It was barely five minutes after arriving at the library when Faith heard a loud siren blaring somewhere outside of the building. She almost wanted to inspect what was happening, but she decided against it because she was very sure that it had to be the cops and an ambulance to take Mandy's body away from the classroom and she had no desire to watch Mandy's bloody corpse be taken away in a gurney. It was far too painful and horrifying for her to watch, though she had no idea what would happen next.
At the very least, she expected that classes would be shortened along with classes being let out a few hours early or at the highest possibility, school would be let out completely, but she didn't want to go into any guesses with that until things were confirmed.
Right now, she was intensely focused on finding a book here for the remaining minutes before she had to head to her chemistry class. It was the least she could do to shake her mind off the horrific events of what happened in Spanish earlier. From Freddy's Perra being carved onto her arm by Freddy to watching the girl who she was just beginning to know die right by her, the fifteen-year old had seen more than enough and the day was not even close to being halfway over.
The library, bar three people at a circular desk, was mostly empty except for approximately two other people in different aisles. Had it not been for the voices coming from the library staff, Faith was certain she would have gone crazy and possibly began to hallucinate, one of the few drawbacks to having an active imagination. The thought caused her to shiver even though she wasn't close to being cold, especially with it being summer in Springwood.
After scanning around the bookshelves for at least five minutes, she stopped at one, a Star Wars book that she figured she'd like a lot. She took it out of the shelf and at the same time, a beep of a bell rang, startling her slightly, but she managed to compose herself before she heard something else.
"Attention, teachers, faculty, staff, and students. Due to unexpected circumstances that led to the death of one of our sophomores, all classes are to be dismissed and other classes will be suspended for the rest of the day. We apologize for any inconvenience."
Faith looked up at the intercom closest to her briefly before she realized what she had to do. She placed the book on the shelf then pulled out her phone to text Doug the situation, at the same time something else ringing in her head that told her that she had to tell him that they had to take care of.
Hey, bro! Sorry this is inconvenient timing and stuff, but I have to tell you this now. Something happened here which I'll explain when I see you in person, but we're being released from school for the rest of the day. If it's there, we can pick up the Sta Awake pills. Just a thought of a plan in my head. I don't know where you want to go to talk about this if it's not going to be at the house. And let me know where you end up parking at the school, so I know where to find you. I don't know if the cops and such would still be here when you arrive, but if they are, I wouldn't recommend parking by them.
The black-haired teen sent the text the put her phone in her pocket. She quickly grabbed the book then went to the circular desk to get the book checked out, now anxious to leave. One thing she had in her mind for sure was that she did not want to face having to see Mandy's bloody corpse again after how much it struck her with horror and grief that shook her core.
Once again, because she was worried that she would accidentally spread Freddy's influence, she did not say a single word to the librarian who was helping her out, only nodding or shaking her head if he asked her a question.
"Find everything alright?"
Yes.
"You need help for anything else?"
No.
Faith was glad that after his question, he did not ask her anything else that would prompt her speak, and she still refused to entertain the notion of spreading Freddy's influence. It was easily asking for more adults to freak out and more kids to be at the brink of danger. And if there were any more adults out there in Springwood that knew of Freddy, she had no desire to find out which ones.
After finishing up with checking out the book, she quickly placed the book in her backpack then immediately turned to leave the library without a word. She hated that in her head, she felt like she was being rude, but at the same time, she knew this would be what she had to do to prevent any further danger and hysteria.
God, I must be a hot mess after everything. I just wish I could've seen that Mandy was asleep and then I could try to sleep to save her. Crap!
Her mind shifted to Mandy again, the thought of the brunette's death caused a lump to build up in the fifteen-year old's throat and her eyes getting dangerously close to watering up. However, because it could likely cause more hysteria if she said anything, she wiped her eyes, hoping to prevent herself from crying then swallowed hard to prevent sobs.
