Chapter 6: Stay Warm

The McChickens that I ate, were not nearly as good as I remember them being. I was not sure if that was due to the fact that it was hard for any thing to taste good right now, due to the conversation that we had just spoken on not too long ago, or if that were just due to the fact that I knew that there was not really any thing that tasted all that good at McDonalds.

I was not so sure as to how any one could stand eating at that place, as the food was not all that good for one thing, and the food took a while to bring to us as well, and also the fact that the food was kind of pricy too, as it was almost cheaper for us to go to a restaurant and get some dining there.

I knew at the same time too, that it had just been a bit of a spur of the moment for Zachary to do, as he had his mind set stuck on the mountains clearly, as I knew that we had been talking about eating out at a good place, before we went to go to the old mountains. I still felt a bit sick to even think on that, as I was so shocked that Marion had said yes to all of it.

I would have sworn that she was going to say no, and that she was going to not just try to talk me out of it, but also talk the others out if it as well. I knew that she was good at that kind of stuff too, as that was a lot of the reason that I had not been all too worried about it, as I was not going to lie, I was fairly certain that we would not be going.

Now the look that I had on my own face was kind of about the same look that I saw on the face of Alexander, as he had that look on his face ever since we got out of ISS about an hour or so ago. I was a bit worried for him, as I could not help but to feel the same way about all of this, if that was the way that he was going to feel about it.

I still could not help but feel like he was lying about the fact that his uncle had gone out there, and he had gone missing just like the rest of the kids, but at the same time too, the look on his face did not seem to be the look of a liar at all, as it seemed like he actually believed in what it was that he was saying in the first place.

I was tempted to ask Alexander some pictures of his uncle, to prove that he actually existed, but I felt like that would only get me even more freaked out, and it would want to get me to talk my self out of it. I knew that I would never here the end of it from Marion either, if she wanted to do some thing scary, and I was too scared to join her in it too.

The girls, based off of the looks on their faces, seemed to care less, as it looked like they were on their phones, and were too busy to give a shit about it. I knew that they were kind of sheep to Marion too, and any thing that she said, they seemed to always rely on, as she was always almost like the leader of their little wolf pack, so to say.

It was clear that they were not worried about it at all, nor were they scared all too much about it either. I wish that I could feel the same way as they did, as I was tempted to pull out my old phone, to go through Insta, or Twitter, such as it seemed like they did for the most of their days, as that seemed to be all that they cared about half of the time.

I let out a bit of a soft sigh, as I rolled my eyes at the same time too, as I then tossed my wrap from the McChicken in to the bag, as I some how had managed to eat all of that, though I really did not feel hungry at all, if I was not going to lie to my self, as I could tell that neither did Alexander, as at least I had eaten both of my McChickens, as it was clear that he had not taken a single bite from his Big Mac at all.

I shivered just a little bit, as I looked away from my friend at the exact same time as well, as I then looked over to Marion, as she seemed to have quite the look of excitement on her face for some odd reason or another, as if she had always wanted to illegally cross the border, and go over to those old mountains that no one even used to take trails on.

It was even a bit of a spooky place to the Canadians as I had heard, which did not seem to surprise me all too much, as it seemed like it was not really all too hard to scar a Canadian, as I did my best to hold in a little bit of laughter at all of those thoughts at the same time as well, as I shook my head, trying to shake off all of those thoughts.

I turned my head back over to Alexander, as I finally saw him move just a little bit, but his way of moving was simply just putting all of the food that he had not ate in to the paper bag that was in front of us. I was tempted to get a bit upset at him as to the fact that he was wasting food, but now did not seem to be the time to do such a thing at this very moment.

I looked around at the table, to see that every one was done with their food at this point, as I saw that every one was on their phones, besides me and Alexander of course, as I saw that my friend just had his head down low to the ground, as I could tell that he did not want to be here at all.

I was tempted to agree with him, but at the same time too, I felt like this was going to be the perfect time to scare him a ton, and it was some thing that I could finally brag to him about, as he seemed to be bragging to me about a whole lot of shit most of the time. I grinned a bit to my self, as I then looked away from him, doing my best to try to shake off all of those thoughts all at once as well.

