Greetings readers! As I've had this idea floating around in my head for awhile, I decided to go ahead and write it out to recapture the joy of writing. And, perhaps, try my hand at a genre I haven't yet explored.
Some of you may know me from my previous work, most probably do not. If you do know me, you might know I am, Ironically, not a fan of slashers. However, I see a good story coming together with this. Its not gonna be your usual slasher, though.
What's more, expect the first few chapters to come quickly. Strap in, enjoy the ride. Let me know what you think. Tonight is Friday the 13th.
Friday Afternoon:
"You drive like a freakin grandma James! Pick it up!"
James ignored the poking from his friend in the passenger seat, instead settling for a long sigh and an eye roll. Given the gravel back road they were on, he really didn't want his little Toyota to go off in a ditch. Assuming they didn't impale themselves on a tree and die, it would be hard to call a tow truck without service.
Of course, crashing and dying would mean none of them would have to go to class anymore. With 2 full years left before he finished his degree, it was tempting. Then again, Chris and Vanessa were only one year away left. The whole idea was aluring, but he decided against it.
Instead, he stayed at a steady pace. For Chris,'slow' was a blanket term for,'not 20 miles over the speed limit.' Every time they went someplace together, he was always prodded to do something stupid and illegal, usually involving the speed limit. At least, that was the way he saw it.
He came to a stop at a 4 way intersection. All four roads were old and gravelly, with thick forest surrounding every side."Chris, check the map."
A rustling of papers followed as Chris flipped his way through the map. His expression changed to frustration as he searched for the right page,"GPS woulda been easier bro."
"Not without service it wouldn't."
"Ppphh, it would probably still be faster then this ancient thing." Eventually, he found the right page and scanned the sheet for their location."Maybe you shoulda done this man."
James laughed and shook his head,"Pass the map to Vanessa." He took the map before Chris could protest and passed it to the backseat,"Maybe she can figure it out."
Chris gave him a friendly one-finger salute and slumped back in his chair.
After a moment of paper rustling, Vanessa hummed thoughtfully,"If I'm reading this right, we need to go straight ahead... We got like 5 minutes left to go."
"Are you sure?" James asked.
Now it was Vanessa's turn to roll her eyes,"Yes James, I can read a map. Now don't make me come up there and help you."
Rubber crunched across gravel as they continued toward their destination.
The camp entrance was fenced with a wooden doorway-like structure over the road. Passing through, they drove up the hill for a few moments until they could see the general parking area.
Up ahead, a green pickup truck was parked with several people waiting. Chris let out a groan,"Man, if you hadn't driven like you were headed for your execution, we'd be the first ones here."
"Shut up!" James laughed,"If I hadn't driven, we'd be dead."
"How'd they get here then?" Vanessa leaned forward and pointed at the figures inside the truck.
Without hesitation, James answered,"If they aren't dead then they must've been born here."
Stifling a laugh, she gave him a shove,"Shut up."
As they approached, the truck's doors opened, and 3 people, 2 girls and a guy who looked like a contractor stepped out. Vanessa started bouncing in her seat as she recognized the girls."Madison! And Emma!"
James nearly provided a sarcastic remark for the moment but didn't, for the sake of politeness. He didn't want to actually be rude. Instead, he picked the closest parking space and rolled to a stop.
Before he'd even shut the car off, Vanessa had already hopped out and engulfed Madison in a hug. The two guys exchanged a look and laughed, before getting out of the car.
Vanessa pulled back, and gave both of the other girls a grin,"Omg I haven't seen you guys in forEVER!"
Chris snorted,"Holy heck 3 days is forever!" He and James hastily embraced each other,"Omg James I haven't seen you since we got out of the car!"
"I know right!"
Vanessa and Madison glared at them, before gesturing for Emma to follow and started the rest of the way up the hill to the main camp. The two guys released each other, grins on their faces, and went around the car to greet the new guy.
The,'new guy' greeted them at the halfway point. While he was only in his mid-to early 20s, his rusty red, short beard and professional-style haircut seemed rather military. The man offered his hand,"Name's Jon. I'm here with Madison."
James shook the hand and offered his name, before Chris did the same."Its a pleasure man. Are you military?"
