Chapter 25: The Day

...

Friday the 13th crept upon the campground disguised as a thick fog, shrouding all the trees in a blanket of white. The sun tried burning through it, but to no avail. Not even a knife seemed to be able to cut through it. Or a machete for that matter.

Everyone came out of their own cabins at their own pace. Coming down the wooden steps and surveying the campgrounds. Pine needles and tree branches littered the ground. A few wooden lunch tables and wooden posts had been knocked over and laid on their sides from the heavy storm last night. The fog didn't make things any better. It made all of us feel more trapped. More isolated from the town, and the rest of the world.

I was half in and out of dream world in my dusty cabin. The Necronomicon in my hands as I tried to stay above water. Something grabbed my leg from below and I felt myself sinking. I gasped awake, sitting bolt upright. My face smacked into something hard and plastic. A mask. A hockey mask. My eyes opened and I was inches away from the massive frame of Jason. He was sitting on my bed, facing me. Within kissing distance.

"Jason?!" I cried out, immediately feeling my body heat up. I lurched backwards so fast, it caused me to fall backwards off the bed and land on my back on the wooden floor. I groaned in pain. Jason tilted his head in confusion from my surprised reaction. Blushing, I sat up from the ground and stared up at him.

"What are you doing in here?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. I was not expecting him to suddenly appear in my cabin. Jason placed both of his hands in front of him and signed 'book' to me. Which, thankfully looks obvious where you put your palms together and open them up. I blinked my sleepy eyes.

"Book? The Necronomicon?" I asked. Jason nodded his head.

"You found it?" I asked hopefully sitting up straighter. Jason shook his head. I sighed, slouching back down. "You want to help me find it." Jason nodded his head. I got up off the floor as he got up off my bed. He stared down at me from his full height. I faced him, staring up.

"I appreciate you wanting to help find the book...but...If you are seen by anyone here...You'll cause a lot of panic." Jason didn't sign anything. He just stared down at me. I explained to him that I had already looked in most of the other cabins, and around the campsite, and have not been able to find it.

"I don't know how you could help in finding the book, unless you know how to summon it here or-" I started, but was interrupted when there was a loud knock on the door. I felt my heart nearly jump out of my throat as I whipped around, seeing the wooden door to my cabin slowly begin to creak open. I hated that my cabin didn't have a lock on it.

"Honey? You in here?" I heard my mom ask from the other side of the cabin's door. I quickly rushed over to the door and slammed my body against it. "Aaahhh-I'm naked!" I lied, screaming a little too loudly. My mom stopped pushing against the door.

"Oh! I'm sorry, dear. I didn't mean to barge in on you. I just noticed that you weren't at the tables for breakfast. It's lunch time now. I don't want you skipping out on this meal as well," she said.

"I'll be out soon, mom. I promise," I told her through the door, the tips of my ears burning. I could feel Jason's eyes staring at me as I kept the door closed; keeping my mom from seeing him. "Ok, dear. I'm leaving now," She told me. I heard her footsteps fade away till they were gone. I stopped pressing against the door and sighed a huge sigh of relief. That was too close.

When I turned back around, Jason was gone. I looked around the cabin to make sure he wasn't hiding somewhere. He must have teleported away. I felt bad for telling him that he might not be of help in finding the book, but, I was not having any luck myself. I was starting to think the book wasn't even here in the campsite. But where else would it be?

I took the opportunity of Jason's absence to get dressed in private. Putting on the only clothes I had here. My hand closed around the piece of paper from the book in my pocket. Making sure it was still there. It felt warm to the touch. Once I was out of my pajamas and into my three day old clothes, I walked out of the cabin and down the steps. I slowed to a stop, looking around when I felt a presence nearby.

"Jason?" I whispered.

I heard a faint rustle behind me. Turning around, I spotted Jason hiding in the shadows of my cabin. I walked up to him. "I would like you to help me look for the book, but I'd need you to stay out of sight, ok?" I asked him. Jason nodded his head. I nodded back to him. "Ok, good. So, I don't really know where it could be. I'm guessing you have already searched the outer parts of the campgrounds," I started. Jason nodded his head again. I sighed.

