I don't own A Nightmare on Elm Street or any of its characters...
The Springwood Slasher
Chapter Seven: Awakened
"The secret side of me, I never let you see. I keep it caged but I can't
control it. So stay away from me, the beast is ugly. I feel the rage and I
just can't hold it. It's scratching on the walls, in the closet, in the halls. It
comes awake and I can't control it." - Monster by Skillet
Fred's premonition was correct as he and Loretta jumped awake the next morning from the sound of a woman screaming. Loretta gave Fred a terrified look as the screaming turned into hysterical crying.
"Stay here." he said to her, faking an expression of concern. She simply nodded. He got up and scrambled into clothes. It was half an hour before he had to be up for work but he put his work clothes on anyway.
"I'll be back." he said as he left the room. She heard him pound down the stairs and go out the front door. She got up and pulled on a robe, following his path. She stayed on the porch.
Fred got outside and went down the sidewalk toward the Grey home, he was doing all he could to not smile. So far, it was everything he'd hoped. As he reached the front walk a police car slammed into park in the street, lights and sirens on. A tired looking Donald Thompson and Todd Garcia got out of the car. They had both been on nightshift due to the girl being missing. A neighbor had called after hearing the screaming. The two rookie cops ran toward the walk and stopped short when they saw Ted Grey, with a dead look in his eyes, holding something. It was a sight they'd never forget. The man was holding his dead daughter's corpse and looked too hurt to cry. His expression made him seem like a zombie. Donald had froze right next to Fred. Fred used all his will power to show an expression of shock and disgust rather than pride and ecstasy.
"Oh, God." said Garcia. He turned around and stooped as his stomach pushed everything in it back up. Him speaking took Donald out of his trance and he looked at Garcia then Fred, who he hadn't noticed yet due to the other sight. Donald and Fred held eye contact for a brief moment.
"Excuse me." said Donald. He wasn't aware he'd even spoken to Fred until he got past him. As he walked to the porch he forced himself to come to his senses. He had a job to do.
"Ted..." he began cautiously.
"She...she...uh..." said Ted, in a daze.
"Ted I need you to...I need you to hand her to me." he said, although that was the last thing he wanted.
"Who?" asked Ted, his mind wasn't handling the situation at all.
"A...Amanda." said Donald hesitantly.
Ted looked down and sounded like he was choking. He squeaked and nearly dropped her to clutch at his chest. Finally grasping what had happened was giving him a heart attack. Ted dropped his deceased daughter and collapsed.
"Garcia! Call for an ambulence!" shouted Donald. Garcia quickly got to the squad car and radioed in for help.
"Someone help me!" shouted Donald. No one moved. Fred looked at everyone and jogged up to the porch. He couldn't help himself. He had to get further into it.
"What do I do?" asked Fred. Donald paused to give him an odd glance, expecting him to be the last person running to help him.
"See if you can find any Asprin in there. Don't expect her help, she's too shook for this." Donald said, motioning to Ted's wife, collapsed in hysterical tears in the doorway.
"Alright." said Fred. He charged in the house and went to the kitchen. It only took a few minutes to find a bottle of asprin. He took out two and went back to the porch. On his way back he glanced into the living room where an infant was on the floor crying. He reached Donald and handed him the pills.
"Ted, if you can hear me you need to chew and swallow these." said Donald. He put the pills in the man's mouth and moved his jaw as Ted tried to himself. Before they could notice a difference an ambulence arrived. Two men jumped out of the back of it with a stretcher and charged toward the them. Donald and Fred moved out of their way. Donald turned to him.
"Is the baby in there alone?" he asked Fred, as more people made their way over to the house. Fred nodded.
"I'll go get it." said Fred. He went inside and found the tiny form. He picked it up and bounced it in a comforting manner. Hushing it calm. It wouldn't stop crying. He carried the baby out to the porch.
"It's okay sweetheart." murmured Fred to the baby as he reached Donald. The stretcher had carried off Ted and a few people made their way over. The coroner hadn't gotten there yet and a few people screamed and started crying as they saw Amanda. Donald's wife, Marge, was crying but still in her right mind. The coroner screeched to a halt next to Donald's squad car and got out, his partner was carrying a bag. They got to the porch and quickly put Amanda's small form inside it. Marge slowly reached the steps as the coroner got off the porch, body in tow.
