My Life is Horrific Chapter 9 — Abandoned House Exploration… (Gone Wrong!) (Patreon)

I stepped out of the lake cabin into the night, the handgun in my right hand and the flashlight in my left. I confidently walked down the steps of the lake house and towards the forest but honestly, I was anything but confident. 

I had no fucking clue what I was gonna do. 

From everything I remembered about the movies Jason was immortal. The guy took bullets to the face, inives to the chest, and just kept walking like it was a Sunday stroll. 

During our little fight earlier he had shrugged off every punch, every elbow, every stab like I was tickling him. So what the hell was the plan here? March in, yell "yippee-ki-yay," and hope the upgraded CQC and the new Handguns skill magically turned me into John Wick? 

Yeah right. 

Even with the healing bullshit that had dragged me back from actual death I knew I couldn't kill him. Not really. But I could at least get Claire out. Drag her back to the Mustang, peel out of this hellhole, and pray the big masked prick didn't decide to follow us all the way to Derry. Hell, if he did show up at home later maybe by then I'd have figured out how to actually give him a proper smack down.

Fuck it. 

This time would be different. My skills had leveled up and I had the Wolverine regen thing now, even if it was a bit slower. Even if I couldn't end Jason I could buy enough time to save her and get the fuck out of here.

I clicked the flashlight on and swept the beam left to right. The woods looked exactly like every horror movie ever made. A far cry from how it looked during the day and very different from my childhood memories of it. 

I followed the path downhill toward the old summer-camp cabins, my heart hammering so loud I could hear it in my ears. Every snapped twig made my finger twitch on the trigger. 

I kept telling myself I was confident now. But deep down I was still scared shitless. That pain from before? The way he had turned my insides into hamburger meat? I was not enthusiastic to relive that. Not even a little.

The deeper I went the darker it got. Trees closed overhead until the moonlight disappeared completely. My flashlight beam bounced off wet leaves and reflected in puddles of something I really hoped was just water. 

Then I saw them. 

Large boot prints that were sunk deep into the mud, way bigger than any normal man's. And between the prints, there were dark droplets of blood. 

It had to be Claire's blood. 

The thought made my stomach twist but I kept moving forward, following the trail like a bloodhound.

I pushed through a thicket and kept going on until the forest got even quieter. Too quiet. The kind of quiet that meant either a jump scare was coming or I wwas about to get my ass murdered.

It became even worse when the sound of the trees and the bushes started to rustle; it made my paranoid brain go into overdrive. Every rustle sounded like Jason stepping up behind me. I kept the gun up, finger alongside the trigger the way my instincts guided me. As I continued down the path the blood trail got thicker. At first it was only drops and small lines, but then a whole smear on a tree trunk like she had been slammed against it.

I was so focused on the blood I almost missed the noise. A loud crack of a stick breaking somewhere to my left. 

I spun and fired blindly. 

The gunshot cracked like thunder, the muzzle flash lighting up the trees for half a second. Bark exploded off a pine ten feet away. However on closer inspection there was nothing ther just empty woods and my own stupidity echoing back at me.

"Fuck!" I hissed, lowering the gun a little. "Calm the fuck down, James. Jesus Christ you're gonna shoot your own dick off at this rate." I took a deep breath calming myself for a moment before I kept moving.

I turned to check the trail again and nearly shit myself. Someone was standing right there. Three feet away. I whipped the gun up, but they threw both hands in the air fast. "Don't shoot! Don't shoot, boy! It's us!"

I kept the barrel pointed at the middle one's chest but eased my finger off the trigger. I clicked the flashlight straight into their faces. Three ugly, bearded, trucker-hat-wearing hillbillies from earlier stared back at me. 

The same inbred trio who had tried to knife-fight us in the driveway early. Earl, the tall skinny one with the missing teeth, stood in the middle. The barrel-shaped one with the gut and the short one who looked like he'd been kicked by a horse too many times flanked him.

"What the fuck are you doing out here?" I growled, not lowering the gun an inch.

They didn't answer right away. Just shifted their weight and looked at each other like they were deciding whether to run or fight. Earl finally spat on the ground and shook his head. "Y'all are a buncha fuckin' idiots, that's what. Comin' out to this here lake like it's some damn summer vacation. This forest ain't safe, boy. Never has been. Got evil things in these woods older'n your grandpappy and twice as mean."

I stared at them, my eyes widening as I almost shot them all right there. "You knew? You knew that monster was here?"

They went quiet for a second, boots scraping the dirt. Then the short one muttered something under his breath and Earl stepped forward. "We tried to warn y'all, didn't we? Told you to git off the property. But nooo, you rich city kids had to play tough guy with your fancy moves and your booze and your little bikini sluts. Now look at ya. Covered in blood, friends all chopped up like Sunday supper."

