SHOUT OUTS/ANSWERS

StoryTagger: Don't worry, they will. Hmm, good idea. Lol. This is true.

Kikistorie (ch 5): Thanks, whoops. Um…yikes. Hey, it's not 1428, right? Thanks.

MortalityIsAnExpiryDate: Thank you, I take that as a compliment. Of course. Thanks. No, I wouldn't be any good at it. Nope, go for it.

Potterfreak: Thanks. Thanks. You'll see…I will…of course. Yeah.

DISCLAIMER

Belongs to Wes Craven and Canadian Television. I only own characters you don't recognize. I didn't say anything in the previous chap, but the way I trapped Casey was inspired by NOES 3, and I use another scene from that film as well as some lines. A ref to "Don't Take A Tip From Me", and I believe I have the place right.

Several minutes later, Emily, Sam, Derek, Rod, Joey, Nancy, and the Venturi family were in the hospital. Along with them were Emily, Kendra, and Max.

"What's wrong with her?" George questioned.

"Is she going to be okay?" Emily and Kendra chorused.

"Yeah. When will she wake up?" Marti questioned.

"Your daughter's in a coma, Mr. Venturi," Dr. Mark Schneider answered.

"A coma?" George repeated. "Do…you have any idea what caused it?" he continued.

"No. We're--we're completely baffled," Dr. Schneider admitted. Joey blew out an annoyed sigh. Stupid doctor. He didn't know nothin'! It was Krueger! He had gotten her!

"She got tricked. He got her trapped," Joey said emotionally.

"Joey," Nora cautioned with a significant look at the doctor.

"At this point, there's nothing we can do but wait for her to wake up. I'm sorry," Dr. Schneider apologized.

"Thank you, Doctor," Nora stated.

"I'll let you guys have some privacy," the man stated, and then left.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Max questioned.

"What do you care? You're the reason she got this way," Joey snapped.

"Joey," Nancy said.

"No! He blamed her! She fought hard to save that kid and he blamed her! He's the reason she's lying there!" Joey shouted.

"Is this true?" Nora demanded.

"Mrs. Venturi, I--" Max began.

"No, I don't want to hear it," Nora interrupted. "I thought you were a nice boy. It looks like I was wrong," she continued. Max stammered and turned to Derek and Kendra for help.

"Don't look at me, man," Derek told him.

"Yeah, even I'm not that stupid. There's a horrible killer around and you decided to abandon Casey," Kendra added. Max looked to the group, but found no support. With a sigh, he turned around and left. Meanwhile, Joey, Rod, and Nancy had walked up to the bed.

"Come on, Casey. Call us in," Joey urged softly.

"Don't let him get you. You're stronger than this," Nancy encouraged.

"Come on, girl. Bring us in. We're a team, remember?" Rod reminded her. The trio each put a hand on the girl. Casey struggled against her bonds. She could faintly hear her friends, but she couldn't say anything. Krueger had made sure of that by taking her voice. I can't believe that freak put me in a coma, she thought to herself. Scree! Casey's eyes widened. Krueger chuckled and approached her.

"A Dream Master…right where I want her," he sneered. Hearing a scratching sound, Nancy gasped.

"What?" Joey asked.

"Look," Nancy said. They followed her gaze to see a series of words being etched into Casey's skin.

"Oh, my gosh," Rod breathed. With a flourish, the words finished, and they could all see the message: Mine now, Piggy!

"Freak," Rod growled.

"Let her go, you sick--" Joey's sentence trailed off emotionally. Casey whimpered.

"Call us in," Nancy urged softly. Presently, Nora noticed their upset stance.

"Kids, what's wrong?" she questioned, coming over to them.

"Uh--Nora, you might not wanna see this," Rod said as he and the others stood in front of their friend. She fixed the boy with a glare. He gulped and they all stepped aside. The woman froze when she saw the words. Her face paled.

"Mrs. Venturi, are you okay?" Rod queried.

"I can't believe--uh--" Nora stammered.

"I'll get you some water," Joey volunteered. He then went off to do so. It was then that the rest of the group realized that something was wrong.

"Nora, what is it?" George questioned.

"Fred's messing with my baby, and I can't do anything," Nora answered. Nancy and Rod looked at each other, and held a silent conversation with their eyes. They nodded to each other, both coming to an agreement. When Joey finally came back with a bottle of water for Nora, they stepped closer to him.

"Here you go, Nora," Joey said.

"Thank you, Joey," Nora responded, taking the bottle. Reading the expression on Nancy and Rod's faces, he nodded. With that, the three walked out.

"What's that about?" Edwin questioned.

"Dream stuff," Nora answered.

"I don't get it," Lizzie stated.

"Believe me, that's a good thing, honey," Nora vehemently told her. Confused, Sam, Derek, Emily, and Kendra followed the trio out the door. Nancy spotted an empty room and quickly ushered the others in.

"What's going on?" Emily questioned.

"What are you guys doing?" Kendra added.

"Look, it's obvious Casey can't call on us," Nancy started.

"Yeah, she would've pulled us in by now," Rod agreed.

"So we're going to her," Joey finished.

"What, you mean like link up?" Sam questioned.

"Precisely," Joey, Nancy, and Rod chorused.

"Have you ever done that before?" Derek asked.

"No. But it's worth a shot," Rod answered.

"I don't know about this," Kendra said doubtfully.

"I get that you're scared and confused, and I don't blame you. We're all on edge, and you guys have never faced this before," Nancy told them. "But Casey's in there. She needs us," she continued.

"I'm in," Derek declared. It was like he had told that guy Andrew at Smelly Nelly's: no one messed with his stepsister but him.

"Me too," Sam agreed.

"Let's get her back," Emily stated.

"I'm scared and I'm not sure I'll be of any use, but I'll help you," Kendra told them.

"That-a girl," Derek encouraged. There were some murmurs of excitement.

"I gotta warn you guys, this is deeply dangerous. If you die in this dream, it's for real. You don't have to go in if you don't want to," Nancy cautioned.

"We're in," the others assured.

"Stick together. And remember, Krueger will try anything to break you, so be on your guard," Joey told them. They all nodded.

"All right, everyone close your eyes. I'm gonna count backwards from ten. When I'm done, we'll all be asleep. We'll all be where Krueger has Casey," Nancy told them. They all did as they were told and the girl counted slowly. When they opened their eyes, Derek, Emily, Sam, and Kendra were surprised to see themselves in a dank boiler room.

"Where are we?" Kendra wondered.

"Oh, good, it worked," Nancy sighed in relief.

"Come on, let's go get Casey back," Joey determined. They started down the hall. Suddenly, Kendra stopped.

"What is it?" Sam asked.

"Is it just me, or is something going on with this place?" Kendra queried. They looked around. To their surprise, the walls were shaking.

"The room's changing! Grab onto each other!" Joey cried. Everyone quickly latched on to the other and continued down the hall. Kendra glanced at the walls. Her eyes widened when they began to ripple.

"What the heck?" she questioned. A gloved arm burst out of the concrete! She screamed and jumped back. The others turned around. Then, their eyes widened when they saw the man coming out of the wall as the other wall began closing in on them.

"Oh, my gosh," Nancy gasped.

"Gonna get you," Krueger leered.

"RUN!" Joey shouted. They all quickly sped up. Suddenly, the floor became slanted, and they all toppled downward.