Alma trudged through the woods, stepping over roots and rocks, leaves crunching beneath her feet. She had been walking for a while now. Despite its infamous reputation, the forest of Crystal Lake was truly beautiful. It had sprawling, tall trees with thick trunks and bright green leaves that reflected nicely against the summer sky, and the ambient noise of chirping birds and the sight of a rodent darting across the ground and skittering up a tree with a nut in its grasp was always comforting to her. And the lake, the lake was the most beautiful and breathtaking part of all. True to its name, the lake was clear and blue and shimmered under the rays of the sun. Once she had found a clear view of the lake, Alma snapped a picture of it. It was truly such a shame this place had such a horrid reputation, because its beauty was criminally underappreciated.
Alma wiped sweat from her brow as she finished climbing up a steep hill. Breathing heavily, she looked up to see a large rock nearby. She walked over to it and sat down, taking out her water bottle and taking a big long swig. After she put the bottle away, Alma put a knee up to her chest, wrapping her arms around it and resting her head, and just took in the moment. While Alma enjoyed the constant activity and energy exploring, she also enjoyed taking moments to just stop and live in the present. Moments like these made Alma think about how people take so much for granted, like the beauty and wonders of the world around them. It's part of the reason she loves hiking so much, with hiking Alma gets to truly appreciate the world around her in a way many people can't.
After a short break, Alma gets up and continues on her journey. As she ventured off further into the woods, she had no idea there was a figure who watching her from behind a tree.
Jason Voorhees had been startled by the sudden noise of crunching leaves. He had been doing his usual routine of meandering amongst the woods, checking the traps and monitoring to make sure no intruders had trepassed. But somehow despite all his usual prepping, he somehow missed a person who had entered his woods.
One could've supposed Jason's miss of the noise was because no one really ever came around the camp anymore. Once a bustling tourist trap for boisterous youngsters, the camp was now a ghost town of yesteryear, another unremarkable place left to rot and eventually fade into the sands of time. Sure, some people would still come around, intrigued by the horrific tales, only to be swiftly slaughtered and disposed of by Jason.
But as the years went by, fewer and fewer people came. For the first time in forever, people were finally starting to move on from the legend of Crystal Lake.
At first, Jason didn't mind it. Hell, he enjoyed it. No more annoying teens intruding onto his land and disturbing the peace. But after a while, like a child who gets a new toy, the novelty began to wore off, and while it's hard for him to admit, Jason grew bored. He grew bored of treading the same old territory he knew like the back of his hand, resetting the same old bear traps and having nothing to do. Sometimes, he would hear one of the traps going off, and would run over in hopes of finding some fresh new meat to kill only to be met by the usual disappointment upon finding it was another poor critter who had gotten mauled or stuck in his trap.
It wasn't that Jason was lonely, he preferred the solitude, it was just excruciating to not have any form of stimulation. Walking and checking and monitoring could only do so much, and although Jason was a killer, he was also a hunter, and hunters needed to catch prey.
So when the sound of crunching footsteps came to his ears, he was immediately alerted. Clutching his machete, he ventured off to see where the sound was coming from. Eventually, Jason had managed to identify the culprit, a young female hiker walking alone.
A flame lit inside Jason's brain; finally, new meat to hunt! But Jason didn't want to swiftly kill her like he usually did to his victims, no, instead, he wanted to have a bit of fun. He decided to observe this new stranger and see what she would do, and when he was sure the time was right, he would strike. As the woman started to walk out of sight, he followed her from a distance, ready to play this new game of cat and mouse.