Crystal Lake Woods

By TheManFromMars

"Mommy! Mommy! Help!"

He could no longer tell if he was screaming out loud or only in his head. He could feel his little body sinking on the waters of the lake, being pulled away from the shore, away from safety and, most importantly, away from his mother.

His mother. The only person that have ever loved him. Who protected him from the cruel kids who bullied him because he was born different. She wasn't there today. When those kids kept pushing him around, laughing at him, chasing him, calling him a freak, a monster. They're the monsters. I gonna show them. Then they gonna stop laughing. I gonna show them. But he didn't.

Kids can be cruel.

Specially when it looks like half of your face melt off.

And so, the kids on Camp Crystal Lake, kept picking on their favorite victim, lil' deformed Jason Voorhees, until they drove him off the docks and on the lake. It took some minutes of laughing before any of the kids realized that Jason had stopped screaming for help. That they could no longer see him on the surface of the vast lake. That Jason was gone.

"Mommy! Please!"

Now he was sure it was all on his head. He was underwater. He was going to drown. He was going to die. He's never been so scared in his life. He wanted his mother, to hold him, to tell him everything will be alright. She's not there. He's never gonna se her again. Teardrops fall from his eyes to merge themselves with the water of the lake. Jason dies. Or so he thinks.

KIKIKIMAMAMA

"Mommy?"

Jason opens his eyes as he coughs the water out of his lungs. He tries to catch his breath again. He doesn't know where he is. He finds himself surrounded by trees with no sign of the camp, the kids or his mother. On the other side is all water. Jason doesn't want to be close to the water anymore, so he dashes into the woods shouting for his mother, hoping she would find him.

She doesn't.

It's getting dark. Jason can hear the sound of the owls and others animals that may be lurking in the shadows. He's crying. He's been crying since he left the lake. He doesn't know what to do. He's lost. He's tired. He has never been alone before. He feels the need to rest. He doesn't want to. Not surrounded by all those frightening noises. But still, he does. He falls asleep.

"Mommy? I'm scared!"

KIKIKIMAMAMA

The sun shines through the leaves as Jason walks trying to find his way home. He sees a small, cute bunny and it makes him smile. The first smile since yesterday. He picks the bunny and pets him. He feels happy for having company on that scary forest. He feels safer now. He feels hungry.

"Mommy? My tummy aches!"

Jason, still holding the bunny, tries to find something to eat. There are no fruits on the bushes, on the ground or in the trees. He keeps looking anyway. The pain on his stomach keeps getting worse. There are no fruits, there are nothing edible at sight. Except…

He looks at the bunny.

"No! No! Mommy! Don't make me do it! I don't want to!"

His belly protests.

With tears in his eyes, he grabs a rock and smashes the bunny's skull. The blood coming out of the, now motionless, animal disgusts him, frightens him. He looks at his own hands, soaked in blood. He wants to throw up. There's nothing to throw up. Reluctantly, he starts to eat the, raw, bloody, bunny.

"Mommy? Tell me everything is okay!"

KIKIKIMAMAMA

How many days already? Jason lost the track of time. He's been spending his days hunting little animals, like raccoons or rabbits, and drinking water from the lake. He thought about following the shore to get to the camp but, Crystal Lake is a really big lake, he always had to stop following it to get back in the woods to hunt and could never remember in what direction he was heading.

Tonight, however, he would find it.

Jason was finishing his "dinner" when he saw a bright light coming from afar. Curious, he heads in the direction of the light and starts to hear panicked screams in the distance. It scares him a little, but he keeps going. As soon as he gets out of the woods he can see the reason for the screams and the light. It's the camp!

It's burning!

The wood cabins were engulfed in flames, the counselors were running on every direction trying to escape, to put out the fire or to save the children. Some of them were on fire and were jumping in the lake. Jason could see that some of the children who always bullied him were lying in the ground, burning. At that moment, Jason wasn't mad at them. He was afraid. All he wanted to do is to go as far as possible from the chaos and death he was witnessing. And so he did.

Once again inside the dark forest, Jason tries to understand what he just saw.

Everything was burning. Everyone was burning. Burning and screaming.

"I'm scared, mommy!"

"Mommy?"

It finally dawned on him. His mother! Was… Was she there? She had to be! She couldn't be! But… She was… Wasn't she? She was there too. In the flames. She was… Dead?

No.

NO!

