Across the Lake

Chapter 19: The Break-In

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Jason lead the way through the lush green forest. He carried my large blank canvas in the crook of his arm, and my easel in the other. I followed right behind him with my plastic cup of paintbrushes and paints, in a cardboard box, in both hands in front of me. I had no idea where he was taking me, but I trusted him to know where to go to find a perfect painting spot.

Birds chirped and sang love songs in their bird language all around us. The sunlight streamed through the pine trees, dappling the trickling stream that snaked along the brush. It was so calm and peaceful. I took a deep breath, breathing in the heavy earthy smells and exhaled.

Jason kept trudging forward through the forest, turning his head to make sure I was still behind him. I kept a good pace behind him, but I think he had slowed down so I could catch up with him. Eventually we found a trail and Jason followed along it. As the trail began to rise upwards into a steady incline, I began to pant heavily. The tree branches above us were thick enough to create shade, but it was still so hot that my shirt was starting to cling to my body. I wiped my brow, gulping air.

"Jason," I called up to him dryly when I had to sit down on a big rock. Jason immediately stopped and turned around. My paints and paintbrushes sat at the base of the rock while I rubbed my ankles. They were sore from this long walk. We had been walking for what felt like hours, but I'm sure it was only thirty minutes. I sighed in exhaustion, feeling a dreading headache coming on from lack of water.

I did not think this through. I should have planned this properly. I was not made to just get up and start hiking long distances. I was from the tame, suburban neighborhoods; not the wild outdoors like Jason was. I had no water, and I didn't have the proper footwear for this mysterious hike Jason was taking me on.

Jason came over and stared down at me quizzically. I gave him a weak smile, hoping I didn't look pathetic. "I'm ok, Jason. I'm just tired. I'm not used to walking so much...it's also very hot," I explained to him. Jason gently placed my large canvas down before grabbing my clean paint cup and walking over to the stream. When he came back, he handed the cup, now filled with water to me.

I took it and began to drink greedily. Jason grabbed my arm, startling me. I looked up at him over the brim of the cup. "Wha-?" I started, but stopped when he started signing to me. It took me a moment to realize he wanted me to drink slower. Not to drink so fast. I had no idea why, I guess it wasn't good to drink fast. I nodded my head silently and drank slow from the cup. He released my arm and watched me drink. When I was done, he went to get me another cup of water.

After several cups of water, I felt a lot better and was ready to keep moving.

I reached down for my paint box, but Jason grabbed it before me. My arms reached out to take the box from him, but he took one step backwards, keeping me from taking the box from him. I gave him a look. "Jason. Give me the box. I can carry it," I told him, grabbing for the box again. Jason held it high over his head, well out of my reach. I frowned. Why didn't he want me to carry it?

"Now you are just being childish," I muttered under my breath.

Scrambling up the rock, now close to Jason's height, I stretched my hands out for the box again. Jason placed the box in one arm while grabbing my arms. He turned around, facing his back to me, while lowering himself down. He pulled my arms up like I weighed as much as a pillow. I yelped in surprise as I found myself sitting on his shoulders, my legs locking under his arms. Jason stood back up to his full height, causing my head to barely touch the lowest hanging branches of the trees above us.

My arms flapped at my sides, not sure what to do with them. Hesitant, I wrapped them around Jason's masked head. I was not used to being up so high. Jason removed one of my hands, which was covering his eyes. In one fluid motion, he picked up my art supplies in his arms, before continuing along the trail. Me, sitting on his shoulders, while he carried my art supplies didn't seem to slow him down at all.

My arms continued flapping a bit at my sides to keep balance; sometimes gripping Jason's broad shoulders, then pulling them away. I couldn't help but to stare down at the back of Jason's masked head. This was the closest I have ever been to seeing more of what he looked like under the mask. His head was not the shape of a regular head. It rose up and down like hills. I tried peeking where the lip of the mask was, but it was too tightly pressed against his face for me to be able to see more.

My thoughts were distracted when I didn't see a tree branch at my eye level appear and smack me in the face, nearly causing me to fall backwards off Jason. My thighs tightened around Jason's neck, causing me to sputter a quick apology as I straightened back up on his shoulders. His hard muscled shoulders...

Don't think about it. Don't think about it, I thought to myself, steam billowing out of my collar.

...

