The dirty red and green sweater was there again that night - as soon as Alison had closed her eyes she had known that she was no longer alone. With her eyes squeezed tightly shut, she prayed to herself, pleading for it to be just a dream – a dream she would wake from, could wake from, able to laugh at herself for being so naively and unnecessarily petrified. But she knew, she knew that it was not a dream and no matter how desperately she tried to disguise her fear, her trembling body betrayed her façade.
With a deep breath, Alison opened her eyes. She was back in the boiler room, a place she had come to know so very well. A thick wave of steam filled the air causing Alison's eyes to burn and her chest to tighten, she spluttered uncontrollably.
With her view mired by the thick fog, Alison trepidly shuffled forward, her bare feet burning on the hot metal below her. Her long white nightgown caressed the curves of her slender figure and softly trailed the floor, fraying around the edges with each step she took. The pipes around her whistled and hummed with every step – each sound causing her skin to prickle and her heart to beat harder, faster.
Alison could remember the first time she had seen Freddy's face - the hideous scars that rippled his skin like the scales of a creature, his worn fedora that hung slightly forward shielding his eyes from view and the vicious smell that clawed at her nostrils from his decaying teeth as he smiled menacingly and whispered "I'm the man of your dreams sweetheart".
The dreams had started to happen a month or so back, her friends had shared an online forum with her full of crazy people discussing a man name Freddy Krueger, a child molester burnt to death by the angry parents of the children he had abused. The forum was filled with theories and stories about how Freddy's spirit had lived on and he was killing people in the confines of their imaginations. Alison had thought the thread was nothing but nonsense and distortion, but the dreams she had been having were leading her to believe that perhaps some truth lay behind the claims.
The first nightmare came the night her friends had introduced her to the idea of Freddy. She had been lay on her couch drifting peacefully in and out of sleep when two pairs of arms shot out of the sofa, grabbing her and locking her into position. Alison had screamed in pure terror and wrestled against the mysterious arms to no avail, they pinned her down spreading her legs. A bladed hand began to rise out of the couch between her legs, swiping ferociously, catching her inner thigh.
Alison had awoken screaming and fallen from the couch in a panic, her body soaked with sweat, her breathing heavy. Only after she had calmed herself down did she notice the blood seeping through her clothes. Alison had been unable to sleep since – with every loss of consciousness came the man with the dirty red and green sweater.
Alison knew that this night would be no different, but after 3 consecutive nights of no sleep she was beginning to falter. She could barely keep her eyes open in class and her mind had begun playing tricks on her, every person she laid eyes on would morph into Freddy.
With sleep beckoning, she had decided to give in to her temptation – setting an alarm for fifteen minutes time, hoping this would rouse her from her sleep unscathed.
The loud clanging of metal made her stomach somersault as she rounded the corner in the boiler room, the sound of metal scarping metal made her hairs stand on end. 'you're going to make it, you're going to make it' she whispered to herself over and over.
Alison began to regret her decision to sleep, becoming angry at herself for being weak and giving in. Suddenly, a tall shadowy figure began to rise from the ground in front of her, a small yelp escaped her lips before she had time to catch it.
She stood agonizingly still as she watched the figure grow taller and taller, so impossibly tall it seemed as though the room around them was shrinking. Before she could say or do anything the figure lunged at her causing her to scream so loudly she could feel the room begin to shake. Unexpectedly, the figure dissipated into a thick black fog as it slammed into her tensed body. Alison silently fought the urge the throw up and as tears cascaded down her cheeks she prayed to wake up.
Pushing forwards, her entire body trembled with fear. She wanted desperately to use the pipes as a guide but, as she had learned from another nightmare, they were excruciatingly hot to touch – so hot, she had awoken to blistering burns across her palms.
She reached another corner and urged her body to keep going, but the sound of faint tapping filled her with dread. As she rounded the corner she came face to face with 3 three young girls, playing with a jump rope. Two were swinging the rope and the third was jumping – all singing the same song. A song she had heard before. It meant that he was close.
One, two, Freddy's coming for you the girl's voices echoed, sending a chill down Alison's spine, she turned to run back. Three, four, better lock your door, five, six, grab your crucifix, seven, eight, better stay up late' abruptly the voices disappeared, leaving Alison alone with the whispering of the pipes.
Alison's mind was running in circles, her pulse thudding piercingly in her ears, "why hadn't they finished the song?". Panic beginning to take over, her vision began to spin.
'Nine, Ten, never sleep again'a deep voice whispered into her ear.
