i bet y'all thought i was never going to update this fic again! well here we are! i'm so sorry for the delay. i've managed to shorten the remainder of the fic down, so there are only going to be two more chapters, both of which will be released in the next week (hopefully, lmao). i have a few ideas for my next project, but more on that after the chapter!

Chapter Eleven: The Black Pill Blues

My father turned towards me ever so slightly, shooting a wry smile in my vague direction and causing an icy chill to shoot up my spine. My father's aura had changed drastically, perhaps due to my own changed perspective, and it was as though I could see everything as it truly was for the first time. My father was evil- there was no disputing the fact.

"Fred," he greeted warmly, finally beginning to step towards me. "I was hoping I'd see you today. Please, have a seat."

My dad gestured to the small breakfast table which sat in the centre of his suite, which was decorated elegantly with a white tablecloth and a small vase of aconite flowers. I took a seat hesitantly, swallowing a lump that had begun to form in my throat.

"Coffee?" He offered, gesturing towards the urn on the nearby room service cart. "Black, right?"

I nodded shakily as my father turned to the cart and began pouring two mugs.

"So, what can I do for you, kiddo?" He asked with his back still towards me as he stirred milk into his own coffee. I hated "kiddo."

"I," I stuttered, cleared my throat, and then continued. "I think it's time you and I talked."

My father carried the two steaming mugs to the table, setting mine down before sitting in the chair opposite to me. The coffee swirled in the mug, not unlike the contents of my stomach, which felt as though they were doing backflips out of fear. Hoping to calm myself down, I took a sip of my coffee.

"Alright," my father smiled, "what do you want to talk about?"

I gulped, placing the mug down with shaky hands as my father stared holes into me. His lips were curled into a warm and mayor-like grin, but his eyes were cold.

"Let's start with your cabin off the west road out of town- the drug den?" I suggested, "Then we can talk about how you've been slipping those drugs to the politicians you invited to town, and how they all end up dead the next day. Murdered, to be more specific, by what one living victim described as some sort of monster."

My father sighed- chuckled, almost- and leaned back in his chair, taking a long sip of his coffee.

"You're a smart kid, Fred," he mused. "You always have been. I must say, I'm impressed. I doubt the cops in this hicktown ever would have figured me out- that is, if they didn't already know."

My father laughed, but I failed to see the humor in our situation. I was trapped with a killer, listening to him confess to his crimes over a hot cup of joe. I wished more than anything that I hadn't come here alone, but it was too late to go back and change any of my poor decisions. If I could, it wouldn't have been today that I changed- it would have been Thursday afternoon, the day I decided to sneak into the morgue with my friends. The day my life turned sour.

"So, you want to know my dastardly plan," he hummed. "It's really not that complicated. In fact, I'm surprised you haven't caught on yet. You see, Freddy, Coolsville was a one-horse town before I took over. A worthless cesspool like so many small municipalities. But I changed that. I turned this place into a budding metropolis, and wanted other small towns to do the same. But not everyone agreed. Those who opposed me- well, they simply had to go."

"Why?" I asked. "Why kill them just because they didn't want to govern their towns the way you run yours?"

"I didn't kill them, Fred." He said, bringing me a glimmer of hope. It didn't last, though, as he concluded his thought with, "the drugs did."

"Your drugs," I nodded, "that you were packaging and distributing from a small cabin in the woods. But, why so many if you only planned on killing a few people? Daphne and I found loads of that stuff."

"Because, Fred, it doesn't stop with a few old-fashioned councilmen," He explained, his voice now thick and sinister, as though a switch had been flipped inside of him. "This town still reeks of quaint suburbia. The elderly, the highly religious- with their Sunday games of Bingo in church basements, and their silly little malt shops like the one you and your friends all hold so dear- it all needs to go."

I took another long sip of my coffee, unable to look my father in the eyes. He was sick, without question. Some sort of sociopath who was only interested in money and power, who wanted to construct some sort of dystopian society which he could rule over. The town of Coolsville was nothing more than a board game to him, or a little tabletop model that he could rearrange the pieces in as he pleased.

"Well, son?" He pulled his own mug up to his lips and asked, "what do you think?"

"I think you missed the point of the Batman comics," I replied. "Gotham City isn't something to aspire to. What you're describing isn't paradise, Dad, it's a wasteland." I set my empty mug down on the table with a thud. "You won't get away with this."

"At the risk of sounding cliche, Fred," he sighed, "I already have."

My father stood up from the table and begin to walk towards the large window, his footsteps booming as though they were in slow motion. He pulled the blinds closed before grabbing his navy blue blazer off a nearby hook and pulling it on. He made his way towards the elevator, shutting off every lamp he passed as he went.

