Bill turned to his left, directing Chuck into the classroom. Chuck slowly walked in, anxious to find out what Bill wanted him to see, but he remained as cautious as possible. He kept a close eye on what Bill was doing, noticing the older man pointing his finger to the chalkboard, as if he were urging him to look. The detective turned to his left to the chalkboard then noticed two sentences written on it.

I'm gonna make you mi perra!

I'm gonna make you my bitch!

"That definitely looks friendly," he said, shuddering. "It's got to be Krueger. Señor Martinez definitely didn't write that."

"Definitely seems like one of the students dreamt that," added Bill nervously.

"I'd rather not investigate who," said Chuck as he walked closer to the chalkboard then placed his index finger next to the bottom sentence, shuddering again. "That just puts someone else at risk for them having Freddy dreams, especially if it's just an innocent person who didn't have them in the first place."

Bill pondered this for a long moment, realizing that the young detective was right. It was no use putting completely innocent kids in danger like this, and hearing how serious Chuck's tone was, he couldn't argue otherwise. Chuck was typically prone to partial paranoia, but this worry hit too close to home for the thirty-five-year old detective.

"You're right, Chuck," he said grimly. "I can't do that to them. Chief Trevino and Chief Jones wouldn't want that either. While Chief Trevino did mention that his three daughters are okay, it's his three sons that he's worried about. He doesn't want any of them knowing about that asshat Krueger. He's been trying his hardest to not tell them about Krueger."

Chuck shuddered again as he walked closer to the chalkboard until he was barely inches away from it. Taking a deep breath, he placed his fingers on the chalk-written words then closed his eyes, pondering hard about why and how such an evil monster who invaded dreams would take the time to write such a nasty threat. It scared him and terrified him, it made him think about how much his younger cousin was suffering from these kinds of horrific nightmares and he wished he could telepathically reassure him that this would be all over soon.

After closing his eyes, images flashed through his mind. First of a figure writing something on the chalkboard that Chuck himself couldn't make out. Barely a second after the figure finished writing, he turned to Chuck, the figure in person fit the descriptions of what several kids told him about before, the signature razor gloves, the hat, and the sweater made it fit with one person, Freddy Krueger.

"I'm gonna make you my bitch!"

This was followed by a scream, but Chuck couldn't pinpoint who screamed at first, until he could see the same figure now towering over a terrified girl, her wavy black hair seemed to shake ever so slightly and that was when Chuck noticed that she was shaking. The poor girl had nowhere to escape when the figure grabbed her arm then what followed was a cry of agony from the girl.

Chuck cried out in fear as he opened his eyes then recoiled his hand away from the chalkboard, nearly falling in his butt in the process, but he didn't notice that Bill quickly ran in aid for his colleague and friend. Chuck took a moment to catch his breath, wondering what he saw in what he likely assumed was a vision, though he was greatly startled and now wasn't so sure if he wanted to share what he saw if he were asked to.

"Chuck, buddy, are you okay?" asked Bill, frantic and worried for his friend. "What happened?"

Chuck was about to open his mouth to speak when he was interrupted.

"Is he okay?"

Bill turned when he heard yet another male voice, seeing that it was the current chief police of Springwood entering the classroom, noticing how so scared the youngest police detective was and older detective had his arms wrapped around the younger comfortingly. Chief Detective Fernando Trevino, an average-looking man, quickly rushed to the two, his eyes now directed to the youngest police detective.

"Chuck," said Fernando softly. "Tell me what happened and why you screamed."

Chuck took a deep breath before he answered, though his voice trembled slightly as he spoke.

"It...it was Freddy Krueger. He wrote something...on the chalkboard...I couldn't make out what it was he wrote...but then he turned to me. Next minute, he's torturing a girl, but she doesn't look like the girl who was deceased. Her hair looked different, she appeared to have wavy black hair. That's pretty much the major thing I could pick up on that girl in my...vision."

— — — — —

It was ten passed twelve when Doug and Faith were in the truck, currently on their way to Crave Inn. During the time they waited to leave after heading back home, they checked their school emails, receiving little homework then got a head start on it, Faith being halfway finished and Doug being a little over halfway finished when the two quickly freshened up for their meeting with Donald. Barely seconds passed after Doug turned to the first main street when Faith spoke.

"How you think this meeting will turn out?"

Doug pondered deeply about this. It already seemed clear even from yesterday that Donald was quick to accept Doug as a friend. However, at the same time, Doug knew that he still barely knew Donald other than the latter had been having these vicious nightmares for the past couple of weeks.

