My feet crunched in the snow loudly. It was December, the time where family, friends, and loved ones of all sorts became the closest. I wanted to stop by at Glenn's place but I just didn't feel very up to listening to the heavy metal Christmas music he was so excited about finding. I found something else to do with my first day off on Christmas vacation.
The wind started yelling at me, gnawing at my gloved fingers and bare face. I pulled my hood over my head and tightened the strings before tying them together. I loved winter, I loved how pure and innocent it looked, but it was still cold and covered in ice. Speaking of which, I slipped on an ice patch just at that moment but caught myself in time. That would have been a freezing walk home.
Mom doesn't think it's very sensible of me to be walking around in the middle of December where the snow reaches up to four feet in some parts of town but she's done some not-so-sensible things herself before, for example, driving back home from her girlfriends' houses with a full margarita glass in hand. I don't blame her though, we're human, we're bound to make mistakes. We have no other choice.
I took a left turn and climbed a snow bank rather childishly. I slid down to the bottom on a knee and an ankle, and stopped myself from hitting the brownish, dirty snow by standing up and demolishing that side of the pile. I smiled at it before facing the angry winds again and tucked my hands in the pockets of my jeans. I looked around as I walked. There were no cars, no people, not even a lonely stray cat waltzing around the garbage cans outside the front and backs of restaurants.
All the lights of surrounding buildings were off, the whole city was just quiet. As much as I liked the sweet silence, I had the feeling that it wasn't sweet at all. It reminded me of another nightmare. I had no choice but to shrug it off and continue on my journey. My destination was still a few blocks away and I had to keep myself as warm as possible. I intended on staying there for a while, just to relax and think.
The street ahead would get me there quicker than zigzagging street corners and crosswalks. A solitary sparrow cuddled itself in a nest it made inside of a hole in the wall of the department store while I walked past it, shivering and sniffling. No doubt my face was bright red from the numbing cold. My toes weren't as bad as I thought they'd be. Three pairs of fuzzy socks and rubber boots worked wonders in the snow.
Just two streets away and I would be there in a heartbeat. It's times like these when I wished that I wasn't too much of a coward to drive in the snow, but it kept me away from nosy relatives for a much longer time than I usually got so walking is worth it. I am glad, though, that they never found out about Him. Mom and Dad were the only ones who knew, everyone else thought everything was going perfectly in my immediate family.
I thought about what life would have been like if He never came into it. I wondered what it would be like if this ugly streak of gray never existed and I wondered how my life could have differed if I didn't have four long scars streaking down my left arm. It couldn't have changed that much, a scar is a scar is a scar, it's all the same and everybody gets them at one point or another. Except for the fact that scars are usually something to be proud of, mine was perfectly normal looking.
My hair, well, you'd think that the issue would be easier to solve than to create but that isn't the case. I've tried everything I could think of to get rid of the damned streak. I've dyed it, cut it, tucked it underneath my brown hair, wore hats, legitimately everything! But the dye wouldn't last, the gray would only come back in less than two weeks, and then it would just fall out from the safe blanket of my normal hair or the shelter of my baseball cap.
I always thought that it was his own special, little, twisted way of reminding me that he was still here with me and that he'd never leave. I sighed as I fell through a small snow bank, completely soaking my leg. This was going to be a pure hell just walking through the snow, it was just a good thing the wind decided to die down…ha, yeah…the wind. He was still around, He was still watching me, He never let me see him though, He was too weak and he still is.
He's afraid of me for one reason or another. He's afraid of what I'm capable of doing to him and his soul, he's scared that one day I really will end him for the rest of eternity, which I will. I don't know when that day will come, all I know is that it will come. He knows it too. We both do.
I finally get to where I wanted to be. Springwood cemetery at last. Good thing my perilous journey wasn't in vain or else I'd have to stab someone, and don't think I wouldn't. Yes, it's no secret that I'd gotten more violent and a teensy bit malicious since my encounter with Krueger, but really what could I do about it? That deplorable week will be embedded in my brain forever, and it finally made me realize that life isn't all raspberry scones and Dunkin Donuts.
Walking down the slushy paths that lead to the gravestones wasn't easy, it was slushy and slippery. I didn't slip, I didn't trip, I didn't fall, and I didn't fumble. Yup, He knew I was here. I smiled, quite ironic that I was paying him a visit while he was "sleeping" instead of him visiting me in my dreams.
"Hey, Krueger," I said, walking up to his headstone. "Brought'cha a little something for the holidays." I unzipped my coat and pulled out a bag. In the bag was a brown fedora, his brown fedora. "I found it in my bedroom, thought ya might want it back since I don't." I said with a smirk.
