WARNING: The "I Am Nancy" stories will contain spoilers for A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) and A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010), most particularly the endings.
Her hair was practically singed by the bonfires scattered throughout the factory. Nancy Holbrook could feel Quentin's presence in her dream. Even though she wished that she could wake up, Nancy knew that his survival depended upon her.
"Krueger!" yelled Nancy. She continued along the steaming pipes. Her face and hair were soaked with sweat.
"One, two, guess who's coming for you…" said Freddy Krueger, in his eeriest voice.
Nancy continued walking, though her legs felt like buckling beneath her. But she had to be strong.
"Little Nancy," said Krueger. Nancy turned around to face him.
"Now that you caught me, what game do you want to play next?" asked Krueger.
"Fuck you," said Nancy defiantly.
"Ooh, sounds like fun," said Krueger, "That's a little fast for me."
Nancy looked at him with disgust.
"How about we hang first?" said Krueger. He whipped Nancy by the hair, and made her face her dead friends.
"No, this is not real," said Nancy, trying to fight back the tears.
"It's real…I'm real," said Krueger.
Nancy shoved Krueger away, and made a run for it. She stumbled through the factory's rows until she found herself…outside.
The ground was covered in snow, and before her was a dilapidated house with boarded windows. Nancy could hear Krueger's heavy breathing behind her, so she ran towards the house. The door opened automatically, and Nancy ran inside—passing an address number "1428." With the door slamming shut behind her, Nancy ran instinctively up the stairs. Nancy proceeded down a hallway, and almost fainted when she heard a window break behind her. He found me!
After throwing herself into a closet, Nancy could hear a female voice calling her name. It was coming from downstairs.
She didn't dare answer the call. Nancy figured it was another trap set by Krueger. Strangely enough, though, the voice didn't sound anything like Kris's. As she peeked through the closet blinds, Nancy wondered what the house represented. So far, her dreams had revolved around the preschool and the boiler room.
"Kristen…is that you?" called another female voice.
Kristen, thought Nancy, what is going on? Who's Kristen? Kris never went by that name.
Nancy peered through the closet blinds again, and it felt like her heart was in her throat. Krueger was standing before her. He was looking around, scissoring his finger blades in frustration. He sniffed the air, and laughed with content. He turned slowly to see Nancy's shape behind the blinds. He lunged at the closet blinds, tearing through wood to get to Nancy.
"Get away from me!" screamed Nancy, as she backed herself against the closet wall. She threw herself through the wall, and landed on the other side.
I need to find Quentin, she thought. Nancy continued running down the hall as Krueger continued to break through the closet door. She kept running wildly when suddenly the floor collapsed under her. She struck the floor hard, cutting her hands and arms on the sharp splinters.
"Taryn?" asked a gentle voice. Nancy raised her head weakly. Although her vision was blurred, she could tell the outline of a pink sweater.
"Come on, we have to hurry…we have to find the others." Nancy was helped to her feet by the woman.
"We have to…wait, who are you?" asked the woman.
"What?" asked Nancy, in a dazed state.
The woman was shoved to the side.
"You're it, little Nancy. No fair. You invited a new friend without asking me."
"AHHHH!" screamed Freddy, as a wooden stake went through his eye.
"Back off, Krueger," said the woman.
"Stay away from him," said Nancy. She was afraid and relieved at the same time. But she still feared for the woman's safety.
"I don't know who you are…but you're going to get it like the others," growled Krueger.
He was struck by a wooden block repeatedly by the woman in the pink sweater. Nancy was surprised at the anger behind each delivered blow.
"You bastard!" yelled the woman. "You took my mother and friends away from me. Do you think I'm going to let you have another Elm Street kid?"
Krueger trembled on the ground.
"Come on," said the woman. "We have to find the others."
The woman held Nancy's hand as they ducked through different hallways.
"If I remember correctly…it should be in here," said the woman as she opened a door.
Nancy's almost lost her breath when she saw a figure on the other side.
"Kristen," said the woman.
"Nancy," greeted a blonde teenage girl.
Nancy thought the girl was talking to her. But then, she saw the woman hug the young girl. Nancy's mind swirled in confusion as she barricaded the door behind her. Why does this woman have the same name as me? Who is this Kristen girl? She and Quentin researched, and these people weren't among the kids that Freddy abused. They'd be all dead too.
One of the walls started to tremble.
"What is that?" asked Kristen.
"I don't know," said Nancy Thompson. "The both of you get behind me."
