(So what exactly can I say to make it up to you Readers for the amount of time that's passed since I've updated? Hmm. All I can tell you is the truth. First of all, my laptop decided to crash on me twice during the summer. I only just got it back sometime in November. Then my USB drive, THE USB drive that I keep ALL my stories and EVERYTHING on, decided that it wanted to be "cool" like my laptop and crash as well. So I got it looked at and the techie who worked on it saved as much as he could. Unfortunately, all the titles were erased and replaced with codes, so I had to go and look through every single item and figure out what was what! And there's also the fact that I have TWO jobs now and I'm a full time college student. So there you go.

Okay. Someone asked me about the time line that I've got going for this story. They thought that Krueger died some time in 1969 and I have his death somewhere in the early 70s. I have tried to piece together the ANOES time line as best as I can and I STILL can't figure it out. I have looked up theories and watched the films for any type of clue as to the dates that these films occur and it is confusing. I had a very thorough explanation of my theory of the dates, but it got deleted when my USB crashed, so just take my word for it. ANOES's time line is one of the most confusing things I have ever tried to tackle.

The closest I can come to explaining it again is that the most common theory is the movies do not take place in the years that they were filmed. The first film is supposed to have taken place a few years before 1984 and then there's supposed to be a four or five year jump to the third film and Nancy's an adult. And then the sixth film, Freddy's Dead, was filmed in 1991 and at the very beginnig it says that it takes place "ten years from now". What the heck, ANOES!? Are you trying to make it more difficult!

I figured that Nancy Thompson would have had to have been at least five or six when Freddy was killed and then maybe ten years passed by. So I counted back from 1984 cause Nancy couldn't have be more than sixteen in that film and that brought me to the early 1970s. I know it's not the most genius way of figuring out a time line but it's the best I could come up with at the moment.

The only dates that I can say are absolutely cannon in ANOES is when Freddy Krueger was born; 1942, when Katherine Krueger was taken away from Freddy in 1966, and when Amanda Krueger died; 1968.

If anyone has a better time line explanation or has any input to help me out with this, please let me know!
*(Author's Note 02/21/2019 - I have found a more accurate timeline and have made the adjustments in previous chapters)

Anyway, sorry for the extremely long Author's Note. I hope you enjoy this chapter.)

[Song Used and Suggestioned for this Chapter]

~ 'All I Do is Dream of You' by Michael Bublé

~ 'Clevermind' by Poets of the Fall

~ 'Cupid' by Sam Cooke

~ 'I Want You(She's so Heavy)" by The Beatles

~ 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida' by The Iron Butterfly

~ 'Gives You Hell' by The All-American Rejects

~ 'Every Breath You Take' by The Police

~ 'Get Ready' by The Temptations

Chapter Five

It Was Only A Dream

"The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscous activities of the mind." ~ Sigmund Freud

Thursday

Throughout the day, Valerie's thoughts strayed to her mysterious bruises and Fred Krueger's appearance in her dream. It had all seemed so real. She'd felt Krueger's body heat, felt the sweltering atmosphere of the power plant, felt the pain as she hit the grated floor, everything. And that's what had Valerie so confused.

How was it possible to feel something in your dreams? That was a question she wanted to ask Professor James. After her Psychology; Cognition class had ended, Valerie waited until the last student had left the room before she approached Prof. James at his desk.

"Prof. James?"

Prof. James turned from the white board and smiled once he registered who had called him. "Valerie. Can I help you with something?"

"I hope so. I have a question about dreams. I know we haven't covered the subject yet, but I'm really anxious to know the answer."

"Well..." Prof. James walked to his desk and motioned for Valerie to sit at a chair next to him. "What is it you want to know?"

"I've always been under the impression that it was impossible to physically feel things in your dreams. I've never been able to do it and I've never heard of it happening to anybody else. When I dream, I know I'm dreaming because I can't feel anything in them. But last night I had the most vivid dream I've ever had in my life. I felt everything. I was convinced I was awake it was so real."