I felt the anger flare in my chest. I raised the gun higher and aimed the barrel right between Earl's eyes. "All my friends are fucking dead and you couldn't warn us? You motherfuckers—"

"We did warn you!" the barrel-shaped one shouted back. "We told you to leave! But you didn't listen!"

"Maybe if you'd told us about the seven-foot-tall serial killer in the hockey mask we might of listened!" I snapped at them. 

"Like you would've believed us," Earl cut in, spitting again. "I know what you city folk are like. Take one look at us, call us inbred rednecks, laugh and drive off. Ain't nobody believes us folk till the bodies start droppin'."

My jaw clenched so hard it hurt. "You pulled a knife on me, asshole."

"And you used them fancy fuckin' Ching Chong moves on me!" Earl shot back, rubbing his wrist like it still hurt.

The short one raised both hands again, stepping between us. "Whoa whoa, boys, easy now. We ain't got time for this pissing contest. That masked freak is still out there somewhere. We gotta deal with him before he deals with all of us."

I lowered the gun a fraction. "How the hell are you planning to deal with him? Last time I checked bullets just pissed him off."

Earl reached into his coat and pulled out a small cloth bundle. He unwrapped it slowly, almost reverently, and held up a plain-looking dagger. The blade was dark metal, nothing fancy, maybe eight inches long with a simple wooden handle. Looked like something you'd buy at a flea market for ten bucks.

"Our grandma," he said. "God bless her soul. She dealt with that monster before. Back when she was just a girl. Thing killed all her friends at that old camp, but she got away. Spent the rest of her life huntin' for a way to end him proper. Eventually she found this."

I stared at the knife. "It just looks like a knife."

Earl's eyes flashed. "That's what I thought too. But this knife is unlike anything I ever seen. Grandma said it can kill anything unnatural. Anything that ain't supposed to be walkin' this earth."

"How would she know?" I asked, still skeptical as hell.

The three of them exchanged looks. The barrel guy shrugged. "There's lotsa old stories about the knife. Some say it's got the same metal that was used in the spear that pierced Jesus Christ himself. That's why it can put down things that won't stay dead. That's why we three come down here. It was grandma's last wish. Kill the monster. End the curse once and for all."

I sighed, rubbing my face with my free hand. Blood and dirt smeared across my cheek. I didn't believe a single word about the magic Jesus knife. Sure, maybe their grandma story was true and they really were here for revenge. But that dagger? Looked like it would snap the second it touched Jason's mask. Still, I didn't give a shit why they were here.

"Look," I said. "I don't give a fuck why you're here or what fairy-tale knife you brought. All I want is to save my friend. You can do whatever the fuck you want with Jason while I do that. We clear?"

They nodded all nodded after a little deliberation so I turned and started walking again, following the blood trail deeper into the trees. A second later I heard their heavy footsteps behind me. I stopped and looked back.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

Earl scratched his beard, suddenly sheepish. "We... uh... we're lost."

I stared at them for a long second. Then I sighed so hard it hurt my ribs. "Come on then."

We moved through the forest for the next hour. The hillbillies kept their mouths mostly shut except for the occasional "watch that root, boy" or "blood trail's gettin' thicker." 

Eventually the trees thinned and we stepped into a clearing. 

And there it was.

An old mansion straight out of the 1800s. Three stories of rotting wood and broken windows, paint peeled off in huge strips, roof sagging like it was tired of existing. Vines crawled up the walls, windows stared out like empty eye sockets. The whole place looked like it had been dropped here by a horror director with too much budget and not enough taste. If this wasn't a giant red flag I didn't know what was.

Earl whistled. "Well I'll be damned. Old place. Musta be ol colonial type house."

The barrel guy hefted his shotgun. "Alright boys, let's split up and look for the fucker. Cover more ground that way."

I almost laughed out loud. Are they actually retarded? Splitting up when only one of them has the supposed mystical weapon. Classic horror movie suicide. Fuck. You know what? I don't care anymore. Let them get chopped into redneck confetti. I just need Claire.

"Yeah," I said. "Let's split up. Great idea."

I headed straight for the front porch of the mansion, boots creaking on the warped steps. Behind me I heard the hillbillies muttering to each other, arguing who should take the barn and who should circle the back. I didn't look back.

Idiots. 

I pushed through the front door of the mansion while keeping my back against the frame and listening for any sound inside before I stepped fully into the entryway. The wood groaned under my boots as I moved forward and scanned the room with the flashlight beam sweeping left and right. The place smelled like mold and old wood that had been sitting wet for years. 

I kept the gun up in my right hand with my left supporting the flashlight underneath it so the light stayed aligned with the barrel. I inched down the hallway and checked each doorway before passing it as I did not want to get jumped from behind. 