Jon nodded,"Yup. Did a one an done, so college is on Uncle Sam."
James nodded,"Nice. Aren't we waiting on someone else?"
He checked his watch."Yeah. His dad is friends with the guy who owns this place and helped us get it for the weekend. Not sure how far out he is though."
Chris smirked,"He's bringing the good stuff too."
Smiling, Jon led them over to the back of his old pickup truck and opened the back cab. Inside were several six-packs, as well as a couple bottles."The more the merrier, son." Closing the truck door, he turned and took a good long look at the woods around them."I'm gonna take a look around. Wanna come?"
It took a good hour to check out the entire place, during which they only bumped into the girls a few times.
If you continued up the road past the parking, the hill leveled out to reveal some 9 cabins on each side, with a larger central building on the far right. While the cabins were relatively simple, furnished with basic utilities and furniture, the main building was two stories, split between larger communal spaces on the bottom and private rooms on the top. On the left side was a large living room, with a fire place, bookshelves stocked with books and board games, and a flat-screen tv standing on a cupboard. The right side was a large gaming room, with a pool table, another tv, a ping pong table, and several shelves with more games and such. A small kitchen was tucked away on the left side of the living room, with a fridge mysteriously stocked with provisions and the necessary tools for meals.
A large, red-carpeted staircase split the two rooms down the middle, with a small restroom tucked beneath it.
Upstairs was a balcony with 6 separate doorways. Down to the left was a patio overlooking the woods and a bit of the lake below, as well as a small closet in the corner.
Stepping out on the other side of the building was a deck, with lawn chairs and tables set up. It was overlooking a mid-sized cliff with trees and a massive lake below. To get to the lake, you simply had to go down a long series of steps carved into the rock, which were surprisingly well maintained. They looked as if they'd been carved out decades ago, at least.
Down by the lake was a small boating house, with a canoe and fishing gear inside. To the right you could cut through the woods to parking, while the left led to nothing but wilderness, as far as they were aware.
Going back up the hill, if you went to the end of the street then took a left, it continued down a hill and through another patch of forest to a clearing with 2 cabins and several outhouses huddled together. Farther down the road was a old, red barn, standing tall amongst the foliage.
To any side was, as far as they knew, woods with sparse trails and eventually an old metal fence.
A perfect spot to get away from people.
As they were walking back up the hill toward the main house, the guys spotted the girls going in and made the decision to join them. A fresh summer breeze was blowing, the trees swaying gently as the birds sang their song.
"Man," Chris said quietly,"I ain't no country boy but I could get used to this."
James nodded, Staring out at the lake in the distance below them,"For real."
"It looks like the set for some slasher movie dude. Its too perfect."
"And you watch too many horror movies Chris." The reply came,"Honestly, I just wanna enjoy the weekend off. Classes get old."
The dark-skinned man grinned mischievously,"Maybe we can finally get you to crack open a bottle this week bro."
Jon gave James a suspicious look,"You don't drink?" He shook his head."Then why are you here?"
He held his hands up defensively,"Look, I don't drink because of my beliefs, but that doesn't mean I don't like to have fun. And its your choice if you drink or not, I'm not stepping in the way of y'all." He grinned,"Besides, you never know when drunk Chris needs saving."
Chris' cheeks flushed and he turned away slightly,"Yeah, let's not tell those stories."
They went up a set of steps and opened the screen door to the living room. Inside, the 3 girls were talking amongst themselves. They noticed them and came over."This place is pretty cool." Vanessa said.
"I'll say." Madison added. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Jon's back, who's eyes sparkled slightly at the affection,"I'm just ready for the sun to go down."
James stared at the pair for a moment. He gave them a smirk,"How did I not know about this Maddie?"
She turned her head without letting go and gave him a mock-annoyed look,"Its only been like 3 weeks. And I'm pretty sure I told Vanessa."
He glanced at Vanessa, who was giving him a you don't remember? look. He remembered her saying something about Madison meeting a guy. Finally, he connected the dots and smacked his head,"Ohhhhh. I'm dumb."
"Yes you are James."
He smiled and shoved Chris playfully.