A pair of hands shot around Alison and squeezed her tight. She tried to scream and fight but all that could escape her mouth was the air being squeezed from her lungs by the strong grip. She was running out of time. Desperately, Alison threw her head back expecting to feel a painful collision of heads, but she was greeted by nothing but air. She fell to the floor, gasping for air. Where had he gone?
Alison looked to her watch, 'ten minutes, just another ten minutes' she whispered.
She stood, regaining her balance and panned the room for an exit. There was a narrow corridor to her left that she had not seen before – deciding to pursue this, she ran as fast her legs would carry her, not stopping for breath for fear of Freddy being on her trail.
Her run slowed to a halt as she came to the end of the corridor. Thick white plastic sheets hung like curtains in her way preventing her from seeing any further down her chosen path. An unexpected draft caused the sheets to writhe. Freddy's laugh echoed down the corridor, snapping Alison from her daze and spurring her into action. She quickly grabbed the plastic sheets and whipped them aside.
Alison gasped as she stepped forward. As the sheets receded, an old derelict house came into view. The house appeared abandoned and was secluded, standing alone on the unkempt land. Panic stricken, Alison turned back to re-enter the boiler room, but it was no longer there. As she turned, she came face to face with overgrown land that went on for what appeared to be miles.
The wind began to whip Alison's night gown and stung at her skin. Deciding it was her only option, she headed for the house, weaving through the overgrown grass. The closer she became to the house, the taller and darker it appeared. Every window was broken and boarded up and the wooden door frame was rotten and gathering a collection of moss and weed. The porch at the entrance to the house was worn and splintered and pained her bare feet as she stepped up towards the door.
With baited breath, she reached for the door handle and pushed. The door opened with an eerie creak. As she slowly stepped inside a deafening silence infiltrated her senses. The entire building was littered with cobwebs and the only light was that of the moonlight streaming in through the cracks of the boarded-up windows.
The light streamed through the cracks of the house, illuminating a path up the stairway. As though drawn by a force, Alison mounted the stairs.
Her grip tightened on the rotting banister as she began her ascent. She looked down to her watch '5 minutes to go'. As she reached the top of the stairs, the light began to fade. Making her way across the landing she began to squint as her eyes adjusted to dark. Alison's attention was caught by what looked like a pile of material on the floor, as she moved closer a scream escaped her lips.
A young girl in a blood-soaked cotton white dress lay in a heap, a teddy clutched in her hand. Alison trembled, tears streaming down her face as she reached out to touch the girl. Suddenly the girls neck snapped sharply, and her face contorted into an evil grin 'he's home'she whispered as she melted into the floor and disappeared between the floorboards.
'No!' Shouted Alison, spinning on her heels.
Freddy's lips curled into a vicious smile as he raised his gloved hand and waved. His other hand shot out and pulled Alison closer to him. She fought and screamed, 'please, not, get off me!'
Freddy loved when they pleaded. It made him feel as though he was a God. He ran his bladed hand through her hair and watched as a few strands came loose and fell to the floor. 'Don't worry' he whispered, his rotting breath infiltrating her airways 'I don't bite hard' His un-gloved hand ran down her back and grabbed at her skin.
He leaned in to smell Alison's hair. 'Strawberry. My favourite' he exclaimed before running his tongue down the side of her face, his viscous laugh ripped through the air once more as he felt her squirm against him. His grip tightened and his hand grasped at her breast. She threw her hand towards him with as much force as she could muster, slapping him harshly across the face. This made him laugh even more.
Abruptly, Freddy launched his bladed hand at Alison, catching her shoulder. She fell to the floor with force, tears streaming down her cheeks as she clutched her wound.
She felt Freddy's hand slip around her neck and grab her hair. He yanked her up from the floor with such force Alison was sure he'd break her neck.
He gently ran a blade down her face, leaving a red mark down her cheek. 'Beg' he smiled 'Make Freddy happy little one. Beg'
'No' Alison cried.
'Bad girl' he cooed. With the hand wrapped in her hair he tilted her head backwards and placed a soft kiss to her lips. Lifting a blade to her throat, he slowly sliced and watched as her eyes widened and her chest began to heave and glow a violent red. He tenderly ran his tongue along her chest, tasting his victory and then loosened his grip and let her fall to the floor.
Alison's body glistened with blood in the moonlight, her final whimpers heaving her blood-soaked chest.
The watch on her wrist began to chime and Freddy smiled again.
He laughed as he walked away into the night, 'too late little one'