I then looked at the table one last time, seeing that every one was in fact done, as I then nodded to my self all of the sudden, as it felt like I was going to have to step in for every one, and get them all to wake up, and get off of their phones for once, as I was starting to get quite a bit annoyed with those devices at this point, as I was nearly tempted to just toss all of theirs out the window, so that we could enjoy this spooky trip that we were about to go on together.

I let out quite a bit of a sigh, as I was a bit annoyed by it, but I knew that every one had loved their devices ever since they were children, though I was not all too sure as to why every one was fascinated by a small little TV screen that you could text some one on, even though they were right next to you half of the time.

I let out quite a bit of a sigh, as I made a very loud cough to try to get the attention of every one on to me. It took a few seconds, but eventually every one then looked away from their phones for just a few seconds, to hear me out on what it was that I was about to say to all of them in the first place, at the exact same time as well.

I looked at the table just to make sure that they all had their eyes on me, as I saw that to my surprise, even Alexander had his eyes on me, as he was interested in what it was that I had to say in the first place. I breathed in heavily to my self all at once, as I then did in fact begin to speak to every one that was with my at this very moment in time too.

"Alright every one... Are we going to head over to the car now? It looks like you all are done eating... I kind of want to get to the mountains before dark..." I said to all of them, as I looked at all of them at the exact same time too, to make sure that they all in fact had heard as to what it was that I had said in the first place.

It was dead silence in the room for just a few moments, besides all of the voices that were talking in the back ground in this annoying McDonalds. No one seemed catch what it was that I was getting at, as it seemed like every one was far too glued to their phone screens to under stand as to what it was that I had said to them.

Alexander was the first one to nod to me to my surprise, as it made sense as to the fact that he had heard as to what it was that I had said in the first place, but the reason that I was a little bit shocked, was simply due to the fact that he was the one that had seemed to be so scared about all of this.

I blinked my eyes just a few times, as I then in fact nodded right back to Alexander, grateful that he had taken the initiative to step in for me for once, as I wanted to get all of this started. It did not take long after the fact that Alexander had nodded, for Zachary to nod back to me, as it all of the sudden came back to him, as to what his idea had been in the first place.

I then turned my head over to the girls that were on the other side of the table from me, as I waited to see what it was that their response would be to what it was that I had said in the first place. I looked at all of them for just a few moments, as it was clear that they were all looking over at each other, to see what it was that the other one had to say.

I rolled my eyes just a bit, as I felt like I should just give up on them at this point, as I was about to get up from the table, and get this started with out the rest of them. I let out a bit of a maniacal groan all at the same time, as I was now about to lift my self up from off of this chair and take the first steps out of this nasty McDonalds, but I heard the voice of Marion begin to step up and speak to me at the exact same time too.

I stopped my self from doing as such a thing, as I then blinked my eyes a few times at the exact same time as well, as I then nodded to Marion, to let her know that I was going to listen as to what it was that she had to say in the first place. Once she saw me nod to her at the same time too, she did in fact continue to speak, as I listened as to what it was that she had to say back to me in the first place.

"Yep... So long as your buddy Alexander is okay with it... He seems to be a little bit shook up..." She said, as I saw her turn her head over to Alexander, as she all of the sudden squinted her eyes at him at the exact same time too, as it was clear that she was not going to have any sort of mercy on my best friend, which I did not blame her for, as he never had any mercy on any of us when it came to shit like this.

I rolled my eyes all at the exact same time too, as I turned my head over to Alexander's girl friend, Rosalinda, to see if he had ever told her about the story of his uncle. As I looked in to her eyes how ever, I saw that she had quite a bit of a blank look on her face, which told me that she had not a clue as to what it was that was going on with my best friend right now.

If I was going to be honest with my self, it was starting to look like more and more, that Alexander might have made up the story of his uncle, to get out of the fact that his parents or his grand parents had told him that story when he was a lot younger, and it might have haunted him a bit ever since then. Hell, for all that I knew at this point, he could be telling the truth about what it was that he had been told when he was a lot younger.

I rolled my eyes at the exact same time too, as I shook off all of those thoughts all at once, as I then turned my head over to Alexander all of the sudden, to see if he had finally lifted his head up, and proved to every one that he was stronger than this. That was not the case at all how ever, as I saw that he still had his head quite a bit low to the ground.

