Disclaimers, ratings, name, etc can be found in prologue.

Author's Notes: First, thanks to new reviewers crimsond tears and Nick. Also, thanks to all for enjoying the Freddy/Samara moment…I was worried I'd be pegged with tomatoes, even though Robert Englund himself said if they ever did another Freddy movie it should be 'Bride of Chucky'-esque. Also, I too am happy Lori is dead…I really did not like her.

George Smillie - Dammit George, you're brilliant! Why didn't I think of that line! I might have to do a re-write. As for dying, I'll see what I can do for you…

Fat Caiman - Been a while since you've reviewed, nice to see you again!

Danielle L.B - I love your reviews! Don't you dare stop - also, I'd like to plug Dani's fic 'Nightmare Switch' it's friggin' hysterical! It keeps me in stitches!

Impatient mental patient - Comparing this story to 'Playing with Fire' is truly one of the highest compliments I've received - thank you very much, I'm flattered!

More warnings…

WARNING: BAD LANGUAGE

WARNING: DISTURBING IMAGERY

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Chapter 24

Will only had to knock once before he and Samara were ushered into Alice's hotel room. Everyone sat around with looks of trepidation upon their faces, wondering where to begin.

Finally Alice cleared her throat, "Well, I guess I'd better start since this is my room, introductions first, stories about…about him second. Um. My name is Alice Johnson and this is my son, Jacob."

Jacob held up two fingers, "Yo."

Alice sighed and gave a curt nod in Maggie's direction, "Maggie Borroughs and this is my colleague, Doctor-"

"Doc is good enough," he replied shortly as his eyes turned towards Will, causing everyone else to follow suit.

Will ducked his head, "Will Rollins and this is Sam."

Silence reigned again until Jacob offered to order pizza. His mother shot him a frown that suggested that this offer was insensitive given the circumstances but then she chose to let it slide - they needed a distraction and food was better than nothing.

Soon enough the group of six found themselves sitting around a table eating and sharing their stories. Samara took this opportunity to study the enemy as closely as possible. She kept her head bowed and her mouth shut, but she listened intently to every word spoken and her eyes drifted up occasionally to look at each person.

Alice started first, retelling the same story she had told Jacob not long ago - about how Kristen's death had caused Freddy to switch his interest over to her and how he had harassed her not just once, but twice, killing numerous friends as well as her brother and true love.

In Samara's eyes, this woman was going to be easily expendable. Her eyes were too big, she was much too thin, and her close attachment to her son could easily lead to her downfall. Every time she talked about Jacob or looked at him her love was evident, this could be used against her.

But she also knew to be mindful, while Alice appeared simplistic enough, she had defeated Freddy twice. There had to be something to her, some steely resolve that allowed her to survive. But then, Lori had decapitated Freddy and look how quickly she had been dispatched.

The memory of the busty blonde's throat being torn out threatened to cause a chuckle to escape but she held it in check, eyes landing on Maggie as she began the especially hard burden of her connection to Freddy.

It was hard to believe this woman could actually be Freddy's offspring. His true child. She had such unappealing features…vacant face, big nose, dull eyes…entirely stale and for some reason the tone of her voice drilled into Samara's brain, causing her to grit her teeth in irritation.

Or maybe it was the rising surge of jealousy inside her that was clouding her judgement. This realization nearly floored her. She had not felt envy since she had been alive…since her parents had flaunted all their attention on their damn horses. Emotions that should have been given to their child was instead given to a pack of big, dumb animals!

All she could think of was how Maggie was attached to Freddy in a way she never could be. She thought of the way he had first spoken of his daughter…the hesitation there. Would he spare her? Attempt to convert her again? Replace Samara with her? These thoughts caused her undead blood to boil. She was supposed to be Freddy's child - her and her alone! No one else! She was the special one…not this…this ungrateful brat!

Her anger would have continued undaunted if she didn't catch herself and her own thoughts. What was she thinking? True, she wanted to be the only one in Freddy's life but she certainly didn't want to be owned by him. She was an objected to be owned. Her parents had learned that the hard way…

But these conflicting thoughts had to be saved for another time. She knew now was not the moment for self-introspection and she look to Maggie as she reached the climax of her tale.

