Chapter 10

A reverential hush fell over the world as Jason's body disappeared into the water. Tommy's shoulders visibly sagged and Deborah watched his balance waver as all the built-up tension fled. It was only when he seemed about to fall into the water himself that she lunged forward, hands ready to catch him... but there was no need. A second or two later, Tommy regained his balance, and he sat up, one suspender strap sliding half off his shoulder. He bent over the water again, with the white mask in his raised hand, before tossing it too into the water with a hollow splash. Deputy Bennett waited for a nod from Tommy that it was time to leave.

None of them spoke. Perhaps it was out of respect for those Jason had killed, or even in deference to Tommy's bleak mood, but whatever the case nobody seemed to feel that speech was needed. As the boat started up, Tommy's balance wobbled again, and this time Deborah's hands were there to steady him. She expected him to pull away or flinch the way he had before, and while she could certainly feel the muscles in his back ripple at her touch and his shoulders tense, with a sigh his shoulders sagged yet again and he didn't fight it.

Slowly the boat drifted along, Deputy Bennett steering it up the river that lead through the camp. A peel of thunder rippled overhead, and the faintest of raindrops began to fall, dappling the surface of the lake. Beside Deborah, Tommy's eyes kept drifting shut. It had been a long night, longer than he'd had for a while, and without adrenaline to keep him going, keep him ignoring the pain, it was a fight just to sit up. But it was a fight he was losing. Hesitantly, Tommy leaned towards Deborah, his weariness allowing him to do something he would otherwise stop himself from doing.

He leaned in close and laid his head on her shoulder.

Now it was Deborah's turn to tense, but it wasn't from fear or a desire to avoid human contact. For her it was merely surprise. Here she was, sitting on a boat with the man who had just saved her life, who in the last hour had kissed her, who she'd noticed time and again seemed lothe to touch anyone... this same man now had his head voluntarily resting on her shoulder. She barely dared move in case it scared him away again. Cautiously she slid her arm around his back, resting her hand on his side just above his hip bone.

Tommy's muscles twitched under her touch, but his head on her shoulder got heavier. He had to be exhausted. As they drifted along in silence, Deborah started to realize that the small tremors going through her shoulder were not, in fact, from the boat. Tommy was shivering. Somehow, despite seeing him swim away across the lake, she had barely noticed that he was still damp after all this time.

She pointed at the shirt and jacket by her feet in a silent question. Tommy simply shook his head against her shoulder. He probably doesn't want to get them bloody, she realized. The shirt he was wearing was undeniably a mess and wearing anything overtop of it would ruin the other piece of clothing.

Silently the boat neared the dock at Higgins camp. The rain was starting to pick up, dropping fat raindrops on all of their heads at unexpected intervals. Tommy's shivering hadn't stopped, but Deborah kept her arm around him, hoping to help drive away some of the cold. Finally, with a gentle bump, the boat pulled up to the dock and stopped. Neither Tommy nor Deborah seemed in much hurry to move, but they could tell from the way the boat rocked that the deputy had gotten out. With a heavy sigh, Tommy sat up,stretched a little-being careful not to move his injured arm much-then climbed out of the boat himself, using Deputy Bennett's offered hand as support. Then both men turned to help Deborah out, taking extra care not to put more strain on her leg than necessary.

Normally, it was only a few minutes walk to the lodge, but with Deborah limping the way she was, it took a good deal longer than normal. After the first few limping steps, Tommy walked up beside her and draped her arm across his shoulders to let her lean on him for support. He slowly wrapped his injured right arm around her back, the only sign of the pain he was in registering in the way his jaw clenched. Thus they made their way across the dirt parking area to the front porch of the lodge: slowly, painfully, through a light drizzle, with the Deputy leading the way even as he glanced over his shoulder frequently to make sure they were all right.

