Just so you know, I'm writing based on the original Nightmare on Elm Street, so any problems you may have had with the timeline were probably due to that.
Scarlet's mom, after hearing about the incident, allowed her to stay home from school for a few days, despite Jack's protests.
Her friends weren't so lucky, but she saw them every day anyways, once the school bell rang and all the teenagers were free.
But today, Scarlet didn't go out. It was too bright and sunny for her liking- too happy.
So instead she just put on some music, but to her dislike a song called 'Nightmare' came on and she didn't like hearing about a subject in a song that reflected her life so much.
Scarlet stopped the music, and ran a hand through her hair. People were dying. There was absolutely nothing she could do about it. It made Scarlet feel completely helpless. A stern expression came upon her face and she said aloud, "No. I will not be helpless." Her brow creased as she thought long and hard about what to do.
In her mind, she worked out being helpless:
Helpless= being alone. Having friends= getting friends killed, then being alone.
"Damn!" Scarlet spat. She knew that this was probably what all the other victims went through. Their friends die. They're utterly alone. And then what? Did any of them actually resolve their problems?
Scarlet looked at the clock. Now it was only lunch, but she was nowhere near hungry. No, Scarlet was tired. She examined herself in a mirror, seeing her eyes surrounded by black circles made her resemble some sort of demon child, and Scarlet chuckled under her breath.
A few minutes of scattered thoughts went by, and sleep seemed to welcome Scarlet with open arms. She was very close to embracing it, but she was terrified at sleeping while home alone.
She didn't want to die. The only question Scarlet had on her mind was: was she meant to die? Maybe Freddy was here to get rid of those people whose lives weren't going to be very long anyways. For all she knew, she could get in a terrible gang fight and die then and there. What if Freddy was an omen from heaven (or hell) sent to judge the living? He could have been there to get rid of the potential threats for mankind in the future.
Scarlet wrote down some of these ideas, but at the top of her list in bolded black letters was: Cold Hard Killer.
"Mr. Krueger," Scarlet whispered in a devious tone, "You and I aren't getting off to a good start."
Scarlet's eyes widened. A brainwave had just hit her, and it hit her hard.
Maybe, she thought, maybe I just have to appeal to him. I'll use my fancy knife skills and impress him. Who knows, this might just work out!
Scarlet took the picture of her father in her hands.
"This wouldn't be happening if you were here, dad," Scarlet muttered, her voice thick with tears. Salty tears fell down her cheeks and a few fell on the old photo, and Scarlet made sure that the photo wouldn't ruin from her tears. Scarlet knew it was because her vision was blurred, but she could swear that the smiling picture of her father wasn't smiling merrily anymore, but more like he was grimacing.
At that moment, Jack came through the front door and Scarlet hurried to compose herself.
"Scarlet!" he barked. "Scarlet, go get your homework from school. But stay away from those people," Jack said the word 'people' with so much venom that it would discourage a cobra from striking.
"Yes sir," Scarlet spieled, and headed past Jack and out the door being careful to hide her face in case it was still puffy from her small emotional moment.
"Please Scarlet," Jack grabbed Scarlet's arm and turned her to face him, "Please be more respectful while your mother is around. I don't care how you are when it's just me, but for your mothers sake, please have a better attitude."
Scarlet made her way down to the school, kicking a lone pebble halfway there, when she ran into Stephen.
"Hey," he said nonchalantly. His face was pale, except for the dark circles under his eyes not unlike her own.
"Hey."
"I brought your homework." Stephen held out some textbooks, and Scarlet took them.
"Where's Jolene?"
"She went home sick today. I was going to go visit her after dropping those things off for you. Would you care to join me?"
"Well, if she's sick we shouldn't overwhelm her-"
"No, she's just been very depressed these past days. Even more than the both of us combined. She won't eat, won't sleep, won't talk. Cory was like her brother. They were very close."
"When is- when is the funeral for- for Cory?" Scarlet choked.
"This weekend I think. It's just going to be a small one, close friends and relatives."
The rest of the silence to Jolene's was awkward, and Scarlet was glad to see the surprised but sill nonetheless pleased expression when Jolene saw the two of them walk through her front door.
Scarlet stayed for an hour but then insisted that she had to go, and hurried home. It was getting dark from storm clouds, and regardless of whether or not she was dreaming, she didn't like being outside in the dark.
"Hello!" Scarlet called when she walked in the front door.
Jack looked up from what he was doing in the kitchen, seemed uninterested in Scarlet's arrival, and continued doing what it was he was doing.
"Where's mom?"
"Not home yet."
"Good," Scarlet replied grimly, and plopped down onto a chair beside Jack. "I need to ask you some questions."
Jack looked up at her, bewildered, but nodded to tell her to go on.
"Alright, question one: what to you know about Mr. Freddy Krueger?"
Jack's face flushed and he just about fell back in his chair. It was obvious that he knew something important, but instead of answering all he said was, "No. I don't know why you know him but I've never heard of the guy."
"He tried to kill me in my dreams, Jack!" Scarlet insisted, but Jack only shook his head. "Please, Jackā¦"
"Alright," Jack sighed, "Freddy Krueger was an old acquaintance of mine. We stopped coming in contact when I found out he was a murderer. I brought you here to see if he was still somehow murdering. And he is, I suppose."
A shocked gasp came from behind them and both of them whirled around to see Scarlet's mother standing there, eyes wide and mouth gaping.
"You brought us here... you brought my daughter here... to kill her? Jack how could you?" She stormed out of the room, hair flowing behind her. Jack followed, his face screwed up while trying to come up with an excuse to what this woman just heard.
Shouting. That was all Scarlet heard. She couldn't make out any distinct words. She heard her mother say, "I don't believe you!" many times, but that was all.
One remark (Scarlet didn't hear it then but remembered it later) stuck with her, and it was her mother saying in almost hushed tones, "How could you tell her that? After all had happened in her life, after all the death? How could you do that to someone who looked so much like him, so much like your friend, and my husband?"
Jack wasn't thinking when he said this and all of them knew it, but it still shocked everyone. "I don't like your daughter." His tone was plain and there was no hidden meaning behind his words. "I don't like her at all."
I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in so long, so if I disappointed anyone I sincerely apologize. Thank you for the great reviews though, and have a nice day.