"Ok, then maybe we should wait till I come back from lunc-"

"Who are you talking to?" asked a voice behind me. I whipped around and my whole body froze up. Matt came walking up to me, he stopped in front of me, then looked behind me. Oh shit! He sees Jason! Sweat beaded my face. "I...I...I'm talking to...I can explain," I stuttered quickly. Matt sighed and placed his hand up. "It's ok. I know," he said in a calm voice. My heart skipped a beat.

"Y...You do?" I asked.

Matt nodded his head. "You've been doing it ever since we came here as kids...I'm just surprised you still talk to him," Matt said. I opened and closed my mouth, but no sound came out. He knew about Jason this whole time?! Why was he so calm about this?! Matt crossed his arms over his chest and sighed.

"I would think you're too old to have an imaginary friend...but you were always strange," Matt said. I stopped gaping like a fish and stared at Matt. Imaginary friend? I turned around. Jason was gone...again. He moved fast. I stared at the emptiness behind me. I sighed a huge sigh of relief. Matt didn't see Jason. He didn't know...he just thought I was weird. I turned back to Matt and smiled a huge, fake smile.

"Y-yes! Hahah my imaginary friend. Hehehe," I rubbed the back of my head, embarrassed.

Matt looked around before lowering his voice. "So uh...changing the subject...do you still have the paper? The one that you found?" he asked me. I quickly placed my hand over the pocket where I had it folded, as if afraid it would fly out. Matt noticed and stared right at me. "I was hoping you would let me look at it...please?" Matt asked. I hesitated where I stood. "You already asked-" I started, but Matt interrupted me again. "I know, but I was hoping you would change your mind if I asked again. I can't stop thinking about it."

That concerned me. Why was he suddenly so adamant on the piece of paper. I know he was into history and books; I saw the inside of his cabin. Did he have the book? Was he wanting to bring the piece of paper back with the Necronomicon?

Just then, Jackson appeared coming up the path. Matt turned in his direction and waved to him. "Hey, Roy! How you doing?" he asked. I blinked in confusion. "Roy?" I asked. Jackson turned to me and gave me a smile.

"Yeah. That's my first name. Named after my grandpa...did you think Jackson was my first name?" Jackson said. I hesitated before nodding. "I...actually yes," I admitted. Jackson smirked before turning to Matt. "I was hoping to ask you a few questions about the incident that happened to Ranger Gartner. You were one of the first few witnesses who found him," Jackson said, causing Matt's smile to falter.

"I...um...Yeah sure," he said, hesitant. He mostly came over to my cabin to talk to me about the paper. Jackson motioned for him to follow him back down the path to a more secluded area. Being reminded about the gruesome death of Ranger Gartner caused my stomach to twist. I barely knew him, but it was such a horrific experience for all of us. This was one of the few moments I have been able to see Jackson around. He's always been gone from everyone. Being here must be hard for him. Trapped in a place where his brother had died years ago, and now to hear there has been another death here.

"I'm sorry about your brother, Jackson," I told him before he left. Jackson stopped in his tracks. A dark shadow seemed to pass over Jackson's face. The young sheriff quickly flashed a smile. "It's ok. I've been doing a lot better," Jackson told me. Then he silently motioned for Matt to follow him again and the two both headed back down the path.

Once they were gone, I felt a heavy breath rustle the top of my hair. I looked up and found Jason standing close right behind me. His focus was not on me, but at the two guys who I was just talking to. I couldn't see his eyes. His whole body was tensed up as he breathed heavy breaths. He seemed upset about them for some reason. Turning around, I looked up at him.

"You ok, Jason?" I asked him. Jason hesitated where he stood. He looked at me briefly, his eyes returning back from the darkness in his mask. I told Jason to stay in my cabin and wait till I came back from lunch. He nodded his head and walked up the steps to my cabin. Sitting down on my cot bed as I closed the door behind me.

I took a deep breath and exhaled. I'm glad he was friends with me again after he thought I became a counselor. Last night lingered around in my mind, as I walked down the path and back to the campgrounds, towards the tables where they had the remains of lunch still laid out.

Only Edwin, and my mom were at the tables eating a late lunch; well, Edwin was mostly playing on his Game Boy; while everyone else, including Rod and Darnell were seen surrounding Margaret. Margaret pretended to be on a call while they glared at her, waiting impatiently for her to get a hold of anyone for help. .

