Hello, readers! So, sorry for taking so freaking long to update this story, I guess I just completely forgot! But, I hope that this chapter will make up for that gigantic pause in updates!

One thing I do want to mention is that in this fic, Mike and Em's break-up was a more peaceful one, so the characters won't be seperated for too long.

Alex took off his jacket and put it on the hanger next to the door. Beth did the same, and when Alex closed the door, they both continued into the main room of the lodge.

It had been a year since the incident, and Josh had decided to call everyone up to the lodge again. He had seemed pretty enthusiastic about it in the video that he had sent to all of them, although they all knew he was taking the loss of his sister the hardest out of them all.

Sure, she was Sam's best friend, and Beth's older sister, but she was Josh's younger sister, one that he had sworn to take care of, and now, he had failed her. Alex told Josh numerous times that if he really wanted to blame someone, to blame him, but Josh was too much of a good guy to do that. He wouldn't blame Alex, because at least the guy tried, hell, he had saved his other sister, which Josh was still grateful for to that day.

And, speaking of, he could hear Josh talking with Mike and Matt about getting the fire started. Alex walked into the room, and immediately, he saw a couple of things he had not expected to see.

First, Matt and Emily were sitting together on the couch, holding each other close as Emily shook because of the cold from the outside.

Then, he saw Mike and Jessica sitting right next to them, and all of them actually getting along.

"Josh, how long 'till you get the fire going? We're freezing over here!" She called out to Josh, who was currently trying to start the fire.

"Hey, Lovebirds!" Ashley greeted them as they entered the room, waving at them.

They talked for a while, catching up on things that had happened over the last few months. Even though most of the people in the room were responsible for the horrible prank that took place the year before, Alex still felt good around them.

He didn't blame them. After all, it's not like they intended to make Hannah run out into the cold of Blackwood Mountain, completely at the mercy of whatever awaited her. There had been quite a bit of hostility at first, but over time, the wound of last year had healed almost completely.

After a few months, however, they hadn't really talked anymore. It had been at least 4 months since they had all met each other in real life, and not just talked over Skype calls. Alex missed talking to them a lot, so it was good to finally be back with his friends, all of which felt horrible about the 'prank' they had pulled last year. Even Beth seemed happy to talk to them again, seeing as her smile never left her face once, even when she started a conversation with Mike, Em, and Jess, the ones who first thought of the prank.

"Alright, Peanut Gallery. You know what? I got an idea for you two." Josh loudly exclaimed, talking to Ash and Chris.

"What?" Ashley responded, sounding interested in what Josh had come up with.

"Okay, well I am pretty sure, that somewhere in this crazy place, we used to have... a spirit board."

"Hey, Josh. No hot water's kinda major oversight, doncha' think?" Sam suddenly said, walking down the stairs.

"Yeah, yeah. Just gotta fire up the boiler, it's in the basement. You guys see if you can find the spirit board." Josh responded, walking toward Sam from the fireplace.

Alex decided to go with Josh and Sam, who volunteered to go turn on the boiler. Beth stayed in the main room with everyone else, telling Alex that the basement was too 'moldy' for her.

'Yeah, right. She's probably just terrified at the thought of being alone with me in a dark room.' He thought to himself, as a cheeky grin appeared on his face. 'Then again, Josh and Sam are tagging along too. Well, they wouldn't be that hard to get rid of, considering the tension constantly between them. Man, they need to bang already.'

Just before the door shut behind them, he could Emily mutter something about how Chris and Ashley together, alone and separate from everyone else, would be the perfect opportunity for the pair to, as she wisely put it 'Admit their undying love for one another'.

Alex snickered as the door finally closed behind them, and darkness took over. They walked for a while, stopping to pick up a flashlight, before resuming their treck down.

He could hear Josh and Sam talking in front of him, but he didn't get closer. Wanting to give them as much space as he could, he focused on his thoughts.

Last year, when they had gotten to the lodge after a hike full of groaning and complaining, they had gone to turn on the boiler too, but it had been a lot different back then.

They walked to the boiler, Mike telling jokes along the way, making all of them laugh hysterically. Mike's jokes were always the best. It seemed the guy always knew how to cheer everyone up.

If it hadn't been for Mike's antics, Alex would have probably been scared shitless by the dark basement, but with his friends there, and a great source for laughter, it actually seemed like a really fun time.

Oh, what he'd give to have those days back. But, except for the obvious absence of Hannah, it wasn't actually so bad at the moment.

Just a couple of teens, up on a mountain with only a single way off, one year after one of them fell off a cliff, and disappeared off the face of the Earth.

Yep, totally normal.