The blood trail had led here so Claire had to be here, I could only hope Jason would take his time carving up those three stooges while I found her and we got the fuck out of here.

I turned into what looked like a living room with furniture covered in sheets that sagged from rot and I moved around the edges of the space while keeping my eyes on the shadows in the corners. I paused at the base of the stairs and listened again for any movement upstairs before I started climbing them one at a time with my back to the wall and the gun pointed up the flight. 

I've been in this universe properly for two days and I'm already dealing with shit like this. 

Fuck me. 

My heart pounded in my chest as I reached the landing and the flashlight caught glimpses of peeling wallpaper that hung in strips like someone had clawed at it. I cleared the first bedroom by nudging the door open with my foot and sweeping the beam inside to check under the bed and in the closet before moving on to the next. Sweat trickled down my back while I worked my way down the hall and the silence pressed in heavier with each empty room I found.

I rounded the corner into a larger space that might have been a study once and I froze when a shadow shifted at the far end. My finger tightened on the trigger as I aimed the flashlight there but it was just a curtain fluttering from a broken window. 

I definitely must be suffering from brain damage, the fact I'm willingly going through this horror show when I should be in my car hitting the highway at borderline illegal speeds. 

I let out a slow breath, I couldn't do that. 

I did owe Claire, if it wasn't for her I'd be dead. 

Well if it wasn't for her power. 

Just shut up and stop complaining and keep moving. 

The blood smears on the floor got fresher here with drops leading toward a back hallway so I followed them and pushed through a door that led to what felt like a servants' quarters or something similar. 

The air grew colder as I descended a short set of steps into a narrower corridor. I heard a faint drip of water from somewhere ahead and I adjusted my grip on the gun while stepping over a fallen beam that blocked part of the path.

I emerged into a kitchen area when I heard the heavy thud of a footstep behind me. I spun and there he was. Jason stood at the entrance to the hallway with his machete hanging in one hand and his hockey mask cracked from our last round. 

Of fucking course he would show up now. 

Cause why wouldn't he attack me instead of Billy-Bob, Cousin Jim and Uncle Cletus. 

Shit! 

He lunged forward without a sound and I sidestepped while bringing the gun up and firing twice at his knee joint. BANG BANG. The shots echoed through the room as he staggered for a split second. 

I used the opening to grab his extended arm while twisting it into a lock behind his back before driving my knee into the side of his leg. He grunted silently through the mask and swung back with his free hand but I ducked under it and fired again point blank into his back. BANG. The bullet tore through muscle and he jerked but his strength surged anyway as he broke the lock and grabbed my throat with fingers like steel cables. 

I choked while he lifted me off the ground and slammed me into the wall hard enough that plaster cracked and rained down on us. Pain exploded in my back, he then went to stab me with his machete but I managed to get my leg up and into the crook of his elbow, I then brought the gun around and fired into his wrist joint while prying at his fingers with my free hand. BANG. He loosened just enough for me to drop and I rolled away before coming up in a crouch and firing at his other knee. BANG BANG.

Jason charged again and I met him halfway while sliding to hook his leg and pull it out from under him before firing upward into his face as he fell. He hit the floor with a crash that shook the counters and I jumped on his chest while pinning his machete arm with my knee and unloading two more shots into his back of his head where the mask met flesh. BANG BANG. "Yeah take that you fucking filthy animal!!!" I screamed out. 

Blood sprayed but he bucked me off and his fist caught me in the ribs as I flew back into a table that splintered under the impact. CRACK. I gasped for air while scrambling up and he rose too with his machete swinging in a wide arc that I dodged by leaning back before countering with a palm strike to his throat followed by a shot to the same area. BANG. 

The fight dragged on as he grabbed me again and threw me through the kitchen wall into the next room where I crashed through rotting drywall and landed in a heap of debris. Dust choked the air while I coughed and fired blindly at his silhouette in the hole. BANG BANG. 

But he kept coming and wrapped his hand around my neck again while lifting me high and squeezing until spots danced in my vision. I kicked at his chest and fired the last round in the magazine into his forearm joint. BANG. He dropped me and I hit the ground rolling while ejecting the empty mag and slapping in one of the spares.

I came up firing at his knees again while circling him and using the broken furniture for cover. He stumbled forward and I closed in to twist his arm into another lock before driving my elbow into his mask multiple times fast while firing into his side. The impacts rattled him but his strength won out as he headbutted me hard enough to split my lip and send blood flying. 