After a while, Jason strayed from the trail and went his own way, deeper into the forest. My hands quickly went in front of me to move the branches out of the way from my face. A few times I had to duck under a branch that was way too thick to move out of the way. Eventually, the tree branches disappeared as we both made it to a small and secluded clearing.

It was a meadow. Circled by trees and thick emerald green grass. Butterflies fluttered around blooming buttercups and foxgloves. Shafts of golden sunlight filtering through the dark green tree branches, arching over. Rabbits leaped in and out of berry bushes. A deer slept in the soft shadows under the trees. The same stream weaved through before disappearing to the right. I gasped in awe.

"It's beautiful," I finally said, immediately feeling the urge to capture this beautiful scenery in paint.

Jason set my art supplies down before grabbing my waist and setting me down. We both set up the easel and canvas together. I placed my paintbrushes and paints in the open wooden drawer. Jason took a step back silently so he would be out of the way, but once I turned my head to him, I saw how the lights and shadows looked on his mask and body, I was immediately inspired to have him in my painting.

"Jason. I would like to have you in my painting. Would you be my model for me?" I asked him. His eyes shined inside the dark sockets of his mask. He nodded his head and walked in front of the canvas and easel. He took a few steps back from my order, and stopped when my hand went up.

"Ok...Stay still Jason," I told him. I didn't really have to tell him to stay still since he did it naturally. I lightly sketched him out and the foliage around him, before painting an undercoat for the background. The light blue butterflies flew around Jason before landing on his mask. I laughed as he stared up at them, but continued to stay very still. I added the butterflies into the painting. The deer that was sleeping in the shade, got up and came over to Jason's side, sniffing him curiously. She nudged her head against him before walking away and disappearing behind a tree.

My paint palette was thick with globs of dried paint from past paintings. I mixed new paints on top of them, adding mars black and burnt umber for Jason's clothes, and then having viridian green with a hint of moss green for the shadows under the trees. The sunlight was hard to get right since it filtered through the branches and dappled the ground around Jason's boots. The rabbits that were eating the berries earlier came out of hiding and chased each other around Jason's legs before disappearing into the bushes again.

This place was so peaceful. I wondered if Jason had discovered this place before, and trusted me enough to show me. The idea made me smile. A rustling in the bushes came from behind Jason, but Jason continued to stay still. From the bushes I saw a dark face appear. At first I thought it was a human when it came out on two legs.

The dark figure wrapped its massive arms around Jason from behind and took him down to the ground. I gasped and stopped painting. Startled by the sudden attack. Jason whipped around in the dirt and got ready to fight, but then realized who it was. Teddy, the huge scarred black bear made a noise that sounded like laughing, and placed his massive paw on top of Jason's masked face. Jason grunted, which was the first time I ever heard him make any noise this whole time, and scrambled to his feet. He glared down at Teddy, hands curled into fists. Teddy rolled over on his back, playing the innocent card. I couldn't help but laugh where I stood.

"It's ok, Jason. He's just playing. He didn't ruin the picture," I told him. Jason didn't seemed convinced and continued to glare at his bear friend, even when Teddy got up on his hind legs and gave him a playful shove. He wouldn't allow himself to give in to Teddy's antics. I placed the paintbrush I was using back into the water up and stretched my arms.

"I need to take a break anyway. Let's rest for a moment," I told him. Gradually, Jason relaxed his fists and shoulders. Teddy went back down on all fours and walked over to me. He sniffed the wooden easel and the canvas. I felt my body stiffen in fear, then forced myself to gradually relax around the giant black bear.

"I'm painting your friend. It's not done yet, wont be for a while," I found myself saying to the bear. Teddy stared at the painting, looking at where I had placed the paint and where I was blending and mixing. He sniffed the open paint jars and stuck his nose in the blue paint.

"N-no! Wait! Teddy!" I quickly grabbed the paint jar but it was too late. Teddy got blue paint all over his large snout. Teddy tried licking the paint off with his long tongue, but regretted tasting it instantly and stuck out his blue tongue in disgust. A strange sound cut through the silence of the meadow. It sounded like a series of shushes. I turned my head to Jason.

Jason's shoulders were moving up and down with his head angled down slightly. His hand over his mask. He was laughing! I had never seen him laugh before. A smile spread across my face and I began to laugh too as Teddy reared back, stumbling along the grass, wiping the paint off as best as he could before making it to the stream and washing the rest off in the cold water.

