A/note: Thanks again for all your reviews. I usually response to all reviewer individually, but there are some reviewers who I can't reply to individually as they have no accounts. So thank you to the anonymous/guest reviewers...etc.
P.s. - apologies for the self advertising lol - but if you are interested in reading - Bad Romance, Little Talks or My Big Krueger Nightmare Wedding - feel free! thanks!
Chapter 21: Breaking Point
The ward was quiet. An eerie calm falling upon the barren corridor outside Katherine's side room. Her comatose body came to as she entered the dream. Her big brown eyes fluttered opened and soon were filled with unease as she realised what had happened minutes before. Dr O'Neill had sedated her. Now she was at the mercy of her father, trapped in the dream world with no one to help her. The others would assume that she was endeavouring to stay awake.
How the hell was she going to get through tonight? The thought of her father being anywhere near her tonight petrified her. But what could she do? Due to her physical condition she didn't have the strength to fight him.
Katherine dazedly sat up on the mattress and winced slightly at the dull pain coming from her ribs. It appeared that Dr O'Neill had given her some morphine to subdue the pain in her ribs, but she could feel the dull ache emanating from her fractured bones. Her weary eyes scoured the dimly lit room. The light on the ceiling was switched off, while above her bed behind her bed a silver metal swivel light that was mounted upon the wall behind the bed. It was rotated about forty five degrees and shed a small dim ray of light above her head. It was the only source of light in the room.
She gripped the top of the bed clothes and rolled them down until they were at the bottom of her quivering legs. Her pensive eyes glanced up at the aluminium blinds across from her. They were partly opened, perhaps an inch or so. Enough for her to see whoever was outside. Her eyes then roamed towards the opened doorway. There was a soft thud as though something was thrown onto the tiled ground.
Suddenly a red ball rolled by her door. There was a patter of feet followed by gentle childish giggles and animated chatter. Katherine craned her head back to the window and she could barely see the top of little boy's and girl's heads as they dashed by. Her curious gaze followed them as they ran by the door. There was five of them, three young girls with brown and blond hair, dressed in pearly white dresses and two dark haired boys adorned in black suits. Their ages ranged between five and ten years old.
Katherine gritted her teeth, biting down hard on her bottom lip as she twisted her body and threw her legs over the edge of the bed.
She had to move.
Now!
She knew now that anytime those victims of her father showed up, he wouldn't be far behind.
Her bare feet touched the cool hard floor and she stretched her right hand to grip the IV stand, her fingers curled around the pole as she unsteadily rose to her feet. A small moan of pain erupted from her as she tried to place a little bit of pressure on her right ankle.
That was the least of her worries as she heard heavy footsteps bounding down the corridor.
He was here.
"No" she murmured, managing to stifle back a sob. Her head whipped to the left and she gulped in dread. The familiar red and green stripped jumper was visible between the blinds and the side of his horrid burnt face and battered fedora hat. She could faintly hear clicking, the sound of his blades rhythmically ticking at this side.
Katherine felt panic soar through her weak body and without another second's thought she shifted her right foot forward a few inches. She shrieked as a hot piercing pain shot up her leg and she tumbled forward onto the ground, losing her balance.
Her right arm inadvertently yanked down the IV pole onto her back, connecting hard against her wounded back. Another sob tore from her body as she pitifully began to crawl forward. Her trembling fingers grasped at the ground as she dragged her body forward, inch by inch. Then she felt something tugging at her right arm. Her eyes dropped down to the IV needle embedded in her arm and then along the thin transparent tube that stretched behind her. It was starting to trail the IV pole behind her.
Before she could reach with her left hand to rip it from her flesh, she heard deep raspy breathing approaching from the other side of the bed.
Lowering her scared gaze to the cold floor she saw that her tears were dripping from her face onto the smooth surface. Her eyes flicked to the left and she peered through the tresses of her untidy brown hair at a pair of dirty black work boots. She whimpered softly and clamped her eyes shut, curling her shivering legs under her body.
Freddy tapped his blades against his black slacks. His meditative ice blue eyes glowered down at her shaking frame. The anger that he felt the previous night was still raw. He hadn't fully pacified his rage. But that didn't mean he was going to inflict pain on her. Though if she dared to say something out of line or that would make him lose his cool, then she would be getting her medicine yet again.
He slowly crouched down onto his haunches, eying her assiduously. The way her body reacted to his presence was the same way it was the first time he used the belt on her. It was though she was a little nine year old girl all over again.
She was terrified of him.
A sly smirk tugged at the corner of his scarred lips.
It was perfect.
This was the way he wanted her to be. Though he had to confess he did like the feistiness to her persona. But not all the time. He didn't want her to think she could do what she wanted if she was going to be at his side. She was going to he his submissive little girl again, though he wanted this spirited character of hers to shine through.
But when he allowed her to show it.
He was still going to control her personality and fashion it to what he wanted her to be.
Shifting on his haunches he reached around her back with his clawed glove and burnt hand to seize her right arm. Her body tensed and she whimpered softly as he yanked her arm back, revealing the IV drip and needle piercing her skin. Gripping the thin tube with his scarred fingers he used his index blade to cut sever the tube. Then with a vindictive smirk he yanked the needle from her skin, tearing her skin about an inch or so in turn making her squeal in agony. He then flung the needle and tube away, along with the IV stand under the bed.
Katherine gasped and hissed as she felt a trickle of her blood oozing down her right arm. Her body was then quickly hoisted off the ground as his arms coiled under her stomach. Each of her arms lay limply at her side and she cried out as he dumped her brusquely onto the bed, making her roll agonizingly onto her back. She groaned and coughed as she gathered her haggard breath.
Freddy loomed over her, watching her in silence. Her hair was tangled over her face, shielding her beaten face from him. Bending forward he tugged her hair from her quivering pale face and then a vicious smile graced his face.
He knew that he had done some damage to her face, but nothing quite like this. Sure, she deserved it every cut, every bruise and graze. The disobedient little brat. The sooner she realised that she deserved her beating, the easier it would be for her.
But as his eyes trailed over her bruised, battered face once more, a twinge of guilt tugged at his dark heart. Was he really feeling remorse for doing this to her? It was like when she was a little nine year old girl, trembling and cowering beneath him in the secret room after he had whipped her with the belt. The guilt tore through his soul back then. He was anxious that she would flinch and recoil away from his touch. Back then he didn't want that. His soul couldn't bare not to be able to comfort her in some way such as holding her in his arms, cradling her on his lap.
