The red truck drove up the dirt-covered trail, leading a trail of dust flying up behind it. It drove past trees that stood on the sides, seeming to turn the sun on and off again.
Inside the truck were four youths, having no idea that a fatal night lay ahead of them.
Dylan, the driver, was lean and was six foot. The seventeen year old had light blond hair that fell over his forehead in tufts. His eyes were a joyous bright blue. He wore a red and black checkered button down shirt, jeans and boots.
In the passenger seat was eighteen year old Laura. Laura was a rather pretty girl, was 5'9, and had long brown hair that went down to the middle of her back and she had beautiful green eyes. She wore a light orange shirt, shorts, and sneakers.
In the back was Laura's boyfriend, nineteen year old Kevin. He wasn't as tall as Dylan, about 5'11, but he was a lot more muscular. He wore a blue and white striped shirt and had on jeans and boots.
Also in the back was the youngest teen, fifteen year old Penelope, or Penny as her friends called her. She was a little short for her age, only about 5'6. She had auburn hair that was in a French braid and wore thick circular glasses, but was also quite pretty. She wore a white button down shirt, jeans, and sneakers.
"Are we almost there, Dylan?" Penny asked.
"Almost, Penny." Dylan answered, turning around for a moment before turning his eyes back on the road. Then he said, "Oh! Here we go! Camp Crystal Lake!"
As they made the right hand turn, Penny was able to get a quick glimpse of the sign. It was rather old, and she could see the splinters sticking out of it. In fading red painted letters it read, "Camp Crystal Lake".
They stopped as they found themselves surrounded by cabins. Old log cabins. Ones that looked as if they were ready to fall apart.
"Are we really going to spend a week in these crappy old buildings?" Laura asked.
Dylan laughed. "No! Why do you think I packed up the tents?"
They were going to spend the week camping with Dylan's girlfriend, Debbie.
Finally they pulled into an open area where in the middle sat a fire pit.
As they got out of the truck, they were able to stretch.
Debbie was already there.
Debbie had dark brown hair that went just below the shoulders. She was 5'10 and had straight red hair that went down just below the middle of her back. She had hazel eyes and wore a yellow shirt, shorts, and boots.
Dylan gave her a quick peck on the lips. "Hey, honey."
"Hi." Debbie said.
Then he turned to the gang. "Whose ready for the best campout of their life?"
They all cheered.
As they unpacked the tents, little did they know that someone was watching nearby.
After they finished setting up the tents, Dylan and Debbie began to unpack the canned food. Laura and Kevin were talking. Penny was in her tent reading a book.
After about fifty minutes, they got the firewood and began to eat their dinner in front of the fire.
Dylan used the switchblade he packed to open the cans and to cut the meat.
When they finished, Dylan said, "Hey, do you guys know what the date is?"
"Uh, it's Friday, June the 13th." Penny said.
"Yup. Have you heard the story of this place?"
They all shook their heads.
Dylan began: "Well, in 1957, this camp used to be very popular. Kids would come here each summer. Until one day. You see, there was a boy named Jason Voorhees. His mother was the camp cook. He decided to go for a swim. Except the counselors weren't watching him since they didn't know. But he got in the water anyway. The problem was that Jason wasn't a very good swimmer. So as soon as he got in the water, his fate was sealed. He cried for help, but no one heard him. And then he finally slipped under the water, never coming up for air again."
It got very quiet amongst the teens.
"His mother was angry. She believed that the teenaged counselors were to busy making love and weren't doing their job at all. And one year later, in 1958, she got her revenge. She followed two camp counselors who snuck away from the others to have a private moment into a barn. There, she murdered them both. She was never apprehended. But her rampage wasn't over. On June 13, 1979, which would have been her son's birthday, she murdered seven people, leaving one girl alive. When Mrs. Voorhees came to finish her off, the girl grabbed Mrs. Voorhees's machete and beheaded her. But they say that Jason, who hadn't drowned at all, had watched his mother get killed, for he then killed the surviving girl two months later, and he continued to kill camp counselors. They say he's dead now, but it's still possible that he's still roaming his permanent home to this day."
All the teens had horrified looks on their faces, except for Kevin.
"Oh, come on people," he scoffed, "it's just a story."
"You don't have to believe it if you don't want to, Kev." Dylan said, before yawning. "Well, I say it's best that we turn in right now."
They all agreed before walking into their tents.
They changed and went to sleep.
As Kevin and Laura lay in their tents, they began to make out.