Alex ran up the stairs, trying to get out of the basement as fast as possible. He could hear Josh and Sam running behind him, but he was too focused on escaping to turn back and see how far away they were.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he reached the door to the basement.

The locked door to the basement.

'Oh, come the fuck on! Are you serious?'

Suddenly, Josh pushed him to the side, and ran to the door, only to also realize it was locked.

Alex looked back down the stairs, and almost screamed when he saw the cloaked figure running up them. He ran over to Josh and Sam, and when he turned back around, the figure was now at the top of the stairs.

"Oh, come on! Why are these doors locked!" Sam frantically asked, trying to get the door to open.

"T- to keep out Strangers!" Josh responded, stuttering as he looked back in fear, shielding Sam with his body.

"Ey.. Eyyy!" The figure stood there, repeating the same thing over and over as realization dawned on the faces of the other three.

"What.. What the hell?!" Sam yelled as she slowly realized what was happening, anger evident on her face.

"Boom, you just got monked!" The figure took off its hood, revealing Chris, mocking Sam with his words.

"Nice one, that was good!" Josh laughed.

"Yeah!" Alex added, laughing as his previous fear disappeared. To be fair, he did still feel like punching the guy, just to beat some sense into him for next time, but he had to admit that the joke was good.

"Wh- What? But, why would you do that!?" Sam asked, stepping forward, looking like she was about to straight up murder the poor guy.

"There's all this cool movie crap down here, what was I supposed to do? Was I not supposed to take advantage of the opportunity?" Chris retorted, chuckling as he gestured down the stairs.

"Are you- Are you serious?" She asked, looking at Josh and Alex "Were you in on this, guys?"

"No, but I wish I was! That was too good!" Josh answered, high-fiving his best friend. Sam looked at Alex, who just shook his head, grinning.

Chris unlocked the door, walking out as Sam and Alex followed, and Josh locked the door behind them.

"I'm ready to admit that your dumb little prank, may have had a slight whiff of humor to it." Sam admitted as they walked back into the main room.

"Jokemaster!" Chris pronounced, proud that Sam finally accepted his status.

"Whoa, whoa!" Sam said, backtracking. "I said nothing about jokes! I said your prank, which was dumb-"

"Holy crap, you were scared. Admit it!" Josh laughed as he put the flashlight back, shutting it off before moving to catch up with the others.

"How'd it go?" Matt asked, looking at all of them, and raising an eyebrow when he saw the strangely dressed Chris.

"Could have lived without having to run from a cloak-wearing hockey player." Alex responded light-heartedly, trying to lighten the mood of their other blonde companion, who looked like she would murder Chris any second now.

"What in god's name, are you wearing?" Ashley asked, after seeing Chris.

"I.. found my true calling." Chris said back, making a cross-motion with his hands.

"Please tell me you'll take a vow of silence." She told him, her eyes pleading with him to listen to her and be quiet for once.

Chris began to move his mouth without talking, making most of them burst out in laughter.

"Okay, okay... Did you at least find the.. Thingy?" She asked, trying to get to the heart of the conversation.

Chris pulled the Oujia board out of his cloak and made a cliché 'bo-oi-oi-oing" sound effect as he did so.

"Here's our one-way ticket to the spirit realm!"

"You know what? You know what? No! I've just been through enough spooking for one night, okay? I see a hot bath in my crystal ball!" Sam piped up, clearly frustrated with the night's events so far.

"Alright? So have fun! Oh, but watch out for that Josh. He's a schemer! " She finished and began walking up the stairs.

"Okay!" Josh responded, chuckling at Sam's words.

"Okay, so I think I'll miss out on the ghost-party, guys. I'm not one to fuck with this type of thing." Alex said, hoping to stay clear.

The others all agreed with Alex, but before the three ghost-annoyers walked away, Josh turned around.

"Hey, anybody wanna volunteer to go turn on the generator? It's a bit dark up here, so it'd be pretty neat, ya' know?"

Mike and Jess volunteered and said that they'd even go to the guest cabin a few ways from the Lodge.

After giving them the keys and talking to them a bit, Josh returned inside and left with Chris and Ashley to go use the Ouija Board.

Alex turned back around, to face the rest of the group. It was him, Beth, Emily, and Matt left.

"So, what do we do now?"

Okay, so it was him and Beth left. Turns out Matt forgot one of Emily's bags outside.

Alex looked at Beth as the other two left the Lodge to go search for the bag.

"Well.. What do we do now?"

"I don't know."

'Well, that gives me an opening. Now where did I put those con-'

".. You Wanna play Hide and Seek?"

'Oh, come on!'