Liz dragged her feet as she was walking behind her friends through the zoo's gates. She didn't like this place. Animals were lying in their cages looking depressed, little children running around screaming. Liz felt really uneasy.
"Liz! Come on!" Liz looked at her friends, her brown eyes filled with distress. Her friends, Alice and Miranda, were heading toward to the crocodiles. After a deep sigh Liz ran after them.
"Excellent", Alice said, "it's feeding-time".
Liz followed one of the workers with her eyes as he approached the crocks.
"I wonder what kind of crap they're feeding them…" She said feeling even more uneasy.
The worker, whose nametag seemed to say Eddings, threw a big piece of meat near the water. Nothing happened. Next lump of meat landed a couple of feet away from the first one.
Right then surface quivered. Something huge began to float closer to the shore.
The guy named Eddings continued throwing the meat near the big pond. Many pairs of eyes appeared from below the surface.
All three girls were impressed as they watched the great beasts crawl in view from the muddy water. Liz reached out a bit to get a better sight of the "crap" that was disappearing fast into the creatures' greedy jaws. To her annoyance she only saw grade-A meat. But wasn't that one piece much more light-coloured than the others? It was, and there was something else… No, now it's gone. Liz could've sworn the piece had looked like a human hand.
"Maybe not", she mumbled but observed the happening more closely. Liz was expecting to get a headache from all the staring.
There! Another lighter meat lump fell to the ground, this time a little further from the crocodiles. It was shapeless and didn't look suspicious at all.
"Okay, I was just imagining things", Liz whispered. Just then a lot of light pieces flew in sight. Liz was forced to cover her mouth with her palm when she finally saw what those light pieces really were. More hands, arms, shins, half heads…
Liz turned away feeling sick.
"Oh God… What the… What in the world?" she slurred her words.
Alice and Miranda turned to look at her.
"What's up with you all of a sudden?" they asked amused. Liz stared at them in disbelief.
"You didn't see that? Don't you dare claim you didn't see…" "Did you get sunstroke?" Miranda asked while helping Liz back up. Liz forced herself to look at the crocodiles again. That Eddings-guy wasn't there anymore, and the crocs were gorging on their delicious lumps. Things seemed alright, except for a little detail in the background that caught Liz's attention.
"I don't believe this", she almost yelled. "He left the door open!" Alice looked in the back of the pen. "Well, look at that, he did." Liz couldn't believe her own ears.
"What is the matter with you? 'Look at that' is that all you can say? This is serious!" Liz tried to locate some of zoo's staff but there was nobody around. Absolutely nobody. The whole place had deserted.
"Where is everyone?" Liz wondered. Suddenly she heard a strange sound. She turned around towards the pen and took a timid breath. Liz was just able to see three crocodiles sneaking out through the open door.
This can't be happening, she thought. She felt panic growing in her mind.
"Calm down, and think for a moment", Liz told herself. She closed her eyes, took a couple of deep breaths, and as she opened her eyes she screamed. From behind a nearby corner came those three runaways, lurking slowly. Liz didn't know what to do. Run away fast and be sure to fix the predators' attention on her, or tiptoe carefully out of sight?
She felt tears filling her eyes and gave a sob. On that second the largest crocodile rushed on Liz with incredible speed. Liz didn't think anymore but ran like a maniac. Sobbing from fear and shock she headed to the exit.
Where is it, where is it? Liz was no longer aware of her whereabouts. The panic clouded her thinking. She glanced behind her and slowed down. The crocodile was nowhere to be seen. Maybe it gave up?
Very soon she got an answer to her question. It most definitely had not given up. Somehow the crocodile had found a shortcut and was now standing right in front of Liz. Without further wondering she started running again. Back the same way she had came. She didn't notice that the surrounding cages were empty.
Instead Liz became aware of something else. Or rather: someone else. Far next to the outer wall stood somebody. A bit relieved Liz continued running to this person, who she soon recognized as a guard.
"Help!" Liz shouted, "Help me, please!" The man didn't seem to hear and just kept on watching the wall.
Liz continued to yell all the way to the man.
"Help, you've gotta help me!" she panted as she fell on the man's back. He stood with his hands crossed and still not reacting in anyway. Liz turned to look back, afraid that she would only see a gaping mouth. But she was surprised as the crocodile had stopped. Still it was too close for a comfort. And the other two had joined the big one.
Suddenly Liz heard an ear-piercing sound that send shivers down her spine. She covered her ears and turned toward the source of the hellish sound. The man had walked closer to the wall and was drawing some kind of knives along it. Liz thought the man was doing it to scare the crocodiles. One last 'screeech' carried painfully through the air.
