"What do you want?" Fyora asked Lori. She noticed she was curiously
looking at the book she was reading.
"Oh, nothing," replied Lori. "I was just wondering what you were reading."
"Um," Fyora glanced at the book's cover. "Just a fantasy novel. You know, witches, dragons, that sort of thing. It's always instilled a sense of awe in me."
"Ah," Lori acknowledged with an unsure expression. "That's interesting..."
Fyora rolled her eyes and glared at Lori disappointedly. "Look, it's all right if you're not interested in this kind of stuff. But please, don't pretend you like it when it's obvious that you don't!"
"That's right, you always did prefer truth over courtesy," Lori mentioned, shifting her position on her black leather sofa. "Fyora, I'm so glad you're spending the night tonight. I could really use the company, especially after Kia..."
Fyora looked compassionately at her. "I know you two were the best of friends. I'm sorry that you had to lose her. When did you say she died?"
"Last autumn," Lori replied. "Almost seven months ago. I remember it like it was yesterday. She died trying to save me, but she was murdered by..."
Fyora glanced at her book, as if eager to know the rest of the story, yet not wanting to let Lori know it was a big deal. "Go on," she said hastily.
"Nah," Lori finished. "Don't worry about it. It's in the past, what's done is done. It hurts me to remember... so actually, I try not to think about it."
"Suit yourself," Fyora said, closing her book, though clearly agitated that Lori had just dropped the subject like that. "Listen, I need to go return this book to the library, it's way over due; but I'll be back later, okay? Should take me an hour at most."
"Okay," Lori sighed as Fyora got up to leave. "See ya," she called out.
"Bye," Fyora responded as she closed the front door behind her.
Fyora drove to the library and turned her books in. Before she left, she thought of something. "What is it that Lori didn't want to say? Whatever it was, I'm going to find out!" She walked up to the librarian. "Excuse me," she said. "Where are the books on recent town history?" The librarian simply pointed to the far corner of the building. Fyora was expecting more than a vague direction, but she thanked the librarian and went on her way.
Fyora'd never tell Lori, but she was determined to find out all the secrets of Elm Street. Sooner or later, she was bound to come across something that would reveal clues. She desperately needed to know why no one ever spoke of the events that occurred in that strange place... Lori's own house. After all, it was a famous house, 1428 Elm, but why?
When she searched around the historical reference area of the library, she found an entire shelf against the back wall that was curiously labeled "Local History." She poked around the shelf to see many books of all different colors and sizes. Some were rather dusty, as if no one had ever even touched them, but they all looked normal enough.
She sat on the carpeted floor, randomly pulling out books and skimming through the many pages they owned. She had to lay even lower to comfortable search the bottom shelf. She was now laying on her stomach on the floor, but she hadn't seen anything interesting yet. Just simple, ordinary books.
Suddenly, a shadowy figure rushed past her, sending chills down her spine. She glanced quickly in the direction the shape had gone, but it was nowhere to be found. She thought she was seeing things. In a split second, she felt a cold draft coming from under the shelf. She studied it with curiosity and slowly slid her fingers into two narrow openings on the bottom shelf. She gently began to open it.
To her amazement, she had just discovered a hidden drawer! It was very cool and musty inside, and cobwebs were laced around the corners. She peered in to see what was there. That was the first time she saw it. A dusty old book was laying lifelessly in the drawer. Without a care to whom it belonged to, she grabbed hold of the book and pulled it out. She dusted off the dirty cover to reveal a crimson background and large gold lettering. The title read A Nightmare on Elm Street.
"Elm Street..." Fyora said quietly. "This may just be the book I'm looking for. I think it's actually worth taking a glance at..." She hopped up off the floor and went over to a nearby table. Ever alert, she made sure no one was nearby before sitting down and opening the book. For some odd reason, and she thought it was just her imagination again, the lights grew quite dim as she had opened it to the front page. "Hm, that's quite odd..." she said with uncertainty. She quickly dismissed it.