The first thing Deborah noticed as she and Tommy entered the lodge, was that somehow the lights had come back on. The large main room was warm and inviting, filled with the soft golden glow she'd come to expect in her week of training and the soft crackle of the fire in the fireplace. If she ignored the smashed door leading to one of the back rooms, it could have easily been any other night at Camp Forest Green. She and Tommy stood, leaning on each other, partially blocking the front door as they let the peaceful atmosphere of the lodge chase the shadows from their hearts.

"Debbie, oh my god!" A familiar voice broke through the silence, followed by running footsteps as Jenny Myers ran over from the kitchen to sweep her friend into a back-cracking bear hug. "You're all right! You're all right!" she babbled, rocking side to side as she clung with all her might. "You never checked in on the radio, I thought..."

"I'm fine, Jenny!" Deborah replied, her voice weary. Jenny finally let go, holding her at arms length to make sure Deborah hadn't somehow come back with extra (or missing) limbs. Her eyes widened as she saw first Deborah's bloody, torn jeans, then Tommy's own crudely bandaged wound.

"I wouldn't call that fine, Debbie," she said, firmly, indicating the bandages and wounds. "How-" Jenny cut herself off and shook her head with a worried noise. "I guess I should just be glad you're both alive, really. Thank you for bringing them back here, Deputy." In the rush of feelings from knowing Jenny had survived, Deborah had almost forgotten about him.

Deputy Bennet nodded. "Just doing my job, really. But I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask all of you some questions about what happened tonight. Protocol, really, but I've got to follow it." A faintly sick expression crossed Tommy's face at the thought of the questions, or possibly the sheriff, and he wobbled slightly on his feet. "It won't be right this second," the Deputy continued, "I've got to go outside to my car and check in. Gotta let them know it's real so the sheriff can bring some more officers over, and an ambulance or two." For the bodies, Deborah thought, feeling a trifle sick herself. "I'll be back in a few minutes, so don't go anywhere." As he left, the drizzle outside became a full-out downpour, and from a flash of lightning, Deborah could see the deputy sprinting to a nearby police car.

"Okay, both of you, go wait on the couch by the windows," Jenny said, pointing to the bigger of the two couches by the fireplace. "You look like hell, and I'm not having either of you passing out on the floor before the deputy comes back. Just sit down and stay put, I'm going to get the first aid kit for... Tommy's?..." she waited for a nod of confirmation, "...arm. I won't be long." She shooed them towards the end of the room with the fireplace, before taking off up the spiraling staircase to the second floor.

Deborah sank gratefully on the couch, relaxing into the soft seat and feeling the tension ebb out of her legs. Beside her, Tommy collapsed on the cushions in a much less elegant fashion, leaning against the back of the couch as if his bones had completely liquidized. Once seated, Deborah watched his eyes drift shut as his head drifted down towards his chest before snapping back up with a sharp inhale as he forced himself to stay awake.

True to her word, Jenny returned quickly with the first aid box in tow, placing it on the couch beside Tommy. For a brief moment, Jenny's mouth opened as if to speak, and Deborah felt sure she was about to ask her to take care of Tommy's wounds. Instead, Jenny closed her mouth and shook her head. "Hang on just a second, I'll be right back." Without another word, Jenny ducked into the kitchen, letting the door close behind her. The heavy silence returned as they waited, but a slight relief came over Deborah as she realized Tommy had finally stopped shivering.

The front door opened a few minutes later, bringing with it the heavy sound of rain and a peal of thunder and jolting Tommy out of a near doze once again. He blinked the sleep from his eyes and glanced towards the door and the soggy deputy dripping on the wooden floor. Deputy Bennett removed his hat and coat, hanging them up on a nearby coat rack to dry. Then he walked over to the couch on the opposite side and took a seat himself.