Prof. James' brows rose. "You know you're dreaming when you can't feel anything?"

Valerie nodded. "I mean, when it's not completely obvious like flying or purple horses, but when it's a simple dream, when things look normal. I notice I can't feel anything."

Prof. James smiled and shook his head. "Valerie, I think you're a lucid dreamer."

"A what?"

"A lucid dreamer. It's someone who is aware that they are dreaming and even has the ability to control their dreams."

"But can a lucid dreamer feel things in their dreams?"

Prof. James ran a hand over his mouth. "Well, it's very rare. In fact, it's even more rare than being a lucid dreamer."

"How is that possible?"

"It has to deal with the parietal lobe of the brain. It processes information like pressure, touch, and pain."

A dull ache along her hip reminded Valerie of its presence.

Prof. James went on talking. "That particular part of the brain kind of, well, 'shuts down' in simple terms when we go to sleep. But it's been discovered that someone who is a lucid dreamer has that area of the brain heightened when they sleep."

He leaned forward in his chair, fixing Valerie with an intense gaze. "Are you sure this is the first time you've ever had a dream where you felt things?"

Valerie thought a moment. "I'm sure." She felt a slight prick of pain from her back. "Prof. James, I still don't understand how this can happen. How can I feel something that isn't really there?"

James gave her a mysterious smile. "Who's to say it isn't?" At Valerie's confused look he chuckled. "The human brain is an amazing and mysterious thing, Valerie. Ever since we first discovered it's complexity, scientists have yet to cease studying it. We've learned a great deal about the brain. And yet, we really are no closer to understanding what dreams are." He shrugged. "Maybe one day we will but for the time being, dreams are a world of their own."

Valerie felt her shoulders slump. "So you don't know?"

"The dream aspect of psychology wasn't my main focus when I studied in college but I could look into it for you."

"I don't want to trouble you."

"Nah. It'll be fine. I'll get you an answer as soon as possible."

"Thanks." She stood to go.

"Um, Valerie?"

"Hm?"

"I don't mean to be nosey, but how did that happen?"

Valerie followed Prof. James' pointed finger to her bruised elbow. It had darkened since that morning. She offered an embarrassed smile. "I banged it against a door frame."

"Well try to avoid any more collisions with those."

"I will. Thanks for your time."

…...

It was nearly 1:30 pm when Valerie sat at an outside table, waiting for her friends to join her for lunch. Music streamed from her ear-buds but Valerie wasn't really listening. If she had been she probably would have changed the song.

"All I do is dream of you the whole night through
With the dawn I still go on dreaming of you
You're every thought, you're every thing
You're every song I ever sing
Summer, winter, autumn and spring

And were there more than twenty four hours in a day
That'd be spent in sweet content just dreamin' away
When skies are gray, when skies are blue
Morning, noon and nighttime too
All I do the whole day through is dream of you
."

Valerie tried to wrap her mind around the idea of being a lucid dreamer. She had thought that it was a common thing for someone to know if they were dreaming or not. But now she was told it was a rarity. Did this vivid dream mean that it would be a regular occurrence? And how did being a lucid dreamer explain the bruises?

"All I Do is Dream of You" ended and another began without Valerie's notice. She was so deep in thought, and they just piled on top of each other; each wanting to be the center of her attention.

"- Like fragments of a dream you remember
So never mind, your clever mind, never mind me-."

"Valerie!"

"Jeez!" Valerie yelped, nearly jumping up from her seat as she pulled the ear-buds from her ears. Bianca, Kevin, Charlie, and Isabelle laughed at her.

"Don't do that," Valerie said, stuffing the ear-buds into her backpack.

"Than don't have your music up so loud while your spacing out," Isabelle countered.

"Touchè."

"You look like you were in pretty deep thought there," Kevin commented.

"Yeah...Just thinking about a dream I had last night." Valerie perked an eyebrow at the four of them. "Would any of you happen to feel things in your dreams?"

