(Okay, here it is; the big reveal of Freddy. Well, not as big as an entrance as you probably expect but I'm still getting the hang of his character. I'm kinda scared of writing him because of how dark and twisted he is. But let's see how I did, hm?)

[Song Suggestions for this chapter are: 'Illusions and Dreams' by Poets of the Fall and 'My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark' by Fallout Boy.]

Chapter Four

"I don't use drugs, my dreams are frightening enough." ~ M.C Escher

Wednesday Night

Frederick Charles Krueger. His name was Frederick Charles Krueger. Finally, a name to put to the title of the Springwood Slasher. If only she could put a face to the name as well. The pictures taken were old, faded, blurry, and grainy. Plus, Krueger had done a fabulous job of keeping his face in the shadows with the help of a fedora he always seemed to wear when a picture was taken.

Valerie squinted her eyes at the blurry image of Krueger. From what she could make out, he was about average height and slim, maybe a little on the lean side; it was hard to tell with that stripped sweater he was wearing. Valerie's frustration grew at the utter lack of photos taken of Krueger, and the pictures that were taken his features always ended up being hidden in some way. From what she had read, Krueger's lawyer - the guy actually had a lawyer! - kept Frederick away from most of the press.

"Alright, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Mysterious; reveal yourself," Valerie muttered, unaware of just how soon she'd get her wish.

She shuffled through the papers one more time and heaved a sigh. "Okay, fine. Be camera shy!" She huffed and frowned at the best of the photos. All it revealed was the lower part of his face from the nose down.

Stifling a yawn, Valerie picked up the picture and lay back on her bed, gazing at the shadowy image.

"What's so special about you, Mr. Krueger? Why is this town so scared to even acknowledge you existed?"

Valerie had gone on her laptop to Springwood's town records and searched for Fred Krueger by name. Nothing. It was like he didn't exist but here were the newspaper articles to prove he had lived. And died. An article in 1968 told of a fire at a power plant where Krueger used to work and how he'd been caught inside and burned to death. The paper provided a flimsy excuse for how the fire started which made Valerie suspect the accident to be anything but. Between 1963 to 1966, Krueger had killed over twenty kids. He was arrested in 1966, put on trial in 1968 and yet he escaped jail because of one little slip up. The search warrant hadn't been signed! The Springwood Slasher had walked free.

"Those parents would have been furious," Valerie mused. "Furious enough to stage an accidental fire."

But this scandal was over forty years old. Why would people still be trying to keep it covered up? More importantly, why would Springwood be so thorough in wiping Krueger out of its history? Valerie knew she was missing something. Something vital.

Her radio played softly in the background. With her mind so occupied she'd forgotten about it. Valerie stretched out on her bed, taking a brief break from reading, and listened to the music.

"It's whatever makes you see
makes you believe
And forget about the premonition you need to conceive
The images they sell are Illusion and Dream
In other words, 'dishonesty'."

Valerie's eyes began to droop and the paper slipped from her finger's, floating to the floor and landing with a whispery rustle. Just before she fell asleep, Valerie could have sworn her radio had changed in mid-song and a child's voice was singing a nursery-like tune.

"One, two; Freddy's comng for you..."

…...

Valerie's green eyes fluttered open. Something had woken her, but she couldn't remember what it was.

Screeee...

That noise. That's what had woken her up.

Screeee...

It sounded metallic and grated on her ears. It was coming from outside her dorm room.

Screeee...

She frowned and sat up in bed. "I bet it's one of those stupid boys playing a prank," she thought to herself. It wouldn't have been the first time something of the like had happened. Valerie was always one for pranks but when it came to her and sleep that was where she drew the line.

Screeeee...

She got out of bed and stormed towards the door. "Oh my gosh, they better not be keying somebody's door." She gripped the door knob and instantly jerked back her hand when she encountered searing pain. The knob was blazing hot!

Valerie absentmindedly massaged her stinging palm as she stared bewildered at the knob. She was aware of other noises now coming from behind her door. Hissing sounds.

Looking around for something to cover her hand, Valerie grabbed a ratty, old t-shirt she'd been meaning to throw out. Wrapping her hand, she grasped the knob and gave it a quick twist, opening the door. What she saw struck her dumb. The t-shirt fell away from her hand as she stared at what should have been the dormitory hall. Instead, she was standing on a catwalk in an enormous power plant. The hissing she'd heard was the spouts of steam shooting out from the metal pipes that covered the whole place.

Valerie took a few tentative steps forward to the guard rail and gazed about. There was something off about this place, besides the fact that it had appeared out of nowhere. Everything was tinged in red and the atmosphere put Valerie on guard.

Screeee!

Valerie jumped at the sudden return of the original noise that had awoken her. She didn't want to be here anymore. Turning towards her bedroom door, she felt her heart skip a beat. Her door was gone! There was only more catwalk and pipes where is had been!

Screeeeeee! "Heh, heh, heh, heh."

The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. She wasn't alone n this place. But instead of comforting her, the thought only terrified her because that laugh had sounded anything but friendly. The moment she heard it she felt like she was being hunted.

She didn't know how she got here, she didn't know where here even was. All she knew was that she was here and the person with her was someone she didn't want to run into.

"Okay, okay, okay. Don't panic. Find a way out of here."

She saw no immediate exit signs but logic told her that if she went to the ground level she would find a door leading outside far more quickly. Once downstairs she could find a wall and follow it until it led her to a door. Okay, she had a plan. Now to put the plan in action. But first, she needed to move her currently paralyzed feet.

Screeeeeee!

That got her motivated to move. She kept her eyes peeled for any stairs that led downward.

"One, two; Freddy's coming for you..."