"Okay, enough." Laura giggled, pushing Kevin off of her.
"But why?" Kevin asked.
"Because I've got to get to sleep." she groaned.
He chuckled before wrapping his arm around her and closing his eyes.
They both gasped as a large hand burst through the back of their tent, placed it over their heads, and slashed their throats open with a machete.
Dylan couldn't sleep. He had to go to the bathroom.
"Where are you going?" Debbie asked.
"I gotta take a leak." he said. "You wanna join me?"
"No!" Debbie chuckled. "Just hurry back."
"Oh, all right." He gave her a kiss before unzipping the tent and walking out.
He snuck past the campfire and into the woods to find a spot.
He found a tree and pulled his pants down to relieve himself.
The lake was in clear view. The moonlight bounced off of the lake, making the ripples from the wind visible. The trees behind the lake were dark, seeming to form phantom figures in the night sky.
When Dylan finished, he turned around to see a man wearing a hockey mask.
He smirked. "Okay, Kevin, very funny. You can take the mask off now."
The man didn't respond. He just stood calmly.
"Kevin, take off the mask." Dylan said, this time a bit more forceful. He began to reach for the hockey mask.
Dylan didn't even get to say a word before the man drove an arrow into his eye.
Debbie was starting to get impatient. Where the hell is he?
After waiting another five minutes, she decided to go look for herself.
She grabbed a flashlight, unzipped the front of the tent, and stepped out.
She walked into the woods, shining her flashlight left and right.
"Dylan, come back! You've been out here forever!"
The crunch of the leafs beneath her feet sounded like paper. She was only wearing slippers, which were starting to get dirty from the leaves.
She screamed when she saw Dylan's lifeless body slumped back against a tree.
As she turned to run, she groaned a large axe slammed into the back of her head.
Penny couldn't sleep. She kept on having terrible dreams. The last one woke her up.
It was quiet around her. Too quiet.
She put on her glasses and unzipped the tent a little bit and looked out.
The fire was still going, creating a glow on the side of her tent. The moon shined brightly.
She got out of her tent and began to walk, not noticing the blood stained tent next to her that contained Laura and Kevin.
She began to walk through the woods. This was not unusual for her. It was a way to calm her down.
She was about to turn around when Dylan's body swung upside down from a tree branch with an arrow sticking out of his right eye.
Penny screamed and turn around to run back to the campsite only to scream again when she found Debbie laying on the ground with an axe deep in the back of her head.
She turned to run in the other direction only to stop immediately to see a man in front of her.
The man was tall, more than seven foot, and was well built. He was bald, there was no doubt about that. He wore a blue suit that seemed to be old. His face was hidden by a white hockey mask with red streaks between where the eyebrows would be and diagonally down the cheeks. He held a long machete.
Then it clicked in her mind. Jason.
She screamed a third time and started to run for the campsite. Branches hit her in the face. She didn't seem to notice. She could hear heavy footsteps following her.
Then she remembered Dylan had his switchblade in his tent. So as soon as she got to the campsite, she hid in there.
She found his switchblade and waited.
All she could hear were the crickets chirping. She could feel her heart thumping wildly in her chest.
Then from the glow of the campfire she saw the outline of Jason walking around, looking for her. He never said a word. She quietly opened the tent as his back was turned. She could see the machete glinting in the moonlight. Then she called out, "Hey, Jason!"
He turned around quickly and she dug the switchblade into the hole in the hockey mask where his eye would be. He stumbled backward, dropping his machete in the process.
He hardly seemed phased. As he turned around to pull the switchblade out, Penny ran and grabbed his machete.
Just as he turned around, she sliced his head off with a swift chop. As blood began to spurt from him, his hands reached up only to grasp at nothing. Then he fell back and into the fire.
Penny gave a huge sigh of relief, then turned to walk back through the woods.
She didn't know how long she walked until she reached the road. But when she did, the sun was starting to dimly light up the morning sky.
She saw headlights approaching her. She waved her arms wildly and the car came to an abrupt stop.
She walked around the front before opening the door and getting into the passenger seat.
"What happened to you?!" The driver asked with a concerned look on his face.
Penny began to cry. "They're all dead. Jason killed them and then he tried to kill me, but I got him first."
It was silent between them as Penny waited for the driver to kick her out of the car.
But he just simply nodded. "Well, you're one of the lucky ones. Want me to drive you to the police station?"
She faintly nodded.
And as the car drove away from the camp sign, Penny could feel that the lake was finally at peace after all these years.