About 30 minutes later, a red mustang pulled up beside the other cars. Chris and James were locked in a close game of pool when a guy about his age with spiky brown hair walked in, followed by a short, dark-haired girl dressed in jean shorts and a white crop-top.
He made contact with Chris, who recognized him instantly and strode over,"Aaaayy, what's up Alex?"
The pair exchanged a bro handshake, with their hands pointing up rather then horizontal,"What's up bro. You didn't start the party without me did ya?"
Chris grinned,"Well obviously we can't."
Alex smirked,"Straight. Tonight's gonna be a heck of a night."
The girl came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waste. James, deciding to put the game on break, walked over and gave him a chin-up,"How's it going man?" he offered his hand in the same way Chris did,"James."
The man took it."Alex." He motioned toward his girlfriend,"And this is Megan. You're Chris' friend right?"
He nodded, gesturing his head toward his friend,"Yeah, he and I are on the track team together. Vanessa too."
Alex paused, his eyes traveling up and down his body as he sized him up,"Uhh, I assume you don't play football with him right?"
James pursed his lips together, sharing a glance with Chris,"No. I'm too small for that dude." He gestured toward Chris again,"Besides, I don't want to show him up. I do that enough on the tra-"
"Hey!" Chris crossed his arms,"You've only beat me twice the entire season!"
He nodded slowly in response, his gaze never waivering,"Yes. And you best get used to me beating ya. I'm passing you next season."
Shaking his head, Chris glanced back at Alex and Megan,"So, you guys wanna have a look around?"
Alex waved it off,"We've already been by bro. We got this place remember?"
"So you're dad is friends with the owner?"
He glared at James for a moment, before looking down and giving Megan a kiss. The couple walked passed them and in the general direction of the living room.
Friday Sunset:
After a short deliberation over what to do for dinner, Jon convinced everyone to let him grill the hot dogs and hamburgers they found in the fridge. It turned out to be a good decision, apparently Jon could cook a mean burger. After grilling for everyone, Alex, Jon and Madison were already popping out the booze while James, Vanessa and Emma stood outside on the deck, overlooking the lake.
James glanced back through the living room window at the trio, who were already working hard to get inebriated. He turned back to the lake, smiled and shook his head somewhat sadly,"With these guys its gonna be a looooooooooong night." He glanced inside where Megan and Chris were finishing up their dinner,"At least he hasn't started drinking yet. That's when things get crazy."
Emma smirked. She leaned forward on the railing and whipped her sandy-blonde hair back behind her head,"I don't know. Alex and Megan make quite the team when they're drunk. When they party it can be something else." She paused and glanced out at the lake. The sun was setting over the horizon, rays of light reflected off the water surface and glimmered like a jewel. She sighed,"I don't like Megan, but, you knoooow, I'm just gonna try to not fight with her this week."
There was a pause. The other two nodded slowly and exchanged a look, then turned back to the lake. James glanced back inside the house at the gaming tv,"We should go play Super Mario or something."
Vanessa shook her head,"Nah, you go ahead. I'll catch up with ya." She gestured toward the scene before them,"I prefer the scenery. Besides, you play more then enough games as is."
He stared at her for a moment, trying to decide if she was teasing or not. Then, he shrugged and went back inside.
As the sun slowly sank behind the horizon, darkness fell quickly beneath the trees. Ironically, it was when the sun went to bed that many animals woke up, ready to begin their evening routine.
The shadows danced across the leaf-covered forest floor, as the wind gently bent the trees to its will. It was so peaceful. His favorite time to go out on the prowl.
Twigs and leaves snapped and crunched beneath his boots, but his heavy footfalls were surprisingly light. With a lifetime of practice, he'd become very good at concealing his movement.
He came to the clearing beside the lake and glanced out at the body of water before him. Every time he saw a lake it brought back memories of his childhood. While this wasn't the lake, it still stirred his mind. Memories that replayed far more then he liked. It lit a burning anger deep within his very being. As his expression turned to rage, he lashed out at a small tree, knocking it down with just a few blows.
Fists clenched, he stared at his destruction until he heard a sound above him. Glancing up, he saw 3 people, about the age of them, standing out on the deck of the main house.
People, in his home.
Intruders.
He clenched his teeth silently and turned around. There was work to do tonight.