Jason.Endgame. Part II

Lucy

Lucy’s father, Colin, was the kind of man that worked hard during the week and on the weekends liked to relax with a few beers and watch a game or ten. There were very few sports he didn’t like. Lucy's fondest memories of him are sitting in their living room eating pizza on Friday nights as they watched whatever game was taking priority that night.

Lucy was always closer to her dad than her mom, although she loved her mom very much. When Lucy was ten, she wanted to make fortune cookies for her dad while they were watching the game. She didn’t know much about baking, but she found the ingredients on a fortune cookie wrapper and thought she could just add those ingredients to make fortune cookies.

Midway through the game, Lucy took her cookies out of the oven and proudly took some into the living room to show her dad. Being the good father he was, he bit into one and declared what a great job she did. He didn’t tell her that he ended up chipping a tooth when he did so.

Lucy had her moments with her mother also. They spent time in the kitchen as Lucy got older so Lucy could learn how to actually cook and bake basic things. Her mom showed her how to make several different types of soup. Vegetable soup was their favorite to make together. When Lucy committed her mother, she promised to bring her some home-cooked vegetable soup when she returned.

Detectives

Detective Helms, 24 years on the force and an exemplary record, sees a frantic girl rushing through the police station doors babbling about a deranged psychopath killing her boyfriend and almost killing her. His first instinct in this town is disbelief. It must be a prank. These kinds of things don’t happen around here anymore. There is only one murderer ever to walk the shores of Camp Crystal Lake; Jason Voorhees. Helms escorts her over to his desk to talk.

“Ma’am. Can you describe the killer?” Helms asks.

Lucy replies, “Of course, Detective. He stood in front of my face for at least a minute holding a machete above his head before he left. I think I got a good look at him.”

A machete? Jason's preferred weapon. But, Jason doesn’t leave without killing. Why would he just leave her? This can’t be the gruesome killer of old.

Lucy continues. “He’s tall, over six feet. Pretty big, like a football player. Really ratty clothes.”

Helms asks, “How about his face? Did you see his face?”

“Detective. I stared into his eyes while he held a machete above his head. His eyes are black. His eyelids are ashy and old-looking. Wrinkled, dry. When he teared up, the tears that fell were dirty, like mascara, only I don’t think he was wearing makeup. While I watched him, they changed from angry to sad.”

Helms is amazed at her vivid description of his eyes, but still needs to know more about his face.

“Ma’am…”

Lucy collects herself before she replies.

“I know, Detective. You want to know what the rest of his face looks like. I can’t tell you that. He was wearing a mask. A hockey mask.”

Helms, instantly intrigued by the possibility that this could be Jason, wondered why the murderer would leave her alive. He didn’t even try to kill her.

“Miss Knight…Have you ever heard of Jason Voorhees?” Helms asks.

“No. I don’t think so.”

Helms replies, “He’s rather famous around these parts. He was a former camper who drowned. I won’t go into the details. You don’t need a history lesson. One thing I would like to tell you is that it seems as though we may have a copycat killer on the loose.”

“Copycat? You think this man is copying another killer?”

“It’s entirely possible.”

“So, why would he not just kill me? He had the opportunity. I even told him too.”

“That’s actually the reason I think this may be a copycat. The real killer would have never let you go. It just doesn’t make sense.”

“Does it really make sense as a copycat killer though?”

Helms wondered about that question. It didn’t really make sense. Jason would never leave a potential victim like that. A copycat killer wouldn’t either. He leaves the room leaving Lucy to wonder. As he leaves he runs into his partner Doug Finch. Doug had only about six months under his belt, but had already solved a few cases. He had a knack as Helms referred to it.

“Hey, Doug. What do you think about this killer? Do you think it could be Voorhees?”

Doug replies, “It just seems odd to me. Leaving that girl alive? That’s not a Jason thing. There has to be more to the story.”

“So you think it’s a copycat, then?”

Finch didn’t answer. He was very uncertain. He knew everything about Jason from the files he studied. Jason leaving a victim alive would be very uncharacteristic. But, Finch was smart enough to know that a killer doesn’t always have to play by the rules he set for himself.

“Joe. It’s been over 20 years since Jason killed anyone. Everyone presumed he was dead. What if he wanted to make sure everyone knew he was alive,” Doug asked.

“You think he left her alive so she could tell everyone?”

“It’s possible. We never really understood Jason’s motives. The best theories revolve around revenge. What better revenge than to be unpredictable and scare everyone shitless?”

