When Tina came to, she smelled the acrid odor of gasoline in the air.
She sat upright in the driver's seat of the now totaled Oldsmobile, dazed.
She shook herself awake, immediately remembering the grisly vision that she had seen right before she lost control of the car.
It had been of her mother being viciously murdered by the man from the lake.
She had to get back home. And right now!
Tina fumbled with the driver's side door latch, incited with sudden urgency.
The door wouldn't budge. It had become wedged shut in the crash.
"Shit!"
She finally forced it open, and ran out into the night. She scrambled up the hillside and back onto the road, looking both ways.
There was no sign of anyone or anything.
All was quiet.
But…she thought. That thing, that monster from the lake could be somewhere around. Lurking. Waiting to do to Tina what he had already done to Nick's cousin, and quite possibly her mother.
God, no, Tina thought. She couldn't lose another parent. Not after what had already happened.
I'd better stick to the woods, she thought. The trees would provide her with cover, and the masked man could be following the roads.
She dashed into the shelter of the dark woods, and started running, half-stumbling through the thicket of trees.
Panicked thoughts were spiraling in her mind.
What have I done? she thought frantically. I left my mother to die.
She had gone and ran from the house, and left her mother there with that thing from the lake running loose.
How could I have been so selfish?
As she pulled aside branches, and quietly maneuvered through the undergrowth, she listened intently for any foreign sounds, or any heavy footsteps.
He could be anywhere. Whoever he was.
But he came from the lake.
It couldn't be her father.
It had to be someone else.
But who?
And was it real? Or just another delusion?
Tina kept running, fueled by the nightmarish vision of her mother meeting a cruel fate.
Suddenly, she saw a flash of blue.
She froze and then relaxed when she realized that it was Nick.
"Tina!" he said, running towards her.
"Nick?! What are you doing out here?"
"Looking for my cousin. What are-?"
Tina cut him off, her eyes making contact with his.
"Never mind, we have to find my mother!"
Then, she ran off into the darkened woods, leaving Nick speechless for a second. But he quickly started off after her after hearing what he thought were footsteps that weren't his…
The night wasn't over, and Nick felt a pang of dread hit him.
He was starting to think that something was very wrong at Crystal Lake, and that coming here would be the worst mistake of his life.
"She can't have gotten very far," said Dr. Crews as he steered his Buick down the country road.
Mrs. Shepard didn't say a thing. Her lips were tightly pursed and her teary eyes stared intently out the windshield from the passenger side, searching for any sign of her daughter.
Damn that man, she thought. Damn him. Takes us out here just so Tina could be poked and prodded like an experiment.
She couldn't even argue with the doctor any longer. All she cared about was getting Tina home safe.
What had Tina been thinking? Going off in the car like that?
It must be a result of Dr. Crews "sessions". He wasn't helping her.
God, she thought, all the money that I've paid that man, and all the time and effort.
She had come out to the place where she witnessed her husband plunge into a lagoon never to be seen or heard from again, only for her to realize they were being strung along. Again.
She really had faith in Dr. Crews, but going along with his "treatment" any longer would definitely be operating in blind faith, and Amanda didn't care for that kind of faith.
Faith for Mrs. Shepard had always been grounded in reality.
No, she thought. I'm taking Tina back home and finding another doctor.
That is, if Tina hadn't driven home herself already.
What worried Mrs. Shepard is that Tina hardly ever drove. She didn't have much experience driving on the road, much less down a dark winding country road at night.
Dr. Crews must have done it to her. He must have instilled so much fear in her that she went and
acted totally off of her emotions.
Mrs. Shepard just had to face the facts.
Her daughter was seriously unwell.
There was no denying it any longer.
She hated to deal with the reality that her daughter might have to be in an institution her entire life.
Sure, you did get to see your relatives if they were in a mental hospital, but when Tina had been in the hospital before, she looked so miserable.
Every time Mrs. Shepard would visit, Tina would be so sullen, with bags under her eyes, and matted hair, barely speaking a word.
The institution sucked the life out of her daughter.
What else could she do?