I let out a bit of a rough and a soft sigh all at once, as I was not too sure as to what was going on with him, as I just wanted to get this started, and I was starting to get a bit tired of it already, as it already was starting to not feel fun at all to me, as to the fact that we were going to a haunted mountain as a bit of a Christmas present.

I was kind of annoyed by all of it, but I figured that it really should not be that big of a deal. Either way, if Alexander was going to pussy out of it, than I just wanted to go back home and get some sleep for the night, as I still felt a bit of a hang over from last night. I was about to give up on all of it all at once as well, until I then all of the sudden did in fact hear Alexander begin to step up and speak finally, to my surprise.

I blinked a few times, as I then turned my head over to my best friend, a bit excited that he had finally seemed to wake him self up all of the sudden, as he finally had grown a big enough pair of balls, to step up and speak back to all of this. I turned my head over to him, and I looked my friend in the eyes, as I then all of the sudden began to listen as to what it was that he had to say back to us in the first place.

"If you guys really want to do this... I am not going to stop you... Just don't say I didn't warn you..." He said back over to us, as I saw Zachary too was looking Alexander right in his eyes, from the corner of my own eye, as I then saw him roll his eyes at Alexander, as if this was some sort of a joke to him.

I kind of felt a bit bad for Alexander due to all of this, as I could tell that it was real and genuine fear in his eyes, as it was the same look that I saw in another person's eyes when they were truly afraid of some thing that was about to occur. No one else wanted to believe it how ever, as they thought he was joking, or maybe some thing else, due to the fact that he usually was not really afraid of any thing.

I did not blame either side either way, as I let out a bit of a soft sigh all at the exact same time too, as at this point, I just wanted to get this started, and get the show on the road, as the more that I seemed to think on it, and the more I thought on the fact that my best friend was scared, it started to scare me more and more, and it wanted me to try to change every one's mind.

I knew that I could not do as such how ever, as if I pussied out of it, than I would never hear the end of it from Marion and her little group of minions that she seemed to carry around her all of the time. I was not going to lie, it was kind of annoying, the fact that they seemed to almost be like robots, and sheep to Marion.

I loved Marion and all, but if she said a joke, or laughed at all, than they would all laugh back with her, even if they did not think it was funny. Who knows? Maybe they did think it was funny, but we're just so used to hearing Marion laugh, that when ever she was to laugh, they could not help but to join her in that fact as well.

I let out a bit of a soft sigh at the exact same time as well, as I shook off all of those thoughts at the same time as well, as I knew that it was besides the point, and I just wanted to get this started. I really did not have a problem at all with either Zachary or Alexander's girl friends at all for that matter, I just was not a fan of them at the same time too.

I shook off all of those thoughts all at once how ever, as I then saw movement from the corner of my eye, which got my attention over to what it was, so that I could see what was going on in the first place. As I turned my head over to what it was, I then blinked my eyes a few times, as for some reason I was a bit surprised to see what was going on.

It was clear that Zachary had taken a bit of the initiative to step up and go ahead and get all of what it was that we had planned on doing, started. It was a simple thing that he was doing, as I saw that he had the paper bag in his hand, as he was getting up from the table to go throw it away in the trash can, but it was clear that it got every one's attention at the table, as what I had said had not seemed to be good enough for every one.

I let out a bit of a sigh, as it always felt like I was always the omega, but I did my best to try to not think on it all too much at the exact same time too, as once Zachary threw our trash in to the trash can, he then all of the sudden turned his head back over to every one that was at the table right now, and he all of the sudden nodded to every one, to get their attention back on to what it was that we were doing at this very moment in time none the less.

I nodded back to him, as I felt like it was my turn to step up for every one once again, to let every one know that I was ready to get it at all started, and that we needed to do as such before it got too late. I was certain that it was already around 5 at this point, as I could see the sun dipping a bit low down in to the horizon through the window of the McDonalds.

I sighed just a little bit to my self, as I got my focus on every one else at the table, as if I almost expected no one to do a single thing at all. To my surprise how ever, it was just the opposite of all of that, as I saw that Alexander was getting up from where it was that he was standing and he had been staring at the ground from.

I nodded to my friend, though he did not nod back to me, as I saw that he just kept his head a bit low to the ground, as it still did not seem that his girl friend had noticed a thing at all, as she seemed to have her eyes on Marion for some odd reason or another, which did in fact confuse me quite a bit, as to what was going on right at this very moment in time in the very first place any ways.

