Tiffany had been the opposite of Carrie in every way. She was rich, outgoing, and always looked like she’d stepped out of the glossy magazines Carrie used to save from the recycling bins of the motels and homes she cleaned on weekends. After Mama had tiredly shuffled to bed, she’d thumb through them late at night, dreaming of a life outside of school and church and the dumpy apartment.
Tiffany could be nice, but she liked you to stay in your place. When The Photo had leaked, she’d taken it as a personal insult. Carrie had been fired from her housecleaning job, obviously, but Tiffany’s influence had made her a social pariah, too. Maybe Carrie shouldn’t have gone for a friend’s ex, but the in-crowd at Cedar Lake High was always switching up partners, and Michael had told her he’d seen Tiffany getting hot and heavy with some new guy in the observatory parking lot.
Tiffany just couldn’t stand that someone like Carrie would try to aspire to date the most popular guy at school. She spread the story that Carrie had tried to steal her boyfriend, even though she and Jason had been broken up at the time. Carrie hadn’t been able to walk anywhere without boys yelling at her to take off her top, or girls giving her the stink eye for being a home-wrecker. She’d spent those first few weeks of her senior year throwing up in the girls’ bathroom during lunch as if it were that easy to purge her regrets, while her phone pinged with concerned texts from Michael. She’d been too ashamed to reply to him.
Tiffany had always made her feel like she’d never be enough, and The Photo had cemented her status as an outcast.
Tiffany caught Carrie regarding her. “Thanks for coming to my rescue,” she said, actually sounding like she meant it.
“You’re welcome,” Carrie said, and she meant it, too. She was glad Tiffany’s hard feelings had softened and that she trusted Carrie a bit more. The near-death experience had rattled her, making her seem almost human. There was no exciting drama around dying, despite what movies showed. Only the limp pathos of a life on its way out. It had been a revelation to see Mama, who’d once been so full of self-righteous fire, withered to a husk. Death came for them all eventually, so you might as well live. This was another lesson she’d learned from therapy.
Carrie picked up the beer she’d abandoned when Tiffany had started thrashing and took only a small sip. She wanted to keep her head clear tonight. An electric sensation crawled across her skin, as if a storm were coming. It both thrilled and terrified her. Tiffany’s near-drowning felt like it was only the beginning. The air crackled with unnerving promise.
“I got something that’ll settle your nerves, Tiffany.” Freddy put down the chips and took a plastic baggie out of his hoodie pocket. He extracted a joint with trembling hands and Carrie suspected it was just as much for his nerves as Tiffany’s.
Patrick shot him a dirty look. “Bruh, it’s legal now,” Freddy said. He lit the joint with a cigarette lighter, took a drag, and passed it to Tiffany.
Tiffany took the joint and gratefully inhaled. The skunky smell of pot filled Carrie’s nostrils and her belly lurched with nausea.
“Fuck, I needed that,” Tiffany said, offering it to Carrie.
Carrie shook her head. Never again. It was Freddy’s weed brownies that had gotten her into that mess that night. He hadn’t warned her, so she’d eaten three of them on an empty stomach.
Patrick crossed his arms over his frilly orange apron. He was picking a strange time to disapprove. Carrie had been high as a kite that night, and Patrick had looked off in Jason’s direction like a tragic hero and said you couldn’t have love without risk. Carrie’sdrug-altered brain had lit up like a Christmas tree and taken the hint. If she wanted Jason to see her as a romantic prospect, she would have to do something bold.
Jason wasn’t the only one who had access to the property. Until that night, the others hadn’t known Carrie had been cleaning houses with her mother and that theSlashercabin was in their rotation. She’d been too embarrassed to tell them. None of them had to worry about earning money for college. She had good grades, but unlike Jason and Michael, she didn’t have any special talents that could snag her a full scholarship.
No one had thought responsible Carrie Zhao would ever abuse the privilege of holding the cabin keys. Least of all herself. But it had felt easy, especially with Jen spurring her on.
Jen took a drag from the joint, laughing as she said something rude and inane. Carrie’s breathing quickened and she felt the beginnings of a panic attack. She focused on taking steady breaths, silently stating her mantra.I am a strong woman who can’t be hurt anymore.She’d learned in therapy to change the narrative and stop framing herself as a victim, a naive and vulnerable innocent likeSlasher’s Final Girl, Jordan Knox.
Carrie’s heartbeat slowed and the sound of Jen’s raucous laughter lost its sting. Jen had badgered Carrie to open the cellar, because Carrie had accidently let slip there wereSlasherprops stored there. Jen hadn’t believed it, because why would precious movie memorabilia be stashed in a basement? But the town council had been arguing for years as to where to set up aSlashermuseum, so it made sense they’d keep it all here for now.
Carrie should’ve known better than to listen to Jen, the girl who went through life with her middle finger raised. If there was a rule, Jen would break it on principle. She’d been perfect to play rebellious rocker Heather in theirSlasherreenactments. Carrie hadn’t been thinking clearly, and when she’d confessed to Jen she wanted to make Jason see her as more than virginal Jordan Knox, it had been Jen who’d snapped The Photo and texted it to him.
It was only a dumb photo, taken at a moment of poor judgment. But instead of politely telling Carrie he wasn’t interested, Jason had shared the picture. Next thing she knew, someone had papered Cedar Lake High with printouts so everyone could see Carrie kneeling on the forest floor, wearing nothing but the Slasher’s red jacket, gaping open to expose her breasts, her crotch obscured by a machete planted tip-down in the dirt between her legs. Posing like a Boris Vallejo warrior babe. It would’ve been pretty badass if she hadn’t been known as the good girl.
Jason and Michael drew closer to the fire pit, Michael picking up the bag of chips Freddy had dropped and plunging his hand inside. Jason had put the axe away and he looked everywhere except at Carrie, his eyes flat and jaw tense. That was fine. She didn’t want to look at him, either. The sight of his face dredged up a maelstrom of conflicting feelings. Feelings her therapist had advised she needed to sit with, but she was reluctant to sit with them just yet.
He’d changed, too, although she couldn’t put her finger on how. He was still as good-looking as ever, yet seemed older and harder, like there was something unpleasant he was putting off. Carrie hoped it was because he felt guilty about sharing her photo. Not that it mattered anymore.
She felt an unwelcome pang in her chest and took a sip of beer to chase it away.I am a strong woman who can’t be hurt anymore.
Freddy drew in a shaky toke. “I’m telling you, man. It’s the Slasher.”
“Freddy—” Patrick said, rolling his eyes.
“I’m serious! Dude jumps in front of my van, and then he tries to drown Tiffany—”
“Tiffany said she was mistaken,” Carrie said.
“I—I don’t know,” Tiffany said. Carrie frowned. Tiffany had been convinced she’d been imagining things before. The weed—and Freddy—were making her doubt herself.
“I saw some creep watching us from across the lake,” Jen blurted out, and Carrie blinked in surprise.
“See?” Freddy gestured at Jen, the joint smoldering between his fingers. “The Slasher! Timmy Thompson coming to avenge his mother!”
“That’s impossible!” Carrie couldn’t help laughing at Freddy. He must be smoking some really strong weed. Timmy Thompson was the Slasher’s real name. According to the movie’s lore, the cabin’s owners had evicted his mother after her husband’s untimely death, causing a mental breakdown that had led her to try to drown herself and her young son in the lake. Timmy had survived and wound up in an institution, until breaking out as an adult to seek gory revenge in three movies and a reboot.
