Chapter 21: Unexpected Trouble

Kate pulled up at the old factory and they all stared at it. "Oh my God," Nancy breathed, covering her mouth. Kate looked at her, Bobby then Quentin. "Well, here we are you guys," Kate told them, "Please be careful in there. If anything were to happen to any of you guys…" Quentin smiled at her and undid his seatbelt. "We'll be fine," he told her, "We can do this." He got out with Nancy and Bobby. "It's just in and out," Bobby breathed, "Just in and out. All we've got to do is burn him." "Good luck you guys," Kate said to them. Nancy stared at her for a moment and then leaned in and hugged her. Kate hugged her back. "When this is over, we can all dream," Nancy told her. Kate smiled at her and nodded her head. She then looked back at Marlena and Darcy. "When we get the Hypnocil, we'll meet you back here," Kate told the trio standing in front of the factory. They all nodded. She looked at them all and smiled. "Good luck guys," Kate told them, driving off into the fog.

Nancy, Quentin and Bobby all started towards the building. Bobby kicked the front doors, which were latched closed. "Damn it," Bobby breathed. The chain suddenly broke and the doors swung open. He backed away and looked back at Quentin who had just thrown a rock at it. "Sorry man, I'm in a hurry," Quentin told him. They all entered through the front door together. "It's pitch black in here," Nancy told them. "Let's get some lights on, then," Quentin said, going over to a power console and lifted a large switch. The light next to Quentin exploded and there was a loud groaning within the interior of the building. The machines started moving one by one and the place was lit up in a dull orange glow. "That looks very familiar," Quentin told them. "So, this is where he always takes us," Nancy said, grabbing a flashlight off of a shelf, "This is his lair." "You know, I read something interesting," Bobby told them both, "Some spirits that have been damned sometimes rest in the places they've fallen. He's trapped here. He probably can only invade us because we're afraid of him." They entered the large maze.

Kate and the others pulled up behind the laboratory service building. "So, this is where he took our Hypnocil," Kate said. "Let's go and get it back," Darcy said, grabbing a switchblade out of her pocket. "Hey, where'd you get that?" Kate asked. "I stole it from the confiscation room," Darcy said, "I know how to pick locks." "Oh yeah?" Kate asked, "Can you pick that lock?" They all stared at the back door lock and Darcy smiled. "I'll take a crack at it," Darcy told her, cracking her fingers. They all climbed out quietly and raced up to the back door. "Darcy took something out of her purse and tossed her blonde messy hair over her shoulder. She opened a custom lock pick set and began going to work. "Whoa, where'd you get that?" Marlena asked her. "This was mine," Darcy explained as she wiggled the metal object about, "Max took it after I used it to sneak out once." She twisted the object and the door unlocked. "Like stealing Christmas from the ghetto!" Darcy told them, "Let's boogie." They all hurried inside and shut the door quickly. They all hurried through the darkly lit hallway, looking around.

"Alright, we're in," Kate told them, "Let's see what we can find here." Darcy calmly walked over to an office and kicked the doorknob in wards. She then shoved the door and it swung open. Marlena came in beside her and switched on the lights. They were in a large lab room. "What the hell is this?" Marlena gasped, seeing dozens of cages with animals that starting waking up and making noise. "Animal experimentation," Kate told her, nodding her head slowly, "The same assholes who've made Hypnocil were also making other pharmaceuticals and using it on these pets." Marlena shook her head in disgust. "That's disgusting," She told Kate and Darcy. "Dude, they're going to know who took the pills," Darcy told Kate. "I'm not too concerned with that right now," Kate said. She was looking at a fire escape plan on the wall. "Let's see, we're in the animal lab," Kate said, running her hand along the map, "We're looking for the pharmacy." Marlena opened one of the cages and pulled out a small puppy. It started barking happily and began licking her face. "What are you doing?" Darcy asked. "He's coming with me," Marlena told her, "I'm not leaving him here." Darcy rolled her eyes as Kate snapped her fingers. "I've got it," Kate said, "It's on the 2nd floor. Let's go guys!"

They all made their way upstairs, shining their flashlights around the dark building. "Damn, it's creepy in here," Kate told them. They hurried through the hallway, sweeping the closed off rooms. "It's here," Kate told them both. They all stood in front of the pharmacy as Kate started trying to unlock the door, swearing under her breath. Darcy then kicked the door and it swung open, smashing the window on the wall. "Thank you," Kate told her. They all entered together, shining their lights around the dark pharmacy. They all looked round and spotted shelves and shelves of pills, tablets and liquids. "Now, where are you, Hypnocil?" Kate asked looking around and spotting a computer terminal. She began typing on it and smiled. It was a directory for the meds. She typed in HYPNOCIL and clicked search. The catalog started scanning the database and showed the ID number.

Kate smiled and started going through the meds' numerical codes. Marlena and Darcy followed her to the shelf. Kate looked on the shelf where it should've been, but it was empty. "Shit!" Kate yelled, throwing a bunch of containers off of the racks, "Where are the meds?" "Uh, Kate?" Marlena asked. Late looked about and saw Marlena pointing to them in the large glass display cabinet. "There you are," Kate said, grabbing a stool and smashed the glass. Kate started grabbing and stuffing them in her pockets and her in her purse. Marlena and Darcy both started helping her, placing the bottles in their bags. "All right, we've got them!" Kate happily told them both, "Great job you guys!" They all high fived and started giggling. "We should leave now," Marlena told tem both. Kate nodded her head. "Let's get out of this place," Kate told them. Marlena held her new puppy close and they all hurried out of the room.

