Slasher Summer(59)

Carrie brought a hand to her mouth. “I saw someone dressed as the Slasher, too, when Freddy bailed.”

“It was probably a fan,” Jason said tiredly.

“Did he have an axe?” Carrie asked Patrick, wondering if they’d seen the same person.

Patrick nodded, swallowing hard. “He had an axe and—and he started to chase me with it. I ran through the woods and hid in the old fire lookout and—”

Carrie kept her hand to her mouth, afraid of what noise might spill out. The Slasher in the woods, chasing Patrick with an axe. It was just like a movie. Her pulse pounded, a frenzied drumbeat in the quiet night.

Patrick’s shoulders shook. Carrie slipped an arm around him. “It’s okay,” she said soothingly, although she felt anything but serene, knowing he’d narrowly escaped death.

Jason reached out and took both of Patrick’s hands in his. Jason was full of surprises tonight. It was an astonishingly intimate gesture, considering Jason and Patrick had seemed tense around each other since she’d arrived. Carrie had thought their friendship had ruptured as badly as Jason’s relationship with Tiffany.

“Hey,” Jason said. “Look at me. You’re safe now with us.”

“How is he safe? How are any of us safe?” Tiffany’s words spilled out fast and shrill. “Russ has an axe! He must have stolen it from the cabin! He might’ve killed Mikey already, and Jen and Freddy!”

“We don’t know that. We have to keep our heads,” Jason said.

Tiffany blanched, and Carrie winced at his choice of words. Jason cleared his throat and continued, “I mean, we have to stay calm. Not jump to conclusions.” His voice was stern. The voice of his father, Coach Ackerman, explaining game strategy out on the field. “Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to go back to the cabin. The others were supposed to meet us there. We’ll lock ourselves in and wait for morning. It’ll be easier to go for help then. Russ can’t sneak up on us in daylight.”

“What about Michael?” said Carrie with dismay.

“Fuck Mikey!” said Tiffany.

Jason sighed. “I’m sorry, Carrie. The axe changes things. I’m worried about Mikey, too. But I don’t want to risk any of you for his sake. I’ll see you all back safely, and then—and then I’ll go look for him myself.”

Carrie stared at him in dismay. “Jason, no!”

“I have to. He might need my—”

“Help!”

Everyone startled. Carrie jerked her head up and listened breathlessly. The cry had come from far away.

“That’s the voice I heard before!” Patrick said.

“Help me!”

Carrie drew a sharp breath. “That sounds like Michael!”

“Which direction was it coming from?” Jason surveyed their surroundings. Carrie turned around, trying to pinpoint where Michael might be. They were on the edge of a steep slope, but their view was obscured by cedars. Tall and menacing, the trees refused to give up their secrets.

The cry escalated into a panicked scream. “Help, he’s gonna kill me!”

Jason spun around, increasingly agitated. The scream had the opposite effect on Tiffany. “You can all go after him. I’m heading back to the cabin.” Selfish as always, she turned and fled into the woods, ponytail swinging.

“Tiff! We need to stay together!” Jason called. He jogged after her, arm reaching out to yank her back. Patrick followed, Carrie right behind him. She didn’t want to let them out of her sight.

“Jason! Watch out—” Patrick shouted, abruptly stopping in his tracks.

It was a chain reaction. Carrie’s forehead collided with the space between Patrick’s shoulder blades, sending him crashing into Jason. Jason lurched forward, and instead of grabbing Tiffany like he’d intended, his outstretched palm pushed firmly into her back. Tiffany shrieked and vanished, her voice growing fainter as she fell down the slope. Carrie screamed, her arms whirling as she struggled to stay planted on the crumbling ground.

It was too late for anyone to regain their footing. Patrick grunted a swear word—and suddenly both he and Jason’s arms flailed like they were trying to fly. For a brief moment, Jason’s eyes locked with Carrie’s. She grabbed for his hand. She couldn’t lose him now, not when they were starting to build a rapport. Their fingers touched—and then gravity cruelly tore them apart and sent everyone tumbling into darkness.





19



Tiffany

    Tiffany’s mind swirled as she half rolled, half slid down the muddy hillside, her right sneaker flying off. Why hadn’t she worn lace-ups, instead of these cute slip-ons? Something sharp gouged the back of her bare thigh and her mouth opened to cry out, but a scream was already ripping from her lungs, piercing the night like a siren.

She caught a glimpse of the others skidding down the hill, bodies blurring as her descent jostled her around like a sock in a dryer. Carrie’s voice shrilled from above, screaming Jason’s name. Jason hollered back. Patrick called for Jason, followed by a bunch of very un-Patricklike swears squalling through the trees. No one was yelling her name, but she was too terrified to care. Only one thought sliced through the maelstrom in her head, sending her panic circling faster and faster: If Ranger Russ didn’t know where they were, he certainly did now.