- Friday, July 13th 2018 -
Beams of sunlight flashed through the windows of the silver Range Rover, occasionally blocked out by the trees lining the sides of the road. In the driver's seat, Richard Garrett kept his eyes focused on the road while 'Sweet Caroline' played at a gentle volume over the car's stereo. He glanced over at his wife Jenny in the passenger seat, smiling as she mumbled along with the lyrics. She had originally introduced him to Neil Diamond's addictive strain of music, and he loved the way she would join in sometimes without even realising it.
"Dad. Mom. I love you both," a teen girl spoke up from the back seat, leaning forward and reaching between the two of them to toy with the car stereo. "But if I have to listen to one more Neil Diamond song, I'm going to throw myself out of this car."
"Well, remember to tuck and roll upon landing. I don't want you breaking anything," Richard responded jokingly, allowing his daughter to search for a decent radio station.
"Hilarious, Richard," Jenny commented in a sarcastic tone.
"I'm just being a responsible parent. I don't want to bring her to hospital with a broken leg and have the doctor judging me because I didn't teach her to tuck and roll," Richard continued, only for Lizzie to roll her eyes in response. She kept going through the frequencies, only to receive either static or a faint crackling song which could not be interpreted.
"Ugh. Nothing," she sighed, sitting back in her seat and making her messily dyed blue hair whip back. The dark black of her original hair colour was noticeable at the roots, along with a few stray strands. "We might as well be off the grid."
"This might surprise you, honey. But that's one of the best things about camping. Getting away from the city, not spending all day on your phone, actually talking with your family…" Jenny listed off, only to have Lizzie press the button to lower her window.
"So, tuck and roll. Right, dad?" she asked her father.
"That's my girl," Richard answered, the two of them chuckling softly. Jenny responded by slapping Richard playfully on the arm. He then looked back at his mirrors, his smirk fading as his brow furrowed. He seemed particularly focused on the red pickup truck trailing behind their car, squinting as he tried to get a better look at the passengers. And once his suspicions were confirmed, his eyes widened. "Oh my god."
"Richard, what is it?" Jenny asked, taking note of her husband's concern as he reached for his phone. Without saying a word, Richard went into his contacts and auto-dialled one of the numbers. He then brought the phone to his ear, an impatient frown lingering on his face as he awaited an answer.
Madison Garrett looked at her phone quizzically, wondering why her father would be calling her now of all times. With a shrug, she answered and put it on speaker. "Hey, Dad. What's up?"
"Hey, Madison. Could I speak to Matthew for moment?" Richard's voice asked, startling the dark-haired teenager in the passenger seat. His head was partially out of the open window, a trail of smoke drifting from the tip of his questionable cigarette.
"Oh. Hey there, Mister Garrett," Matt answered politely, the cigarette still held out of the window between his index and middle finger.
"Hey there, Matthew. You wouldn't happen to be smoking a marijuana cigarette, would you?" Matt's eyes widened, yet he did not look worried. He glanced over at Madison, who simply smiled back and waited for his answer.
"A marijuana cigarette? What on Earth would give you that idea?" Matt eventually asked in response, still far too relaxed than a normal person would be in his situation.
"Because I'm looking in my rear-view mirror right now, and that's an awful lot of smoke coming out of your window," Richard pointed out. Matt looked to the Range Rover driving just ahead of Madison and himself, clearing his throat awkwardly.
"Oh, that? No, Mister Garrett. That's not smoke. You see, that is my breath," Matt answered, resulting in a brief silence from Madison's father.
"Your breath."
"Yes, sir. It is my breath made visible by the cold winter air."
"It's summer, Matthew."
"Well then, Madison must have a pretty powerful A/C," Matt joked, getting a repressed laugh out of Madison. The sound of Jenny and Lizzie holding back their own laughs could be heard over the phone.
"Matthew, is that really the answer you want to go with?" Richard asked, not appreciating the humour as much his family did.
"I believe it is, sir," Matt answered, still speaking in a calm manner. There was a brief silence, broken by an audible sigh from Richard.
"Fine. Madison, we'll be arriving in about ten minutes," he added.
"Got it, Dad. Over and out," Madison answered before hanging up. Matt then let out a sigh of relief.
"That was a close one," he joked before taking a long drag on his joint.
"You don't say. You know, after getting busted by my father, one would assume that you'd stop smoking the pot," Madison noted. Matt smirked, blowing the odd-smelling smoke out of the window.
"That's a fair assumption. Allow me to offer a rebuttal," he requested. "I think it's pretty clear that your father already hates my guts. It might be due to the pot, it might be due to the fact that I'm dating your sister, we may never know. But the fact of the matter is; there is nothing I can do to make your father like me. Thus I have nothing to lose." He finished his insightful speech with yet another drag, blowing smoke out of the window once again.
"Not smoking pot might make him like you a bit more," Madison suggested, getting a perplexed stare from the stoned teen.
"Now you're just sounding crazy."
"Still think it was a good idea to bring him along on the trip?" Richard asked, putting his phone back on the dashboard.