With a heavy sigh, the deputy spoke. "I'm sorry I have to do this, but it's procedure. I'm sure both of you kids are awful tired-"

"-So ask me instead." Jenny stood in the doorway to the kitchen. She walked over to the deputy, standing up so straight she almost looked like a queen holding court. "I'm more awake, you can get my story first, and it will give Deborah and Tommy a chance to catch their breath." She walked over to the other couch and picked up the first aid kit. "First of all though, I need to take care of this properly. I can answer questions while I work."

Without waiting for the deputy to respond, Jenny sat down next to Tommy, on the side by his wounded arm. She opened the kit, unpacking the gauze and disinfectant, before turning to the makeshift bandage tied around his bicep. The knot was tight and slick with blood and rainwater, but Jenny worked at it until it released, the torn and bloody remains of Tommy's sleeve falling to the couch by his arm. Along with the loss of pressure came a rush of blood as the wound reopened, and Tommy flinched away from Jenny's touch with a hiss of pain. Quickly, she covered the wound with a gauze pad, soaked with the antiseptic spray. This time, Tommy's gasp of pain was louder, and he nearly succeeded in yanking his arm away, but Jenny held tight with a stern look on her face, then began firmly wrapping the gauze in place with a roll of bandages.

As she wrapped, she began to relate her tale. Like Deborah, Jenny had started off the evening at the campsite with the other counselors, and likewise had run blindly away upon witnessing Rob's murder. Instead of running towards Evergreen camp, however, Jenny had struck out in the direction of the barn, hiding in the shadows of trees and ducking behind rocks as she ran. The barn didn't have any good places to hide really, so she turned her steps towards the slightly more secure lodge. Chad had evidently had the same idea, and she had found him quaking under a bed from fear. Shortly afterwards Kenny had shown up, followed by Adam and AJ who had just come from investigating some of the cars. When they figured out that the only usable car was Chad's, they split up in search of parts.

Not long after that, Deborah and Tommy had joined the group, and their stories were largely the same for a while, save for perspective. It wasn't until Jason showed up that their stories split again. Jenny had hidden in the basement of the house, but she'd definitely heard the commotion overhead. It wasn't until after they left that she re-emerged, and set about making a plan. She couldn't easily help them with fixing the phone, but she figured she could at least make a few distractions for Jason. And so she did, collecting any items she could find that made noise (including some more of the contraband fireworks someone had smuggled into the camp) and loudly turning on radios in some of the cabins. She messed with the generators, turning on lights or throwing things into the broken sections to make them spark. Once or twice she nearly got caught, but managed to escape by a hair before finally retreating to the lodge again. She'd been all set to have a final stand there... but Jason never came. The appearance of Deputy Bennett had startled her quite a bit, but she'd pointed him in the right direction, and from that point on she'd waited at the lodge for their return.

Her story was long and precise, and continued well after Tommy's arm was bandaged. Tommy himself was clearly flagging, dozing off a few times during her story, and Deborah wasn't much better. It wasn't until Jenny finished her story, disappeared into the kitchen, then reappeared with a mug of coffee that she placed in Tommy's hands that he looked awake enough to know what was going on. Before even waiting for her to ask if he needed cream or sugar, Tommy had downed several mouthfuls of the hot, bitter drink, then leaned back against the couch again, blinking. Jenny soon returned with mugs for Deborah and the Deputy as well, and the mood in the room gradually relaxed.

Until the front door opened, at least. A gust of wind swept through the room, bringing with it a clinging dampness and a slightly pudgy man in his mid thirties, wearing a police officer's uniform that seemed oddly out of place on him. He took off his hat, shaking it sharply away from his body, not yet noticing the people on the couches.

"Man, some weather," he muttered more to himself than anything, finally looking at the couches and spotting Deputy Bennett. "Okay, Cecil, this had better be good, I've got as many people as I could get out here and I know we'd all like to be back home and out of this storm." The man walked over, and his eyes lit on Tommy. Instantly he frowned and stalked closer. "I should have known you were involved in all this, Jarvis." He spat the name like it tasted bad.

