Ch. 13

Wow. Jason would feel right at home here.

The whole of the back of the house was surrounded by tall trees, a whole forest of them, packed closely together. I would definitely get lost in here.

But, since I was stupid, I walked into the woods, looking for the man with the hockey mask.

I didn't get far before I remembered that I had no outdoor experience at all, and already I'd tripped twice. But still, I continued into the thick underbrush, trying, and definitely not succeeding, to ignore the excruciating pain in my middle.

But after I'd walked for a half mile, walking over rocks, dirt, and uneven ground, surrounded by trees on all sides, I leaned over onto my side, against a tree, and screeched in pain.

This was not good for my wounds.

I hunched over, and finally hit the ground; my head hit the tree roots and I yelled with pain, the sound reverberating against the trees.

So much pain… it's everywhere. I would do just about anything to get rid of it.

Then, suddenly, a sound came that spooked me: the crunching of leaves underneath someone's foot, as if trying not to spook me.

I wearily lifted my head, already exhausted from the pain.

It was Jason, of course. He had a bow and arrows on his back, his machete gripped tight in his fist.

My whole body filled with relief, though the pain reacted violently against it.

I let my head flop again to the ground, and yelped with pain when it hit the ground. He cocked his head in response, trying to figure out what to do.

I just concentrated on breathing, however painfully.

Then he charged at me, his machete raised high above his head.

I flinched, but more out of pain than fear. My body was so preoccupied with the pain that there was only a little room left in me to fear anything.

He drove it down towards my stomach, and my hands instinctively moved to cover my injuries.

But it stopped, the blade resting very gently on top of my stomach.

I knew that Jason was putting me through a "test" of his, to see if I would fear him or not, in this defenseless position that I was in.

I opened my eyes, looking in awe up at him.

He backed up, gently easing the machete off of my hypersensitive middle, cocking his head slightly and looking at me like that. His beautiful, golden eyes were somewhat calm, somewhat cautious, but very curious.

I'd passed his test…for now.

"Ugh.", I said, wringing my hands in front of my stomach, wanting to clutch myself and bring myself back to wholeness, but knowing that if I even brushed my stomach, I would screech in pain.

He watched, patiently, as I clutched the air above my stomach, and winced in pain, my mouth opening in a silent scream.

Then he moved towards me, his hands open, palms up, as if to scoop me up, and I spooked, my mind reeling in numb fear.

He backed up in response, knowing that human instincts were a lot different than his own. After a bit, he came towards me again in the same manner, ignoring when I spooked, and gently scooped me up.

Surprisingly enough, he was gentle when he walked, taking great care not to jostle me or rub against my injuries. He was graceful when he walked, smoother in his gait than I was, and didn't trip or stumble or anything. He didn't get lost either.

For those who don't know much about Jason, I should tell them this: Jason could walk faster than a human could sprint. When he ran, he was a blur, but still as graceful as always. And when he sprinted, he was, quite literally, invisible with speed. Another thing would be that most of the time he seemed to walk slow, and then sometimes move quite fast. The reason for this speed was because Jason was letting loose his suppressed rage.

I relaxed after a bit, easing up from being tense. He had a firm, but gentle grip on me, so I wasn't afraid of being dropped. Come to think of it, I wasn't afraid at all, for some reason.