"Just admit you can't get ahold of anyone!" Rod snapped loudly at her.

"We are tired of waiting, Margaret! Give us the damn phone!" Sasha yelled at her.

"Give it to us!" yelled Mari

"Bitch! Stop!" snapped Lauren.

Margaret moved her arm away when a few of the counselors attempted to grab her cell phone out of her hands. I watched as I ate my sandwich. I wondered why anyone else wasn't using their phones, then I realized that possibly during the storm, the power had gone out, so no one was able to charge their phones, and now everyone's phone was dead...except for Margaret's for some reason. Carson stood by himself drinking a Coke, not helping Margaret at all. My dad was the only person blocking a few of the counselors from his girlfriend.

"Leave Margaret alone! She's doing her best!" my dad yelled at them. Aaron said something back to my dad, but I couldn't hear it, which caused my dad to shove him. Darnell got involved and punched my dad right across the face. The two guys brawled for a few seconds before Carson finally decided to intervene and separated them. He was a head taller than my dad and Darnell and most likely weighed more than them, so he was able to separate the two quickly.

"Stop fighting! It's not going to solve anything!" he shouted loudly for everyone to hear him. The counselors stopped fighting over the phone with Margaret and turned to face the sheriff. "Then what do you expect us to do, sheriff? The only way in and out of this place is blocked! We are stuck here until either someone realizes we are all missing or we run out of food and die of starvation!" Rod snapped angrily. Everyone else began talking over each other.

I just watched as I ate my sandwich.

Eventually the counselors began coming up with ideas that didn't involve attacking Margaret and taking her phone from her hand. One of the guys said they should find a flare gun and shoot it up in the sky. Darnell said that was a dangerous idea, especially since we were amongst trees and they could catch fire if the flare gun shot off wrong...also the fog was too thick for anyone to see it.

"One of uth could walk the trail back to town to get help," Aaron offered. Margaret unvolunteered herself when everyone turned to her. "I have high heels on! I can't walk ten miles back in these! Also these heels were not cheap!" she complained. A few of the counselors looked like they wanted to stab her with her high heels. Eventually, Carson volunteered to make the trek back to town.

"I'll head back to town for help. Jackson will stay here. Don't kill each other while I'm gone," Carson said. Everyone went quiet. Carson took that as a yes and began making his way down the path that lead to the only entrance and exit of the town. I faced back around to the table, looking over to the cabins. A short distance away, I spotted a lone figure heading down the path where the cabins were. It was Jason. I choked on my sandwich. What was he doing out of my cabin?! I told him to stay put!

"Honey? Are you ok?" my mom asked, reaching over to rub my back. I coughed a few more times before responding to her. "Yeah. Yeah. I'm ok," I said, coughing some more. Everyone was looking over to me fortunately. I didn't want anyone to accidentally notice him. I kept my head down and continued coughing loudly while I watched Jason out of the corner of my eye.

From what I could see, his eyes weren't shining in his mask...and he was carrying his machete. My mom grabbed a small water bottle and handed it to me. I coughed a few more fake loud coughs before Jason disappeared amongst the fog. I took a long swig of water as I racked my brain on why Jason was suddenly in his killing mode. Today was the day. The day he goes on his killing spree. If he was wanting to kill, who was he after? Everyone was here...right? I looked around the tables and over where the rest were. I made a people list in my head:

Margaret

Dad

Mom

Rod

Edwin

Lauren

Mari

Sasha

Aaron

Darnell

Carson had already left the campsite.

Jackson and Matt were most likely still talking about Ranger Gartner. That left only...

Oh shit.

I got up from the table. I quickly took off down the path, but found myself stopping, then walking, then stopping again...only to start walking again. Further up the path, I saw Jason's broad shouldered frame heading up to the last cabin. Kenneth's cabin.

"Jason! Jason!" I whisper yelled to him. He didn't turn around. Instead, he went around the cabin. I cursed under my breath before quickening my pace over to Kenneth's cabin, where Kenneth and Victoria resided inside. Even from a good distance away, I could hear them moaning loudly from inside the cabin. I stopped underneath the cabin's window. The bed's springs were creaking loudly to a rhythm of passionate toxic love. Victoria was crying out in pleasure, while Kenneth's moans offset hers.