Tommy's eyes had widened ever so slightly when he saw the sheriff enter, and he stood somewhat shakily, half-finished mug still in his hand. "How's that mail-order scope working for 'ya?" he asked, mockingly, his light tone not quite hiding the shakiness in his voice. Even tired as he was, at his full six-foot height, Tommy loomed several intimidating inches over the sheriff's head, but the man wasn't having it.

"How many people did you kill this time, Jason?" he asked, sneering. There was a hardness to his eyes that spoke of some bitter grudge, one Deborah could only guess at.

The late night, coupled with the prolonged stress and added caffeine was enough to make Tommy into a powder keg of emotions. "Look, I didn't kill anyone!" he snapped angrily. "And you know it too! I came here to help!" His shoulders hunched and his free hand clenched, but before he could do somthing stupid, he felt a hand on his arm, pulling him gently away. That light touch brought about an involuntary flinch, but when he looked down it was only Deborah, leaning forward from her seat on the couch and staring at him with tired, worried eyes. Tommy pressed his lips together into a thin, straight line, glaring at Sheriff Cologne's face one more time before returning to the couch.

Across from them, the deputy stood up. "I know you're not gonna believe me, Rick, but I have a lot of doubt that any of these kids killed anyone tonight."

"You don't know-" Sheriff Cologne began, but Deputy Bennett continued.

"It doesn't matter how crazy you think he is, there's no way he managed to stab a branch through a girl's chest and hang her on a tree with it. I'm telling you, there's something more here." The sheriff glared at Tommy, but didn't continue the argument. Instead he looked back at the deputy again.

"We would have been over here sooner, but a couple of kids showed up at the station, babbling about something going on over here and slowed us up."

Deborah sat forward, her eyes wide. "Was it a boy and a girl? A-and was the boy blond and wearing really preppy clothes? And did the girl have streaks in her hair?"

"Yeah, that's them," Sheriff Cologne said with a nod. "Figured if we got three reports all in a few hours there might be something up." Beside Deborah, Tommy exhaled, long and low, sounding almost like a growl. She wasn't happy with the Sheriff's choices either, but it seemed like Tommy especially had an issue with the Sheriff not taking things seriously. Sheriff Cologne turned to look at the deputy. "The paramedics are on their way, but we should check the grounds first. Do we have information on who was here tonight?"

Jenny stepped into the room from the kitchen, carrying another mug of coffee. "I can give you a list. And... we took photos earlier today. They haven't been developed yet, but they might be able to help identify the... bodies." She offered the mug to the sheriff, and he took it with a nod. "There's cream and sugar on the counter in the kitchen. I'll go get the film for you." She headed for the stairs to find the camera, while the sheriff left for the kitchen to fix his coffee.

Deborah leaned closer to Tommy, who was sitting on the couch beside her looking as weary as a nearly-deflated balloon. "I take it you have a history with-" she nodded towards the door hiding the sheriff from view, "-him?" Her voice was soft, barely audible at all, but Tommy looked over at her.

"You could say so," Tommy replied, his voice equally soft. "He's had a vendetta against me since the last time Jason showed up. Was convinced I was behind the murders, and he ended up being the only officer to survive. He never even saw Jason. I think he still believes I'm dangerous somehow, even though it was proved I was innocent." He sighed. "I don't like him."

"Don't blame you," Deborah said. The door to the kitchen opened abruptly and she sat up, as if trying to hide that she'd been talking to Tommy. "Sir, I saw some of the bodies tonight." Sheriff Cologne's eyebrows raised over the top of his mug. Deborah dug around in the pocket of Tommy's coat, coming up with the folded map. "Here, this is where you should start looking." One by one she pointed out the locations she'd last seen or heard from her friends: outside the barn, outside the lodge, the big cabin to the north of Higgins camp, and the path leading down to the docks by Blair's Cove. The only locations she wasn't sure of were Rob's body, since it hadn't been at the campsite the last she saw, and Vanessa's. "You... might want to drag the lake. I don't think Vanessa made it," she murmured. The sheriff took the map, circling the areas she'd indicated in pen, then put it into his pocket.