But there wasn't much of his soul left now, was there? It was corrupted, black and twisted. Those demons had more or less destroyed what was left of his humanity or had he done that himself when he was alive? Did he have any morals at all?
The fact remained, he was still angry at her. Nevertheless it would subside soon. Even when he was alive he could never stay angry at her for that long.
He gently traced the scar along her forehead with a single cool blade and trailed the pointed metal down the left side of face and turned her to fully face him. His smile grew wider and he chuckled immorally at the red, ghastly graze on her cheek. Squeezing her cheek once he heard a deep groan from her throat. Just like he expected, her jaw was fractured.
"Open your eyes and look at me" Freddy sneered. His voice was full of spite. He wasn't going to be all fucking pleasant around her. She needed to know he was still furious with her.
Katherine sniffled, fresh tears brimming behind her closed eyelids. "Y-you're going to h-hurt me again"
He tightened his grip on her jaw. "If you don't open your fucking eyes, then I will hurt you!"
She winced and slowly opened her eyes. He was literally leaning over the bed, his face mere inches from hers. A sneer of disdain adorned his features and then with a muffled curse he let go of her face, straightening up as he tried to compose himself. Even now as he read her mind, he could feel the feelings of compassion and love from her towards the fucker Michael. It made him sick to his stomach how could she dare have them emotions for Michael. Why would she betray him like that? The last eight years with those fuckers had really corrupted her mind.
He took a step back and then sat on the edge of the bed, his gaze never leaving her fearful one. Bringing his claw in between her bare calves he planted it flat on the mattress. "I'm not one bit happy with you Katherine" He growled, then lifted his index scarred finger to point at her. "What you said to me about HIM isn't right!"
"B-but it's the truth-"
In a flash of fury, Freddy sprang forward and snatched her throat with his burnt hand with his claw raised above his head. Poised to strike. She screeched and clamped her eyes shut, pleading for his mercy. "Please don't hurt me!"
"Shut the FUCK up!" he spat with venom into her face, "Don't you dare speak until I ask you a question, got it?"
She whinged and nodded, "Yes"
He untangled his hand from around her throat and stormed away into the corner of the room, where he stood gazing furiously at the far wall. Katherine tenderly rubbed her sore throat and turned her brooding gaze towards her father. His shoulders were drooped slightly, his head lowered and he seemed to be muttering. No, not actually muttering. He was talking to himself.
"I should have killed him years ago" He hissed through his gritted rotten teeth. "Look what he's done to my little girl. He has turned her against me!"
Don't lose your cool Krueger. Do you really want to hurt her again?
She could die if you attack her again.
You can see how weak she is.
"Don't you think I don't know that?" he snapped.
Then you need to restrain your anger.
"Restrain it? Fuck that bullshit!" he whispered, "I need to release this rage. I need something to kill"
Then why don't you?
Freddy scraped his knives together as he formulated a plan, something to help relieve this rage. He closed his eyes, contemplating for a moment and nodded to himself as he felt a presence in his domain. Oh, this was going to be real good. He raised his steel talons to his lips, trailing them along the rim of his coarse mouth lightly and then chuckled forebodingly as he turned back to the bed to face her.
Katherine grimly stared at him, slightly on edge at the mischievous gleam in his eyes. What was he thinking? What the hell was he up to now? She watched him cautiously as he approached the bed again. He began to gently stroke her bruised right cheek and the rubbed his thumb harshly over her cut lip. "You stay there. I've got a surprise for you"
She gulped and tried to reply. But he hushed her with a stern glare. "Now, what did I say? Mmm? No talking until I ask you a question" He gave her a brusque kiss to her forehead and disappeared in a blink of an eye.
A long raspy sigh of relief gushed from her lips. Just what happened there? Was he really talking to himself or talking someone else? And why did he just leave her like this? The last thing she wanted was a nasty surprise from him. She wanted some rest, to gather her strength. But how could she when he could be back at any minute to mentally torment her again?
Fuck, why did that pathetic doctor have to sedate her? Leaving her trapped and alone in this nightmare, at her father's mercy and wrath. If there was one thing she wished was that she could turn back to four months ago so she could turn down the offer of coming back to Springwood.
She should have stayed in Central City and persuaded Michael to do like wise. Then none of what happened to them would have occurred, she would be leading a normal life. But then again was she ever normal?
When she was going through her therapy in Central City and those two months of counselling with Michael's mother in the summer of 1978, she had continuously pondered her feelings towards her father. She remembered telling Dr Murray that she missed her father and that she still loved him. Even once or twice when she was talking to Sandra she had mentioned it to her too. But she was consumed by anger at what he did to her. The sick sexual abuse he put her through. Usurping his control over her. Though the feelings of care and affection for him were still there. She thought they had gone, but she had only pushed them to the back of her mind.
She did care for him. She did love him.
Or maybe she was crazy. He had certainly tested her sanity over the last few weeks that was for sure..
A sudden scream resonated from the corridor, followed by a distant mad cackle.
It belonged to her father.
Chewing her bottom lip she sluggishly pushed herself to a sitting position on the bed, peering out the opened door. Where exactly was them deafening screams coming from? Who was sleeping? Who had he gone after now?
She placed her hands on the mattress, mulling over if she should try and leave the room. But she was in no fit state to stand, neither mind walk. And if was able to walk and find out who was being attacked, what would she do? It was stupid. The best place for her was on the bed. Her head lulled back against the pillow and soon the minutes began to tick by.
Her fatigued eyelids began to flutter close as exhaustion engulfed her…
"Wake up!"
The rough, scarred palm of Freddy's left hand collided with her right cheek and her eyes flew opened. Her cheek stung from the impact of his hand and she swallowed thickly at the cruel smirk that tugged at her father's burnt lips. He bent over her, his lips inches from hers. "Are you ready for your surprise, princess?"
Before she could muster a reply he seized her shoulders and jerked her to her feet, positioning her fragile body in front of him. The majority of her weight was balanced on her left foot as she was pushed forward out of the room. Her body hobbled on her left leg and she wheezed harshly as she muttered, "Where are you t-taking me?"
"You'll see soon" Freddy pressed his lips against her cheek in mocking tender kiss.
