Her name was Crystal

A little time passed. The Fall season deepened and with it came more cold weather. The trees grew more naked each day, shedding their leaves all over the grounds of the camp. A chilly breeze swept over the lake and brought with it a warning of the coming winter.





Crystal was all but completely healed from the violent ordeal she could not remember. Her skin was clear of almost all the bruises, only the deepest ones remained as faded, yellow marks. The cuts in her skin turned to light scars, but she never wondered about them anymore. Any attempts at remembering her former life were forgotten. She was Crystal now, resident of Camp Crystal Lake. There was nothing else for her but the abandoned children's camp, the lake beside it, and the beautiful forest that surrounded them both. And Jason. There was Jason. Jason was everything.





She didn’t like to be away from him. Not for long periods. She followed him throughout the camp as he did his work. Chopping down trees for firewood, fixing traps, sharpening that huge machete he always had strapped to his leg when he wasn’t inside. Jason didn’t mind her following him. He liked her presence. He enjoyed her company. She would make little comments sometimes.. about the sweet smell of the clean air, about the songs of the birds in the trees. It was idle chatter, meaningless really, and not meant to try and carry on a conversation because he could not answer her. But he liked to listen to her voice and she seemed to understand that. But then other times she would be as silent as he was, content to simply be with him, allowing the sounds of nature to fill their ears.







Though she was alright with going outside now, she was still too frightened to wander around very far on her own. Jason took her to each different cabin in search of clothing that would fit her. She'd found a few pairs of jeans, some shirts and some sweaters. She gave a little cheer when she found a pair of shoes in her size. The ground was quite chilly, and while she liked to be carried in Jason's arms, and Jason didn’t mind having her in his arms, it was hardly convenient for him.







She did manage to find a sewing kit and some soap, and immediately she went to work on his clothing. Jason wasn't happy to part with his favourite jacket for repair purposes.. but Crystal tugged at his sleeves until he shrugged out of it and handed it to her. She promised him that she wouldn’t be long.. that he could have it back soon.





Her eyes had widened when she saw what was underneath that bulky jacket. Jason was a powerhouse of muscle. The material of his shirt was stretched thin over his wide chest. His arms were thick and strong. His waist was flat and his hips were narrow. His legs were lean.





Crystal couldn’t keep her eyes from roaming over him. It made her blush and look away before he caught her staring.







After she'd sewn and patched up all the rips and tears in his shirts, pants and jacket, she had Jason drag an old wash tub from the main building and help her fill it with hot water and soap. While she scrubbed the clothing clean she asked Jason to see if he could repair the clothesline she saw hanging from the back of one of the cabins. Once that was done, they hung the clothes out to dry together.







Jason didn’t really understand why the girl felt the need to wash everything she got her hands on, but he was starting to enjoy doing things for her. It made him feel.. proud somehow.. to fill each of Crystal’s requests. It made him want to do more for her. Everything he did made her smile for him. That was his reward, along with her touches. She would touch him gently on the arm to get his attention. She would take his hand to lead him along when she wanted to go on little walks around his camp. She all but threw herself into his embrace one day when he silently told her he had to leave to hunt again. She didn’t like him leaving. She was afraid without him. He didn’t like to leave her either, but oh the feeling she gave him when he returned a few days later. He’d brought home a moose this time, huge and covered with meat that would last them a month.





“Oh Jason..” She’d breathed when she saw the great animal, hanging open from a tree, blood pooling on the ground below. “This is wonderful!”





Jason felt himself glowing with pride. It wasn’t that he’d never caught anything this big before. He’d killed a bear last Fall. But with this he’d impressed the girl. Impressing her was very important to him, though he was still a little confused over the reason why. Her approval meant more to him now than anything else, and he wanted to do anything he could to win it.





He spent time teaching her how to dress the carcass, skillfully slicing the meat from the bones. He showed her which of the organs were good to cook, and which ones should be discarded into the fire.





She learned quickly, borrowing his hunting knife to cut the meat into smaller pieces, then wrapping them up in cloth for storage. He took her to the place where he'd dug a deep pit in the earth. Inside was a large, metal cooler that he used to store all of his fresh food, safe from scavengers.









Time continued to pass. Days turned into weeks, and the snow began to fall.







One chilly, snowy night Crystal dragged Jason outside to play. She'd sewn gloves from the moosehide for them both, so her hands didn't freeze when she scooped up some snow. She packed it into a ball and threw it at him. It hit him in the arm. He tilted his head and she giggled. When he bent to pack his own snowball to return fire, she turned and dashed off between the cabins.





Jason pursued.





She ran as quickly as she could, her heart beating wildly. She darted around another cabin and into the trees behind it to hide. She gathered more ammo, ready to throw another snowball at him whenever he came around the corner chasing after her. But he never came.





Crystal frowned in the darkness, her breath coming out as ribbons in the cold night air. Where was he? She knew he could run much faster than she could. He should have come around the cabin by now. She worried for a moment that he'd slipped on some ice and hurt himself. She stepped out of the trees to go back and look for him.. when suddenly she was grabbed up in two extremely powerful arms and lifted right up off her feet. She shrieked in surprise and a huge hand clamped over her mouth. She was pulled back into a large, warm body and she could hear heavy breathing in her ear.





She relaxed into Jason's hold and savoured the feeling of being safe in his arms. His hand left her mouth and she turned into his embrace, standing on her tip toes so she could put her arms around his neck. He pulled her tightly against his body and gazed down at her. It was well below freezing, but Crystal didn't feel it. Her cheeks were glowing with a warmth that she was sharing with Jason in that moment. She reached to tuck one of his stray hairs behind his ear.







Suddenly she was hoisted high and thrown over Jason's shoulder. He started to walk back to the warmth of their cellar, his boots crunching in the snow.





She laughed loudly and squirmed.





"Jason Voorhees, you put me down this instant!"





He ignored her.





"I mean it!"





She struggled and he held her still, marching silently back home while her shrieks of laughter echoed over the lake.





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