Jason Voorhees X The Elm Street Princess

Man in the Woods

***12 years later***

"Lori! Lori! Ey! Let's go!" I groggily awoke to find my friend Leigh in my doorway grinning ear to ear holding a backpack.

I moaned and rubbed my eyes. "What happened?"

"Um, vacation? We've been waiting downstairs for you, silly! Got your bag ready?"

It took me a little while to process what she was talking about but then I remembered. "Oh shit! Right! The camping trip. Um, let me just finish packing a few things. I think I got mostly everything I need together last night. Just give me a minute." I tossed a few more outfits into my bag because I've always been an overpacker. I also threw in my hairbrush and the tattered teddy bear I've slept with since I was a kid.

When I got downstairs, everyone was already outside by the car. Leigh giggled with excitement and grabbed her boyfriend, Damien's, hand. "Eeee Damien, did you bring the stuff?" She playfully nudged his side with hee elbow, grinning sardonically.

Damien smirked, rolled his eyes, and lifted a bottle of fireball out of a pocket of his bag. Leigh squealed again, running to me. "Oh my gosh, Lori, tonight you have to try a fireball."

"Oh, come on, Leigh. You know alcohol and I aren't friends. I'm just not into that. I'll throw up!"

"Eh, well thought I'd at least pitch the idea. It's here if you change your mind though. Brandon, we ready?"

"Yup, all good. We out!" Brandon and I had been dating for close to two years at this point. I was always more the outdoorsy type.

As I climbed into the front seat, I playfully shoved Brandon's shoulder. "Excited? I know how much you love doing stuff like this."

"Eh, Damien's got the fireball and I have the vodka. I'll have enough booze in me to get some sleep."

Off we went. Where exactly? Not sure. Only that we were going camping for the weekend. So I took a nap during the ride. When we awoke, it was dusk. The sky was mostly purple, peppered with many silver stars. The trees on either side faded into darkness, sheer blackness. As we continued walking, we came to a clearing where in the center stood a huge totem pole. That looked strikingly familiar to me. I stopped and stared, taking in all of the little log cabins surrounding the totem pole. A feeling of familiarity flooded every cell in my body. I just had trouble placing why I felt I knew this place so well.

Leigh grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the firepit. "Come on, Lori! We're going to make smores!"

"Awesome. Tonight is a good night for smores." I breathed in the warm, sweet summer air as the fireflies flittered past me. We got over to the firepit and I grabbed some grahams and marshmallows. The flames were roaring hot at this point and mesmerizing to gaze into. It was getting dark so I slyly slipped my medicine bottle out of my bag.

"Hey, what's that?" Leigh blurted out as she pointed to the bottle.

"It's this medicine I take every single night. It's called Hypnocil."

"What's it for?" Leigh was always one with a penchant for questions.

"You know? I've never really known. All I know is I've been taking it each and every night since I was a baby. I asked Mom about it, but she's never given me any details. Just that if I miss even one dose, there will be serious consequences. Must be some genetic thing or something."

Leigh shrugged. "Oh well. Can you help me with this smore? I keep setting my mallows on fire."

I laughed and made smores with Leigh. Then I heard Brandon's voice, calling everyone's attention.