She had a daughter who would start fires and make up elaborate tales about people coming out of the lake.
But Mrs. Shepard still wondered..if Tina had been right about the spike, maybe she was right about the man in the lake.
What had she heard about a boy in the lake in this town? Mrs. Shepard could recall it briefly, but didn't remember any details.
Then again, small towns always spread rumors.
And there was simply no reason to believe that any of what Tina was saying was true.
She had made things up her entire life.
Then, it was true, Mrs. Shepard thought.
Her daughter was either insane or a pathological liar.
Her thoughts were broken up when Dr. Crews' headlights illuminated something that reflected light.
Mrs. Shepard jolted upright in her seat, her eyes wide.
"What's that?"
It was the two taillights of her Oldsmobile.
It had plunged off of the road into a ravine.
Dr. Crews slowed the car and pulled it to the side of the road. He didn't even have time to put it in park before Mrs. Shepard was already scrambling out of the car.
"Oh my God! Tina! Tina!" Mrs. Shepard cried.
She sprinted towards the car, peering in through the passenger side window but then gasping when she saw that car was empty.
"She's gone!"
"Oh no, no!" exclaimed Dr. Crews as he began searching all over for Tina.
"What if she's hurt?" Mrs. Shepard said.
"We didn't pass her on the road, she must be-"
"Tina!!! Tina!!"
Mrs. Shepard's frenzied voice cut him off, and then, she did the inexplicable. She went running off into the woods.
Leaving him.
Alone.
"Wait!! " He bellowed.
But Mrs. Shepard, much like Tina, was now on the run.
Dr. Crews suddenly realized that they were now all scattered to the four winds with a killer… on the loose.
Outside the rental house, it was quiet except for the soft footfalls of someone in the darkness.
Noone heard a thing.
The blue van sitting outside the property was rocking to the rhythm of two lovers.
It was Ben and Kate. and Ben was on top. They were sprawled on the carpeted floor in a sleeping bag and Ben awkwardly tried to find a good position.
Kate miserably tried to shift her position as well, but nothing was comfortable.
Why had they chosen to try it in the van? she thought.
There were plenty of beds, but Ben had insisted on the van.
Kate just wasn't feeling it.
It looked like this would be another fake orgasm, because she wasn't near climaxing anytime soon.
As hard as Ben pumped into her, she still barely felt anything.
Her sister's voice echoed in her mind.
"Dont fuck a guy who isn't the one".
Well, here Kate was, under a guy from her classes, that she definitely didn't picture marrying.
But maybe, that's what college was all about. Experimenting.
Well, this weekend had been quite an experiment, she thought as she desperately tried to tune in to Ben's body.
First, the birthday boy didn't even show up, and now, she was having sex with Ben, something she didn't think would happen until about fifteen minutes ago, and it wasn't going anywhere.
She moaned underneath him, trying to focus her thoughts on the present moment, but it was all in vain.
All she could think about was him blowing her off, and flirting with that sorority girl, and all the other times she had been pissed at him during their rocky relationship.
He blew her off to go out with Eddie, of all people.
He was always like that. Kate thought that Ben was different from other college guys, more mature and grounded, and thought that he didn't have a high school mentality.
But now, after he had blown her off to go out drinking with his buddies, she was questioning that notion.
To add to that, all Ben seemed to want to do on a Friday night is go to his old high school's football games.
He never wanted to go to a nice restaurant, or maybe see a movie at the theater. He always wanted to go sit on some uncomfortable concrete bleachers, and scream at his alumni.
He even still occasionally wore his high school football jersey. Ben had been the quarterback on his high school football team, and he seemed to still live in that world.
It was like that with most of the guys Kate had tried dating in college. They started out sweet, but then they'd ride around in their big trucks, blow her off and then go out and drive like maniacs on the road, and most of them would wind up dead from an accident.
High school mentality.
She had seen it happen a million times before.
That's how you knew if a guy still had a high school mentality.
It was when they didn't seem to care about their future.
And that was what was happening with Ben.
She couldn't even picture herself having a future at all with him.
She tried to imagine it in her mind as she lay underneath him.