She flipped through the light brown pages for anything that would draw her attention. It was all written in words that had the same size, same color, same meaningless dribble. That is, until she found a newspaper clipping tucked in between two pages. She curiously picked it up and read the headline out loud, "Dozens of Children Missing; Police Have No Leads." Then she trailed down to a familiar line. "Many of these missing children were residents of the Elm Street area..."
To her great curiosity, there was another clipping attached to the back by a speck of glue. She tore it off and read another headline, "Springwood Slasher Set Free..." Then she read on a littler further. "Suspect accused of kidnapping children put on trial today. Lawyers make fatal mistake, the verdict denied.... Record expunged..." It read a bit more, but that was all she needed to know.
"Hm," she said with a weird tone in her voice. It was apparent she was sort of shaken by the crime of kidnapping children. "Seems like this guy was a real sicko who actually got away with it. Quite admirable, if I do say so, myself. I don't think I could ever do that." Yet among the other horrendous things she had done, murdering children was not one of them. She set the clipping back in the book and flipped through the pages again.
To her even greater curiosity, there was yet another newspaper clipping lying on a page that didn't seem to have any intellectual value. This one struck her as the most curious of all. It was a section of an obituary that had been violently ripped out and shoved into the book. With her jaw hanging agape, she slowly plucked the shredding from the rest of the book. Her eyes grew wide as she saw something that made her blood boil and her skin crawl... it was the name, "Springwood Slasher."
"Fred Krueger, more commonly known as the Springwood Slasher was found dead in a boiler room at an old abandoned factory today. Apparently, he had been burned to death by a fire intentionally started by gasoline poured around the building. While police continue to assure the public that this was merely a suicidal case, the parents of Springwood seemed to be overjoyed by this news. While this suspected child murderer was never convicted, the citizens of Springwood seem to have known what exactly happened to many lost children in Mr. Krueger's boiler room."
After Fyora had finished reading that disturbing piece of news, she just sat there silently for a moment. Pouring over all of the things she had read about this Springwood Slasher. Even though she had done some naughty things in the past, this in no way compared to the things that he had done. Kidnapping children, and then viciously murdering them in a place where their bodies would never be found. For once, in as long a time as she can remember, she actually felt afraid.
"Dark spirits of those who have gone to the Other World always leave behind something to remember them by. I just hope that Krueger has found peace as never wants to return to our side."
By now, she had become fascinated with the readings in that book. She wanted to check it out, but it was in a hiding place. Most likely, it was not for the public to see. She looked around to see if anyone was watching, and then quickly place the book in her knapsack. She got up from the table and hurried along her way.
When she got back to Lori's house, the sun was just beginning to set. She made sure the book was tucked away soundly so Lori wouldn't find it. If she did, Fyora would certainly get a long, annoying talk from her do-gooder best friend. "I'm back!" she called as she walked in and closed the front door behind her. "Sorry it took a little longer than expected. I was looking at some new books that just came in."
Fyora dropped her stuff at the bottom of the stairs and looked around. It was too quiet, and she was sure that Lori had stayed home. "Lori?" she called out to her, but there was no answer. After a few more moments, she began to search the house. "Lori?" she kept calling her name as she made her way past the living room, into the kitchen, through the dining room, and ending up back at the stairs again. She looked up the flight and sighed a deep sigh. She thought Lori must've been in her room, listening to music so loud that she couldn't hear anything else.
With that, she began to climb the stairway and slowly make her ways towards Lori's room. The door was cracked slightly, and there was a light inside. Fyora placed her hand on the door and gently began to open it. "Lori?" she asked. When she opened the door all the way, she saw Lori was there, all right. She was sitting on her bed making out with a guy. Fyora loudly cleared her throat.
Lori whirled around to see her standing in the doorway. "Oh, you're back!" she said with a hint of surprise. "Fyora, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Will."
"Nice to meet you, Will. Sorry if I'm interrupting anything," she said.
"Not at all," Will replied. "We were simply practicing CPR on each other."
