Her name was Crystal

Jason carried her back downstairs and set her down on the couch he'd been using to sleep on. He left her to get comfortable and went to find something for her to eat. After she'd slept for almost a week he knew she was hungry. He'd heard her stomach growling.





He didn't have any fresh meat to offer her. He hadn't gone out to hunt, or check his traps since she'd come to be under his care. He hadn't wanted to leave her for long periods of time. He did have a small collection of canned goods, however, stolen from the village. He could give her that for now, and tomorrow he would go out and catch something better. He was getting a little tired of eating the canned food himself.





He selected one of his favourites, a can with a red lable that had pasta in it, and searched through various piles of objects for his can opener. Upon finding it, he opened the lid and then started to search for a spoon that wasn't too.. dirty. All of his utensils were taken from the kitchen of the camp. He remembered his mother used to have him help wash the dishes after the kids of the camp had eaten.. and he'd hated the job. She'd put big yellow rubber gloves on his hands that smelled weird and made him scrub the dishes until he got cranky and started to fuss. Then his mother would smile and take the gloves off his hands, kiss him on the forehead and let him go out to play.





So.. Jason didn't wash his dishes. And now he wished he did, because he didn't want to give the girl a dirty spoon to eat off of. He picked out a spoon and did his best to rub it clean on his shirt. Then he put it into the can of pasta. Maybe she wouldn't notice if it was covered in sauce.





He didn't have to worry. The moment he returned to the couch and handed her the can she dug into it like she'd never eaten before.





He sat down next to her and watched as she ate. It didn't take her long to clear the contents of the can. She licked her lips of the red sauce and closed her eyes as the food settled into her previously empty stomach.







"I needed that.. thank you, Jason."





He nodded. She was welcome.





She began to look around at his home. The curiosity in her eyes demanded his entire attention. Jason found he couldn't look away. He was mezmerized by her, and it was confusing. He'd seen women before.. plenty of women. He didn't find them interesting at all. They screamed in horror as soon as they saw him... if they saw him. He was usually pretty efficient about killing people. Most of the time they never knew what hit them.





But this girl.. this girl wasn't screaming at him. She'd smiled at him. Everything she did.. every expression on her face.. every sound she made.. it gave him a funny feeling in his chest. A nice feeling. Jason didn't understand it and he wasn't sure he liked it, but for now he decided to push away the confusion. The girl was saying something to him.





He tilted his head at her. She smiled.





"I asked if there anyone else here with you?"





He shook his head.





"What is this place?"







She was asking him questions. He'd been annoyed before, by the difficulty of trying to communicate with her. But now he found himself wanting to give it every effort. He wanted her to know. He wanted to tell her everything he possibly could.





He stood and went to fish around in one of the many piles of dusty things that lined his cellar, and returned to the couch with a book. She took it from him and blew the dust from the cover, then opened it.



It was an album.





"Camp Crystal Lake..."





The logo letters were formed with little pictures of logs, little green leaves sticking out in various spots. There was a picturesque photo of the lake with it's long, wooden dock. There were a number of row boats tied to it, along with a larger motor boat. There were people further out on the lake in canoes. The lake itself was almost as blue as the sky above, and surounded by thick, green forest. It was beautiful.





There were more pictures of the camp as she turned the pages. There were about a half dozen small cabins with little porches and numbers on their fronts, and there was a larger building with an old stone chimney that rose above it's roof. Beside the building was a playground. There was more than one picture of the playground, and in each there were children. Children going down the slide, climbing on the monkey bars, and swinging on the swings. There were pictures of an archery range and another of a campfire with lots of kids sitting around it toasting marshmellows. Another picture showed a room full of children with various art supplies, making what looked like macaroni neckalaces.





She continued turning the pages. There were paragraphs of writing on each page, describing the camp and explaining why it was the perfect destination for wonderful childhood memories. It boasted a staff of childcare professionals and enthusiastic young people to care for and engage the children into dozens of fun-filled activities. Experiences of a lifetime were to be had at Camp Crystal Lake.





Towards the back of the book were pictures of the individual staff members. There was a picture of an older man posing with a false-looking smile on his face. He was labled 'owner' and head camp counsellor. There was another man labeled 'groundskeeper', and a woman labeled 'nurse'. There were other pictures of men and women, with the labels of their various jobs. When the page was turned again, Jason tapped on a picture of a woman who was labled 'cook'.





"Pamela Voorhees.." she said softly, then looked up at Jason. "Was she your mother?" Jason nodded.





The girl gazed at the picture again.





"She was very beautiful."





The entire camp was very beautiful. The pictures made it look lovely. The date on front of the album was 1985. She didn't remember anything about herself, but for some reason she did know that it was 2009 now. She wondered what had become of the camp in all those years. If Jason was here all alone, then what had happend to all of the people in the book? The camp must have shut down years and years ago, judging from all the dust everywhere. Why was Jason here by himself in an old, abandoned childrens camp?





She looked at Jason again. He was watching her. She knew there really wasn't any way for him to explain everything. So she decided to let it go. She didn't need to know all of the answers about him. Not when she didn't even know anything about herself. What mattered was that she was there with him now, and he was taking care of her. He'd given her a place to sleep, somewhere to wash, and food to eat. That was all she needed.





Well.. actually.. she also needed a name. Something to call herself. Something for Jason to think of her as.





She closed the album and gazed at the cover... at the camps name.





"Crystal." She grinned and glanced at him sideways through her auburn bangs. Jason tilted his head.





"My name. It'll be Crystal."





Jason seemed to think about it for a moment, then nodded his head. Crystal it was.





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