He'd probably not even show up for their anniversary dinner, and go out drinking.
There she would sit, with an entire three course meal that she had slaved over all day, alone by the phone, just hoping he'd call and say that he was on his way home.
But his call would never come.
No way is that gonna be me, Kate thought.
God, I hate these college men.
Ben wasn't different from any of them, she decided.
He's the same type of guy to only live in the now, and not look to the future.
Sure, it was helpful to try and stay in the present moment, but there were also times where you had to think and plan ahead.
Even his friends were his same ones from high school.
But out here, at Crystal Lake this weekend, Kate had thought that Ben changed. He actually was in with a really cool crowd. Russell and Sandra were pretty classy, and mature.
And then, he went and blew her off to hang out with Eddie.
And now, here she was, giving it up to him.
It had started back in the house.
First, his hand would go lower and lower down her waist. Then, he had asked her to dance, and pulled her into his arms.
By then, Kate had had a few beers, and wasn't thinking clearly.
It wasn't until Ben had started fucking her that she began to sober up and see him for what he really was.
A dumb hormone-fueled jock barely out of high school who wasn't that great in bed.
How could she have fallen for him?
Squidface.
She was having sex with Squidface.
She had named him that aptly, because his big nose, and facial structure gave him a very fish-like appearance. Really, Fishface was an even better pet name.
After this weekend, Kate knew that it would just have to be over. Their whole relationship.
She had a college full of sexy men of all varieties, and she would be damned if she got tied down to Ben too soon.
Especially since he didn't know how to fuck.
That was the worst part of it all.
Some men you can overlook their big lips, or their balding hair, if they are passionate in bed.
Ben was thrusting like an awkward and sexually frustrated schoolboy.
It made her want to heave, but she kept it all under control.
She didn't want to ruin the weekend and make things awkward between them, more than they had already made it awkward.
Kate's squabbling at him in the kitchen probably really gave Maddy and Robin a foul impression of her, but sometimes, she just couldn't stand to look at Squidface.
Things would just fly out of her mouth whenever she was pissed at him.
That was what Ben did to her.
Sometimes, he made her crazy.
Love wasn't like that, she thought. Love was calm and more grounded. It didn't feel like you wanted to rip your own hair out.
So why am I fucking him?? her mind was screaming it, but her body was still letting it happen.
In a sense, it was becoming non consensual, but what would happen if she asked him to stop?
Then, it could easily become a big scene.
It would be a he said, she said situation, and those never turn out well for the people involved.
Luckily for Kate, the van suddenly began to rock, and not from the sex.
As she wriggled underneath him, her back sweating and sticking to the cheap plastic of the sleeping bag, she listened.
There it was again.
Something rubbing against the side of the van.
"What's that?" Kate said, her voice cutting through the music Ben had blaring from the radio.
"What?" Ben asked, mid-thrust.
"That!" she cried.
Ben's whole body stopped what he was doing, and they both sat up straight.
Kate wrapped the sleeping bag around her like a blanket and glanced around, trying to see out the fogged-up windows on either side of the van, but it was too dark outside.
"Oh shit, I hope it isn't Michael," Ben said.
"Ugh, what timing," Kate groaned.
And she meant it.
"Quick, get a balloon," Kate said.
"Oh yeah, right. Happy fucking birthday,"
Something slammed against the side of the van again. Thump.
"Alright, alright, you're here at last, birthday boy, now stop shaking the van," Ben said.
"Let's surprise him," said Kate excitedly.
She glanced around at the contents inside the van.
There was a box full of party supplies. Kate reached inside and grabbed two party blower horns, adorned with sparkling red streamers.
"On the count of three, you ready?" Ben said.
Kate and Ben both wrapped the sleeping bag around themselves and positioned themselves at the back doors of the van.
"1….2…3!"
They threw open the back doors. Kate blew on her party horn.
"Surprise!!"
There was nobody there. The yard outside the rental cabin was empty.
An eerie mist had formed, weaving in and out and between the pine trees.
Crickets were singing.
There was no sign of the thing, or the person, who had been interrupting their lovemaking.
