OddityVille: Harrowing Hills (Book Two)

Chapter Two: Ghost Stories

Ashley clumsily darts from the treeline and is met by James, who catches her before she accidentally launches herself into a fire they had started in her absence.

"Woah, woah, woah, what's wrong? Are you alright?" She clutches at his arms with trembling fingers and says nothing, her eyes begging for help. "Ashley?"

"Is she alright?" Ashley's wide eyes flick from James to Cody, who is roasting a marshmallow over the fire.

"Looks like something spooked her." The male passenger grins in her direction, letting the fire glisten on his still-damp skin.

"Leave her alone, Brian. She looks terrified."

"Sorry, Krista." Brian says with sarcasm in his voice as he mocks her calling of his name. Krista ignores him, gets up off the log, and shuffles over to Ashley.

"Did something happen out there?"

"What's wrong?" James grabs at Ashley's arms in the same places she was holding his and switches his focus between each of her eyes.

"Damnit, James," Mike throws down a burnt hotdog he was making and lets it swell and scream in the fire as he speaks, "you already got her freaked out with those stories, didn't you?" The group giggles as she watches them, but neither James nor Krista do so. "Good going."

"What is it?" James continues to pry, with Krista asking the same thing but using no words at all to do so.

"It-it's nothing. I just thought...." Ashley looks back at the group, noticing their lack of concern for the situation. "I thought I saw something, but I guess not."

"Are you sure?" She nods in James's direction before relaxing her grip and swallowing her words. "Okay, well, just sit down and get yourself something to eat. Alright?" She agrees and takes a seat next to him as he passes her a hotdog from a pre-opened package and a stick to skewer it with.

With the sun having already set and the night sky flooding with stars, half the group continues to make themselves food and chatter as the rest of the group admire the lights above. Ashley partakes in the conversations; too uncomfortable to admire much of anything. She can tell that James is aware of this, but he keeps quiet and lets her try to forget what has happened.

"I have an idea!" Brian gulps hard, trying to get down as much of the s'more he had stuffed his face with before speaking again. "Why don't we tell scary stories?"

Ashley keeps her eyes on another hotdog she is rotating over the campfire and James stares at Brian in disbelief. A few other members of the group agree with him and start rambling on about strange things that happened in their lives, but not in an organized manner. Brian then raises both hands to his sides and faces his palms toward the other members of their party.

"Wait, wait! One at a time." After the group quiets down, he starts again. "I'll tell mine first."

"Oh, please." Krista shakes her head and crosses her arms.

"What?"

"For the last time, you didn't see a ghost."

"Yes, I did!" Brian slaps his hands against his knees and glares at Krista.

"No, you didn't. You walked into the bathroom after drinking way too much that night and didn't know I was in there. So, you opened the medicine cabinet to get something for your headache and saw my reflection in the mirror when I peeked out from behind the shower curtain to see who was in there. You freaked, punched the mirror, and ran without even looking at me." Cody bursts into laughter and several others giggle about it as Brian's face turns red with embarrassment.