Author's Note: This chapter is dedicated to Wes Craven. Thank you for creating Nightmare on Elm Street and my favourite horror icon! - May he rest in peace. Xx
Rating M - For some sexual content/suggestions.
Chapter 7: Understanding
Bright blue and red lights from police cars flickered on and off in the darkened street outside 12 Lewis Road. There were four police cars parked along the side of the road outside the house, and an ambulance was also situated nearby. Crowds of students living in nearby houses had gathered about twenty yards down the street. Their vigilant eyes scouring the crime scene for anything that would perk their interest. A thick yellow crime scene tape was draped across from one of the police cars to a tall lamp-post at the far end of the lawn.
It had been nearly half an hour since Glenn had phoned the police to report Tina's murder. The supposed culprit, Rod Lane, had disappeared into the night. A man hunt was now underway for the young man.
The three young adults that had witnessed the horrific scene in Tina's bedroom were now waiting grimly at two police cars. With Katherine standing on her own near the ambulance, her arms wrapped around her shaking frame. Nancy and Glenn lingered down the sidewalk at her father's police car.
Katherine stared numbly at the pavement as she tapped her white trainers nervously. Those bloodied lacerations and carvings had definitely created those letters. Her eyes were not deceiving her. It was her nickname he would call her as a child!
K A T
Her body trembled violently and she sniffled back a sob. He had clearly stated to her last night his intentions of leaving a sign for her. How fucking cruel and vindictive was he to do that? To use and kill that girl Tina to get his message across to her? Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Was that girl having nightmares of her father? If so, then why?
Now, she was starting to understand what he was saying. That he was still alive and in her dreams. But not just hers, anyone and everyone's! But how? How the hell did that happen? Would he actually tell her? Fuck, all she wanted was to head back to her dormitory and think things through more. All these blue and red flashing lights were giving her a pounding headache.
"Katherine!"
She twisted around at the sound of her name being called and saw Michael pushing his way through a cluster of people behind the police tape. He stood at the tape and conversed with the officer standing guard. It was Lt Garcia. "Please, let me through. That's my girlfriend there!"
Lt Garcia looked behind him and sighed, "Okay, you can go through"
He lifted up the tape a few inches and Michael ducked underneath, sprinting over to Katherine who began to break down into a barrage of tears. "Oh, Michael, I'm so glad you're here" she hugged him tightly, "It was awful"
"Are you okay?" he heard her sob against his chest again, then titled her face up to meet his, "I heard the news that someone was attacked!"
She gulped and tightened her grip around his waist, her voice quavering slightly, "It was Tina. She's dead"
"Dead?" he gasped, "What the hell happened?"
Her mouth parted, but before she could muster a word a figure approached them from the house. It was Sheriff Thompson, his face grim and stern. The young couple turned to face him and Michael nodded once, "Hello, sir"
"Hello, Michael" he looked at Katherine, "Katherine, I would need you to come down to the Police Station"
"What?" she began to panic, "Why? I haven't done anything!"
He sighed and reassured, "I know, but I would still need to take a statement from you. It's police procedure. I won't keep you long. I promise"
Nodding once she took a grip of Michael's hand and asked, "Would it be okay if Michael can come with me? Please?"
"Yes" he offered a smile, "Of course. I'll get Officer Samuels to bring you down to the station"
She looked over to Nancy as she waited with Glenn, "How is Nancy? I knew that she was Tina's best friend"
"She'll be okay" he dejectedly looked over to his daughter, "She's just in shock"
"May I go over to her? Before I go to the station? I want to see her before I go"
Sheriff Thompson nodded and gestured for them both to follow him as they crossed the neatly cut lawn to where Nancy and Glenn stood. Once at their side, Katherine gave a small smile as she whispered. "I'm so sorry Nancy"
Nancy wiped at a few tears from her face and took a step closer to the girl and was caught off guard as Katherine embraced her in a hug. Katherine felt so angry at what her father did, for murdering that girl in such a twisted way. It pained her to see Nancy like this, how could she explain this to her? Then it was a though a switch had been flicked on in her mind. Her father and mother were there at the fire. Could Nancy start have to have dreams? Unless she already was having them? Now wasn't the time to ask these questions.
"Thanks" Nancy whispered softly, "I mean it"
"Listen, I'll contact you tomorrow, okay?"
She nodded and broke the hug, before walking with Michael over to the parked police car that was waiting for them. Once out of sight Donald stared sternly at his daughter, "What was she doing at your house?"
"Who?" she glared at him, "You mean Katherine?"
There was a curt nod.
"Me and Tina invited her over for dinner and some drinks. We wanted to get to know her better!" she rebuked.
"How do you know her?" he demanded.
Nancy was becoming bewildered by her father's strange behaviour. Perhaps Tina's murder was making him on edge, acting weirdly. "I met her on Friday when she arrived here from Central City. I helped her bring some boxes to her dormitory room. I invited her and her boyfriend Michael to our party on Saturday night" she paused, taking a deep breath, "I introduced her to Tina and we decided to arrange a girl's night in. Some dinner and drinks!"