"What, you mean like lucid dreaming?" Isabelle asked, leaning back on her elbows at the table.

"How did you know what it's called?" Valerie asked with surprise.

"Uh, duh; we have the same psychology class, Val."

"Oh..right."

Isabelle chuckled. "Dang, you really are out of it today."

"It's just this dream I had. It kinda got me off to a weird foot today."

"Have you been thinking about it all day?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah."

Bianca reached over and tucked a few stray strands of Valerie's hair back into place then sat across from her. "Was it a good or bad dream?"

"It was bad and really strange."

"Strange how?" Charlie asked, flopping next to Bianca and Kevin.

"I've never been able to feel things in my dreams before but last night..."

Isabelle shifted her arms and crossed them in front of her. "What happened?"

"You know how I've been researching about those blacked out obituaries, Isabelle?"

Isabelle went still for a moment and her eyes darted at their friends as if she were uncertain she should acknowledge the existence of those documents. As if the mere mentioning of them would bring up what she and Valerie had done to get those papers.

"Um, yeah," she admitted.

"Well I found out they were all the victims of the same guy and I had a dream about him last night."

Bianca feigned a socked gasp, bringing her hands up to cover her mouth. "Valerie Snider; dreaming about a man?"

Charlie and Kevin snickered at her while Isabelle nudged Valerie to go on.

"I dreamed he- the killer- was after me. He had this glove with knives at the fingertips. They looked like claws." She stopped a shiver that wanted to go down her spine. "Anyway, he caught me at one point and when I touched him I could feel his arm. I thought it was really happening because I could feel him."

"I feel things in my dreams too," Isabelle admitted. "Not every time but every so often. It's nothing to get scared about."

"There's more to it," Valerie added reluctantly. This next part was going to sound crazy.

"What is it, Valerie?" Kevin asked, his gray eyes showing concern.

"In my dream I fell down some stairs. When I woke up..." Valerie paused and angled her arm so they could see her elbow, then pushed up the hem of her shirt. The bruise on her hip had spread and was just visible over her jeans waistband.

"These bruises are exactly where I fell in my dream.

"Dang, girl!" Charlie exclaimed, wide-eyed at how nasty the coloring looked.

"Maybe you fell out of bed?" Bianca offered.

Valerie shook her head as she lowered her shirt. "I was in bed when I woke up and I was in the center of my bed too; I hadn't moved since I fell asleep so I didn't bang my elbow on the wall either." Valerie didn't mention the boot-shaped bruise on her back.

"Freeeaky," Kevin sang under his breath, accompanied by Charlie humming the opening notes to The Twilight Zone.

"Yeah, that's some pretty messed up crap," came a new voice.

All heads turned in the direction of the voice and Isabelle's mood blackened.

"What are you doing here, Marv?" she asked coldly.

"I wanted to talk to you." Marv said, trying to put in a bit of a pout. His three days worth of stubble didn't help him though.

"I don't want to talk to you anymore, Marv. We're done."

"Now hang on, baby-."

Isabelle stood to her full height, hands clenched at her sides. "I'm not your baby anymore."

"Can we just talk about this-?"

"No!"

Kevin stood and walked over to Marv. He nearly gagged at the smell of cigarette smoke wafting off of him.

"Look, Marv; you should probably go."

"I'm not leaving until I talk to Izzy."

"She doesn't want to talk, man. You're not going to get anywhere with her today, so maybe try another time when things have cooled off."

Marv looked back at Isabelle then at Kevin. "Fine." He leaned a bit to the side to get a good look at Isabelle. "We are going to talk about this, Izzy. Later."

Marv began to walk away then stopped and eyed Valerie. "Hey, Val? Did you say he had knives for fingers? The guy in your dream?"

"It was a glove with blades attached to the fingers."

