Chapter 6

Trying to Keep It …Groovy?

Now dressed in blue-jeans, her brown shoes, and black t-shirt under her vest, Claire stood on the deck of her and Steve's house. She didn't really know why, but it seemed the only place where she could have some peace to think things over. Looking out over the pre-sunrise cityscape, but not really seeing any of it, her thoughts were still on the nightmare that she'd experienced only mere hours before. So many questions were ringing through her head in the nightmare's wake. How had Freddy come back, and why to her and Steve? What did he want with them?

Suddenly Claire sensed that she wasn't alone on the deck, and she turned around to see Steve standing behind her, in a white t-shirt and brown camo pants. A look of loving concern was on his face, the effect slightly thrown by his orange catlike eyes that the Rebirth Virus left behind. As he walked forward, Claire felt even more at peace, whole by his appearance…but also nervous to Steve's reaction; she had some explaining to do.

"You alright, Claire? You're up awfully early. Was it that nightmare again?"

"No, Steve", Claire answered with a downturn, as Steve took her in his arms. "It wasn't the same one…it was way worse." Steve pushed away just enough to look at her face, their arms still binding each other. "What happened?"
"There was…this boiler room, and you looked like you did after T-Veronica. But…" Claire trailed off, not wanting to confess the rest. But this was Steve she was talking to; she couldn't lie to him. "…this horribly burnt man had driven these razor-fingers through your head…"

Steve looked down into her eyes, his orange gaze burning through her blue-gray gaze. "Claire…you sure it was me?" Claire nodded, nervousness surging into her system. But Steve's answer did a number on that shakiness.

"It's alright, Claire. I'm here, and I always will be. Besides…I seriously doubt you'll see me dead anytime soon", he said, his tone soothing, his hand resting on her cheek, softly stroking it with his thumb. Claire took comfort in the feeling, but why did it still bug her?

Well…I suppose I could worry about it later. It's nothing but a nightmare…

Meanwhile, just outside of the city, someone else was trying to deal with this unexpected reality nightmare.

Ada Wong wasn't really much of a person to have nightmares, and she wondered where it had come from in the first place. Oh sure, if it were about Raccoon or Spain, she would've understood. But this was about something she had never seen before, that man with the burns, the hat, the razors.

And how did I know his name? It's almost like he was trying to invade my thoughts.

Shaking that thought out of her system, Ada slung herself out of the bed, grabbing the almost sophisticated red tube top and black pants that lay on the floor beside it. Ever since Wesker died, she'd managed to stay with the Organization, who had graciously set her up in Harvardville.

But as soon as she got the pants on, a strange feeling began to overcome her, almost as if a dark power were overtaking her from the inside. Putting a hand to her forehead, Ada managed to reach the bathroom, grabbing the cup that lay beside the sink. But she never reached the lever…

...as she suddenly straightened up, a very evil sneer crossing her face. Her beautiful Asian-American features started to pale in color, her brown eyes turning cataract and the pupils becoming blood red. The skin beneath the eyes started to cave in, showing the curves of the bone, and the teeth turned an ugly shade of dark yellow

Freddy came up from behind her, letting his left arm linger around her shoulders and clinking his finger blades together

"Ada, baby…you're gonna love being with me. You may even love you new life…as a Deadite", he finished, still reveling the power of turning his enemies into the evil creatures who feared nothing.

With this incredible power, it seemed like nothing would stand in his way.

Rebecca and Jacob finally managed to show up where his powers were leading, but too late to be of any serious help. The president's daughter was already dead, 4 stab marks stitched across her chest. They also saw Leon and Angela huddled together against the wall, Angela shoving her cell phone away in a hip pocket. Rebecca could almost see how hard it was for Leon to pull his gaze away from the dead body and onto Rebecca and Jacob's forms in the doorway. He softly nudged Angela, who then stood up and roughly embraced her, followed suit by Leon.

"Hey, 'Becca", Leon greeted her, using her old childhood nickname given to her so long ago. "Hey, Leon, Angela", Rebecca nodded back. iHere we go again, I guess./i

"Who's he, your boyfriend?" Angela's question was met by a short chuckle by Rebecca, with an identical, yet nervous, one from Jacob. "No, Angela. This is Jacob Johnson. He's here to help us figure out how we're gonna beat Krueger."

"We know: pull him out here and kill him", Leon replied. But it was countered and discarded with a negative head-shaking from Jacob. He then explained, "It won't be enough to just kill him. He was blown up the first time and beheaded the 2nd time, but neither of those occasions were successful. What I'm thinking is that we have to dismember him, and then destroy the dismembered parts beyond repair. You see…those dream demons that granted him his power…they're a powerful form of Deadites."

"You mean those monsters from the Mondarian Book of the Dead – the Necronomicon?" Rebecca's question rang out on almost unbelieving ears…especially Angela's.

"Oh, so now voodoo enters the picture! How can this get any weirder?", she questioned sarcastically. At this Jacob got in her face, saying, "It's all real, and it doesn't just bring evil to life. I should know, because a good friend of mine had to fight them off." At this Leon stepped forward, motioning for Angela to calm down, and then turned to Jacob, asking, "Who's this friend of yours?"

"Ask him yourself", Jacob said with an almost evil smirk. Then he stepped aside to reveal another man standing in the shadows, who stepped forward.

He was a few inches taller than Leon and slightly better built, but it was near-concealed by the loose-fitting blue button-down shirt that clung on his shoulders. A gun holster, on his back was buckled around his chest, holding a 12-gauge double-barrel Remington. Blue jeans clung around his waist and draped around his legs, with the left leg strapping down a chainsaw with a hoseclamp on the bottom of the handle …as if it was meant for the wrist.

Leon could see where it fit as he saw the man's left hand was normal, but the right constructed from some kind of metal gauntlet that, to Leon's eyes, seemed fully functional. But it was the eyes that bored through Leon: ocean blue-green, but they were almost gaunt, as if they'd seem too much that wasn't to be seen. They peered from under dark eyebrows and a head of slightly messy black hair.

They looked through each other, sizing each other up, then smiled at each other and gruffly hugged each other, slapping each other on the back. After about 5 seconds, they stepped back, and Leon said, "It's good to see you again…Ash Williams."

Ash looked back and said, in an equally impressed voice, "You too…Leon Kennedy."