Fyora nodded with an unsure smile. She was thinking Who does this guy think I am? I have no problem with them smooching, but he's treating me like I'm Lori's mother! Did he actually think I'd fall for that ridiculous lie? What a creep!
"You took longer than an hour so..." Lori said.
"Okay," Fyora interrupted. "It's okay, I'm just going to go take a bath. I'll leave you two alone." She left the room and stood in front of the closed door. Immediately, she heard them going at it again, and she simply shook her head and sighed. "I wish I could do that..."
Moments later, she was soaking in hot water that came up to her neck. Lori's huge whirlpool tub was Fyora's favorite place to bathe. She deeply sighed and picked up her book, opened it and began to read. It wasn't exactly light reading for relaxation, but she was determined to learn more. "Man," she said and she read on. "This Krueger guy was one sick fuck." She set the book aside and felt herself nodding off...
She closed her eyes for a few seconds only to be jolted awake again by something brushing up against her leg. She reached down towards the contact spot, but nothing was there. As sure as Fyora was known for dismissing things that worried her, she forgot that anything had happened. She closed her eyes and dipped herself all the way underwater. The hot water felt so refreshing on her face. She smiled and opened her eyes... only to find someone staring back at her. She saw a ruddy, crimson, burnt human face with jagged teeth and bloodshot eyes.
Fyora's own eyes grew huge as she screamed with all of the air contained in her lungs. Only masses of bubbles came out of her mouth with a muffled sound. Without hesitating, the figure's right arm came forward, ready to strike her. She made an effort to dodge the blow, but four long blades protruded from the fingers of the figure's hand. All four of them clashed her across the chest and over the top of her breasts. The water quickly became red from the blood that spilled out from her gashes. She closed her eyes and screamed in pain. Never had she felt anything so terrifying in all of her life. She thought she would be prepared to die in case that dreaded day finally came. She felt a cold stab of death surge though her body, yet with all of her preparations, she wasn't ready.
When she opened her eyes again, she found herself in the exact same place she had been when she fell asleep. She breathed heavily and frantically looked around. There was no one else, the water was a normal color, a normal depth. Everything was as it was. "Oh my god... I fell asleep. It was only a dream. A horrible nightmare..." she admitted this and finally settled down, letting out a deep sigh of relief. She slowly cast her eyes down and saw something that surprised her. To her sheer amazement, four identical, minuscule scars lay across her chest. They were long, white in color, yet noticeable enough. The funny thing was, she had never remembered getting them in real life. If that horrible vision was just a dream, then where did the scars come from?
In her indecisive and rather forgetful nature, Fyora strode downstairs minutes later and dismissed everything that had happened. "You can either call it my gift or my curse to call off all of my problems so quickly," she said aloud as she reached into her knapsack and took out a long, clear bottle. She went over to the couch and flopped down, enjoying the fuzzy warmth of her fluffy black robe. She unscrewed the top of the bottle and began to drink the Puerto Rican rum that had been saved inside of it.
Just then, Lori appeared in the living room with an astounded look on her face. She glared at Fyora in disbelief. "How could you!?" she confronted her.
"How could I what?" Fyora asked back, unaware what was on her friend's mind (yet she was too tired to actually look).
"Where did you get this?" Lori demanded to know as she held up a book. Fyora quickly recognized it as the book she stole from the library that contained all the information about Fred Krueger and the happenings of Elm Street.
"I borrowed it from the library," she was quick to answer. "What's the big deal? You don't have to freak out about anything." She took another sip of her rum.
"You don't understand," Lori said, trembling with fear. "A Nightmare on Elm Street? Who reads this stuff? I mean, why didn't you come to me? I would've told you everything you needed to know."
"I already asked you!" Fyora exclaimed. "And you never told me about anything in this book. How could you keep something so serious from me? You never told me you lived in the same house as a child murderer!" She was amazed that she had never known this. She had been drawn into Lori's mind many times, but never found any trace of the name Krueger in her head.