"I guess as well as it can get," answered Doug with a hint of uncertainty in his tone, his eyes directed to the road in front of him. "I mean, Donald already seems to be the friendliest one of the bunch, but at the same time, I'm not sure how far to the edge this whole situation could push us to, and we still don't really know him and vice versa."

"Damn," muttered Faith. "I guess we'll just have to not push him into answering things."

"Indeed," agreed Doug, but his tone barely matched his words, still with an agonizing pang of uncertainty.

Faith was quick to notice something was quite off with her brother. She noticed him tightening his grip on the steering wheel then noticed the agonized expression on his face. At this point, she knew that something was bothering him, but she couldn't pinpoint what.

"Dude?" she said in concern. "Are you okay?"

He didn't answer right away, wondering how he could word what else that itched his mind more than anything else concerning everything. It had been five years since he first started working out, and he made every second count, saying he "worked himself to the core" for results that would help him, should he need it. However, he was suddenly beginning to remember in his last dream he had, Krueger having grabbed him by the throat while cruelly taunting him, but one phrase stood out to him.

Just because you're six-foot-five and buff doesn't mean you'll win against me, Douglas.

That very thing Doug remembered hearing pierced through him like a punch to the gut. It hurt because he knew Krueger was right. It didn't matter how many years he spent getting in shape or even how much effort it took on his part. Even though he knew this earlier on, only now was it really resonating through him like new important information was now beginning to sink in. That very thing in mind, he took his right hand off the steering wheel then wrapped his arm around his torso tightly against his rib cage all while something else began to trouble him, perhaps more than the former.

"It's something what Krueger told me in my dream earlier," he answered with such apprehension in his voice. "I mean, I knew it all before, but I think it's really starting to sink in which then brings a different point."

A piercing wave of uneasiness followed by apprehension ran from the core of his chest to the pit of his stomach. He knew he was scared, but this kind of fear hit him differently, only making him further tighten his hold around his torso and tighten his grip on the steering wheel, so tightly that his skin on his fist turned white. The fear he was feeling was far more profound, and he thought that since the whole Freddy situation tormented him, he thought it had been his younger sister who was deeply terrified. He was wrong now, he was the one greatly terrified, but he refused to let it intervene with him and what he wanted to be as a person. His job was to be the caring guy, the protective guy, the guy who while he allowed himself to outwardly express his feelings like any normal human being, he didn't let it ruin his main focus.

Already seeing his posture and the way his eyes were still full of agony as they were still directed at the road, Faith knew that he was terrified, but she didn't want to push him into answering whatever questions she had in her mind. Instead, she placed a hand on his shoulder, hoping to try to put him at ease. He loosened his grip on the steering wheel by only a sliver and he loosened his hold around his torso by only a small bit, still finding it hard to shake off the profound apprehension, even when he continued to speak.

"I know it doesn't even matter how well you're built or anything, Krueger makes himself bigger in the dream world, but I think it's really starting to hit, and it worries me. It's also made me question whether any of us stand a chance to kill him alone, which now, I'm more so doubting is the case."

The thought made his heart hammer in his chest and for a moment, he thought he could feel it pounding against his ribs. Too many running thoughts swarmed violently in his head, possibly the thought of Faith volunteering to pull Freddy out of the dream world and into the real world scared him more than anything. It wasn't so much that it was just his big brother instinct kicking in, but rather it was the mission on a whole was far too dangerous for someone to tackle alone, and he wouldn't forgive himself if Faith died in Freddy's clutches.

Faith pondered what Doug said, it barely took time for her to realize that at this point, she had little chance to stand against Krueger alone. This already gave her an idea on if she had to bring one other person with her to the dream world to confront Freddy then bring him out of the dream world, she would easily bring her brother. However, she decided to ask him just in case.

"I guess you're not wrong," she said. "But I want to ask you, would you like to help me with bringing Freddy out of the dream world if it's possible to do so?"

Even though he didn't turn to Faith because he was focused on driving, Doug couldn't help but smile. He further loosened his grip on the steering wheel just enough for him to still have a good hold on it then he took his arm away from his torso, taking his sister's hand off his shoulder then squeezed her hand, the wave of uneasiness and apprehension was slowly wearing off.

"I would like to," he said at last. "It would be like the many times we would help each other."

"Like you helping me a bunch with math," said Faith. "Or when I had to help you with that tedious puzzle in Arkham Origins."

"Or when I helped you with some of the most bizarre puzzles in Arkham Knight," added Doug before chortling at the said memory.

Faith facepalmed but she didn't hold back a laugh.

"It definitely had to have been fun, right?" she teased.