"Dad, wait," I called. The words felt hard to form, my mouth feeling almost numb as though I'd just left the dentist. "The man in the hospital said he'd been attacked by a monster. Why?"

My father paused, turning to face me as the elevator door opened with a chime. "I don't know," he said, "I found the drugs on the deep web. The organization selling them just said that anyone who ingested at least 150 milligrams would face an excruciating death. I suppose you'll see for yourself."

My father stepped into the elevator, and it wasn't until the doors closed behind him that I realized what had happened. Peering into my empty mug, I saw a ring of black sludge- the drug we'd found in the victims' stomachs. My father had done the one thing I'd been banking on him not doing, and now I'd been sentenced to death. Whatever had killed Steven Adams and Gloria Ramirez would soon be after me, and I had no idea how to stop it.

The room began to spin and I started to feel light headed. I fell off the chair, landing on the floor with a thud. I desperately tried to find my bearings, but it was proving impossible. Lights and colors began to flood my vision and it was clear that whatever psychedelic my father had given me was starting to take it's full effect. The noises from outside began to combine with each other as though I was underwater. There was only one sound I could make out clearly.

A growl. It came, at first, from behind, and then above, and soon it was as though the noise surrounded me, growing louder and louder as whatever apex predator my father had sent for me drew nearer.

I reached for my phone, the lights of which nearly blinded me, and did my best to type out what I hoped would be a coherent text to Daphne: "S.O.S! DAD DRUGGED ME! MONSTER COMIANAJFLG-"

My phone flew from my hands as something tackled me from behind, snarling and growling as it sent me face-first into the floor. Its claws dug into my back and I screamed in agony, desperately trying to crawl out from under the beast. I could feel its hot breath on my neck as I managed to roll out from underneath it. Too weak to run, I began to crawl towards the elevator- my only method of escape from the penthouse. I reached up toward the button, pressing it feverishly as I turned to get a good look at whatever was attacking me.

It was closer than I'd expected (or rather, hoped) and slowly skulking forward. Just as I'd been warned, the monster was a large black mass that seemed to blend in with the shadows around it. It moved awkwardly, with its back hunched over and it's long claws scraping into the floor as some combination of saliva and blood dripped from its mouth.

Without warning, the creature lunged towards me, knocking me into the elevator as the doors slid shut. Pinned against the back wall, I used my arms to protect my face, which the monster clawed at relentlessly. I reached out with my foot, trying to push the button which would open the doors and allow me to push the monster out, but it was no use- I was too far.

With all my strength I shoved the monster aside and scrambled for the panel of buttons, but the creature surged forward, knocking me into the wall once more. I pulled my knees up, creating as much distance as possible between myself and the beast as it continued to claw at my face. I reached out with my arm towards the panel, freeing up most of my face and allowing the creature to give me a nasty gash.

I slammed on the button and the doors began to slide open. Using the strength from my legs, I kicked the creature out of the elevator. It slid across the floor, letting out a shriek as it left a slimy skidmark behind it. Without hesitating, I began to pound on the button to close the doors.

The elevator doors crept to a close and the monster rushed back towards me, unwilling to give up his prey so easily. Teeth gnashing, it charged at me once more, but the firm closing of the elevator doors stopped it dead in its tracks. I could hear it slam up against the doors just as they shut and begin scratching relentlessly at them.

I paused for a moment to catch my breath before pushing the button that would carry me down to the ground floor before inspecting the wounds on each of my arms: a series of large gouges which were pouring blood, not unlike the wound on my face. I let my head fall for a moment, pausing to catch my breath before removing my tee shirt and using what was left of my strength to rip it in half. I tied one half around each forearm, hoping it would prevent me from losing too much blood. The last thing I needed was to be weakened even more.

I glanced up at the panel. I had two more floors to go. I wasn't sure what I would do when I reached the end of my ride, let alone if I'd even be safe.

Tears began to fall down my cheeks as I hit my head against the wall over and over again, praying that this was all a dream, and if I banged my head hard enough, I'd wake up, and it would be as though the past week had never happened. My father wouldn't be a killer, my friends would still like me and, most importantly, I wouldn't be trapped in an elevator, bleeding out as the monster sent to kill me waited hungrily on the other side.

hehehehehe. hope you enjoyed! freddy jones is really out here gettin his shit rocked. love that for him. anyway, i have a few ideas for my next fic (all fraphne, of course- not just because i ship them but more because i just understand their characters more). i was thinking about doing an adult au where coolsville is sort of a cyber-punk gotham city knock-off and fred's a detective who gets into some Remember The Night shenanigans (great movie, look it up). also, let me know what you think! sorry this is the longest outro ever. sorry. bye.