Her bleary eyes flicked to the claw wrapped around her right arm and she gave an involuntary shiver. Smeared on each long blade was deep red liquid. Blood. She knew now where he was taking her. To show her who he had killed. Had her already tenuous mind suffered enough over the last two to three days? He must really enjoy psychologically tormenting her!
She nearly stumbled to the ground as her left foot lost it's footing, but he held her aloft by constricting his grip around her arms. Her head hung limply as she was continued to be trailed and shoved forward down the darkened hospital corridor. At the far end there was a set of double doors. Above them was the sign in blood red lights.
Morgue
Katherine shook her head in dismay. "No. Let me go. Please!"
"Aw, c'mon" Freddy cooed gruffly in her ear, feigning disappointment. "You'll love it!"
He gave a sharp nod of his head towards the door and they flew open. A hot blast of heat greeted them as he thrust her forward into his own distorted representation of the morgue.
To the right was white tiled walls, attached to them was a row of fifteen grey morgue chambers. At least five of them were pulled opened and five black body bags were unzipped, revealing defaced corpses upon the thick metal trolleys. All of them were children. There was a tray of utensils used in the procedure of an autopsy. Enterotome scissors - large scissors used for opening internal organs, a skull chisel, rib cutters, various sized scalpels, toothed forceps and large bone saw. All of them were smeared and speckled in blood and dead skin.
To their left merged in with the morgue was the boiler room. The walls of the morgue were meshed together with the steel hot walls of the power plant. A large blazing fire raged within the rusty walls of the furnace. She then noticed large thick metal chains hanging in the middle of the room, swaging slightly from side to side. They reached up as far as her eyes could see, stretching higher above them. At the bottom of each chain was sharp curved meat hooks. Pieces of severed and mangled flesh hung from the tip of the hook, making her stomach recoil in revulsion.
Freddy chortled crazily in her ear, wrapping his left hand around the back of her neck and with a snarl he heaved her forward towards the metal trolleys. He held her in front of him as he stopped at the top of the metal table. "Look"
She weakly shook her head, she wasn't even trying to wrestled his hand from her throat. There was no fight in her tonight. Her gaze was positioned towards her bare feet on the cold floor. "No"
He gave a deep growl and cupped her chin with his fingers and jerked her gaze to the corpse of a little girl. Their cream dress was torn apart from their chest and stomach area, revealing jagged and deep cuts. Caused by fish hooks. Her flesh was mangled and pulled apart. Katherine knew who it was from her pale face.
"Remember this little piglet?" Freddy whispered in her left ear.
She gave a whimper, "Emily"
"Beautiful, isn't it?" he brought his clawed glove to her mutilated flesh, digging two blades into her gutted stomach and yanked out a strand of her intestines. "I know this fascinates you"
Katherine swallowed profusely. She was going to be sick. Her stomach was twisted in knots. The sight of that crushed flesh, the muscled tissue being severed and those internal organs was revolting. But why could she not look away? Why was she still staring at Emily's corpse?
She heard a nauseating slopping sound and blinked as Freddy viciously wrenched out the intestines, allowing them to drop onto the tiled floor with a squelch. Katherine gagged and finally closed her eyes.
"We're not finished" Freddy leered.
Katherine shrieked as she was twisted around to the next metal table. Reluctantly she pried her eyes opened and peered down at the next corpse. She recognised the boy instantly. A mop of blond hair, chubby face. It was Billy. His right leg was decapitated an inch or so above his knee. The cracked bone was visible beneath the clutter of thick veins, red muscle tissue and tendons.
"I did that for you" Freddy reminded her. Then kissed her hair gently, "You asked me to do that"
"I d-didn't…" Katherine stammered.
"Yes, you did. Remember? You said he should get his medicine for hurting you" Freddy chuckled in her ear. "That's what I did sweetheart. For you"
She pursed her lips together, silence falling between them for a moment as she contemplated his words. He was right in a way, she did want Billy punished in. When he told her that he took him away, she was a little pleased that he was gone. She had despised Billy when she was a little girl. Her hatred for him was strong. Even now she felt a sense of gratitude at what he had done back then.
A stray tear streaked down her right cheek as these sinister thoughts that invaded her mind.
God, maybe she was going insane...
"Now, for your real surprise!" Freddy smiled beneath the rim of his fedora.
Katherine's body tensed, her muscles tightened with fright as she was whipped around towards the numerous silver rusty hanging chains. There was now a body suspended in the middle of all those chains. Their limp, lifeless cadaver was hooked on the meat hook about one foot off the grating and was covered by a thin white sheet. Literally the metal curved hook was propelled deep into bottom of its back, piercing through the flesh and into the spinal cord at the bottom. Leaving the body dangling amongst the other chains.
Freddy's tongue slithered out to flicker over his bottom lip. He was going to savour this. He raised his right arm and with a quick flick of his index blade the sheet was yanked from the carcass.
Then Katherine began to scream.
"No! Michael!"
The bale laughter of Freddy boomed in her ears, "Not so handsome now, is he?"
Katherine mustered whatever energy she could and thrashed against his chest, her wide horrified eyes never leaving the brutalised corpse before her. Michael's left cheek bone was busted in, thin layers of his skin melted and torn away to reveal the hard bone beneath. A thick crack was visible along the side of the jaw to the bottom of his cheek. Broad deep cuts marred his forehead and right cheek. Also accompanied by red, raw burns. His hair was singed, peeled away from his skull. His blue t-shirt was slit down the middle and his old scars were reopened, though the lacerations were deeper in their incisions.
Freddy continued to chortle maliciously as he pushed her closer to the corpse, "C'mon Katherine. Give your boyfriend" he spit the word 'boyfriend' out in loathing, "a kiss!"
"No!" she tried to twist her sobbing head away from the carcass.
He gave a sardonic pout and seized her head with his scarred hand and turned her towards the decimated face, "Aw, but he wants to kiss you goodbye!"
The corpse began to groan, coming to life and the gruesome face raised it's blood shot eyes to stare at her. Its voice was gargled and indignant, "Kathy…"
Freddy pressed her face closer to the corpse's. The pale bruised mouth slowly went agape as several small thin black worms slithered out from its lifeless lips and down his blood smeared chest. She squealed in aversion as a thick bloodied tongue lapped out to glide across her screeching mouth.
Having seen enough Freddy loosened his grip on her face and she collapsed to the ground in a bundle of sobs, her hands clenching the side of her tussled hair as she began to rock to and fro on the ground. Her fingers dug into her scalp as she yanked madly at her hair. How could she go on now? The man she loved was gone, murdered. She was all alone now. What was the fucking point now? Michael was her rock, her source of strength.