Helms is unconvinced. Time to do some digging. Lucy leaves, frustrated by her experience with Helms. She leaves the police station heading toward the cabin to get her stuff and go home. She walks at a fast pace trying to walk off the anger and frustration of the day. She tries to take in some of the scenery of the woods around her, but her thoughts always go to Kyle and the maniac that almost killed her.

As she nears the cabin, she sees the tree which still has some of Kyle’s blood dried into the bark. She examines the tree closer, noticing the depth of the cut made by the machete. It was almost the same width of the machete blade. The man must be incredibly strong.

She pondered for a moment the man she saw in the cabin that night. Yes, he was physically very big and strong, but his eyes told a different story. His story was of heartbreak, fear, and anger. She could only imagine the trauma that must have been his life. For a moment, she felt pity for him. The tears she saw in his eyes that night were being held back for a long time. He must constantly be fighting to hold back his pain. Perhaps that is why he can be so ruthless.

Lucy snaps back into reality, realizing she was finding herself more sympathetic toward the killer than Kyle.

“What’s wrong with me,” Lucy asked herself.

She shakes her head and enters the cabin to get her bag which she never even unpacked. The police had given her the keys to Kyle's car after speaking with his mother, Sara. Lucy was to drive it to her place and Sara would get her back home.

Mother-in-law

Lucy had never really gotten along too well with Sara. They weren’t enemies, but Sara never approved of anyone that Kyle was with, and Lucy was someone Kyle was wanting to marry. Lucy wasn’t looking forward to this situation. After speaking with Sara on the phone, she knew she was upset not only at the loss of her child, but also angry with Lucy.

As Lucy pulls up to the house, she finds Sara on the front steps awaiting her arrival. She is sipping on a glass of tea wearing sunglasses even though the sky is overcast. She is obviously in mourning. No doubt that tea has something in it other than tea leaves. Lucy pulls into the driveway and parks. Sara immediately stands which makes Lucy nervous.

“I see you got the car back here in one piece,” Sara says.

Lucy picked up on the not-so-subtle dig at the fact that Kyle did not return with her and even if he did he would not be in one piece. The next two hours will be unbearable as Sara drives Lucy home while also blaming her for her son's death.

“So, tell me. Is there anything of my son’s that you have at your place that I will be bringing back with me,” Sara asks.

Lucy gets in the passenger side of the car as she thinks about the question. Why would she ask that?

“I’m sorry,” Lucy asks.

Sara replies, “Oh, come on. Surely you know what I’m referring to. Unless you have it on you now. You could just go ahead and give it back and I can just call you a cab.”

Lucy is excited about the possibility of taking a cab, but with no idea what Sara is talking about, that possibility seems unlikely without some clarification.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lucy says.

Sara sighs.

“The ring, dear. I’m obviously talking about the ring. He told me he proposed to you. Now I’d like my ring back. I’m sorry, but I never really wanted you to have it, but I wasn’t going to tell Kyle no. But now that he’s gone I would really like it back.”

Lucy’s confusion was obvious to Sara.

“Wait. Did he not propose,” Sara questioned.

“I’m sure I would’ve remembered.”

Lucy tries to catch her breath.

“When did he say he proposed?”

“Well, he got the ring from me last week and called me a couple of nights ago and he said you two were engaged,” Sara explains.

Lucy thinks back to a couple of nights before. It seemed like Kyle was nervous that night. They were fixing dinner and he cut himself chopping a cucumber. When he went to bandage his hand he got a phone call from Sara. There was an argument in the other room, but Lucy couldn’t hear what was being said.

“When you called that night and you two were arguing on the phone, is that when he told you?”

“Yes. That’s why we were arguing. I called to ask him not to marry you. I’m sorry, Lucy, but I just didn’t think you were right for my son. It didn’t matter anyway. He said he had already proposed and you two were engaged.”

“My guess is he said that just to stop the argument, because he never proposed. I suppose he may have been planning to ask me at the cabin, but never got the chance.”

Lucy can tell that Sara is pondering whether to believe her.

“Well, if that’s the case then it would be with his things. Did you bring them,” Sara questions.

“Of course. The police kept a few things that were on him when he died for evidence, but he didn’t have a ring.”

Lucy remembered the police officer showing her a list of things they found with Kyle’s body: A bag with some snacks, a pack of cigarettes, and an unopened pack of condoms. She was hoping she and Kyle could have reconnected on the trip also, but then Kyle lost his head.