"What do you know about her?"
"Dad, why are you acting so nervous?" she pleaded.
He sighed, "Just answer the question, Nancy. What do you know about Katherine?"
"Just that she used to live in Springwood, she used to live on our street. But she never told me her address" she studied his face carefully, he looked really on edge. "She said that she moved to Central City when she was ten years old, she never said why. I never asked. Then she came back hereto the Community College as she's doing an art degree"
He gave a slow nod, relieved that she didn't know about Katherine's past. Who her father was, he didn't want her to know. He glanced wearily around the street. Flashing red and blue lights. Ambulances. Police cars. Looks of fear and anxiety on his police officers faces. It sparked memories of the late 1960s when the children would go missing, when their bodies were found mutilated and gutted. "What happened tonight Nancy?"
"It was Rod sir" Glenn intervened.
"Rod Lane?" he knew him. He was his best friend's son. He knew that Rod was a troublemaker in school. Getting into scuffles. Being suspended from school the odd time. He even spent the night in a holding cell last year for disturbing the peace. He liked to drink a little too much. "He's Tina's boyfriend, right?"
"Yes" Nancy nodded. She glimpsed nervously at Glenn who nudged her side, egging her to tell him the truth behind Tina and Rod's rocky relationship.
Her father noticed this and turned to face him. "What is it Glenn?"
"Nancy" he implored, "We have to tell him everything!"
She nodded, "Tina and Rod had been having a few arguments over the last few months"
"Arguments?" her father grew curious, "Were they serious?"
"Not really" she shrugged her shoulders, "They were just silly arguments!"
"Silly arguments? Nancy, we're talking about murder here!" her father's voice was astute, "You saw that bedroom, the state that fucker left it in! This is serious!"
"And you don't think I know that dad?!" she snapped back, "I know! Tina was my best friend!"
He took a step closer to her and gently placed his hands on her shoulders, "Listen, I'm sorry. I'll bring you both down to the station, you can make your statements. I'll leave you back at your parents house Glenn, then I'll bring you home to your mother Nancy. I'll be needed back at the station"
They nodded and followed him as they ventured towards parked car. As they were about to climb in a bombardment of bright white flashes illuminated the lawn as the photographers from the press tried to get pictures of the gurney that wheeled out Tina's corpse, that was bound in a black body bag.
Nancy sobbed and she sagged against Glenn, her legs nearly buckling beneath her. She swirled away and buried her head into Glenn's sweater as he led her into the back of the police car. How could Rod do that to her? Why would Rod kill Tina?
Springwood Police Station…
12.25am
Katherine sat torpidly in interview room B of the police station. She had requested for Michael to accompany her but the police officer had disagreed saying that the Sheriff needed to speak to her on her own. Her right hand was curled around a white plastic cup that only a few minutes ago was half filled with coffee. Now there was only a dribble of the caffeinated liquid left. Her eyelids felt heavy as lead, as though they were going to snap shut any second. But she couldn't fall to sleep, not yet.
She had to get her head around what was had happened over the last night or two. What would she say to him? How was she going to react to her now that she knew he was real? Would he try to hurt her again? Her eyes roamed down to her left shoulder and she vacantly ran her right hand over the sleeve of her navy jacket where her scar was. Her cut had been bandaged, but she could clearly remember how effortlessly the tip of his blade sliced through her skin. The feel of her blood running down her arm. Just how the hell could he make dreams real? There had to be an explanation!
The door to the room was flung opened and she pulled her head towards Sheriff Thompson and Lt Garcia as they entered the room. A small brown file was tucked underneath Thompson's arm as he sat before her with Garcia to his right. An image from her nightmare the previous night flashed before her. How Thompson had calmly lit the match that sealed her father's fate, his death. Then how he coolly threw the lit match onto the gasoline smeared ground, watching with a triumphant smirk as the flames engulfed her father. A small sneer grew across her face, but it soon vanished as both men looked up to her. Now wasn't the time to question them about her father. She would discuss how he murdered her father another time, hopefully tomorrow.
Thompson placed his file on the table and flipped it open to a plain white sheet and readied his pen, "I won't keep you long Katherine. It is just a few routine questions about what happened tonight. I had a talk with Nancy and Glenn earlier"
"Then why do you need to talk to me?" she mumbled wearily, "If they told you want happened, then I can go home. Can't I?"
"I'm sorry, but we need to take statements from everyone who was there. I know it's been a long night for you after what you witnessed" he remarked, "Please just tell me what happened. Take it from the start. Take your time"
"I was invited over by Nancy and Tina for dinner and a few drinks. It was a girlie night in" her hands fell on her lap, "I arrived at about 6.30pm, we had dinner. A few bottle of beers. Just generally chatted and had a laugh"
"What did you talk about?"