"Alright, we gotta figure out what to do with her. Her mother is in no state at the moment to take care of her." said Donald to Fred.
"I'll take her." said Marge. Donald rounded on her quickly, recognizing her voice and not happy she was there.
"What the Hell are you doin here?" he asked, he didn't want her seeing any of this.
"Donald, let me take Christina. I've watched her before." said Marge, her voice cracking as she tried to not ball her eyes out. Donald sighed.
"Okay." he nodded at Fred who made his way toward Marge. She gave him a curious glance, having been one to see him run over to help Donald. He handed Christina to Marge and stepped back. Marge was able to hush her, she quickly went back to her house to keep the baby away from as much of that as possible. Donald went over to Ted's wife. No one could hear what was being said but she slowly, in a daze, got up and followed Donald down the steps. He escorted her to the squad car so they could calm her down and take a statement.
Fred followed them and reached the sidewalk as Donald shut the door on her. Donald turned and went to the driver's seat. Before he shut the door he looked at Fred.
"Thanks." said Donald. He quickly shut his door and drove off, lights and siren still on. Fred watched him off, in disbelief that Donald had thanked him. He took one last look at everyone's astonished, disgusted, and frightened faces. Turning he went back to his house to meet Loretta at the door. On his way home he looked down and let himself have a smile. He quickly replaced it with shock and disgust before facing his wife.
"Something terrible happened didn't it Fred?" she asked, scared.
"Yeah, something really terrible." he replied in false sadness.
"That little girl is ..." she couldn't finish her sentence so she waited for Fred to do so for her.
"Dead." he simply stated. Loretta put her face in her hands and Fred walked over and embraced her as she cried. While she wet his shirt with her tears Fred marveled at how easy it was. To kidnap, kill, dispose, and most of all lie to everyone watching you. After a few minutes they went inside and he drank coffee while she calmed down.
"Hey, say bye now because I might still be in the shower when you leave." she said. Her voice had pulled him out of a daze and he looked up a bit startled.
"Huh?" he asked.
"I might still be in the shower when you leave." she replied.
"Why not wait til I've left?" he asked her.
"I have a doctor's appointment to go to. I don't wanna be late." she replied. She walked over to him and they briefly kissed.
"See you after work then. I love you." he said.
"Okay. Love you too, Hun." she replied in a small voice. She hoped her shower would help her get the morning's events out of her mind. She made her way upstairs as he disposed of his coffee mug in the sink.
The streets were oddly empty and it took him a couple minutes less to arrive at the elementary school. Once there he went to go inside but Earl , walking out, stopped him.
"Ain't nuthin to do today." he stated, locking the school. Fred was utterly lost. He knew a kid was found, his artwork of course, but he didn't expect it to shut the school down for the day.
"What?" he asked, he'd barely ever spoken to Earl and the old man was a bit caught off guard.
"There ain't no school. Don't you hear? That missin girl was found dead today. Lotta parents ain't plannin on sendin they kids to school so the elementary is closed fo the day. High School too. Small town fo ya." he said.
"Okay. I guess I'll go back home then." said Fred.
"Don't be surprised if police show up wantin to talk to ya."
"Why?" asked Fred, utterly not concerned.
"They wantin to find the sick sombitch that done this. You the town oddball. They goan wanna talk to ya first. Me second. First the weirdoes then the niggas. I got my aliby. Hope you got one or they goan lock you up today." said Earl, walkin away.
"Well, thanks Earl." shouted Fred. The old man just waved without turnin. Fred got back in his truck and drove home. If Loretta was leaving she'd need the car. He hoped she wasn't plannin on using the trunk for anything since he knew he hadn't checked for blood that may have seeped through the blanket now in his basement. When he got home she hadn't left yet and he checked the trunk. Looking closely he found no marks anywhere. He closed the trunk and went in the house. Walking in he caught her just about to walk out.
"I thought you went to work?" she asked, surprised.
"No school, nothing to clean. Parents aren't sending their kids today after what happened apparently." said Fred, tossing his keys on a table.