It couldn't be! Not his mother! Not the only person who ever loved him, who ever accepted him! Dead!

Feeling his life losing its meaning, his hopes dying, Jason cried himself to sleep.

Ki… Ki… Ki… Ma… Ma… Ma…

A young doe walks through the woods, occasionally stopping to eat, when she feels a presence lurking inside the dark depths of the forest. Raising its head, the doe tries to locate the source of the disturbance.

She then sees a small movement on the bushes and, without another thought, runs away as fast as she can.

Heavy steps follow the doe as she races between the trees. Trying to escape, to lose whatever is following her. She can no longer hear the steps. There's seems to be no more danger but, before she notices, a massive figure leaps at her, with two strong hands grabbing her neck.

The doe is dead before it hits the ground.

Ki… Ki… Ki… Ma… Ma… Ma…

Jason Voorhees is no longer a boy.

The many years he spent in the woods had changed him.

He was stronger, faster, able to sneak behind his prey without making a single sound. A perfect predator. A perfect hunter. A perfect killer. He was more beast than man.

The bloody carcass of the doe lies in front of him. Such a horrible sight would once make him sick, not anymore. Any sign of disgust, pity, mercy, gone. All his emotions, vanished. Anything even remotely human, absent.

As he finishes his meal and sucks the blood out of his fingers, Jason goes to the lake to drink some water. At the shore, he sees the camp in the distance, rebuild yet again, with new counselors arriving. This is not the first time that Jason sees the camp being re-opened: the only other time it happened was a long time ago, and it suffered the same fate of last time.

It went down in flames!

Again.

Jason was still a child when he witnessed the second fire. All the horrors repeating themselves yet again, all those fresh, horrible memories being brought back again were too much for young Jason to bear.

"Mommy, help me!"

Mommy is dead, your idiot! Did you forget?

After that day Jason never went near the camp again.

Jason gives a second look at the counselors, before turning back to the woods. He doesn't want to be seen. He doesn't want to be disturbed. If he leaves them alone, then they will live him alone. There's nothing there for him. His mother is dead and, therefore, so is the world. The woods are his home now.

Ki…ki…ki…ma…ma…ma…

It was late that same night, when Jason woke up with a dry throat. Getting up, Jason headed to the lake to satisfy his thirst. As soon as he leaves the woods, he freezes: across the lake, near the camp, two women stand and one of them, wearing a blue sweater, was strikingly familiar.

Jason stared in shock. It couldn't be. It was! Jason couldn't believe, his mother, alive! Feeling tears of happiness forming in the corners of his eyes, Jason wanted to shout for his mother.

"Mommy, I'm here!"

But no sound came from his mouth.

So many years used to being silent, to being lonely, had taken its toll on his vocal chords. They were rusty, unused. He forgot how to speak.

While he struggled to speak, he saw a scene that made him gasp in horror: the younger woman, who was holding a machete, attacked his mother! He watched in disbelief as his mother's head rolled in the sand and her headless body fell to the ground.

No…

No.

NO!

It wasn't fair!

He was so close! It couldn't be possible! It's a nightmare! Just a few seconds ago he was so full of hope, willing to swim across the lake to hug his mom, and then, just like that, it was all gone. He wanted to scream, to run away from it all. It wasn't fair! Not fair! NOT FAIR!

Blinded by rage, fear, confusion, Jason entered the woods again.

Kill… Kill… Kill… Mom… Mom… Mom…

It wasn't fair! How could they? HOW DARED THEY? Jason kept repeating the scene on his mind. THEY MUST PAY! And, just like that, Jason headed towards the lake.

The sun was rising and the girl was no longer on the shore. Jason kicked himself mentally for letting her get away, but then he saw a little canoe floating in the middle of the lake. It has to be her!

Swiftly, but quietly, Jason dived into the same waters that once separated him from his mother, waters that now will provide his vengeance.

As he aproaches the boat, the girl rises, waving to somebody at the shore. And that's when he attacks. The girl helplessly screams in surprise as Jason jumps out of the water, dragging her out of the boat and into the cold embrace of the lake.

"Hey!" someone at the shore screams. Darn. They saw him. Now, they will never leave him alone until they find him. he shouldn't have been so careless. Reluctantly, Jason let go of the girl and swims back to the shore.

Kill... Kill... Kill... Mom... Mom... Mom...