Hearing them having sex made me sick to my stomach. Why did they think it was a good idea to have sex right now? I bet they were having unsafe sex as well. Disgusting degenerate kids! I heard my inner voice yell in rage, causing me to stop in my tracks. Why was I getting all angry over those two having sex all the sudden. Yes, it was gross but...I was getting so angry that I wanted to kill them...

I hesitated where I stood. I hated both of them. Both were toxic pieces of shit that didn't deserve anything good. But did they deserve to die? Was that taking it a bit far? Jason was brought back to murder people who trespassed into his camp. The counselors who were supposed to be watching the kids were off having sex. Kenneth and Victoria were having sex right now. He must have sensed them doing the dirty and went into killer mode. I gathered my courage to look into the window of the cabin.

Inside, Victoria was on top of Kenneth, completely naked. Her hair went down the sides of her face like a curtain. Her hips moved fast against Kenneth's as she arched her back, lifting her head up to the ceiling and letting out a long moan. Kenneth laid naked underneath her, his eyes closed, enjoying every moment.

Jason suddenly appeared inside the cabin. Machete in hand. He stood behind Victoria. The two didn't know that an undead serial killer was standing right behind them while they thrusted. Jason lifted the machete over his head with both hands, ready to bring it down on Victoria's unsuspecting head.

I didn't know what to do. My brain overthought every choice I could make. Stop Jason and save these two idiots, who didn't deserve it, to live and continue to be a burden in my life...or let Jason kill them and never wipe away the murder from my mind.

...Just close your eyes and turn away...

"Jason," I whispered into the cabin. It was a stupid move. Once Jason finally heard my voice, he snapped out of his murder mode and turned his head to me. Unfortunately he wasn't the only one who heard me. Victoria and Kenneth turned their heads in my direction. They both screamed in shock at me peeking into their window, then they saw Jason and screamed harder. Victoria moved off Kenneth.

Jason turned back to the toxic couple and brought his machete down. The machete missed Victoria by inches. Victoria screamed an ear piercing scream as she avoided Jason and ran out of the cabin. Kenneth moved fast. While Jason was trying to get his machete out of the bed, Kenneth grabbed a knife out from under his pillow, and stabbed Jason right into his right eye. My heart skipped a beat.

"No!" I cried out, my nails sinking into the wood of the window. Jason reared back from the sudden knife in his eye. He jerked violently, trying to reach up for the knife. Kenneth took the opportunity to run from Jason and out of the cabin. The two toxic couples ran screaming naked into the thick fog. I ran into the cabin to help Jason, but he had already disappeared.

Shit! Fuck! This was all my fault! I thought to myself as I looked around the messy cabin that reeked of fresh sex. On the wooden floorboards, a trail of dark, almost black blood trailed around the bed where Jason once stood. Suddenly I heard footsteps from behind me.

"You fucker!" A female voice shrieked from behind me. I slowly turned around and found Victoria and Kenneth wrapped in white sheets in the threshold. They had come back. They both glared at me.

"You disgusting fucker! You were watching us!" Victoria shrieked. I glared back at the two. "No! I was not watching you guys having disgusting sex!" I snapped back. Victoria rolled her mascara smeared eyes. "Then why were you outside our cabin looking through the window?" Kenneth asked, but I could tell he was hiding a smirk. The idea of him imaging me watching them have sex and liking the very thought made me sick to my stomach.

"Also who was that guy in our cabin? Did you hire him to scare us?" Victoria snapped at me. Kenneth went pale at the mention of the masked guy. I gave her a look. "His name is Jason," I told her, hoping she would understand. Kenneth did, his eyes widening at the very name. Unfortunately Victoria was as dumb as a bag of rocks. "Well you and your boyfriend need to fuck off! Go find your own cabin to fuck in!" she snapped at me.

"Can't really do that with you two making so much loud noise that sounds like two camels dying," I said. That caused Victoria to snap. Victoria screamed as she stormed up to me and shoved me to the ground. I fell on my back onto the hard wood floor, a sharp pain shot right up my wounded arm. I cradled my arm as the two toxic counselors loomed over me. Victoria held her hand out to Kenneth.

