Kate immediately seized on the least important part of Ben's complaint.
"What does Melissa being upset have to do with you?"
Ben's expression tightened.
"I only meant that Melissa likes Nick, so of course she'd be unhappy. That's all."
"Then why are you so concerned about it?"
Ben took a breath, leaned forward, and silenced the argument with a kiss.
Kate pushed lightly against his chest.
"You didn't even close the door."
"That's part of the excitement. Stop talking."
They had barely settled onto the cushions when footsteps crunched through the dead leaves outside the RV.
Kate immediately pulled away.
"Did you hear that?"
Ben listened for a moment but heard nothing else.
"There's someone outside. Go check."
Ben groaned in frustration. They had left the crowded cabin specifically to avoid interruptions, yet someone had apparently followed them into the darkness.
He reluctantly stood and stepped out of the RV.
The clearing looked empty.
Before Ben could turn around, Jason Voorhees emerged silently behind him.
Two enormous decayed hands closed around Ben's skull.
Ben reacted on instinct and grabbed Jason's wrists, but he could not loosen the killer's grip. Jason's rotting muscles carried inhuman strength, and his fingers continued tightening no matter how desperately Ben struggled.
A wet crack broke the stillness.
Ben's body went limp as Jason crushed his head between both hands. Blood and fragments of bone spilled across the ground before the corpse collapsed beside the vehicle.
Jason released him and turned toward the open RV door.
Kate had not seen what happened from inside. Ben's body had fallen beside the vehicle and remained hidden from her position, though she had heard a strange sound outside.
"Ben?"
No one answered.
She cautiously leaned toward the doorway and extended her head outside.
Jason bent down and picked up a small plastic party horn that had fallen near Ben's belongings. He approached the RV without making a sound.
Kate turned just as the hockey mask appeared beside the door.
Jason drove the party horn through her eye.
The plastic tube pierced deep into her skull. Kate released a final scream before falling backward onto the cushions.
The sound carried across the campground.
Ash seized his silver greatsword and ran out of the cabin. He immediately focused on the RV behind the building and crossed the distance in several powerful strides.
Kate's body was visible through the open door.
Ash circled the vehicle and found Ben lying beside it. The young man's head had been crushed beyond recognition.
Heather, Gwen, Nick, and Tina rushed outside moments later. They stopped when they saw the two bodies.
Nick raised his shotgun and searched the surrounding trees.
Until that moment, a small part of him had continued hoping that Tina's vision and the newspaper stories were mistaken. The dead couple removed every remaining doubt.
Jason Voorhees was real.
Ash frowned as he scanned the forest. He had responded almost immediately after hearing Kate's scream, yet Jason had already disappeared.
The killer's size should have made hiding difficult, but he moved through the darkness with unnatural speed and silence. His ability to appear and vanish without warning was nearly as dangerous as his strength.
While everyone focused on the RV, Jason had already returned to the cabin.
Upstairs, another couple remained alone inside one of the bedrooms. They had heard nothing outside and were too distracted to notice the heavy figure entering the hallway.
A knock struck their door.
The young man lifted his head in irritation.
"Who is it? We're busy."
No answer came from outside.
The knocking continued with the same slow rhythm.
The young man climbed out of bed without bothering to dress properly. He crossed the room and pulled the door open, already preparing to shout at whoever had interrupted them.
A machete descended through the doorway.
The blade buried itself in his forehead before he could react. His body fell backward and struck the floor without making another sound.
The woman on the bed screamed.
She grabbed the lamp from the nightstand and hurled it at Jason. The base struck his shoulder and shattered, but his massive body barely moved.
Jason entered the room.
The woman pulled the comforter from the bed and threw it over his head. For a moment, the thick fabric blocked his vision.
She rolled off the opposite side of the mattress and sprinted toward the open doorway.
Freedom was only a few feet away.
Jason tore the comforter from his head and caught her by the hair. He dragged her backward before she could reach the hall.
She screamed and clawed at the floor, but Jason continued pulling until she was completely inside the bedroom.
He wrapped the comforter around her struggling body and lifted the bundled woman over his head.
Jason turned toward the window. He hurled her through the glass.
The pane exploded outward. The woman sailed through the night before crashing onto the ground near the others. Ash looked down at the motionless figure wrapped in bloodstained bedding. He then raised his head toward the shattered second-floor window.
Jason stood behind the remaining glass.
His yellowed hockey mask faced the people below while one hand held the blood-covered machete. After staring at Ash for several seconds, he turned away from the window.
"Stay here," Ash ordered. "If he comes outside, shoot him immediately."
He gripped the greatsword with both hands and charged back into the cabin.
The crash had awakened everyone upstairs. Doors opened along the hallway as confused guests attempted to understand what had happened.
Dr. Crews stepped from the room closest to the attack.
He turned toward the neighboring bedroom and found Jason already standing before him.
The psychiatrist froze.
Jason's machete swept horizontally through the narrow hallway.
The blade cut across Dr. Crews's throat. Blood sprayed across the wall as his body collapsed beside the doorway.
Amanda heard the noise and opened the next room.
She leaned into the hallway and immediately came face-to-face with Jason's stained hockey mask.
Her eyes widened.
The stories were true.
A serial killer had entered the cabin.
Jason raised the machete and swung toward her.
Amanda stumbled backward, but the doorway left her with nowhere to escape. The blade was already descending when Ash reached the top of the stairs.
He lunged forward and raised the silver greatsword with both hands.
Metal struck metal.
The impact echoed through the hallway as Jason's machete crashed against the glowing blade. Ash planted his feet and stopped the weapon before it could reach Amanda.
Jason remained motionless for a moment.
He seemed confused that someone had blocked his attack.
Ash studied the figure before him while pushing against the machete. Jason's strength was enormous, but it was not beyond what Ash's enhanced body could withstand.
The realization made him smile faintly.
Jason appeared to be a huge adult built like a bear, yet he had been only eleven years old when he drowned in Crystal Lake.
Technically, the unstoppable monster before him was still a child.
Amanda did not remain to watch the confrontation. Her weakened legs nearly failed beneath her as she stumbled past Ash and ran toward the stairs.
She reached the first floor but could not find Tina inside.
Panic overwhelmed her.
Amanda rushed through the front door and finally spotted her daughter standing with Heather, Gwen, and Nick outside the cabin.
She ignored their warnings and seized Tina's hand.
"We're leaving. Right now."
Tina resisted as Amanda dragged her toward the vehicle parked outside their own cabin.
"Mom, listen to me. Driving away is more dangerous!"
Amanda could no longer process anything except the image of Jason's machete swinging toward her neck.
She tightened her grip and continued pulling Tina across the campground.
"We are not staying here another second."