Without him she was nothing.
Freddy smirked heartlessly as he read her distressed thoughts and knelt at her side, pointing at the cadaver above them. "You know that will be him soon"
Her hair hung over her face like a veil as she whimpered softly. Not totally comprehending what he was saying. "You k-killed him!"
"You don't realise how MUCH I want this to be that fucker!" he looked up at the corpse then back to her, "This was just to show you what will become of him"
Katherine rubbed her hands bleakly across her face, then pushed her hair from her wet skin as it sunk in. Though she still wasn't one hundred percent sure. "I-it isn't him?"
He shook his head. "Not yet"
"Why are you torturing me like this?" Katherine snivelled.
"I told you, it's fun!" Freddy prompted. "You see I have to prepare you for what will happen!"
Her shoulders slumped despondently and she laid down on the hard metal floor. Prepare her? There would be no way that anyone could be prepared to witness that.
Freddy reached down to stroke her flushed face with the tips of his claw, and then without another word he scooped her frail body into his arms, carrying her into the side room of the boiler room. After resting her gently on the small bed he climbed over her quaking frame into the space behind her against the wall. He rested his body weight on his left arm and delicately placed his glove on her hospital gown clad stomach, pinning her firmly to the mattress. "I think you've had enough excitement for tonight" he said with a spiteful smirk.
Her somnolent brown eyes stared at up him through her tears. She felt so drained. Mentally and physically. How much more would she be able to take?
Laying down on his side, he inched closer to her and trailed his blades up her chest to her face and cupped her chin. Then twisted her gaze towards his, "Tomorrow night, we're going to have a little talk"
"T-talk?" Katherine jumped as he unexpectedly sat up straddled her hips, his claw still wrapped around her face. "What about?"
"About him. Michael" Freddy sneered. then lowered his body over hers slowly. "You will realise what I'm doing is for the best"
There was no reply.
He pressed his coarse lips against her forehead gently, then to her surprise he took his hat off of his scarred head and threw it onto the bench across from the bed. His whole skull was marred in horrid uneven burns, red and dark blackish brown in colour. Kissing her once again on her temple he slowly curled in behind her once more and raised her head to rest on his chest. She didn't resist, too weak to fight.
Placing his burnt hand over her temple he ravaged her memories from the previous day and smirked. So, she was jealous of Nancy's relationship with her father Donald? She sought that same connection between them both. That warmth, compassionate and gentle interaction. She wanted the father from her childhood that was benevolent towards her, that soothed her and gave her affection. It was clear it was something that she craved from him.
Maybe it was time to change his approach again.
Freddy grinned knowingly against her messy hair and curled his left arm around her head, starting to fondle her hair that was strewn across her shoulder. He felt her tense and then soothingly stroked her chin. Just like years ago when she was a little girl he was slowly moving the tips of his fingers in a circular motion on her smooth skin. "It's okay baby girl"
She cautiously shuffled closer against his chest as her breathing became laboured. And within a matter of minutes, she had drifted to sleep within the dream. He pulled the tresses of her brown hair from her face and kissed her temple soothingly. He knew he would need to put into motion his next part of his plan soon. Maybe in the next two or three nights. He would use her 'love' for that bastard Michael to his advantage. He was going to annihilate their precious relationship and in the end she would come running back into his arms.
Where she belonged.
x x x
Next morning 10.15am…
Katherine stared dismayingly at her bandaged right arm. When she had woken from her dream two hours before she felt her blood coating her arm. Her IV drip had been tore from her flesh, just the way he had ripped in the dream. Dr O'Neill had believed that she had got it caught on the railing as she tossed and turned in her sleep. Thus, making it tug from her arm and creating that nasty cut.
He had reattached the IV drip to one of her veins on the back of her arm and dispensed to her at least 5-10mgs of morphine. She had forgotten how incredibly sore her ribs were until she had came to from her slumber. All morning she had pondered on whether the corpse in her nightmare was really Michael. A part of her didn't believe her father when he said that Michael wasn't dead. For all she knew he could really be lying dead in a morgue. Sheriff Thompson was probably on his way now to tell her the news.
Maybe she did have to prepare herself for Michael's death…
"Katherine, are you finished?" Nurse Peters voice broke through her ponderings.
Katherine looked from her to her plate on the table. She had certainly got her appetite back as there was only a few crumbs of scrambled egg left. "Yeah" her right hand grabbed the cup of coffee and downed it. "Thanks"
"You look a little better today. You get a good sleep?" the nurse began to clear away the tray.
She gave a causal shrug of her shoulders. It was strange, actually falling asleep within that dream in her father's arms. Who knew how long she had lay in his arms before that sedative had worn off? For once since last week she actually felt safe and comfortable in his arms. It was like years ago when she was a little girl, how he had hushed her to sleep whenever she was upset or sick.
She wanted more of that act of benevolence from him.
"I'm gong to clock off soon. If I see any of your friends in the reception area, I'll tell them to go on down to see you" Nurse Peters smiled.
Katherine returned her warm smile. "Thank you. Will you be working on the ward tonight?"
"Yes. I'll be back on at 9pm" she stood in the doorway, "Is everything okay?"
"Um, yeah" Katherine nodded.
"Dr O'Neill will be along to check your scars on your back"
"Do you think I'll be able to get a shower or a bath?" Katherine ran her hands through her messy hair. "I would like to freshen up a bit"
"I'll get one of the nurses on the next shift to bring you down to the bathroom area" she replied, "I'll see you this evening. Bye"
Katherine nodded and watched as she left the room. Turning around towards the tall single drawer cabinet to her right she grabbed one of her magazines, then idly flicked through the glossy pages. After a few minutes she grew bored, nothing within the pages had caught her interest. Soon hushed voices echoed from the corridor and her ears perked up, one of them sounded like him. Was it him?
Her head whipped around to the door and she cried out in exhilaration as Michael entered along with Nancy and Glenn. Both her arms reached out for him as she broke down in tears. Her face trembled vehemently. "Oh, thank god!"
He rushed to her side and she flung herself into his arms, "Hey. What's wrong?"
"Oh god, I thought he murdered you" she bawled into his denim jacket. Her fingers curled around his arms tightly. She kissed his cheek firmly, taking a deep breath. "I-I…"
He sat at her side and pushed her face back from his, "Take your time. What happened?"