"Gimme your knife," she said. My eyes widened in horror. Kenneth grabbed a knife from a small shelf near him. She smiled wickedly as she ran her finger lightly along the sharp edge. "What word should I carve into your hideous face? Whore? Fucker? Pervert?" she asked. I didn't answer her. I just stared at the knife. My body shaking in fear.

"I guess I'll just let the inspiration come to me...that's what you artists always say, right?" she said, grinning as she lifted the knife over her head and came charging at me. Fear took over as I tucked my legs close to me, then when she came close enough, I kicked her right in the stomach. A gasp escaped her as she stumbled backwards into Kenneth. Kenneth grabbed her and helped her up. Victoria got back on her feet, her creepy grin erased from her foundation painted face.

I took the opportunity to get to my feet, looking around for anything I could use to defend myself from this crazy bitch. I grabbed one of Kenneth's shoes. Victoria came at me again, aiming the knife at my stomach. I dodged out of the way, hitting her hard in the face with the shoe. Victoria screamed as she reared back, grabbing her face from where she got hit.

I took the opportunity to try to grab the knife from her hand. I wasn't fast enough. She immediately felt my presence, slashing across my open palm. I cried out, grabbing my hand. A line of blood appeared on my flesh. Victoria slashed at me again, but she missed. I walked backwards till I was backed into a literal corner of the cabin. Victoria raised her head up to look me in the eyes. The shoe left an imprint on her face. Her perfect straight black hair now looked like a rat made a nest in it.

A crazy grin spread across her face, her teeth looked sharp and her mouth looked like there was blood appearing in the gums. Did I hit her too hard? She lifted the knife again and pointed it right in between my eyes.

"I'll-" she started to say, but suddenly stopped in her tracks. She lowered the knife. It clattered to the floor. I stared at her in confusion. Did she suddenly change her mind? Hesitant, I waved my hand in front of her wide eyes. Victoria's face was frozen in the same expression. Suddenly, a line of blood ran straight down her face, followed by the tip of a sharp blade.

Kenneth screamed in terror beside her as the two halves of her face fell on opposite ends. Her naked body went limp and fell to the floor. Standing over her cut in two bloody corpse...was Jason, with the knife still in his eye.

Kenneth screamed a blood curdling scream as he worked his feet to move backwards, only to trip over his own white sheet that was covering his private parts. Kenneth fell on his face. Jason pulled the machete out of what was once Victoria, turned around, and headed over to Kenneth. Kenneth was seen crawling on all fours as the sheet fell away from him. Jason's heavy boots followed right behind him. Kenneth whimpered and cried out in terror as he continued crawling towards the door.

Jason lifted his machete up over his head, and brought it down between Kenneth's shoulder blades. The sound of wood splintering and breaking was heard under Kenneth's body. Kenneth screamed as he flailed his arms and legs, pinned down like a butterfly on a cork board. He spat his own blood out of his mouth. Then he went still. A pool of blood forming around his body.

My breaths quickened as I stared in horror down at the two corpses at my feet. Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. I felt my sandwich rising up from my stomach. My whole body was shaking. They were dead. They were dead. I saw their deaths.

Jason suddenly appeared in front of me. He wrapped his arms around me tightly, his massive chest blocking me from the gore. I pressed my face against his chest and hugged him back. "I'm so sorry, Jason. This was all my fault," I told him. Jason squeezed me in his embrace. I wasn't sure if he was agreeing or disagreeing with me.

We stood hugging for what felt like hours. Once Jason let go of me, I pulled away from him, then blinked when I saw that he had teleported us from Kenneth's cabin back to my cabin. Outside was already pitch black. Night had suddenly covered us in a blanket of darkness. The fog twisted and curled like snakes. How did it get so dark outside so fast?

I took a shaky step towards my bed, but felt my legs give up on me. Jason grabbed me before I fell to my knees, lifted me up in his arms and carried me to the bed. He gently set me down before sitting down very close next to me. My anxiety was spiking. I was struggling to breathe. Jason loosened his arms around me, then held up five fingers. I stared at him. "Wh...what?" I asked him in between gulps of air. He looked at his hand, then back at me.