"Like I said," Lori repeated in a solemn voice. "I told you everything you needed to know. Nothing more, nothing less." She paused for a moment to gather enough strength to reveal to her best friend the truth. "I've seen him, Fyora. I've met him. Believe me, if I wanted you to see the same things I did, I would have told you everything..."
"Wait, wait," Fyora interrupted, nearly dropping her bottle. Her eyes grew wide with he wonder of a kid in a candy store. "You've actually met him!? You've actually met Fred Krueger?"
"Don't say his name out loud, and yes, I did meet him. He's a despicable creature with a sick mind and an aptitude for killing in unimaginable ways. But that was a long time ago. He's dead, and we have nothing to worry about. It's best just to forget it." She paused and crossed her arms. "I did," she stated matter-of-factly.
"But that book said that Krueger could come back to life!" "I won't hear any more of this! Krueger is dead! I was there... I saw him die." "Holy shit. You... you did?" Fyora asked, rather stupefied.
"Yes, I did. He was brought out into the real world, brought out to fight the one being that could possibly stop him," Lori didn't want to go on. She knew in her own mind that Krueger was gone and would never again haunt the dreams of innocent children. Her only problem was convincing Fyora of it. "I'm sure you read all about that in your book. If you know what's good for you, you'll stop worrying and throw that damn book away. It's all in the past now, my friend."
"Fine, if you don't want to talk about it, I'm taking my ass to bed." Fyora got up out of her seat and picked up her rum bottle. She turned to Lori, "You should too. And please tell Will to leave." She trudged off up the stairs.
"What?" Lori asked as she moved to the bottom of the stairs. "He's not here anymore." A few seconds later, she saw Fyora with Will's collar gasped in her hand, and she almost threw him down the stairs, but resorted to dragging him down the flight and shoving him out the front door. As she slammed it behind him, she glared at Lori. Then she swiped her book out of her hands, went up the stairs and into the guest bedroom. As Lori saw her disappear, she simply shook her head. "He's gone, don't worry, never cry," she said to herself. "We'll never have those nightmares again..."
"Oh, nothing," replied Lori. "I was just wondering what you were reading."
"Um," Fyora glanced at the book's cover. "Just a fantasy novel. You know, witches, dragons, that sort of thing. It's always instilled a sense of awe in me."
"Ah," Lori acknowledged with an unsure expression. "That's interesting..."
Fyora rolled her eyes and glared at Lori disappointedly. "Look, it's all right if you're not interested in this kind of stuff. But please, don't pretend you like it when it's obvious that you don't!"
"That's right, you always did prefer truth over courtesy," Lori mentioned, shifting her position on her black leather sofa. "Fyora, I'm so glad you're spending the night tonight. I could really use the company, especially after Kia..."
Fyora looked compassionately at her. "I know you two were the best of friends. I'm sorry that you had to lose her. When did you say she died?"
"Last autumn," Lori replied. "Almost seven months ago. I remember it like it was yesterday. She died trying to save me, but she was murdered by..."
Fyora glanced at her book, as if eager to know the rest of the story, yet not wanting to let Lori know it was a big deal. "Go on," she said hastily.
"Nah," Lori finished. "Don't worry about it. It's in the past, what's done is done. It hurts me to remember... so actually, I try not to think about it."
"Suit yourself," Fyora said, closing her book, though clearly agitated that Lori had just dropped the subject like that. "Listen, I need to go return this book to the library, it's way over due; but I'll be back later, okay? Should take me an hour at most."
"Okay," Lori sighed as Fyora got up to leave. "See ya," she called out.
"Bye," Fyora responded as she closed the front door behind her.
Fyora drove to the library and turned her books in. Before she left, she thought of something. "What is it that Lori didn't want to say? Whatever it was, I'm going to find out!" She walked up to the librarian. "Excuse me," she said. "Where are the books on recent town history?" The librarian simply pointed to the far corner of the building. Fyora was expecting more than a vague direction, but she thanked the librarian and went on her way.