"I don't blame them. Well, I'll be home in a little bit then." she said, walking out. Once she shut the door Fred tried to decide what to do.
"Fuck it." he said. He went over to the couch and lay down. He'd kicked his boots off and decided to take a nap.
He awoke a while later to a knock at the door. He slowly got up, rubbing his eyes and answered it. It was a cop.
"Mister Krueger?" asked the officer.
"Yes, what's this about?" he asked the man.
"I need you to come with me please."
"What for?" asked Fred, acting confused. He knew they wanted to interview him. Earl wasn't lying, he knew that earlier.
"For an interrogation." said the officer. Fred almost asked if they had a warrant but figured it would make him seem guilty.
"Alright. Give me a moment so I can leave my wife a note." replied Fred.
"Okay."
Fred walked to the kitchen and wrote on a napkin.
Cops wanted to talk to me. If I'm not here when you read this I'm with the police.
Love, Fred
He walked back to the door, pulling his boots on and followed the cop to the squad car. The cop opened the back door and Fred got in.
Once at the station he was led into an empty room. He took a seat and a man in a suit came in a few moments later, with the officer that brought him over. The man in the suit was clearly a detective.
"Your name is Fred Krueger correct?" asked the detective.
"Yes, that's right." replied Fred.
"Well, Fred, can I call you Fred?" asked the detective.
"Sure."
"Fred, I'm detective Miller. We have a few things about you that seem a bit suspicious."
"Hi, and like what?"
"Well, let's just start with you tellin me where you were yesterday."
"All day?" asked Fred.
"Tell me everywhere you went yesterday and what you did."
"I got up. Went to the elementary for work. Le-" Fred began, the detective cut him off.
"What did you do at the elementary?"
"Well, I cleaned. That's mainly what a janitor does."
"No need to be a smart ass Fred."
"Well, I don't know what else you want me to say."
"I want the truth."
"Okay...um...I mopped a bit. Cleaned some windows. Want more?" asked Fred, not even trying to be a smart ass just confused as to what the Hell the guy wanted.
"Alright. After work?"
"I went over to the old factory near the edge of town. I was there for a few hours."
"Why?"
"When the place was still running they let me spend a lot of time there and even payed me to fix the boiler. I still keep it running and use the basement for some of my own storage. I work on the boiler and other things there. Just for free time, it clears my head. I enjoy the place."
"How long were you there?"
"I don't know exactly. Pretty late. When I left it was dark. One of your cops showed up while I was there and asked me if I'd seen anything odd. I said no. He told me a kid was missing and asked why I was out there. I told him what I just told you about being out there. After he left I went back into the place and looked around for anything and no one had been there but me."
"What was the officer's name?"
"Garcia. He was at the Grey home today too. He and Thompson."
"Alright. Where did you go when you left?" asked the detective.
"I went home. My wife was on the couch watching the news. I sat with her. She fell asleep. I carried her upstairs and set her in bed. I got a shower then joined her. That was it. We woke up to screaming this morning which is why I went over there. I even helped out Officer Thompson when Ted Grey had a heart attack." stated Fred, calm the entire time. As usual.
"Okay. I'm gonna talk to these cops. I may come by to have your wife confirm the evening's events concerning you. Until then, you're free to go. Thank you for your co-operation." said the detective.
"Not a problem. If there's anything else I can do to help, let me know." said Fred getting up. The detective nodded and Fred walked out. The cop that drove him followed.
"I can take you back to your home if you like." said the officer.
"Okay. Thanks." said Fred, getting back in the car. The cop dropped him off at his house. Fred saw that Loretta was home and made his way inside. As soon as he shut the door he heard her hang up the phone and she stood in the hallway.
"You're not in trouble are you?" she asked, anxiously.
"No, they just wanted to know what I did at the factory last night. Where I was and whatnot." he stated, taking his boots off again.
"Okay that's good. I have something to tell you." she said, she was excited again he noticed.
"What? Something happen?" he asked. Not for a second ever expecting what her answer was.
"I'm pregnant." she said.
*(**yes i'm making you all wait til next chapter to hear how he deals with this...muahahahahaha...**)*