"...F-f-f-ive?" I asked shakily. He nodded and made a motion of inhaling air. I blinked my eyes in surprise. He was trying to calm my anxiety. I took a shaky breath. As I did, he silently countdown of his fingers. Four...three...two...one. Once my lungs were filled with air, I inhaled and he began counting up with his fingers. One...two...three...four...five...He was pacing me to slow my breathing. As I followed, I stared up at him. How did he know about this? How did he know one of the techniques? Had he observed me whenever I had an attack?

Eventually my panicking beating heart slowed down and I was able to breathe properly. I smiled as I bashfully wrapped my arms around him again. "Thank you, Jason." Jason hugged me back. Hot tears came down my face before I pulled away from him. I laughed nervously as I wiped them away with the back of my hand.

"Also...thank you for...saving my life," I added, referring Victoria nearly stabbing me. "Th-they were h-h-h-orrible people. I was defending m-myself, and you came in to help me, a-and she had a knife. She was intending to k-k-k-kill me..." I started stuttering and overthinking. Jason placed his fingers over my lips. I looked up at him and he just stared down at me. I was causing myself to fall back into another anxiety attack. Jason took his gloved hand away and I took a deep breath and exhaled.

It was done. My ex and his partner were dead. There was nothing else to do. Jason did what he was told to do. I sighed, staring up at Jason, then realized Jason still had the knife in his eye. He didn't look bothered by it anymore...from what I could tell. Unless he was just dealing with it.

"Hold on...let me get that for you," I told him. I gently reached up. He jerked his head away from my fingers running along underneath his mask. I stopped, then reached higher up and grabbed the handle of the knife. "This might hurt a little..." I said as calmly as I could, but my heart was racing. I had never removed a knife that was in someone's eye before. I felt like I was going to pass out, but I swallowed the bile down and took a deep breath.

"One...two...three!" I said as I pulled the knife out of Jason's right eye. The knife made a sickening squelching sound when it was pulled out, followed by a squirt of blood. Jason winced with his good eye as he placed his gloved hand over the socket. Blood dribbled down over his mask, making him look like he was crying.

Instinctively, I reached into my pockets for a napkin. I used to always have a packet of napkins on hand whenever it became spring and the flowers were blooming. Instead, the Necronomicon's piece of paper appeared in my hand. I hesitated for a moment before turning to look back up at Jason.

"Sorry...I don't have a napkin...hope this works," I told him. Gently I dabbed his eye through the socket of the mask to stop the bleeding. Jason stayed very still, his good eye staring right at me. The piece of paper soaked up the blood like a sponge. The blood disappeared into the yellowed paper. When I pulled away, Jason's eye was closed shut.

Suddenly, the piece of paper's writing glowed red. I quickly let go of the paper when it began to become too hot to the touch. Jason's good eye flashed red as he watched the piece of paper lift up into the sky a few feet above our heads, and hover there. Jason and I stared in shock at the floating piece of paper.

What was going on?

Before we could do anything, the piece of paper flew over to the door and slipped through the crack, and took off into the night like a little yellowed bird. Jason quickly got to his feet and teleported outside. I got to my feet and ran out the door. Once I stepped outside my cabin, I saw it trailing above the pathway, slow enough for me to keep up. I ran along the path, while Jason would keep teleporting further ahead, following behind the glowing piece of paper.

"Where is it going?" I asked out loud to Jason. Jason appeared next to a tree ahead of me. He opened and closed his hands together. The book. It was taking us to the book. I frowned a little to myself. Was that all the paper needed to lead us to the book? Just add blood? I should've guessed.

Hopefully it wasn't too late.

Eventually, the path curved ahead and the trees opened up, revealing the lake. A full blood red moon appeared above the lake, causing the waters to appear like it was blood. The fog danced around the lake's edge, curling and writhing like white fire. My shoes crunched in the sands. I slowed to a stop a few feet from the lake, Jason appearing right next to me.

We watched the piece of paper fly over to the small, wooden pier. At the edge of the pier was a dark figure, their back facing us. The piece of paper hovered over the Necronomicon in the figure's hands, the book opened to the place where the piece of paper had been ripped out. The piece of paper slowly lowered itself back to its rightful place. Mending itself back and appearing like it had never ripped in the first place.

The figure turned around and faced us. My eyes widened in shock and disbelief.

"Jackson?"

...