Valerie paused. That sounded like a kid singing.

"Three, four; better lock your door..."

"H, hello?" Valerie called. Her voice bounced off the walls and seemed to split off into every direction.

"Five, six; grab your crucifix..."

"Where are you, kid?"

"Seven, eight; gonna stay up late..."

The child's location couldn't be pin-pointed. The power plant echoed like the Grand Canyon.

"Nine, ten;-."

"NEVER SLEEP AGAIN!" screamed hundreds of different voices of all ages.

Valerie cried out in surprise and covered her ears as the voices kept shouting and wailing the words over and over. It was such a terrible noise, Valerie took off running, trying to escape the voices.

A girl's scream rose above all the others. "DON'T FALL ASLEEP!"

Then, suddenly, all the screaming stopped; like a switch had been flipped from 'on' to 'off'.Valerie stopped running. The sudden silence unnerved her.

Screeeeeee!

It was back. The screeching from before. Valerie's heart beat faster in fear. Where was it coming from?

Screeeeeee!

Her eyes were drawn to the path in front of her to a cloud of steam large enough to hide someone in it. She slowly began to back away.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!"

Valerie turned tail and ran, only to come to a screeching halt. There was a figure directly ahead of her. He was shrouded in shadow but she recognized that silhouette. She'd fallen asleep looking at it. But there was no way-!

"What's the matter, Valerie? Cat got your tongue?" the shadow's voice asked. He was clearly enjoying the horrified look on her face. He chuckled and Valerie shuddered. His voice was so deep and guttural; it just oozed evil.

"But you're dead," Valerie heard herself say.

The figure cocked his head to the side and raised his right hand, index finger in the air. There was something wrong with the shape of his hand. It looked like he had claws.

"Ah," he said casually. "Haven't you ever heard the phrase-," he stepped out into the dim light, revealing himself, "'You can't keep a bad man down'? HA ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Valerie's mouth dropped open. It was him. Frederick Krueger. He was wearing the same outfit he'd worn when he was released from jail. The stripped sweater, the fedora, his work boots...and something new. On his right hand he wore a work glove fitted with deadly sharp blades on the fingers, minus the thumb. Valerie remembered reading about the gruesome weapons the police had found in Fred Krueger's basement. As simple as the glove looked, it still struck fear into Valerie's heart.

But that wasn't what made her jaw drop. Oh no. Krueger was horribly burned. He didn't look like a man anymore, more like a demon that had climbed out of Hell.

"This … this isn't possible," Valerie whimpered, backing away.

Krueger smiled smugly and let his right hand's blades tap against the rail as he lazily sauntered his way towards Valerie. "You let the genie out of the bottle, babe. But this genie isn't nice." He gave her a wide grin, revealing a set of disgusting teeth.

At this point, Valerie's heart beat resembled African drums. Krueger lashed out with his bladed glove, missing her by mere inches. She screamed and leapt back, unaware that a set of stairs had appeared behind her, and fell down them. Her side hit the platform with a loud clang and she groaned as tears filled her eyes from the pain.

Krueger jumped from the top of the stairs and landed feet first beside her. Valerie scrambled to her hands and knees and started to crawl like mad. Krueger chuckled and brought his boot down on her back, flattening her out. He lost no time in flipping her over and straddling her. He lifted a knife to her throat. Out of instinct, Valerie grasped him by the arm. She gasped at the heat she felt beneath the material of his sweater.

Krueger cackled at the terror in Valerie's eyes. "I guess I'm a little indebted to you for bringing me back." He slid the blade up and down Valerie's neck in a deadly caress. "But don't misunderstand. I'm still going to kill you." He gave her a smile and leaned in. "Your time's not up just yet, Valerie. I still need you in the game. I need more." Krueger grasped the back of her head, causing Valerie to whimper. "So be a good little birdie and spread the word."

…...

Thursday

Valerie's eyes flew open and she jolted up in bed. Bed? She grasped the sheets to convince herself that the bed was real.

"It was all a dream."

She breathed a sigh of relief and flopped onto her pillows. "Phew! What a nightmare!"

A quick knock from the bathroom door made Valerie flinch. Isabelle stuck her head in. "Ready to go?" She wrinkled her brow. "You're not even showered?" Isabelle glanced at her wrist watch. "Girl, you've got twenty minutes until class starts!"

Valerie groaned and pressed the heels of her palms to her eyes. "Go one without me, okay? I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Mmh-hm." Isabelle leaned against the door frame. "You stayed up reading those articles, didn't you?"

Valerie snuggled into her sheets, hugging her pillow close. "Guilty as charged."

"Will you tell me what you found later tonight?"

"Sure thing."

Isabelle made a 'tsking' noise. "Okay. See you later."

Valerie limply waved good-bye. She turned onto her side and winced at the sudden pain flairing up on her elbow, hip, and lower back. Throwing back the covers, Valerie sat up and sucked air through her teeth as more pain made its presence known. She angled her arm so she could look at her elbow and saw an ugly bruise blossoming there.

"What?"

She rolled down her sweat pants to inspect her hip and found a similar injury.

"How did that happen?"

An answer popped into her head. In her nightmare, she had fallen down those stairs and hit the platform floor on her side... and then Krueger...

Valerie went to her mirror and turned around as she lifted her shirt. She craned her neck to look. A bruise in a vague shoe shape was forming on her skin. But that had only been a dream!... Right? Maybe going back to sleep could wait a while.

(So what did you think of Freddy's first appearance? I know he wasn't in it for very long but don't worry, you'll be seeing a lot of him in the next up two coming chapters! I just needed to kinda test run him in this update. I hope you're not too disappointed. Let me know your thoughts. :)