POSSESSED
Chapter 2
Swartswood Lake indeed turned out to be a picturesque place, and Sandra couldn't agree more with that, watching the area through the car windows while they approached it. As three cars stopped several meters away from the lake and the engines went silent, she stepped out and inhaled deeply the refreshing air. Despite the day being hot, the lake and the wind provided the refreshment that made them feel pleasant in such heat. But they had all the day and even night in front, so now seven friends were busy with setting their tents, placing each close to one another and putting the sleeping bags in them. Sandra watched as Rod and Billy pulled out their laptop bags and put them into their tents, ready for the movie marathon they planned for the evening. Sandra then took her computer and put it into the tents as well.
After the barbecue set was prepared and the fire in it burned, Rod's voice echoed above all other sounds:
"Well, ladies and gentlemen, ready for this year's first dip in the lake?"
"Yeah, baby!" "Sure!" "Let's do it!" the voices of others echoed chaotically in response. Each of the friends couldn't wait to start the swimming season, especially in such weather like today. All friends had decided that it would be practical to put their swimming suits on before departing so they could waste no time and dive in when all the preparations are finished. Both guys ran into the water at once, the girls, however, were slower and more reluctant. The water seemed cold at first, but the longer they stayed in it, the warmer it felt. All seven friends loved swimming in Swartswood Lake, going out to sunbathe now and then before diving into the lake again. It was fun for them, and, of course, it didn't go without playful "drowning" and jokes, thus it led to remembering Jason Voorhees and his drowning in Crystal Lake in Friday the 13th films.
"Hey guys, what do you think, why this character of Jason Voorhees went into the lake if he didn't know how to swim?" Julie asked. "I've seen the first movie and remember that he drowned at night, and there was no one to watch him. Why so? Or maybe someone pushed him into the water and ran away?"
"I don't think that was the case," Sandra explained. "You see, him being pushed by other kinds we see in Freddy vs. Jason crossover movie, but that was a dream sequence. Yes, Jason didn't know how to swim, but I think he wanted to learn by himself, so he went outside in the late evening, wanting to prove that he can learn to swim, like any other kid. As for him being alone…" she coughed and continued: "Well, his mother worked at the moment, cooking food, thus she couldn't be with him every moment. The camp counselors were busy at that moment with having sex, and Mrs. Voorhees blamed them for being irresponsible and letting her son drown. So yeah, that's the official version, but there is much speculation about the events of the whole franchise."
"Oh… that is a sad story…" Julie sighed. "And all because of the boy being deformed… sort of."
"Yeah, and that is awful," Kim added. "No one should treat people like that if they were born with some physical deformities. They are not responsible for being what they are."
"Yes, you're absolutely right," Debbie nodded in agreement. "It's just astonishing how cruel some people can be, especially kids."
"In most cases kids do not entirely understand what they are doing and in what their actions might result," Sandra said. "They begin to realize how mean they had been only when they grow up. Good to know that most people regret for being mean to others."
"Well, I guess we all have been a bit of such sinners when we were kids, haven't we?" Billy added. "No one is a saint."
"Yeah, right…" Rod sighed. "Hey, how about we leave the gloomy thoughts behind? We came here to have a good time together. So, what do you say?"
"I think Rod is right," Laurie agreed. "We better relax and think of something nice."
Thus the group spent the time swimming, sunbathing and having barbecue in open air, not forgetting to take a walk around the area and enjoy the beauty of nature. They didn't notice the time passing fast, and the sky slowly began getting darker. Sandra loved the dusk, but on the lake it looked even more majestic. While the sun was setting, the sky gained beautiful orange color, changing even to slightly purple shades with each moment of sun disappearing behind the trees. It got dark pretty soon, and the company was sitting at the fire and chatting.
"You know, guys, as today is a thematic day, I'd like to share something that I've read online," Sandra began, and now everyone had their attention on her. "I've stumbled on two stories that happened to people in real life. It seems that some wackos take the Friday the 13th movies too serious. I mean, they think it's fun to dress up like Jason and go scaring people."
"Maybe only on Halloween it could be fun," Julie said. "And what about them? Could you tell the details?"
"Yes, of course. The first case happened… guess where? In a summer camp. What a coincidence, right?" Sandra smirked. "To be precise, it was a girl scout camp, and it happened in the eighties, this woman is now around forty years old, or maybe more. So, being a kid, she loved watching Friday the 13th movies, and at that time Part 6 was out already. She and other girls had fun at daytime, a typical day in a summer camp, and when they all went to bed, this girl that told this story afterwards, happened to peek out of the window and saw Jason Voorhees standing outside, holding an axe in his hands. The other girls saw him as well. All began screaming their lungs out, and when the adults came and heard what happened, they at first didn't believe it, as expected. The mother of this girl worked in a camp that summer, so she and her colleagues began checking every window until they heard one of the women cursing. That was when the adults saw Jason too. The children were sure it was a real Jason, and the adults, of course, thought it was some pervert getting his jollies off while watching young girls at night. They called the police, of course, but that creepy guy was gone by that time. The cops confirmed though that there were large footprints seen in the dirt that obviously belonged to an adult male. No one knows if they had ever caught that creeper in Jason costume, but since that case that lady has avoided Friday the 13th movies like bubonic plague as it stirred the unpleasant memories of that creepy encounter."