"They sedated me, I was trapped in the dream. H-he…" her voice wavered. "He was still angry with me for telling him my feelings towards you. He brought me to this morgue. But it was different, it was his own fucked up version of a morgue. It was connected to the boiler room. He showed me you! You were dead! Oh god, you were suspended on this hook, your face was mutilated and your scars…"
"It's okay, I'm fine" he tipped her face up to his, "I'm still here. He won't get me. I'm not going to let him take me away from you!"
"But he said that it's going to happen" she snivelled, softly. "I can't lose you Michael. I'll go crazy if I do" her arms curled around his neck tightly, "You're the only rational part of my life!"
He stroked her hair tenderly, "Take a deep breath"
She nodded and gradually leaned back on the bed. Her left hand was now interlocking with his, not daring to let him go. "Did any of you go to sleep last night?"
"I drifted off to sleep for an hour or so" Michael mumbled. "But Nancy woke me up. I stayed over at her house with Glenn. We took turns sleeping"
"What? It's too dangerous!" Katherine admonished.
"We know" Nancy nodded, "But we needed to get some rest. Thankfully nothing happened. None of us had any dreams"
Katherine nodded once. She noticed that they were glancing at her wounded arm. Curious as to what happened. "He ripped out my IV tube from my arm. I was bleeding when I woke up. There was a cut about an inch or so. Dr O'Neill assumed that I tugged it out of my arm when I was sleeping"
"Did anything else happen in your dream?" Glenn asked.
"He showed me Emily and Billy, the kids he murdered. Remember I told you about them?" she murmured, her eyes darted towards the three of them. "It was their remains that he showed me. He said that he killed Billy for me. That I asked him to do that! He's trying to twist my mind again"
Or had he been doing it in the last week or so? All those times she dreamt of him, he had opportunities to distort her mind and he took it. And she was letting him.
"You can't let him do that to you. You have to stay strong!" Nancy leaned over to grab her free hand, squeezing it lightly. "You have to continue fighting him"
She nodded meekly.
"Listen, we're going to the hospital shop" Nancy rose to her feet, "Do you want something? Perhaps some fresh fruit?"
"Yeah, please"
She left the room accompanied by Glenn. Michael hopped up to sit on the bed with her, "I'm going to ask the Doctor when you will be allowed to be discharged. Sheriff Thompson said we can stay in his house for a few days"
"Okay"
"Are you still sore?" he motioned at her back.
"Yeah, whenever I twist my back or turn suddenly the scars would rub against the bandage. They keep giving me morphine. Dr O'Neill said that the stitches may take at least two weeks to dissolve" Katherine gave a depressing sigh. "I've to keep the dressing on for at least another 2 days. They're going to leave scars…"
He noticed the dejected gaze on her face. "It's okay"
"It's not okay. How can it be okay?" Katherine's head slumped against the pillow. "The majority of my body is now covered in scars. I look disgusting!"
"No, you're not! You're still beautiful to me. You always will be" he leaned down to kiss her quivering lips. "These thoughts you have, they're not good for your state of mind"
She stared vacantly into his eyes. "I wished I never came back to Springwood"
"I know, but we weren't to know what was going to happen" Michael nodded thoughtfully. "But we're here now. We have to try and keep positive. Is there anything else from your dream last night that you think may be useful?"
"Useful?" her head titled to the side in bemusement.
"I don't know. Maybe you noticed something in the dream. Out of all of our dreams, you're the one he's visited the most" Michael lowered his voice in pitch.
"He only visits me all the time because I'm his daughter"
He nodded in understanding. "But is there anything that you have detected in any of the dreams. Anything at all, no matter how trivial it may seem"
She frowned in thought. The last two weeks dreams played out in her mind. To her there was nothing in those nightmares that caught her attention. But last night the way he acted, how he was talking to himself. However, was he really talking to himself? She could have sworn she heard whispering too. Come to think of it, there was a faint murmur that seemed to emanate from the corner of the room where he was standing.
"I'm not sure" she winced slightly, then rubbed her temple as a agonising headache began to sear through the front of her forehead. "I think I heard him…"
The pain along the front of her head intensified and she groaned, nearly doubling over on the bed. Michael curled his hands around her arms and lifted her back towards the pillows, "Take it easy. I'll get one of the nurses to get you a painkiller. We'll talk about this later"
She mutely nodded and he soon left the room. It was very rare for her to suffer headaches, especially to this severity. Was it linked to her father being in her dreams? Over the last week or so she had been enduring these migraines, some that were more painful than others. But the one she was experiencing now only transpired when she was about to describe what she heard in her dream. Then perhaps there was more significance to her father talking to himself. But then again her father was insane, wasn't he? He was probably just rambling to himself.
Then why couldn't she shake the feeling that there was something more to it.
x x x
Just like the day before, the hours went in swiftly. It was the same boring, repetitive routine. Michael, Nancy and Glenn left around 1pm. She was served lunch, brought to the bathroom area for a clean, refreshing shower and changed into one of her white nightdresses. Her wounds on her back were cleansed and then dressed in a clean non-stick bandage.
At mid afternoon she was visited again by Michael, Nancy and Glenn. But this time Kristen and the others accompanied them. They brought over a small portable radio, more fresh fruit and the evening addition of the Springwood Gazette. Whenever Katherine attempted to explicate what she heard in her dream, she was gripped by another intense headache.
Her father had to the source of these migraines. What else could he causing them?
"I'm going to ask Dr Ward if I can stay the night" Michael stifled a yawn.
"I know she won't allow you" Katherine took a bite of her banana. Her gaze glanced at the clock. It was nearing 8pm.
"I think we should try it tonight" Kristen spoke up.
"Try what?" Katherine gave her a curious glance.
Kristen moved closer to the bed. "Remember what we said yesterday about my gift? I am going to go to sleep and pull Michael and Kincaid-"
"No!" Katherine shrieked in disgust, "You'll just get all of you killed! He'll know that you will be in the dream!"
Michael hushed her. "It's okay. It's just a test. We just want to try out her power"
Katherine shook her head, still not fond of this idea.
Kincaid also tried to reassure her. "We'll be fine. We will only be sleeping for a few hours"
She frowned. It didn't matter if they were going to sleep for thirty minutes or a gew hours, they were putting their lives in danger. When her father would find out they were sleeping, he would go after them and kill them. Claim their souls. They were playing with fire.