She threw him a confused look and then continued, "About high school, our school proms. About our boyfriends"
"Did Tina say much about Rod?"
"No, not really" she shook her head, "They were interested in me and Michael, how we got together. It was about 8pm or just after when there was a knock at the front door. Tina went to answer it and it was Rod"
Thompson noted this down, "Have you ever met him before?"
"No. Well, on Saturday night me and Michael went to a party at their house. Rod was there, but we never really got talking to him. Nancy mentioned to us both that Rod and Tina would have fights. I'm not sure what about though. She said that they would break up for a few weeks then get back together"
His pen scribbled down a few more notes, "So, what happened after Rod arrived?"
"Tina went into the living room with Rod for a few minutes. They were talking to each other and then she came back into the kitchen. She said to Nancy that she wanted to give it another go with Rod" there was a momentary pause. "Then she went upstairs with Rod. Nancy asked if I wanted to go home, but I stayed. I wanted to keep Nancy company"
"How did Rod seem?"
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Was he angry? Did he seem moody?" he poised his pen on the paper.
"No, from what I could tell he seemed in a good mood" she stated.
"Okay" he leaned looked at her seriously, getting down to the main crucial side of the questioning. "Did you hear any commotion for upstairs? Did you hear them fighting?"
"No, everything was fine" she rubbed her chin slowly, "It was about after 10pm when we heard the screaming"
"What did you do?"
"We just ran into the hallway" she let out a deep breath as she remiseced, "We heard more screaming, something smashing. I saw Nancy running up the stairs and she was talking to Glenn as he came out of their bedroom. I then saw them disappear down the landing towards Tina's bedroom"
Thompson again documented this on the page and gave her a grim, yet reassuring smile. "Do you want something to drink? Some water?"
Her head bobbed curtly in response.
Lt Garcia rose from his seat and scurried to the water dispenser in the corner of the room and after filling up a white plastic cup he approached the table and handed it to her. She forced a smile and took a long gulp. "After a minute I hurried up the stairs and went down to where Tina's bedroom was. Glenn was trying to barge the door down. We could hear Rod shouting Tina's name. God, she was screaming for help! For someone to help her!"
Her eyes flickered down to the page as he continued to jot down a few more sentences. She took another sip of her water and carried on. "After the third attempt, Glenn managed to force the door opened. I stayed back, I was too terrified to go any further. I heard Nancy scream as she entered the bedroom!"
"Glenn said that you went inside the room too? Is that right?"
"Y-yes, I don't know why. I just had to see it with my own eyes. I thought that maybe it was a dream, a bad dream" she whimpered, "I walked into the room and my god, there was blood everywhere! Tina was l-lying on the bed!"
"It's okay" his right hand reached over to clamp over hers, "That's all I need. Your story collaborates with Nancy's and Glenn. It is clear that Rod murdered Tina"
Her eyes darted up to meet his. He was wrong. Oh, how she wanted to tell him the truth. That it wasn't Rod Lane who murdered Tina. It was her father. That his plan of burning her father to death had backfired. But how could she? He would lock her up and throw away the key! "What are you going to do now?"
"Well, we have to find Rod. He's very dangerous man" his chair scraped along the ground as he rose to his feet. "I'm going to tell you what I said to Nancy and Glenn. If you see Rod or know of anyone who might know where he could be, then phone the station immediately"
"Yes" she sluggishly nodded.
He noticed the look of fatigue on her face, "Listen, I'll let you go. It's been a rough night for you. If you remember anything else, just let me know" he offered her a smile.
But she was too tired to return it, she was too tired to do anything. Her legs lethargically moved as she followed them both of the interview room and down a narrow corridor to a flight of steps that lead to the receiption area above. The moment she stepped through the doors of the room Michael jumped to his feet from his seat and rushed towards her.
"Are you okay?" he grasped her hand lightly, then looked over to Thompson, "Are we allowed to go now?"
"Yes, I'll have Officer Hills leave you back to Campus" he gestured towards the desk and soon a tall blond hair officer approached them. "Make sure that she gets some sleep, she looks exhausted"
"I will" Michael nodded, "Good luck with finding Rod"
"Don't worry, we'll find the fucker"
Katherine gave a fleeting glance at Thompson as she left, knowing too well that the were going after the wrong guy. That the real fiend behind Tina's murder was dead. Dead and in their dreams.
It was near 1pm when they had arrived back to their dormitory rooms. They had barely said a word to each other on the car ride home. It was clear that news of Tina's death would spread around the campus fast. Would the college decide to cancel the classes and lectures tomorrow as a mark of respect to Tina's memory? Katherine was sincerely hoping that they would be cancelled as she wanted some time to think and process her musings.
It had crossed her mind not to go to sleep tonight, but she wanted some answers. She had to confront her father and find out some hard truths, why did he kill Tina?
