Title: Fighting Fire With Fire
Author: Queen Serenity
Fandom: A Nightmare On Elm Street
Chapter: Three
The next day, when Molly left the house, her mother noticed nothing amiss. Her daughter leaving for school, heavy backpack over her shoulders, purse in her hand, etc. But had she peeked in Molly's room, she would have found the textbooks still on her desk, and if she knew where to look, she would find that Molly's hidden savings were gone.
For Molly wasn't planning to come back until this was resolved, and that would be a few days, at least. She'd given a note to Angela to give to the school for her, seemingly written by Molly's mom, saying she was sick, and she'd left a note for her mom telling her she was staying at Angela's for the weekend, so she wouldn't be missed for a few days hopefully if everything turned out right.
There was this guy, Marcus, a high school dropout who she knew had a car. She went to his house and pounded on his door 'til he answered, glaring at her blearily. "Dude, it's too early for this kind of shit… what the hell d'ya want, bothering me before noon…" He squinted at her for a sec. "…Molly, isn't it? Shouldn't ya be at school, kid?"
She rolled her eyes and plastered a grin on her face. "Cut it out with the 'kid' shit, you're no more than a year older than me… Ya wanna make an easy two hundred bucks, Marcus?"
That woke him up, and his eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What would I have to do?"
She gave him a steady look. "Be my chauffeur for the next few days, all meals and hotel room paid for by yours truly. I gotta get to Springwood, and don't feel like hitchhiking there."
"Springwood? Where's that?" He looked confused.
"Ohio. Will you do it or not?" She crossed her arms, tapping her foot.
"Yeah, yeah, just give me 'bout an hour to get ready." He glanced at her before going back inside. "Come on in, you don't want anyone seeing you out of school, I bet."
And so she followed him in.
A few hours later, as they were driving steadily down the highway, Molly leaned her head against the window, and she let her eyes wander shut.
The girl awoke in the grass in a forest. It was nighttime, and moonlight was streaming down.
Looking down, she found a note in her hands, reading as follows:
Serenity,
The Pack doesn't want you to go in completely unprotected, so they've decided to help. You know what to do.
Good luck, and be careful.
-Jareh
The note disappeared and she started walking through the forest. Finally, when she reached a wide clearing, she stopped.
Going to the center of it, she knelt down, her head bowed for a moment, her eyes closed, and felt a rumble build up deep in her throat. Finally, out of nowhere, she threw back her head and let out an inhuman, deep-throated howl, filling the night with the sound.
When she opened her eyes again, she was no longer alone. She was surrounded by beautiful wolf-like creatures the size of great danes. Their eyes looked fully human, though, and there was a sort of mane of fur around each of their necks, similar to a lion's, and the ends of their tails were tufted with the same type of fur as their manes. Their claws were sharp and retractable, like a cat's, and were all different colors. The creatures were all different from each other, some with silver fur. Some with black, and even some with brown or white.
And she… she was no longer Molly.
Or Serenity.
She was Crimmane. She was one of them. Although her eyes had remained the same, she now had the same form as them, though slightly smaller. Her own fur was the same color as her hair usually was, except that the mane and tale tip were a bloody red. There was a ring of silver fur around each of her ankles. Her claws were silver and retracted right now. She was now, like them, what she called a Fantazir Lupe. A Dream Wolf.
Each of the lupes came up to her in turn and sniffed her or nudged her with their elegant snouts before moving away. She could feel their emotions radiating off of them, and could clearly feel their protectiveness, and worry, for her. For she was one of them. Here, in her dreams, she was one of the Pack.
As the rest of them formed a circle about her, two of them came up to her. Nightsun, with his black fur, gold mane, and green eyes, and Bloodmoon, with his silver fur, silver mane, and red eyes. It was obvious their intent. When she went into the Playground, they would be there as her Guardians… for a little bit, at least. Crimmane nodded her head in ascent, knowing they'd come even if she said no.
Molly was jolted back to the waking world by Marcus shaking her shoulder. She blinked at him. "Huh?"
He squinted. "You okay? You look awful… tired."
She nodded. "I am, but I'm okay. What did you want?"
"I was asking if you minded if we stopped for supper, 'cause there's a rest stop coming up. By my calculations, if we don't stop for the night, we'll reach your destination in about 8 hours, which'll be around 2AM. If I'm gonna keep driving like this, I need some food and coffee first. And anyway, you don't look so good yourself, no offense."
She smiled slightly. "None taken. Alright, let's stop for some Burger King when we see a sign for it. I could use a Chicken Tendercrisp… it sounds good right about now."
When they'd made it to the food joint and sat down with their meals, Marcus looked at her eating, then spoke with his own mouth full. "So, anyway, are you gonna tell me why you're headed for Springwood or what? Running away and got a friend there or something?"
She shook her head. "No, not really. I've just got a serious problem, and I'm hoping the solution'll be in Springwood. Cheer up, though, I'll be spending my money on a decent hotel room… you'll have cable, at least."
"Yeah? Why would I be worried about cable?"
