They cut him down after an hour: His eyes strained from their sockets, and his neck had stretched, the skin turning an ugly purple color.
"What now?" Leni asked.
"We cut his head off," Lucy said dispassionately, "then burn him."
Lori shivered. "Isn't that a little much?"
"No," Lucy said. "We have to be sure."
As it was her idea, Lucy took it upon herself to do the honors: After fetching a hacksaw from the garage, she knelt beside the dead child molester and ran the blade back and forth against his throat until the head separated. Green slime oozed out, and Lucy's stomach turned.
"Fascinating," Lisa said, scooping some of the ichor into a test tube.
Next, Lucy got a gas can from the shed and doused Freddy's body. Lincoln lit it with a match. The fire burned high and bright for nearly two hours. The smell was awful. Nevertheless, none of the siblings retreated: They watched every moment.
When there was nothing left but a burned patch of earth, they covered it with soil and went inside. It was nearly dawn, and they reeked of smoke.
Time passed. Lisa ran tests on the Freddy slime, but the results were inconclusive. How he was able to live outside of the dream world stumped her. Over the past several days, however, she had learned something: Not everything makes sense in the world.
On the first day of school, Lincoln woke early and went downstairs. His sisters were at the table. Mom was making pancakes. Though Luan and Luna weren't there, things were right. Or as right as they would ever be.
"Here you go, honey," mom said. Lincoln turned...
...and froze. She was wearing a red and green striped robe, and held a plate in one hand...her fingers were knives.
"Eat up," she said and smiled, "you need your strength. You have a long day ahead of you..."