"Do you want me to stay with you tonight?" Michael suggested as they came to her room.
"No" she smiled weakly, "I'll be okay. I need some sleep"
He leaned down to kiss her warmly on her forehead, "Okay.. Listen, if the classes are on tomorrow you don't have to go. I'll stay with you. Make sure you're okay"
"Thanks. Good night" she turned away and entered her room. And as she closed the door behind her, her brown eyes fell upon her bed and her stomach began to churn in uncertainty. Could she really go through with this tonight? Especially after what happened to Tina?
Fuck it she had to do this. The longer she left it then the more nervous she was going to be. Within minutes she had changed into a pair of grey jogging bottoms, white scrunched socks and her Glendale High baseball t-shirt. She wanted to be in something comfortable, but without any access to her body. The last thing she wanted was for him to try anything on her.
Taking a deep breath she pulled down her bed sheets and climbed in, pulling them over her quaking frame and laid flat on the mattress. Her head sagged resignedly against her soft pillow and soon her eyelids felt heavy, a force pulling them close and within minutes she was in a deep sleep.
Her mouth twitched as she mumbled, the room growing darker until she was submerged in darkness. Soon, street lights began to flicker on and her body was laying sprawled on the long thick weeded lawn of her home on Elm Street. A light wind fluttered through the weeds and she moaned as she came to, and groggily sat up. Her hands rubbed at her bleary eyes and she gulped as she saw her shabby home looming above her.
To her left she saw apparitions of her father's victim. They were the same as the other night, Emily, Lucy, Melanie, Billy and another boy she didn't' recognise. One of the girls broke away from the group and ran towards her, this time it was Emily.
She gave an eerie grin and bent down to grab Katherine's left hand, puling her to her feet. "He's waiting for you!"
Katherine stared despondently at her home and nodded, "I know"
"Come on!" Emily persisted and tugged her forward, "You don't want to keep him waiting!"
Katherine licked her parched lips and slowly marched towards the red door that squeaked opened, revealing nothing but darkness. Her legs went heavy like lead and she ceased her movements. Fear began to consume her. Perhaps this wasn't a good idea.
She swirled around to face the children and let out a scream at the condition of their bodies. They stood in a semi-circle and enclosed in around her. The fabric on Emily's dress across her stomach was ripped apart, along with her skin. Her skin was shredded apart from the side of her stomach upwards to below her ribcage. Rivulets of blood trickled from the decimated flesh, soaking into the remaining textile of her dress. Mangled pieces of muscle hung loosely over the rim of her gutted stomach.
Next to her was Lucy, her face was disfigured. A deep laceration was carved across her face, from her left cheek tot her right. Right across her lips that were cleaved wide opened. A few of her teeth were smashed in. Blood gushed from what was lef of her mouth and Katherine knew that Lucy's tongue was missing. The image of that thick pink tongue in that jar from her father's room flashed before her eyes.
She sobbed and turned her petrified gaze to Melanie. Two thick red trickles of blood seeped down from her black gaping eye sockets. And marred on her stomach was four vicious deep stab wounds.
Katherine took a small step back as she turned her gaze towards Billy as he was slumped on the cracked path that led to the door. Ghastly stab and slash wounds spoiled his ribcage and chest. His right knee was severed and gooey muscled tissue and long tendons trailed behind his detached limb as he dragged himself towards her. Both his hands were also dismembered and thick white bone was barely visible beneath thick gobs of blood. A boy stood next to him with half his face burnt away and his throat was slit from ear to ear. Blood still gushed from the torn flesh.
Each mangled child stared coldly at her and lifted their hands/limbs towards the house behind her and spoke in unison, "He's waiting for you!"
Katherine teetered backwards into the house and yelped as the door slammed shut. Her eyes clamped shut as she tried desperately to regulate her breathing, she didn't want to have a panic attack. Not now of all times! She stood still and then slowly turned towards the living room and saw that a small fire was burning in hearth. Inching into the room her eyes fell upon a few old photographs on the mantelpiece and she studied each of them in turn. A poignant smile grew across her face as she saw they were mainly pictures of herself as a nine year old. One of her posing in her red bikini in the back garden, one of her sitting at the back of the garden in one of her summer dresses. The last one was of her and her father, as she sat happily on his lap. It was probably taken at the mall. If only she could see him like that one last time, his skin smooth and unblemished. That was the father that she remembered and missed. The father who was at times was good to her, kind and sweet. Not the warped and cruel man who had abused her, the monster who was waiting for her in this fucked up dream.
The door to the basement creaked opened and she spun around, half expecting to see him in the doorway. But she was still alone. Why was he not showing himself to her?
"Where are you?" she called out.
Silence was the only response and she snarled softly, then shouted out a little louder, "Where are you daddy?"