The man turned slowly towards Liz, placing his dark brimmed hat better on his head. "I hope you can do some… thing…" she started but felt the blood freeze in her veins. The man's face and neck were horribly burned. He stared at Liz from under the hat's brim and began to chuckle with a low, rough voice.
Once more, with a very quick movement, that unpleasant sight slashed the wall causing sparks to fly in Liz's direction. She backed away, not understanding the situation at all.
This must be a dream, yes, that's it. Only a dream, I'm gonna wake up soon…
She could still hear the low laughter. "What's the matter?" the man asked. "What happened to your 'free willy' – attitude?" Liz tried to make sense of things and finally she was able to build a thought.
"You let them out", she whispered taking distance to both the man and the crocodiles. "Perhaps…" he said smugly.
Liz noticed a nametag on his chest. Krueger… She'd heard that name sometime before. But where?
At that very moment, from the speakers on top of the wall began to play an odd song.
"One, two, Freddy's coming for you…"
And that's when it hit her.
"Freddy Krueger", Liz whispered, and the song continued:
"Three, four, better lock your door…"
Again the low laughter began and quickly grew louder.
"Five, six, grab your crucifix..."
Liz remembered now. A couple of years back she had found a ragged diary page. It had been written by her cousin, Chris. The tone of the writing had been very distressed and somehow… doomed. Few weeks before Liz had read the page, Chris had died. No-one could explain how it had happened. It looked as if he had just collapsed from inside. Liz was the one who found Chris's body and the diary page.
She couldn't remember exactly what it had said. "I'm the last one left. That means it's my turn tonight. And I can't fight anymore, I don't want to. Freddy has taken every last one of my friends I wasn't able to save them… I don't even deserve to live. But the least I can do is to keep trying till the end. If I die… No, when I die, I must try to take him down with me. I owe it to them… I'm ready to face him, I am not afraid of his blades… that much anymore. Freddy Krueger is a dre…" The rest of the page had been ripped off.
"Oh, what fun that one was", Freddy said stretching his neck. "Thought he was ready to die, hah! His brains must have softened from fear", he sneered and chinked his knives.
Liz had finally gathered her thoughts. "Okay, now I know I'm dreaming. But why did my mind have to create such a hideous guy?"
Freddy raised an eyebrow. "You? Created me?" He began to get closer to the girl. "You wish." Freddy slashed towards her.
"Aah!" Liz was so startled by this that she lost her balance. "Hngh!" She had expected to fall on at least a bit soft sand road but instead the ground had turned into a metallic grating. "Ouch…" With difficulty she stood up and rubbed her lower back. "Where the hell did that come from?" Liz took a look around and forgot to breathe.
"What..? How did I… end up here? And where is 'here'?" Her every instinct told her to run for her life. But this is only a dream, she thought. And unfortunately a nightmare…
"Seven, eight, gonna stay up late…"
The song was still playing causing Liz chills. "Damn, that's one creepy rhyme", she snapped. "Can't I just wake up already?" She walked slowly along a shady corridor. Liz tried not pay attention to the tiny voice in her head that was still telling him to escape. She would much rather be here than outside with the crocodiles and Freddy. Probably…
Liz let out a sigh. "If this is a dream… No, because this is a dream, I'll be sure to wake up if something terrible happens. If I fall from somewhere high or die… People can't dream about their own death." She pondered this more seriously. "Yes! Let's say I get myself killed, I'll wake up in own room." She continued to walk at a leisurely pace but then she had to stop. A wall had appeared in front of her. "Typical…" Liz turned around and bumped to another wall. She gave a nervous laugh. She spanned around and realized she was in a very small space. Liz felt her heartbeat rise. "I really hate this dream." She pressed her head on her hands and drew breath. "How will I get out of here?" she whispered. "This isn't leading anywhe…"
A rumbling noise interrupted her. She was holding her breath as she tried to figure out what it was.
Then something touched her back. She let out a little squeal as she realized what was happening. "Oh my God…" The walls were closing in, slowly but unstoppably. Instinctively she pulled her stomach in. She looked desperately for a way out only to her horror to become aware of the fact that there was none, and that the ceiling was coming down as well.
She breathed heavily and tried to curl up into a ball on the floor. Even though she had planned on waking up by getting herself killed or something similar, Liz felt the panic rising rapidly.