I kept my head tilted just a bit, as I then all of the sudden saw Marion nod back to me, as she then got up from the table such as the rest of us had, as I nodded back to my girl friend, happy that she was going through with this plan for once, and she was not going to let all of her religious wish wash get in her way this time.

Marion blinked her eyes a few times, but she did not say a single thing back over to me, as I saw her walk past the both of us all of the sudden, as she then kept on walking over to Zachary. I turned my head over to her, a little bit lost, as I saw that Zachary was right by the front entrance to the McDonalds, as it was clear that he was waiting for the rest of us to join him.

I was a little bit lost at first, but when I all of the sudden heard the foot steps of all of the other girls that were right behind us, it then all of the sudden came back to me, as to what it was that was going on at this very moment in time, and what it was that we had been planning on doing in the first place, at the exact same time too.

I let out a bit soft sigh to my self, as I began to follow in the foot steps of my girl friend, such as the other girls were doing at this very moment in time. I did my best to try to not think all too much on all of what it was that we were doing in the first place, as I kept a smile on my face as we began to walk out of the McDonalds, following behind where Zachary and Marion had already gone out of the McDonalds from.

I nodded a bit to my self, as I all of the sudden stopped my self at the exact same time too, and I then held the door open for the rest of the girls, as I saw Alexander walk past me at the exact same time too, still walking out with his head down low to the ground, though I did my best to try not to think all too deep in to all of that at the exact same time as well.

I looked over at the other 2 girls that were right behind me, which were Rosalinda, and Sharise, the girl friends of Alexander and Zachary. I saw that they had big smiles on their faces, as finally they seemed to be off of their phones, as I heard them speaking to one another a bit quietly, but it just seemed to be all gibberish to me if I was not going to lie to my self.

I rolled my eyes, as I let out a bit of a soft sigh at the exact same time as well, as if I was not going to lie to my self, it probably had to some thing to do with a lot of rumors, and some sort of high school drama. I was about to close the door shut on them, as they were going very very slow if I was not going to lie to my self.

It kind of annoyed me, as just as I was in fact going to close the door shut on the girls, I then saw Sharise turn her head a little bit over to me. As my heart seemed to stop for some odd reason or another at the exact same time too. I was not all too sure as to why, as she was looking right at me at this very moment in time.

Well... I knew as to why, as I did in fact kind of have a bit of an attraction to Sharise, as I knew for a fact that she was the best looking out of all of the girls, as she had not only the best look on her face, but she also had to best body at the exact same time as well, as I could not help stop the temptation and the cravings that I was having for that girl at the same time to.

Sharise had a smile on her face, as she looked be dead in my eyes, as I knew that was the reason that my heart had stopped. I was not all too sure as to what it was that I was doing, nor what it was that I was even thinking at the same time too, as I knew that we all had made a promise to each other to stay loyal to our girls, and not mess around with each others.

I just could not help it, and the only way that I felt like I could get my self out of this current situation that I had got my self stuck in, was to simply dip my head down low to the ground, which would only make things seem a little bit more suspicious. Luckily how ever, I knew that Zachary did not have his eyes on us at this very moment in time, neither did Marion either.

Marion was always worried that I was going to go and cheat on her, which was kind of hypocritical if I was not going to lie to my self, considering she was the one that had cheated on me at one point. I let out a bit of a soft sigh all at the same time as well, as I shook off all of those thoughts all at the exact same time too, and I got my focus back on to where I saw Zachary and the others standing by the car at.

I was still a bit lost by all that was going on at this moment, as for some reason I had the door open still, even thought the girls had already walked out of the McDonalds. I breathed in heavily to my self all at once, as I was not all too sure as to what it was that was going on with me in the first place at the exact same time as well, either.

I shook off all of those thoughts all at once, at the exact same time as well, to the best of my ability, as I then nodded a bit to my self all at once, at the same time too, as I was just about ready to go forward, and follow the others, when I then all of the sudden saw an older lady heading right over to the door that I had open still.

I was about tempted to close the door on her face, for a bit of a laugh and a gimmick, but for some reason I then all of the sudden stopped my self, and I held the door open for the old lady, which was not a normal thing for me to do at all, at the exact same time too, as I was not all too sure as to what it was that was going on with me at this very moment in time either.

