Chapter 6
Burning Agony
The night was chilly but with the campfire blazing it was far easier to tolerate. Felix sat on a fallen log near the fire rubbing his cold, sore hands together to try and generate some extra warmth. On his left Wolfie was munching on a bag of trail mix and staring into the fire blankly. Next to Wolfie sat the freckled, red-haired Arnold who looked to be more at peace than Wolfie. Then beyond Arnold sat Axel, Arnold's distant cousin, lounged idly poking the fire with a stick. Near Axel sat Heinrich the acne plagued 17 year old with thick glasses who was deemed a nerd, he was the only one in all of Winzeldorf who had a computer. Next to Heinrich sat Balthasar, a quiet pale boy that Felix had very little contact with. On Balthasar's left sat Juli, the tough tom boy that constantly defied her parents' and other villagers' attempts to feminize her. And finally on Juli's left and his right sat Renate, the self proclaimed nature nut who went camping every time that she could. There had been a few other people who had joined this group earlier in the day, but they had declined to spend the night outdoors.
Early that morning Felix had assembled his camping pack and headed out to meet up with Wolfie. After joining up with his best friend they went to the fountain at the center of Winzeldorf to wait for everyone to show up. Besides those who were sitting around the campfire now most of the teenage population came out to participate in the days activities though they wouldn't stay the night. It took over an hour, but when they were all assembled they headed out into the woods. Another hour saw the group at the pre-selected campsite with all the tents pitched and all the bags stowed away. With all that taken care of they all settled on to the first planned activity, a hike through the woods.
The hike had been for the most part uneventful. Sometime in the middle of the hike Julius got lost somehow and so everyone split up to look for him. This dragged the hike out from being one hour to two and it made everyone grumpy. When they finally did find Johann all the teens took turns giving the idiot a piece of their mind. Felix was one of the few who were merciful in his tongue lashing of the sixteen year old. And then near the end Tomas fell into an enormous patch of mud and they had to dig him out because of the suction. Then because he was covered in sticky cold mud he had to go home so Johann had to walk him home. When Johann made it back it was time for them all to move on to the next activity, fishing.
All the girls, except Juli, bowed out of this segment of their mini camping trip. The rest of them marched out to the nearby lake that divided Winzeldorf from its nearest neighbor. The boys and Juli took their fishing poles and bait to different points at the lake's edge and began to fish. Felix liked this part of the trip the best. All he had to do was sit still for most of the time with only a few periods where he had to worry about doing anything. With his lack of energy all the time this was the perfect thing for him. He probably even fell asleep at one point, but then Wolfie decided to join him. He did nothing but talk the whole time so that Felix was kept awake until the two hours for fishing were up.
Lunch was next on the agenda and the part that Felix looked forward to the most. Everyone brought something to share. There were sandwiches of all kinds and sausages to grill over the fire. They all sat in their own little groups to eat girls on one side boys on the other. The girls giggled and gossiped over their food throwing flirtatious glances at the boys that they liked. The boys devoured their food like wolves at a kill taking breaks only to brag and tell fish stories. Around the end of their lunch hour the idiot Johann decided to make a move. He crossed the invisible line that divided them and approached Marianne, the girl usually ranked second after Heidi. He then boldly asked her out on a date which she most coldly declined sending him scampering back to his fellow males.
After lunch it was time for the scavenger hunt that a few of the parents had arranged. They divided into teams of four and went seeking the items on the list. Felix of course was paired with Wolfie and his other two partners were Arnold and Balthasar. Arnold and Wolfie were both full of energy after lunch and bounded off into the woods in search of the plants, leaves, stones, and insects on the list. Balthasar followed quickly but quietly after them leaving Felix struggling to keep up. While the others had energy to spare Felix had the energy of an old man. They scampered up the hills with ease while it was all he could do to keep them in sight. When they finally collected everything on their list Felix felt like he was going to pass out from exhaustion. The others slowed their pace on the way back to accommodate him and because of that they came in seventh place when they could've made third.
