A/N: Time to stop for some shout-outs to all the reviewers so far.
ArdentVixen: So glad I was able to keep you onboard. Sometimes I do get a little carried away and I thought I was clear on a detail when i really wasn't
CatHeartsU: 3..4...better lock your door...
Kuchiki-san urahara: I like how you gave me a comprehensive review right after apologizing for not being able to do so. You're awesome
Invader Johnny: what can I say? Your prompt gives me a nice break from the doom, gloom and gore.
JoriLover1995: I hope the next ones are great, too ;-)
Kween of Thorn: I've been a fan of Freddy for a long time; scary or silly, the franchise always had me
Lushcoltrane: tell me which one is your favorite after you've seen more of the nightmares? Thoughts on the remake? Heard rumor about Daniella Monet being tapped for the sequel to that one. Wouldn't that be so cool?
Pelick Enn: I am flattered to write something "grand"; promise to read your story
PurpleSecrectIsland97: I am thrilled you loved Edge and it's nice of you to put something I've written and "brilliant" in the same sentence.
Quitting Time: Freddy hasn't gotten anyone since Ch. 1. I'll have to remedy that (devilish grin)
SKRowling: my muse! thanks for coming out and letting me know I haven't jumped the shark
TimelessReader: your excitement to read the next chapter makes me excited to write it; and yeah I am a stinker with those darn cliffhangers }:-)
ToDieWouldBeABigAdventure: I hope to keeping leaving you surprised!
I
I
I
I
As always, please leave your reviews. I really want to know what you thought about this chapter.
"Tracy," Jade nervously said, sitting down in one of the lounge rooms. Hospitals have these windowless rooms with beds so doctors "on call" can crash until they are needed, a lot like a firehouse. Luckily for the two sisters, this one was deserted. "What is this all about?"
The blonde took the deepest breath she had ever taken. This was not going to be easy. When she was younger, she was able to wrap her mind around the insanity when insane shit was going on all around her. But she wasn't confident that Jade had seen sufficient to accept for what she was about to unload.
"Jade," Tracy sat down herself. "Years ago, I was probably very little, if at all. There was this man."
Jade leaned in, blue-green eyes not blinking.
"His name…" Tracy sighed. "His name was Fred Krueger. He was a child molester and murderer. The cops got him and he was tried but then he got let go over a technicality. Any evidence against him was thrown out; couldn't be used."
"Then what happened?"
"A bunch of parents; some were parents of the victims, stormed Krueger's abandoned boiler room. It was his lair, you see."
Gooseflesh sprang all over Jade's body. She remembers her own nightmare about a defunct boiler room that despite itself was sweltering and smoking. She can still recall how it smelled.
"The mob started a fire," Tracy continued. "It consumed the whole place and they made sure that Krueger was trapped inside."
"And he died…right?" Jade asked.
Tracy hesitated and then slowly shook her head. "No. I mean, he did but somehow he didn't stop there."
"The fuck does that mean?"
"Well, little by little, all of the children in Springwood, Illinois were dying. I'm talking little kids, teenagers, all of them."
Jade's eyes widened.
"Very, very few of us survive to this day. The smart ones moved away before the evil could consume them. Nobody in that town believed in ghosts but believe me of those people didn't know a bad place when they saw one. Something evil but containable has grown into some kind of…force. And it continued to grow powerful and now I'm afraid it is no longer chained to Springwood."
"How does Fred Krueger get to kill again?"
"Unlike a lot of serial killers, he knows his game of choice. His problem was finding the ideal hunting ground." Tracy started rolling up the sleeves of her jacket. "And he found it…in the dream world."
Jade recoiled at the sight of the second-degree burns on Tracy's wrists.
"How did…?" Jade stuttered.
"I burned my arms over a fire…to wake myself up. It was the only way I could get away from him."
Jade exhaled and laid back on the bed she was sitting on. She stared at the ceiling, mouth agape.
"Are you telling me that this dead guy is going after us in our dreams?"
"And I'm afraid that Tori is trapped in a scenario where waking up is impossible. If she doesn't wake up…" Tracy stopped in her tracks from finishing that sentence because she could see Jade turning whiter than usual.