Ben glanced around, puzzled.
"Where is he?"
Kate replied back: "He's probably out there somewhere,"
Suddenly, Ben snatched up his shirt and threw it on, unbuttoned, and then pulled on his jeans.
"Come on, let's get him," he said deviously.
Kate flashed her eyes at him.
"I'm not going out there,"
"Oh come on, the motherfucker's out there, and we're gonna get him!"
As Ben grabbed one of the party horns. he climbed down from the van, wincing at the stickers in his bare feet that quickly made their presence known.
"Make it fast," chirped Kate.
"Be right back," Ben said.
He shut the van doors, and then took a good look around at his surroundings.
"All right, Michael. Where are ya, buddy, huh?"
He blew the party horn, as it squealed.
Ben stepped a few feet away from the van, peering around the side of the house.
There was no sign of any other cars except for the ones that had been there since yesterday.
It had to be Michael.
Or maybe it was Eddie, or he supposed it could be David and Robin, but knowing Michael, this was just the kind of thing he was known to do.
They had expected him to be somewhat late to his own surprise party, but an entire day late? Really, Michael? He thought to himself.
And now, Michael had decided to show up and rock their van.
He always could be a cockblock like that.
Only question was, where was he?
What if he was hiding somewhere on the property? What if this was all some elaborate charade?
As Ben looked around at the eerie woods that surrounded him, he figured this was a perfect night to pull a stunt like this.
The fog was slowly enveloping him.
The full moon was high above his head.
As he walked around the opposite side of the van, he swore he could hear footsteps that weren't his own.
He got to his knees and looked under the van.
Nothing.
"Michael?" Ben called into the night.
No answer.
He approached a massive tree.
"Michael, come on, buddy! Where are ya?"
Two hands lurched out.
Ben couldn't even scream.
He tried, but his teeth bit hard into his tongue as the two grimy, wet hands that were covered in detritus and blood smashed against both sides of his jaw, and yanked him behind the tree.
He tasted blood.
Someone had put him in a bearhug, someone with seemingly superhuman strength.
Ben writhed and squirmed, as the two hands began to squeeze with all of their might; one clamped down on his chin and the other on the top of his skull, slowly crushing his head like a soda can.
The party horn flew from his hands onto the ground as he desperately tried to claw and wrench at the two monstrous hands that were clutching him.
Ben didn't get to see who it was, because his vision eventually became nothing but red, as blood sprayed from his mouth. Everything was caving in.
Snot and tears started cascading down his face, as more bones began to shatter.
He felt everything, and then nothing at all.
His body fell like a limp rag, his head nothing but a mass of bloody pulp. Two boots started stealthily advancing towards the van…
"Ben, are you coming back or not?" Kate cried from inside the van.
She snatched up her yellow top and put it back on, buttoning the top few buttons.
Where the hell had he gone? She thought.
He had probably found Michael and they both were devising a plan to scare her.
It wasn't going to work.
Kate was tired of these games.
She lowered the volume of the music coming from the van's radio, and rolled down the window.
She stuck her head out the driver's side, peering around.
"Ben?"
No answer.
"Ben? Enough already, stop fooling around!"
Suddenly, she felt a sharp, stabbing pain at the nape of her neck.
Grimy, claw-like fingers snatched her hair at the root.
Kate opened her mouth to scream, but it wouldn't come out.
She was jerked upright, so that she was face-to-face with a hockey masked monster.
His sunken, soulless eyes penetrated her.
They were so empty but simultaneously full of bloodlust.
The abject terror hit her all at once; it was as if a dam had broken and it rushed over her in waves.
It was short-lived.
The party horn that Ben had been holding was then rammed full force into her eye and into her brain.
As Kate slumped forward, her lifeless body hanging half-in and half-out of the window, Jason reached in and turned the van off, bringing his woods back to silence.
Nobody in the rental cabin heard as the front door slowly opened.
Robin and David's passionate moans emanated from the upstairs hallway.
The dark lumbering figure clenched his fists as he stepped silently into the cabin.