Quentin, Nancy and Bobby all stood in front of the large boiler. They were awestruck at the size of it, knowing that Freddy's remains were in the heart of it. "Here you are, you bastard," Quentin said, staring at the latch wheel. "Oh my God, he's really in there," Nancy breathed, "We have to open it." They all went forward and Quentin began turning the wheel. It creaked under the movement, dust poring front the joints. Quentin heard a loud unlatching noise and pulled the wheel on the door towards him. There was suddenly an explosion of dust and stale air that flew out at them and they all began coughing. As the cloud of dust settled, they all stared into the open doorway and saw darkness. "Who's going in first?" Nancy asked, looking at them both. "I guess I'll do it," Quentin told them. He breathed on his hands and climbed into the doorway. He looked back at them. Bobby tossed him the flashlight and Quentin switched it on. He shone it around the giant sphere and squinted. He saw the large circular area filled halfway up with murky brown water. "Oh man," he breathed, climbing in.

Nancy and Bobby were both watching tensely, but turned away at the faint sound of a car horn. "It's Kate and the others!" Nancy told him. "Great, they've probably got our meds!" Quentin told them, "Bobby, you should go get them." Bobby nodded and looked at them both. "Back in a flash," he told them. He then took off running up the stairs. "I think you'll need a hand," Nancy told Quentin, climbing up into the doorway. "Thank you," he told her. She carefully slid into the water and shuddered. "It's freezing cold!" She told him. "I'm think my legs are going numb," he told her back. They both stuck their arms in the water and felt around for something, anything at the bottom.

Bobby stopped at the top of the stairs and caught his breath. "Oh man," he said, yawning, "What's wrong with me? I'm starting to feel woozy." He groaned, holding his head. A wave of nausea hit him and he closed his eyes for a second. He leaned against the wall and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "There we go, all good to go," he sighed. He looked around and saw the boiler was still wide-open below him. He looked around and kept walking to the front door. He thought he saw something, so he shot his head upward and saw a shadow pass by on the upper scaffolding. "Oh no, I'm asleep," he breathed. He began slapping his face and then trying to widen his eyes. He was suddenly grabbed from behind and lifted up onto the above scaffolding. He then dropped hard onto his face and gritted his teeth.

"Hey there Bobby…" he heard a familiar voice say above him. He looked up slowly and saw Freddy staring down at him. "So, you kids are going to finish me off?" Freddy roared, picking Bobby up quickly. He then threw Bobby into the wall and he screamed. Bobby held onto it, dazed. Freddy scratched him across the back and roared. Bobby screamed as he was violently turned around and shoved into the wall. Bobby slid down it on his knees and looked up at him. "Get it over with…" Bobby told him, his eyes closing. "I had something else in mind," Freddy told him, "Get up!" he grabbed Bobby by the shirt and lifted him to his feet. Bobby groaned as Freddy began walking to the scaffold edge and held him at it.

"No Bobby, don't do it!" Kate screamed, looking up at the 2nd story. "Bobby!" Marlena screamed, seeing his back to them. Nancy, Darcy and Quentin were yelling too but he was too scared to hear them. "Let's try a trust fall," Freddy told him, "If they really are your friends, they'll catch you." Freddy smiled and kicked Bobby off the scaffolding and he fell 2 stories down. Everyone raced to catch him and he landed on all of them. Everyone fell over and Bobby remained motionless. "BOBBY!" Kate yelled, pulling his head into her arms. She tearfully checked his pulse and looked up at them. "He's still alive, but he won't wake up!" she told them all. Everyone stared down at him as he lied there with his head turned. "Freddy's got him," Marlena breathed as tears began to pour out of hr eyes, "We've got the Hypnocil, but it's too late." "We haven't come this far to lose this," Nancy told all of them, "He's testing us." "What do you mean?" Kate asked her. "He wants us to follow Bobby," Nancy told them all, "He's being held under by Freddy." Marlena and Kate were both sobbing, Quentin was staring at her and Darcy pulled out her switchblade. "We can't sit here and do nothing," Darcy told her, "He'll die for sure." "We have to go in and get him," Nancy told them all, "We can't let him die. Freddy's found a way to get all of us now. If we do nothing, we've murdered Bobby. What'll it be?"

Everyone was looking at her bug eyed. "I'll do anything!" Marlena sobbed, "I'm not going to let him die in there!" Nancy nodded her head and looked at the rest of them. "He's my patient," Kate told her, "I took a vow to help my kids with whatever it takes." Darcy nodded her head to her. "We can't roll over and take it from him anymore," she told Nancy. She looked at Quentin and he grabbed her hand. "I'm with you," he told her. She smiled at him. "But what about the remains?" Marlena asked. "Oh, they're over there," Quentin said, nodding his head in the direction of a large potato sack. They all stared intensely as Quentin slowly undid the bag and stared in. The others followed his gaze as he lifted a skull out of the bag. "One of us will have to stay behind," Nancy told them, "To start the furnace." They all looked at each other. "Kate, it should be you," Nancy told her. "What?" Kate asked, "I can't leave you kids behind! What if he gets you guys?" "He won't," Quentin told her, "Me and Nancy were the ones who took him on before. We know what we're doing. We'll have a shot at this as long as those bones are burnt." "You have to trust us," Nancy told her.

"Alright, let's do this then," Kate told them all.