Chapter 1 - Jason's Prologue
1957
The boy choked as water exited his esophagus. He breathed in heavily and began to cough. His eyes fluttered open. Darkness slowly took over the fading late afternoon sky. Tiny waves lapped along the sand where his feet laid. Jason lifted his head slowly.
He remembered being strangled by the murky water and the feel of the mud under his clawing fingers as he raked his way across the bottom of the lake. How had he gotten all the way over here? Was this a dream; or perhaps some form of purgatory? Where was everyone?
Jason pushed himself up to an upright position. Alone at the edge of Crystal Lake, he stared across the water towards the cluster of cabins where he had been staying. Lights decorated the windows of several of them; however not one person was in sight. The long dock he had jumped off of on a dare by another camper stood dormant and lonely. Had no one even noticed he was gone?
The setting sun began to terrify him. How would he ever get back to camp alone? A rustling noise behind him caused Jason to spin around abruptly.
"Someone there?" he whispered, almost too afraid to speak. A bird began to hum from somewhere in the forest. Jason's throat tightened and a single tear paraded down his face. He grasped his chest and began to cry before finding comfort next to a large pine tree that overhang into the water.
An ambulance and three police cars drove down the beaten path that exposed Camp Crystal Lake. Pamela Voorhees and camp director Miles Christy burst through the screen door that lead into the thick, summer air. Pamela marched up to an EMT and clutched his arms.
"My son is gone," she told them, "My son drowned."
The young man, looking startled attempted to comfort her while asking Miles for details.
"The boy's name is Jason Voorhees," Miles said, "We had been looking all this time. My counselors are all blue in the face. He went under the water. He was too far out -"
"They weren't watching him," Pamela cried, "It was too late by the time they saw him."
Police officers called for back up as they prepared to have their dive teams swarm the once peaceful lake scene.
Frantic and unable to think, Pamela was escorted back into one of the cabins where she sat in a numb silence.
Jason's attention was across the lake. The police sirens were decorating the night sky. People swarmed the beach area. Jason began to scream from his place across the lake.
"Here! Here!" he called, "Over here. Help me!" He waved his arms over his head.
The darkness worked against him. He was invisible to the help that loomed so close, but yet so far. He glanced back over his shoulder into the hovering wooded area. The massive trees seemed to try to grab him and pull him into their clutches. The heavy feeling in his chest returned. He stared at the edge of the lake where the sand met the water and took a step so that his bare toes caressed the muddy lake floor. He took a deep breath and walked in another few feet to where the water swallowed half of his body. Jason looked down and the panic sunk in. He quickly helped himself back to the dry land and began to cry.
By now the temperature was in the low 60's. Still in his bathing suit, he began to shiver and shake, trying to keep warm. Before long, the police cars had disappeared. Jason was alone.
He marched along the edge of the lake for as far as he could before a fallen tree and some overgrown pricker bushes blocked his path. He would have to go through the woods.
With a deep breath, Jason reluctantly marched toward what he hoped would turn into a path. Sticks, rocks and other parts of the uneven ground plagued his bare feet. From the middle of the woods it was hard to see the faint glow of the lights from the windows that proved to be his guide before.
Don't panic, he thought.
The windows of the cabin proved to be useless. They were no longer in his line of sight. Jason's heart raced as he prayed his senses were on and he was heading in the right direction. Horror stories of bears and other animals haunted his brain and made his mind wander. He continued to shiver as the summer air grew colder against his cold, skinny body. The boy's hope was fading as fast as the daylight had. Where was he?
A loud boom caused Jason to freeze. In the distance flames decorated the spaces in between the blackened silhouettes of the tree limbs. A massive fire broke out in front of him. He stared in disbelief and was unsure of what to do.
Flames continued to dance and the fire spread slightly. Jason cautiously approached the blaze, using caution with each step. When he was close enough to see what was going on, it was clear that one of the cabins was burning to the ground before his eyes.
A figure emerged from the building, engulfed in flames and began squirming in a panicked roll on the leaf covered ground.
Jason watched, open mouthed, as another figure covered in soot followed the dying victim with a drum of gasoline. She was a mass of black ash from head to toe; a demon. Her smile, he thought, was rather angelic and peaceful despite the chaotic scene that surrounded both of them.
"Jason," the demon bellowed.
He looked up, thinking she was talking to him. To his surprise, he continued to go unnoticed.
"Jason," she repeated in an inhumane way, "This is for Jason!"
The helpless person on the ground screamed as the demon emptied the gasoline onto his flame covered body.
Jason fled, launching himself behind a big tree some twenty yards back. The piercing screams lingered in his young mind as the soot covered demon finished what she came to do. The person on the ground was unmoving. The person on the ground was dead.
He watched intently as she cried a bellowing cry that was almost animalistic. He recognized the voice now.
"My sweet Jason," she cried, "Why did this happen? Why did you have to drown? Why did they make me do this?"
"Mom," Jason whispered to himself. Guilt filled his stomach and the tears came back. This was all his fault. It was his fault she was in pain. It was his fault she had to kill that person. Jason was ashamed. If he hadn't been afraid, he would already have been back at camp. She wouldn't have had to do this.
Mrs. Voorhees wept to herself, still covered in soot on her knees by the burning cabin. A nearby car caught fire as death continued to loom over the scene.
In the distance, sirens rang through the night air. Mrs. Voorhees' head seemed to snap back to reality. She looked at the cabin and the charcoaled body at her feet. A moment later, she ran.
Jason watched his mother disappear into the night. He knew it was the last time he would see her.
"Run Mommy," Jason whispered, "Don't let them catch you."
Within seconds, the car blew up. A flaming door handle cut through the air and connected with the young Jason's forehead. He felt the pain swell in his eyes before darkness sank in and he went unconscious.