Fyora'd never tell Lori, but she was determined to find out all the secrets of Elm Street. Sooner or later, she was bound to come across something that would reveal clues. She desperately needed to know why no one ever spoke of the events that occurred in that strange place... Lori's own house. After all, it was a famous house, 1428 Elm, but why?
When she searched around the historical reference area of the library, she found an entire shelf against the back wall that was curiously labeled "Local History." She poked around the shelf to see many books of all different colors and sizes. Some were rather dusty, as if no one had ever even touched them, but they all looked normal enough.
She sat on the carpeted floor, randomly pulling out books and skimming through the many pages they owned. She had to lay even lower to comfortable search the bottom shelf. She was now laying on her stomach on the floor, but she hadn't seen anything interesting yet. Just simple, ordinary books.
Suddenly, a shadowy figure rushed past her, sending chills down her spine. She glanced quickly in the direction the shape had gone, but it was nowhere to be found. She thought she was seeing things. In a split second, she felt a cold draft coming from under the shelf. She studied it with curiosity and slowly slid her fingers into two narrow openings on the bottom shelf. She gently began to open it.
To her amazement, she had just discovered a hidden drawer! It was very cool and musty inside, and cobwebs were laced around the corners. She peered in to see what was there. That was the first time she saw it. A dusty old book was laying lifelessly in the drawer. Without a care to whom it belonged to, she grabbed hold of the book and pulled it out. She dusted off the dirty cover to reveal a crimson background and large gold lettering. The title read A Nightmare on Elm Street.
"Elm Street..." Fyora said quietly. "This may just be the book I'm looking for. I think it's actually worth taking a glance at..." She hopped up off the floor and went over to a nearby table. Ever alert, she made sure no one was nearby before sitting down and opening the book. For some odd reason, and she thought it was just her imagination again, the lights grew quite dim as she had opened it to the front page. "Hm, that's quite odd..." she said with uncertainty. She quickly dismissed it.
She flipped through the light brown pages for anything that would draw her attention. It was all written in words that had the same size, same color, same meaningless dribble. That is, until she found a newspaper clipping tucked in between two pages. She curiously picked it up and read the headline out loud, "Dozens of Children Missing; Police Have No Leads." Then she trailed down to a familiar line. "Many of these missing children were residents of the Elm Street area..."
To her great curiosity, there was another clipping attached to the back by a speck of glue. She tore it off and read another headline, "Springwood Slasher Set Free..." Then she read on a littler further. "Suspect accused of kidnapping children put on trial today. Lawyers make fatal mistake, the verdict denied.... Record expunged..." It read a bit more, but that was all she needed to know.
"Hm," she said with a weird tone in her voice. It was apparent she was sort of shaken by the crime of kidnapping children. "Seems like this guy was a real sicko who actually got away with it. Quite admirable, if I do say so, myself. I don't think I could ever do that." Yet among the other horrendous things she had done, murdering children was not one of them. She set the clipping back in the book and flipped through the pages again.
To her even greater curiosity, there was yet another newspaper clipping lying on a page that didn't seem to have any intellectual value. This one struck her as the most curious of all. It was a section of an obituary that had been violently ripped out and shoved into the book. With her jaw hanging agape, she slowly plucked the shredding from the rest of the book. Her eyes grew wide as she saw something that made her blood boil and her skin crawl... it was the name, "Springwood Slasher."
"Fred Krueger, more commonly known as the Springwood Slasher was found dead in a boiler room at an old abandoned factory today. Apparently, he had been burned to death by a fire intentionally started by gasoline poured around the building. While police continue to assure the public that this was merely a suicidal case, the parents of Springwood seemed to be overjoyed by this news. While this suspected child murderer was never convicted, the citizens of Springwood seem to have known what exactly happened to many lost children in Mr. Krueger's boiler room."
After Fyora had finished reading that disturbing piece of news, she just sat there silently for a moment. Pouring over all of the things she had read about this Springwood Slasher. Even though she had done some naughty things in the past, this in no way compared to the things that he had done. Kidnapping children, and then viciously murdering them in a place where their bodies would never be found. For once, in as long a time as she can remember, she actually felt afraid.
