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

Author's Notes: Close to the final chapters - I can tell you right now, after Chapter 31 we're moving at lightning speed! And, as a warning, I'll also let you know Chapters 30 and 31 are all human oriented a.k.a. no Freddy again - sorry guys but hey, this'll be the last time obviously as the end is Freddy BIG time - 'cause I'll give you a hint, we've got - oh - about five people left - and I like even numbers more if you catch my drift…

Pimp/Recs longer than usual, so they're at the bottom!

More warnings…

WARNING: BAD LANGUAGE

WARNING: VIOLENCE

WARNING: DISTURBING IMAGERY

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Chapter 29

Doc's screams seemed endless but once they died, stark silence took their place. Samara's attention seemed to be focused intently on the furnace door, watching the flames flicker ravenously at the grated metal door.

Freddy stood to one side of her. Covered in blood, breathing heavy. His nostrils flared every few moments and she could practically feel the residual energy coming off of him. His actions spoke far louder than words ever could as she felt his eyes on her.

At last he spoke, "So…what would Will say?"

She sighed, crossing her arms, head casting off to look as far away from him as possible, "It's nothing."

He charged over to her, taking her chin in his hand and turning her head towards him so sharply she was surprised he didn't snap her neck. He shook her until her hair parted and fell away to reveal her face, fingers squeezing her jaw with bruising force, "It had better be. This isn't some game. Don't fuck with me."

He let her go and the look she shot him was lethal. How dare he have the gall to touch her! And once again without her consent! He had no right to tell her what she could do! And the last time they had met - that intimate moment - still hung between them - awkward and unspoken. What the hell had it been anyway?

This very thought was currently troubling the Dream Stalker, who was unaccustomed to falling into a bloodlust quite like that. The memory of his actions haunted him - what the hell had he been doing? If not interrupted, what would he have done? Would he have actually kissed…

He shook his head. And now his pupil was fucking around with some middling human - and not just any human, but that fucking pretty boy who'd been banging the blonde who'd decapitated him!

Samara was his.

He had let her get away with far too much for far too long. There would be no more distractions. It was time she learned she had limits. Time she was…disciplined.

He turned to her, deceptively calm, "Samara…come here."

One of his razors beckoned her over and she frowned, wondering if she should listen to him. Unable to think of a reason not to obey, she did so, standing inches from him. He sneered, pleased; "Did you hear what I told the good Doctor? About you being my…daughter."

She gave a small, nod, "Yes, I did."

"And what did you think?"

"I thought…" she replied, eyes narrowed, "That I haven't had much luck with fathers…"

"Oh really?" Freddy's look grew darker as her defiant nature was revealed.

"Yes," she said pointedly, "Mine always tried to push me in the direction he wanted and when I didn't he turned against me. I also question what exactly we are accomplishing-"

The rest of her sentence was cut off as he grabbed a fistful of her hair and viciously yanked her to him. A few strands ripped free from her scalp, causing her to yelp as he hissed into her ear, "I'm accomplishing exactly what I planned. And as for you, Dollface, you just do what Daddy tells you."

The way he purred the last statement caused those strange sensations to tingle down her spine again but she ignored it, struggling furiously in his grip. He merely cackled and drew his blades near her throat, drawing them lightly along her skin.

Blood welled up against the porcelain white flesh and he felt the surge shoot though him, a cross between elation and anger as he bent her head back further, grip tightening, claw cutting deeper.

She fought harder, face transforming into its rotted form, rage overpowering. She stomped a foot down on his with such force that he let go, startled. She turned and with a flick of her fingers an invisible fist slammed into his gut, tossing him backward.

He caught himself, landing on his feet as gracefully as a cat. His eyes turned yellow as a demon's, skin blistering red. She used his dreamscape against him! She used what he had taught her against him! That BITCH!

He charged toward her, claws swiping out when she fell back and pressed her bare arm to one of the hot boilers. She screeched and disappeared, having woken her body up through the act.

Freddy sneered, where had he seen that before?

Nancy.

Fucking Nancy!

Samara must have seen that in his mind when she'd scanned his memories. She remembered it and used it. She had yet again escaped him. That was it…he was going to kill her fucking body, that's all there was to it. Then she could never escape him again.