Once he was done, he gave Jason a look before lunging at his masked friend. The two play wrestled in the soft green grass for a while. Jason got out of one of Teddy's headlocks before rushing over to me, grabbing me and pulling me into the meadow and using me as a shield in front of the bear. I screamed, half in fear. Teddy and Jason thankfully were careful around me. They gave me gentle nudges and pushed me into the soft grass. I laughed and began to wrestle with them. I would jump onto Teddy's back, or I would grab Jason's arm and attempt to take him down, but he would just lift me up off the ground by his tree trunk like arms and I would just hang there.

Eventually, we all three got tired and fell asleep in the grass. Jason and I used Teddy's body as a pillow and laid next to each other. Jason's head slid down and rested on top of mine. I smiled softly and leaned my head against his. The birds chirped in the branches over head while the stream rushed softly near us. I eventually drifted off into a deep sleep and had the best sleep I have ever had in along time.

I don't know how long we slept, but it had to have been a long time. For when I opened my eyes, it was dark, and fireflies were dancing all around us. Their yellow glowing bodies winked in and out all around us like stars. I gazed up at them in wonder. I had never seen fireflies before. Jason was already awake staring up at them. He lifted his hand up and one landed in his gloved palm. I copied him, hoping to have one land in my palm. None of them did. Which disappointed me a little. Jason got up and helped me to my feet. We stared at the fireflies blinking around us, lighting up the meadow.

My eyes watched the fireflies flicker all around us. I never realized how beautiful the forest could be. I remembered running blindly through the same forest a handful of days ago being scared out of my wits. Now, I was seeing the beauty in it. My eyes eventually settled on Jason and found his hazel eyes staring back at me. I blushed and turned away. Was he watching me this whole time? I felt his gloved fingers gently touch mine.

Teddy yawned and woke up. He got up on all fours and gave a mighty shake. Startled, the fireflies drifted away into the trees. Jason and I watched them fly away, leaving us in complete darkness. I blindly reached for Jason's hand and clasped it. Jason moved closer to me, calming my nerves.

Once my eyes adjusted to the darkness, Jason and I picked up my canvas and art supplies from the grass. Jason, once again, took the art supplies from my hands. "Jason-" I protested, but then realized why he was offering to carry them. I couldn't see anything in front of me. The terrain of the forest was different at night. I had run through the forest at night when I got lost, and nearly got myself killed. Jason didn't want me hurting myself again.

A wet nose nudged my back from behind. I turned around and found Teddy on all fours, lowering his head to me. I turned to Jason, who gestured for me to get on his back. I turned back. Wait...was I being allowed to ride on a bear's back?! I guess that made sense since bears could see well in the dark. I stared at the bear's massive dark form in front of me. Hesitant. Teddy was Jason's best bud...but he was also a wild bear. My thoughts were interrupted when Teddy began pulling at the end of my shirt with his teeth.

"Ok, ok, Teddy." I told him as I carefully climbed up onto his back, my legs straddling the sides. My fingers blindly felt Teddy's thick black fur, a few times feeling bare flesh where a scar was. Teddy lumbered forward on all fours. Jason lead the way once again, and with me riding Teddy the bear behind him.

It felt so weird riding a wild bear in the middle of the forest at night. It felt like some sort of fairy tale...or a horror fairy tale. I half expected killer clowns to start coming out from behind the bushes, juggling chainsaws and bloody knives, and start dancing around me and Teddy.

Jason's boots crunched against the sticks and dried leaves in front of us. The moon peeked through the treetops, casting a silver glow to the forest floor. I could hear grasshoppers singing and raccoons rustling through the bushes. Bats flew overhead, weaving in and out through the trees. I could hear their high pitch calls. An owl hooted above us. Jason slowed down a little when he realized he had walked too fast for Teddy. Teddy continued lumbering at his pace through the dark forest. The roots and twigs snapping under his massive paws and intense weight. It didn't seem to bother Teddy that I was on his back either.

Eventually, we made it back to the cabin. Teddy stopped at the edge of the forest. He lowered his head so I had an easier time sliding down off his back. I turned and smiled shyly at the bear. "Thank you, Teddy. I'll leave snacks out for you next time," I told him. Teddy made a happy grunt noise and nodded his huge head. Jason waved goodbye to his bear friend as the black bear lumbered off back into the woods. Once Teddy had disappeared into the foliage, Jason walked alongside me with my art supplies in his hands. The moon was nearly full as it hovered above the lake.

