One Good Woman

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Author’s note: Sorry it’s been so long. First my computer puked and needed care, then my brain went all fritzy and I couldn’t figure out where to go next. But here we are again! As a side note, those of you who are truly Jason-fanatics and have seen the movies have probably noted some familiar references (no I’m NOT going to point shit out). I hope they’ve been fun to catch.

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Jesse had a headache.
Her eyes opened for a moment and took in a glimpse of unfamiliar abandonment.
It didn’t matter. Her eyes squeezed shut again as the pain of Tommy’s loss overwhelmed her.
She dimly noticed she was wrapped in blankets. Really clean blankets. The fresh scent of right of the clothesline cleanliness just made her sob harder as she curled into a small ball of misery.
Tommy was gone.
She might have held herself responsible, but for the fact that they had walked these woods together every day for the past three weeks and had never seen a single soul. And today was truly no different. They hadn’t even gone beyond their usual walking distance yet! So what warning was there? Loud music in the night coming from across the lake? Was she supposed to strap Kevlar to the child’s body because there were PEOPLE in the damn woods?!
The frustration and grief caused her to lash out and kick the nearest wall. Fine grit rained down from the ancient rafters.
Jason heard her. But he did not move. He was standing at the edge of the lake staring at his own reflection.
He’d noticed it when he’d gently laid Jesse on the floor of his home. He’d stolen some clean wash off someone’s line on the way home, and as he arranged the blankets carefully around…..he was distracted by his own forearm.
What had happened?
His skin was….velvet. Like the sides of the peaches Mother used to slice for him. It was nice to touch….but….no one had skin like that. Jason was confused. The color was off too. That didn’t really surprise Jason much, his color had always been off, but that had always been a dead kind of off.
This color was more live. Vital. A light tan shade like moccasin leather. But not a hint of pink. Human skin was pinkish. Jason had certainly seen enough flesh to know that.
So what was he looking at?
As he turned his hand before his eyes, he saw something that sent him straight outside.
The back edge of his forearms had a new feature. A pair of bony spines protruded from his skin and curved elegantly back along his arm.
That was NOT a human feature.
Jason went to look at his reflection in the lake.
The only thing he really could see was how tight his clothes were. He’d always been largely proportioned, but now he was almost impossibly massive. Muscle throbbed heavily beneath his straining clothing.
His hand went to his hockey mask but hesitated. Jason wasn’t fond of looking at his face. Even less so since he’d “died”. But he had to know.
The mask came off.
He blinked.
Was this…improvement? Jason wasn’t sure what to think. He wasn’t gooey and his features were even. That was the best that could be said. His bone structure was absolutely demonic. The only hint of humanity was his eyes. They were the same. A long serpentine tongue flicked between his sharp teeth.
He could hear his lady stirring. He put the hockey mask back on.
Which was probably for the best.

()()()()()()()()()()()()

The Inhabitor luxuriated in it’s success. Jason hadn’t tweaked despite looking like a guardian of hell’s gate. That was truly the only hurdle. The girl now. The girl.
Jason couldn’t smell it, but the Inhabitor had him emitting pheromones like crazy. As the girl was carried through the woods, the Inhabitor had analyzed her personal chemistry and created an undeniable cocktail. It was an easy trick that had been around as long as the hell-born damned had desired the forbidden fruits of the human woman.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Jesse was starting to pull herself out of her grief. She was in danger.
Although the punks in the woods were dead (one of them by her own hand lest one forget), she knew they were not the threat that faced her now. The last face she’d seen before passing out cold had been one covered in a hockey mask. And she’d seen more than enough evidence to convince her that he was most certainly dangerous.
And it really didn’t help that she had no idea where she was. But wherever she was, without question it wasn’t meant for the living. No furniture, no plumbing. It was just a crumbling shell long abandoned by breathing people.
And….there was a smell.
A smell that told her she’d best not try opening any rotted doors that did not obviously lead outside. Unless she really wanted to look at something that would make her scream.
*This is Jason’s place…You’re a Live Person in Jason’s place….think, think.* Jesse pressed her hands to her temples trying to clear her head.
Unfortunately, the only thing Jesse was coming up with was a question. After being featured more than once in the papers, HOW could this place (obviously the former Mother-shrine and sanctuary) still be standing? It seemed beyond possibility that this corpse-den could still exist.
Without question, Jason was still…using this place. Jesse’s eyes were close to watering from the smell, and her stomach dropped as the thought of coming across Donna or Thomas in here.
Jesse moved quietly to a tightly boarded window. Dim light was filtering in from outside. As Jesse squinted trying to get a lay of the land, it struck her to wonder at Jason’s motive. Granted, nothing she’d read indicated that anyone was that familiar with Jason’s method, but it still struck her as odd that he was still allowing her to live.
She couldn’t see shit.
And the air coming from outside felt cold. Jesse pulled her hand away from the chill. It was much warmer in here. Quite warm.
Downright toasty in fact.
Jesse could feel herself relaxing her hold on the blankets. She could feel the pleasant heat touching the back of her neck and shoulders.
Moments floated by before the quiet voice of Reason reached Jesse. Telling her that something wasn’t connecting right. Such as the impossibility of sauna-like warmth within an unwired shack. And had she been this warm when she awoke? No.
Curious and uneasy, Jesse turned around.
And found the source of her heat.
Standing only a foot from her smaller frame was a lethal mountain of a man.
Jason Voorhees.

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Author’s Note: Ooooh gee! Did I just throw you all a cliffhanger? Well, I can’t just leave you like that….the next chapter will be posted at the same time as this chapter….can’t be blamed for chewed up mouse pads.