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Samara blinked a few times, then checked her arm. There was no burn but she still felt it throbbing. She dropped the limb and scowled - how could things with Freddy have gone from good to bad so quickly?

Looking around she realized she was in Will's van. She had completely forgotten she had come here to sleep. At the time she had wanted to get away from the group of survivors in Alice's hotel room to be reunited with Freddy - eager to commit another murder and, more importantly, get some questions their much-needed answers.

Instead she had gotten neither. Freddy had killed Doc - just as he had the others and he hadn't answered any of her questions - hell she hadn't even gotten to ask them. And now she probably never would. How could she face him again? He was angry with her, he'd probably kill her - or rather, her human body.

And for the craziest reason she found this idea bothered her - somehow she had grown fond of this body. She wanted to keep it. She didn't want to be the little girl anymore - she wanted to be the teenager. The woman. Only moments ago she'd been so desperate to free herself and now this.

Could the immediate about face merely have been caused by her recent confrontation with Freddy or was there more to it?

Deep inside, since her inhabitation of the body had begun, she had been struggling with the wave of emotions she had begun to feel - things going through her system she had never experienced before. Some were good, others not - but to want to stay in this body, to be alive…

Why would she possibly want to condemn herself to this? To limitations? If she wasn't in full-blown spirit form she couldn't kill as easily - she'd keep feeling, keep being mired in confusion. Why would she want do this to herself? What was there to gain?

The driver's side door to her left popped open and Will hefted himself up. He sat himself in his seat then turned and saw her, baby blues going wide, "Sam? What are you doing here?"

Samara looked at him as if he had just sprouted antenna, unsure of how to begin to answer that question. But instead he supplied the reasons for her, "Were you looking for me? Waiting?"

She took this and ran with it, giving a simple shrug, "I knew you'd come back eventually."

To her this was a common fact but he took it to mean something more, a soft expression taking him as he closed the driver's side door and put the keys into the ignition. He started the heat, turning to her, "You must be freezing…having waited all this time."

Another shrug when suddenly he edged forward, closer to her. She frowned, that expression was still on his face and he was coming closer. She thought of what Freddy had done and could see Will doing the same.

Sensations began to spark in her lips and she was about to draw away from him, worried he'd aim his mouth for hers but instead his hand reached out, palm pressing first to her forehead, then to her cheek.

Disher had done something similar to this but his touch had automatically infuriated her, this…this was not as unwanted for reasons she could not fathom. He clicked his tongue, "Jesus, you're freezing…here."

He drew off his jacket and pressed it towards her, "Put this on."

She was about to decline but the look in his eyes was enough to make her reach for it, slipping it on. He grinned, "You might want to put your hands on the vent too – your little fingers are probably icicles by now."

She just kept looking at him, face flat. He gave a nervous chuckle; "You don't want to lose those…they help you draw, right?"

Actually her mind helped her do that but she decided to placate him, pressing her slim fingertips to the vent. The heat curling out felt strange to her, numbing and new as it seemed to take away the perpetual dampness that clung to her flesh.

All these feelings – nerve endings causing synapses of realization to spark along her spine and in her brain. To be alive. More alive than she had ever been…

She used to miss death so much but now? Now she wasn't so sure. These experiences – she wanted them. Wanted it all! She turned to Will, who had the goofiest look on his face. Aware he'd been caught staring he blushed, running a hand through his hair, "Sorry…just…you look good in my jacket."

She didn't respond and he laughed, "Oh jeez…I've been reduced to bad come on lines. Disher would be proud…"

He shook his head, "I'm sorry, I'm just…so messed up. So depressed and confused and shocked and…I mean, you probably wonder why I ran off like that. You see, Lori-"

"Was your girlfriend," Samara interrupted, surprising him, "Paige told me. She…wouldn't shut up."

