Chapter One

Four Years Later

It was a glorious sunny day. The birds were chirping happily in their nests, the green trees swayed with the cool breeze and there were no clouds in the sky whatsoever.

For Sandra Dier, and her boyfriend Jeff Lawler, who were on their way to a counsellor training centre on the shores of Crystal Lake. With Jeff in the driver's seat Sandra was telling him the way, but by the time they reached a quaint little town, they were both hopelessly lost.

"All right, keep your eyes peeled. I think we're on the right track now," Jeff replied as he continued to drive slowly through the town making sure, he didn't miss any turns he might need to take.

"Hey, there's a gas station." Sandra pointed out, combing her long, curly hair with her fingers as she allowed the wind through the open window to blow through it.

Parking right beside shortly afterwards the couple climb out and meet on Sandra's side. Not too far away walking beside his bicycle, Crazy Ralph was eyeing the two young 'uns suspiciously, knowing exactly what Fate had installed for them.

"Okay, let's call Ted." Sandra nodded as Jeff pointed to a nearby door-less telephone booth situated on a small island in the middle of the road, the two slowly jogging toward it.

Stepping inside Jeff reached into his pocket and fished out a couple of quarters, slipping them into the slot one after the other. Meanwhile Sandra stood outside basking in the Sun, thanking herself mentally for choosing to wear her white sleeveless top, her khaki mini-shorts that Jeff really liked, and her white flip-flops that she bought herself just the other week. Jeff, on the other hand, was wearing his olive green vest, tight navy jeans and

As Jeff cradled the receiver between his cheek and his shoulder, he dialled the number to get Ted and waited for a few moments before he eventually picked up. The two not realizing that, in the distance, Jeff's truck was being towed.

"Hey, Teddy, buddy!" Jeff cheered into the phone, "We just rolled in. Yeah, yeah, Sandra's here." He then took the receiver and held out in front of her, "Hi, Ted!"

Returning it upon his shoulder Jeff asked, "Hey, so you gonna come down and get us or what?" He listened for Ted's answer, "Yeah, okay. Okay, give me the directions." Sandra then dug into her pockets and pulled out a pen and paper.

"Here, wait, wait, wait. All right. Okay, go ahead. I'm ready," Jeff informed, placing the paper against the glass, so he could write the directions down easier, "All right, Old North Road and then look for a Dairy Queen?" He giggled at the last part before listening on, "Okay. And then over…"

He was then abruptly interrupted by Crazy Ralph, who'd moseyed on from where he was standing just moments ago, and stopped just short of the booth. He then leaned forward a little and spoke in his hoarsely voice, probably from his years of drinking, "I told the others. They didn't believe me. You're all doomed. You're all doomed." He repeated before climbing on his bike and headed in the opposite direction from where they came in.

Jeff and Sandra followed him with their stares before looking at each other and thinking the same thing. The guy was obviously nuts and was probably drunk, smelling heavily of booze. Jeff suddenly realized that Ted was still on the phone, "What? Oh, no, nothing. No, go ahead. No. All right. So…All right, covered bridge. Oka. Then what? All right, so, then past an old cemetery. All right. And then…Left down an old dirt road for half a mile."

Jeff was then suddenly interrupted yet again by the cry of Sandra's voice, who looked past him and at his truck, "Oh, my God! They're towing us!" Seconds later Sandra dashed in its direction, her flip-flops smacking the bottom of her feet as she tried faster.

Jeff was still holding the phone and watching Sandra before he replied quickly, "Shit! Ted, I'll call you back," before slamming the phone back onto its cradle and bolting after her.

"Hey, wait! Hey, mister!" Sandra cried out as she ran across the road with Jeff taking off his cap, so he could run even faster. He easily surpassed Sandra in seconds and was at the driver's door, "This is my truck!" The driver didn't seem to be listening, "Come on!" Jeff banged on the door several times, "This is my truck!" He shouted, not really caring that onlookers were eyeing this little scene, "Asshole, this is my truck!"

He growled in frustration as the driver persisted on without stopping and Jeff clenched his fists in anger before taking off after him again. Sandra was trying her best to catch up but at the end of the day, flip-flops were just not made for running.

The truck then turned off the main road and drove down a smaller one, stopping just past a large tree outside a small store. Jeff and Sandra stopped to catch their breath and heard constant laughter coming from beside the tree. Both looking up, skin soaked in perspiration, they could see that it was Ted Campbell, their supposed friend, who was laughing at them. What was clearly noticeable about him was his bright orange and yellow polka-dot shirt he wore along with khaki shorts and white trainers.

"Welcome to God's country." He pronounced with a huge grin on his face and welcoming them with open arms.

The couple quickly realized that they were played for fools and immediately jumped at him, the words, "You rat shit!" coming out of Jeff's mouth as he tackled him onto the grass.

