The river swallowed everything. Sound. Light. Air. Rennie felt the impact like her entire body had shattered. Cold water crashed over her, pulling her down instantly. The current was violent—stronger than anything she had imagined. It spun her, dragged her, disoriented her completely. She tried to open her eyes. Darkness. Only darkness. Her lungs burned. Her mind screamed at her to breathe. But she couldn't. Not here. Then she felt it. A hand. Grabbing her. Jason. Even underwater. Even in the chaos. He had found her again. His grip tightened around her arm, pulling her deeper. Not letting her escape. Not letting her rise.
Panic surged through her.
She kicked.
Struggled.
Tried to break free.
But his strength didn't weaken.
Not even here.
Her chest tightened.
She was running out of time.
Then—
Something changed.
The current shifted violently.
A massive surge of water slammed into both of them, pulling them sideways into a submerged structure—metal beams, broken concrete, something from the flood control system above.
Jason's grip loosened for just a second.
Just enough.
Rennie tore free.
Kicked upward.
Desperately.
Her lungs screamed.
Her vision blurred.
Everything faded at the edges.
But then—
Light.
She broke the surface.
Air hit her lungs violently as she gasped.
Coughed.
Barely staying afloat as the current dragged her downstream.
Rain hammered the water around her.
The storm hadn't slowed at all.
"RENNIE!"
She turned weakly.
Tyler stood on the edge of the platform above, barely visible through the rain.
"Hold on!" he shouted.
But she couldn't hold on.
The current was too strong.
It pulled her farther away with every second.
"Tyler…" she tried to call out.
But her voice was barely a whisper against the storm.
Then—
The water behind her shifted.
Rennie froze.
Something was rising again.
The surface broke.
And Jason emerged.
Water poured from his mask.
From his shoulders.
From the machete still clenched in his hand.
Even here.
Even after the fall.
Even after the current.
He was still standing.
Rennie's hope shattered.
"No…"
Jason moved toward her.
Slower now.
But still coming.
The current pushed against him harder than before.
Pulled at his legs.
Dragged at his body.
But it wasn't enough.
He kept moving.
Rennie forced herself to swim.
Her arms were heavy.
Her body barely responding.
But she pushed forward.
Because stopping meant—
Jason grabbed her again.
She screamed—
A burst of air, half swallowed by water.
He pulled her under.
Darkness again.
Cold.
Pressure.
Silence.
Rennie struggled.
Her movements weaker now.
Slower.
Jason held her beneath the surface.
Relentless.
Unchanging.
Her vision blurred.
Faded.
Then—
Images.
Crystal Lake.
The water.
The boy reaching up from below.
The same feeling.
The same fear.
But this time…
Something was different.
She wasn't a child anymore.
Her hand moved.
Not in panic.
Not in fear.
She reached forward.
Toward Jason.
And instead of pushing him away—
She pulled him closer.
Her fingers found the strap of his mask.
And she ripped it off.
For the first time—
Jason's face was exposed.
Distorted.
Damaged.
Not human.
Not entirely.
But his movement—
Stopped.
Just for a moment.
Rennie stared at him.
Not with fear.
But with something else.
Understanding.
"You never left the water…" she whispered, her voice lost in the current.
Jason didn't move.
For that brief second—
He wasn't the unstoppable force anymore.
He was something trapped.
Something bound.
Rennie used that moment.
She grabbed a broken piece of metal drifting in the current.
Sharp.
Heavy.
And drove it forward.
Jason jerked slightly.
The current surged violently again.
Stronger.
Pulling harder.
This time—
It took him.
His body was dragged sideways into the submerged wreckage.
Caught between twisted metal beams.
Pinned.
For the first time—
He didn't move forward.
The current pulled at him relentlessly.
Holding him down.
Forcing him deeper.
Rennie kicked upward again.
The last of her strength fading.
She broke the surface once more.
Gasping.
Barely conscious.
The river carried her farther away.
But Jason—
Didn't rise again.
Tyler ran along the edge above, trying to keep up with her.
"RENNIE! STAY WITH ME!"
She barely heard him.
Her body gave out.
The last thing she saw—
Was the storm above her.
And the dark water below.
Then everything went black.