This last part had a sour tone added to it but Will merely chuckled, "Yeah, she does…she did that. Go on and on about nothing. I wasn't really her friend but I heard enough about her to know...Jesus…and now she's dead. Lori too…"

He sighed, sitting back in his seat, "Lori…I loved her. I really did. At one point in my life she was the most important thing in the world to me. My soul mate. God…you can be so stupid when you're young. Shit, I'm still young, still stupid…you can feel free to argue with me. Try to save my shattered male ego…"

She didn't understand what he was talking about so she couldn't begin to help him; he gave another chuckle, "You're right, self-pity is…," he shook his head, "I hate airing low self-esteem issues and it is so fucking inappropriate after a night like tonight but…Lori, shit. It was over between us, so over but I never wanted her to…"

He trailed off, tears welling up, "Last time I saw her I was so mean to her, you know? Yelling at her and shit and now she's fucking dead! I didn't get to apologize, didn't get to say good bye …"

Samara was as unprepared for tears as she was for this conversation. She remembered lingering around Katie's home during her funeral. She had never been with people after the death of someone close to them. Watching their reactions was fascinating. The grief, the hopelessness - why did they feel this way? What caused it. So the person was dead, so what?

But as she looked at Will it occurred to her that maybe it was because they were sad at the prospect of never seeing the person again. Never receiving…feelings from them again. This was something she could understand - it sort of explained her new bizarre attachment to her body.

If Will died would she miss him?

This question was unexpected. All those people - Maggie. Alice, Jacob…they were going to die and she didn't care but Will…could she kill him? Could she let Freddy…

He was crying silently and she knew if this was anyone else she would have marked it as a weakness, but seeing Will do so caused her to feel strangely upset. Part of her knew she should do something. But she couldn't think of what.

Finally she spoke, remarking to his last comments, "Why would you have said good-bye? You didn't know she was going to die."

Will turned to her, blinking. Embarrassed he wiped his eyes, "What did you say?"

"Saying good-bye, how would that have helped? You didn't know she would die so why would you have said it?"

He pondered over this, frowning, "I guess you have a point…"

She nodded, pleased. He sighed and turned to face her, "Thanks for listening anyway. I mean, that's why I like you, you're so easy to talk to…"

His eyes had the strangest light to them and Samara found that her cheeks felt warm. Then she realized her fingers were still on the vent. She drew them away, sitting back in her seat to allow her hair to fall forward, hiding again. Will watched the action and couldn't help but grin, "I should probably take you home."

He started up the van and as he drove Samara's mind lingered over all that was happening. What the hell was she going to do next?

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Now for my pimps/recs! Some of these are repeats but I can't help it because these people's stories are SO good they have to be mentioned again because they've updated, just reminding me how good their story is and how much you need to check it out:

Oldie but Goldies:

Dani's 'Nightmare Switch' is reaching the end -why, god, WHY?! So funny, even now at it's finale, please, please, please read, I promise you'll thank me later - her Freddy is rolling-on-the-floor-laughing-my-ass-off funny!

Ayezur's 'Event Horizon' is over and ::sob:: AW GAWD! It's so sad! For once we have a softer (or as soft as you can get) version of Freddy and it's - just - so - friggin' - sweet! Toothache and all and he's with this chick Penny who's such a sweetheart and you have to love it, I mean Freddy…Penny…see the similar naming? God, just read it will you, please?!

Newbies are Groovies:

Pmad is the queen of Maggie/Katherine - no doubt about it, I crown her and give her the sash, she has her hands down and she has a variety of Maggie stories that'll convert you into a Maggie lover whether you like it or not - and her Freddy is just sick! You love him, hate him, fear him! Read her NOES 7 & 8 sequels! They're bone chilling ::shudders::

Nick's 'Halloween: Bloodlines' Long story short? Someone FINALLY does Michael Myers justice with a decent idea! Bringing back survivors too - I love that! You've got John Tate and Tommy Doyle - ugh, so beautiful it'll make your eyes water!

HowlynMad 'Group is Now in Session' - HowlynMad is a bastard - and I say this with the deepest affection. This story about Freddy and our other beloved horror icons in Group is so funny you will swear you're going to die because you laugh so much you forget/don't breathe! Howlyn is so good it makes you ashamed! READ!

Lastly, NON-Freddy fun:

MonkChic24's 'Mr. Monk and the Mosh Pit' if you watch USA's 'Monk' you know that show's pretty gosh darn cute and this fic fits in perfectly with that - so huggable and funny and - you like this show? - read it!

Ironical Jester's 'Lethe' - Two words: Matrix. Slash. Sounds horrible but I trust you it's not, not in Jester's brilliant hands. It's a real shame I mention this one all the way at the bottom because Jester is f*cking amazing - I have to curse because Jester's so amazing. If you think you can handle slash - much less Matrix slash - I highly recommend this one.