Page 4 of The Haunting of the Mountain

“There’s nothing to worry about.”

“Says the woman who thinks there’s a cult running that wholesome little town.”

“Okay, I might’ve been wrong about that. Although…” She bats the steering wheel with her thumb, considering her next words. “We should probably leave the engine running.”

“Nell…”

“I’m joking, of course. This place is legit. Legit haunted too from what the owner told me. There’s this lumberjack ghost who wanders around the property. He said he saw him at the foot of his bed one night, thumbing his axe.”

Nell unbuckles her seatbelt and then hops out of the car. I can’t help but notice that the engine is still running. I sigh. That settles it. I’m not leaving this mountain alive. And this cabin will assuredly be haunted soon because I’ll be the one haunting it.

The car door shuts with a solid thud, reverberating through the crisp mountain air as I head for the cabin. It’s so dark up here. Quiet too apart from the hum of insects. A part of me hopes I’ll have a run-in with a ghost so I won’t feel so alone out here.

“He said it would be unlocked,” Nell says slowly as I approach.

“Is it?”

She grabs the handle and it creaks open slowly.

“Are you sure this is legit?” I ask again.

“Totally,” she squeaks.

“That’s not exactly reassuring,” I say, wrapping my arms around myself as I wonder if I should’ve let Nell take the reins on booking this place. “Where did you find this place? Who owns it?”

“I forwarded you the reservation. The cabin used to be housing for one of the first lumber mills here. And after the mill burned down, everything was either abandoned or sold off. If this house isn’t haunted, the land definitely is.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“You know that guy from Whispering Winds that we’ve been emailing? He connected me with the nephew of the cabin’s owner.”

“Why didn’t you speak with the uncle?”

“Because his uncle is off-grid a lot of the time. His nephew looks after the cabin while he’s gone. He’s usually up here the entire month of October because it’s a busy time for his uncle.”

I glance around the cabin, wondering what “off-grid” looks like to his uncle.

“And his uncle approved?”

“I didn’t ask.”

Cool. So instead of a ghost lumberjack standing at my bed at three in the morning, I’ll have a real one.

“If I get murdered, I’m blaming you.”

Nell switches on the lights and then glances back at me “Can you trust me, Kyla?”

As I glance around the cabin, taking note of the best possible escape routes, all I can say is, “I hope so.”

This isn’t so bad.

The cabin. The dark woods. Being alone.

I thought I’d freak out once Nell left me alone in the wilderness with only wild animals and a spectral lumberjack to keep me company. So far I’ve held it together.

My main concern is whatever critter is living beneath the cabin. Possibly a family of critters. I’m hoping for something small. Chipmunks… maybe a raccoon or two. I’d prefer my lodging free of feral animals but in a place like this? I’ll consider myself lucky if I get out of here without contracting rabies.

“Potato.”

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