"Lizzie said she'd only go if Matt came along," Jenny recalled.
"I'm sitting right here, guys," Lizzie reminded the two of them. "And Dad, maybe you could be a little nicer to him? I mean, it's not like you're being subtle about hating him."
"Hate?" Richard looked surprised by this accusation. "When makes you think I hate him?"
"The fact that you've forced him to sit in a separate car for the drive up here?"
"I didn't force him."
"Well, it's not like you left him much of a choice, Richard," Jenny pointed out, referring to the luggage filling up the trunk, as well as the two seats to the right of Lizzie.
"We're going to be out by the lake for the whole weekend. I just wanted to bring the essentials," Richard insisted.
"Oh, please. Your grill?" Lizzie gestured to the red kettle grill taking up one whole seat.
"Forgive me for not wanting to cook burgers and hot dogs over an open fire," Richard retorted, earning him judgemental glances from his wife and youngest daughter. "I don't hate him!" he insisted with a slight chuckle, his attention returning to the road. But as he checked his mirrors again, he got a glimpse of Lizzie in the back seat. She looked out of the car window with a disheartened look on her face, clearly not happy about her father's seating arrangements. With a sigh, Richard looked away from the mirror, the faint sound of 'Love on the Rocks' playing over the stereo.
The Range Rover and pickup truck continued driving for the next ten minutes, just as Richard had predicted. Concrete roads slowly transitioned to dirt, and both vehicles soon emerged into a large clearing. There were two vacation homes on either side of them. The one on the left was the largest, the exterior constructed from blue panelling with a white trim to the doors, porch steps, and window frames. The one on the right seemed more like a cabin, but was equally nice to look at. The exterior looked much more rustic, with a larger front porch as well as a trail leading to what appeared to be a basement area. Richard pulled over, with Madison braking to a halt right behind him. The Garrett family plus Matt exited the vehicles, stretching and looking back and forth between the two houses. "Nice. Not too shabby," Madison commented with hands on her hips. "So, which one are we staying in?"
"Both of them," Richard answered, surprising the younger members of their group, including Jenny.
"What?" she uttered.
"That's awesome!" Lizzie exclaimed. "Can we have a look around?"
"Sure. We'll call you back once we've gotten everything out of the car," Richard allowed. Lizzie and Matt went over to the blue house, while Madison went off by herself to look at the cabin. Richard opened the trunk, taking out some of the bags. But when he looked to Jenny for assistance, he took note of her crossed arms and her questionable expression. "What's that look for?"
"You booked two vacation houses?"
"Well,...yeah," Richard answered.
"How many bedrooms are there?" Jenny asked, looking between the two houses.
"Oh, you know. Just...three in each house." With that answer, Jenny's eyes almost popped out of her head.
"Six bedr-" Jenny had to stop herself mid-sentence to keep from speaking too loudly. "Richard, there are five of us. Three bedrooms would've been enough. What are you planning to do with six bedrooms?"
"Oh, you know..." Richard trailed off as he removed another bag from the trunk, placing it on the ground beside him. "You and I would sleep in one room, Madison would sleep in another, Lizzie would...also sleep in another, and Matthew could...well…"
"Sleep in another? In a different vacation house entirely?" Jenny finished for him, already getting a sense of where this was going. "Richard, did you really book an extra vacation house just to avoid your daughter and her boyfriend sharing a bedroom?" Instead of clapping back with a excuse, Richard just sighed and sat on the edge of the trunk, the Range Rover creaking slightly as he pressed down on the suspensions.
"I just don't want anything bad to happen to her. I mean, she's eighteen years old-"
"Exactly, Richard," Jenny interjected, sitting beside him and putting her arm around his shoulder. "She's eighteen years old. It has to happen at some point. And Matt is a very sweet boy."
"He was smoking weed on the drive up here," Richard pointed out.
"So, who hasn't experimented with drugs at some point in their teens?" Jenny asked.
"I haven't." An awkward silence lingered between the couple after Richard's answer. "You've smoked weed?"
"We're getting off topic, honey," Jenny answered, excusing herself from the topic. "My point is, you keep judging books by their covers. Instead of getting to know Matt, you assume that he's nothing else but a stoner. Do you ever wonder why Madison never introduces her boyfriends to us?"
"Because she's twenty-one and technically no longer our problem?" Richard joked, getting a smirk from his wife.
"Because she knows that once you get one look at them, your opinion of them will be set in stone," Jenny pointed out. "I'm nervous about what could happen too, but I've been prepared for it. You on the other hand think that putting Matt in a separate vacation house will stop anything from ever happening with them." Richard nodded along with his wife's words, silently hating the fact that she was making very valid points.
"But I will say one thing; we got both of these houses for a steal," Richard pointed out, making Jenny laugh. "They were practically giving them away."
"Be that as it may, I have a suggestion. Let the kids stay in the cabin, and we'll take the big house for ourselves." Richard considered this offer, a small part of him still thinking that leaving the kids to their own devices would not be the best idea.