Marv took this in and motioned her over. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

At first she hesitated but she got up and walked towards him. He led her a few feet away from the group and lowered his voice. "Listen, before I moved out here, I used to have a cousin who lived in Springwood until around the middle of 2003. He moved out in a hurry. He said he was at a party in a cornfield and somebody in a costume went nuts. He started killing people with a machete. My cousin got away but he was seriously messed up after what he saw. The way he described this guy made him sound like he was indestructible.

"But before that happened, two students from his school had been murdered. It was brutal. It had the whole student body on edge. He over heard a girl talking about a bad dream she'd had. Alot of kids heard her. She said she had a dream about a guy with knives for nails."

Valerie narrowed her green eyes at him. "Are you messing with me?"

"No. I swear to God."

Valerie eyed him, trying to detect a lie. But she couldn't.

"Did this girl mention a name?"

"I don't know. My cousin said this other guy showed up and started talking to her like he knew exactly like she was talking about. Started shouting some crazy crap which kinda rattled some of the students who heard him. He said a name... Fred. I think it was Fred."

Valerie's heart skipped a beat. "Fred? Are you sure?"

"I think so. It was a long time ago when my cousin told me about it. He doesn't like talking about anything to do with Springwood. A few of his friends got killed by that crazy machete guy."

Marv stopped and peered at Valerie. "Hey, you okay? You look paler than I do with a hangover."

"I'm fine."

She looked back at her friends. Kevin was talking to Isabelle, trying to get her out of her black mood. They were standing pretty close to one another. Marv noticed.

"Is he why Isabelle broke up with me?"

"Nope. You screwed up on your own," Valerie said with relish. Oh it felt so good to say that. "Thanks for the information, Marv. But it's time for you to go."

Marv didn't seem to hear her. He quickly walked past Valerie towards Kevin. Valerie knew what was about to happen.

"Charlie!" she cried.

Charlie turned his attention away from the conversation he was having with Bianca and saw Marv advancing. He jumped up from the table and ran to intercept but Marv had a lead on him. Kevin, realizing what was happening, pushed Isabelle out of the way just as Marv threw the first punch. It landed hard on Kevin's jaw.

Charlie slammed into Marv from behind and brought him down. "We told you to leave, man!" Charlie ground between clenched teeth.

"Get off me! He stole my girl, that motherf-!"

Charlie shoved Marv's face in the grass.

"He didn't do anything, Marv!" Isabelle shouted.

Marv lifted his head up, pieces of grass clinging to his stubble. He glared at everyone. "Are you all seriously going to lie to me?"

Charlie dragged Marv to his feet and shoved him away. "Get out of here, Marv. And stay away."

Marv whirled around to face the guys and charged at Kevin. Kevin braced himself and managed to stay standing when Marv's body collided with his own. Punches were thrown as Charlie struggled to pull Marv off.

Isabelle darted forward and joined Charlie. "Izzy, stay back," Charlie grunted.

"Screw that," she retorted, grabbing a fist full of Marv's wavy black hair. She yanked his head back and Marv yelped, disentangling himself from Kevin. Isabelle didn't release his hair until the two boys had separated.

"Now listen to me, Marv Baldwin. We are through. I am done with you. I've had enough of your sloppy, half tried efforts and I'm fed up. Now get out of here and don't try to contact me again or I will call the cops."

She let go of his greasy hair and stormed back towards the table, wiping her hand on the pant's leg of her jean shorts. Bianca was speechless. Valerie held her hand up, palm open, and Isabelle fived it as she walked by.

"Izzy, you're either really brave or really stupid," Bianca told her.

"I'll go for a comfortable medium," Isabelle said with a smile.

The girls gathered their things and began to walk away to the cafeteria. Valerie looked back to see Kevin and Charlie exchange a few more words with Marv, then grab their bags and head towards the girls. Marv was left behind. He watched them go, stewing in his anger and embarrassment. Then he skulked off to his car.

The cafeteria was located on top of a hill-like slope and the way up made any health nut giddy with all the steps that led to the glass doors.