Michael glanced over his shoulder as a black haired Nurse entered. She gave a small apologetic smile, "I'm sorry, but visiting time is over. Dr Ward will be here soon. She won't be happy if you are all still here"
The group exchanged anxious looks. Before Michael demanded, "Is she" he glimpsed at Katherine, "being sedated tonight?"
"I'm not sure, it's up to Dr Ward" the nurse replied. "Listen she will be fine. She's in the best place"
Katherine gripped his hand tightly and he squeezed it in return, "We'll visit you first thing in the morning"
She tugged him closer, "Don't do this. Don't go through with Kristen's plan! Please!"
He gave Kristen a fleeting look. "Nothing will happen to us. I promise"
A single tear trickled down her flushed face. "No…"
He smiled affectionately and kissed her once, then left the room without another word. A scowl of discontent graced her face, how could they do this? Risk their lives in this way? If there was any mercy in this wretched world then their lives would be spared. They would survive the night.
x x x
"Are you sure you want to do this Michael?" Kristen asked from her seat in Thompson's office. The clock on the far wall read 9.25pm. "I mean, Katherine is understandably upset about what we're doing"
"No, I'm going through with this" He shook his head and shifted about in his chair, trying to get a comfortable position. "We'll go to sleep for at least an hour. Is the alarm clock set?"
Donald twisted the back of a small circular alarm clock. Then set it on his desk. "It's set, but we'll wake you up earlier if we see you twitching or struggling in your sleep" he looked at the third chair that seated Kincaid.
"Let's do this!" He chirped.
"I wish I had your enthusiasm!" Kristen laughed nervously. "This is what we'll do. I'll go to sleep first, then you go to sleep a few minutes after me. Once I'm in the dream I'll pull each of you into my dream. Kincaid's been in my dream before, so he know what it will feel like"
"What do you mean feel like?" Michael asked.
"It's like a prickling sensations and you feel light headed. Your vision will become blurry and then you feel like you're falling" Kincaid explained, "When you enter her dream, you may feel a little groggy. So, don't freak out!"
He nodded and watched as Kristen allowed her eyes to close. She took deep meditative breaths and soon she was fast sleep. As much as he wanted to do this, he was feeling slightly apprehensive. It was at least five minutes later when he looked over to Kincaid and saw that he had now closed his eyes. Drifting to sleep. He gave a grim smile at Nancy and Glenn, then allowed his head to lull backwards and closed his eyes…
Kristen came to, feeling a warm gust of wind sweeping over her hair. Her eyes fluttered wildly as a blinding fire soared to life across from her as she lay on the metal floor of the boiler room. Instinctively she scooted to her feet and spun around, expecting to see the bastard ready to pounce on her. However, she was alone.
She turned towards the stair case as she sensed a figure scuttling across the catwalk. Her eyes caught sight of a little girl as she veered around a corner down an adjacent walkway down to the left. Even though she knew that it could be one of Freddy's tricks, she felt this urge to pursue the child. And that's what she did.
Running towards the steep metal steps she bounded up them and prudently edged towards the other catwalk. The metallic rumblings of the boilers and furnaces echoed off the steel walls. Soon, an all too familiar screeching sound emanated from every direction.
Kristen froze and peered down the misty corridor as she saw a figure standing motionless at the bottom of the catwalk. It was the little girl. Her back was to her, with her little head titled backwards as she looked up to something. Not something, but someone. Whoever it was, was submerged in the shadows.
"Fuck this shit" Kristen muttered. She was here for a purpose, to exploit her gift. Test it out to the best of ability. Taking a small step backwards she raised her hands to the side of her temple and focused her energy…
Michael tugged and twisted the handle of the front door of the abandoned Elm Street house. It had been a few minutes since he found himself laying on the front lawn, having awakening in his own dream. He cursed and kicked out in anger at the red door.
Stepping back onto the lawn he pondered on his next move.
Unexpectedly, he felt a prickling sensation stirring from his toes. It spread upwards consuming his legs, thighs. His stomach and chest. He felt his heartbeat increasing significantly and then his vision began to blur and he stumbled backwards, losing his footing and then vanished.
His whole body felt like it was falling through the air, a blanket of darkness engulfed him until a dazzling white light shone from him and he dove head first through what was like a shimmering white portal.
Crying out in surprise, his body collided with the metal grating of the catwalk. A deep groan fluttered from his mouth as his eyes flickered opened. Soon, a pair of strong hands helped him to his feet. "Hey, you okay man?"
Blinking wildly Michael's distorted gaze began to recognise Kincaid and Kristen. "What…?"
"I pulled you into my dream" Kristen whispered, "Listen, just take a few deep breaths. No sudden movements, you'll still be a little bit dizzy"
He nodded silently and leaned wearily against the steel wall.
Kincaid smiled broadly at her. "Well, it works"
"You can congratulate me when we wake up!" Kristen commented, then glimpsed vigilantly up and down the catwalk. "I can feel him. He's near"
Michael rubbed his eyes and straightened up. He had become alert, "Where is he?"
"Wait!" Kristen warned, "We're only asleep to test out my powers! We're not here to confront him!"
"I don't care" Michael took a few steps past her. His eyes fell upon the little girl, "I'm going to find that fucker"
"Kris is right!" Kincaid argued and seized his arm, "We can't risk to do anything fucking stupid!"
Michael continued to stare at the little girl that was sitting Indian style on the ground. Her soft voice echoed in the power plant. She was chatting away to someone. A shadow shifted close to her, a darkened silhouette skimmed over her hair and then down her right cheek, as though an invisibly entity was caressing her face.
Michael's eyes narrowed as the little girl turned around to face them. The outline of her face was recognizable, along with the faint wounds on her face. Directly above her was a small red glow from a light bulb. The light cast a blood red glow over her little frame. Several small purplish-blue bruises were scattered at either side of a scar that stretched across her forehead. There was a cuts and small grazes on her right cheek, a large reddish graze on her left cheek. Her small lip was cut. They were the exact same injuries as Katherine. This little girl was a smaller apparition of her.
"Shit" he mumbled.
"What?" Kristen tugged her around to face her and Kincaid, "What is it?"
"Is Katherine asleep?" Michael demanded, "Can you sense her presence?"
"I don't know" Kristen began, then nodded at the spectre, "Look!"