"What…" the Goth cowered against the wall, holding onto herself. "What the fuck do we do, Tracy?" A single tear slid down her cheek. "I don't like feeling this way," Jade said shaking her head.
"What do you mean?" Tracy asked.
"This helpless feeling. I see Tori lying there and she's in big trouble and there's nothing I can fucking do!" The tears flowed more profusely now. "My girlfriend is in a coma and she's fair game for, lack of a better term, a ghost!"
Tracy went over to Jade and held her close, stroking her hair.
"It's okay," Tracy assured her baby sister. "We'll think of something."
Jade didn't say anything and neither did her. As far as Tracy was concerned, she didn't know what to do. Years ago, she was so sure that they killed Freddy and it turned out he tricked them all.
Beck held the photo of him and Jade from last summer at the beach. They both seemed so happy there. He gritted his teeth and threw the picture away.
"Very smooth moron," he told himself. "As usual."
He stared at the picture and got up from his bed and picked up the photo. Beck sighed and thumbtacked it back onto his corkboard. He stepped back and folded his arms, regarding the picture.
"She's gone," he said shaking his head. "I shou-"
Beck fell down, hitting the floor of his RV hard. He heard the sound of his truck starting.
"Hey!" he shouted, getting up and running to his door. Locked. He began banging and banging on the metal door. "What the hell's going on!"
The RV began to sway back and forth. It was moving. Somebody was stealing his car and RV, with him inside.
"YOU'D BETTER STOP THIS NOW!" A harsh jostle made him bust his head on the wall. He held his right side which was throbbing. "Fuck! STOP THIS RV OR YOU'LL BE SORRY! I SWEAR TO GOD."
Suddenly, everything calmed down. Beck kept trying the door but it wouldn't budge. He went to one of his windows. They were reinforced and bulletproof so there was no use going through these but maybe he could assess where the thief took his RV.
He did a double take when he saw what was outside.
Piles and piles of cars, all dilapidated. Could it be possible? The carjacker took it to the junkyard?
"Son of a bitch is gonna chop shop my-"
Beck jumped when the RV began shaking again. This time it was very different. His eyes widened when he saw the RV was being lifted off the ground.
"NO, WAIT!" he yelled as loud as he could. "I'M IN HERE! I'M IN HERE! STOP!"
He braced himself when he felt the RV drop. The impact sent everything falling from their shelves. Beck cut himself on his glass coffee table after it smashed. He winced, pulling a large shard from his side.
A loud whirring noise could be heard outside. Beck looked around, scared out of his mind. He then heard horrible crunching sounds all around him. The walls started pushing their way in.
"OH SHIT!"
There was nowhere to escape from the crushing metal box.
He howled in pain as his surroundings drew so close; his bones were breaking, his insides flattening.
Beck fell out of his bed, blood pouring from his mouth. The gleam in his eyes had left.
"Beck, honey" his mom knocked on the RV door. "Are you asleep?"
"Can we stop him?" Jade finally dared to ask. "I want to hear the words, Tracy. Can we?"
Tracy sighed. "I don't know. Freddy is just so…intangible. You have to understand: where he is, Jade, he is limitless."
"I'll kill Krueger myself. He'll keep going after Tori like a coward but I'd like for him to even try and go for me. I'll show that burned bastard!"
"Jade?" a familiar voice called out.
The dark-haired girl saw David standing by the door.
"Mr. Vega…" she stumbled. "What are y-" Jade stopped herself before asking the stupid question of why he was at the hospital.
"Jade…" his voice was unlike anything Jade had heard before. He was worried about his daughters but the way he sounded now was straight fear, like a child at the top of the stairs leading to a deep dark basement. "Did you say Krueger?"
Tracy and Jade exchanged wide-eyed glances.
"As in…Fred Krueger?" he asked.
"How do you know about him?" Tracy asked.
David looked around and shut the door behind him, making sure it was only the three of them.
"I used to live in a town called Springwood, Illinois" he told Jade. "My family moved to California when I was almost a teenager. This guy named Fred Krueger kidnapped and murdered a bunch of kids I grew up with."
Tracy stood up. "Yeah, and he was arrested and released. Then he 'mysteriously died.' I told her the story."
"But I know something you probably don't," he shot at Tracy. "I was the last…"
Jade squinted. "The last what?"
"I was…his last victim."