Doug let go of her hand then he chuckled, though it was more of an "oh god, don't remind me" manner. It was more so on exactly what he had to help her with, some of the puzzles in a video game Batman Arkham Knight that he found awfully absurd.

"I hate that I remember them pretty well," he said, now turning serious. "If it's that absurdly challenging, I wouldn't be surprised if figuring out this whole Freddy situation would be just as difficult."

He inhaled sharply then shuddered at the thought. He gave a quick glance to Faith who nodded in agreement before he turned back to the road. He changed lanes to the right then slowed his speed by a sliver just to make sure he didn't miss the turn.

He could barely pinpoint why, but a second wave of fear pierced through him, hitting his mind, his chest, and his stomach the hardest. Once again, he wrapped his free arm around his torso, trying to steady himself for the last few miles of the drive. He took a shaky deep breath before he spoke again.

"Faith..." There were evident tremors in his voice. "I'm scared for you, I'm scared for me, I'm scared for both of us, I'm scared for Mom, I'm scared for everyone else having these nightmares. Though out of all that, I think I'm most scared for you, Mom, and everyone else, not so much for me."

Faith though raised an eyebrow in concern when Doug said he was more so scared for her and everyone else in this situation. She knew her brother always would try to put others first before himself, but in this situation, she found him putting others before himself quite troubling. Her heart sank for him, assuming that it must've greatly pained him to say it, but he said it because of his deep caring self. He was selfless, but maybe a bit too selfless for his own good, but she didn't say anything, worried that she would upset him even though she never had actually upset him.

Taking another quick glance to his sister, Doug was quick to notice the concern in her eyes and he already knew why. As the older brother, he did everything he could to be the best protector as he possibly could and even going beyond that. Even despite that, he often worried that it wasn't enough, and in this situation, he was certain this was no exception.

Before he spoke again, he noticed a sign reading Crave Inn which he knew this was it. He turned on his blinker then made the turn into the parking lot. The parking lot seemed to be rather busy, but it didn't exactly bother him. He just made sure to be careful as he tried to look for a parking spot.

Faith peered through the side window to see if there were any free parking spots with a decent amount of space to help him. Five full spots later, she noticed a free parking spot with a fair amount of space, telling Doug the spot, then after deciding it was good enough, he backed into the space, though he had to adjust a few times to straighten his parking. Satisfied with his parking, he shut off the engine then got out of the truck, wondering what to expect as he inhaled the summer air around him.

Faith also got out of the truck; her mind now filled with wonder in what exactly she would see in this place. She and Doug began walking to the entrance of the building.

From the exterior, the bottom portion of the building had a checkered pattern while the rest of the building was completely white, bar for its Crave Inn text bold and clear at the front of the diner. From the outside, the diner itself seemed to look like a somewhat decent size building, roughly about an average size diner.

The Knight siblings walked into the diner, the first thing they noticed was a huge plaque hung up on the wall to their left with a photo of a man, who they quickly recognized.

"Wes Craven, the horror movie director!" they said in unison.

They were right when they saw the name below the large photo of him, the text much smaller than the picture itself, but still readable. It read: Wes Craven, an amazing director.

"Gosh, I can't believe it's been roughly two years since he passed away," said Faith sadly. "A man with great works on his belt."

"Amazing works, more like it," corrected Doug quietly. "A brilliant mind."

The teen nodded in acknowledgment as she and her brother then looked everywhere else in the diner. With its black and white checkered floor, olden-looking walls, and its retro-looking seats, it gave the siblings an eighties vibe, though there was a slight modern touch to it. The Knight siblings were quite impressed with the design of the interior of the building, somewhat more so than they were at the design of the exterior.

"Guys?"

The siblings heard a familiar voice that sounded like it was coming from their right. They turned to see Donald Quin sitting alone at a booth halfway down the right side of the building. Smiling, the two headed to the booth, Doug sitting beside Donald and Faith having the whole other side of the booth to herself.

"Hey, Donald," smiled Doug. "How are you?"

"I'm alright," replied Donald. "How about you two- "He paused when he turned to see Doug looked slightly shaken. "Oh, Doug, you look like you went through hell. Had another dream?"

Doug nodded solemnly, not saying a word.

"Is your friend coming soon?" asked Donald.

"She's not coming after all," answered Faith, having already learned the news long before leaving the house. "She said she had to help her aunt with something. I already advised her to not fall asleep."

Donald's face fell, somewhat disheartened, but he nodded in acknowledgment. He turned to the teen, still with the same saddened expression.

"I understand," he said. "It would've been nice to meet her."

"If you get a chance to meet her, you'll like her. She's attending the same college as you."

"Oh. Well, at least we can still talk up what we found and if you want to update your friend, you can."

