Slasher Summer(29)

“Freddy, we’re not in a movie,” Patrick said.

“That doesn’t matter if Russ thinks we’re in a movie,” Freddy muttered.

Carrie glanced anxiously toward the darkened kitchen again, not sure how else to convince the others to look for Michael.

“We can’t leave Mikey out there,” Jason said, and despite Carrie’s conflicted emotions around him, she felt a rush of gratitude. Jason would never leave his cousin behind. “Remember that time he went off to pee and came back two hours later covered in poison ivy?”

“Mikey’s a big boy now, he can take care of himself,” Jen said.

“He tried to protect us. We can’t desert him,” Carrie protested.

Jen and Tiffany wore identical sour expressions. Carrie should’ve known that as childhood best friends, they’d side together. She had to remember she was alone here. The Jumpscare Society might be her friends, but they weren’t necessarily her allies.

Thankfully, rescue came from Patrick. “Because if it were any of us, Jason wouldn’t leave us behind, either.”

“How about a compromise,” Jason said. “We’ll spend an hour looking for Mikey. He can’t have gotten far on foot. If we don’t find him, we’ll go and get help.”

“Only an hour?” Carrie said in dismay.

“An hour’s more than enough time. If he’s gone that long, we can assume he’s found a cell signal and gotten help,” Patrick said.

“Or he went to town by himself,” Jen scoffed. “He could be fleeing the country as we speak.”

“Well, we’ll have a better chance of finding him if we split up,” Jason said.

Freddy clutched his head and groaned. “Oh my God. That’s the number one rule of slashers. Never split up. Did the Jumpscare Society teach you nothing?”

To Carrie’s surprise, Jason rounded on Freddy. “Freddy!” he barked. “Those are movies.”

Everyone fell dead quiet, or maybe Carrie’s pulse suddenly seemed very loud. What had happened to Jason during the past four years while she was gone? He was normally the most patient and tolerant of them. On the surface, anyhow. This could be the real Jason, the one who hadn’t known how to be discreet four years ago.

A vein popped on his forehead. “If you don’t have anything helpful to say, shut up. You’re just going to freak everyone out.”

He’d said everyone, but he gestured at Tiffany. She looked like she was about to throw up, although more from Jason’s outburst than Freddy’s paranoia. Interesting. Carrie’s pulse beat faster, but with hope. If tensions between him and Tiffany were high, she might have a chance to get him alone later and finally get some closure. She just needed to muster her courage.

Freddy hung his head, mumbling an apology under his breath. Jason squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose, like he was about to apologize, too, but instead huffed out a weary breath.

Carrie broke the awkward silence with a cough. Jason’s words were harsh but true. Panic wouldn’t help them find Michael. “Nothing bad happens when they split up in Scooby-Doo,” she offered, giving Freddy a reassuring smile.

“And we’ll go in pairs. No one’s going out in the woods alone.” Patrick dug through the box of emergency supplies and started to hand out compasses.

“I’m going with Velma,” Jen said, clapping Patrick on the back. “Since he actually knows how to use this thing.”

Patrick shot his eyes heavenward as he handed a compass to Carrie. “You know how to use this?”

She smiled weakly. “I was in the Girl Scouts, remember?”

“I’m going with Carrie,” Freddy said quickly.

“I was in the Girl Scouts, too,” Tiffany announced. She just couldn’t stand to not be the best at everything.

Jen sniggered. “For three whole months, when you were seven. You told me you hated it.” Tiffany shot her a death glare.

“Carrie’s the Final Girl. I’m sticking to her like glue,” Freddy said.

Of everyone here, Freddy was the least stubborn and would be happy to follow her directions. But Carrie couldn’t resist standing up to Tiffany one more time. “I could go with Jason, if you’d rather go with Freddy, Tiffany,” she said innocently.

To her surprise, it was Jason who replied, not Tiffany. Jason’s eyes were glacial in the shadows. “Tiff’s coming with me. I don’t trust her and Freddy to not peace out and abandon the search.”

Tiffany touched an affronted hand to her chest like, Who, me? Carrie was gratified to see that Jason was unmoved.

Jen clapped her hands together. “Then it’s settled. Daphne and Fred go together, and Carrie goes with Shaggy.”

“Before we set out, I’ve got bottled water in the kitchen. And we can grab some snacks, too, since we never got to eat dinner,” said Patrick.

“I could use some snacks,” Freddy mumbled.

They were wasting precious minutes. Who knew where Michael was by now. “There’s no time! We have to—” Carrie started.

But Jason was already leading the way down the hall to the back of the cabin, flashlight extended. He motioned for everyone to stay behind him, ever the chivalrous gentleman, and Carrie’s heart twinged as she followed.