(Ha! I bet you didn't expect to see another one so soon! Well, here is another. )
Terra dragged herself absentmindedly through her front door. The day at school had seemed to drag on forever, and she couldn't even remember half of the things which had been discussed in classes. She left her book bag by the door and headed towards the stairs to go up to her room.
"Terra? Are you home?" Peggy said as she came around the corner.
Terra grimaced at the thought of having to exchange words with Peggy. In a lot of way, Terra owed Peggy for taking her in, but Peggy was no different from the rest of them.
"Oh dear, you look so tired. Are you ok?" Peggy asked as she nearer to the stairs.
"Yea, I am just a little tired. I have had a lot of school work lately." Terra replied shortly.
This answer had been enough to suffice any person who had confronted Terra about her tired appearance, but Peggy was not going to let it slide.
"Terra," Peggy began, "You have been telling me the same answer for almost a month now. If school is really that tough for you, maybe we should look into getting you a tutor."
Terra could feel her frustration and irritation rising, but she placated herself with the thought of what she was working towards.
"Peggy, I don't need a tutor. I am doing fine on my own. A tutor would just take up more of my time." Terra said which was true for her façade actions and for her real actions.
"Well, it is true you are doing well in your classes." Peggy stated. "Since you are doing so well, perhaps, school is not the source of your problem."
Terra's body went still and her default response was to smile slightly and look at Peggy curiously. Terra knew exactly where this conversation was headed; she just couldn't comprehend why Peggy would bring that up. Peggy had never dared to tread in those waters since Terra had been taken in.
"What do you mean?" Terra asked flatly with the faux smile playing its role on her facial features to hide her true thoughts.
"Well," Peggy paused as she tried to gather her thoughts, "There has been….a lot going on in Springwood lately…and….it would make sense that these things alone would cause uneasy feelings, but it seems….I mean, I can imagine you may be feeling some similar feelings to what happened in the past and it may make you think about the night your parents were murdered."
She had done it. Peggy had come straight out and confronted Terra about the past. Of course, logically speaking, Terra's sleeplessness in any other person with similar past traumas would be a sign of unsettled feelings from the past, but Terra's sleeplessness was from staying up to take her victims. Though, Terra's actions were a sign of unsettled feelings. They were a sign of Terra's unsettled sense of revenge for the people who had let it happen to her parents.
Terra did not know how to respond to Peggy. She wanted to laugh at her or get angry at her. Terra was not quite sure how to handle the situation. She decided that was the answer, to not confront the situation.
"I don't know what to say." Terra said tiredly. "The murders which have been going on in town have certainly made me reflect on my parents' murders, but I am not losing sleep over it. I am…fairly confident I am safe. I really just have a lot of work to do at school. That's all."
Peggy stood in silence for a while. Terra was curious to see what her reaction would be, and she was afraid she would lose her temper if Peggy pressed on with the issue any further.
"Alright," Peggy said after a while, "If you do need anything, just ask me."
Terra nodded and went up the stairs to her room. She wanted to get some sleep before the night began to unfold itself. She went to her room and closed the door behind her. She flopped herself onto her bed and closed her eyes. The lack of sleep caused her to fall deeper asleep quickly.
In the early stages of her dreams, remnant memories of her past began to form in her dreams. At first, everything in the dream moved so fast and Terra could barely discern what was going on. As the dream slowed to normal time, Terra realized what was going on. She was reliving the night her parents were killed.
She stood as a bystander watching the whole thing unfold. She stood emotionless and tired. There were only two possibilities for why she was having this dream. She thought about what was going as she watched the murderer take out her mother in the foyer of their old house. She didn't know what he said, but she watched the man whisper sweet nothings to her mother as the light dimmed from her mother's eyes. He left her mother lying in the foyer face down. Terra saw that as a sign of the murderer's cowardice.
'He couldn't stand to see her lifeless face looking up at him.' She thought to herself.