I sighed a bit to my self, as I dipped my head a little bit low at the exact same time too, as I felt like I knew what it was. As for one thing, I knew that I would be the only one laughing, as all of the others were too far ahead, and they were right next to the car, so there was no reason to be an ass hole to some old lady.

The other thing that felt to be a bit of a part of it as well, was the fact that I was afraid of some thing, though I was not all too sure as to what it was that I could be so afraid of in the first place, as I felt a bit of some sort of sickness in my stomach and my throat, which I had to assume had some thing to do with the fact that I had just ate a meal at McDonalds.

I sighed a bit to my self, as I did my best to just suck it up, as I was tempted to try use it as an excuse to get my self out of all of this, but when the others came back perfectly fine, that I knew that I would never hear the end of it from all of them, about how I was too afraid to go to the scary old mountains, and meet the strange man that lived up there, which I felt to be a myth at this point, as the man had been old for centuries at this point I suppose, so when was he going to die.

I was about tempted to laugh, but at the same time too, I felt it not to be all that funny to me, as I held my self in once again, as I shook off all of those thoughts all at once, as I got my focus back on to what it was that was going on at this very moment in time, as I dipped my head up, to see that the old lady was looking me right in to my eyes for some odd reason or another.

I tilted my head just a bit at the old lady, as some thing about her seemed to be a little bit familiar, though I was not all too sure as to what it was just yet, as I shivered a bit to my self at the exact same time too, as I knew that I did not like it when I saw some thing that I was not all too sure as to what it even was in the first place.

Maybe it was the fact that she had a bit of a strange, and a creepy smile on her face, which kind of freaked me out a bit if I was not going to lie to my self. I was about tempted to walk past her, and do my best to ignore her, and head over to the others by the car, but the lady began to speak to me, before I had the chance to do such a thing.

The voice seemed to be a bit familiar all at the same time as well, as I tilted my head just a little bit, as I was kind of lost as to what it was that was going on right now, as I knew that I had heard that voice speak to me a couple of hours ago. I blinked my eyes a few times, as I did my best to try to shake off all of those thoughts all at the exact same time as well, as I knew that the old lady was speaking to me, as I then began to listen as to what it was that she even had to say to me in the first place.

"Well... Hi Ben... Good to see you again... I hope that you have a very merry holiday season..." The old lady said to me, as it seemed like she was not all too sure as to what it was that she was even saying to me in the first place. I was tempted to laugh at it once again, but I shook off those thoughts, as I knew that it really was not all that much funny to laugh at an old lady that was having struggles with her words, and her memory.

I shook off all of those thoughts all at once at the same time as well, as I was just a bit lost as to some thing else that the old lady had said to me in the first place, which was I was not all too sure as to what it was just yet, as I could not piece all of those thoughts from out of my head either. I blinked my eyes a few times, as I tried to regain my focus, and my thoughts, but for some odd reason or another, it was kind of hard for me to do such a thing, at this very moment in time as well.

I thought on it for a few moments, as I saw that the old lady was still smiling right at me, with a bit of creepy grin on her face as well, which still did freak me out a bit, as I tried to think on what it was that did in fact freak me out on what it was that she had just said to me in the first place. I had my head a bit low to the ground, as I was doing my best to think on all of it, as it all of the sudden hit me like a brick wall, all at the exact same time as well.

The lady had said my name, and that kind of freaked me out, especially since it was an old lady with a bit of a creepy little smile on her face. I was not going to lie to my self either, I was always a bit afraid of the old ladies when it came to Halloween, as they seemed to be the spookiest creatures of them all when it came to that fact.

I shivered just a little bit to my self, as I did my best to try to shake off all of those thoughts all at the same time as well, as I looked the lady in her eyes for just a little while longer, still a little bit lost on what it was that was going on with me at this very moment in time. I felt kind of sick, as I felt like that might have some thing to do with it, though at the same time too, I knew that it was not the full reason.

I sighed a bit to my self, as I looked at the lady in her eyes for some more time, as I then saw some thing that seemed to be a little bit familiar in the lady, that I had seen not all too long ago from today. I blinked my eyes once again, at the exact same time too, as it all the sudden came back to me, as to where I had seen that face from not all too much long ago.