"Dark spirits of those who have gone to the Other World always leave behind something to remember them by. I just hope that Krueger has found peace as never wants to return to our side."
By now, she had become fascinated with the readings in that book. She wanted to check it out, but it was in a hiding place. Most likely, it was not for the public to see. She looked around to see if anyone was watching, and then quickly place the book in her knapsack. She got up from the table and hurried along her way.
When she got back to Lori's house, the sun was just beginning to set. She made sure the book was tucked away soundly so Lori wouldn't find it. If she did, Fyora would certainly get a long, annoying talk from her do-gooder best friend. "I'm back!" she called as she walked in and closed the front door behind her. "Sorry it took a little longer than expected. I was looking at some new books that just came in."
Fyora dropped her stuff at the bottom of the stairs and looked around. It was too quiet, and she was sure that Lori had stayed home. "Lori?" she called out to her, but there was no answer. After a few more moments, she began to search the house. "Lori?" she kept calling her name as she made her way past the living room, into the kitchen, through the dining room, and ending up back at the stairs again. She looked up the flight and sighed a deep sigh. She thought Lori must've been in her room, listening to music so loud that she couldn't hear anything else.
With that, she began to climb the stairway and slowly make her ways towards Lori's room. The door was cracked slightly, and there was a light inside. Fyora placed her hand on the door and gently began to open it. "Lori?" she asked. When she opened the door all the way, she saw Lori was there, all right. She was sitting on her bed making out with a guy. Fyora loudly cleared her throat.
Lori whirled around to see her standing in the doorway. "Oh, you're back!" she said with a hint of surprise. "Fyora, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Will."
"Nice to meet you, Will. Sorry if I'm interrupting anything," she said.
"Not at all," Will replied. "We were simply practicing CPR on each other."
Fyora nodded with an unsure smile. She was thinking Who does this guy think I am? I have no problem with them smooching, but he's treating me like I'm Lori's mother! Did he actually think I'd fall for that ridiculous lie? What a creep!
"You took longer than an hour so..." Lori said.
"Okay," Fyora interrupted. "It's okay, I'm just going to go take a bath. I'll leave you two alone." She left the room and stood in front of the closed door. Immediately, she heard them going at it again, and she simply shook her head and sighed. "I wish I could do that..."
Moments later, she was soaking in hot water that came up to her neck. Lori's huge whirlpool tub was Fyora's favorite place to bathe. She deeply sighed and picked up her book, opened it and began to read. It wasn't exactly light reading for relaxation, but she was determined to learn more. "Man," she said and she read on. "This Krueger guy was one sick fuck." She set the book aside and felt herself nodding off...
She closed her eyes for a few seconds only to be jolted awake again by something brushing up against her leg. She reached down towards the contact spot, but nothing was there. As sure as Fyora was known for dismissing things that worried her, she forgot that anything had happened. She closed her eyes and dipped herself all the way underwater. The hot water felt so refreshing on her face. She smiled and opened her eyes... only to find someone staring back at her. She saw a ruddy, crimson, burnt human face with jagged teeth and bloodshot eyes.
Fyora's own eyes grew huge as she screamed with all of the air contained in her lungs. Only masses of bubbles came out of her mouth with a muffled sound. Without hesitating, the figure's right arm came forward, ready to strike her. She made an effort to dodge the blow, but four long blades protruded from the fingers of the figure's hand. All four of them clashed her across the chest and over the top of her breasts. The water quickly became red from the blood that spilled out from her gashes. She closed her eyes and screamed in pain. Never had she felt anything so terrifying in all of her life. She thought she would be prepared to die in case that dreaded day finally came. She felt a cold stab of death surge though her body, yet with all of her preparations, she wasn't ready.
