “Now, Justin, just keep blowing. Put on more firewood as the fire catches up and keep blowing. Remember: tender but firm, just like with a sexy girl.” He winked at me.
Daniel dropped his stuff on the ground and unscrewed the cap of one of the large water jerry cans.
“What are you doing?” Edward asked him.
Daniel raised his upper lip. “I’m gonna wash my hands. You specifically asked me to do so, don’t you remember, dude?”
“Not with that water, Daniel. That’s drinking water. It needs to last 4 more days. There’s an empty jug inside the tent. Go and fill it.”
Daniel pointed a finger to the middle of his chest. “Me?”
“Yes, you.”
Daniel put his arms akimbo and shook his head—his red curls drifted around him for a second. “And where the hell do you think I’m gonna find clean water in this damned forest, dude? The water from the fountains is not exactly suitable for washing anything. How about filling it in the lake?”
Edward scratched his head. “Go to the gatekeeper’s, it’s closer than the lake. He must have tap water. Justin, go with him. I’ll take care of breakfast.”
“To the gatekeeper’s? That’s miles away, dude, I’ll go the lake.”
“Daniel, just do what I say.”
Daniel snorted. He strode back to the supplies tent, stuck half of his body in it— his butt protruded out like a rocket launcher—and pulled out a one gallon, empty water jug. I was still kneeling by the campfire, stupidly staring from Daniel to Edward. Daniel approached and kicked me. “Get up, loser! We need to get the stupid water.”
He offered me a hand, which I took. However, when I was getting up, Daniel released me and I fell backwards on my buttocks.
Daniel smirked. “Dunce.”
July 3, 7:23 am
After walking for more than 20 minutes, it became obvious Daniel had gotten us lost. More than once, I told him he’d taken the wrong turn, but the stupidly proud boy refused to recognize it. I was blaming him because, since we’d left the campsite, he’d been walking three or four steps ahead of me, leading the expedition. He also carried the water jug as if carrying it bore any authority.
At some point, we walked a wide trail where cobblestones could still be seen like islands in the bare earth. It led us to a huge roundabout where several trails intersected. Headless angels holding broken vases decorated the center of a large fountain now turned into swamp. As we approached, greenish water automatically started pouring out of the vases.
Daniel spit in the fountain. “It’s amazing this ruin still works, dude.”
Even the spotlights under the water had turned on, like the blurry eyes of a deep-ocean monster ascending to the surface. We didn’t stop. We passed by and walked further until the path finally ended in a clearing.
Daniel halted. A shaky laugh sprang out of his mouth. “We made it, dude! I thought we were never gonna find it.”
We were not at the main gate—not even remotely close to it. The large whitewashed house in front of us couldn’t possibly be the gatekeeper’s home, and the space surrounding the house, as large a football field, wasn’t the little clearing around the main gates either.
“This is not the gatekeeper’s hut, Daniel. You’ve taken us to the wrong place.”
Daniel’s eyes were sparkling. The jug fell from his hand to the ground, and his face glowed. “Of course it’s not. It’s the abandoned mansion, dude. I found it! This is exactly the place I was looking for.”
The building certainly fell within the definition of a mansion. Whether abandoned or not, it was another story. Yesterday evening, it’d seemed as though people lived there. Today, however, it seemed to be the completely opposite. In fact, it looked so lifeless, I almost freaked out. How could a house change so much in a matter of hours? I even wondered whether there were two mansions on the property.
Like the house I’d visited the previous night, this one was a massive whitewashed manor, like the White House, with huge columns and tons of windows, although most of them were smashed or boarded up. The white paint was peeling everywhere, weeds grew out of every crack in the building, and one of its massive main wooden doors was missing. The shallow fountain in front of it had turned into another greenish swamp. It looked like the place had been blitzed after I left last night. I shook my head wondering if I’d gone crazy—I’d been so stressed lately I wouldn’t rule it out. “It’s impossible.”
Daniel rolled his eyes. “Impossible? Don’t be a fool, dude. Of course, it’s the abandoned mansion. What else could it be, the Yankee Stadium? Come on, let’s check it out.”
Daniel pushed through the clearing, striding through grass reaching up to his thighs—the whole clearing around the house was a yellowish grassland, and gone were the well-trimmed lawns I’d seen last night.
“Daniel, wait!” I called. “We were told to fetch water. We can’t go in there. Edward said it’s forbidden.”
He glared at me and snorted, “Edward my foot, dude! This is a free country, and he’
s not my old man. I go wherever I want. If you’re a sissy, dude, wait for me here.” He sprinted toward the dilapidated mansion, leaving me behind.