He spun around, just in time to see a clawed hand and a burnt hand reach down to scoop little Katherine away into their arms and into the shadows…
x x x
Katherine twisted her head on a grimy, dusty pillow as her eyes wavered opened. Yet she was sedated. She had tried to protest and even dared to push Dr Ward's hand away, saying that she didn't need any narcotic to help her sleep. But Dr Ward didn't take heed to her objections. And here she was, trapped in this dream again.
She rolled her head to the left seeing a built in wardrobe across from the double bed she was laying on. At the bottom of the double bed stood her father. He cocked his head to the side, a crooked smile crossing his face and he crawled onto the bed up beside her. Tonight he was going to change tactics. He was going to make her lower her guard once more.
Freddy inclined his head forward to kiss her forehead lightly. "Hi, my little beauty!"
Katherine swallowed nervously as she heard a metallic slink as he sprayed his blades wide, bringing them down towards her bare right foot as he shifted down the bed a few inches. She felt the tip of a cool blade skim lightly over her heel, then over her toes. A shiver shot up her spine as he enfolded his whole claw around her sprained ankle. Just like the first time he had healed her sprained ankle, a scorching heat swept over her skin and the numb pain that consumed the flesh around her ankle faded away.
Lifting her head she glanced down at his claw, then back at him. "What-?"
He silenced her. "Sssh"
Her head fell back onto the pillow, then her muscles tightened with fear as the points of his four blades started to glide lightly along the inside of her right calf.
Reaching higher and higher...
She held back a whimper as he curled his blades under the rim of her white nightdress and pulled the fabric upwards, past her knee and up towards her thighs. A muffled sob echoed in the room as the edge of the blades slid up the inside of her right thigh where it tickled and caressed her sensitive flesh below the apex of her thighs.
Her eyes snapped shut as she gritted her teeth, then she felt the blades trailed up again going beyond her white cotton pants. His right arm was now submerged under her nightdress, while his left hand began to unbutton the three buttons that lined down the front of her garment.
She shook her head in discord at his actions, "Stop!"
He smirked fiendishly at her and without a word he pierced two of his blades through her nightdress, above her stomach. Beginning to tear her attire down the middle and he then gripped the top of the material, ripping it away. She shrieked and panted with trepidation as he shred the remaining pieces of her night dress away from her body. Not once did he slice or cut her flesh.
Her quivering face glimpsed down at her bare chest, seeing that she was only adorned in her white pants. She impulsively covered her bare breasts with her trembling arms and slowly lifted her pale faced to glower up at him in surprise. He chuckled haughtily and gently placed the palm of his glove against her bruised, fractured ribs and began to massage the tender cool flesh. She cringed at the coarse skin upon hers that continued to prod and press against her bones. Then in a matter of seconds the piercing, sharp pain dwindled until the pain was gone.
She threw him another look of bewilderment. "Why are you doing this?"
He noticed the distrust in her voice, "I'm just making you better. There's no need to be worried Katherine"
Her eyebrows knitted in bemusement. Was he up to something again?
"I'm not" He read her mind. He rose to a sitting position. "Now, c'mon sit up for me"
"Why?" she snapped, her eyes going cold with scepticism.
He gave an aggravated sigh, trying to compose himself. "I want to check your scars" he beckoned her with his blades, "Now, up!"
Gradually she pulled her left arm away from her breasts and placed the her palm on the mattress. She grunted and groaned as she pushed herself to a sitting position and twisted around so that her back was facing him. Her right arm was still positioned across her breasts, shielding them from him in case he tried to perversely grope at her in an obscene way.
Freddy smirked carnally, reading her thoughts again and used the tips of his fingers to peel away the sticky tapes that pressed the dressing to her back. She hissed through her teeth as he ripped each tape from her skin and soon he had her bandage pulled from her back. Next she felt his scarred hand gliding over each welt, scar and every suture. He touched and pushed at each suture, making her wince and moan with every slight force he applied on her marred skin.
He had to confess to himself he was quite satisfied with himself at what he had done to her back. There was no way he was going to make these beautiful scars fade away, no fucking way! He preferred her back, her sweet flesh marred by these red welts and lacerations. It looked exquisite on her skin. Though he would ease the throbbing pain that came from her wounds. Perhaps melt or dissolve the black stitches away. Not all of them though.
Raising his claw his blades lingered inches over her back, along with his fingers and he skimmed them down from the top of her back to the bottom of her spine. A soft red mist swirled from both of them, gliding over each scar and welt as he purged away her pain from each wound. The black stitches began to dissipate until they disappeared, leaving nothing but red, serrated lacerations and welts.
Katherine sighed in reprieve as the pain wilted away. At last her she could straighten her back, twist and bend it. She sniffled and turned her head to the right. His triumphant grinning face greeted her, his lips inches from hers. The skin where his eyebrows would have been arched upwards as if beckoning a reply from her.
She knew what he wanted to hear. "Thank you"
He curved his left arm around her back, turning her towards him. "No kiss for daddy, mmm?"
Her bottom lip quivered as she leaned forward to peck him lightly on his blistered lips. A victorious chuckle emanated from his throat. He was reeling her in, slowly but surely. He turned away to grab a grey blanket from the bottom of the bed and handed it to her. "It's about time we had our little talk" his tone had now turned stern.
She took the blanket, settling back against the head board and draped the blanket over her legs up to her chest where she tucked the edge of the blanket under her arms. Her eyes never left him as he lay up against the headboard. His right leg was crossed over his left one and he stretched his arms above his head. He then interlocked his blades and burnt fingers together behind his head. Giving her a furtive smile he asked, "So, the little fucker is your boyfriend"
Her fingers dug into the blankets as she held them close to her frame. "You're going to hurt me again, aren't you?"
"Why do you say that?" he looked at her thoughtfully.
"If you start asking me questions about Michael. I'm going to say something that you won't like and you'll get angry!" Katherine replied worryingly. She kept her gaze averted from his, "I know you daddy!"
He brought his bladed claw to her face, tipping her chin upwards slightly to stare him dead in his eyes. "I hurt you the other night because I lost control. You know how angry I get, don't you?"
She nodded abruptly.
His grip loosened on her face as he continued, "You made me lose control because of how much you hurt me by what you said to me! You really did hurt me Katherine. And it still hurts, the way you have feelings for him!"
Her eyes bore into his. "You nearly killed me!"
