I don't own A Nightmare on Elm Street or any of its characters...

The Springwood Slasher

Chapter 10: Daddy?

"But then I see my baby, suddenly I'm not crazy! It all makes sense when

I look into her eyes." - Hailey's Song by Eminem

The nine months had seemed like nine years to Fred. He had only been able to kill three kids since the town named him, mere luck making the kills possible. They were onto him. They didn't know at all who he was of course but they were preparing. The town was taking no more chances. So he had to stop. Only for a little while. It made him a tad tempermental at home, however. If Loretta wasn't so afraid of him or worried about pleasing him, he probably would've snapped and killed her by now. He was going through withdrawal. His last kill had been five months ago. He was smoking more and almost began drinking heavily, until he thought of his foster father. Then he realized that was the last fucking thing he wanted to turn into and didn't wanna take any chances on it. He was cracking his knuckles to fill silence. Taking more and more time out of his day to go to the factory and break shit. Just anything. The place was already falling apart anyway. He hadn't had a meltdown like the one he had finding he was gonna be a father yet. He was afraid it was coming though. He felt it. He was nearly twitching due to restraining a snap from stress. It didn't help that due to fear for the baby's health he and Loretta hadn't had sex in the last three months. His patience was miraculously working though. The curfew had been lifted, although cops were still driving around later. A few people had stopped leaving their porch lights on all night, due to electricity bills and the false security Fred was putting the town under. Even supercop, Donald Thompson, had quit talking to all the neighbors twice a day to check up on Elm Street's status. Tonight Fred was much more settled. He wasn't tapping his fingers on the table the way he had been for months. He was finally relaxing. He knew that in the next two days or so he could go back to his real occupation. He was breathing lighter and pretending to be happy a bit better. What he didn't know, was that his relaxation wasn't gonna last much longer.

He was at the kitchen table, alone, while Loretta was in the living room watching the tv. He'd kept his mind of his unborn kid to keep his stress level down and tonight wasn't supposed to be an exception. Until he heard Loretta shout in a panic.

"Fred!" she shouted, fear in her voice. He stood up rapidly due to her tone being panic stricken.

"What?" he asked cautiously. His voice the cool calmness it always was.

"We gotta get to the hospital! Quick!" she shouted. He couldn't grasp what the Hell she was freakin out about. He had kept his mind off their kid so long that it was never in his thoughts.

"Why?" his voice hinting some annoyance. He had no fucking clue why she expected him to know what her problem was.

"My water broke!" she shouted.

He was so out of it due to shock that he didn't even remember putting her in the car or walking into the hospital. He was sitting in a plastic chair next her bed while three different nurses bustled about. Looking over toward her he noticed she was gripping his hand tightly and squeezing it with all her might. His hand seemed to be her life support more than the IV. Oh, honey if you only knew what that hand has done. He thought to himself. He would've chuckled if the present situation wasn't weighing on him so much. He couldn't hear her screaming anymore. He was good at blocking screams out anymore anyway. He looked as if he was watching Loretta but was actually zoning out. He was brought into reality in one of the roughest yet greatest ways of life when the nurse with a clipboard came over to him and tapped his shoulder.

"Sir?" she asked. He blinked a few times and looked up at her. She smiled a smile of comfort, obviously thinking his reluctance to look up at her was concern for his wife.

"Yes?" he asked. He was surprised at how rough his voice was.

"What's the name?" she asked.

"Huh?" he asked her. He got his answer when his ears noticed a sound that had been in the room for nearly a full minute already. Crying. An infant's crying. He looked up and saw a tiny ball of skin being wrapped in a blanket. He couldn't take his eyes off it. That was his. He had made that. He couldn't believe it. The nurse tapped him again. He tore his eyes from the child in the distance and back to the nurse.

"What's her name?" she asked.

"Her?" he asked, astounded.

"Yes. Her. It's time for you to name your daughter, Sir." said the nurse, smiling.

"Uh...Katherine." he said. It was the first name that popped in his head that he liked. He couldn't remember what the Hell Loretta had chosen for a girl.

"I need her full name, Sir." said the nurse.