“Daniel, wait! You shouldn’t go inside!”
He ignored me. I looked up at the sky and bit my lip wondering if I should follow him. This whole business was turning scary. Yes, scary was the word. Last night had been scary. The house looked scary. The whole property was scary.
Gears turned inside my mind and I felt responsible for Daniel. I bet he thought the reason why I’d taken so much time the previous night had been because I’d gone to explore the mansion. Proud as Daniel was, he couldn’t allow the sissy to be one step ahead of him going on risky adventures. He’d have been half right but I’d never be able to clarify the situation before he’d killed himself inside that ruin.
I bolted after Daniel who had already entered the house. The tall grass—up to my waist—tickled on my legs as I ran, and I could feel mud puddles hidden within the grass. So many that my sneakers got soaked. When I finally reached the porch, I leaned against one of the mammoth columns and rested for a second to catch my breath.
The remaining gigantic door seemed about to collapse at any moment because it hung only from one hinge. I roamed around the porch for a few moments until I finally stuck my head inside, not daring to enter—I had a bad feeling about this place. Dark shadows stood everywhere, and the smell of dampness and staleness made me pinch my nose. “Daniel?”
A nasal echo came as the only answer. “Daniel?”
I tiptoed inside and waited until my eyes adapted to the semidarkness. I wasn’t taking off the sunglasses, so it took longer for my eyes to adapt. I caught sight of Daniel’s figure exploring an extra-large, gloomy hall with a huge marble stairway at its far end. Tons of dust floated in the air, and mud carpeted the floor. At certain spots, it had sunk. Torn tapestries hung in rags from the walls, half covering smashed mirrors. An oversize crystal chandelier lay broken at the center of the hall. It’d fallen from the ceiling, hitting so hard it’d half buried itself in the wooden parquet. Once again, I had the feeling I knew this place.
Daniel’s voice drew my attention. “This is awesome, dude! It’s like Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion.”
It could certainly be except for the fact that the previous night it’d looked as glorious as its counterpart in Washington DC. I shivered. The place was scaring the hell out me.
I hugged myself. “Daniel, this place is giving me the creeps. I think we better leave.”
A smirk drew itself on Daniel’s face. “Do what you want, sissy. I’ll explore this place on my own. I told you, if you’re a sissy, wait for me outside.”
His words boiled inside me and I felt my face turn hot as blood pulsed my veins. “I’m not a sissy! You take that back.”
Daniel strode toward me and stopped short within my personal space. He poked me right between the boobs with a rigid index finger. “Of course you’re a sissy, dude!” I backed off one step and he walked one step forward and poked me again. “I’ve seen you! All yesterday, you flirted with Edward. Here’s the news, dude: Edward’s straight, not gay like you. So quit him, dude.”
I had to back off another step because he stood right on me. “I’m his friend, and I’m telling you: stop harassing him, dude. He’s a good dude and wouldn’t say anything to you about it, but the rest of us aren’t so nice. You’d better control yourself if you don’t want us to beat you up, dude. Stop flirting.”
I opened my eyes wide and my jaw dropped. Flirting? Me? Flirting? “I’ve done nothing of the sort, Daniel! You’ve gone mad.” I could feel my face getting even hotter.
Daniel poked me harder with his finger. “So you say, sissy! I know your kind. You took Edward’s hand when you guys were lighting the campfire. And then you hugged him. You made Edward feel uncomfortable and he blushed. I saw you.”
“Daniel, you’re getting everything wrong. I have a girlfriend!” I yelled at him and I couldn’t believe myself. I was not the aggressive type.
Daniel narrowed his eyes. “So you say, sissy, but I don’t believe you. Guess what? We Boy Scouts don’t tolerate sissies in our troops. Either you behave and leave Edward alone, or we will drum you out of camp, dude.”
He spat. I had to jump backwards to prevent his spittle from hitting my sneaker. He fixed his eyes on mine—well, on my dark glasses.
“Understood, sissy?” Daniel gnashed his teeth and raised his upper lip. “Be a man and look into my eyes without your stupid little sunglasses. Take them off or I’ll rip them off your face, dude.”
In that moment, a loud bang reverberated all through the house. Daniel spun, looking everywhere. I did the same. It’d come from upstairs. Another bang and Daniel bolted to the staircase.
“Daniel, stop!”
Going upstairs didn’t seem a wise thing to do, but I sprinted after him. The stairway runner, which had looked brand new last night, was only shreds and felt slushy under my sneakers. Likewise, the huge window at the top of the staircase appeared broken. I swear the hole still resembled the shape of a man with his arms wide open.
