Chapter Text
Being in Mexico City so close to Halloween and Dia de Muertos had filled the air with an electrifying chill despite the humidity, but that could have easily been explained by the constant threat of rain throughout the city. The forecast had said that there would be scattered showers throughout the weekend and one of those said showers had started up again on Friday night as the drivers had milled about the City of Palaces while on their way to dinner at a restaurant Sergio had always sworn by. The group had stopped occasionally to allow Alex, George, and Lando to take some rather touristy pictures with the “pretty buildings” as Lando had said. After some time and a lot of breaks to take pictures they eventually made it to the small restaurant that was nestled by one of the many canals. As the group waited for Sergio to finish getting them a table long enough to fit them they made small talk with one another. Currently, Daniel was chatting with Lando, Alex, and George as the four of them watched the boats pass up and down Xochimilco.
“Seeing as you’re all rookies here… I ought to initiate you by telling you a story I once heard from Sergio.” Daniel said with a shit eating grin as he looked at George, Lando, and Alex.
“Initiation? What initiation?” Lando asked.
“It’s a story all drivers who come to Mexico have to hear.”
Alex looked at his two friends and shrugged before asking, “Okay… well what is it?”
“Hundreds of years ago…” Daniel began, dropping his voice low as the trio leaned in to her him, “There once was a woman named Maria who was the prettiest woman in her village. However, Maria was, like, super poor and so she tried to marry as rich as she could so she could live a good life. One day a rich guy named Juan-“
“Wait,” Alex cut in, “Isn’t that kind of, y’know, racist?” He asked.
“What? No.” Daniel said as he looked at Alex before continuing with his story, “Anyways, Juan was a nobleman who had come to town on business and the moment he laid eyes on Maria he was taken by her beauty. So, he got off his horse and went up to her and began talking to her before eventually proposing.”
“He really just proposed like that?” Lando asked causing Daniel to sigh.
“Yeah, it was a different time back then. Now, no more questions.” Daniel huffed as began to continue, “Juan and Maria soon got married and she was so happy because she was now a baller. Eventually, they had two kids that Maria raised because Juan was always traveling. Juan ended up becoming a shitty husband because he, like, was never home and when he was he just paid attention to their children and ended up having an affair with some other woman. Maria began to realize that Juan wasn’t in love with her anymore since she was getting old and not as pretty. One day Juan came back to town with his new wife and took the kids away from her because they were now, like, divorced or something. Maria would get her kids here and there, and she ended up becoming jealous of them since they had all of their father’s attention and had made her not as pretty anymore. Soon this resentment built up until one day in a fit of rage she drowned her kids in a river much like this very canal. After realizing what she had done, she began to cry for the children that she killed and ended up killing herself in the same river. Now, legend has it that she wanders all around Mexico looking for her dead children, crying out to them, and she is known for stealing little kids to drown in the river because she thinks they’re her kids.”
“What the fuck?” George asks with bewilderment, his eyebrows furrowed, “That’s a really fucked up story, Daniel.”
“Well, it’s a true one.” Daniel can only really say with a shrug of his shoulders.
“Oye!” Sergio says as he steps out of the restaurant and waves the rest of the gang in, “I got us a table in the back, c’mon.”
The 10 men piled into the small and rather intimate restaurant, gravitating towards the back where a long table waited for them. The group broke up into 5 and 5 on each side, allowing Alex, George, and Lando to sit next to one another and talk about the story they just heard.
“Do you think that story was true?” Lando asked quietly as he glanced at the menu he had been given by the waitress.
“It’s just an old wives tale. Daniel’s probably just taking the mick outta us.” George said as he rolled his eyes while sipping his water.
“I think it’s true. Each place has their own story like that and it is usually always grounded in something real.” Alex said with a shrug.
“Alex you’re just superstitious and paranoid,” Lando said as he glanced at his friend, “George is probably right.”
“Thank you, Lando.” George said with a nod.
“This is the mentality white people have in horror movies.” Alex huffed, “Next you’re probably going to propose we go ghost hunting or something.”
“Actually,” Lando began with a devilish grin, “That’s a brilliant idea, Alex.”