“Where is his bag? It is probably in there, then,” Sara asks.

The two go and open the trunk of the car. Kyle's bag is right on top. They start going through the bag. It is mainly clothes and Kyle's toiletry bag.

“Oh, this must be it,” Lucy says.

Lucy finds the small box in a side pocket of the bag.

“Oh yes. Give it to me.”

Lucy holds back for a moment. Of course she will give it back, but she is curious.

“Do you mind?”

Sara, in her panic to find the ring and get rid of Lucy hadn't even considered her feelings. Now she sees in her eyes that Lucy didn't know about the proposal and is heartbroken and mourning the loss of what would have been her fiancé.

“Uh, I suppose. Take a look.”

Lucy opens the box to reveal a beautiful diamond ring.

“It was my mother's. She wanted him to have it when he met someone,” Sara says.

Sara turns to Lucy, her compassion is now gone.

“Look, I'm fully aware of how you manipulated my son for his money so he would take you all over the world. You may or may not have actually loved him, but my son deserved someone who loved him completely regardless of what he could do for her.”

As she lectures, Lucy begins to move backward around the side of the car and Sara moves closer to her in a threatening manner.

“You are probably upset that you two didn't get a chance to get married or even engaged, but even if you had've gotten engaged and my son were still alive, I would have gone to the ends of the Earth to stop it from happening. Do you understand?” Sara is now inches from Lucy’s face.

Lucy is frightened, but also feels her own rage boiling. It is time to stop backing away. She stops, stands up straight, and fires back at Sara.

“Oh, I understand, but let me be clear. I loved Kyle, probably more than you. I didn't care about his money. I wanted to travel, but I would have been happy just staying home with him. You should understand that! And, by the way, if you hated me so much and were going to go to the ends of the Earth to stop the wedding, then why? Why did you even give him the ring?”

A brief moment goes by as Sara collects herself. She wasn't expecting Lucy to be so forceful.

“I didn't give it to him. After I refused, he snuck in and stole it.”

Not wanting to argue anymore, Sara walks away toward the house.

“Wait there. I already called your cab the moment you pulled up. It shouldn’t be long.”

Sara walks inside. Lucy breaks down and starts crying as she slides down to the ground. Sara gets to the door to walk in and takes a look at Lucy sitting on the ground.

“She's so weak. She would've never made it as a Jensen.”

Sara walks inside closing the door behind her. As she walks up stairs she trips over her dress bottom causing her to spill her drink.

“Shit! Dammit! I'm out of vodka too.”

Sara pulls herself up to a standing position holding the now empty glass. She looks up the stairs and uses the handrail to steady herself on up to the top. Marching into her room she goes to her vanity and sits. Resting her head in her hands she cries.

“Why?”

She continued sobbing into her hands. Confronting Lucy brought forth her grief and she realized her son was truly gone. Never one to dwell on her emotions, she preferred to drown them in alcohol, Sara lifts her head and wipes her eyes.

In the mirror she sees a horrifying beast of a man standing behind her. Jason Voorhees has come to reunite her with her boy. Before she can even scream, Jason shoves her head into the mirror. Shattered pieces of glass stick in her face. Sara is barely conscious when Jason grabs her by the neck with one hand, lifts her, and throws her through the window.

Sara plummets to the concrete patio below. Her last breath is taken as she looks toward the driveway and sees Lucy still crying by the car. Her last thought; “You’re so weak.”

Cab Ride

Lucy finally stops crying and stands up trying to collect herself. She thinks about going and trying to make amends with Sara, but realizes it would be pointless. The cab arrives, so Lucy gets her things out of Kyle’s car and takes a look back at the house. The cabbie takes her bag and puts it in the trunk while Lucy gets in the back seat.

“Rough day,” the cabbie asks.

“You could say that,” Lucy replied.

“Well, I don’t know if I can help much, but maybe I can at least make your ride…uneventful.”

Lucy appreciates the thought and nods to the cabbie in appreciation. They zoom through the countryside and start heading back to the city. Lucy is exhausted and just wants to sleep and the cabbie is happy to oblige. He keeps focused on the road and doesn't bother her as she pressed her head against the window and rests.

Thirty miles later, the cabbie needs gas and wakes Lucy.

“Hey little lady. I just have to stop for a moment and get some gas. I thought I would let you know in case you needed anything from inside. It is about an hour before we get to your place.”

