Disclaimer: Finally, I am done.  I don't own Freddy; he belongs to Wes. Even though evil New Line Cinema stole him… lol, ignore me. Anyways, enjoy!

Epilogue – If it's worth saving me

Katherine's POV

It's been a few months since… everything happened. Things that never should have happened happened. Freddy wasn't even supposed to be real. Sometimes I wonder how he came into existence. Freddy Krueger, the Elm Street Slasher, the child murderer, never existed. He was a movie character.

School had started again. Everyone gave me strange looks, knowing me as that dead girl's cousin. I ignored it. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered.

I think, as much as I hate to think this way, that Alicia brought him to life. I don't know how, but maybe it was her obsession that did it.

I don't know. But I don't want to think about it anymore…

Alicia's funeral was nice. It wasn't as large as it should've been, though. Friends, distant family, people like that. It was an empty casket, too. Her body had disappeared.

It was such a normal funeral, for a girl that was anything but normal. Sure, she brought a fictional killer to life. But, she was the one who sacrificed herself to take him down, forever.

About halfway through, I heard footsteps. I looked up; not knowing who else would be coming. I should've expected it.

Huddled together in a group, silvery and translucent, was Alicia's army. They stood off to the side. Nancy, Alice, Jess, Andrew, Spike, Buffy, Maggie, and Clarice were there. I blinked, and rubbed my eyes, not believing it.

How can they be here? I wondered. They're not… real… they don't… exist… do they?

Nancy noticed me staring and smiled sadly, giving me a slow wave.

Buffy and Maggie were staring hard at Alicia's coffin, positioned just above the hole beneath it. Their lips were tight, and I could tell they were trying not to cry.

Jess, of course, was crying openly, leaning on Andrew's shoulder, who also had tears in his eyes. Alice and Nancy had their arms around each other; supporting each other; sobbing every so often. Spike and Clarice were looking at each other, rather awkwardly. Spike fidgeted, his eyes casting around; everywhere but on Alicia's grave.

I shook my head. This was so confusing. They didn't exist. Or… well… whatever. Plus, wouldn't Alicia be with them anyways? Or… was she Freddy's now? Just another soul, doomed to dwell in his hell for eternity?

I let my thoughts wander, and let the gratefulness that they had showed up, real or not, wash over me. I smiled at them, giving them a wave.

"Kat? Who are you waving to?" My mom's voice surprised me. I looked at her. "Um…" I looked over again, but they were gone. "No one really, Mom." She gave me a strange look, but let it go.

I haven't dreamt in a while.

I'm almost afraid to sleep sometimes. I'm afraid of seeing Alicia. I'm scared of seeing her in hell, suffering beyond comprehension. I'm afraid of seeing Freddy. What if it didn't work? I sighed, staring out the window at the rain. King Tut sat on the windowsill beside me, purring. I really missed Alicia, and I needed to know what had happened to her. Tonight, I would dream. I would make myself dream. I had to face what my decision to let Alicia go had caused anyways.

I climbed into bed, trying to remember the prayer my grandmother had taught me when I was younger.

"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take."

I closed my eyes, hesitantly thinking about Alicia. Show me what's happened to her, I thought. Please.

I counted to ten, and opened my eyes.

I was standing in the middle of Elm Street, in front of 1428 Elm. I'd been here once before. It was a bright, almost too-fake-bright, and it seemed like spring or summer. The road was eerily silent, and there was no movement at all.

I turned around, but there was nothing.

"Alicia?" my voice echoed down the empty street.

Nothing.

Now I was very confused. Wasn't this where she was? Where the hell was she?

"ALICIA!" I screamed. "Alicia, where are you?"

There was only a distant whisper, blowing past me like a gentle wind.

"ALICIA!" I screamed louder. "LEESHA!"

Suddenly, the whole street was filled with whispers. Urgent whispers, terrified whispers, giggling whispers. Children's whispers.

A fierce wind began to blow, whipping my hair back. I struggled to stand upright. "What…" I trailed off.

A parade of figures were coming towards me. As they got closer, I saw they were children. Dull-coloured, wispy children. They floated past me, some staring straight ahead, some glancing at me with a shy smile. Whispers filled he air as the wind continued to blow and howl. The sun slowly disappeared behind the clouds.