The shape went into the kitchen, eyeing a fusebox at the back of the cabin…
Eddie and Melissa were also trying to get it on in Melissa's room.
The key word was trying.
Melissa sat up against the headboard, while Eddie kissed her neck and humped the bed, stripped down to a pair of white underwear.
"Ow!" she cried, wriggling around in discomfort.
Eddie kept going, gnawing on her earlobe, dragging his wet lips all up and down the side of her neck.
"Ow!" she exclaimed again.
Eddie caught his breath and looked up at her innocently.
"What?"
"Your watch!" Melissa said.
"Oh, sorry,"
He went right back to what he had been doing-drooling all over her throat.
How did this happen? Melissa thought.
Her bright idea of making Nick jealous was going terribly.
She had no clue where he was, and it looked like he wasn't coming back to the cabin anytime soon.
And now, she was in the middle of a very awkward and painful sexual encounter.
Nick was likely out searching for his cousin, so this put Melissa in a very tedious predicament.
Maybe she could just keep faking it for a little while, and eventually, Eddie would just fall asleep.
That would be the best case scenario, but he was like a dog in heat. He wasn't relinquishing the chance to get laid anytime soon, Melissa thought.
Eddie was all over her. He panted heavily, running his hands over Melissa's hourglass figure and kissing her neck.
He kept trying to kiss her lips, and she would subtly turn her head, in the hopes that he would take the hint, but he still didn't notice the way Melissa's lips were tightly pressed together and how she wasn't even looking him in the eye.
He didn't care.
He was clearly too drunk to care.
Melissa couldn't believe it. She usually always got what she wanted. Usually, by this time, she would have had Nick in bed wrapped around her little finger.
But her plan had failed. Nick wasn't here to see them and get jealous, and now she had two options.
Sleep with Eddie, or let him down gently.
As she shifted positions uncomfortably, she tried to really tune in to the moment, but it was a useless effort.
Eddie was panting like an old dog. Or a pig.
It sent shivers up Melissa's spine and finally, she couldn't pretend any longer.
She pushed him away.
"Eddie!" she cried.
"What?"
"I'm sorry, but this is just not working out,"
Eddie panted again, and pulled off of her, and he stared at her with a confused expression.
"What's the matter?"
"I lied," Melissa said with a flippant toss of her short, blond hair.
"Lied about what?" inquired Eddie, still lost.
"About everything," said Melissa. "You just don't turn me on,"
Eddie's face dropped. He took a breath and shook his head, dejected.
"Hey, look, at least I gave you a chance," was Melissa's response. "You just didn't come through,"
Eddie's lips tightened.
"Anyways, I was kinda hoping Nick would come and find you with me,"
"Why'd you lie?" Eddie asked.
"You know…to make Nick jealous," she said with a smirk.
Eddie was astonished at her candid way of telling him the awful truth.
He couldn't believe it.
"Rejection," he said. "I can take it. I've been rejected by the finest science fiction magazines in the continental United States!"
With that, Eddie snatched up his pants and his jacket and walked to the door in a huff.
"Where are you going?" Melissa asked.
Eddie stopped in the doorway and glared at her.
"I'm taking a cold shower. I've got a date with a soap on a rope,"
Then, he walked out into the hallway, slamming the door shut behind him.
Finally, Melissa thought. She thought he would never take the hint and leave.
Now, it was time for Melissa to find Nick. And everyone else, for that matter. She hadn't seen Russell or Sandra in hours.
She changed into another outfit, and left the cabin, not noticing the muddy boot prints that were tracked into the house….
ZAP.
The lights in the rental cabin flickered once and then went out.
David stopped mid-thrust and looked around, as Robin gazed up at him, confused as to why he had stopped.
"What happened to the lights?" said David.
"Oh, who cares," Robin said, and she pushed him onto his back, straddling him in the big queen-size bed in her and Maddy's room.
Then, she arched her back with pleasure as she felt him inside of her.
Robin was going through what best could be described as a wild phase.
She wasn't sure exactly when it had started.
Robin was homeschooled for as long as she could remember, and it had been hard feeling like an outsider around other college students.