I staggered back and he slashed at me with his machete which I managed to avoid partially, he did it again and again before I tripped and he used that opportunity to kick me across the room where I slammed into a bookshelf that collapsed on top of me in a pile of wood and old books. Pain flared everywhere but I pushed through it and fired from under the debris at his approaching form. BANG BANG. The shots hit his chest and slowed him just as shouts echoed from downstairs.

The hillbillies burst in through the front door with Earl in the lead clutching that dagger while the barrel-shaped one pumped his shotgun and the short one leveled a rifle. "Over yonder! Get 'im boys!" Earl yelled as he spotted us and they all charged in while screaming at each other.

"You take left I'll go right don't let him grab ya!" the barrel guy hollered back while raising his shotgun and blasting Jason in the chest with a deafening boom that filled the room with smoke. 

Jason jerked from the impact but kept advancing, the short one fired his rifle next with cracks that echoed off the walls. "Aim for the head you fool not the body he don't feel that!" Earl shouted as he dodged around a fallen chair and tried to get close with the dagger raised high. "We gotta stick him proper like grandma said don't waste yer shots on nothin' else!"

The barrel guy lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Jason from behind in a bear hug while squeezing with all his strength and yelling through gritted teeth. "I got 'im hold still you big ugly bastard!" 

Jason twisted and slammed him backward into the wall hard enough that the plaster buckled and the guy gasped as air whooshed out of him. THUD. Jason then drove his machete back into the barrel guy's gut with a wet crunch and twisted it while the man screamed and blood poured out. 

The other two cried out in unison. "No Bubba get off him!" and Earl shouting "You sonofabitch I'll gut ya for that!" while tears streamed down his face.

Earl rushed in next with the dagger and stabbed at Jason's side but Jason caught his wrist and lifted him off the ground while strangling him with the other hand. Earl choked and kicked his legs wildly as his face turned red and he gasped out "Let go ya monster this ain't over!" before Jason hurled him away like trash into a corner where he hit the floor with a thud and groaned while clutching his throat.

I saw my opening and got Jason in a lock from behind while wrapping my arm around his neck and pulling back hard to expose his side before firing into his ribs. He roared and twisted free before headbutting me square in the face again with a crack that split my nose and sent blood gushing down my chin. CRACK. Stars exploded in my vision as he grabbed me by the hoodie and threw me across the house where I sailed through the air and crashed into the rotting floorboards that gave way under the impact. 

No one said anything or even moved as I lay there on the floorboards. The only sound that could be heard was the slow creak of the wood straining under my weight. 

Oh son of a—

I fell through three floors in a shower of splintered wood and dust while bouncing off beams that cracked against my back and legs before I hit the bottom in some type of cavern below with a final thud that knocked the wind out of me.

I groaned in pain as I lay there in the dark with my body aching from head to toe as I tried to push myself forward. 

A painful stab in my side made me hiss and I looked down to see a piece of wood sticking out of my abdomen where it had impaled me during the fall. I gripped it with both hands and pulled it out slowly while gritting my teeth and yelling through the pain as fresh blood welled up from the hole. 

The wood came free with a wet suck and I tossed it aside before pressing my hand over the wound and watching as blood trickled out between my fingers. I stayed there on my knees for a minute while breathing hard and the flow slowed to a drip then stopped completely as the skin clotted over and sealed the puncture.

I fumbled for my flashlight that had fallen nearby and clicked it on while sweeping the beam around to get my bearings where I was which happened to be a cavern that stretched out into tunnels that disappeared into blackness. 

What a fucking cliche. 

Out of the frying pan and into the shit. 

I pushed myself to my feet while wincing at the pull in my side and checked the gun to make sure it was still okay before starting forward into the nearest tunnel. 

The beam cut through the dark as I moved deeper inside, I kept one hand on the wall for balance while scanning ahead; the tunnel twisted left then right before opening into a wider chamber where chains hung from the ceiling and old furniture sat rotting in corners.

I continued onwards through the basement tunnels, following faint scuff marks on the ground that looked like something had been dragged this way. I rounded a corner and heard a faint whimper ahead that made my pulse spike. 

I moved faster while keeping the gun ready and emerged into a small room lit by a single flickering lantern on a table.

Shit. 

There she was. 

Claire sat strapped to a chair in the center with ropes binding her wrists and ankles to the wood and someone had forced her to wear a raggedy old jumper that hung on her frame like it came from another woman twice her size. Her head hung down with her hair matted across her face and blood streaked her skin but she lifted her gaze when the flashlight hit her and her eyes widened in shock.

"James?" she whispered as she tugged at the ropes.

"Claire I'm—"

BANG

(AN: Yeah a bit of a cliff hanger, but meh it's not too bad. Both of these guys have healing factors so it's not too tense. I mean James can still die, but Jason is too stupid to realise James just heals slowly and isn't actually dead. Anyway hope you enjoyed.)