When I face you Krueger, she thought, replacing her saddened expression into one mixed with determination and anguish. It's for Mandy, Jake, and the other three teens you killed.
— — — — —
"Mark!"
The twenty-one-year old's eyes widened open when he heard his name be called in the distance. He took notice that Doug was still sitting at the table, eyes incredibly focused on his homework. Mark chuckled quietly, the closest he'd seen someone be that studious was Donald, second place being his girlfriend Chloe.
Damn, Doug's pretty studious, he thought.
"MARK!"
The young man in question decided to find where the voice was coming from. It was obvious to him that it was a male voice, and the call sounded like someone was calling for help. There was something about the voice that sounded so familiar to him.
He stood up from the couch then walked around the library, still hearing the same voice calling his name every few minutes. Taking a deep breath, he headed down one aisle, keeping as silent as possible as to not attract any attention, especially if someone was trying to intrude him, he wanted to make his attack as sneaky as possible.
"Mark! We have to show you something!" called a new voice, a child's voice. "It's urgent!"
The brunette tiptoed his way out of the aisle when he turned to his left, he saw what appeared to be a small girl who looked no older than ten. Her green eyes were wide and almost concerned in nature as he knelt to her height, wondering what was wrong with her, but in a pitying manner.
"What's up?" he asked, trying to sound gentle.
"Follow me," replied the girl in a firm tone.
She said no more after that as she turned to head down the aisle. Mark stood up then followed her in close pursuit, wondering what it was that she wanted him to see. At that rate, he almost felt like he was back in one of the Zelda or role-playing games he would play as a kid. Seeing how so concerned this girl looked made him feel bad for her that he wanted to try to help her, especially considering how much time he spent comforting his grief-stricken girlfriend.
He noticed the girl's curly hair bounce as she walked fast with such grace, yet with so much urgency. Even though he didn't even know this girl to save his own life, he still wondered if there was something he could help her with. He did not call out to her, as not only was he able to keep a good pace with her, but he also didn't want to cause any trouble if he spoke anymore.
To the twenty-one-year old, the walk felt longer than it was, but he saw the girl heading for the door to one of the study rooms. She was quick to open the door just enough to squeeze herself through before shutting it, leaving Mark behind.
"Wait!" he called. "I want to help you! Come back!"
He waited for a few seconds, but the door did not open at all, let alone it opening to reveal the girl. He considered his options. He would turn away and then head back to where he was, essentially not helping the girl. The other option would include him choosing to walk forward to figure out if maybe the girl wanted to tell him something and she had to do it in private.
After taking a moment to consider his options, he opted for the latter, still diligent to help the girl and wondered what she wanted. He slowly walked forward towards the door to the study room that he saw her walk to earlier.
However, when he opened the door to go in, instead of being greeted by the familiar study room he would occasionally go into when he would study with some friends and even Chloe, he found himself in an unpleasantly familiar boiler room. The entire atmosphere of it hit him harder than he realized, but it was enough to fill him with profound dread.
The area around him felt hot, much too hot. It was red, too much red. The steam hissed around him as he slowly walked his way down the catwalk, now apprehensively.
Apart from the hissing sound of steam around the area and Mark's quiet footsteps, there was no other sound.
As he walked further down the path, Mark noticed something down in the distance. With his curiosity heightened despite the dread that was slowly building up in his core, he slightly quickened his pace.
As he got closer, he saw two bodies hung on hooks at the end of the hall. He could barely make out who, though he did make out a curly blonde-haired guy and a straight brown-haired girl. He figured he'd figure out who once he got closer to the bodies, though the sight scared him.
A few steps closer was all it took for Mark to see the two bodies hung up on hooks in front of him. He already knew the body of a curly blonde-haired boy was Jake, but it still scared him and struck him with grief. However, when he looked to his left to see the body of the brunette-haired girl. He looked down, noticing that her clothes were drenched with blood and her insides were instead hanging outside of her abdomen, a bloody and horrifying sight. He looked up to see her face, and horrifying realization sent painful waves of horror and grief through his core being.