At the end of the scavenger hunt it was time to relax before dinner. Felix simply collapsed near the banked embers of the lunch fire and tried to keep the world from spinning. When he got some dinner in him he would be fine so all he could really do was wait. Wolfie, loyal friend that he was, sat down next to him and kept him company as best he could. Wolfie launched into his favorite subject, book series, and began arguing about the merits of certain characters. Wolfie's idle chatter was both comforting and annoying and at the moment it was more the former than the latter so he let him keep talking. Then everything changed when Heidi Feder decided to come and sit by Felix.
Wolfie immediately shut up and turned to stare at her in surprise. Heidi, however, was completely oblivious to anything other than Felix and that made him acutely uncomfortable. Heidi single-mindedly tried to pull Felix into a conversation while Felix did his best to avoid it. Wolfie watched this dance of words and wills as the silent spectator that only Felix seemed to be aware of. As time passed Felix watched Wolfie's expression change from surprise and bewilderment to a look of suspicion bordering on understanding. Perhaps he was suspecting Felix's lie, guessing at the truth. Felix desperately hoped not, otherwise their friendship could be damaged, maybe permanently.
Then dinner time saved his hide for the time being. Heidi was pulled away by some other girls to help with the food and Felix could relax. While he waited for the food he could feel Wolfie's eyes on him but he chose to ignore it. When the food was cooked and ready to eat Felix roused himself from his half-awake state to take his share. He probably ate a little bit of everything that was made and that caught more than Wolfie's attention. Balthasar's eyes never left Felix for very long. The pale, almost albino, boy never said a word, he simply watched as Felix downed portion after portion of whatever was handy. Balthasar's unnerving gaze only added to Felix's stress.
When dinner ended those who were not spending the night began to head back to town. They gathered in groups that contained at least one person with a flashlight before they faded into the woods like ghostly wraiths with will-o-wisp lanterns. Felix gained some measure of relief when Heidi and her circle of friends left. He no longer felt pressured by her presence and Wolfie's questioning gaze seemed lessened somehow. As the other trickled away the chatter grew quieter until it ceased completely. By the time the cloud veiled moon reached its zenith only those who were spending the night in the tents remained huddled around the crackling campfire. Since the last two people left no one had said a word.
"Hey Felix, I heard that crazy Anna invited you to her house a while back. Did you ever go?" Balthasar asked suddenly making everyone jump. Then once they realized what he said all their attention locked on Felix.
"Yes, I went." Felix sighed cracking under the pressure of the circle's combined gaze.
"So what was it like in there?" Axel asked curiously.
"Yeah, what was it like?" Arnold and Heinrich echoed.
"Well, there were some cats around, but the place didn't reek or anything." Felix reluctantly began.
"Was the house all rotted inside?" Juli wanted to know.
"Not that I could see. Everything looked old and worn down, but nothing was really falling apart." Felix replied.
"Why did she invite you over?" Renate asked.
"Just to talk I guess." Felix answered vaguely.
"Did she feed you anything?" Heinrich wondered.
"No, she didn't feed me; she just gave me some tea." Felix replied.
"What did she talk with you about?" Arnold inquired.
At this point Felix couldn't think of a good answer. He didn't want to lie again, but he didn't feel that he could tell the truth. Anna had told him such a strange story that he couldn't tell if there was any truth to it. He could tell them parts of what she said and claim that she just ranted on and on about nothing, but then he felt as though he was betraying her trust or slandering her in some way. As he racked his brains for a satisfying answer he felt a subtle pressure building in his skull. He thought it was simply the stress and strain of the day getting to him at first. Then when he realized what it really was it was already too late to do anything about it.
There was a fiery explosion somewhere deep in his brain and his vision blurred. Now he knew that this was the campfire from his dream, it looked exactly the same as how he saw it so many times. He clutched at the sides of his head and wheezed for breath. With all his strength he tried to will the pain away, but it was no use. All the odd pains that he had experienced after that first headache returned tenfold and he collapsed into a heap. His hands, feet, ankles, and low back were on fire and the muscles in them went into a spasm that made him look like he was experiencing a seizure of some kind. And now there was something new, his skin was prickly, itchy almost and his eyes ached making it hard to see. The pain built and built until he couldn't stand it anymore, it simply wouldn't stop like the other two had. So he did the only thing that he could. He blacked out.