Not really wanting to leave just yet, I sat down on a clear space of the cement path in front of the stone and just talked to him.
"Things have been a lot better since we got rid of your sorry ass. Glenn's even doing better in school. We don't have anymore relationship problems and we can see each other whenever we want to." I informed the engraved name before me in quite a cocky tone.
"I can see things have been pretty exciting for you too, huh?" I laughed with mockery and mirth. "How are you and your girlfriend doing?"
Just then I felt the wind pick up and encircle me, it didn't just breeze by it flat out circled around me. Something came up behind me and grabbed my shoulders. I wanted to scream, and I was ready to, but I just couldn't bring myself to scream in these circumstances. I couldn't bring myself to scream period. I couldn't scream, or talk, or even sigh. All I could do was whimper while the wind bent my head gently to the right and pulled down my hood and the collar of my jacket.
My shoulder was freezing as soon as it had been exposed to the bite of Mr. Frost, or should I say Mr. Fred? I knew it was Freddy. I didn't have to take a guess, I knew. "The Wind" gnawed at my shoulder and neck, making its way up to my cheek and then finally my ear.
It wasn't until then that I saw a green and red striped object pop out and wrap itself around my waist, pulling me closer to "The Wind" that was no long just a strong and enchanted breeze. This thing was Freddy Krueger now, in all his egotistical, bloodthirsty, murderous, disgusting glory, and he was right behind me sucking on my neck.
Then I heard a faint whisper, barely audible but I could just make it out.
"Some like it hot," and I shivered. I had no choice but to respond.
"Some like it cold," Figures he'd make it start snowing again. I smirked, this jerk wasn't getting the best of me, I would make sure of it.
"So, Krueger, how are you and your girlfriend doing?" I repeated. He turned me around as I finished my mock question and just stared at me with amusement through the brim of his brown fedora.
With that, he pressed his lips against mine and hugged me close to him in a sincere embrace, there were no evil chuckles, there was no hatred, there was no scorn, only sincerity as he kissed me softly. My eyes went wide but I wasn't really surprised. How could I have expected anything less than this from him of all people? He broke away from me and kissed my forehead before pressing his own against mine. His arms remained around my waist and we stayed like that for a little while. Neither of us moved, neither of us were phased by the frigid bite of winter, he made it warm, he made it spring, he made me melt.
I didn't want him to. He was tricking me again I could feel it. He was trying to lure me into a false sense of security! Why am I surprised? I shouldn't be, I've managed to see past all of his other tricks, why can't I see through this time? Why isn't the wall made out of glass this time? He gave a small laugh and I stiffened.
"We're doing pretty good." He said, not looking at me. "Thanks for the hat, Nancy." With that he disappeared, it wasn't spring time anymore, it was winter again, it was cold, I was soaked, and I was freezing. I almost whimpered out for him to come back, but I didn't. He was disgusting, and I am still innocent and pure no matter how irritated I get.
I'll always be one step ahead of him and he will always hate me for it, but I don't care. I turned on my heal and walked away before finding a piece of torn paper in front of me. I bent over and picked it up then read it over.
I could never hate you, you stupid goody two-shoes.
It made me smile, of all the reactions, I smiled at his insult. I was a goody two-shoes, that I would admit to. Mother said it all the time, Father said it here and there (not that he complained) and even Glenn laughed it out once in a while.
Now I had a dream demon handing me love notes calling me a goody two-shoes, and on the back of that love note which I had known to be blank prior to reading the message, it told me this interesting little bit of information.
You can wake up now.
Wake up, I did. I got out of bed around seven o'clock in the morning. It was still so early. Daddy had to be up by now though, probably getting on his snow boots and getting ready to make a couple of rounds.
I slipped on a pair of denim jeans, three pairs of warm, fuzzy socks, one short sleeved shirt, one quarter-sleeved shirt, and one long sleeved shirt. I let my hair down from the pony-tail I've been keeping it in while I slept at night and ran downstairs to grab my thick red hoodie and my winter coat. I put my rubber boots on after applying the jacket and hoodie to my apparel.
I rushed to the door but not before giving Daddy a kiss goodbye on his cheek.
"Wait, Nancy!" He cried softly to me so that he wouldn't wake up Mother. "Where are you going out in this weather this early?" I smiled at him as I grabbed the doorknob and opened the door, one foot already outside.
"I'm just going to pay someone a visit, that's all, Daddy. I haven't seen them in a while, I want to see how they're doing around this time of year." He gave me a proud smile and waved me off. My feet crunched in the snow loudly again. Soon I would be where I needed to be.
Springwood Cemetery, here I come.