"Um...Katherine Abigail Krueger." he said, finally thinking of the name Loretta and he had decided on earlier. It would work as the middle. The nurse with the clipboard walked away and suddenly another reached him, the wrapped baby in her arms. He didn't notice until just now that Loretta was asleep. Giving birth had exhausted her to the point of passing out. The nurse extended the baby to Fred. He hesitated for a moment then reached out his hands and held the baby. He looked down. The baby's crying had calmed and stopped when Fred looked down at it. The baby looked right back up at him. Just looking.

"Hi." Fred whispered. He felt his face open to a smile while looking at her. He was pissed and worried about having a kid since he found out Loretta was pregnant. Wanting to ignore the entire situation as a burden. Now, he found he was happy. He was holding the one human being on the earth that really was a part of him.

"Katherine." Fred softly whispered to the baby. She had his eyes and couldn't stop looking at him it seemed. Katherine seemed just as fascinated with him as he was with her. He felt like he connected to her. The only other time in his life he'd ever felt this connected and happy was during murder. Looking into Katherine's eyes he felt like the whole world just stopped. As if God had pressed the Pause button just for him.

After a while a nurse came over to him.

"Sir, we have to take her and put her to bed." whispered the nurse. He looked up.

"Oh...okay. Um...when can I take her home?" he asked. Reluctant to let her go.

"Well, if all's well in about two days. You'll be able to take her home then. We just need to make sure she's healthy and whatnot." whispered the nurse.

"Oh, alright." he replied. The nurse set out her hands for Katherine. Fred slowly, reluctantly, handed his new daughter to the nurse. Katherine briefly started to cry then began to fall asleep. The nurse smiled at Fred and walked out. On her way out she turned off the main lights of the room so Loretta could sleep. After a few seconds Fred got up and went right to the doorway. He looked down the hall and spotted the nurse. He followed her and tapped her shoulder.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"What is it?" she asked, thinking something was wrong.

"Can I sit by her?" he asked.

"Oh, well. I could put a chair outside the window and let you sit there for a while. You can't sit in the room though. For sanitation reasons." said the nurse smiling.

"Okay." replied Fred. He followed the nurse and sat in the chair she left in the hall for him. He didn't remotely sleep that night. Just sat at the window watching her. Oh, Christ. I'm a Daddy. I'm a Daddy. And happy about it. That tiny, beautiful, innocent little baby girl in there is mine. I made her. I did that. Me. The town freak, evil child of a nun, serial killer Fred Krueger made that. Me. That's my Katherine in there. He said, marveling at it entirely. He didn't know that what he was feeling for the child was what he saw Loretta feel for him. He knew how it looked and felt from another but not how if felt to feel it himself. He was feeling love for another living thing for the first time in his life. Actual love. He just didn't know what it was.

He also didn't know that an aging nun was standing in a hallway behind him watching him. Seeing him for the first time since he was an infant. On the same night he was seeing his own child as an infant. The nun silently debated walking over, not outright saying who she was but perhaps commenting on the baby. Not to see him but perhaps to be near her granddaughter. She couldn't do it. She couldn't bring herself to go over to where he was. She feared him too much. She could still feel it. Even being several feet away from him she could feel it in him. The evil she felt in him when he was born. It was still there. She knew it if no one else did. She was his mother and knew there was a hidden bit of paternal love for him in her. She also knew that evil was his father and he'd always walk in his father's footsteps. She took one last look at the baby behind the window, that looked so like he had, then at him before walking away. Resolving to pray for the little girl to not become like her father in any way. Praying for the baby to have a good childhood as well. Praying that her son wasn't as evil as she believed. Praying that he wasn't going to Hell. Praying that he wasn't what she knew he was in her heart, a monster.

Fred thought he felt eyes on him while sitting there but couldn't turn from his daughter. Hearing footsteps though, he couldn't help it. He turned. No one was there. He knew he wasn't imagining it. Someone had been watching him. Must've been that nurse. He thought. He turned back to his daughter, entranced by her in every way. Not for a moment knowing that he was just briefly reunited with the mother he'd despised for the majority of his life. Only knowing that his Katherine was the most important person on the planet from this point on. Vowing to himself that he'd never let any harm come to her, ever. Vowing that he'd never do to her what his mother or foster father did to him. He'd already beaten out being a better parent than his mother and figured he could beat out his foster father as well. Vowing that he'd teach her everything he knew. Even perhaps to bring her into the dark world he loved and kept to himself. That's what he was supposed to do right? He was, after all, a Daddy now.