"I don't know, Jen-"
"And if the kids are off doing...whatever it is they might do," Jenny began, not wanting to worry her husband any further. "Then maybe you and I can have some...alone time." Richard looked to his wife, unsure if they had the same idea in mind. But the sly smile on Jenny's face said it all.
"Really?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Well, it's certainly been a while since we last had any...alone time together," Richard recalled.
"I know. How's my suggestion sounding now?" Jenny asked, placing a long kiss on Richard's cheek. And when she pulled back, Richard answered in a humorously calm tone.
"I think you are officially the smartest out of both of us." With that, the married couple kissed again, this time on the lips. "Care to help me take out more luggage?"
"Gladly," Jenny answered. They both stood up, each grabbing a bag from the trunk and lifting it out.
"Are we ever going to revisit that moment where you said you smoked weed as a teenager?" Richard asked, making Jenny's smile grow even wider.
"Let it go, Richard," she warned.
About six miles behind the Garrett family, a lone figure strolled down the road into town, passing a road sign reading 'WELCOME TO CRYSTAL LAKE'. As he made his way through the town, he spotted a familiar vintage-style diner to his right. And with a smile, he made his way over to it. The door opened with the ring of a bell, attracting the attention of the middle-aged waitress. She took a moment to observe the familiar customer as he took a seat in one of the booths.
He looked to be in his early twenties, his messy brown hair shaved at the sides in a punky fashion. His eyes were a pale blue, contrasting with the blue of his denim sherpa jacket. Beneath the jacket was a red plaid shirt, trailing down to a pair of dark jeans which were cuffed above his hiking boots. He had a backpack with him, placed beside him in the booth. Once he was comfortable, the waitress straightened out her glasses and brought a menu over to him.
"Is that you, Luke?" she asked, placing the menu on the table in front of him. The young man looked up at the waitress, smiling once he recognised her face.
"How are things with you, Joey?" he asked in response, looking over the menu.
"Eh, can't complain. What can I get you?"
"For the last few miles, I've had a hankering for one of your sausage omelettes," Luke answered. "Could I get that with a coffee?"
"Sure you can, sweetie," Joey answered, taking the menu back from him and putting the order through to the kitchen. A few minutes later, she returned to Luke's booth with the omelette and a mug of coffee. Luke dug in almost immediately, sighing as he savoured the very first bite. As he ate, Joey provided some conversation.
"So, are you heading up to see your uncle?" she asked.
"Only reason I come up here. That and the food," Luke answered honestly, taking another bite of the omelette.
"And here I was thinking you came up here just to see me," Joey teased. "Do you two have any plans?"
"Nothing big. We mostly just hang out and drink some beers," Luke said with a shrug.
"Sounds like a nice time," Joey commented. "How is it up there?"
"It's pretty peaceful. Hardly anyone comes up to the lake anymore."
"Heh. You might have some company this year," Joey revealed. Luke glanced over at her curiously, swallowing a mouthful of omelette.
"What?"
"A family came through here not that long ago. They rented the two homes down by the lake for the weekend," Joey continued. Luke frowned slightly, turning away from Joey and staring at his plate in thought. "You okay there, Luke? Something wrong?"
"Uh...no, Joey. It's fine," Luke answered.
"You sure, honey?"
"Yeah," Luke assured her. Joey soon left Luke to finish his food, unaware of the worrying thoughts now set in the young man's mind.
In a small abandoned shack, not that far from Crystal Lake, a body rested on the ground. Beside that body was a rock, with an almost completely skeletal severed head resting on top of it. Words had not been spoken from this head for several years, yet the motionless body on the ground could hear it whispering.
"Jason..."
The body squirmed, coated in a thin layer of dust and leaves which had blown inside and accumulated over the years.
"It's time to wake up now, dear..."
Beneath the dust and leaves, a single eye opened, right before the body began pushing itself upright. Jason let out a long and raspy groan, reaching up and brushing himself off as best as he could. He looked to the skeletal head on the rock, noticing how much it had changed since he last seen it.
"Did you sleep well, Jason?"
The former murderer was calmed by the voice of his mother, letting out a small groan as a response to her question.
"Well, I hope so. Because you have work to do. They forgot about us, Jason. They forgot about what they did to us…"
Jason's calm breathing slowly became heavier, his mottled fingers clenching into fists.
"You need to find them, Jason. Make them remember you…"
Jason looked to ground, noticing something shiny beneath some of the leaves. He brushed them aside, revealing a plastic evidence bag. He tore it open, throwing the plastic aside and staring at the untouched hockey mask.
"Make them remember what fear tastes like…"
Jason placed the mask over his head, his single working eye peeking out through one of the holes. He stood up, allowing more dust to fall around him. With loud footsteps, he strode over to the makeshift shelf in the corner, reaching out and retrieving a single rusty axe. As he made his way outside, Jason stopped briefly, his gaze adjusting to the sunlight. And once he could finally see properly, he headed into the woods, the axe held tightly in both hands.