After all, Robin hadn't grown up in public school and hadn't gotten many chances to socialize or try and fit in. Her mother took her to several homeschooled kids social groups, but they never panned out.
Robin couldn't really fit in with anyone.
Until she got to college and found herself in a sea of kids just like her, who were repressed, sexually frustrated and wanted to cut loose.
Robin had been maladjusted to college life for her first year or two.
Her background hadn't given her much help at socializing with other kids her age.
Then, she started meeting people in college, but it had been difficult at first. Robin hadn't even kissed a boy at that point, and felt extremely out of place.
Every college party she would go to, would leave her in tears. Everyone would be talking about their many sexual encounters, and Robin would just stand awkwardly and not know what to say.
But her breakout was coming.
Robin just had to find the right opportunity and soon, she found one.
There was a club on campus for charity work, but the rumor was that it was a cover for students to party and do drugs.
Robin had heard all about it, and despite her roommate Maddy begging her not to get involved, she went to her first meeting which had been held in the basement of one of the oldest buildings on campus.
After that, Robin made a good impression on them and eventually they invited her to go "have some fun" one Friday night.
It was there in the back of a four-by-four truck out in the middle of North American wilderness in the dead of night that she smoked weed for the first time.
Robin remembered not being able to hit the large glass bong very well. She had barely inhaled any of the smoke once she pulled the hit, and coughed until her eyes watered.
But they had been kind to her, and after hearing her story about how lonely and repressed she felt, they all collectively decided to make sure that Robin got the most out of her college experience.
And boy, did she.
Next, she found herself at a dorm party, passing around a large bottle of vodka and sharing sordid stories.
They played spin the bottle, and Robin ended up in the arms of a broad-shouldered sophomore and found herself in his bed the next morning.
All she remembered was the walk back to her dorm in the morning, and how invigorating it had been.
It felt like she was truly blossoming into a vibrant young woman, and like nothing could stop her.
She remembered still feeling the way it had felt to be wrapped up in sheets next to a foxy guy.
She remembered the wind in her hair as she had strolled jubilantly back to her living quarters, thinking … God, I feel so fucking alive.
That was the precise moment when she shed her good girl persona, and decided to be reborn as someone new…someone who took risks, someone who dared to take life by the balls and run with it.
She was done with being the girl that everyone wanted her to be.
She wanted to do what made her feel happy.
After that night, Robin realized that life was far too short to not enjoy herself, so she started going to house party after house party after house party. And now, she was fucking a really cute guy at a house party out at Crystal Lake.
Things can really change, Robin thought as she bounced on top of David, feeling his hands touching her and fondling her breasts.
Robin had started out as a doe-eyed freshman who didn't know a joint from a blunt, and now, here she was, having casual sex while high as a kite.
David's joint had really hit her hard.
She felt the cannabis coursing through her bloodstream.
It was an all-body high, and it made the sex even ten times better.
She felt on top of the world, and she had no clue where Maddy or anyone else was, but she didn't care.
Things had been going extremely well for Robin as she blossomed, until she moved in with Maddy, who was the world's best example of a buzzkill.
Always, Maddy would wait up for Robin, as she would waltz into their apartment that they shared, drunk off of her ass at 1 AM.
Then, she'd get a motherly lecture from Mrs. Goody Two Shoes about not getting enough sleep.
Always, it had been like this.
All Robin wanted to do was have a good time, but Maddy always managed to kill her vibe, every time.
Robin had hoped that bringing Maddy to this house party would help her chill out a bit, but she had been sorely let down.
Maddy was acting like her mother.
"You don't smoke" she had said.
So what if Robin wanted to get high? Shouldn't you try and take risks in life? Shouldn't you try as many things as possible just to say that you've done it?
Life was too short, Robin thought. Far too short.
She couldn't imagine living life like Maddy did, always afraid of her own shadow.
That was exactly why Maddy didn't have a boyfriend. Of course, Robin didn't either, but it wasn't because she couldn't get one.
Maddy was seemingly hopeless.
Time and time again, she would run to Robin for love advice and how guys would never return her calls, and Robin would never know what to say.