Jason watched patiently as the police officers dragged the girl's unconscious body out of the lake and put her inside the ambulance. He waited until they left, until there was only two officers left, collecting evidence, and so he went his way towards the camp.

One of the officers was crouched, unceremoniously putting his mother's head in an evidence bag. The sight of such disrespect filled Jason with ire. No one should touch his mother but him!

KILL! KILL! KILL!

The officer felt Jason's presence and looked up. "What the fuck..?" the sight of the bulky, deformed, and naked man before him was startling "S-sorry... uh... Is t-there anything I ca-" The officer was cut off by Jason's hands grabing his throat and breaking his neck.

MOM... MOM... MOM!

His neck wasn't any harder to break than those of the animals he hunts, Jason thought as he reached for his dear mother. Everything's gonna be okay now, mommy. We're together now.

Jason then entered one of the cabins, looking for something to dress. It's been a long time ever since Jason used any piece of clothing at all, but if he wanted to track down the girl and exact his revenge he couldn't call any attention to himself. That's how you hunt your prey.

The cabin was covered with "Police - Don't Cross - Crime Scene" tapes, there was blood in the walls, and body bags in the beds. Jason found a suitcase marked as evidence and opened it.

Meanwhile, the remaining officer finds his colleague's body. Horrified, he goes back to his patrol car to request assistance. He starts to call in in the radio, when a strong hand grabs the back of his shirt and pulls him back. The cop don't even have time to turn before the car door closes on his head once and again and again and again and again and...

"Car 47, do you copy? They have stabilized the girl. They are bringing her to the General Hospital. 47, Do you copy?"

The General Hospital. Jason remembers how many times his dear mother brought him there, because of the rocks the kids at the camp would throw at him. He could still remember where it was.

And so he went after his prey, following the road, staying in the woods, hidden in the shadows.

KILL! KILL! KILL HER! MOM! MOM! MOMMY!

Like any good hunter, Jason waits patiently, lurking outside the hospital, for his victim to make her way towards her home. He waits for days. No big deal. He spent entire winters with only a handful to eat. He can handle this.

"Not long now, mommy"

Finally, the girl leaves the hospital, escorted by the police. Jason was already expecting that. Still hidden among the trees, he follows the car. You don't hunt deers being slow. Jason was used to chase fast prey. And it wasn't like the police car was in a hurry.

They finally arrived at her house, and dropped her there. Jason kept his distance. He would wait until it was dark, untill there was no one on the streets. Not that he couldn't take them. He could, but the less bother the best. At night, he would strike.

KILL HER! KILL HER! KILL HER! MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMY!

A little girl jumping rope is called in by her mother. She was the last living soul still on the street. It's time.

Jason rounds the house, looking for an open window. He founds one. It leads to the kitchen. He opens the fridge, and puts the head of his dear mother in. He wants her to know what she did. He wants his mother to be the last thing she will ever see. He grabs an ice pick and hides.

It doesn't take long for the girl to enter the kitchen. She puts a kettle of water on the oven. Wait. Wait for her to open the fridge. She notices the open window. It doesn't matter. It won't help her. A cat enters the window and scares her. If only she knew.

She sighs in relief and asks the cat if it's hungry. She opens the fridge. It's time.

KILL HER, MOMMY! KILL HER, MOMMY! KILL HER, MOMMY!

Her brief scream is muffled with Jason's hand as he kept her secured and thrusted the ice pick into her cranium. She didn't struggle much.

"I did it!"

"I've killed her, mommy!"

Jason puts the whistling kettle out of the oven. He grabs his mother and goes back the long way home.

kill... kill... kill... mom... mom... mom...

Back at the abandoned cabin in the middle of the woods that he calls home, Jason rests his dear mother's head on a table. She looks so peaceful.

He was happy. They were finally together again.

She looks at him.

It's okay, mommy...

Everything's gonna be okay now.

They will never bother us again.

And, even if they do...

If they dare to even come close to our home...

They will pay.

They all will pay.

ki... ki... ki...

ma... ma... ma...


Author's Notes: I started writing this fic a year ago, December of 2011 to be more specific. This was supposed to be my third fic ever, but my laptop was infected with a spyware and had to be reconfigurated. One month later, I travelled to San Diego to stay three months during a Student Exchange Program leaving my laptop behind. I kinda forgot about this until a few weeks ago, when I stumbled upon it again, surprised that the file was intact, so I decided to finish it and post it.

Reviews are appreciated.