As the two picked themselves up, Ted waved at the guy driving the tow truck, "Thanks, Max! Max owns the gas station. He's crazy too," Ted told them, wrapping his arms around their shoulders.

"I should have known," Sandra laughed, squeezing Ted just that little bit tighter before fully letting go.

"It's great to see you guys. It'll be like old times."

Jeff let out a deep sigh, hands on his hips as he continued to catch his breath, "Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of."

"Help me load my gear and we'll split." Ted asked, slightly afraid at what they might say after what he'd just did just moments ago…

Back on the road again the trio were on their way to the counsellor training facility driving down a whirly road, passing by countless fields which either had corn, cattle or stacks of hay in them.

"So, Ted, what's the scoop?" Jeff asked from the driver's seat with Sandra sitting in between the two men.

Ted turned from looking out of the wide-open window, the wind blowing through his ginger hair, "I know the guy Paul who's running the course. He's okay. He's kind of macho, though. He takes the whole thing way too seriously. Senior camp counsellor, of course." He replied to the last part in a robotic voice, earning a soft laugh from Sandra. "We'll probably all get a Brownie badge if we survive."

Sandra faced him, her eyebrow creasing, "If we survive?"

"That's right. Didn't I tell you you're gonna be a second assistant?" This earned a groan from Jeff as he said, "Oh, no!" followed by gentle laughter from the other two.

"Okay, listen , listen. A bear and a rabbit are in the woods. Both are taking a dump," Ted began his joke, earning a grimace from Sandra, who knew this was going to end dirty. "So the bear looks down at the rabbit and says, "Excuse me, Mr. Rabbit, does shit stick to your fur?" The rabbit says, "No, Mr. Bear." So the bear wiped his ass with the rabbit."

The two men laugh at Ted's little joke and, despite it not being her taste in jokes, Sandra had to laugh with them. It was a pretty good joke, although she felt a little sorry for the rabbit.

"Hey, what the heck is that?" Jeff asked, all their attention in the direction he was looking in.

There, lying across the full length of the road, was a thin-looking tree with several large branches sprouting from it. As Jeff pulled the car to a stop, the tree looked bigger when up close. Climbing out of the truck Jeff, followed by Ted and Sandra, the two men sauntered over to inspect it when Sandra leant up against the front of the truck.

"Where the hell did this sucker come from?" Jeff asked, mostly to himself, taking his hat over and scratching his head in bewilderment.

Ted then stood beside him, "I don't know. Let's move it anyways," he replied simply, standing over by the thick end of it and grabbing hold of it by its side. Jeff took the middle part and helped him manoeuvre it to the side of the road.

Sandra, with her hands cupping her leather "pouch" that hung cosily around her slender waist, observed their surroundings, "This place is spooky," she stated, not really sure if Jeff and Ted heard her or not, earning herself a sharp chill up her spine.

"Looked like someone dragged it out here," Jeff declared to Ted, who replied shortly afterward, "Yeah, but what for?"

While the "men" were busy moving the tree Sandra wandered off into the trees, following a dirt path that led deeper into the forest. What she didn't realize though that, somewhere amongst the thickness of the trees, someone was watching her. Probably, the same someone who blocked the road with the tree. On one side of the path, someone caught her eye as she stepped closer to it, making sure she didn't go anywhere near the stinging nettles.

Picking it up Sandra could see that it was a long piece of wood with writing on it. Looking up she called out, "Hey, you guys, take a look at this." As they came closer Sandra brushed off the foliage and the dirt, so they could read what was written on it. In bold, capital letters it read: "CAMP CRYSTAL LAKE".

Ted pointed at it, "That's Camp Blood. This place is on the same lake as we're gonna be."

The words "Camp Blood" forced the couple to look up at him, the look of wonderment in their eyes as to why it was called that.

"Camp Blood?" Jeff had to be the one to ask, seeing as Sandra was still observing the sign in her hands.

"Hey, isn't that the place where…" Sandra started to say but Ted shook his head and headed back to the truck, "Let's get out of here."

"Can't we take a look?" Sandra asked innocently but she was shunted by a cold, "No way," from Ted, who was already waiting beside the truck.

"What's the problem?" Came the question from Jeff, who was walking back to him while Sandra placed the sign back where she'd found it.

"You don't wanna hear about it, man. Believe me. Not before lunch."

Sauntering back to the truck in disappointment Sandra looked back down the dirt path and wondered if it led to Camp Crystal Lake aka Camp Blood. Hearing the voice of her boyfriend Sandra shook the thought out of her head and hurried to the truck where Ted was waiting for her to get in.

Turning the ignition the truck roared into life as Jeff pulled it into drive and put his foot down on the accelerator not realizing that, as they drove off back along the road, the certain someone who had watched Sandra was now watching them as they disappeared into the distance…