Welcome to Crystal Lake (ENG)

Chapter 22 - Confession

Jason hadn't felt this satisfied in a long time. He had eaten some great treats, had a new weapon to add to his collection, had eliminated a source of annoyance and, given what happened earlier in the day, he also had the chance to spend a Friday the 13th with no one trying to go at the old campsite or, more generally, going out looking for trouble. He probably killed them all and every hour he spent patrolling around the lake confirmed it more and more.

He couldn't explain how, after all those years of making it very clear that he didn't want anyone around, there was always someone coming to snoop around. Jason had a few simple rules and he wanted them to be respected. The first and most important: don't go to Crystal Lake. The second was a mix of sub-rules: if you really had to go to Crystal Lake, don't go to the lake, don't go to the campsite, don't go to his house and, in general, don't wander around in the forest or make any noise. Which meant that any party had to be kept exclusively inside the houses, or better yet avoided completely.

It wasn't that hard to understand. There were some exceptions, and the new girl was the most recent evidence of this, along with the other people who lived in the houses scattered throughout the woods. And, of course, Jason knew that some jobs caused a lot of noise, so even if it annoyed him, he tolerated it. The important thing was that everyone followed the rules, did what they had to do and then left.

After returning home, he rested for a couple of hours in the morning, proudly thinking back to what he had done and fantasizing about how he could scare the girl, while cleaning up his "work tools". In the end he couldn't make up his mind, but he had created a little mental list of all the various options. By mid-morning he decided to go out again and, as always, he began making laps throughout the woods and the perimeter of the lake. He took advantage of the laundry hanging out to dry outside one of the houses on the edge of the forest to get some new clothes - endure theft or private property damage was the toll to pay to live in relative tranquility there -, and on a couple of occasions in the afternoon he happened to pass by the girl's house, but he didn't see her. He decided to spend the night at the campsite, just to be safe, in case some idiot had the great idea of trespassing into what, more than anything else in the surrounding area, was his territory. But just as he had hoped, the night passed peacefully, under a starry sky that the girl seemed to like very much.

For Jasmine the evening was not as peaceful, psychologically speaking.

She closed the door of the room, and as soon as she turned on the PC and opened Discord, she found her friends already in call and playing Friday the 13th. She needed a moment to think about how to start the report of the latest events. She knew that she could trust them blindly, but she couldn't help but feel embarrassed anyway by the naivety and recklessness of her actions. She heaved a resigned sigh and entered the call while she started the game. She didn't feel like playing at the moment, but it was also true that they had just bought the title and the desire to use it was there.

"Ehy."

"JAS!" The three exclaimed as one.

"Hi guys." She said in a decidedly less cheerful tone than usual. "Give me a moment, I'll put on my headphones."

"Ok, ok, but hurry up, I want to know everything." Alex said.

Jasmine connected her phone's headphones instead of the ones she used at the computer, putting only one to her ear to hear if her parents got near and to make sure to keep the volume of her voice low.

"I'm ready. Did Stuart say anything yet?" She asked the two girls.

"Some vague hint about you possibly being in trouble." Wendy replied. "Alex told us more, she found news online about a certain hotel there."