“Holy shit, am I glad to see you,” Patrick said, eyes still locked on Jason. He suddenly seemed to realize he was flopped onJason’s chest. He coughed, rolled off Jason, and scrabbled to his feet, holding out his hand. Jason took it and let Patrick haul him up.
Carrie was able to get a better look at the rest of Patrick then. What a shocking state he was in. His Oxford shirt had become partially untucked from the waistband of his khakis, and one of the points of his collar was unbuttoned. Patrick never had so much as an eyebrow hair out of place. Something—or someone—must have scared him.
“What happened?” Tiffany asked as Jason plucked a spray of cedar needles out of Patrick’s unruly curls.
Worry gripped Carrie’s chest. “Where’s Jen?”
Patrick took a great gulp of air, uncharacteristically fidgety. “I lost her. She was heading for the highway and wasn’t planning to come back.”
“Not a surprise,” Jason muttered.
“Has anyone seen her?” Carrie asked, searching her friends’ faces. She hadn’t thought before to ask about Jen, since all this time she’d assumed she was with Patrick.
“Tiffany and I have been mostly staying on the lakeshore,” Jason said.
Tiffany smacked Patrick on the shoulder. “How could you lose her?”
Patrick took her punishment, a guilty expression crossing his handsome features. “I tripped, and when I looked up, she was gone. And then I heard someone calling for help and tried to find them.”
“Was it Michael?” Carrie was uneasy that they hadn’t found him by now. Was he okay? And had Jen made it to the highway?
Patrick wet his lips. “I don’t know. Might’ve been. I didn’t find him, though. I’m sorry, Jason. I tried and then I—” He shook his head. “You’re going to think I’m nuts. But I saw the Slasher. A guy wearing the mask and jacket and everything.”
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’mworried 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.
