Chapter Eight
Everyone except Alice was in the kitchen, fixing up dinner. On the table near the window Marcie was slicing up the red apples for her apple pie while Jack was standing next to the gas stove, cooking the burgers.
"Who likes them rare?" Jack called, turning to look to see who'll answer, finding that Marcie was the only one with her hand up, "Me," she answered zealously before returning to her slicing.
Alice entered the scene, a box of something in her hands, as she leaned over near Marcie who threw an apple slice in her open mouth. Alice smiled thankfully before chewing on the juicy fruit. She then carried the box and placed it on the table next to the pantry, something catching her eye in the middle of the room.
"How can you guys eat that? It looks like dead animals," Brenda repulsed at the sight of the meat sizzling in its juices in the pan. She was chopping up all kinds of vegetables for her salad, Ned was sitting on the counter in the corner while Sonja was making the drinks, either lemonade or ginger ale, as they were saving the good stuff until later.
"Dead animals? That's the old counsellors. You cannibals!" Ned joked, laughing and earning a swift slap on the arm by Sonja.
"If you would mix this stuff right, you'd get all the protein you need," Brenda enlightened, waving the knife around as she said it.
From the other side of the room Bill was flatting out the meat patty with his hands for Jack, "Too bad Annie never showed. She was supposed to be a good cook." He then placed it down on the plate once it was flattened out and picked up another chunk.
"Yeah, well don't expect me to play chef for you guys," Marcie announced, sliding the apple slices off the chopping board and into the white dish, readying to start with the pastry.
Alice had ambled herself to the middle of the room and stared up at the bulb which wasn't emitting any light, giving the kitchen a darkened atmosphere with only the Sun coming though the windows for light. Bill noticed her trying to turn in on, pulling on the chain, and stopped what he was doing to help her out.
"Trouble?"
"Yeah," Alice replied with a shake of her head, "Bad bulb or no power. It seems a little gloomy in here."
Bill put down the meat patty and wiped his hands on an already used kitchen towel before assisting Alice in figuring out what's actually wrong with it. Letting the burgers to cook Jack rested the spatula on the side and approached the two from behind, "Steve taught me how to use the emergency generator. The town's power lines are supposed to be real lousy out here."
"Don't you just love that macho talk," Ned began, getting everyone's undivided attention, "Emergency generator." He replied in a butch voice but it earned him another playful slap, this time from Marcie.
Ignoring him Jack turned back to Bill, "Want to give me a hand?"
"Yeah sure." Bill answered, throwing the kitchen towel on the table before following him out the kitchen.
"Wait for me," Brenda cried, dropping what she was doing and tagging along with the boys.
Jack peered in, using the doorframe for balance, "Can you watch the burgers for me Alice? I don't trust Neddie with 'em." Then he was gone like that.
"Oh thanks," Ned replied as all three girls laughed at him, Alice continuing from where Jack left off while Marcie and Sonja returned to theirs.
Following Jack down another dirt path to a lonely shed nearer the forest and a few clicks away from the storage shack he opened the door, it creaked with age as the other two followed him in, conversing with each other, "Do you really think he's bent out of shape?" Brenda asked Bill who closed the door quietly behind him.
"I don't know."
The shed smelt of damp moss, it was dark with little light coming through the windows and cobwebs could be seen on each corner of the ceiling, causing Brenda to shiver on the spot, her arms wrapped round herself, a chill suddenly rode up her spine.
Bill, with his hands on his hips, pointed at the corroded generator, "Hey, this looks almost like the one at my uncle's cabin up in Maine."
Jack was busy inspecting it, walking around the back of it while Brenda and Bill stayed put. He caught sight of the revolving lever and gripped it, "Well, here goes," he said simply before turning it.
"What an antique," Brenda replied under her breath as the machine coughed a little before spluttering into life, the light bulb turning bright to prove its point.