"Oh god! No! Mandy!" he cried, his voice trembled as his covered his mouth from the impending shock with his heart pounding from the fear and sinking from the building grief.
He wished he had seen it wrong and it was just a bad hallucination. He blinked once, still seeing Mandy's corpse in front of him. Seeing Jake's body again didn't make him feel any better.
"Fuck!" he shouted, voice drenched with anger, horror, and grief.
"Aww, you couldn't save her, huh?" taunted a voice.
The twenty-one-year old turned behind him to see the figure of the very man he'd seen in his nightmares. The figure raised his bladed hand as he stood there about a foot away from the younger man with his fedora tilted downward as if he were trying to hide his face.
"First, your girlfriend's brother," taunted Freddy Krueger, placing a bladed finger against the pipe closest to him. "Now, his girlfriend. I'm just giving your new friends a little warning."
Mark's mouth hung open in horror when he heard Freddy say this. While he knew about this before after having heard it from his friends, hearing it from the dream demon standing in front of him made it even more terrifying. Despite his horror and the still intense grief, he swallowed hard, trying to summon enough courage to speak.
"You're a fucking monster!" he yelled.
Freddy said nothing at first but laughed as he took a step closer to Mark, taking his bladed finger away from the pipe then traced it along the few strands of the latter's brunette hair.
"Why don't we have some fun after I showed you this very prize," he said at last.
"Never!" shouted Mark before kicking Freddy in the gut, not waiting for a reaction from the dream demon as he ran past him then ran down the path of the catwalk as fast as he could.
Unknown to him, after having recovered from the surprise of being kicked, Freddy turned around and was now in fast pursuit of chasing the brunette, laughing as he did so. All he wanted was to end this young man, as more bloodshed was something to further taunt the Knight siblings until the time came to kill them.
Mark didn't dare look back as after it seemed like thirty seconds had passed since first running away from the dream demon, he turned to the left path, hoping the change of direction would confuse him. Unfortunately for him, there was a dead end that was barely a foot away from him.
Fuck, shit, dammit! thought Mark.
He turned around to see that it seemed like the path across from him was longer. Even though this boiler room looked like a maze, he knew that trying to almost zigzag his way around here would give Freddy a lesser chance in finding him. Even though he was not athletically built like his best friend Donald nor his new acquaintance Doug, he knew he had to keep running away until he could find a good place to hide.
"Here goes nothing," he panted as he prepared himself to go head down the path.
Without another word, he ran as fast as he could down the path. Unfortunately, he only made it perpendicular to the path he ran down earlier before he felt himself be picked up by the throat before he was body slammed down to the cold metal of the catwalk. He didn't even get a chance to see who it was that slammed him down as he closed his eyes, hissing from the pain.
"Fuck!" he hissed.
"How did that feel?" asked Freddy as he circled around the young man, taking interest in his pain.
After having recovered from the pain, Mark turned to the dream demon, a scoff escaping from his lips. Despite his fear, he wasn't so ready to give into his negative feelings, as he was sure it would be the death of him in the end.
"Yo, why not leave that shit for the professionals?" he said.
Freddy stopped in front of Mark then guffawed at the comment, even doubling over from laughing so hard. It was clear to him that Mark was simply attempting to play off the entire situation when he had no idea that the gravity of the situation would become even greater. As far as he was concerned, no one could play off Freddy Krueger, no matter how hard one could try.
"Stupid boy," said Freddy as he started to circle around the twenty-one-year old. "Trying to play me off like that? This is exactly why that pathetic asshole Weston died! It looks like you're gonna get the same fate. My playground has been filling up quick and you'll just be another message for those Knight siblings!"
"Oh hell no, I won't!" snapped Mark as he crawled away from the dream demon as quickly as he could then got up on his feet.