The dream began to slow bit by bit as Terra followed the murderer to the kitchen. She knew the next one to go would be her father. She knew because she had watched it happen.
'One possibility I am having this dream is I just had that wonderful heart-to-heart with Peggy.' Terra thought sarcastically to herself.
She walked into the dimly lit kitchen to find a frightened red-headed girl standing in front of the refrigerator motionlessly, like a statue. The man paused for just a moment, and then a wild grin swept across his face.
Admittedly, this grin had haunted Terra for most of her younger years. Looking at the man's face now, Terra could see more of the cowardice in him. His eyes screamed 'like taking candy from a baby.' He was thrilled to take an easy victim.
Terra watched as the man crept slower and slower towards her child self. She also watched as her father came around the corner to attack the murderer. She was growing tired of the slow motion. She leaned on one of the table in her dream and waited for what she knew would happen.
'The other possibility…' Terra thought to herself.
She watched the man and her father struggle. She watched as the man shot her father with the gun he had concealed. Terra watched as the man picked up her father's dying body to watch the light fade from her father's eyes. Terra remembered this part; it was what drove her onwards. She saw her father's fading eyes shift to look at her child self. The saw the light leave him. The murderer threw her father's body to the ground, and then, the scene froze completely.
"The most likely possibility is…" Terra said out loud in her dream.
There was silence for a while. The scene was just frozen and Terra just sat emotionless. Suddenly, the murderer's body contorted and his arms extended substantially and headed straight for Terra's actual self. Of course, Terra shifted slightly at the event, but when she saw the long arms stop short of her, she relaxed. The long blades at the ends were close enough to make the hair on her arms stand up, but she figured if he had wanted to kill her, she would be dead.
"Freddy Krueger." Terra said flatly.
A wicked cackle broke the silence and the body of the murderer contorted further. This time, the man's head twisted around and upside down and the physical features changed to those of Freddy's.
"Well, what's this? A little cocky don't you think, Bitch?" Freddy said with contempt. "Do you think I have no interest in killing you like any other person, girl?"
At this, Freddy stretched his blades so they were close enough to press onto Terra's skin. Terra was as emotionless as she had been the whole time.
"If you wanted to kill me, you would." Terra replied. "Though, if you felt you wanted to kill me because I was winning our game, that would show your cowardice."
Freddy's face contorted and his eyes shimmered a shade of red, but he regained his composure and began to laugh. He retracted his claws, returned his body to its normal physical appearance and walked up to Terra.
"You think you are beating me at this game do you?" He said with an even louder cackle.
"Well," Terra said with a sly smirk, "We have a deal to see this game through, so the only reason you would want to kill me would be if you felt threatened."
Freddy's teeth grit as he smiled at Terra. It was clear he wanted to rip her apart, but since they had a deal sealed in blood, he couldn't. At least, he couldn't physically tear her apart.
"Let's get one thing straight," Freddy began and pushed his bladed hand dangerously close to Terra's neck. "You are never going to beat me at this game you bitchy little cock strap. I am salivating over the moment when you admit you will never be able to win this game, and when you do….your pain will be glorious."
Freddy let out another deep-throated cackle as he ran his blades under Terra's chin. Terra just sat motionless.
"Are you done now?" Terra asked nonchalantly.
Terra's coolness annoyed Freddy, but to some extent, it made him slightly curious.
"So, this night is the reason why you want to murder everyone in this town, girl?" Freddy asked and he walked over to Terra's father's body and kicked it.
"It doesn't matter." Terra responded flatly with her eyelids slightly lowered in a partial glare.
Freddy walked towards with an evil grin Terra grinding his blades against the table as he came close.
"Well," Freddy prodded, "Something had to happen to make you want to kill all of the people in town….but what was it?..."
Freddy moved the blades on his hand under Terra's chin and the blades danced dangerously close. Freddy and Terra's eyes were locked on each other's, as if they were on the verge of an epic final battle. Freddy's grin turned slightly downward at Terra's lack of reaction to her plausible impending death. It almost made him want to kill her just to make a point, but he knew he couldn't.