A deep heavy breathing echoed from all around and then there was a gruff reply, "You know where, Katherine"
She moved towards the basement door and soon was descending down the wooden steps to the bottom. After stepping off the last step she turned towards the secret room, expecting it to be opened. But the thick metal lock was still in place. He wasn't there. What the hell was he doing? Playing a game of hide and seek? She wasn't a nine year old girl anymore.
As she was about to call out to him again she heard a soft hiss from behind and spun around to face a large thick heavy metal doorway at the end of the basement. From the edges thick steam billowed out. She jumped slightly as the door screeched opened to expose a dark corridor. A small red light bulb flickered on and off. Cautiously she approached the door and entered the corridor, knowing that she in the entrance of the power plant. It brought back memories of the times he would bring her here when he was alive, showing her every corridor and all the catwalks. Explaining how each boiler and furnace worked, how the power plant was used to help create electricity for the town.
After what seemed like forever she came to the spiralling staircase that lead down to the depths of the boiler room. As she made her way down the steep steps she heard a faint screeching sound in the distance. She knew that he was watching her and it made her shiver with discomfort.
She pressed onwards and entered the main boiler room, the place were her father had perished. Where he was burnt to death, the place where he was murdered. Looking around leisurely she saw that one of the furnaces were lit, but still there was no sign of him.
In the side room there was the sound of footsteps and soon a figure entered the doorway. Her body went taut with dread as her father flashed a rotten jagged toothed smile at her. He brought his bloodied bladed glove up and showed off Tina's blood as he waved and wagged the blades at her, "Hello, sweetheart"
Standing her ground she titled her head back and glared at him as he stalked over to her. Each long blade flicked outwards and a speckle of blood flew from them teal onto the ground. She watched this and gulped. Then with a deep breath she stared at him dead in the eye. "It was you, wasn't it? You killed Tina!"
He stooped two feet from her and grinned malevolently. "Of course I killed the little slut! Carved her up real good! You heard her screams, beautiful weren't they? And you saw my little sign. My little message for you. Didn't you…" he leaned forward and cackled sinisterly, "Kat?"
She jolted backwards as he began to laugh madly at the look of abject horror on her face. Her mouth frowned downwards as she demanded, "Why did you leave that sign for me?"
Taking a step towards her he smiled darkly, "It was the only way I could get you to believe me" the tips of his claw reached out to flick a few strands of her hair away from her face delicately, "You believe me now, don't you?"
"Yes" she nodded and was relieved as he withdrew his blades from her face. Her eyes flickered to her wound on her arm and then she questioned. "But why Tina? Why did you kill her?"
He growled in rage, "Did you forget what I showed you last night? What her fucking parents did to me?"
"Her parents where there at the fire?" she gasped and then she thought back to his memory. There were more parents there, dozens of them. How many more of their children was he going to go after? How many more lives were going to be taken away?
"Yes! Them fuckers Frank and Caroline Gray where there!" his eyes flashed a deep shade of red in fury, "Little Tina was just the first little piggy to die. There will be more!"
"Who else? Tell me!" she cried. She knew that Nancy was more than likely was one of them. But she wasn't sure who else. The ladies who carried her out of the boiler room she didn't know their names, "Who else are you going after?"
"Oh" he rasped and wagged a blade in front of her face in discord, "I ain't telling you sweetheart. All you need to know is that all the little brats are going to die, one by one. I'm going to turn their dreams into their darkest and most twisted nightmares. They will pay for their parents sins, for what their parents did to me! For taking you away from me and from Springwood!"
Her mouth trembled as she stared into his heartless bloodshot blue eyes. He meant every fucking word.
"You were my world" he bridged the gap between them and lifted his scarred hand to stroke her flushed right cheek, "You were and you still are my everything. My little piglet, my little angel. You remember me telling you that, don't you honey? That night in my secret room, when I showed you my special work?"
"I remember daddy" she nodded.
"Well, I have new special work to do now" he grinned maliciously, "I have new bad little boys and girls to punish"
She reached up to entangle her hand with his and tried to reason with him, "But you don't have to go after anyone. I'm back now daddy! You have me back, you don't need to kill anyone else! I won't leave Springwood!"
A vicious snarl crept over his charred visage and he gripped her hand tightly and squeezed hard in fury, then swiftly grasped her chin and then retorted, "No! They're going to pay! No one fucks with your daddy and gets away with it! You should know that Katherine!"
She wrestled his hand from her face and stumbled backwards. Her body grew tense as she saw him flex his blades as though he was ready to strike out at her in anger. But he spun around towards the furnace, his chest heaving up and down rapidly as he tried to pacify his animosity.
He sneered silently. How could she not understand? Those fuckers had changed her demeanour. Warped her mind to believe them over him. And she allowed them to do this? Now, he had to start it all over again, the manipulation. The control. However, this time he had a major advantage this time. Control over her dreams. So, the process this time should be quicker and more damaging to her psyche this time around.
A light cruel snigger came from him and he half twisted around to her and eyed her beneath the rim of his fedora. Oh, he couldn't wait to fuck with her mind all over again.
