A/N: Drawing on inspirations from reading ForeverNocturnal's three part series I felt compelled to
try my hand at writing a Nightmare On Elm Street Based Fanfic. This'll be set up a lot like hers, but
it will have it's differences as well. Hope you enjoy it, and reviews are always welcome.
Bold=Dialogue Italics=Thought
Ryder Evans wasn't usually someone who had trouble sleeping. He had moments of insomnia every now and then but generally he slept pretty soundly. Lately though something had changed. He kept having dreams of a dingy old factory and a boiler room. He knew there was a place like that on the outskirts of town but he'd never been there. His parents had forbidden him to go there saying it was a dangerous place with a terrible history attached to it. When he'd asked for more information they wouldn't elaborate, just telling him that he needed to trust them.
The dream tonight was different somehow, more...sinister. He could feel a presence there with him. He didn't know what it was but the place seemed creepier than it ever had before. He wandered around aimlessly for a while looking all around trying to take in his surroundings. In the darkness ahead of him he heard a laugh and his breath caught in his throat. He walked forward a bit listening closely trying to see if he could hear anything else. A noise like metal scraping against metal rung out in the air somewhere and he placed his hands over his ears, eyes wide with fear. He turned all around looking in each direction and his eyes fell on a figure about 50 feet in front of him. The man stepped forward into the light of the boiler fires, and Ryder could see he was horribly burned. He wore a dirty red and green sweater and a tattered fedora. As Ryder stared the man raised his right hand revealing a gardening glove that had razors fastened to the four fingers. "Wh- Who are you?" Ryder asked finally founding his voice through a lump in his throat. "I...Am Eternal." The man answered, grinning and showing his bad teeth. He chuckled maniacally and brandished the claws of his hand at Ryder pointing with his index finger. "What's the matter? Scared?" He asked. Ryder shook his head, though his shaking body denied what he was saying. The man laughed loudly again and raised his gloved hand into the air charging forward.
Ryder screamed, turned and ran as quickly as he could. He turned corners, and ran up and down stairs, doing his best not to look back. He turned another corner, and bent over clutching his chest breathing raggedly. Who the hell is this guy? And what does he want? The questions screamed into Ryder's mind as he noticed the man's shadow getting closer and turned to run again. Glancing back over his shoulder he tripped over something landing face down and in pain. He rolled over to his back, brain and heart racing, knowing he needed to stand and continue running. He sat up and found himself staring at the man's legs, following them up till his eye's landed at last on the man's face. Ryder cringed as the man reared his arm up, primed to attack and slice him into pieces. The arm swung down and Ryder leaned back at the right moment so all that was hit was his t-shirt. The man growled angrily and Ryder crawled backwards until he bumped into something behind him. Turning to see what he'd bumped into,his cheek brushed against the side of the boiler and he felt the skin singe beneath the heat. He screamed loudly and painfully waking safely in his bed, looking around frightfully.
Ryder took a moment to realize that it'd been a dream. He jumped and screamed again as his bedroom door burst open and his mother stood in the doorway asking "Jesus Christ, are you all right?" He took a breath, nodded and said "Yeah, mom...I'm...I'm ok I just. I had a nightmare." "All right well, back to bed with you. I'll see you in the morning. School tomorrow." He rolled his eyes, and flopped backward onto his bed rubbing his eyes. As he pulled his hands away from his eyes he gasped in pain as he touched his cheek. He got up from his bed, pulling a robe on over his bare bottom half and made his way to the bathroom. He went to the bathroom quickly, flushed, and then went to splash water on his face. As he looked into the mirror he noticed a red spot on his left cheek. He gently touched it with his fingers and winced at the pain. "I don't get it" he said out loud to himself... "It was just a dream...right?" As he was about to turn back to the door he noticed something else in the mirror and looked down to his t-shirt...it bore 4 slashes straight down the front. Settling back into his bed he decided he'd talk to Cody about it in the morning on their way to school. No sense waking his boyfriend up so late at night for something like this. He placed his head on his pillow and said "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake..." He swallowed hard, exhaled loudly and finished the prayer "I pray the lord my soul to take." He closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep with thoughts of what he'd say the next day endlessly playing through his head.