"Look at her" "She's so pretty" "One, two, he's coming for you.." "Why are you doing this Mr. Krueger?" "MommyDaddy help me please it hurts!" "Run hurry he's coming home" "Look at the blood it's mine"

I caught fringes of the children's whispers, and they sent me reeling. These… these were Freddy's children. But… they weren't real. Right?

I watched as the children slowly disappeared into the cloudy horizon, until there was one lone figure coming towards me in the distance. I prepared myself, pretty sure it was Freddy.

But it wasn't.

"A-Alicia?" I breathed, almost unable to believe it.

Alicia smiled. She looked the same she did the night she died, but she looked older, more experienced… as if something had caused her to grow up too fast.

Or someone.

"Hi, Kat." Her voice was silvery and light, almost like the children's whispers. "I knew you'd try to find me."

I stared at her, my mind struggling to figure out if this was Freddy, a trap, or really Alicia.

"How… What…" I trailed off, too many questions crowding my thoughts. "W-What happened? Where's Freddy?"

Her blue eyes shone. "Freddy's dead."

"B-But… shouldn't you be with him? Shouldn't you be dead?"

She looked away. "Sometimes I can get away, for a bit." She looked back at me. "Kat, do you really want to know what's happened to me?"

I thought about that.

"Yes."

Her eyes filled with tears. "Are you sure?"

"How come you can enter dreams, but he can't?"

She smiled ruefully. "I won't let him. For once, Freddy isn't the one in power. I am. I killed him; I trapped him. I'm like his guard."

"Can he hurt you?" I asked.

She shrugged. "It's worth it."

It was then that I saw the cuts, the gashes, the scars. "Jesus, Alicia!"

Her eyes were fierce. "It's the price I have to pay, and I'm willing to pay it. Now, do you want to know or not?"

I nodded. "I'm sure."

She turned around. "Follow me, and for the love of God, stay behind me." She began walking into the distance. Hesitantly, I followed behind her, like she'd told me. The horizon changed from gray into a brilliant orange, and suddenly I was in Hell. I was sure of that.

It was full of bright, blinding reds and oranges. There was fire, lots of fire, and blood spraying from unknown places. The ground beneath my feet felt suspiciously squishy and a bit rubbery. There was no ceiling; it was an endless array of fire. There were faces, horrible disfigured gaping faces in the fire, with wide terrified eyes and mouths forever stretched in an endless scream. There were creatures all around, but they stayed a safe distance away from Alicia and I. Some were small, some were large. They looked off-proportion; like clay slapped together. Their eyes were large and burning red, and they had long mouths full of dripping jaws. They had long, very sharp claws. There were others too; horrors I never imagined. Rotting things; crawling, oozing things; dead, grinning things.

I was terrified, but I followed Alicia, and nothing came very close to me.

"It's horrible, isn't it?"

I looked at Alicia's back. "Yeah… how can you stand it?"

She shrugged. "I… I have to."

She led me to a large cave, guarded by a large horned beast. He grunted, and gave me the evilest look I have ever seen. It seared into me, and I crossed myself. He bared his teeth and hissed.

"Shastaak", she hissed, and he backed away. She turned to me. "Come on."

We entered the cave, which was a large area blocked in by flaming bars. Inside, pacing the floor like a tiger, was Freddy. He looked up and snarled, raising his blades.

"Bitch…!" He lunged at the bars.

Alicia stood quite calmly and he ricocheted off them, swearing angrily.

"How can he hurt you, if he's in there?"

She smiled weakly. "I have to go in there s-sometimes."

I looked around in horror. "Where do you sleep? What do you do all day?"

"I sleep here. He," she said, motioning towards the horned beast, "watches me. He's under orders. Nothing, except Freddy, can hurt me."

"U-under orders?" I didn't like that. "F-from whom?"

She gave me a look. "Him," she whispered.

I gulped. Lovely.

"So this is Hell."

She nodded. "This is where he's banished to. He can't leave, as long as I'm here."

"He can never escape?"

She nodded. "As long as I'm here."

"Can you die?"

She shook her head. "No… and yes. I can't die, like you can, but… I can lose my soul."

I shook my head, tears forming. "Fuck…"

She smiled. "Don't worry. I'm too strong. Nothing can really hurt me. Even our friend Freddy can't do too much damage."