After Sandra finished the story, her friends exchanged glances in silence until Kim finally spoke.
"Damn, that is creepy. No wonder she kept away from those movies after that."
"Well, yeah. If I was a kid and saw someone dressed up as Jason in the middle of the woods at night, I sure would have freaked out as well," Rod admitted. "And what is the second case? You mentioned two."
"The second one is relatively recent if you compare with the first one," Sandra continued. "It happened to a gas station worker on Halloween. He admitted being a big Friday the 13th movie fan and loved dressing up as Jason every Halloween. I think he had costumes of every Jason, and this time he had a Mortal Kombat X version. Yes, if you didn't know, in that computer game they added Jason as well. So yeah, he was preparing to leave work when he saw another guy dressed as Jason, just standing and watching him. The worker decided to play along and also stood motionless and watched the other guy, later pulling out his plastic machete. After five seconds or so, the stranger pulled out his own machete, but, as the teller said, he saw the moonlight reflecting on his real, metal machete. Then he turned around and left. The worker felt frightened, as in a few meters there was a fence, and behind that there was nothing but fields and forest. He then closed everything and left for Halloween party, forgetting about the stranger. After 30 minutes or so at the party, he went out to smoke and accidentally heard a group of women talking about a gas station attendant being murdered by what police described to be a guy in a Jason Voorhees costume. He then went to those women and asked for details. They told him it was on Facebook and such, but as he had no Facebook and wasn't interested in having one, he said he hasn't heard anything. Then one woman joked by asking if he wasn't the killer. The other woman added that there was one more guy dressed as Jason, which was very creepy. The station worked immediately thought about that stranger he saw near his workplace. He went back to his friends and that's when he spotted the same "Jason" that he met at the gas station among the guests. Pulling one of his friends to him, the worker asked if that friend knew who the other "Jason" was, but the stranger already vanished and was nowhere to be seen. He then collected his friends and drove off, feeling that he couldn't stay there not even for one more minute.
"As far as I remember, he spotted the stranger a few more times at the same place and felt like he was being stalked. So he left this workplace and migrated somewhere else. And that was the end of his story. The last thing the guy said that the stranger knew what was under his, the teller's mask, but he never found out what was under the stranger's mask."
Sandra finished her storytelling, but sure she didn't expect that her friends would find them creepy. No one laughed, no one joked. All listened to the end with all their attention.
"Wow, that is one freaky story," Billy said. "If it wasn't for you, Sandra, I would have never known that something like that is happening in reality."
"Yes, and this is still more or less harmless what I've just told you about," Sandra explained. "I've read that some psychically unstable people put on the hockey mask, take a real machete and literally attack people. And it's not just Jason wannabes. There was one psychopath, I think, in United Kingdom, and he killed four elder people. When asked why he did that, he replied that it was the best thing he had ever done in his life and how similar he was to Freddy Krueger. If I remember it right, he later committed suicide in jail."
"Damn it, really? I'm shocked to hear that," Debbie widened her eyes in amazement. "You may love horror movies, but this is way too much."
"You're right," Sandra agreed. "In fact, if you are too susceptible to such things, you'd better stay away from horror movies, especially that have much violence in them. And it's not the fault of the movies, it's human psyche. One day there comes a moment when such people already do not see the border between reality and fiction."
"Oh yeah, speaking of which…" Laurie suddenly intervened "don't you think it's time for us to begin the movie marathon? It's getting late already."
The others agreed with her, and while Billy and Rod extinguished the fire, the girls went to their tents and turned on their laptops, preparing themselves to watch the first Friday the 13th film. When the guys returned, each of the three tents was illuminated by flickering lights from the ongoing films. All seven friends watched one movie after another, creating the spooky atmosphere by such phrases like "Jason is coming!" "Tonight he is coming for you!" and many more, not forgetting about the legendary "ki ki ki ma ma ma" sounds. Debbie admitted though that no matter how many times she heard it, it always seemed like "ch ch ch ah ah ah" to her, and Sandra had to agree with that, as hearing played the same trick on her.
While the company watched one film after another, no one paid any attention that the night was nearly over and the sky slowly began to brighten. The stars faded and the darkness was replaced by early morning lights, gradually changing its color spectrum from pitch black to pale pink. Only when the last film in their program was over, they realized that it was early morning already, and they needed some sleep as well, otherwise driving home when being tired can be dangerous. So all switched their laptops off and, knowing that most likely they were going to sleep half of the day, the group of friends finally fell in a deep sleep.