When she opened her eyes again, she found herself in the exact same place she had been when she fell asleep. She breathed heavily and frantically looked around. There was no one else, the water was a normal color, a normal depth. Everything was as it was. "Oh my god... I fell asleep. It was only a dream. A horrible nightmare..." she admitted this and finally settled down, letting out a deep sigh of relief. She slowly cast her eyes down and saw something that surprised her. To her sheer amazement, four identical, minuscule scars lay across her chest. They were long, white in color, yet noticeable enough. The funny thing was, she had never remembered getting them in real life. If that horrible vision was just a dream, then where did the scars come from?
In her indecisive and rather forgetful nature, Fyora strode downstairs minutes later and dismissed everything that had happened. "You can either call it my gift or my curse to call off all of my problems so quickly," she said aloud as she reached into her knapsack and took out a long, clear bottle. She went over to the couch and flopped down, enjoying the fuzzy warmth of her fluffy black robe. She unscrewed the top of the bottle and began to drink the Puerto Rican rum that had been saved inside of it.
Just then, Lori appeared in the living room with an astounded look on her face. She glared at Fyora in disbelief. "How could you!?" she confronted her.
"How could I what?" Fyora asked back, unaware what was on her friend's mind (yet she was too tired to actually look).
"Where did you get this?" Lori demanded to know as she held up a book. Fyora quickly recognized it as the book she stole from the library that contained all the information about Fred Krueger and the happenings of Elm Street.
"I borrowed it from the library," she was quick to answer. "What's the big deal? You don't have to freak out about anything." She took another sip of her rum.
"You don't understand," Lori said, trembling with fear. "A Nightmare on Elm Street? Who reads this stuff? I mean, why didn't you come to me? I would've told you everything you needed to know."
"I already asked you!" Fyora exclaimed. "And you never told me about anything in this book. How could you keep something so serious from me? You never told me you lived in the same house as a child murderer!" She was amazed that she had never known this. She had been drawn into Lori's mind many times, but never found any trace of the name Krueger in her head.
"Like I said," Lori repeated in a solemn voice. "I told you everything you needed to know. Nothing more, nothing less." She paused for a moment to gather enough strength to reveal to her best friend the truth. "I've seen him, Fyora. I've met him. Believe me, if I wanted you to see the same things I did, I would have told you everything..."
"Wait, wait," Fyora interrupted, nearly dropping her bottle. Her eyes grew wide with he wonder of a kid in a candy store. "You've actually met him!? You've actually met Fred Krueger?"
"Don't say his name out loud, and yes, I did meet him. He's a despicable creature with a sick mind and an aptitude for killing in unimaginable ways. But that was a long time ago. He's dead, and we have nothing to worry about. It's best just to forget it." She paused and crossed her arms. "I did," she stated matter-of-factly.
"But that book said that Krueger could come back to life!" "I won't hear any more of this! Krueger is dead! I was there... I saw him die." "Holy shit. You... you did?" Fyora asked, rather stupefied.
"Yes, I did. He was brought out into the real world, brought out to fight the one being that could possibly stop him," Lori didn't want to go on. She knew in her own mind that Krueger was gone and would never again haunt the dreams of innocent children. Her only problem was convincing Fyora of it. "I'm sure you read all about that in your book. If you know what's good for you, you'll stop worrying and throw that damn book away. It's all in the past now, my friend."
"Fine, if you don't want to talk about it, I'm taking my ass to bed." Fyora got up out of her seat and picked up her rum bottle. She turned to Lori, "You should too. And please tell Will to leave." She trudged off up the stairs.
"What?" Lori asked as she moved to the bottom of the stairs. "He's not here anymore." A few seconds later, she saw Fyora with Will's collar gasped in her hand, and she almost threw him down the stairs, but resorted to dragging him down the flight and shoving him out the front door. As she slammed it behind him, she glared at Lori. Then she swiped her book out of her hands, went up the stairs and into the guest bedroom. As Lori saw her disappear, she simply shook her head. "He's gone, don't worry, never cry," she said to herself. "We'll never have those nightmares again..."