Lucy is groggy and wants to sleep, but she also feels hungry and thinks that a candy bar might help control her stomach grumbles on the way home. She nods to the cabbie who is pumping gas as she heads toward the store. Breaching the doorway, she sees the cashier sitting at the counter doing a jumbo print crossword puzzle. Near the drink cooler are two men who are talking and looking at her suspiciously. The candy bars are by the register, so she doesn't venture any farther. Grabbing a bar she lays it on the counter in front of the crossword puzzle book.

“That everything,” the cashier asks.

Lucy verifies her purchase with the cashier while keeping an eye on the two men who are now inching their way around toward the front of the store. She pays the cashier, he takes her money and opens the register.

While getting her change he asks here, “Do you know what animal is bread for hunting rats and rabbits? It's six letters ending in T.”

Lucy is growing nervous as she can tell the men are making their way closer to the front.

“No, sorry. I've never been very good at crossword puzzles.”

“I get that. I'm not so great at them, myself.”

The cashier hands Lucy her change. Lucy takes it, thanks him and tries to head out the door.

“What's your hurry,” Gary, the man in the plaid shirt asks. He stands in the doorway while the man in the blue hat, Thomas, slips behind Lucy.

“Fellas, leave the lady alone,” the cashier says.

“Shove it, Stew! Nobody asked ya,” Thomas says.

Gary starts guiding Lucy by the arm trying to move her out of the doorway and pushes her toward the back of the store. He says, “Now we ain't gonna hurt ya. We just wanna have a little fun. Don't you wanna have some fun?”

Thomas laughs as he keeps a look out.

“Excuse me. I was just leaving.” Lucy says.

She manages to push him out of the way enough to slip by him, but he grabs her arm before she can fully get away. He pulls her back and shoves her against the wall. Thomas steps in front to stand guard.

“That wasn't very nice,” Gary says.

The cashier has turned away and is pretending he doesn't see what's going on. Lucy screams at him, “You bastard! HELP!”

As she struggles, Gary pulls her back and slams her against the wall again trying to calm her down. Lucy is almost knocked unconscious.

“Now, stop your fighting.”

Jason bursts through the door. He grabs an umbrella from the umbrella stand and throws it through Thomas’s eye. He falls to the ground which gets Gary's attention. Gary turns around to see Jason while Lucy falls to the floor. The cabbie sees Jason from outside and tries to come in to rescue Lucy. Gary and Jason are staring at one another in a stand off.

Gary is pissed! “Oh, you fucker! That's my brother. Let's see if that hockey mask can stop a bullet you freak!”

Gary pulls a pistol from his backside and fires at Jason's head. Jason moves his head slightly and the bullet takes out a pack of Winston cigarettes behind the counter. A second shot lands in Jason's midsection. Jason looks down at the shot and then looks back Gary. He reaches for his mask and slowly pulls it off revealing his face which through the years had been cut, caught fire, and grown tumors and cysts.

Gary looks at him in disgust and says, “Aren't you a freak of nature?”

Jason takes his mask and hurls it at Gary like a frisbee. The edge of the mask slices through half of Gary’s neck and gets lodged in the wall behind him just above where Lucy is struggling to try and pull herself off the floor. The Gary’s neck is gushing blood as he tries to keep his balance. He holds his neck as if he can keep the blood inside. Through his fingers the blood continues to pour and fall to the floor. His feet slip and he grabs the nearby shelves to maintain his stance. Only a few steps from Jason now, Gary grabs him as if looking for help from the beast. He looks up at Jason's eyes which are now very cold compared to when Lucy saw him last.

Gary collapses on the floor, his hand falling from his neck allowing the blood to leak from his now lifeless body. Jason walks toward Lucy, but the cabbie is now inside the store and doesn't want Jason to do to Lucy what he just saw happen to the other two men.

“Stop right there, you asshole,” the cabbie exclaims.

Jason turns and sees the cabbie, then turns his head back toward Lucy and walks toward her.

“You son of a bitch!”

The cabbie runs toward Jason and jumps on his back trying to tackle Jason. Jason stumbles a bit and the man drops to the floor. Trying to ignore him, Jason looks at Lucy and then reaches toward her. Lucy is scared, but also has a feeling that Jason doesn't want to hurt her. He leans closer and with his outstretched hand and snatches his mask from the wall. He pulls back and puts on his mask.

The cabby yells again. “Stay away from her!”

The cabbie runs at Jason with a knife he pulled off a nearby shelf that was for sale. Jason quickly moves, catches the man by his side and throws him through the nearby window. He takes another look at Lucy, and then runs out of the store. Lucy, still nervous, walks toward the cashier who is still sitting there obviously shaken up by the situation.