Katherine stared at him bemusedly, wondering what he was thinking. What plan was he starting to formulate in that dark cruel mind of his? Tentatively she walked towards him. She wasn't sure what she was hoping to achieve, but for some reason she wanted to touch his face. Hopefully he would change his skin back to when he was alive, from her childhood. Smooth and unblemished. Not this revolting image that stood before her.
"I want to touch your face" she stood in front of him and slowly lifted her right hand toward his face. Then froze barely inches from his charred skin, "But I want you to change back to when you were alive. Please daddy!"
He gave a depraved grin and shook his head quickly, "No. if you want to touch my face. Then you'll have to do it the way I am now, princess"
She swallowed profusely and nodded.
A naughty chuckle reverberated from his chest and he saw her took a deep breath before her fingers gently touched the side of his face. Her bottom lip quivered as she cringed at how rough and rutted his red and black charred muscles were. It was horrid to touch. So uneven and hard. His skin still felt hot, as though he was only burned alive minutes before.
As she trailed her palm down the side of his cheek to the rim of his chin, he gave a cunning grin. In a flash his face turned to the left and his black blistered tongue quickly lapped out at her skin, sliding fluently over her fingers and he groaned out loud. Leaving a trail of saliva on her finger tips.
She shrieked and tugged her hand away from him, reeling away from him. Her right hand wiped against her jogging bottoms in disgust and she whimpered as she lifted her face towards his.
He sniggered at her and mocked. "Aw, what's wrong baby girl? I was only having a little taste of you"
Her eyes widened in disconcertment at the nasty look in his eyes. This wasn't the father from her childhood. Oh, yes her father was corrupt and cruel when he was alive. But this man before her was completely different. The way he was acting now was more menacing and heartless. He was more depraved than she had ever known him to be. She stared at him straight in the eye and boldly declared, "You've changed daddy"
Freddy's lips pulled back into a wicked grin, "Oh, what is it? Mmm? Is it my…." he cocked his head back to show off more of his charred skin, "burns?"
"No!" she disagreed. "It's not just that. It's the way you act. You're more nasty, more evil. More twisted in your behaviour. You were never like this when you were alive daddy"
He turned around to face her in full and laughed treacherously, "Oh, I've always been this way baby. I showed this side of myself to the little boys and girls. I never showed it to you. But now…" he gave a lecherous grin. "you will. Every time you fall asleep I'll be waiting for you"
She took a deep breath as he began to stalk towards her and pointed a blade at her, remarking. "As for you, my little piglet…"
He eyed her closely and smiled perversely at her, and continued.
"You've really changed. I always knew that you would grow up to be a beauty. And fucking hell sweetheart, you are absolutely gorgeous! Them beautiful brown eyes, your long dark brown hair. Those sweet lips" he began to circle her, trying to stare at her backside. But she twisted away to stand in front of him.
He cackled maliciously and then crudely stated. "I must say, you have a great ass on you, baby girl!"
Defensively she took a step back and noticed the hungry look in his eyes. "What?"
Licking his lips fervently he pointed a blade at her baseball t-shirt and commented, "The other night when you were wearing just that. When you bent over…"
She thought back to the night she had worn this garment and then it dawned on her. Her mouth went agape in horror and she heard him cackle softly and looked up to him, seeing the crazed carnal smirk on his face. Gritting her teeth she hissed, "I knew it! I knew that someone was watching me! I was dreaming, wasn't it?"
His smirk grew wider.
"You had me pinned down to the bed, you were invisible!" her voice began to rise in rage, "That's why I couldn't see you. But I could hear you!"
There was a dark naughty chuckle from him.
"You made that noise. That moan…" she whispered nervously, "What were you doing?"
His scarred hand reached down to his crotch, kneading it roughly and held her petrified gaze as he gave another perverse smile.
"Oh, my god!" she groaned in disgust.
He closed the gap swiftly and his left hand grasped her right hand tightly. Then with a wicked glint in his eyes he forced her palm against his arousal and leered, "Want to feel it, baby girl?"
She screamed and jerked her hand out of his, stumbling back in shock and revulsion, "No! I'm not doing that! You're sick!"
He laughed madly, "Flattery will get you nowhere, Katherine!"
Taking a few deep breaths she regained her composure and then stared at him, "I found out what you did. To the children, to the little girls" her lips curled upwards into a sneer of abhorrence, "How you molested and raped them"
Titling his head to the side he taunted cruelly, "Aw, is my little baby jealous?"
"What?" she sneered, "You think I'm jealous?!"
"Now, there is no shame in being jealous!" he took a step towards her and smiled vulgarly. "You know, I enjoyed my times with you more then with the other little girls. Especially the way you would use your little hands on me. Stroking me, and how you would use your little…" his tongue flickered out frenziedly at her, "tongue on me!"