It was the face of the creepy old janitor lady that worked at the school, that every one always told stories about her going in and brewing witch potions, which I knew was a bunch of bull shit, but considering as to the fact that I was already a bit freaked out on the fact that I did not like old ladies all too much, it did in fact still get in to my head quite a bit, as I was not going to lie to my self.

I did my best to try to not think too much on all of it, as I knew that witch craft was not real. I sighed a bit to my self all at once, as I did my best to stay strong for the old lady, as I knew that I could not let her get to my head, as I knew that I was stronger than all of this any ways. I nodded a bit to my self, but in the end, I then all of the sudden nodded to the old lady as well, to let her know as to the fact that I had heard what it was that she had said.

The old lady kept the smile on her face, as she nodded right back over to me, as it seemed that it was good enough for her thankfully enough, as she all of the sudden turned her head away from me, thankfully, as she began to walk through the front door of the McDonalds. I breathed in a heavy sigh all at once, as soon as I had seen her do as such a thing, as I now felt a lot safer than I had been just a few moments before all of this.

I nodded a bit to my self, as I turned my head away from her, doing my best to try to shake off all of those thoughts all at once, as I kept my focus back on what it was that I had even been doing in the first place, as I saw not too far ahead of me, that the guys were talking to one another, and the girls were messing around with each other, and playing with each others hair as if they were back in elementary.

I rolled my eyes just a little bit to my self, as I then let go of the door handle that I had been holding on to for a few minutes at this point, as if I was the door holder for a restaurant. I shook off all of those thoughts all at the same time as well, as I then all of the sudden heard the voice of my girl friend Marion, as she began to speak up to me thankfully, as it kind of woke me up a little bit. I blinked my eyes a few times, not for the first time in the last few moments, as I then began to listen as to what it was that she had to say to me in the first place as well.

"Come on Harris! We are waiting on you!" She yelled to me, as it got the attention of all of the girls back on to me once again, as soon as they had heard my name said. I breathed in heavily all at once, as I did my best to try to shake off all of the mysterious thoughts that were going on through my head at this very moment in time none the less.

I looked at Marion, and the rest of the girls once again, as I saw that Zachary and Alexander were talking to one another, as it was clear that they were paying no sort of attention to me at all at this very moment in time. I wondered what it was that Alexander was saying to Zachary, as I squinted my eyes at my best friend at the same time too, as I kind of felt like he was doing his best to try to talk Zachary out of all of this.

I shook off all of those thoughts all at once none the less, as I kind of felt a little bit sick once again, as to the fact that for some odd reason or another, Alexander was in fact afraid of going to the old mountain grounds, even though it was not normal as for him to be afraid of any thing. I knew that it was not normal either, which was what had me so shook up in the first place any ways.

I felt like he had to be lying about the story that he had said about his uncle, as it had been some one that he had never met for sure, but at the same time too, I still felt like I, my self, could not be all too sure about any of it, as I felt kind of sick thinking on all of it, and the fact that Marion had also been so easily wanting to go to the grounds in the first place too. I shivered, as I shook off all of those thoughts, as I then looked back over at the girls.

I saw that Sharise, once again had her eyes set right on me, as she had such a nice smile on her face. I did my best to try to not lock eyes with her, as I did not want her to know that I had any sort of feelings for her, as I knew that it would creat a mess, and a lot of chaos, which I knew the girls were quite big fans of none the less.

I shook off all of those thoughts, as I began to speed my self up in the process of heading over to where all of the others were standing at, talking amongst them selves. I blinked my eyes just a few times, as I then stopped my self at the exact same time too, as I got close to Zachary and Alexander, and I saw Zachary had turned his head over to me, and nodded to me, as he now had his attention on me.

I nodded back to Zachary, still a bit lost in all of my thoughts, but as Zachary felt it safe to speak, he then began to in fact speak up to me, and perhaps loud enough for all of the others to hear, as it was clear that he wanted them all to hear what it was that he had to say. I kind of felt like it had some thing to do with Alexander, but I hushed those thoughts from my head all at once as well none the less, as I then began to listen as to what it was that Zachary had to say in the first place any ways.

"I am going to head in to Dollar General and get us some snacks and some food for the road, we don't know how long we will be out there, we should probably get some blankets to stay warm..."