Cameron spread out the many crime scene photos that he had collected over time on his desk. A couple were of the deceased Noah Valentine and Brandon Auckland. Others, though, were of several other victims of Jason Voorhees. He peered at one picture and then at another, sighing at the images of bloodied bodies lain about in positions of utter humiliation.

He and Marty had finished canvassing about an hour ago. They had arrived back at the police station to sort through evidence. Cameron was spending time pouring through pictures of corpses, trying to figure out if there was any connection between the victims. Cameron knew that Jason favored sinful teenagers as his prey, but there were many other kinds of victims here as well. In fact, the only similarity Cameron could find among these pictures were that the bodies were all human.

As if that narrowed it down, he thought.

Cameron sighed when he thought of Jason's indiscriminate killing among people. The lieutenant believed that the only reason Jason didn't kill Nadine was because he didn't see her. He didn't know that for sure, but that had to be it. He intended on finding out more once he interviewed the child again.

The door to the captain's office opened and police captain, Sean Birman, strode out towards Cameron. He was so tall that he had to duck whenever he stepped through a doorway. Sean attempted to be the most hard-hitting police captain that ever led the Crystal Lake police force. He even refused to allow anyone to call him Sheriff, wanting to dissociate himself from the bad luck that befell past Crystal Lake sheriffs. Sheriff Garris and Sheriff Landis, to name a couple.

It was going to be a new era in this police force, one where the losses of previous officers were behind them, and the deaths of new leaders were no longer going to occur.

Sean stopped in front of Cameron and asked, "So, how's the evidence coming along?"

Cameron halted his shuffling of the photos and looked up at Sean. Sean looked even more intimidating than Cameron tried to be. Besides being over six ft, 7 in, Sean had a military-style, bald head and a muscular body underneath his police uniform. He was the only one on the whole police force that Cameron couldn't completely stand up to.

Evidence? What more evidence do we need? Cameron wanted to ask.

But he replaced the confronting question.

"Well, I have collected all the crime scene photos that I can. I haven't found any distinct connection between the victims, except that they're all human."

Cameron couldn't help but add that last part in.

Sean examined the pictures spread out on Cameron's desk and nodded. He seemed to agree with Cameron's statement. If you were a human, then you usually had a death sentence thrust upon you.

"Yeah, looks like it," Sean said in that deep voice of his. "Did you and Officer Rowland find out anything from your canvassing of potential witnesses?"

Cameron shook his head.

"No, the killer was very skilled at making sure there were no witnesses to his crimes. Marty's filling out paperwork of the day's events. But so far, there are no major finds on the perpetrator."

Cameron kept the part on what Nadine had said to himself.

Sean held up a picture of a teenage girl, slashed from the head all the way down to the groin. Her bloodied corpse had been slung over a tree branch. Sean examined it without a spark of emotion. It wasn't that he didn't care. Sean had spent a dozen years in the Army before he had become the new Crystal Lake police captain. He had seen many people die in brutal ways around him. With the military advantage on his side, Sean knew he was ready for anything.

"Sad, isn't it?" Sean said to Cameron. "I've witnessed God knows how many people, not too much older than this girl here, get killed in spurts of blood back when I was fighting. It's terrible, but I've found ways to cope. How about you? Did you find victims this torn up back in New York?"

Cameron had worked as a lieutenant on the New York City Police Department before he came here. He had seen the horrific ins and outs of the big city, never thinking he could see anything even worse here in this small town.

Cameron shook his head.

"I've seen mostly victims that had been shot up, stabbed repeatedly, beaten, and strangled, but not decapitated with such severe hatred, that they resemble victims of sadistic surgery. This guy's the best."

Sean smiled a bit bemused at Cameron.

"Thinking you can flatter this killer won't get you anywhere. I'm going to go check up on the officers that are stationed as roadblocks to keep track of who's coming and going. When you're finished here, why don't you head over to Sheltered Waters and warn them of what's going on? I'm sure the owners there would appreciate being aware of the happenings around here, so they can better protect the children."

Sean set the photo back down on the desk and headed back over to his office. Cameron stood up, and his chair groaned as it slid back.

"Do you have any idea of who's doing this? Since you won't believe me?"

Sean stopped at his door and replied, "I'm totally aware of the dark notoriety of Jason Voorhees surrounding this town. Along with all the mayhem that he's known to be responsible for. I'm not completely blowing you off, Cameron. I know what all the evidence is pointing to. I'm just following police protocol to ensure that there is no quick action that could endanger any of the force. Once I'm one hundred percent sure, then we'll come up with a plan of action. I will fight to guarantee that this legend of Jason Voorhees doesn't take down even one officer on my force."