"…John Doe, he discovered something…Freddy had been married."

"WHAT?!" Alice roared, jumping to her feet, "That - that butcher was….he had a wife?!"

"Worse," Maggie swallowed, "He had a child."

"That monster?!" Alice gaped, mortified.

Maggie nodded, eyes sad, "Yes…John thought it was him but he was wrong. He paid for it…with his life. That's when we found out the truth…Freddy had indeed had a child, but it wasn't a boy…it was a little girl. A daughter," she breathed in, "and that daughter, is me. I am Katherine Krueger."

Alice stared at Maggie, a hand going to her mouth. Jacob's eyes were as wide as saucers as he pointed a finger in her direction, "Y - you…you - you're…"

"Freddy's last living descendent." She whispered. Doc rested a strengthening hand on her shoulder, taking over for her, "It wasn't an easy revelation to handle. This discovery rocked Maggie's life…exposed what had truly happened to her birth mother…"

Alice hardly dared to breathe, "What…"

"Loretta Krueger was killed," Maggie gasped, tears close to consuming her, "Murdered at the hands of her husband, my father, Fred…god, I was in his basement, I saw his gloves and I knew…kids in my class, some I'd even had as friends…he butchered them, tortured them with his fingertips, played with them like toys…"

She ran a hand through her hair and wiped at the single tear that had managed to escape, the next half leaving her in a sob, "He told me never to tell, I promised I wouldn't…I promised…"

She broke off and Doc took over again, "She went to the authorities. They took her away, put her in foster care; Krueger never got over it. In some ways it made him even more twisted. He blamed society as a whole for taking away his daughter, stealing her. It was like a final straw, snapping his sanity for good…if there ever had been any."

Jacob frowned, "Why do you even think-"

Doc waved a hand, catching the question before it was even spoken, "When he married Loretta, had Katherine…he tried for a short length of time to commit no crimes. It was the final, desperate act of a man who somehow, somewhere must have had a tiny flicker of good inside of him…"

Alice snorted, crossing her arms, "I find that hard to believe."

Jacob offered a weak smile, "Come on Mom, maybe it was there…you said so yourself, his mother was a Nun. Maybe it was a bit of her inside him. Or some of Loretta," Jacob touched Maggie's shoulder gently, "or maybe it was you, Maggie."

She looked up at him through blurry eyes. She had bearly known this kid over a day and yet what he had just said meant so much to her. She raised a hand up to cover his, giving it a warm squeeze, "Thank you."

Taking a deep breath she finished the story, explaining how they had defeated Freddy and ended up in Europe. Samara was still pondering the possibilities of Doc's proposed 'expired good side' of Freddy as Will started in on his separate tale. She heard Lori's name now and then and couldn't avoid a smirk, thankful that her long hair once again obscured her face when she was unexpectedly nudged.

"Hmm?"

"Sam…do you want to share your…experiences with him?" Will questioned softly.

She raised her head, looking around the room and blinking. Her eyes drifted over all of them, starting with Alice then moving over to Jacob, Maggie, Doc and finally resting on Will. All of these people were going to die. They just didn't know it yet, though as she looked at Will a flutter of confusion arose that she did not expect to feel.

It grew stronger as he queried again, "Sam? Do you want to talk about it or…or are you not ready? I don't want to force you, you can take your time…"

The look in his eyes, the concern there…it was so strange. To have someone care. Could he be acting? Rachel had appeared to care but in the end had been proven false, only really concerned with her own agenda.

Could Will actually give a damn about her? How she felt? Her needs? The confusion was growing worse as she lowered her head once more, whispering, "I - I don't think so."

"Hey," he reached out and took her chin, tilting her head up so their eyes met again, "That's okay,"

What was he doing? Why did she feel so…

Samara drew herself from his touch, startled. This was almost as bad as what Freddy had done to her on the dreamscape after he had killed Lori. It was like these men entranced her. What was happening to her?