She recoiled away in repugnance, "You're nothing but a monster! Where's the father that I loved? The man who was kind to me, who treated me with respect when I was a little girl? Before he murdered my mother!"
"He's gone sweetheart" his bloodied blades tapped his chest lightly, "I'm all that's left. But don't you forget that I loved you! I still do. I will always love you"
"Loved me?" she held back scornful laugh, "You were abusing me! You emotionally and mentally abused me! You were controlling me! I'm not going to let you do that to me again!"
A deep growl came from him and he advanced towards her and she backed away against the wall of the side room. He slammed his bladed claw and charred hand on the metal wall, on either side of her face. He had her pinned against the wall.. Leaning forward he rebuked, "Abusing you? Is that what they told you? Your fucking therapists?"
Her head nodded vehemently, "Yes, and they were right! I was so naïve. You had me brainwashed since I was a little, since I was five years old! That evening after you killed mom, that was when the abuse began! I believed every word you said and they were NOTHING but lies!"
He angled his head to the right, sneering in scepticism at her new disposition. Grabbing her chin with his left hand he tugged her face forward, "It appears they've corrupted you Katherine. I think we need to fix that!"
Her right hand flew up to grasp his hand, clawing at his burnt skin and she snapped. "Get off of me!""
The grip on her chin loosened and in a flash his palm connected with the side of her face in a vicious slap. She shrieked and grimaced as she felt a small dribble of blood on the corner of her lip. A soft whimper came from her as he grabbed her chin again and snarled. "That was a warning. Now, don't make daddy angry"
Defiantly she readied her right knee and she reproached, "I'm not going to let you bully me again!"
With a cry she kneed him in his gut and clenched her right fist, aiming it at his cheek and it connected fiercely and sent him staggering back a few feet. He cursed in pain and she managed to scamper out of his grasp. But then she heard him laugh, a dark amusing chortle. He was finding this intriguing as he commented, "So, my little girl has grown up to be a fighter!"
There was a slink of metal as he sprayed his blades wide and stood up straight, then smiled fiendishly as she turned to face him. The look of confusion on her face was exhilarating. He then flexed his knives, "Well, you don't know this. But daddy likes to play rough!"
He pounced upon her and she screeched as he shoved her to the ground. Hers hand scratched at his left hand as he grabbed a fistful of her t-shirt. The tips of his steel claw flicked wildly as her other hand grasped at his wrist trying to keep them away from her body. Changing her fighting stance her right hand clenched into a tight fist and she directed it towards his face, but he twisted his head out of the way and sniggered, "Oh, it seems my little Kitty Kat has grown herself some claws of her own!"
She snarled and tried to knee him in his crotch, but she missed and connected with the side of his left thigh. His eyes glowed a dark red as he leaned down, "Naughty, naughty!"
There was another hard slap to the side of her face and she winced. Then a loud ripping sound made her jump as he tore down the middle of her t-shirt to reveal the top of her heaving chest. She thrashed against him as she felt his scarred hand attempting to slide underneath the torn fabric. "I'm sorry!" she bellowed, changing tact. "I'm sorry daddy!"
His eyes flickered towards her face and saw the beseeching look she was giving him and he then ceased his movements. Slithering his hand out from the t-shirt and she soon entangled her hand with his, again pleading with him. "I'm sorry"
His body leaned over hers and he positioned his glove a few inches above her shirt. She took a fleeting glance at his talons and then back to him as he studied her, "Make it up to me"
"W-what?" she stammered apprehensively.
""If you're really sorry, then you'll make it up to daddy" his head slanted down towards his groin and then smiled balefully at her "Go on. Slide your hand down. Unzip me. Stroke me nice and slow, the way you used to do as a little girl. Make daddy happy!"
A knot formed in her throat. Fuck, she wasn't expecting this from him. She had to get out of this harrowing predicament. There was no way she was going to allow him to start the sexual abuse to her all over again.
Her hands shook as he slowly leaned back a few inches and she saw that his blades were curled inwards. Pointing at his chest. Suddenly and without another thought, both her hands grabbed his right arm and she shoved his glove into his chest. He cursed and she grunted as she heaved his body off of her. Crawling away she tottered to her feet and before she could sprint away she heard him call for her.
"Katherine!"
Swirling around she saw him rising to his feet with his bladed claw still embedded in his chest. He grinned impiously at her and plucked the knives from his chest and a small surge of blackish-red blood spluttered down his red and green sweater. She bit her bottom lip as he waved his scarred hand over his wounds and they vanished as if they were never there. "All better!"
She gulped hard and saw him begin to approach.
"I think we need to have a little talk about you showing me respect, don't you?" he leered.
Throwing him a spiteful sneer she spun away and ran down the first metal corridor. Panting heavily and scared out of her wits. His heavy footsteps pounded behind has he gave chase. Now, she had wished she had stayed awake or at least she shouldn't have aggravated him. But she wasn't going to let him try and control her again, intimidate her so that he could get what he wanted. He had to realise that she wasn't a child anymore, she wasn't that naïve.