She sighed. "Well, because I think we're gonna be there for a few days, at least." I'm just glad I saved up so much, she added silently to herself, knowing she'd be shit-out-of-luck if she'd had no money.
Hours later, they had made it to their destination… Springwood, Ohio. As they passed the sign welcoming them there, Molly turned to Marcus.
"First thing's first. We're finding a motel for you to stay at." Her voice was matter-of-fact as she said this.
He looked surprised at this. "Me? Don't you mean us?"
She shook her head. "Nope. I've already got somewhere else I'm staying…"
"Where?"
"Just somewhere."
He shook his head. "Whatever you say… after all, you're the lady with the money."
They pulled into the first motel they found, a decrepit-looking place that said it had 'cab e' on the sign. She gave Marcus money to check in, then unloaded her backpack from the car.
Hoisting her backpack onto her shoulder, she started to leave, but, thinking better of it, scribbled a hasty note on a scrap of paper from Marcus's car and left it on the windshield.
M,
Whatever you do, don't come looking for me.
If I don't come back tomorrow at all, I'm not coming back. Sorry. However, I will do my best to come back.
If you don't see me by midnight, then you need to get the hell out of this town. Just Trust Me.
- Molly
Casting another backward glance to the motel with Marcus's car in the parking lot, Molly started walking down the dark street, her gaze resolute.
When she came to a gas station, she went in and bought a map of Springwood, along with a Pepsi, some sleeping pills, and a mini cheese pizza from the warming tray. Sitting out on the curb by the gas station so that she could see in the light, she hungrily gulped down the pizza and stared down at the map she had spread on her lap. After a moment, she located where she was, and then, a few moments later, found where Elm Street was… it looked as though she had a ways to walk. That was fine, though.
Folding the map and slipping it back inside her backpack, she licked the pizza grease from her fingers and took a drink from her Pepsi before setting off.
Half an hour later, she stood in front of it; 1428 Elm Street. A large dingy white rundown-looking house with a red door and several windows, it looked as though it hadn't been lived in for years. Molly didn't doubt it, either, what with the reputation this place had.
Few houses on this street had looked as though there were people living there… the whole street was practically deserted. Selling these houses were probably any real estate agent's 'nightmare', hehe.
Slowly, deliberately, she walked up the steps, her hard-heeled boots clopping on the sidewalk, echoing throughout the almost too-still night.
The door opened too easily, she thought as she closed it firmly behind her. Reaching blindly along the wall, she was relieved and a little bit surprised to find that the light worked. A moment later, however, she flicked it back off; except for in rooms without windows, she had better keep the lights out… she didn't want the cops called on her, and get dragged out of here. Not after coming all this way…
She moved up the stairs, leaving tracks in the dust, seeing by the moonlight filtering in through the dirty windows.
When she got upstairs, she quickly found a bedroom with a big dusty bed in it, and a cracked full-length mirror by the wall. She squinted around, quickly appraising the room; this would do. This room would do just fine.
Getting her Pepsi out, she popped some of the sleeping pills into her mouth and washed them down with it. Next, she started pulling some stuff out of her bag which she had brought.
First, she pulled out her battery-operated alarm clock and set it for 7AM, then set it by the bed.
She could still remember all the flashes that Jareh had shown her, all that she had learned of Freddy from them, and had come up with a plan. She wanted to present herself in a… certain way.
First, she pulled out a summer nightgown she had brought and slipped it on. Then she slipped a silver bracelet onto each wrist, and a silver anklet onto each ankle. Lastly, she took out a midnight blue ribbon and tied it into the back of her hair.
Looking into the mirror, she was pleased with the image she presented; the nightgown was white, and came down to rest just a couple of inches above her knees. It was lacy, and its collar was square-cut just low enough to show off her collarbones. It hugged her slightly, showing off her figure, except that when it got to her waist, it draped down to lay loosely above her knees in a sort of skirt. The ribbon contrasted nicely with the red in her hair, too.
Laying down on the dusty bed, already feeling the pills taking effect, she hummed, then sang softly, a song she'd heard through the flashes she'd been shown:
One, two
Freddy's coming for you
Three, four
Better lock your door
Five, six
Grab a crucifix
Seven, eight
Gonna stay up late
Night, ten
Never sleep again
'Cause nine, ten
He's back…a…gain…
With the last syllable she slipped off to sleep, feeling surprisingly little fear for what she expected to find…
QS: Sorry! No Freddy this chapter… but, obviously, he will be in the next one. Cliffhanger, huh? dodges stones thrown sticks tongue out and goes back to computer to work on next chapter
BTW, as to how Molly chose to look, ya gotta remember… Freddy especially loved killing the children. Making herself look more like a girl then a woman, she's appealing to his sadistic nature.
Also, one more thing… I've finally figured out how I'm gonna end this. I'm so happy. :D
OH! And One MORE thing! I'm am VERY sorry this new chappy took so long to get up… it's just that, believe it or not, I thought put it up ages ago, but didn't realize I hadn't! Whacks self over head So I'm putting this up and the next chapter now… hope ya guys like.