Yeah, good luck with that, Cameron thought.

The door to Sean's office slammed shut behind the captain, and the usual police station activity bustled around Cameron. The lieutenant collected all the photos and slid them into an envelope. He walked through the station and out into the main lobby, where the police dispatcher, Holly Volmer, greeted him.

She was young, not quite 25, with curly, black hair and eyes that almost looked purple. She was the newest member of the Crystal Lake police team.

"Hi, Holly," Cameron replied to her.

The tone of his voice sounded like he wasn't completely interested in talking to her.

As Cameron strode out towards the door, he looked over at the police bulletin board. It was plastered with many pictures of people that had gone missing in the area.

The lieutenant sighed and said over to Holly, "I wouldn't waste space with Missing Person pictures. None of these people are missing. They're dead. So what's the point of even pretending that they're still alive?"

Holly gave Cameron a shocked expression and fought for a way to respond to that. But Cameron was already walking away and out the door.


The rest of the day passed without any interference for Jason and Dawn. Dawn was able to calm down fairly well after her sad contemplation over her mother. The child fed on more food that she had packed and sorted through more of her belongings.

Since she knew she was going to be staying with Jason, she wanted to see what things were hers, so she could take them back to the house. As she was shuffling through one of her bags, a baseball bounced out and rolled along the ground.

Jason watched the ball curiously. The last time, or more like the last dozen times, he had seen something round roll on the ground, it had been a human head. Dawn ran over and picked up the ball.

She held it and said, "This is my baseball. My classmates and I used to play with it all the time at recess."

The small girl tossed the ball against a tree, and it bounced back towards her.

Dawn grabbed it and motioned to Jason.

"You wanna play?"

Whatever sense was left inside the misshapen giant was scrambling into a knot.

Someone wants to play with me?

That was what he was probably asking inside his head. Nobody had ever wanted to play with him before, unless it was some cruel, taunting game where he was the victim.

Out of nowhere, Dawn threw the baseball towards him. Jason's hand shot out, and he grabbed it in one quick reflex. Dawn clapped excitedly.

"Good job!" she shouted. "Now throw it to me."

Jason arched back his arm and whipped the ball back, trying not to be as forceful as he normally was.

The ball shot through the air like a zooming rocket. Lucky for Dawn, she was so small that the ball blasted right over her head and smashed right through the side of a tree. Dawn shrieked as the side of the trunk exploded into many bark bits from the ball's impact. Even after it shot through the tree, the ball kept on hurtling faster and faster into the woods.

Dawn gaped open-mouthed in the direction the ball had gone.

She slowly turned towards Jason and remarked with awe, "Wow. That was…fast. You're very good. I wish you were on my team back in school."

Jason had not intended to throw the ball that hard. He knew he could have accidentally hurt Dawn with that throw. But his throws were always so powerful even when he wasn't trying very hard. He looked at her, maybe with an apologetic glance, but it was hard to tell.

Dawn wasn't really bothered by it. In fact, she smiled.

He's going to be a really awesome playmate, she was thinking.

Out loud, she suggested, "Why don't I take my stuff back to your house and then you can show me around? I know there are lots more times that we can play."


Together, Dawn carried the smaller bags while Jason carried the heavier ones. When they reached the piles of bodies, Dawn closed her eyes, and Jason led her the rest of the way into the house. Princess greeted them happily. She began to jump down from the bed, but Dawn stopped her.

"Here let me help you, Princess," the child said. "You're not supposed to get too rough on that foot."

She picked up the kitten and held her against her chest. She carried Princess over to Jason and lifted her up at him.

"I don't know if Princess thanked you or not for saving her. Just in case, she wants to do it again."

Jason readily grabbed the meowing kitten and raised the white bundle up to his mask. Princess looked down and stiffened a little bit when she realized how high up she was. Jason pulled her closer to him so she wouldn't be afraid. The kitten instantly smelled the blood that was streaked on his mask. She pressed her tiny nose against it and started to gently lick at it.

Jason backed away, startled, at this unexpected motion from Princess. The kitten's small tongue brushed up and down on his mask. Dawn laughed gleefully at the two of them.

"I guess that's her way of saying thank you."

She turned away and contemplated where to put all of her belongings. She wondered if Jason would mind her adding her toys to his own child-like things of his past.

While Dawn was turned away and unpacking her belongings, Princess was growing even more excited with the scent of blood still on Jason. She worked her tongue down to his neck to where the blood of Jason's most recent victims was covering his flesh. Jason couldn't do anything but let Princess do her job of cleaning him off. That is, until the kitten's face began to move underneath his mask.