"Race you!" Isabelle chirped and immediately began to sprint up the stairs.

Valerie accepted the challenge and darted after Isabelle but about midway her thighs began to burn. She slowed to a stop and bent over with her hands on her knees as she took deep breaths.

Isabelle made it to the top and started to reenact the step scene from Rocky until she caught sight of Valerie. She folded her arms and tilted her head. "What am I going to do with you, Val?" she sighed.

Valerie finished the ascent and waited for the others to catch up. "I don't know. Go easy on me?"

"Nope. I'm gong to make a runner out of you yet."

"Aaaw maaan," Valerie whined.

Her phone began to ring and she recognized the ring-tone as the one she had set for her dad. Her brow furrowed. Usually she was the one who called him.

"You guys go ahead, I'm gonna take this call."

Taking out her phone, she dragged her finger over the screen and pressed talk. "Dad?"

"Hey, Valerie."

"Hey, what's up? Usually we don't talk til later in the day."

"And that's the thing, hon. I'm going to be in a meeting tonight around the time that we'd talk. I'm not sure how long it will be."

"Oh. Okay."

"I've got at least ten minutes before I have to leave. So, anything going on?"

Valerie bit her lip. The bruises on her skin were something but...

"No. Not really. Well, Izzy just broke up with Marv so I'm kinda helping her with that but Izzy seems to have a handle on it."

"From what you've told me about Isabelle I doubt this will phase her for long."

"She's a tough girl."

"So how about those mysterious blacked out obituaries?"

"Uuum." What should she tell him? "I haven't had much of a chance to look further into it."

Valerie was not in the habit of lying to her father but until she understood what was going on she didn't see the need to worry him. Besides, it was only a dream.

When the time came for her dad to leave, he gave her his love and said good-bye. Valerie joined the others at the lunch table they always favored, unless already occupied, and immersed herself in conversation. It was an unspoken agreement to avoid the subject of Marv like the Plague. Valerie knew Isabelle appreciated that. The only time it was hinted at though was when Kevin would wince and touch his jaw.

"Need some ice?" Charlie asked.

"Nah, man; I'm good," Kevin muttered.

Once the group had finished eating, Bianca rummaged in her purse and took out a small box of floss, which she immediately put to use.

"I still can't believe you carry around floss," Charlie chuckled.

Bianca finished her top row of teeth and looked up from her compact mirror. "A girl must always be prepared. I've got to keep my teeth in excellent shape." She flashed her pearly white grin. "This is what gets me modeling jobs."

"Oh I'm sure." Charlie pointedly glanced down at her well-endowed breasts.

"Well," Bianca added with a sly grin, "Among other things."

Valerie gave her own breast a discreet once over. They weren't small, just average. She often wondered how Bianca dealt with such large breasts.

Bianca checked the time on her iPhone and stood up. "Well, my friends, I've got a photo shoot in thirty minutes."

"Dazzle them with your smile, Bee," Valerie said.

"Knock 'em down with those boobs," Isabelle added. Kevin burst into laughter and Charlie, in the middle of downing coke, started coughing.

"Ever the comedian, Iz," Bianca sighed with a smile.

"In all seriousness then, Bee. Be amazing."

"I always am," Bianca replied seriously, as if she were confused as to why Isabelle was telling her this, then left.

"At least she's not completely stuck up," Isabelle said once she was out of ear shot.

"She could have turned out worse. Most girls who are raised as privileged as Bianca has been her whole life turn into absolute snobs with no realistic grasp on the real world," Valerie said, remembering various study cases she had read for psychology.

Kevin waited until Charlie finished his coke before saying that he and Charlie had to leave to work on the film. When they were gone, Isabelle turned to Valerie.

"Sooo about that nightmare you were telling us about before we were rudely interrupted?"

Valerie felt a little embarrassed about bringing it up. It was only a bad dream. Now she felt like a silly worrier getting so worked up about it.

She shrugged and focused on the condensation collecting on the sides of her cold coke bottle. "It's nothing. Forget I mentioned it."

