Moonlight Mountain

Chapter One - Fateful Graduation Present

"Ava, we know how much you love the outdoors and camping, so..." Ava Larsen's mother began the day after Ava's high school graduation. "Your father and I are going to take you and your two best friends on a hiking trip to Moonlight Mountain for your graduation present."

Ava grinned widely, feeling excited. She loved the outdoors and hiking, but had never been to Moonlight Mountain, the infamous haunted mountain of her town of Golden Valley. Mostly because her mom would never let her go by herself, or even with friends. But now she was finally getting the chance.

"Thank you, Mom!" Ava cried, reaching out to hug her mom, Julie. "I'll go tell Sherry and April! When do we leave?"

Julie smiled, glad that her daughter was happy. Ava had taken after her father, Ron, in his love of all things outdoors. "This Saturday, so two days away. It's just a day hike, not a camping trip, so we'll be leaving early in the morning."

"I'm just happy you're letting me go there at all, what with all of the stories surrounding the mountain..." Ava trailed off, thinking of a recent disappearance of a young boy just two weeks earlier. Before that, it had been a 50-year-old man late last year. It seemed at least once or twice every two years, someone disappeared in Moonlight Mountain National Park. If they were found, they were found dead, and in mysterious circumstances. Ava had watched enough "Moonlight Mountain Park disappearance" videos to almost know most of the cases by heart. But she still wanted to see the mountain up close for herself.

"We will just have to be really careful," Julie warned. "Stay together and stay on the trail at all times. It's really easy to get lost in the forest. If you feel threatened at all, say by an animal or another person, scream and we'll come running."

Ava nodded, taking her mom's advice to heart. She wouldn't do anything stupid to get herself lost in the forest. The idea of spending the night there was scary. "Don't worry, Mom. It's just weird, you know. How some of the disappearances happen when there is other people within earshot but no screams or anything are heard. You don't think..."

Julie sighed, resting her hand on her forehead. "I don't think it's anything paranormal. I just think it's a matter of people being careless. Or animal attacks. There are wolves up there you know."

"I know. But it's rare to see a wolf, because they tend to avoid humans and stay in the deeper parts of the forest."

"Okay. I hope you're right. But don't make me second-guess my choice to take you. I guess I'm also slightly interested in seeing the mountain myself and your dad is very interested. Better go ask your friends if they're available, I know it's a bit last-minute." Julie smiled and let her daughter run upstairs to her room to tell her friends.

Ava grabbed her cell phone from her bed and sat down, texting both Sherry and April in a group chat on Facebook.

Ava: So, my mom just said that her and my dad are taking us to Moonlight Mountain!

Sherry: Wow, your mom's so cool! I hope my parents let me go!

April: I'm not sure how I feel about going on a hiking trip with your parents. I mean, we are all almost eighteen...

Ava: Sherry, I'm sure your parents will let you go, if we're all going together, and both my parents will be there. And April, it's fine. You know how chill my parents are.

April: I guess so. It'll be cool, though, we'll finally get to see the haunted mountain for ourselves! Ooh, I wonder if we'll find any bodies of the missing people who were never found before?

Ava: Oh God, I hope not. My mom would never let me go there again. Besides, wouldn't that be creepy?

Sherry: Yes. April is just weirdly into the supernatural and the weird stuff.

April: It's not weird! You guys are weird for not being into it like everyone else is!

Ava: Oh well. I don't mind some of it, because it's interesting. But finding a dead body? No thanks.

Sherry: Yeah, no.

April: Fine, if we do find one, I'll call the police and you guys can stay away from it.

Ava: Sure. If all those rescuers couldn't find it, what makes you think we'd be able to?

April: Bodies have been found by random people before. People on walks, hikes...in all that dense foliage, you just never know where one might be hiding.

Sherry: Okay, can we please stop talking about bodies? I want to go on the hike, but not if April is going to be all creepy while we're in the woods.

April: Okay, I'll try to behave myself.

Ava: Good. Now ask your parents to make sure, because we leave in the morning on Saturday.

*****

On the morning of the hike, at around eight AM, Ava woke up and got dressed. She had already packed the night before, so she didn't need to do much else. Her parents were probably already awake, but she didn't like waking up too early.

Since it was summer, she decided to wear knee-length jean shorts with a bright yellow tanktop, which she figured would be easy to spot in the forest if something were to happen. She wore her hiking boots rather than her sneakers, mostly to protect her ankles from getting tick bites. Plus she wasn't sure what the terrain was like - it could be really muddy as it had rained a couple days ago. She didn't bother with makeup, as she was only going with her two best friends and her parents - there was no one to try and impress. Plus, she was too tired to bother putting it on. She would normally wear it, but she figured her skin needed to breathe once in a while.

To protect her arms from getting scratches, she switched out the tank top for a blue long-sleeve shirt. Then decided to change her shorts into baggy hiking jeans. At least if they were baggy, they wouldn't be uncomfortable to hike in.

She checked her phone and saw that the temperature was supposed to be 20 degrees Celcius, which was pretty hot but she decided to bring a tank top in case she needed to wear something cooler.

She put her shoulder-length, straight black hair up in a messy ponytail to keep it out of her face, and packed her essentials in her backpack. Her tanktop, snacks, water bottles, an extra pair of underwear and socks, matches, a flashlight, her pocket camera, a small first-aid kid, and her journal. She wasn't sure if she would get to do any writing while hiking with her family, but she never knew when or if they would stop along the way up the mountain.

When Ava felt she was ready, she grabbed her backpack and slung it over her shoulder before heading downstairs. Her mom and dad were pretty much ready to head out the door.

"You ready to go pick up your friends?" Julie asked her daughter.

"Yeah, I am." Ava grinned. "Can we get a selfie before we leave?"

Ron groaned. "Do I have to be in it?"

"Yes, Dad, you do," Ava laughed.

Her parents behind her, smiling for the camera, Ava snapped the picture, both on her camera and on her cell phone, so she could upload it to Instagram later.

Within a few minutes, they were on their way to Moonlight Mountain.