Ch. 15

When I said that when Jason sprinted, he was invisible, I meant that. We streaked through the trees so fast, that I couldn't see anything besides a blur of white. I wondered how Jason was able to see while sprinting, much less not collide with anything.

So, with that said, we arrived at the house in no time at all. I briefly smelled pancakes, before Jason gently put me in a chair next to the kitchen table. Then he rounded on Michael, who was now dressed in a pink apron.

Michael looked at me with his head cocked to the side in a happy manner, as if to say, "Well! He didn't eat you for breakfast! That's good!"

Jason angrily punched his fists at Michael, as if to say, "What the hell? She's injured! She walked right past you, and you let her go into the woods! I could have attacked her by accident, and Freddy was out there, too! He could have hurt her even more, or worse! He almost did but I stopped him, for the moment! You idiot!"

I smiled as I realized just how protective Jason was starting to feel about me.

Michael put his hands up, palms up, as if to say, "Um…she just walked out on her own accord. I was making pancakes."

Jason thrashed his head around, as if to say, "Damn you and your pancakes!"

He grabbed Michael's neck, and proceeded to choke him.

They also heard my lack of breath when he did that.

Jason turned around, a worried look in his gold eyes, letting Michael go in the process.

Michael dropped to the floor like a rag doll, and ran to protect the pancakes, which were still cooking on the stovetop.

Jason's eyes seemed to say, "What is wrong, Julia? Are you hurt?"

I shook my head "No.", and said, "I…was just afraid you were going to hurt him. That's all…Thanks for stopping."

Jason shook his head gently in reluctant acceptance of my appreciation in this situation. He then watched as Michael walked forward, towards me.

Then Jason's head snapped alert, his body as still as stone...tense, alert…waiting, listening for and to things Mike's and my ears couldn't hear.

"Ki ki ki ma ma ma.", he "said", and ran out the door, and disappeared into the woods.

Michael shrugged, as if to say, "What was all that about?"

I shrugged back, and said, "I don't know. He 'says' that when he senses someone near his home. Since I don't know where we are right now, I suspect he considers this his home now. Though I wonder why he's not opposed to this whole situation, and why he is so calm in this strange house with strange people he doesn't know…That thing he says, I would guess it's a shortened version of 'Kill them, Mommy.'"

Michael cocked his head to the side, confused, so I continued.

" You know, back when his mother was on a killing rampage back at Camp Crystal Lake, she was imagining that that was what Jason was telling her to do, to 'Kill them, Mommy.', most likely because he wanted revenge against the teasing, and the drowning. Since Jason couldn't do anything for himself then, being only eleven years old, he had his mother do it, who was more than eager enough to do it for him."

I sniffed, and said, "Michael, the pancakes are burning!"

His eyes grew wide, and he whipped around and took the pancakes off the stove. He set the burned pancakes to the side, a sad look in his eyes.

I stepped towards him, to console him, to tell him that he could try again with something else for breakfast, when he put up his hand, palm towards me, as if to say, "Just go, Julia. Leave me alone. Let me mourn for the pancakes."

I backed up hesitantly, and the reason he didn't attack me right then and there was because he somehow knew that my hesitancy was because I didn't want to leave him, not because I was afraid of him. I then went out the door again, and walked into the woods.

Since I didn't have Jason here to guide me, I walked towards what I hoped was the river Jason and I had found, the one Freddy was at last time I saw him. Not that I wanted to meet pizza-face again, but because I wanted to see my own reflection for the first time since I'd come here in something that was other than a mirror or one of my house-fellow's eyes.

After an hour or so of searching (I had no idea why Jason hadn't stopped Freddy yet, for I assumed that was who had alerted him to hunt) I finally found the river.

The river itself was average speed, not too fast, not too slow, but still reflected my face back at me almost perfectly, it was so clear.

My acne. The pits it had caused in my face. I would never look pretty again, not that I ever did in the first place.

I flinched from my horrid reflection, my mouth instantly opening and straining itself into a silent scream. I started to moan and cry out in agony, my mouth still in that straining, silent scream.

Then I heard an almost silent footstep from behind. I whipped around, tears going down my face as I silently cried, my mouth distorting into a silent snarl, ready to at least try to defend myself from whoever it was.