Daniel stopped once he reached the landing. He turned to me. “Come up here, dude. There are hundreds of rooms. This is awesome!”
Tons of dust floated everywhere in the halls right and left from the landing, and a stench like rotten fish itched my nose. Out of those hundreds of rooms, one in particular summoned me like a beacon. I rushed past Daniel, aiming directly at Aaron’s bedroom, determined to unveil this place’s mystery once and for all.
I found Aaron’s door unlocked but still jammed. I had to thrust against it several times until it gave way with a hard clunk. The room smelled as funky as the rest of the house. The canopy bed was still there, yet the mattress looked as if someone had stabbed it—half of its stuffing was scattered on the floor. The rest of the furniture looked equally damaged, and the windows were smashed. The curtains hung in rags. Nothing remained of Aaron’s luxurious room. Zilch.
“Cool!” Daniel exclaimed behind me.
He shoved me aside as he entered the room. Immediately, he opened all the drawers, checked under the bed, and pried everywhere. Somehow, I had the feeling he shouldn’t do it, like Daniel was desecrating a tomb. I watched him from the threshold, not daring to put a foot inside that bedroom. I gulped. I couldn’t tell if I wanted to investigate further. Either the place was bewitched, or I was in fact going mad, neither of which were an option. If the stories about the place being haunted were true, I rather to be as far away from the mansion as possible. I didn’t want a poltergeist to haunt me forever.
“Come here, dude. Just take a look at this bathroom.”
No. I refused to go in there. “No thanks, Daniel.”
“Oh c’mon, dude. I bet somebody was tortured here.”
Tortured? Not that I wanted to check a room where someone might have been tortured, but I couldn’t help it either. Some strange force drove me into Aaron’s bathroom and when I saw it, my stomach dropped… and then dropped again. As cool as it had looked last night, the bathroom looked dreadful today: smashed mirrors, stinky odors, a broken washbasin, and stagnant black water filling half of the bathtub. Last night, this place had been a symphony of light that had transported me to a personal and intimate climax. Today, with all its windows boarded up and partially dark, shadows seem to live in it. I had to hold to the bathroom’s doorframe with stone-cold fingers.
Daniel hysterically pointed out everywhere, dashing from one side of the large bathroom to the other. “Check the size of this washbasin, dude. You could take a bath in here. And this bathtub is as big as a swimming pool, these guys knew how to live. Just look at this water, I bet there’s still blood from the guy they tortured here.”
A sour taste lingered in my mouth. “You shouldn’t touch anything, Daniel—”
“And you shouldn’t be a sissy, dude.” He now stood in the center of the bathroom, contemplating the whole chamber, his arms akimbo. A single sunray penetrating through the w
indow disclosed tons of tiny specs of dust in the air. He noticed the toilet. “Just look at this, dude! Fresh shit! Some smartass came to shit in here recently. Cool! I have to take a picture.” Daniel’s eyes glowed and excitement reddened his face. He produced his cell phone and aimed it at the toilet, or better said, at whatever laid inside it. “This is freakin’ awesome!”
Note to self: Girls beware. Teenage boys have a fixation with excrement and gooey stuff.
It wasn’t freakin’ awesome. Not even basically awesome. Not even remotely awesome. It was creepy up to a point that would make my hair stand up on end. My heart beat fast and my skin tingled in distress. From deep inside me grew the need to rush out of this place, to escape from something I’d rather not face. “I’m leaving, Daniel. I can’t stand it anymore.”
“Take care, sissy. Wait for me outside. I’ll take coupla more pictures to show them to the guys.”
I really couldn’t stay any longer. The filthy mansion, the smell of suffocating dust, and my inability to tell the real stuff from what I’d imagined the previous night, made me wonder if devils and ghost were indeed after me. Devils eager to punish me for murdering Yago.
July 3, 11:13 pm
Daniel found me in the forest totally freaked out and had a fun time mocking me. We finally reached the troll’s shack, but he wasn’t there. The shack was not locked so we went inside and filled the jug with tap water. When we returned, Edward scolded us for taking so long and Daniel swore under oath it’d been my fault. Of course, I denied it as hard as I could and both of us started shouting at each other.
“Tone it down, you guys,” Edward said. “You’re a team and you have to learn to work together.”
That’s how Daniel and I became partners for the rest of the day. I did my best to get along with him, but he was a pain in the… well, there. He called me sissy when Edward couldn’t hear him and treated me as if I were an idiot. Okay, I was not an expert, but he couldn’t blame me for that—nobody had ever taught me how to tie pathetic, little knots or how to follow a map.
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