Grave Mountain by Wendy Dranfield

Author:Wendy Dranfield [Dranfield, Wendy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-04-05T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

SIX YEARS AGO

Abby laughs as she watches her best friend dramatically stomp away from her after drawing the short straw to refill their water bottles from a stream they passed earlier. They’ve just spent an hour putting up and securing their cheap tent.

Being only fourteen, they shouldn’t be camping alone on the mountain. No one knows they’re here. Their parents think they’re staying at another girl’s house for a slumber party. That should’ve been the first clue for Abby’s mom to realize they were lying because Abby doesn’t have any other friends from school, just Lauren. They’re not in with the popular crowd and don’t want to be. Although, she secretly suspects Lauren would drop her in a heartbeat for a place on the cheer squad.

Now alone, she sighs. Part of her hoped their deception would be discovered and she wouldn’t have to come camping. It was Lauren’s idea. A fan of horror movies, Lauren’s planning to document their overnight stay, like in the Blair Witch movie. She thinks that if they fake some creepy scenarios once the sun sets, she can make her footage go viral. Abby’s only ever watched the Blair Witch trailer, which was terrifying enough. If she’d been forced to watch the movie, she suspects there’s no way she would’ve agreed to this.

Right now, in the orange glow of the summer evening, the mountain isn’t that scary. They’ve picked an opening with few trees around it to limit hiding places for any weirdos who might stumble across them, and their campsite overlooks the town below. Once the homes and roads are lit up beneath them at dusk, hopefully, it shouldn’t feel like they’re camped in the middle of nowhere.

She climbs into the small tent, which is already stuffy from the midsummer heat. Getting comfortable on her sleeping bag, she unzips her backpack and pulls out a wind-up flashlight she brought in case her phone battery dies. It shouldn’t, because she charged it before leaving the house, but she’s planning to take as many photos as possible tonight. Not for social media. Her dad won’t allow her to have any accounts, which is probably a good thing judging by how much Lauren’s upset her. She gets bullied in the DMs by some girls in her class.

Next, she takes out the sandwiches she prepared for dinner, along with a couple of candy bars and a huge bag of potato chips. Eating their snacks will probably be the best part of this adventure. She opens a sandwich and takes a bite. Ham and cheese. It tastes so good that she devours the whole thing and is hit with instant regret. The food needs to last all night.

Her arm hair suddenly stands on end, and she experiences a weird tingling sensation in her chest, like when she’s dreading something: a test at school or reading aloud in front of the class. But this is different. She looks up.

Movement outside the tent makes her freeze.

She listens to see if it’s Lauren, but there’s no way her friend would’ve returned from the stream already.

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