Jacob spoke, "Okay, so we've all dealt with Freddy. We all know he exists, Mom and I know he's back because we received this weird video tape-"

"You got that tape too?" Maggie gasped, "The one with the images-"

"And the little girl?" Alice interjected.

They turned to Will who merely let out a breath, "Yeah…"

Everyone let this sink in as Jacob continued, "So we all got this video and we were all led here. It can't be a coincidence, he brought us all together for a reason-"

"To finish us off." Doc said simply.

"End it right at Springwood where it began," Alice sighed, "But what I want to know is where he got the power to make and send out the tape in the first place and the little girl…who was she? Is she a real captive and if so can we save her or is it too late? And how can we save her, I mean, I don't know about you all but I haven't slept since this began."

"Doc and I haven't gotten a wink," Maggie confirmed.

"Too scared for dreams," Will mumbled.

"There's a way," Doc supplied logically,"We'll find it. He's been defeated before, he can be again. And I don't think it's too late for the girl. He wants us to go into the dreams. It's bait to lure us in."

"So she could be fake."

"That's not the point," Doc insisted steely, "The point is to defeat this son of a bitch once and for all, and let's face it, the only way to do that is to dream. Draw him out…"

"He can be drawn out into the real world, we've done it before," Maggie confirmed.

"Us too, like I said when I told you about my and Lori's experience with him."

"Back to the tape though, how'd he get the power to send it out?"

"He's fueled by fear and it's obvious the teens around here are scared of him, look what happened at the club."

Alice shook her head, frustrated, "But how did that begin?"

"Sam…" Will whispered, turning his eyes to her, "Your drawings…"

Samara frowned as all attention turned her way, "What about them?"

"You scared everyone with them!" Will whispered, "You started…"

Suddenly there was a knock at the hotel room door and everyone jumped. Maggie laughed unsteadily, "That's probably a friend of mine. I called her on my cell phone on the way here. She was helping Doc and I back at the club and I asked her to get an estimate on the…total damage caused."

Alice nodded and went to open the door. Behind it stood Angela, she still wore her club attire but she now had a black purse slung over her shoulder, her normal cheery features very serious, "Hello everyone."

Will perked up in his seat, "Angela?"

She looked in his direction, "Will? What are you-" her eyes then landed on Samara, "Sam!"

Samara's eyes went wide. What was the counselor doing here?!

Angela walked over and quickly dropped to her knees, gathering the girl in a hug, "It's so good to see you!"

If it was possible, Samara's eyes got wider. The woman was glad…to see her? No one had ever been glad to see her. Not when she was alive and certainly not after she was dead. But then she had noted that in Becca's body she didn't seem to transmit images like she had when she had been alive and in her own body. Still, it was strange to feel…wanted.

Angela drew away, "I wasn't sure if you came to the club tonight and after what happened I was so worried…"

"Angela, what did you find out?" Maggie asked, voice tight with worry.

The young woman rose back to her feet, hand tight on the handle of her purse, "It's - it's not good. Lots of kids are dead and others are in critical condition and…Jesus, Maggie, I need to know what's going on. You were vague on the phone and I know you're being here when this all is happening is no coincidence so - out with it. What's happening?"

Maggie sighed, "You wouldn't believe me if-"

"It has to do with him, doesn't it?" Angela asked, her whole demeanor changing. Her eyes were narrowed and while it was obvious she had put steel into her spine the hand on the straps of her purse trembled slightly, giving away her apprehension.

"H - Him?" Maggie breathed.

"The Dream Demon," Angela hissed, "Krueger."

Alice looked at her in amazement, "How did you-"

Angela reached into her purse and drew out a bundle, tossing it on the table before them. Jacob edged forward and unwrapped it; everyone leaned forward to see what he uncovered. What they saw inside caused them all to gasp and lean back, revealing a hideous razor clawed leather glove. Freddy's glove.

All eyes directed Angela's way as she heaved out a heavy sigh, "Let me tell you a little story…"

.