Lucy says, “It's a ferret, fucker.”

Lucy walks out of the store and checks on the cabbie. A large chunk of glass is embedded in his neck. The ground is covered in his blood. There is nothing Lucy can do.

Going Home

While driving back home, Lucy struggles to reconcile everything that happened. She lost her dad, put her mother in a mental hospital, her boyfriend was killed and apparently was planning to propose, she was verbally assaulted by her would-be-fiance's mother, and almost raped saved only by a serial killer. All this would break most people, which is what scares Lucy the most. Shouldn't she be more upset? Shouldn't she be on the verge of a mental breakdown?

These questions also lead her to the most obvious question; why is she still alive? Jason could have killed her at the cabin or the gas station. Why? She struggles with these questions, but mostly struggles to stay awake. She is exhausted after everything. She pulls up to her apartment building and parks. There are neighborhood children out playing ball in the parking lot. The Lewis' have the grill fired up cooking their famous chicken, and her neighbor friend Sally is sunbathing nude again. Things seem normal, which is just what Lucy needs, especially as she heads up to her apartment to sleep.

DING DONG. The doorbell rips through Lucy's dead sleep instantly pulling her out of her more than fifteen hour sleep cycle. She stumbles to the door and sees Helms through the peephole. Lucy opens the door and Helms sees her disheveled hair.

“Oh, sorry, Ms. Dobbs. Did I wake you,” Helms asks.

“It's been a long night, detective.”

“Yeah, I suppose a long night. Long day yesterday. Unfortunately, you've had a really rough time lately, Ms. Dobbs. I'm afraid I don't come to bring you any good news this morning. May I come in?”

Lucy lets Helms come in the apartment and has him sit on the sofa while she goes to the bathroom to try and straighten out her hair a little. She runs a brush through it quickly and throws it in a pony. It isn't perfect, but at least it is better. She has no idea what to prepare for with Helms, but dealing with shit has basically been her life for the past month, so why stop now?

“If this is about the car, Detective, I just needed to get home yesterday.”

“Well, of course, I understand that. No, it's not that. In fact, I talked to the owner of the cab company and as long as he gets the car back he won't press any charges.”

“Oh, that is nice of him.”

“Yeah, well, after he saw the security cam footage from the store, he was pretty upset about the entire situation.”

“The security cam footage. So, you saw what happened?”

“Yes, and I can't imagine what you are going through.”

“It is kind of crazy that I was more scared of those two guys than Jason. I'm actually happy that he showed up, otherwise, who knows what would've happened.”

Helms is happy Lucy seems okay, but worried she might be feeling sympathetic toward Jason.

“I definitely understand, but keep in mind Jason is still a psychotic serial killer.”

“Trust me, I know that. But, still, he saved me yesterday.”

“Now that we know for sure this is Jason, do you have any idea why he keeps sparing your life?”

“I would love to know the answer to that, myself. Any chance he might have a crush on me.”

“At this point, any theory is valid. Usually the term crush in relation to Jason is more for crushing bones. But, he has never just spared someone and certainly has never protected them the way he is doing with you. So, maybe. I'm just glad he was there yesterday when you needed him.”

“Don't forget that he's a psycho killer, Detective.”

Helms snickers. He is glad Lucy is in a somewhat lighthearted mood. He fears he is about to change that.

“Lucy, there is another thing that happened yesterday other than your attack.”

“Okay?”

“Your mother-in-law was killed yesterday.”

Lucy is shocked, but not really that upset. Helms is taken aback a little by her reaction.

“Do you understand, Lucy?”

“Yeah, um, do you know what happened?”

“Not really. Yesterday afternoon it looks like someone threw her out of her bedroom window. Her vanity mirror was also broken. It looks like her head was shoved into it.”

Helms was trying to be cautious with his words, but at the same time wanted to answer Lucy's question.

“Wow. I was just there yesterday.”

“Right. You drove there after you left the station and she was gonna take you home. What happened with that plan?”

Lucy explained to Helms everything that happened. Helms has no doubt that Jason was responsible for Sara's death. Helms gets up to leave.

“Lucy, if you see Jason or think of anything else, make sure to let me know, huh?”

“Of course, Detective.”

“I'm gonna have an officer outside for a couple of days just in case Jason comes around if that's alright?”

“Sure. I am just going to try and get back to normal if I can.”

Helms nods as if he agrees that's what she should do.