Luke watched the old lady topple over with her chair and felt the corner of his mouth twitch.
Was she actually reliable?
The back-room curtain flew open. The bored girl from the counter rushed in.
"Grandma! What happened?!"
She took one look at the twitching bones on the table and the old lady on the floor and froze.
The girl stared at Luke in shock, voice shaking.
"Sir… what the hell is that on the table? Did you scare my grandma unconscious?"
"Sweetheart, I'm fine. Go back outside."
The old lady had already pulled herself up using the table leg. She brushed off her dress and gave her granddaughter a sharp look.
"But Grandma—"
One stern glance silenced the girl.
"Listen to . Go."
The girl shot one last horrified glance at the bones, then hurried out.
The old lady sat back down, this ti keeping a little more distance from the table.
She studied the bones with deadly serious eyes.
"Where did you get this?"
Luke pointed toward the edge of town.
"Crystal Lake."
The color drained from her face.
"Jason?"
Luke nodded. He'd co to the right person.
The old lady went quiet for a long mont, lost in mory.
Finally she looked up, eyes heavy with regret.
"Have you ever heard of voodoo?"
Voodoo?
Luke's expression shifted. This was the second ti he'd heard that word in this world.
"What does that have to do with Jason?"
She held up a hand.
"Let start from the beginning."
"When I was little, black folks around here had it rough. A lot of them joined local churches just to feel like they belonged. But so never gave up the old beliefs they brought from ho. Over ti a few of them actually learned real power from it."
Her voice dropped lower.
"They believed everything had a spirit, and that humans were the most powerful material of all. They could use pieces of people to cast spells."
"The worst ones could completely control soone's life—turn them into puppets. We called those zombies."
Zombies?
Luke frowned. That sounded exactly like the movies from his old life.
"But Jason doesn't act like any zombie I've ever seen."
The old lady shook her head.
"That was just an example."
"When I was younger I saved an old black woman. To thank she taught a few voodoo rituals."
Her gaze drifted to the bones, filled with pain.
"Jason's mother—Mrs. Voorhees—found . She got on her knees and begged to bring her son back."
Luke stared at her.
"You taught her?"
The old lady nodded slowly, ashad.
"She was so broken. I felt sorry for her. She swore it wouldn't hurt anyone."
Luke let out a long breath.
"Well, it hurt plenty. Dozens of people died at that camp because of what you gave her."
"I know… I know…"
She looked at him helplessly.
"I tried to stop her later, but I had a stroke. I was stuck in bed and couldn't move."
Luke sighed. Bla wouldn't fix anything now.
"Fine. His bones are right here. You've got a way to end this, right?"
She shook her head again.
"Not here."
"Why not?"
She pointed toward Crystal Lake.
"Jason's resurrection is tied to the ritual Mrs. Voorhees perford. You have to find that exact spot, destroy the core, then burn these bones along with every ritual item. Only then will he finally rest."
She reached into a drawer and pulled out a necklace made of small bones. She handed it to Luke.
"Wear this. It'll heat up when you get close to the ritual site."
Luke took the necklace.
As he turned to leave he paused.
"I soaked his body in holy water. All the flesh burned away. Why are the bones still fine?"
For the first ti the old lady looked confident again.
"Voodoo rituals work by communing with spirits—dark ones. Your holy water can cleanse souls twisted by rage and murder. But it can't touch the power of a mother's love… even when that love has beco twisted and insane."
Luke nodded slowly. It made sense.
He repacked the bones and asked one last question.
"Besides Mrs. Voorhees, did you teach this ritual to anyone else?"
The old lady actually thought about it.
"Now that you ntion it… yes. There's a woman in town nad Vera. But don't worry."
She waved a hand dismissively.
"I only taught her a few harmless little tricks."
Luke kept his face blank.
"Then I guess I've got nothing to worry about."
He pushed through the curtain and stepped into the front of the store.
Lionel ca barreling through the front door like the devil was chasing him.
The girl behind the counter lit up and ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck.
"Lionel! You finally ca! Did your mom say we can be together?"
Lionel bent over, hands on his knees, gasping for air.
When he could finally speak he shook his head, eyes full of pain.
"She's never going to tell what to do again."
The girl's happy expression froze.
"What are you talking about?"
Lionel grabbed her arms like a drowning man.
The words poured out in a frantic rush—everything that had happened in the last few days.
"Oh my God…"
The girl covered her mouth in horror.
Luke had been listening from the back room. He burst out and grabbed Lionel by the shoulders, hard enough to make the smaller man wince.
"Tell . What's your mother's na?"
Lionel's head snapped back and forth from the shaking.
"Vera."
Luke's pupils shrank to pinpricks.
He stared at Lionel, then whipped his head toward the back room.
Harmless little tricks?
This was the kind of "little trick" that turned half the town into a zombie playground?!
A loud bang echoed from sowhere down the street.
Then ca the growls—low, hungry, and getting closer.
Luke didn't hesitate. He spun back into the back room, ignoring the old lady's startled cry, and hoisted her over his shoulder like a sack of flour.
"Lionel! Grab your girl and get in my truck. We're leaving. Now."
The two teenagers froze for half a second, then survival instinct kicked in. They bolted for the pickup, hand in hand.
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