Thomas Sniegoski - Walking In the Midst of Fire

As he stared into the fire, he was again reminded of the orphan, Gareth, and the problem his change from child to adolescent had begot. And what of the others?

Would Gareth’s change somehow affect them?

That was what he intended to find out, sitting there in the rain, waiting for them—the orphans—to notice.

It didn’t take long. He felt their eyes before he actually saw them. They peered out from hiding places in the various abandoned buildings that surrounded the square. Simeon pretended not to notice, focusing on the fire and the rain.

He heard the sound of someone approaching, and looked up to see a young girl standing before him. She was wearing a heavy, leather jacket, two sizes too big for her thin frame. Her T-shirt, which was also too big, announced in fading letters that she was a Sexy Bitch, and her jeans were faded and torn at the knees.

Simeon was fairly certain that this was Mavis. She and Gareth had been two of the first to be saved from death. He smiled, hoping that he was doing it properly. It had been a very long time since he’d had a reason to smile, and he didn’t want to scare her.

“Why are you sitting here?” Mavis asked.

He didn’t answer her right away, instead focusing on the churning fire.

“Hey!” she said impatiently.

“I heard you,” Simeon replied, tossing another piece of wood onto the fire. He looked at her from the corner of his eye. “I was hoping one of you would come and talk to me.”

“You’re that guy,” Mavis announced. “The guy that comes to speak with Prosper.”

Simeon attempted another smile, nodding. “I am that guy.”

“You scare him, you know?” Mavis said. “We can tell when you’re coming because he acts all different . . . nervous.”

“I have that effect on some people,” Simeon answered. “As you might someday.”

He threw that last bit out there; a baited hook, fishing for a response.

“What do you mean?” Mavis asked. “Why would anybody be afraid of me?”

She stepped closer to him—as if curiosity compelled her.

A piece of wood popped and snapped, tumbling from the pyre he had built. He moved it closer to the burning mass with the side of his shoe.

“I spoke with your friend not too long ago,” Simeon said.

“What friend?” she asked with caution.

“Gareth.”

Simeon looked up in time to see a certain amount of excitement showing in her dark green eyes, which she quickly attempted to suppress.

“He did something very bad . . . didn’t he?” she asked.

This young woman didn’t know the half of it. Simeon had had plans in motion for a very long time, plans that had been affected by this young man’s actions. “Yes, he did.”

“Has he been punished?” Mavis asked.

“Not yet,” Simeon said, slowly shaking his head.

“Will he be?”

“Perhaps.”

Simeon picked up a piece of wood from the stack next to him. A beetle, its shell glistening in the firelight, emerged from a knot in the wood, as if suspecting it was wise to leave. And it might have been, if only it had made the decision to act a little faster. He dropped the wood on the fire, watching the death throes of the insect.

“When I spoke with Gareth, I learned that he had developed special . . . talents.”

Simeon tore his gaze from the fire to look at the girl. She had moved even closer to him now, and the look in her eyes told him that she knew exactly what he was talking about.

“An incredible talent that allowed him to leave the island without anyone knowing,” he continued. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that . . . would you?”

Mavis shook her head quickly.

“No?” Simeon asked. “I was afraid of that.” He rubbed at his chin, pretending to be deep in thought. “Hmm, then I guess poor Gareth is a freak,” he said. “An aberration.”

“Aberration?” Mavis repeated, uncertainty in her tone.

“Something unlike all the others,” Simeon explained.

“Is . . . is that bad?” she asked. “To be an aberration?”

“In this case, my child, it is. You see, Gareth did something very bad, and to be sure that something like that doesn’t happen again we must—”

“What if there are more?” Mavis interrupted.

“What do you mean?”

“What if there are more . . . more aberrations? Would that keep Gareth safe?”

“More aberrations?”

From the ruins of the mining town stepped the other orphans. They were of all ages, some having been on this world no longer than a few years, while others were older—like Mavis and Gareth. Simeon suspected that they were the ones who should generate the most concern.

They walked through the rain toward Mavis. Then he saw their eyes grow cautious, and turned to find that his own demon servants had emerged from their hiding places.

“Who are they?” Mavis demanded, ready to flee if necessary.

He motioned for his servants to stay where they were. “Only those who help me with my day-to-day,” Simeon said.

Mavis turned, telling the others that it was all right with just a glance. He wondered if that might be her special gift, to be able to communicate with others of her ilk without making a sound.

She turned back to Simeon. “Gareth isn’t the only one,” she admitted, looking down at the ground.

“Then there are others like him?” Simeon asked. “With special gifts?”

She nodded quickly. “It’s the older kids,” she explained. “Though some of the younger ones can feel something coming.”

“What is your gift, Mavis?” Simeon asked.

The girl looked embarrassed, rocking from side to side as her fists clenched and unclenched within the long sleeves of her leather jacket.

“Don’t be shy,” he encouraged. “It’s all out in the open now.”

“It hurts,” she said. “It hurts when I use it.”

He continued to stare at her, his gaze demanding that she show him despite the discomfort.

Mavis closed her eyes. Almost immediately, the air around her began to shimmer. Then flames grew from her body, forming a pair of fiery wings that fanned the air, throwing intense amounts of heat. The rain hissed as it attempted to land upon her, creating roiling clouds of steam that billowed across the ground toward him.

And as if that wasn’t enough, Mavis tossed her head back, raised her arms and unleashed gouts of white-hot fire from her hands, fire that burned so intensely that it caused concrete to burn.

Yes, the situation was exactly as bad as he’d originally thought.

She settled down, her breath coming in labored gasps. Simeon noticed that the flesh of her hands had been charred black, but was already beginning to heal.

“Am I an aberration?” she asked, her chest heaving from the exertion.

He noticed that some of the older children in the background were now showing off as well; one floated above the ground on invisible wings, while another levitated stones, some far bigger than even Simeon.

He had seen enough. He stood up from the bucket upon which he sat, and stepped forward, exposing himself to the elements.

Mavis stared at him intensely, waiting for her answer.

“Hey, you didn’t answer,” she said. “Am I?”

He stood there in the rain, his demon followers coming to stand with him.

“Yes,” Simeon told her. “Yes, you are.”

The girl seemed to accept that, as she’d likely accepted every other indignity that had been heaped upon her since she’d been born into this cruel world.

“Will this help him?” she asked. “Will it help, now that Gareth’s not the only one?”

“Yes,” Simeon said, and she smiled briefly.

“For now,” he added, as he turned and walked away, leaving Mavis and the others to decide whether something good had occurred.