Brenda smiled at Jack's accomplishment, a smirk on his face as he gestured a "Ta-da!" with his arms. Brenda put a hand on her hip, "Well, what hath God wrought?" She sassed, leading the way out as they left the machine to sputter amongst the cobwebs.
Later on that day as the Sun was swathed by the incoming clouds that covered the sky with its grey mist and threatened to bring in a storm, down below Crystal Lake was as still as the air itself and its surroundings just the same. On the shore Jack and Marcie were walking together hand-in-hand, balancing on logs that were embedded into the sand. Jack pulled at her hand, causing Marcie to spin and face him, as he leant down and kissed her softly on the lips, her hands on the back of his head to deepen it. Once they stopped for breath Jack wrapped an arm round her waist and proceeded to dance with her, Marcie erupting in playful laughter at how badly he was doing it. This caused Jack to tickle her in retaliation for her laughing at him, her laughs seeming to echo because it was so quiet. While they frolic amongst themselves on the shore, they don't realize that halfway down the shore leaning against the storage shack Ned was eyeing them, secretly envying the relationship that they obviously had with one another. Ned wished for that as he huffed in frustration, pushing himself off the damp wood and ambled his way down the shore, away from the "happy couple".
He did admit that he had a thing going with Sonja but he honestly thought that they were on two different wavelengths; her dreams of becoming an actress were too fantastical for a simple guy like him and Brenda…well she was certainly pretty and smart but by the way their friendship was going so far, that was what they'd be, just friends and nothing else.
As his thoughts continued to play in his mind, causing him to argue with them from time-to-time, he didn't seem to grasp the fact that he'd walked quite a way down the shore until he heard a cracking noise like when a branch's stepped on, catching his undivided attention. He stared up from the floor to find a desolate house standing beside the lake, its windows empty of glass and its exterior covered with flora and fauna. On its porch someone was standing there, watching him, before turning round and disappearing inside.
"Hello?" He asked, looking back wondering if he should call Marcie and Jack but knew all too well that they were too busy with each other to help out. Turning back to the house he bounced up the small hill to get to the porch before stopping himself short, holding onto one of the wooden posts, "Can I help you?" He asked but the person didn't answer back, forcing him to enter the house slowly but surely.
"Hello? Hello?" He called again but still no answer as he came into what looked to be the living room. Tattered curtains hung over the windows, the slight breeze wafting them lightly, as he past the furniture which were draped with white sheets. Following the other door out into a corridor, its walls were decorated with pictures of the camp from its "glory days" Ned reckoned as they were all black and white and mostly contained the camp counsellors and the children, large smiles on their faces as they waved at the camera.
"What a crock of shit," Ned mumbled to himself at the fact that the camp was anything other than what it was in these pictures.
Following them down the corridor two doors stood opposite each other, both off their hinges, as Ned did a quick check of the rooms behind them but found nothing of any interest. Continuing on he found that at the end of it was a set of stairs leading upwards.
"Hello? Mister? You do realize that you're trespassing?" He asked with frustration in his voice, still not getting an answer.
Letting out an cantankerous moan Ned tapped his foot a couple of times waiting for anything before pacing up the stairs when he got nothing, "Alright man, you asked for it. No more Mr. Nice Guy," but when he got to the top the person he was pursuing stepped out of nowhere and gouged him through his right eye with a screwdriver.
"Aaahh!" He managed to scream in sheer pain as the force of the attack caused him to double back, losing his footing and tumbling back down the stairs. As he reached the bottom an cruel twist of fate occurred and he fell onto his front landing on the screwdriver, causing it to thrust further into his skull until it protruded out the back, whatever was left of his eye hanging on the end of the tool as blood gushed everywhere.
The figure admired their handiwork for the moment before stepping down the stairs, each step triggering a creak. Once they'd reached the bottom they grabbed Ned's dead body by his ankles and dragged him away, leaving behind a trail of crimson to colour the floor with its morbid complexion…