He turned to his left, noticing steam hissing out from the pipe which gave him an idea to try to wake himself up before he could be killed.
Without a word, he flipped Freddy the bird tauntingly before placing his arm on the pipe, the burning pain interrupting his thoughts. He hissed from the pain as the scenery around him changed to back in the library.
Furious with being taunted, Freddy charged for the twenty-one-year old but stopped in sudden shock when he disappeared from the dream world. Freddy's emotions went from shock to anger, realizing that this happened hours ago with Donald.
"God dammit!" he yelled, kicking a nearby pipe in frustration. "I had the bastard!"
— — — — —
"Mark! Are you okay?"
The young man in question was still trying to refocus his eyes back to his surroundings, then taking notice that a crowd of what looked to be at least twenty people were surrounding him. Among them were Doug, Donald, and Chloe, them and the other people all had concerned looks on their faces.
Mark visibly blushed from embarrassment that now, he managed to freak out that many people, enough to send them crowding over him, wondering what was going on. While he knew Doug had likely been here, he was surprised to see Chloe and Donald here.
"You fell asleep," said Doug, a slight tremor in his tone. "I finished all of my homework and was about to leave since it looks like Springwood High School went on early release for unknown reasons because my sister sent me a text, but I saw you were asleep, so I told her I'll be there a little later because I had a bad feeling you would..."
He trailed off, deciding not to say anything else for fear of accidentally revealing any information about Freddy that could further the dream demon's strength in the dream world. He had no desire to put others at risk of danger.
Noticing Doug's troubled expression, Chloe decided to finish up what he was trying to say, directing her attention to the crowd.
"He's okay," she said, trying to sound as convincing as possible. "He fell asleep and had a bad dream."
There were a few murmurs and shrugs among the crowd that lasted a few seconds before they all walked away. The only ones who didn't leave Mark were Doug, Donald, and Chloe.
Mark directed his attention to his friends, now deciding that he had to speak about his dream to them privately. It was only safer that way.
"Guys," he said. "I have something to tell you, but it has to be in private."
He took his girlfriend's hand then used his free hand to motion the other two to follow him. He wanted to find a free study room so the four of them could talk on the Freddy matters without spreading any information.
Fuck, I hope I don't get in trouble for this, he thought almost worriedly.
The twenty-one-year old brunette checked the one of the study rooms which was far away from the entrance of the library, seeing it was empty and no signs of any belongings left here. This was a check pot.
Bingo! he smiled to himself.
He gestured for the other three to head in then take a seat. He shut the door before taking a seat for himself next to Chloe, then dropping his smile and replaced it with a troubled look. Donald and Doug were across from the dating couple.
"Dude, I have a vague idea why you brought us here but seriously, what's troubling you?" wondered Donald.
"Bro, my little brother's funeral is tonight along with his three friends, and your troubled look ain't even helping my case," frowned Chloe, eyeing her boyfriend with worry.
Mark wondered where to start, given the horrors of what he'd seen in his dream. From the little girl trying to lead him somewhere, to seeing not only Jake's body but also Mandy's body hanging on hooks in the boiler room, to being taunted and nearly killed as a way to be used to further taunt Doug and Faith. He wondered if he should give the details or be brief about what he saw.
"Uh, babe?" frowned Chloe again, noticing her boyfriend was taking a while to answer.
"Give him time to think," assured Doug, though he too was worried.
Mark almost wanted to give nearly as much detail as he could, given that this dream was one he could barely get out of his head. However, he decided against giving details, given that he typically didn't like giving details on things and knowing that his friends maybe had other matters to attend to, holding them up for a long time was something he didn't want to do.
"Yeah, I had a pretty fucked up dream of Krueger," he replied. "First, I see this weird little girl leading me somewhere, to one of the study rooms, only for it to be a boiler room. This next part will be pretty shocking. I saw..." He paused, still in complete disbelief over seeing Mandy's dead body from his dream, but he knew he had to tell them. "I saw Mandy's body...she's...she's dead."
