Luke listened to Eddie's story and imdiately understood.
His sister had almost certainly been one of Jason's victims.
Jason himself had been rotting at the bottom of the lake for years.
The kid standing in front of him had two choices: waste the rest of his life chasing ghosts here, or wait until Jason got bored and climbed out of the water one day to send him to join his sister.
It wasn't Luke's problem, but he still tossed out a casual warning.
"If you want to find the killer, you'll probably have to drain the whole damn lake."
Eddie frowned.
"You sound exactly like that crazy guy who used to hang around here. Wait… I don't think I've seen you in town before. Who are you?"
Luke realized he'd forgotten the introduction.
"Luke. New forest ranger."
"Forest ranger?"
Eddie paused, then sothing clicked. His expression turned strange.
"You're the one they transferred in from Miami PD?"
Word traveled fast. Woody's phone call had already made the rounds.
Luke nodded.
Eddie's hostility faded. He lowered the shotgun and let out a long breath.
"There was another guy who said the sa thing. He's in the psych ward now. Couldn't handle the crazy shit he was spouting."
Psych ward?
Luke thought back to the original Friday the 13th tiline. Yeah, that tracked.
" Sorry about your sister."
Luke gave Eddie's shoulder a quick pat.
"But as the new ranger, I'm telling you—don't go hunting alone if things get dangerous."
Eddie watched him walk away, then let out a bitter laugh.
"Everyone thinks I'm insane. I'm not giving up."
Luke didn't turn around. He just raised a hand and disappeared into the trees.
Back at camp, Ethel was losing her mind trying to coax a kid off the roof of one of the cabins.
When she saw Luke, her face lit up like he was the cavalry.
"Where the hell have you been? Get over here—Russell locked himself in his cabin and won't co out. Says it's too dangerous outside."
Luke walked to the cabin and knocked.
"Russell. Open up. It's ."
The chubby kid's voice ca through the door, small and shaky.
"Luke… I don't wanna go outside. It's dangerous out there."
Dangerous?
That didn't sound like the hyper kid from this morning.
Luke knocked again.
"Open the door. I brought you sothing good."
The door cracked open. Russell peeked out, face pale as paper, eyes red and puffy. He looked completely drained—like a different kid.
Exactly like the exhausted high-schoolers Luke had seen in town.
Luke's gut twisted. He stepped inside and shut the door behind him.
"What's wrong? You feeling sick?"
Russell shook his head. His eyes filled with tears.
"I had a nightmare, Luke. I'm scared to sleep now."
"It was just a bad dream. You're a tough guy. You can handle it."
"No!"
Russell's voice cracked.
"I don't even rember what happened in the dream. All I know is it hurt. It hurt so bad. Then I woke up and everything was gone."
Freddy?
Luke's mind went straight to the dream demon who killed people in their sleep.
But he didn't jump to conclusions. Russell had no visible injuries. Could just be night terrors.
Still…
Luke forced himself to stay calm. He pulled a bottle of mineral water from his pocket—the one filled with his homade holy water—and twisted the cap off.
"Here. Drink this. It's my special courage water. Nothing scary can touch you after you drink it."
Russell eyed him doubtfully but took the bottle and gulped down a big mouthful.
The holy water was weak, but it should still give so protection if anything supernatural was actually creeping around.
When he finished, the fear on Russell's face eased a little.
"Luke… does it really work?"
"Of course it does."
Luke ruffled the kid's hair and gave him a reassuring smile.
"Get so sleep. I promise you won't have any more nightmares."
Once Russell was settled, Luke stepped outside, face darkening.
This wasn't random.
Those high-schoolers in town were probably dealing with the exact sa thing.
He called out to Ethel.
"Keep an eye on them. I'm heading into town real quick."
Ethel was still fuming and waved him off without looking.
"Go fast, co back faster!"
By evening the little town felt abandoned.
Most shops were already closed. Only the new KFC on the corner still had its lights on.
Luke parked and walked inside.
Sure enough, the sa group of high-schoolers sat clustered at a table, untouched sodas in front of them. Every one of them looked half-dead—eyes glassy, bodies slumped like they hadn't slept in days.
Luke pulled out a chair and sat down across from them.
"Evening, gentlen."
One of the blond kids lifted his head just enough to glance at Luke.
"Who are you? We don't know you."
"New forest ranger." Luke flashed his badge. "You guys look like hell. Need so help?"
The blond kid's voice cracked with exhaustion and panic.
"We haven't slept in three days. Every ti we close our eyes that thing shows up!"
"We've tried everything—booze, sleeping pills, nothing works. He still cos!"
Worse than I thought.
Luke leaned in, voice low.
"Tell exactly what you're seeing in these dreams."
Right then the front door slamd open.
A figure ca stumbling in, half crawling.
It was Lionel—the twitchy guy from the grocery store earlier.
He looked even worse than the teenagers. Face drenched in sweat, eyes bloodshot, body wound so tight he looked ready to snap.
He rushed to the counter and started barking orders for fried chicken like his life depended on it.
Luke stood up and walked over.
"Hey, Lionel. You okay?"
Lionel spun around, startled, then relaxed slightly when he recognized Luke.
"N-no, I'm fine. Just low blood sugar."
He grabbed the food and bolted out the door without another word.
Luke watched him go, shaking his head.
Everyone in this town is losing their damn minds.
He turned back to the teenagers and kept digging for details.
At the sa ti, across town in a small house…
"Where the hell have you been, you little shit? Bring the food and stop trying to leave alone!"
Lionel flinched at his mother's voice and hurried to the table with the fried chicken.
The second he set the bag down, his mother lunged forward and started stuffing everything into her mouth—chicken, bones, even the greasy paper wrappers.
"More of this garbage? You really can't do anything without , can you?"
Lionel kept his head down, terrified.
Ever since the monkey in the park had bitten his mother, she'd been getting stranger and stranger.
Her appetite had beco monstrous. Her skin and arms had started rotting.
Just minutes ago, Lionel had watched her bite off one of her own fingers… and swallow it whole.
She hadn't even flinched.
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