"BOO!" He shouted suddenly.
Terra blinked, but she was not fazed by his shenanigans. Terra was determined not only to defeat Freddy at their murdering game, but also, to get her revenge on the town. If Freddy was going to kill her, he was going to kill her. It would unavoidable if he truly could break the rules of their game.
"You whore…" Freddy said with his face turning into a scowl. "You think you are so confident I won't kill you, bitch?"
Freddy's blades dug slightly into Terra's neck drawing a small amount of blood. There was a long silence between the two. Terra wasn't sure how to react to him. She thought about his countenance. He had been antagonizing her the whole time this little escapade had been going on. Suddenly, she smirked arrogantly.
"Are you afraid I may defeat you at this game, Mr. Krueger?" Terra asked sarcastically.
Instantaneously, Freddy let out a loud cackle.
"You think you will actually be able to defeat me? And! You actually believe you I, Freddy Krueger, the dream demon, is afraid of little ole orphan bitch?" Freddy replied mockingly.
He walked away from Terra laughing, but stopped a few feet away from her.
"I think," Terra began with a smirk, "You are trying to get under my skin to get me in a vulnerable position so you can secure your victory in this little murder tryst."
Freddy glared silently at Terra with the fury of Hell, but the reaction was only momentary. He smiled a big, evil, toothy grin which could have given the Grinch something to tremble about.
"You really are a cocky bitch, aren't you?" Freddy said. "Do you not realize? YOU ARE IN MY WORLD BITCH!"
After his statement, the room shifted to the boiler room. The room took on a far more ominous feel which truly portrayed the seriousness of the situation Terra was in. She wasn't sure if she should react to his antics with a response or over confidence or nothing at all. Her response didn't matter though, for the dream was beginning to be interrupted.
"Terra, wake up." Peggy's voice came cutting into the dream world.
The dream world was wavering as Terra began to shift back to her waking life. Freddy's face had an expression which expressed full hatred as he realized he wasn't going to be able to threaten Terra.
"Well, no matter." Freddy said with a maniacal grin which seemed to indicate he had another plan in store.
As Terra woke up, she tried to figure out what Freddy could be planning, but she knew she would just have to wait and see what he would do.
"Uhn, Peggy, what is going on?" Terra asked as she woke up.
"Terra," Peggy said pointedly, "Did you forget your friends were coming to get you for your sleep over?"
"Oh shoot." Terra said and put her hand to her forehead.
She didn't get nearly as much sleep and her little tête-à-tête with Freddy took a lot of energy out of her anyways.
"Well," Peggy said folding her arms, "You also forgot to mention this sleepover to me, Terra…"
Terra looked at for a moment. It figures she would have forgotten to tell Peggy. Terra herself did not even remember it until earlier that day. But, Terra saw this as an opportunity to get out of the whole pain.
"I'm sorry, Peggy." Terra began, "I forgot about it. Jeanie kind of sprung it on us, but if you want, I will stay home. It isn't that big of a deal."
"No, no, it is fine." Peggy replied as she gathered some clothes for Terra to take with her to the sleep over. "This sleep over may be good for you to get your mind off of things."
Terra tried to hide her discontent and anger. She had a chance to get of the ridiculous party but she blew it. She was going to have a rough night now. She sighed heavily.
"Well, get your things together." Peggy said. "Your friends are waiting downstairs! Sleep over!"
Peggy walked out of the door with a big, sappy grin on her face. Terra's annoyance made her blood pressure rise. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears. She put her hand to her forehead. It was going to be a long night, and she still didn't know what Freddy was going to do.
"Oh well,…" Terra said half-heartedly.
She tried to maintain her nonchalance about Freddy's unknown, future sinister actions, but she wasn't entirely sure she would be able to. It was going to be some night…
(I am ending it here. We are dangerously close to the main climax of the story! I thought it would be less chapters, but now, I would guess 4 more ish. Out.)