"What?" gasped Chloe, Donald, and Doug in unison, mouths hung open with horror and eyes evident with horror and grief.
"I'm not kidding," said Mark, his voice trembling. "She looked like she'd been gutted to death."
He directed his attention to Doug.
"Freddy said he's once again trying to taunt you and your sister," he continued. "I guess him successfully killing Mandy was another thing added to this shit."
Doug's eyes widened with horror before he directed his eyes to the floor beneath him, his thoughts now at the earlier text message that Faith sent him earlier. He wondered if Faith somehow knew about Mandy's death, resulting in the school's early release, though the thought made him sick in his mind with worry.
He looked up again before he spoke.
"I..." he began quietly. "I did receive a text from Faith a bit before you woke up, Mark. I'm starting to think she somehow knows about this, as why now they're being released early."
"That makes a lot of sense," said Chloe, trying to keep her voice soft.
"What now?" asked Mark.
"I remember talking to you guys that we could talk about it somewhere," piped up Donald. "But I know you Mark and Chloe said you won't make it."
"Yeah," sighed Chloe, sinking back into her chair sadly. "Funeral stuff and Mark is coming with me too."
Donald was about to speak when four separate ringtones interrupted him. He and the others quickly grabbed their phones to check to see what was going on, Chloe being the first to speak.
"Shit!" she hissed, leaning forward. "Looks like we're being released too. Apparently, it mentioned something happened at Springwood High and we're being told to leave. Mark and I should get going."
She and Mark stood up to leave the study room, waving goodbye to Donald and Doug before leaving the other pair alone in the study room. Donald and Doug put their phones away before turning to each other.
"Dude," began Donald. "I know you agreed to meet me somewhere and you said Faith would come too."
Doug nodded.
"Her best friend is more than likely coming too," he added solemnly. "Faith accidentally told her about Freddy and after learning about how Freddy's influence can spread, she's been kicking herself over it since then and hasn't forgiven herself for it."
"Poor girl," said Donald sadly. "But I was thinking we can go to this nice hot spot called Crave Inn. It can be around noon if you'd like."
Doug smiled a more cheerful one.
"That'd be good," he replied. "I'll let Faith and her friend know and we'll go from there."
Donald smiled as the two stood up from their seats then headed to leave the study room. Things seemed to go according to plan, though they were both saddened and unnerved by the news of Mandy's death.
After they walked out of the library, Doug stopped, waving a goodbye to Donald before he pulled out his phone, deciding to send a group text to Faith and Mallory.
Hey guys. My new friend Donald and I decided that we can meet at this place called Crave Inn at around noon. Faith, I know you mentioned you're in even though you didn't know where at first. Mallory, you interested in joining?
He sent the text before turning to find the stairs to head to the first floor, now anxious to pick up his sister and tell her the sad news. He knew that at first, they planned to make a trip to see if there was any kind of pills to help them stay awake since last night proved to be a struggle.
It didn't take Doug long to find his way out of the building, the heat hitting him faster than he realized, and now he had to find his way up to the third floor of the parking garage to find his truck. After making it up there, he was quick to remember he parked it towards his right, making him quick to turn to his right as he walked down the rather busy parking garage, quickening his pace as he got closer.
After turning to his right again when he found his truck, the front of the car facing to the other cars as he had backed it up when parking in this spot, he pulled out his keys to unlock the door. He opened the back door of the passenger seat behind the driver's seat, tossing his backpack on the seat before shutting the door. He got into the driver's seat, pondering everything Mark mentioned about his dream. From a sighting of a little girl to seeing Mandy's body, it was a lot for the twenty-year old to let sink in, let alone try to piece it together.
He sighed rather sadly as he turned on the ignition, now wondering if Faith even knew anything surrounding Mandy's death despite the text she sent him earlier. If she did know, he couldn't even blame her for having her wait to tell him the news until she saw him in person because she most likely wouldn't handle the news very well. If she didn't know, he had to tell her.
