Innocent Demon

[Co-Written by Mlle-Relda/ Diane]

Ch. 7: The Wolf in Gardener's Clothing

A/n: This chapter has some rather…*cough* Well…let's just say I am expecting Chris Hansen to beat down my door any time now.

"Thanks for doin' this, Fred," said Donny Thompson. He wiped his brow with the back of his hand, sighing as he continued. "Whew—the annual Springwood Indian Summer, right on time."

"Don't I know it!" said Freddy with sigh. He perched his fedora over his eyes, only his mouth visible. Donny saw Freddy grin at the sound of Nancy singing a little tune as she skipped over to them.

"Yay, Mr. Freddy's here!" Nancy shouted. She stood in front of him, waiting for him to greet her. Freddy stood stalk still, as though he were frozen in place, his hat still over his eyes. "Mr. Freddy?"

"Oh, I'm not Mr. Freddy…" came a playful growl from under the hat. "I'm the—TICKLE MONSTER! I'm gonna get ya!" Freddy suddenly ducked down, his fedora fluttering to the ground as he grabbed Nancy and began tickling her.

Donny smiled, but it was slightly tinged with jealousy as he watched Freddy amuse Nancy by indulging in her little games. Damn you, Fred, your daughter's not even born yet, and you're already a better father than I am…

"Okay…that's enough…Phew!" panted Freddy, breathless from laughing as had Nancy turned the tables and was tickling him. "Ahaha! Hey! All—heh—all right, that's enough now…"

"Nancy!" said Sheriff Thompson gruffly, causing Nancy (and inadvertently, Freddy) to jump. "Mr. Krueger said that's enough. You listen to him while I'm gone, understand?"

"Yes, Daddy," Nancy replied, looking at her shoes. "I'll be a good girl."

Donny smiled and kissed his daughter on the cheek.

"I hope so. Have fun, okay?" He turned to Freddy and shook his hand. "Thanks, again, Fred. Nancy's been so rambunctious lately. Do me a favor and wear her out for me, huh?"

Freddy nodded and grinned. With pleasure … he thought wickedly.

"She's in good hands, Donny, don't you worry," Freddy replied, putting his fedora back on his head. He and Nancy stood at the front of the driveway, hand in hand, waving as Donald Thompson climbed into his police cruiser and drove off.

"All right," said Freddy enthusiastically clapping his hands together. He bent down to Nancy's eye level and smiled. "You ready, my special helper?"

"Yay!" said Nancy excitedly. Mr. Freddy was as giddy as she was. Mr. Freddy's funny, she thought, he's a grown up but he actually likes to play. Daddy isn't like that…

"Great!" Freddy replied. "Oh! I got you something…" he continued, jogging over to his truck. He jumped a little, his right leg still paining him somewhat. It was fully healed, but wouldn't want to cooperate with him sometimes. He hopped on one foot for a moment before slamming the door to his pickup truck closed and limping his way back to Nancy. "Here," he went on, "these are for you!"

Nancy's eyes lit up at the gift. A pair of little girl-sized pink gardening gloves.

"Yay!" the child said happily. Freddy laughed as he put on his own worn brown gloves and tossed a coil of gardening hose over his shoulder.

"C'mon, Nance…let's get to work!"

About an hour into gardening, Freddy looked up from the flowers he was planting at the sound of Nancy screaming.

"Nancy? Are you okay?" he asked, jogging over to where the girl sat near a shrub.

"Make it go away! Make it go away!" Nancy said, backing away from the little furry caterpillar crawling on one of her hastily thrown gardening gloves. Freddy chuckled.

"He won't hurt you. It's okay. Here," said Freddy, pulling off his own gloves and picking up the insect, allowing it to crawl over his hand. "See? He's friendly." He knelt beside Nancy and held out his hand so the child could see the caterpillar better.

"Fuzzy…" Nancy replied, lightly running her finger down the critter's back.

"Yep," Freddy agreed. "Well, let's find a home for him." He put the bug on a leaf of a rhododendron and smiled. "There you go, little guy. I think he'll be happy at his new home, don't you, Nancy?"

Nancy smiled lightly, although she looked bothered by something.

"I wish I had a new home," she said. Freddy blinked, surprised by the child's words.

"Why do you say that, Nancy?" he asked.

"Mommy and Daddy fight all the time. They yell, throw things…it's scary," Nancy said.

Freddy sighed. So Nancy was aware of Donny and Gwen's fighting. Did Donny know? What to do…

"I'm sorry, Nancy. If you need someone to talk to you, come to me, okay? I'll help you in any way I can," Freddy said. He patted her head and took her hand in his. "C'mon, let's go to my truck and have a snack break."

Freddy opened the passenger door of his pickup truck and help Nancy into the cab. He then walked to the other side and climbed in beside the girl, grabbing a small cooler from the passenger foot well.

"Here you go. Teacher Loretta made it for you," he said, handing Nancy a zip-lock baggie containing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a juice box. Freddy then grabbed his own turkey sandwich and popped the cap off the bottle of beer his wife had packed for him.

The two ate in silence for a while, up until Freddy started whistling the tune to In the Hall of the Mountain King. Nancy sipped on her juice box, looking rather contemplative. She sighed and finally spoke.

"I wish you were my daddy, Mr. Freddy," she said.

Freddy's whistling hit a shrill note before stopping altogether. He cleared his throat nervously, but his tone was sweet as he spoke.

"Hey now, don't say that," he said. "Your Mommy and Daddy love you very much. You know how I know? Your Daddy is always telling me! 'Oh, that little Nancy of mine,' he says, 'I love her so much!' He and your Mommy would miss you if you went live with me."

"You think so?" Nancy asked.

"I know so," replied Freddy with a smile. "C'mere. Let's play a game." He took her hand in his and rubbed his inner thigh.

"What kinda game?" Nancy inquired. Freddy smiled and moved his and Nancy's hands toward the bulge in his pants.

"It's—our special game," Freddy said, working his belt free with one hand. He unzipped his fly and freed his erection, now moving his and Nancy's hands to it. "Just rub it like—oooh…good girl…good girl…"

His gently squeezed Nancy's hand and the child imitated his movements. Freddy smiled at her, gasping as he came undone.

"Mmmmm….yes…" Freddy whispered, grabbing a few wet-naps to clean their hands. "There we go…all cleaned up," he went on, zipping up his pants. "Now, this is our special game, Nancy. It's only between me and you. Promise to keep it just between us?"

"Okay, Mr. Freddy," Nancy said.

She didn't really understand the point of the game, but Mr. Freddy seemed to enjoy it.

But, she couldn't help but wonder when it would be her turn…