Suddenly she felt air around her. The tightness was gone along with everything else. Liz was falling in darkness. And just as suddenly as the fall had begun, it seized. She hadn't completely even realized it before she had landed.
"Ohgodohgododgod…" she muttered trembling on the floor. "Oh God, how I hate this!"
Slowly Liz back to her feet. She examined her surroundings reserved. All around her were steaming pipes and Liz got frightened after every hiss. She felt really miserable and the loneliness was like an oppressive cloud floating everywhere. There was nobody around. Only burning steam, reddish light and, and… a hat? On a small ramp was lying a brimmed hat. Liz watched it and without noticing it herself she walked closer. Freddy has a hat like that, she thought and instinctively took a glance over her shoulder. "If this is here he can't be very far off." She kneeled down to pick the hat up.
Before she could blink, blades flashed with a horrible sound as they dashed from under the ramp and into Liz's palm. For a second it was silent. Then the girl understood and felt what had happened. She began to sob and breathe disconnectedly and wasn't only because of the pain. The hat had begun to rise revealing a head underneath it. Freddy glared at her. "Tag, you're it", he said and emerged completely.
The blades were still in Liz's hand and she was fighting to get them out, in vain. Freddy sneered at her and pulled his arm to the side taking half of Liz's hand with it. And she screamed. She pressed what was left of her hand against her shirt trying to stop the bleeding. Freddy laughed at her pathetic attempt and without any warning he cut the girl's arm from the elbow. "Here, a backscratcher", he said and laughed at his own joke.
Liz fell to her knees crying. She felt dizzy and soon found herself on her back on the floor. Freddy walked arrogantly to her and stood astride on top of her. Liz looked at him. She was barely able to whisper: "Go to hell, you fucking…" Freddy dropped down on one knee and pressed one blade against her lips. "Mind your tongue." Very quickly Freddy bent down and shoved his tongue into her mouth. Liz tried to shout, kick and hit to get him away but it was no use. Just then Liz felt an incredibly sharp pain in his mouth. And Freddy got up, grinning with the tip of tongue between his teeth.
The walls echoed with an agonized scream. Liz turned her head to the side to keep from choking on her own blood. "No… a dream… a…" she tried to mumble but all that came out were vague sounds. Freddy, still grinning, swallowed Liz's tongue. Then he got serious. He raised his right hand to strike his knives into her guts but did nothing. Freddy looked at her strangely. Had he seen wrongly? It's as if she had faded a bit.
And that's when she disappeared. "NO!" Freddy shouted in disappointment and kicked a nearby pipe which hissed in protest. He sat on the edge of the ramp feeling annoyed. "Well", he said indignantly, "that bitch won't survive." Freddy looked down to a big puddle of blood that was left.
"A girl in junior high was found dead in her own bed. I heard rumours that she'd been torn to pieces. Her mother had heard her screaming in the middle of the night. Of course she went to look what's wrong and there that girl was lying, all bloody and all, still screaming like hell. The mother woke her up and called an ambulance but the girl died of blood loss before the help came." The butcher, called Niles, told when a customer asked if something new had happened. "The girl had shouted some name, or so I heard. Frank or Fred… No, it was Freddy. Sure hope that helps the police somehow. You wouldn't happen to know any madman named Freddy, would you Miss Urban?"
The woman called Urban laughed. "Why are you assuming that I would know?" "Since you are familiarized with crazy people so I thought maybe… No, my apologies, I was being rude. Although you work in a madhou… psychiatric hospital, it doesn't mean you would know every, hmm, interesting person." The butcher Niles tried his best to pick as neutral words as possible, and decided then to change the subject a bit. "How does one even get work in such a challenging place?" Urban smiled and nodded. "As you said, I have familiarized with crazy people quite closely. And I guess I've proven myself qualified for this job", she said modestly. "But now I'm stalling", she continued, "I want to order the usual."
The butcher let out a horse laugh. "You sure serve good meat for those poor bastards." Urban nodded again. "They're people too." The butcher promised to deliver the order the same day. After wishing each other well Urban left. She walked away from the shop humming random notes. The distance between the butcher's and the hospital wasn't long so Urban walked along the road. When she was about halfway, she stopped. Urban looked around and after making sure she was alone she started to laugh loudly. Her laughter echoed in the air as Urban continued to walk.
"Oh, poor Freddy. She got away. I can't even guess how irritated you were." She took a breath and carried on with her monologue. "Freddy Krueger, you are amazing. That nightmare wasn't even from the worst ones, and still you made her tremble with only your appearance. I'm so jealous…"