There's Witches In Those Mountains

f o u r

*****************AUTHOR'S NOTE*****************

Here's a link to a playlist that accompanies this entire story, updated DAILY.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/40fNHonHOnIPYwby75jhmH

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They both walked through the door together and walked up to the front, looking at the menu.

A waitress walked up to the counter. "What can I get for you all?"

"I want a double cheeseburger, but only cook it a little. I like a bloody burger." Jacob responded. He looked over at Lydia. "What about you?"

After looking over the menu a little more, she replies, "I think I'll have a large order of fries and a hot dog," she looked back over at Jacob. "And maybe a small vanilla milkshake?"

Jacob looked back at the waitress. "Add two drinks to it. What do you recommend, Lydia?"

"I really like Ale-8." Jacob gave her a puzzled look. "It's a ginger soda."

He turned back to the waitress and said, "Two Ale-8's, then. What's the damage?"

"$10.64," she answered. Jacob pulled his wallet out and gave her a $20 bill. After getting the change back, he and Lydia walked over to a booth and sat down.

"So, tell me about yourself, Jacob," Lydia started. "Have you always lived in Betsy Layne?"

He shook his head. "We moved here a few weeks ago but took a little bit to settle down before enrolling in school. We used to live in Washington State before moving to Kentucky. My dad is a doctor and my mom is a teacher. I have a couple of older brothers, but they're in college. And I have a younger sister, she's not forever an age quite yet. She's six."

"When do you all typically become a 'forever age'?" Lydia asked as the waitress brought their food to their table.

Jacob waited for her to walk away and replied, "It's different for everyone. My brothers were blessed to be able to age until their mid-twenties. I stopped at seventeen, but I don't look too seventeen, right?" Lydia shook her head. "We're thinking she will stop aging around 15 or so, which would be tragic for her because my parents would have to keep shuffling her to new school districts. Right now, though, we could stay here for a little over a decade before they would have to move." He sat back and shrugged, taking a sip of his drink. "Who knows, though? She may surprise us after all."

Lydia took a bite of her hot dog. "What do you think of the drink?"

He nodded in approval. "I really like it. It's different. They didn't have it it Washington."

Lydia shook her head as she drank her milkshake. "It's made here in Kentucky and mainly distributed in Kentucky. It's a real treat over ice cream, for sure."

He smiled and quickly ate his dinner. "You'll have to show me sometime."

They both sat in silence for a moment. Lydia looked up at Jacob. "I do have a question, but I don't want to offend you by asking it."

Jacob looked back at her and smiled. "Go ahead and ask it, I'm sure I won't be offended by it."

She leaned forward and whispered, "When you say "hunt," do you mean-" she gulped. "Hunt for humans?"

Jacob didn't answer right away, which caused her anxiety to go up, but soon he leaned back and laughed. Lydia blushed, embarrassed at the question she just let pass her lips.

He covered his mouth when he realized what he had caused. "Lydia, no, of course not. We hunt wildlife, animals, whatever species are overpopulated in the area. But never humans, we're not that cruel."

Lydia blushed and looked down at her place. "Yeah, I should've known that."

Lydia finished her plate and looked at the time. The time must have flown by because it was already two p.m. and she needed to get back to the school to at least grab her bike.

"Jacob, we have been here too long. We should probably be getting back."

He slid out of his booth. "Well, let's go then." She stood up and followed him out the door.

As they drove back to the school, they continued to play twenty questions with each other, and Lydia couldn't help but wonder if it was meant to be that he saw her naked. He really was a great conversationalist, and what little friends she did have would freak out when they found out she was talking to a guy as hot as he was (if they had even seen him around the school yet).

They pulled in to the school parking lot just in time for school to let out. She saw her friends gathered around where her bike was, watching toward the door. When he parked, he came around and opened the door

"Thank you," she said, stepping out. "I'll see you tonight. Six?"

He nodded. "I'll bring pizza."

Lydia walked over to her friends, who were both puzzled to see her not come out of the building.

"Where were you?" Willow asked, pushing her glasses onto her nose. "We were worried sick when we didn't see you after lunch."

Lydia rolled her eyes. "I decided to ditch for a while. I met a guy and he asked me on a mid-day date."

Miriam looked her up and down. "Yeah, which boy?"

"His name is Jacob, he's fucking hot, and I think he likes me." Lydia replied nonchalantly, putting her helmet on. "And....hemightvealreadyseenmenaked."

Willow yanked her glasses off. "Bitch! What do you MEAN!" she shouted.

Lydia sighed. "He's seen me naked, he caught me doing rituals in the forest before I'd had a chance to cover back up."

Willow gawked. "Girl if you're going to get dicked down anytime soon, make sure you use protection."

The thought had crossed her mind once or twice. Jacob was incredibly hot, and he was going over to her house that night, so the possibility was there. Maybe she would need to stop at the store before riding back to Honaker.

Lydia climbed on her bike. "Well, I need to get home. Jacob is coming over tonight to help me with biology and I need to make sure MawMaw knows not to make a big dinner." They said their goodbyes and she rode home.

As she rode down the highway, the scent of pine and cedar overwhelmed her again before soon disappearing and being replaced with maple and oak. The sudden change in atmosphere almost made her lose control of the bike. There weren't any maples and oaks in that area, mainly pine and cedar. It made her wonder if he was nearby, but it likely wasn't the case and she was just imagining things.

She pulled up to the house and quickly got off her bike and ran into the house.