When we were within thirty feet from the cabin, I noticed something different about the cabin. My first thought was...Hm...why is the cabin door open? Did I forget to lock it? Confusion immediately became dread as I quickened my pace and headed up the porch steps. Jason was right behind me. He grabbed my hand, stopping me. I turned to face him, giving him a confused look.

"What? What's wrong?" I asked him.

Without answering me, Jason pulled out his machete and went inside the cabin before me. I watched him walk inside, his footsteps became deathly quiet. I followed right behind him. My heart skipped a beat at the sight of the place. All the couches were turned over. Pillows were ripped open. Colored glass from the stained glass lamps were scattered all over the floor. Wooden book cases laid splintered to pieces. Kitchen drawers were wide open with the cutlery, pots, and pans all over the floor.

"What the hell happened?" I asked out loud. The first thing that came to my mind was that this whole thing was the cause of the Necronomicon. Did the book leave on its own? Was it angry that I wasn't reading from it and summoning all sorts of demons? If it was, it could have left any time it wanted. I had told it before that I was not going to read from it.

I turned to Jason. His eyes were looking down at the ground. I followed his gaze, and felt my heart skip a beat. Muddy footprints were seen amongst the debris. They tracked through the house. They didn't belong to me or Jason. Someone had been here.

Jason's head snapped up like an animal that heard a sound from far away. He scanned the room, his grip tightening on the handle of his machete. Did he sense something? Jason's eyes trailed up the stairs to the second floor. My heart beat fast inside my chest. Was someone up on the second floor? The only thing up there was...

My breath got caught in my throat.

Oh no...No...No no no no!

I avoided the glass and sharp wooden pieces and ran up the stairs as fast as I could. Jason beat me up the stairs with his weird teleportation ability, but I didn't pay attention to it as I ran past him into the master bedroom.

I stopped dead in my tracks inside the bedroom.

Blood dripped from the walls and flooded the floors. Intestines hung from the ceiling fan. Emerald flames danced on the curtains. The smell of death and burnt fabric that smelled like singed hair hung heavily in the room.

I looked where I had last seen it, on the edge of the bed. It wasn't there. My breathing came out in quick gasps as I scanned the gory scene of the room. It was becoming harder to breathe each moment. I couldn't think straight. The smell of blood suffocated me as bile began to rise up in my throat. My inner voice was screaming: It's gone! It's gone! Someone stole it!

Jason's hands grabbed my shoulders to steady me. I felt lightheaded. My heart was beating fast inside my chest. I turned to face him. "It's gone...the book," I said between gasps. Jason's eyes widened behind his mask.

The Necronomicon was gone.

The whole world seemed to spin around me. Jason caught me before my legs gave out underneath me. He scooped me into his arms as if I weighed as much as a stuffed animal and carried me out of the room and into the bathroom. The smell of the blood had filled my nostrils and was already bringing up my breakfast from this morning. I hurled into the toilet.

Once I was done, I rinsed my mouth out in the sink. Guilt weighed heavy in my empty stomach. My reflection stared back at me with tears brimming underneath. Jason stared at me through the mirror. I turned around, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand. He signed that he would look through the other rooms for me, to see if the book was just stuck somewhere and was crying out for help. I didn't respond as I stared down at the floor. Jason disappeared in a blink of an eye.

I shuffled slowly back downstairs, sitting down at one of the kitchen stools that wasn't turned over. My head fell into my hands. I should have kept it with me when I left. Why did I think that it would be ok laying out in the open like that? Now someone else had possession of the book. I should have been happy that someone else had to deal with it, but the idea of it being with someone else struck fear into me. The person could have malicious intent. Wanting to summon their own army of the undead.

I turned my head when I heard the sound of a couch moving. Jason was turning the couches back over on their legs and looking underneath them. He shook his head silently to himself before disappearing in the blink of an eye and appearing at the top of the stairs again and heading into another room. I turned my head back to the kitchen counter and rested my arms on the cool surface.

