Finn was quiet, trudging behind the group as they hiked up the mountain. Ronnie and Alex were talking loudly, and Eden was the only one who noticed Finn.
"Hey," he said quietly. He stopped walking to wait for Finn to catch up. "What's on your mind, man?"
Finn shook his head. "It's not important. I just think this is stupid."
Before Eden could say anything, Ronnie appeared behind them. "It's not stupid, it's fun!"
Finn scoffed. "Yeah. Yes. Hiking up an abandoned trail to go camping in the forest where all the ghost stories come from. Sounds like every horror movie ever."
"Oh, come on," Alex spoke. Alex was the oldest of their friend group, so he was supposed to be the most mature. However, Alex was the big goof who had the great idea to come out here. "You don't really believe those stories, do you?"
"Yeah, I do," Finn retorted. "Several people have gone missing without a trace here. It was all over the news in 2018."
"Nothing will happen," Eden said, trying to offer some sort of comfort to Finn. "We'll be fine. Besides, if anything happens, we've got weapons."
"Weapons won't do anything to stop the so-called shadows that'll come for us," Ronnie said with a wide grin. "That's my favorite story. The Shadows. Ooooo, spooky."
"Shut up, Ronnie," Eden scolded, smacking Ronnie upside the head. Ronnie laughed loudly.
Alex slung an arm over Finn's shoulders. "Don't worry, little man. Anything happens and we'll just leave."
"Sure, with the car at the entrance to the trail. I feel so safe."
—
As soon as they got to the clearing at the top of the mountain, they started setting up their tents. Ronnie and Alex shared one and Finn and Eden shared the other.
Instead of setting up their tent, Ronnie and Alex had started a sword fight with a couple of sticks. Finn was busy helping Eden set up theirs when he got hit in the back of the head with a rock. He yelped and grabbed his head before turning to glare at the two jokesters of the group.
"Sorry!" Ronnie said quickly. "I didn't mean to!"
"Quit playing around and set up your tent," Eden commanded. He walked over to Finn to look him over and make sure he was okay.
Once they all set up their tents, they changed into their swim gear and went down to the creek to play in the water. Finn sat next to a tree, content to watch instead of joining.
It wasn't long before he heard a ringing in his ear. He blinked a few times and shook his head as if that would get it to stop, but it just got louder and louder and his vision blurred.
Then he heard a twig snap somewhere behind him. He stood up and peaked around the tree to see if anything was there, but it was difficult with his blurred vision. All he saw was a figure by the treeline. . . The longer he stared, the louder the ringing got.
"Finn!"
The ringing stopped.
His vision slowly returned to normal and he looked towards the treeline again. Nothing was there.
Slowly, he turned back around to face his friends who looked at him with curiosity.
"What was it?" Eden asked.
What was it? Had he actually seen something or was it in his head?
"Nothing," he murmured. "I just thought I heard something. Must have been a deer."