"But those bruises-."

"Could be from something I did the day before and didn't show up until now."

"But you were really wigging out about it earlier."

"And now I feel silly for even mentioning it. Don't worry about it, Izzy."

Isabelle stared at her a moment before sighing. "Okay."

Valerie checked her watch. 2:10. Almost time for swim class. As was her habit after eating, Valerie took out a piece of cinnamon flavored gum and popped it into her mouth. The spicy flavor at first burned her taste buds but quickly became accustomed to it.

"Walk me to the gym?" she asked.

"Sure."

As they stood from the table, Valerie's stomach lurched. She ignored it, thinking her stomach was complaining about eating too much though she was sure she hadn't over indulged. But as she grew more nauseous during her walk to throw away her garbage, Valerie suspected it wasn't how much she'd eaten but what she had eaten.

Isabelle peered closely at her friend. "Hey; you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Then why do you look a little green?"

"Do I?"

"You're two shades away from looking like Kermit the Frog."

Valerie's stomach roiled within her as if to prove Isabelle's statement.

"I think I ate something that didn't want to be eaten and now it's getting back at me."

"Uh-oh."

They walked to the glass doors and both groaned when they saw the sky. Dark gray clouds were slowly taking over the pale sky. A rumble of thunder could be heard in the distance.

"Think we can get to your car before God opens the flood gates?" Isabelle joked.

Valerie's stomach churned at the thought of speed walking but she nodded. "Yeah. I think we can."

"I think you just turned greener."

"Shut up, you're not helping. Let's go."

…...

They got to her Explorer just as the first raindrops began to fall. Valerie dropped Isabelle off at her next class and lent her the red umbrella Valerie kept stashed in the back seat.

"Don't worry about picking me up after my class is over. I'll get Meg to drive me back to the dorms. You just rest; okay?"

Valerie didn't argue. She drove to the dorms and felt like she was about to puke as she ran in the rain to the entrance doors. Once inside her room, Valerie tossed her bag to the floor and collapsed onto bed. The pain in her stomach eased into something bearable.

Valerie hated missing class but there was no way she would have been able to push aside this pain. There was nothing she could do but lie down and wait for it to pass. She didn't want to sleep though. The nightmare from last night was still fresh in her mind and the bruises on her body still smarted.

Outside the sky had darkened despite it being only 2:30 in the evening. The nearly black clouds Valerie had glimpsed promised a storm was coming.

Not bothering to flip the light on when she came in, her room's dim light waned with the darkness outside her window blinds. She reached out to her nightstand and clicked on the little lamp she had there for when she was reading in bed. Valerie lay there and listened to the roll of thunder that was still aways away. It was too quiet. She needed music.

Valerie lifted her head. Her radio was on her desk at the foot of the bed. She didn't want to get up, her stomach pains would increase if she did. But she really wanted to listen to music.

Groaning, Valerie got off her bed and shuffled over to the radio and tuned it to a station that played music from the 1950s and 60s. Sam Cooke's "Cupid" was playing; one of Valerie's favorite songs.

"Cupid draw back your bow and let your arrow go
Straight to my lover's heart for me, for me
Cupid please hear my cry and let your arrow fly
Straight to my lover's heart for me."

The slight drizzle outside had turned to a light patter of rain that tapped against the windowpane. Valerie had no more classes for the rest of the day and she normally would work on whatever class work needed to be done. All that she had was the report on Krueger which for obvious reasons she didn't want to touch at the moment.

"Now I don't mean to bother you but I'm in distress
There's danger of me losin' all of my happiness
For I love a girl who doesn't know I exist
And this you can fix."

A book could help her relax and take her mind off of the pain in her stomach. She clutched her middle as she looked over her small selection of books she brought from home combined with a few she'd bought recently. She hummed along to the chorus of "Cupid" until she picked a book and trudged to her bed. She propped her pillows up to make her comfortable and settled down to read.

…...