"But I didn't, did I?" he rebuked. His withdrew his claw from her face and set it on his lap, "When did you first realise you had feelings for him"
Raising her right hand she lazily wiped at her teary face. "It was a few months after starting Junior High that I realised that I cared for him more than a friend"
Freddy's clawed glove twitched as he took a deep breath. It would take all of his vigour to control himself. "When did you tell him?"
"It was my Senior Prom. We told each other how we felt then" she whispered. Her eyes lifted up towards his face. The muscles on his face were convulsing, he was desperately trying to curb his anger. "You're getting mad, I know it! I'm not talking about this anymore!"
He exhaled slowly. "I'm not. I just need to know what exactly has been going on between you too." his left hand slithered up her back and seized the back of her neck, holding her still. She froze as he trailed the tips of his blades up her neck over the edge of her chin to her soft pink lips. "He's kissed you, hasn't he?"
"Yes" she gulped as the blades skimmed over her lips gently. "We've kissed a few times"
Freddy's attentive eyes inspected her closely. Thinking back to the times when he touched her sweetness and kissed her, "He hasn't done anything else to you" he chuckled impishly.
She shook her head slowly.
He brought his claw away from her lips and smiled cunningly. If he went ahead with his fiendish plan then he certainly would put an end to their pitiable relationship. Everything was falling into place. It wouldn't be long now. Only a matter of days.
"You do know that you did betray me. You ignored all those warnings I told you when you were younger. What did I always say to you when you were a little girl? Mmm?" He titled his head to the side, "Go on"
"You would say that if I looked at a boy or talked to one I would be defying you" Katherine responded. She shook her head in disagreement. "But I wasn't here in Springwood, I was in Central City! I had my own life! You weren't about were you?"
"It doesn't matter if I wasn't there!" his voice came out in a low snarl, "The fact remained you went against me, you were being disloyal to me!" he closed his eyes for a brief few seconds, "You know Michael is right about one thing. I am jealous. I've always been jealous of other adults talking to you, even when the children were playing with you in the park, I got envious! I always told you that you were mine! You still are! Remember how I would tell you that you were different from everyone else"
"I'm not different. I'm normal!" she argued.
He laughed wildly, "Normal? How can you say that you are normal, sweetheart?"
"I am normal" she half heartedly shot back.
"Really? Look at your childhood, all those dark secrets you kept for me? All those times you lied to your teachers about your mother, huh? Keeping my secret about the children. You were even captivated by what my special work was. I could see it in your beautiful big brown eyes, how they would go wide with fascination each time I told you how I killed each of the piggies!" He leaned in close, his mouth lingering close to her right ear. "You see you were never normal, princess. And deep down I know that you have missed me throughout the last eight years, haven't ya?"
She sniffled and twisted her head around to stare at him. For the first time in years she was going to admit this to herself. The horrifying truth. She couldn't suppress this feeling anymore. It wouldn't be fair on herself to lie or hide her feelings. "Yes, I have missed you"
He grinned victoriously. "You don't have to be jealous of them two fuckers, you know"
"What?"
"Donald and Nancy" he hissed.
She lowered her head and pondered back to her childhood. The good and happy times she experienced with him. "We used to have that type of bond when I was a little girl. You were so affectionate towards me, so kind. But I can't have that type of relationship with you now, can I?" Katherine explained, "Look at the way you've been treating me since I came back to Springwood. You've been psychologically tormenting me! You've hit me, beaten me up!"
His left hand reached up to soothingly caress her shaking face, "You know why I hit you and why I had beat you. You had disobeyed me!"
She took a shaky breath, "What about when you molest-"
"I was just loving you. You keep forgetting that, don't you?" Freddy interrupted and corrected her. He rested his left hand on her lap. His rough scarred palm was opened and facing upwards. "I told you that we were special. We were different from everyone else. I told you that our playtime was our unique way of showing how much we cared for each other"
Her head shook slowly as if she was trying to brush off his poisonous words.
"I can still be that father from your childhood, baby girl" Freddy continued with his mendacious words. He glance down at her right hand and a sly smile curved across his face as she inched her hand towards his. Her defensive stance was crumbling away, disintegrating once again.
Katherine sniffled and gingerly placed her hand in his, watching as his fingers swiftly interlocked with hers. The mattress suddenly dipped as her father manoeuvred his body so that he was laying on his back. His gaze peered up at her beneath the rim of his battered fedora, a sly smirk tugged at his lips. He still had his left hand entangled with hers and he asked. "Do you not want a hug from me?"
"You won't try anything?" she grew wary.
"I won't" He gave her hand a little tug, "C'mon, I'm sure that you missed our cuddles"
She gave a coy nod. This was what she wanted. These tender, peaceful moments with him. The cuddling, the hugging. It was all she ever wanted from her father. He smiled up at her as she ever so slowly laid her body onto the mattress. Her left hand gripped the top of the blanket that covered her torso and she allowed him to drape his left arm around her shoulders, making her rest her head on his chest.
She snuggled into his frame guardedly and frowned. There was no heart beat. "Why can't I hear your heartbeat?"
He chuckled and his hot breath ghosted over her hair. "Remember, I'm dead, honey" the fingers on his left hand twirled and played with a few tresses of her hair. "Do you want to hear my heart?"
Titling her head away from his chest she gave a quick nod in response, then placed her ear right above where his heart would be. After a few moments of silence she heard it. The strong, repetitive thumping of his heart. It stirred a memory of when she was in the back garden and they had listened to each other's heart beats when she was playing with her toy doctor's medical kit. A wide pleased smile grew across her face as she nestled her body closer into his. His claw subsequently curled around the side of her head, resting lightly on her cheek.
"I still can be gentle with you, I can still treat you with kindness. All you have to do is be good for me" he kissed her forehead and smiled darkly. "You have to trust me"
She chewed her bottom lip with apprehension. Could she put her trust in him again? Would it be worth the risk? Look at what happened last time. But at the minute she just wanted to feel safe in his arms, to relish this warm and compassionate side of him. He very rarely showed it to her.
Freddy bent his head to kiss the top of her head and smiled again as her heard her sight in content as she drifted off to sleep in his arms. It was apparent to see from her reactions to him that her strong, staunch mindset was starting to waver. She wasn't resisting him now.
She was nearing breaking point.
x x x
Yes, Freddy is being devious again! It's all part of his wicked plan! Hehehe!
Please review!