"Maybe you just have to lower your standards," Robin would say, but Maddy wouldn't listen. She kept trying to go for guys like David who were completely out of her league.
Maddy would be a much better fit for someone like Eddie.
But Maddy wanted to do whatever Maddy wanted to do, which was usually get her heart broken and mope around.
What else could a friend do? She had given Maddy all the advice she could think of. Try losing weight. Lower your standards. Keep looking.
Maddy still wouldn't listen and still kept getting hurt. It was like watching a child stick their hand on a hot stove, even though you had warned them that it was hot.
It didn't matter to Robin anymore. She was done with Maddy's attitude. This weekend was all about having a good time. They were out in the middle of nowhere, what could go wrong? Why did Maddy have to be so damn negative all the time?
It didn't make any sense.
Maddy wanted to attract guys, but then she would behave as unattractively as possible.
Getting uptight about weed at a college party? Really?
It was inevitable at every college party that someone would end up taking some kind of substance.
Hell, our university is a party school, Robin thought. What did Maddy expect? Bible class?
As she and David finished, Robin rolled off of him and basked in the afterglow, sighing heavily.
The cannabis made it feel like she was floating off of the bed; like the entire bed was a giant, fluffy cloud.
"I'm hungry," said David.
"How romantic," Robin said. "I'm really stoned,"
David leaned over to her.
"The Neanderthal Hunter Gatherer needs nourishment," he said playfully.
He slid out of bed, and pulled on a pair of red underwear, losing his balance and stumbling in the darkness. Robin sat up and laughed at him.
"It's dark," he said, finding his shirt and jeans and putting them on.
He rifled through a small cabinet and found two flashlights, handing one to Robin.
"I'll be back," he said and went out of the room, leaving Robin to herself and her thoughts.
As David made his way down the hall, he could hear the shower running and Eddie singing to himself.
Then, he made his way downstairs as lightning and the resulting thunder boomed outside, shaking the cabin.
David shone the flashlight all around the darkened cabin.
It was empty.
Where was everyone? he wondered.
As he went into the kitchen, his bare feet stepped into something cold and wet.
The entire floor was soaked.
"What the fuck?"
He smelled lakewater and something else…something rotten.
"Phew," he said, glancing around at the messy kitchen. "Something's gone bad,"
He made his way through the dark kitchen and opened the refrigerator.
Suddenly, he heard deep breathing. And footsteps.
Coming behind him.
As he grabbed a beer and a sandwich, he spun around.
"Maddy?" he said.
The figure in front of him was monstrously big.
It floored him. He opened his mouth to scream.
A butcher knife flashed.
It penetrated deep.
Lightning illuminated the sharp blade as it was thrust into him with incredible precision.
David hit the floor.
As Tina and Nick ran through the dark woods, the wind had started to really pick up, and was violently scattering the blanket of dead leaves on the forest floor.
Storm clouds now obscured the moon, and nearly made their surroundings pitch black. Thunder rumbled above their heads.
All of a sudden, Nick stopped. Dead in his tracks. His gaze was riveted to a dead tree, its gnarled branches were holding something.
It was Michael. Wedged in between the branches. Dead.
Nick's jaw dropped.
Tina saw it too, and her eyes instantly flooded with tears as she brought her hands up to her face.
"I knew it," she said. "I saw it…"
Nick flashed a look at Tina, one of complete disbelief and terror.
There it was.
His own cousin that he had been estranged from for all these years. Dead.
He hadn't even gotten a chance to smooth things over with him. All of a sudden, Nick realized that all their petty grievances meant nothing to him, and all he could do was stare in shock at his murdered kin.
Now, none of it mattered. He just wanted his cousin back.
Nick blinked.
Michael was still there.
Drenched in blood. His eyes glassed over.
Fully dead.
Nick couldn't move. He just looked at Tina and then back at his dead cousin. Again and again.
Not truly believing what he was seeing, and realizing that Tina actually had been right.
What the hell have I gotten himself into? he thought.
His thoughts were broken by a teary-eyed Tina pulling him by his jacket.