I couldn't go to the police. I couldn't tell them that I was missing a cursed book that liked to start fires in my dad's cabin and enjoyed giving me nightmares. I guess I could tell them that it was an art project. Would they believe that an artist that goes to a community college made a creepy looking book out of human skin? Maybe I could say that it was pig skin...Would they run the book through tests? I shook my head. No. It was too risky.

I tried taking deep, steady breaths, but it wasn't helping. This was something out of my control, and something way out of my mortal abilities. I lost a book that could bring an end to humanity. This book was dangerous in the wrong hands. Without realizing it, I had given myself the responsibility to watch over this book for the rest of my life, keeping it hidden. And now it was gone...My responsibility.

I was on my own in this.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, causing me to jump. I turned around and found Jason staring down at me. He sadly shook his head. I gave him a small sad smile. I wasn't alone in this...I had Jason with me. I reached up and placed my hand on top of his. "It's ok...Thanks for helping me look, Jason," I told him. Jason didn't seem to believe me. It wasn't ok. This was not like losing your phone or your wallet. This was something way worse.

"I'm sure it'll turn up again. It came back to me when I had returned it back to the library. I'm sure I'll be seeing it again in the morning," I assured Jason. Jason stared down at me through the sockets in his mask. He seemed to be trying to read me. Eventually, he nodded his head, his shoulders drooping a little. I got up from the stool and wrapped my arms around his wide torso.

"I'll be ok, Jason. I promise," I told him. Jason slowly wrapped his arms around me, pulling me closer to his chest. He lifted me off the ground, my sneakers barely touching the wooden floor. Then he set me back down. I turned my head away from Jason's, avoiding his gaze so he didn't see that I was blushing hard.

I instead focused on the debris all around us. "Th-Though...It's going to be hard hiding this from my dad," I admitted. Jason silently nodded his head in agreement.

It took us a good potion of the night cleaning the cabin. Jason cleaned upstairs while I cleaned downstairs. Throwing glass, splintered wood, and animal entrails into huge trash bags and filling up the trashcans outside. Once we were done, Jason hesitated on leaving me alone in the cabin. I assured him that I would be ok. I doubt the robber would come back again. They got what they were looking for.

"Maybe you could ask Teddy to help you sniff out the robber. I'm sure they left a scent behind," I offered. Jason nodded his head, liking the idea. His machete still in his hand at his side. I said my goodbyes to Jason as he disappeared back into the forest. I made sure to lock the door after closing it behind me.

The master bedroom still smelled of blood, and there was no covers or sheets to lay in. I decided to sleep on the couch that wasn't broken downstairs. I laid on the couch, but my eyes wouldn't close. My heart was beating a million beats a minute. My blood rushing loudly in my ears. I couldn't fall asleep. My mind kept freaking out over the idea of an intruder being in here. An intruder. A complete stranger.

Or someone I knew...

I sat up on the couch. Everyone in town knew I was staying here for the summer. Everyone in town knew my dad...quite a few of the townies had shown hatred towards my dad...and towards me. They hated me because they all assumed I was going to be working at the camp. But did the townies knew about the book? Did they know that Pamela was the last person to use it? Did they know she used it to bring Jason back to life? No one liked Jason either, even though he hasn't tried to kill me for the past few weeks. I racked my brain some more.

Who would break into my dad's cabin and wreck the place to shit, and steal the book? Who would want to steal a book with a face on it? Someone had to have known it was here. It looked like they had been looking for it...Or they were destroying the whole cabin out of spite and happened upon the book and decided to take it. My heart skipped a beat at the thought of that.

What if...what if whoever broke into the cabin, just came to destroy the place? And just happened upon the book? That sounded like a better possibility. No one in the town had ever mentioned the book. Not even in the Jason story was it ever mentioned how Jason came back to life after drowning in the lake. I don't think anyone in town knew about the book. Even the librarian herself didn't act like she had a clue about the secret nook behind the bookcase. So it had to just have been stolen out of spite...

Or revenge...

I narrowed my eyes.

The book was stolen out of revenge. That's why the cabin was destroyed. No one in town was stupid enough to come near the cabin that was on Crystal Lake property. Everyone feared Jason in the town. They knew the local legends around the camp. Why would they risk coming over here? Only someone who had never gown up hearing the stories. Never grown up in the town. Someone who had been to the cabin several times before. Someone who didn't take no for an answer.

And there was only one idiot who would do such a thing.

Kenneth...

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