“Uhuh. Nope. Count me out, Lando.” Alex said with a shake of his head.
“It’s a stupid idea,” George added which got a nod in thanks from Alex, “But it sounds like fun so why not.”
Alex let out an exasperated sigh, “You both cannot be serious! We’re working this weekend!”
“Not all weekend. We can sandwich it in between racing.” Lando said with a smile.
“C’mon it’ll be fun Alex! Live a little.” George added as he nudged Alex with his elbow.
“Oh my God. I hate the both of you. You don’t mess with ghosts.” Alex said with resignation, “But I guess I’ll do it since someone has to keep the both of you alive.”
~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ •
After dinner the group had returned to their hotel, allowing George and Alex to hang out in Lando’s room as they planned their ghost hunting adventure. The three of them were currently all in their pajamas and piled on top of Lando’s bed as the rain continued to drizzle outside.
“So, what’s our first move with this?” George asked the group as he pulled out his phone so he could take notes.
“Well,” Alex began as he rubbed his chin, “I guess we could start with getting equipment?”
“Yeah!” Lando chimed in with a grin, “There’s plenty of ghost hunting apps on the App Store.”
“Lando, mate, are you sure those’ll work?” Alex asked softly as George began to look into apps for the gang to use.
“Why wouldn’t they? They’re advertised for ghost hunting, so they should work.” Lando responded with a matter-of-fact voice.
“He’s got a point, Alex.” George said as he handed his phone over to Alex to show one of the more promising apps for them to use.
Alex shrugged his shoulders to silently say ‘what the hell do I know?’ as George and Lando talked amongst themselves about which ghost hunting app was the best. Alex had sat there, half listening and half day dreaming, while they talked until he felt a chill run up his spine causing him to shudder.
“You okay, Alex?” Lando asked, looking at Alex closely.
“Uh,” Alex began as he attempted to shake off the gross feeling that had settled in, “I’m fine, just got the chills for some reason.”
“Ah, okay! Well, we figured out which app to use.” Lando said with a small smile as he gave his friend a gentle squeeze of reassurance on his shoulder.
“Let’s all download the apps, just in case we get separated or have our own in counters.” George said as he took on the leadership position without really asking Lando and Alex their opinions.
After the trio had downloaded the apps onto their phones, they sprawled our on Lando’s bed. The group of three had laid there in a comfortable silence almost falling asleep until Alex sat up due to an idea crossing his mind.
“I got it!” Alex chirped, causing Lando and George to look at him curiously.
“Got what?” Lando asked as he rubbed some of his drowsiness away from his eyes.
“We need to ask Checo about the story since Dan heard it from him.”
“Are we even allowed to call him that?” George asked with a raised brow.
“Call him what?”
“Checo, George said as he ran a hand through his hair, “Like shouldn’t we call him Sergio or something?”
“Aw, Georgie,” Lando began as he ruffled George’s hair, “You’re thinking about this too much, mate. We’re in the big leagues now… I’m pretty sure we can call him by the nickname he seems to prefer.”
“I guess that’s fair.” George said after thining about it for a while.
“Anyways,” Alex began, trying to get the attention back on him, “We can ask him tomorrow morning about what he knows of the story and get any ledes from him.”
“Sounds good!” Lando said as Alex and George got up from his bed.
“Well, we should head out then. Start tomorrow off bright and early, and we can rendez-vous at the lobby tomorrow morning and look for Checo.” George said with a quiet yawn as he stretched his arms.
Alex and Lando nodded in agreement as the gang went their separate ways in order to get a good night’s rest so that they could start off their first ever ghost hunt bright eyed and bushy tailed. As they departed, however, Alex couldn’t get rid of the chill he had gotten that now sank into his bones and now also felt as if he was being watched by invisible eyes.
Once Alex had gotten go his hotel room, he could have sworn he heard a woman weeping from the hallway but was rather unsure since hotels had many different types of people and he couldn’t be sure if it was the ghost - if she was real - or an actual woman crying. Either way, the minute he had entered his room he wished peace upon whoever was crying so brokenly and hoped that they would be okay before he finally got ready to sleep.