"Oh, Nick, I'm sorry but we have to keep going!"
Nick took one last glance at the body of his cousin, and then followed Tina through the thicket.
As night pressed on, the woods grew darker and darker, and now both of them knew that a very dark presence was lurking in the woods.
Tina knew even more. She knew that it was someone from the lake, but she couldn't think of who it might be.
Soon, they saw lights and ran for them.
The trees cleared.
They were in the front yard of the Shepard house.
Dr. Crews' car was gone.
Tina gasped.
"They're gone," she said, and ran into the house, with Nick following closely behind her.
Tina started to run frantically up the stairs, as Nick watched after her in confusion.
"What are you doing?" he called up the stairs.
She didn't answer. She made a beeline for Dr. Crews office, and fortunately it was unlocked.
Nick shook his head, and reluctantly followed after her.
He walked into the office, where Tina was rifling hurriedly through cabinets and drawers, searching madly.
"What are you looking for?" Nick asked her.
"My father's pistol. I know he has it somewhere in here!" Tina cried.
As she sat down at the desk, her eyes became affixed to something that glinted in the light.
It was the spike.
The same bloody spike she had seen jammed into the porch column.
It was right there.
She picked it up by the end that wasn't bloody.
Nick looked at her, confused.
"Crews knew all this time…" Tina said to herself, a wash of relief coming over as she realized for the first time in three days that she wasn't crazy after all.
Furiously, she slammed the bloody spike down and started rummaging through the desk. She finally found it. A 32 caliber Smith and Wesson. Lying in the bottom drawer.
Tina fished it out, holding it as if it were a venomous cobra. Nick took it gingerly, and checked to make sure it was loaded.
Three bullets were inside.
Then, Tina saw something else underneath the gun.
It was a notebook, crammed full of aged newspaper articles. The headline on one of the old articles read "Mass Murder at Camp Crystal Lake".
Tina's eyes widened.
"What'd you find?" Nick asked.
"I don't know," Tina said.
She opened the notebook. The more she read, the more her hair started to stand up on its end.
"Tina, let's just get the others!" Nick said urgently.
"No, this is important," Tina said.
The realization hit her all at once.
She read another headline: "Killer at Crystal Lake. Body never recovered."
It was her father's old notebook.
Tina's jaw dropped.
She read the name of the subject of the article: Jason Voorhees, out loud.
"It was him in the lake," she said.
"What are you talking about?" said Nick.
Tina didn't answer.
The realization that she had accidentally resurrected a dead serial killer was too much to bear emotionally.
Then, Tina felt it.
Her talents.
They were boiling up inside her until she felt she might explode right there all over Nick.
She rose to her feet, and she held herself as tremors ravaged her.
And then, the old house began to quake violently. The pictures on the walls began to fall and shatter. Nick glanced around fearfully and braced himself against the door.
He glanced at Tina.
She was shaking all over and her mouth opened in a silent scream. Tears streamed down her face.
Nick ran to her and held her in place.
"Oh my God…" he muttered in disbelief. "That's you doing that!"
Tina managed to nod through the violent tremors and convulsions that were seizing her.
Nick could feel them, vibrating through her like a thousand pinballs.
His eyes locked on hers. The rattling continued.
A vase toppled and shattered.
The light fixture hanging from the ceiling shook back and forth on its wires.
It was as if a tiny earthquake had formed underneath the Shepard's home.
Nick couldn't even begin to understand what kind of tragic tale was playing out in front of him. As much as his mind could try and make some sense out of it, it was still one of the strangest things he had ever seen in his life.
All he could think was…Who is this girl? What have I gotten into?
He wished that he was back in his apartment in the city, and wished that he never had agreed to come out to Crystal Lake.
All of a sudden, Tina began to relax and as suddenly as it began, the quaking ceased.
Nick and Tina both stared at each other with the horrible realization on their mind…
They were now trapped with a hunter. A killer. That would stop at nothing.
Tina's mother was gone.
And all they had was a small pistol and three rounds.
The two young people's horrifying night was just beginning.
One horrifying night at Crystal Lake.