Kristen look dumbfounded at the girl starting next to her. At first, Kristen thought the girl was Taryn. But then, the girl looked too petite to be Taryn. She could see panic and confusion in the girl's green eyes. Her straight chestnut hair was pushed behind her ears.
"Yo…I thought I heard voices," said Kincaid.
The woman and Kristen started to laugh in relief.
"Kincaid, I could kiss you," said Kristen.
"What's stopping you?" asked Kincaid. Both of the girls hugged him.
"No love from you, Taryn?" asked the African-American guy. "Oh, sorry, I—" The guy looked at Nancy Holbrook confused.
"I found…" Nancy Thompson paused. She gave an inquisitive look.
"Um, Nancy," said Nancy Holbrook shyly.
"Nancy?" asked Kristen and Kincaid in unison.
"You have the same name as me?" asked Nancy Thompson.
"All right, I don't know what the fuck is going on anymore. Who are you people and where is Quentin?"
"Hold on," said Kincaid, "You don't have to get crazy now. Who's Quentin?"
"My boyfriend…I…I don't remember any of you in the newspaper articles," said Nancy Holbrook.
"Newspaper articles?" asked Nancy Thompson.
"Krueger killed all of the kids that he molested…" said Nancy Holbrook.
"Wait, hold on," said Kincaid, "Krueger didn't molest no one."
"You're fucking kidding me, right?" asked Nancy Holbrook. "The evidence is in that damn preschool. He has pictures of him doing things to me and…"
Tears filled Nancy Holbrook's eyes.
"Pictures? Preschool? What are you talking about?" asked Nancy Thompson. "We didn't know Krueger when he was alive. Our parents got together and burned him to death. He was a child murderer."
"Yes, our parents did burn him alive," said Nancy Holbrook, "But he's after us because we told about the molestation."
A sad expression came over Nancy Thompson's face.
"He killed Dean, Kris, Jesse…he probably killed Quentin already because I left him alone," said Nancy Holbrook.
"Don't worry," said Nancy Thompson, "You're safe now."
"Yeah, you're with us. Krueger isn't gonna do anything to you," said Kincaid.
"I don't understand, Nancy," said Kristen, "I thought we were the last of the Elm Street children."
"I thought so, too, Kristen," said Nancy Thompson, as she hugged the trembling girl before her.
Nancy Thompson, Kristen and Kincaid barely had time to react when they found themselves hurled against the wall.
"Little Nancy, our game is only for us," said Freddy, as he grabbed Nancy Holbrook by the throat. She looked down to see herself clothed in a white dress.
"Leave her alone, Krueger!" screamed Nancy Thompson.
"Shut the fuck up you!" yelled Freddy. "I don't know who you are, but you're really getting under my skin!"
He pulled Nancy Holbrook close to his body.
"Say goodbye to all your friends, Nancy. We're going back to our hiding place for good."
"You didn't hear me, Krueger," said Nancy Thompson. She extracted herself from the wall, and glided to the ground effortlessly. "I said leave…her…alone."
The room shifted from one setting to another. The house's walls shifted into another spacious dwelling. It was a darker, grungier room lit only by firelight.
"Nancy, please wake up," said a teenage boy. He was standing over a sleeping Nancy Holbrook.
"Quentin," whispered Nancy Holbrook to herself. Freddy Krueger pushed her away from him.
"All right, you want to play too," said Krueger, "You're a little too old for me, but I'm willing to give it a try."
Nancy Thompson stood her ground. She tangled with Krueger before. Despite his new reptilian appearance, she knew he was the same fucker that took everyone she loved from her.
Freddy began marching towards her.
"Get away from her, you crispy faced motherfucker!" yelled Kincaid, as he struggled against the invisible force.
"No!" screamed Nancy Holbrook. She jumped on him just as Quentin jammed the adrenaline into her heart. Krueger and Nancy Holbrook disappeared in a flash. Kincaid and Kristen fell to the ground.
"What happened?" asked Kristen.
"He took her," said Nancy, shaking her head in disbelief.
They suddenly noticed a metal door suspended in mid-air behind them. None of them had noticed when it appeared.
"I think he wants us to follow them," said Kincaid.
"I should've known better. We had encountered Krueger in the hallway. I should've known he would follow us here," said Nancy Thompson. She hit the wall in frustration.
"You did?" asked Kristen. "I don't understand. I've been detecting him, but in a pit deep in the boiler room."
The metal door creaked open.
"If we find Joey, we'll find her," said Kincaid.
"I hope you're right Kincaid," said Nancy.