"Will you be here forever?"

She shrugged. "For a long time. Not forever."

She looked around. "It's time for you to go. You should have never come."

I stepped forward. "C-can I hug you?" Without waiting for an answer, I lunged forward, but fell right through her. Dazed, I staggered quickly to my feet. "Alicia.."

She looked away. "Don't…"

I reached out my hand to touch her face, but it passed through. "Why?"

She sobbed quietly. "I… I… You just can't."

"Why?"

"Kat, please. W-When I'm here, I'm not really human. I-I can't have human contact."

I stared at her. "I can't take this."

"You shouldn't have come!"

I reached out my hand. "Come on, Alicia. Come with me. Please. Freddy's stuck here, you know that. You don't belong here. You know you don't. They want you here… but you don't belong."

"Kat…"

"You know it's true. Come on."

She hesitated.

"Alicia."

She reached out to take my hand, and it didn't pass through. We connected.

Suddenly, there was a bright light, and the walls began to shake.

Freddy howled. "You bitch! You can't leave me here! I'll never be free, you fucking slut! You can't leave!"

Alicia looked back at Freddy.

I tugged her hand. "Come on! Forget him! We have to go!"

"NO! Alicia, darlin', don't leave me. You know what they'll do… don't let them… protect me, please."

"Alicia! We have to go NOW!"

She looked at Freddy. "Fuck you," she hissed.

Freddy lunged at the bars. "NO! NO! Bitch, whore, fucking shit! You can't leave me! I'll come back! And when I do, I'll make your death VERY slow! Just wait, bitch!"

She turned around and we began running, past the horned beast, past the creatures, past the fire and the blood and the agonized faces.

"What about him?" cried Alicia.

"We'll be gone! Come on!"

"Where are we going?"

I wasn't sure. Suddenly, a young girl in pigtails and a pink dress appeared. "Hurry!" she cried in a high voice. "Hurry, this way!"

She began running, and for a lack of anywhere else to go, we followed her. Ducking rocks and dodging howling creatures and splashes of blood, we followed her to a patch of glowing blue water, so out of place in this hell.

"Jump in," urged the little girl. "Hurry."

Without a second thought, we leapt in, blue water filling our eyes and noses.

"Ah!"

I jerked awake, looking around. I was back in bed.

I looked quickly beside me, and saw Alicia, dazed, scratched, and bruised, sitting up, looking very confused.

"Kat?"

I hugged her tight, and we fell off the bed, laughing.

"Jesus, Alicia! I never thought I'd see you again." She smiled. "Same here." She frowned. "But what about Freddy? Won't he escape?" I smiled. "From the way he was screaming, I doubt he'll be getting out anytime soon. You were never needed to stay there. You just had to bring him there."

She sighed. "I just wish I had left sooner. Two months there felt like 2 million years." I hugged her again. "I know. But everything's okay now."

She laughed.

"What?"

"How are we going to explain me not being dead?" she giggled.

I laughed too. "Who knows. Who cares?"

Alicia grinned. "Yeah. Who cares?"

I couldn't believe Alicia was back. The nightmare was finally over.

Meanwhile, in the bowls of Hell, Freddy Krueger paced his prison angrily. "Fucking bitch!" he snarled. "If she had only stayed a bit longer, I'd be free, and more powerful than ever!"

He'd make them pay. Oh, he'd definitely make them pay.

A shadow fell across his path. He glanced up, his anger turning to surprise. "What do you want?"

"That's no way to speak to your Master, Fred." A voice came from the darkness beyond the bars; a deep, oily, evil voice, who could only belong to one person. Or thing.

"Fine. Excuse me, master, but why have you come?" His voice dripped with sarcasm.

"The pure girl got away. You know I wanted her, Fred."

"Yeah, well, I needed her. But life's a bitch," Freddy snarled.

"Now I need you, Fred. I'm going to let you go, on one condition. Find the pure girl, and bring her to me."

"And?"

"And then, Fred, you shall be free. Free to wander the dreams of innocent children; free to murder and torture to your hearts desire. And nothing shall stand in your way."

A smile was starting to form on Freddy Krueger's scarred face.

"Keep talkin'."

Well, it's finished! There may be a sequel. Who knows? Read and review!