She started to push it up to get to his face. An instant reflex of shame struck Jason. If Princess pushed his mask up too far, Dawn would eventually see his face and go screaming out of the room. He couldn't ruin everything by accidentally exposing his ugliness to the child. He quickly pulled the kitten away and set her down on the floor. He fixed his mask back into place just as Dawn turned back toward him.

"I guess I can finish unpacking later. You don't mind if you take me exploring now, do you?"

Jason shook his head, relieved that she hadn't noticed his close call.

You can do whatever you want, he was thinking. As long as you never leave me.


The two friends finished up the day by Jason showing Dawn as much of his woods as possible. He tried to steer her away from the areas where the bodies of his most recent victims were still laying. It wasn't long before the day drew closer to an end, and the dimness of evening was setting upon the forest.

Dawn become a little uneasy as it grew darker. She cuddled against Jason's legs and whimpered for him to pick her up. She knew she wouldn't be afraid when she was as close to Jason as she could be. He reached down and lifted her up, embracing her near his chest. He carried her back to his house and into his room.

Jason stood outside in the hall for a minute while Dawn changed into her pajamas. When she was ready, she crawled into the bed. The light of the moon shone through the window, taking the edge off the darkness in the room. Princess kneaded the blanket with her front paws before settling down into a little ball.

"Jason," Dawn's small voice called to him. "Will you sit with me until I fall asleep?"

Jason immediately headed over to the bed and sat down next to her. Dawn stared deep into Jason's gentle gaze. She had spent a full day with him, and he hadn't even tried to hurt her. He had thrown that baseball really hard near her, but she knew that was just because of his strength.

Dawn could have cried with tears of joy. She felt like she was starting a new life here without the cruelty of her former father. The only issue she could find was Jason not being able to speak to her. It wasn't his fault of course.

"Jason," Dawn said, "I'm not bothered at all that you can't talk. But I still want there to be a way that you can communicate with me."

Jason brushed her hair away from her face, reassuring her to continue.

"Maybe I can help you by teaching you your own way of talking to me. Would you like that?"

Jason studied her for awhile as if thinking it over. He had never felt the need before to talk to anyone. But now that Dawn was here with him, he thought maybe it would be helpful for him to communicate with her. With her only of course, nobody else deserved his attempts of talking to them.

He nodded his head. Dawn smiled with happiness that she had found a way to start helping him out after he had saved her. She reached over and hugged him tenderly. Then he laid her down and tucked the blanket over her.

Once I teach him a way for him to tell me things, I can find out so much about him.

She touched his hand and whispered, "Good night, Jason."


Back in a tiny, surburban neighborhood of Crystal Lake, a woman of the Peterson family waited anxiously. She pressed her face against the window and peered out into the night. Sitting near her, watching TV, was her husband, Alan. He didn't seem nearly as concerned as his wife was.

"Relax, Summer," he told the woman. "There's nothing we'll find out tonight. As I said, they're probably so busy having fun, that they forgot to call us back."

Summer's throat tightened tensely.

"How can you be so sure? We've tried all day, and there's been no response. I'm worried, Alan. I mean, you know where they are, don't you?"

Alan sighed loudly, clearly annoyed with his wife's quick urge to worry.

"Yes, I know where they are, and don't you think for a moment to bring up again that we shouldn't have let them go."

Summer stared at her reflection in the window. Her short, blonde hair had been ruffled up from her uneasy scratching. Her light, brown eyes poured forth tears of fear for the little girl that she wanted so desparately to see whether or not was okay.

"How can I not? They're camping in Crystal Lake! Did you hear me, Alan? Crystal Lake! How can be so ignorant not to worry about your own brother and your little niece?!"

Alan fought to not begin an argument with Summer. Someone had to remain sane right now. He stood up and put a hand on Summer's shoulder.

"Just because I don't show it, doesn't mean I don't worry. Deep down, I wanted to stop them, but you know James. He won't listen to anybody. I'll tell you what. If we don't hear anything, say by tomorrow morning, we'll go down there and check up on them. We'll even spend the rest of the day with them. How's that?"

Summer's concerned gaze was glued to the floor. She knew it was pointless not to make an issue of it right then. There was nothing they could do, yet.

"Okay, Alan. I know I shouldn't overreact so quickly, but..."

She stopped, and her lower lip quivered.

"When your innocent, little niece is out there, how can you not? What if that monster finds them and kills her?"

Summer buried her face in Alan's shoulder and cried hysterically. Alan stroked her hair in a last attempt to reassure her.

"We'll go down there tomorrow. I promise. I'll make sure we see Dawn again."