"Sounds like a good plan," smiled Faith.

Donald turned to Doug who still had a solemn expression on his face, possibly closer to sad than just serious. Doug had been quiet because of the thoughts that plagued his mind earlier during the drive suddenly crept up again. Now with Faith's best friend in the equation, he knew that she did not know about Krueger as much as he and Faith did. The thought made him shiver slightly even though he was not cold.

"Dude are you okay?" asked Donald. "You've been awfully quiet."

Doug said nothing at first, trying to collect his thoughts on everything together. Truthfully, he was not too sure. Physically, apart from the injuries he suffered, he was fine but mentally, he was far from okay.

"I'm trying to figure that out," he answered at last, his voice full of uncertainty.

Before he could say anything else, the three were interrupted when a waitress came up to them, the three ordered their drinks, Cokes for the young men and a Sprite for Faith. The waitress left then the three turned back to each other.

"So," began Donald. "There's a lot of baggage to be unloaded with this whole Freddy thing."

"No shit," said Faith. "It'll require our minds to figure this stuff out."

She reached out then batted her brother's head with the back of her hand in a somewhat gesturing manner. He was not fazed by impact, but he eyed her with confusion and was slightly miffed for a moment. However, he already knew what she meant.

"Of course," he said in a solemn tone. "Even I know that it does not matter how effort I put in physically, it won't mean a thing to Freddy. He's been relentless."

"Of all things this town had to offer even though I've lived here my whole life, this is beyond strange," commented Donald, leaning back against his seat. "You guys learn anything new from Freddy himself?"

"Only one thing," replied Doug, directing his eyes to Donald. "In my recent daydream, Freddy did say that the internet is a blessing for him. A little after my dream, I was telling that to Faith who said that that this Weston Heights guy was the first to know about Freddy, Jake told her. Faith and I basically concluded that maybe Weston might've played a significant role in Freddy's return and somehow, the internet might be involved as well."

Donald's mouth hung open in shock and his eyes widened in horror, though he did acknowledge what Doug had said.

"Dude, that makes a lot of sense," he gasped. "I never even thought of that before. And you two in some ways sound like detectives or something."

Doug chuckled and his little sister laughed quietly. They found this true enough.

"Comes with years of playing detective as kids," grinned Faith. "I think that's really kicking into this whole thing."

Donald laughed.

"Sounds like fun."

"It is," replied Faith. "Though arguably, Doug and I give our friends the hardest scenarios, and truth to be told, it's mostly Doug who comes up with the challenging ones."

"Damn," chortled Donald. "I didn't think you'd both be the detective types."

Both siblings laughed then the three fell silent, deciding to save the rest of the conversation until after they finished deciding what they wanted from the menu. After looking for roughly three minutes in silence, the three finally decided what they wanted then figured to continue the conversation.

"So," began Donald. "Have you guys got any other answers regarding Freddy and him returning?"

Faith shook her head.

"No," answered Doug somberly. "He won't tell me; I think he's more interested in telling Faith. She's his favorite."

"Dude, it won't be long before you become his favorite as well," pointed out Faith. "I mean, after the wounds he's given you and with how he's attacked you, you won't be far off from being his favorite toy to play with."

"I had a feeling that'd be the case," murmured Doug, leaning back in his seat, his voice tremulous but still with a hint of despair. "Before though, I was sure you'd get the worst of it. I still worry that you will."

Sensing her brother's distress, Faith reached over the table then gave him a gentle pat on his shoulder, hoping to comfort him. She knew that he greatly cared for her, and their current situation was no exception to the elder Knight's caring and selfless acts.

"I'll try to not let that happen, especially tonight," she said softly.

Doug gave her a small smile then sat back up in his seat as Faith let go of his shoulder. Though he was mentally kicking himself for promising himself to not worry like crazy, only to go back to doing it. It was almost like a vicious cycle, something even he found it hard to explain. He had done so much to help others mentally, but following his own advice was a different story. He sighed then spoke with absolute forthrightness.

"There's a lot of stuff to uncover on this whole thing from what Faith and I picked up yesterday, and I'm serious."

...

Hey guys! I'm so sorry this chapter took quite some time longer than usual to be put up. At the same time with this chapter, I was working the rewrite for the first chapter which I hoped I would have up today. However, with a lot of stuff including college stuff and such, I'm sorry that I wasn't able to have it up today. I almost debated on holding off to put it up until I finished the first chapter's rewrite, but I decided against that. I hope it have it up once I have the next chapter ready. When I do, I'll mention it through an author's note.

Anyway, thanks for reading guys!

-ReconditeAgony