"You can go supervise the search," Deputy Bennett said. "I'll stay here with the kids until the paramedics arrive. These two-" he indicated Tommy and Deborah with his finger, "-are gonna need a ride to the hospital for some medical attention." Beside her, Deborah could see Tommy's jaw clench when the deputy mentioned the hospital, and the muscles on his neck tensed. Fear perhaps? Bad memories? She didn't want to risk asking, not publically like this and certainly not when she knew it could easily be a touchy subject. Cautiously, she slipped a hand over to rest it gently on the back of his fist, clenched on his leg. Again, Tommy flinched, but his hand relaxed after a few moments. He didn't move to take her hand, but he didn't brush it aside either, instead letting it rest overtop of his while he stared off at nothing in particular.

It seemed like ages as they waited for the ambulance to arrive, but it was likely only a few minutes. Deputy Bennett continued questioning Jenny in the surprisingly un-broken office while Deborah and Tommy stayed in the large, main room to wait. The news that there was coffee in the kitchen had gotten out apparently, and a few bedraggled officers wandered in for a cup themselves, before continuing on with their jobs. Meanwhile, the chance to rest had reminded Deborah just how very sore she was all over, and the throbbing of her leg was a constant drain on her attention span, and she supposed Tommy must have been just as bad if not worse. Not to mention it was an hour or two past midnight, and she wasn't used to staying up so late. In fact, it took a moment or two for her to realize the paramedics had actually arrived, and her noticing them at all was mainly due to Tommy tensing up like he was bracing for impact on the couch next to her.

The paramedics were quick to notice the bandages and bloody clothing, and were preparing to shuffle them off to the hospital for further treatment when Tommy planted his feet and refused to move. "My truck. It's parked off the road by uh, Evergreen I think. I'm not leaving it here." It was clearly something on his mind, but Deborah suspected it was also a stalling tactic. He really didn't want to be in that ambulance.

"I can drive it to the hospital for you," Jenny said, appearing in the door to the small side office. "I can get a cab home from there, and the deputy said I'm allowed to go home."

Tommy was clearly reluctant, but dug the keys out of the jacket he was carrying and tossed them over to her. "Don't crash it."

Jenny smiled. "Believe it or not, I'm actually a good driver," she teased. It seemed to placate Tommy a bit, and he let himself be lead out into the rainy night towards the ambulance.


The ride to the hospital was uneventful, but tense. The only thing that seemed to keep Tommy from dissolving into some sort of traumatic episode was Deborah's hand constantly on his. Still, his eyes stared at nothing a lot, and his body was coiled up like a spring, ready to bolt or fight whenever the moment arose. It probably didn't help much that there was a police car following them along the way.

Then came the hospital, and everything blurred into a haze of clean white walls and floors and ceilings, and bustling nurses and enough paperwork to make anyone cross-eyed. Medical data, home address, name, birthdate, on and on with questions that Deborah was hardly in a state to respond to, but somehow she managed to complete it. And yet Tommy was done before her. She'd expected him to struggle, what with how tired and stressed he was, but he wrote out the forms with an almost mechanical precision. Clearly it wasn't a new experience for him.

Whether it was the late hour or the fact that Forest Green was honestly a very sleepy little town outside of the occasional mass murder, there were surprisingly few people waiting in the Emergency Room, and the policeman with them seemed to bump the two up to a higher priority on the list. That's when they separated them, each to different rooms, with the officer following Deborah. He wasn't Deputy Bennett, and honestly Deborah would have preferred the man she was more familiar with than a replacement. The new officer was very crisp and businesslike, with little of the friendly warmth she'd seen in the other man. Predictably, he had a whole list of questions to ask, about every minute detail she might remember from the night.