Her chest began to tighten due to the excessive heat from the pipes and she turned into the next passageway. She sobbed as it was a dead end. But then again, it shouldn't be. There should be a corridor here that lead to a catwalk above. Memories from when she was brought here by her father came to her, she remembered it clearly. Why was it not here?
A low screech came from behind her and she twisted around. Expecting to see him before her, however she was alone.
Her legs shuffled backwards and she felt something brush her right leg and she twirled around to see a cream sheet smeared and saturated in blood. It was sprawled over a body. The smell that stemmed from what was underneath was revolting. It made her stomach lurch as though she was ready to vomit there and then.
She took a small hesitant back and jumped as the blood soaked sheet was yanked away by an unseen force. Her eyes widened in horror at the corpse that lay before her.
It was her mother.
Her skin on her face was blemished with thick, deep lacerations. Crimson liquid was smeared over her face and into her brown bobbed hair. Her eyelids were carved from her skin and her eyes were ripped from their sockets.
Stifling a scream Katherine staggered back and collided into a body. Freddy's rough hand grabbed her right hand pulled her around to face him as he smiled heinously at her, "Nice, isn't it? Our little family reunion? Me, you and your bitch of a mother!"
He tugged her forward towards Loretta's corpse, but she was too shocked to resist as he shoved her down in front of the carcass and knelt at her side. "It's about time what I really did with your mother"
"You said that you buried her body!" she muttered through her sobs.
"Did I?" he flashed her a vicious smile, "That is what you assumed. I just played along with you"
She shuddered as he began to gently stroke her bare arm with his burnt finger tips, "What did you do?"
He flaunted his glove, "I used this to make some lovely marks on her face!"
Glancing quickly at her mother's face she whimpered softly and then he spoke again, "She looks better, don't you think?"
"No!" she snarled back.
He yanked her closer to him and smirked, "Well, that isn't all that I did with the whore!"
Her eyes flashed in anger as she spat, "My mother wasn't a whore!""
A shrill shriek emitted from her throat as his palm whacked across her face in fury, "Yes, she was! A snooping whore! She got what she deserved!"
She spat out a spittle of blood onto the concrete floor and lifted her weary gaze back to the corpse as smoke began to rise from her mother's dress and skin. Abruptly it exploded into flames and she yelped, jerking backwards.
"As you see" her father murmured darkly, "I burnt her remains!"
His grip on her arm loosened and she scooted backwards on her legs to the wall behind, tucking her legs under her quivering arms. "Let me wake up!"
"Awh" he taunted cruelly, "Do you now want to say hello to your mother?"
Her eyes glared at him in confusion as he causally leaned against the far wall across from her. Both his arms were crossed against his chest. There was a small rustling from her mother's corpse and she swung her head towards it. It sluggishly lurched upwards into a sitting position and soon the flames disappeared. Revealing the charred, burnt face of her mother. Her hair was singed, pieces of it having been burnt from her scalp. Her dress was singed and smoke fluttered from the fabric. The limp hands of her mother lifted up to reach for her and she cooed, voice gargle and hoarse. Her vocal cords burnt to a crisp. "Katherine, my little baby…"
Katherine shrieked and wobbled to her feet, trying to make a run for it. But her father stepped in her way and grabbed her shoulders in a grip vice. With a mad grin he spun her back towards the charred corpse that had risen to its feet. He positioned his glove and burnt hand at the sides of her face and kept her face fixated on Loretta's cadaver. She let out a wail of despair as she hissed, "Why are you doing this to me?!"
"Because I can do what I want to you…" his hot breath ghosted against her right ear and he kissed the side of her forehead brusquely, "I take pleasure in torturing you. Making you afraid. Fucking with your mind. It's fun!" looking over to the disfigured body of his wife he then leered, "I think your mother wants a hug from her little princess!"
She cried out as he propelled her forward into the opened arms of her dead mother, who grappled her to the ground and climbed upon her body. Letting out a scream Katherine glanced about swiftly for her father, who was nowhere in sight. But then she heard his ominous, merciless laughter coming from her mother's corpse as two blistered, burnt hands grabbed her face and pulled her forward. "Give mommy a kiss!"
Katherine attempted to turn her head to the right as a vile, scalded black tongue lapped out vigorously towards her lips.
In Katherine's dormitory room she jerked awake, a half scream echoing in the air as she hysterically looked around for any sign of her mother's burnt body or her father. But to her relief, she was conscious. Free from her nightmare.
Weeping quietly she reached up to touch her t-shirt and she cringed in despair. It was torn down the middle about two to three inches, just where her father had ripped it.
Who knew what he was going to do to her next?
One thing was for certain, she wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon.
x x x
Author's Note: My little poll on my profile page will be taken down by the end of the month and I'll decide then what way to write Katherine's' personality. Thanks for the reviews for far!