BOOM!

Valerie jolted awake at the sound of lighting outside her window. The book she'd fallen asleep reading slid off her stomach and to the floor as she got up to look outside. Rain poured in sheets and wind howled. Lighting flashed like strobe lights and thunder bellowed in her ears.

"Jeez," Valerie muttered, drawing the curtains closed. Her radio was still playing music but now could barely be heard over the cacophony of the storm. She went over and switched off the radio.

Noticing her book on the floor, she bent over to pick it up and realized the pain in her belly was gone. She smiled and tapped her abdomen happily, moving on to unplug her laptop. She didn't like to keep it plugged in during really bad storms.

"I want you!"

Valerie whirled around at the sound of the radio suddenly coming to life.

"I want you so bad!
I want youuu,
I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me mad."

Valerie switched it off and kept her fingers on the off switch as she took a steadying breath. She could have sworn she tuned it off earlier. Valerie shrugged. It was a simple mix up. She walked back to her laptop.

"In a gadda da vida, honey
Don'cha know that I'm lovin' you?"

Valerie jumped. She had turned that off. She had definitely turned the radio off. But once again she had forgotten to unplug it. The storm was making the electronics go wonky; that's all.

"In a gadda da vida, baby
Don'cha know that I'll always be true?"

Valerie crossed the room, flipped the off switch, and made sure she pulled the plug.

"How do you like that?" she asked the electronic. She turned back to her laptop and bent under the desk to reach the power cord.

"When you see my face
Hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell!"

Valerie's head shot up, banging it against the underside of the desk.

"Ouch!"

She inched out from under the desk and stared at the powerless radio that was still managing to play music... and change stations. She slowly crawled on her knees towards it, her eyes glued to the radio. The unpleasant feeling that had been residing in her gut now grew into panic. Static crackled from the speakers as the radio changed stations again.

"Every move you make
Every vow you break
Every smile you fake
Every claim you stake
I'll be watching you."

She shot to her feet and grabbed the radio, shaking it. "How are you still working?"

The radio changed stations.

"-So, fee-fi-fo-fum
Look out baby, 'cause here I come.

And I'm bringing you a love that's true.
So get ready, so get ready.
I'm gonna try to make you love me too.
So get ready, so get ready 'cause here I come."

Valerie popped open the lid covering the batteries and tore them out, but it continued to play!

"Why won't you stop playing! Stop it!"

"Get ready 'cause here I come (I'm on my way).
Get ready 'cause here I come."

The station changed to static, then a haunting tune began to be sung by children.

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

Valerie scrunched her brow. That sounded familiar.

"Three, four; better lock your door."

"Wait a minute... this was the song in my nightmare!"

She gave a cry and pitched the radio across the room where it hit the floor and fell on its side. The horrible song played on.

"Five, six; grab your crucifix."

"Please don't let this be happening; not again!"

Valerie ran for the door, swinging it open and running down the hall. But the song followed her.

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

She skidded around the corner towards and Exit she knew would be there. Screw the storm! She had to get out of here!

"Nine, ten..."

But someone was blocking the door. He spread his arms wide and grinned as he finished the song.

"Freddy's back again!"

He slowly brought his arms back to his sides and brandished his bladed glove. "Did you miss me, Doll Face?"

Valerie didn't bother to answer. She turned tail and ran. Krueger threw back his head and laughed.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'!"

Flexing his bladed hand, Krueger took off after Valerie.

(Okay; so there's the end of that chapter. I think I left it at a pretty good cliff hanger.

For those who are medical experts, please forgive the really sucky way I try to explain the human brain. I wanted to try to make this sound believable, and I felt I had succeeded at least a little bit the first time I had written this out, but the USB crashing erased that as well and I had to start from scratch and couldn't find the websites I had gone to the first time that provided such a detailed and easy to understand explanation.

Anyway, I would love to hear back from you about this chapter and my Author Note. Please leave me something. :) Until next time, Dear Reader!)