Once he left, however, a nurse showed up to look her over and take care of her injuries. Or more specifically, her leg. She nearly cried out when they took the bandage off, the pain flaring up like a white-hot sun around her ankle. Then a little while later, a prick, followed by a growing feeling of nothing, as they numbed her leg and stitched the wound back together before bandaging it back up. After being given instructions not to put much weight on it for several days, and given a crutch to use along with a prescription for pain medication and more instructions that Deborah was too foggy to fully remember, she was allowed to leave. One of the nurses walked her down the long, identical corridors back to the waiting room, the trip blending into a haze of white in her mind.

"Deborah! You're all right!" It took several seconds for her brain to process that the words hadn't actually been in English, before she found herself staring into her mother's face. Her father stood nearby, not saying much of anything, but from years of experience she could recognize relief when she saw it. Her mother, on the other hand, continued to fuss over her in Korean that she wasn't quite following in her tired state. Her mother always switched to Korean when she was stressed. Deborah did her best to answer her mother's questions, explaining a little about the chaotic night and the bear trap and reassuring her mother that yes, she was actually fine and just really needed to sleep. Meanwhile, she managed to get a little bit of information as to why they were there in the first place.

It seemed the hospital staff had been told to call them, via the deputy who had questioned her, and knowing how far the distance was back to her parents' house, her time in the hospital must have been longer than she thought. That or her father had broken a few laws on the way. Either way it was a wonderful surprise, especially with her car having been damaged earlier.

As her parents indicated they should get to the hotel she'd been staying at, Deborah realized something. She hadn't even gotten to say goodbye to Tommy yet, and after that moment earlier, she needed a bit of clarity. She was all set to go hobbling off down the halls searching for him when he showed up at the door to the waiting room, his eyes distant.

"Ha-yun! We're leaving!" Her mother insisted in Korean, deliberately using her middle name to catch her daughter's attention.

"Just a minute!" Deborah replied, making her way over to Tommy as quickly as possible. He stopped when she approached, looking like he'd just woken up from a dream. Then his eyes caught sight of her crutch and newly-bandaged leg. She gave him a wobbly smile. "Stitches," she mumbled.

He pointed to his bandaged bicep, his movements clumsy and stiff. "Stitches." Both laughed for a second, tight, awkward chuckles, but a laugh nonetheless.

"We match!" Deborah said, the cheer in her voice sounding hollow and forced. Besides, it wasn't what she was over here for. "So, um, about earlier... you really meant all that?"

Tommy stared down at her, eyes still looking like grey-blue fog, but he gave a small nod. "Yeah," he replied. "I did."

"It wasn't just a prank, or a lie to make me go away?"

He shook his head. Well, one question answered at least, she thought. She chewed on her lip for a second or two before speaking again. "Well, I just thought that, uh, well, we should meet up sometime this week. To make sure each other is doing okay, right?"

Tommy still looked awfully stiff and uncomfortable, but it could easily be just the hospital bothering him. "That sounds good, yeah."

Deborah fumbled in the pocket of her jeans, coming up with a damp notebook and a slightly broken pencil stub. "W-well, we need to know how to contact each other, right? I'm staying at the hotel in town for the time being, so I don't know if you can call me properly there but um... can I have your phone number so I can call you to set things up later?" She offered the notebook and pencil to him.

Tommy stared at them like she'd handed him a live fish, but took them gingerly in his hand after a momentary pause. Carefully he wrote down a number on the paper, tearing the sheet off and handing it to her, then absently putting the notebook and pencil in his own pocket. Neither of them really seemed to notice, however, especially not with Deborah's parents calling for her from the doorway. Deborah put the paper in her pocket and took a few steps towards the door.

"Okay, I'll... see you later then!" she said, with a small wave. She didn't notice Tommy's small, uncertain wave as she followed her parents to their car and rode off to her hotel. She was barely even able to get to her hotel room and put on her pajamas before she succumbed to exhaustion, sprawled out on the hotel bed, fast asleep