Before he could make an attempt to switch the gear shift, the young man was interrupted by the ringing of his phone, an indication that he received a text message. He pulled out his phone from his pocket to see that he received a text message from Mallory. He opened it to read it carefully.
I would say sounds cool, but I almost forgot that I have to help my aunt with something so I can't come. Tell Faith I'm sorry!
Doug didn't hesitate to reply, though in his mind, the text came out more somber than he originally intended.
Thanks for letting me know. And I'll let her know. I'm guessing she was looking forward to seeing you again, but that sucks. Maybe another time?
He sent that before placing his phone in the cup holder, sighing again more sadly. He felt bad for his sister that now her best friend wasn't coming after all and he wasn't even sure if the black-haired teen even attempted to make any new friends at all.
His mind then shifted to his mother, pondering about her history with the dream demon. Even though he knew about it because she told him about it, he still wondered what more could be on with it that could further explain how he and Faith were having dreams of the dream demon.
Doug shuddered from his racing thoughts as he switched the gear shift to drive, now anxious to leave the parking garage. He could still barely wrap his head around learning how Mandy died, gutted to death.
Gutted to death.
He shuddered again, not wanting to imagine the sixteen-year old girl's fatal wound. He refused to entertain the notion of imagining such a grotesque death on a girl who was barely older than his sister, but he could barely imagine how terrifying it was for Mark to see in his dream.
However, no matter how grotesque Mandy's death possibly was by how Mark briefly described it, Doug knew it would get worse from here. He already heard enough about the past four deaths before Mandy, all slashed to death by the same dream man. He learned enough on that Freddy could manipulate the dream world around him, based on one's personalities and especially fears. Doug could barely imagine how much worse it could get if someone's death had gone beyond stabs and slashes in the dream world, which he guessed had happened to many people who died at the hands of Freddy Krueger. In truth, he didn't want to imagine such a thing, knowing that was likely to endanger his mind into daydreaming when he was sitting in his truck and currently looking at both sides to make sure it was clear before pulling out of the parking lot.
After seeing that both ways were clear, he pulled forward then turned to his left, still as cautious as possible. It wasn't long before he was now driving to the exit of the parking garage, ready to head for the high school, though he had one thought racing through his head.
Faith, there's a lot of stuff I have to explain to you, and it scares me.
...
Hey guys! I actually ran into a bit of a writer's block when I was trying to write Mark's dream. However, after a bit, what I settled with seemed to catch my eye. Then again, when it comes to the dream sequences, I'm trying to have them in between how the dreams were in the first Nightmare On Elm Street and the sequels, as in not being too out of control and really all over the place, as in making them very close to the original but with elements of the sequels with Freddy manipulating the world around him and all of that wild chizz. I apologize if anything.
Also, I hope I'm not going overboard with overpowering characters and that, especially with the main characters. I used to have a bit of a bad habit of doing that in my older fanfics (I'm deadack calling out my first Until Dawn fanfiction, lol) and now, I'm pissing myself for creating Mary Sues and/or Gary Stus, although that was back before I even knew what the term meant. Pardon me, lol!
Thank you guys for your input, especially a special thanks to Darkness Takes Over! All the input really helps me try to improve a lot on this story. While this fanfiction has been one of my favorite ones to write, it is also somewhat more challenging for me. I would explain everything related to certain plans for this story, but I'll save the full explanation until the final chapter (whichever that'll be) for the sake of spoilers.
Also, if you want to leave your guesses on who might die soon or something here, please do! I know I've said this multiple times, but it's oddly intriguing to see what people might think as this story continues.
Now, Imma end this author's note here so that I can start on the next chapter which I've been almost impatient to start writing for a few reasons. I'm not saying why because of spoilers.
Anyway, thanks guys for reading!
-RecoditeAgony