Freddy, then Alyssa's POV. Enjoy. (It's 5:30 in the morning…)

Chapter 7: Lucidity

As I felt Christine slip from my death grip, I could honestly say that I didn't feel too disappointed. My objective this time was to use her for her fellow classmates. Killing her would admittedly be a bonus, considering the little piggies would get frightened. Grinning with excitement as my claws clanked together in anticipation, I couldn't wait to face the prospect of new victims to torment. I felt the need to squeeze the life out of someone (or a few someones) today, and it will happen.

Smirking as I replayed the events that just occurred, I laughed richly and naturally darkly at Christine's reactions. The look of pure astonishment and horror as she finally acknowledged that her bitch of a friend let her conk out – now that was priceless.

And the way that she wasn't sure whether to say yes or no as to carrying out a conversation with me? Gee, I knew I was a stunner, but apparently I was a great raconteur as well!

Ain't that a 50 cent word…

Allowing myself to indulge in some narcissism, I brushed my right fist containing the claws of death along my sweater, seemingly to clean them off. I really was ingenious, printing out the flyers about myself to speed up the process of making my name general knowledge.

Switching my present location to the more comforting one of my boiler room, I allowed myself to pace comfortably in the heated labyrinth of boilers, waiting for anyone to dare close their eyes.

Freddy's waiting.

"Christine. That's the craziest shit I've ever heard. I think all that church going must've gotten to your head."

Christine's look was anything but amused. Well damn, was she listening to herself? Maybe she finally lost it. I told her that taking her studies and life in general too seriously was going to kill her.

"Alyssa, you saw those marks blossom out of nowhere for yourself, didn't you?" Christine was looking at me with pleading eyes. I wish I could believe her, I really wish I could. I mean, normal people don't usually start asphyxiating when they catch a few winks.

"Maybe it's a case of stigmata." I offered, with a hopeful shrug.

"This is anything but holy, Alyssa. Man, I'm still weirded out by him. I feel like he's watching me at this very instant." A darting look from side to side clearly showed this anxiety, as if it weren't emaciating from her like waves.

Rolling my eyes, I looped Christine's arm in mine as we made our way across the street towards the buses. "Hon, if he only creeps on you when you're asleep, then you should be safe right now."

My logic clearly made sense to her, and she relaxed a little bit. There, that's better.

"Now, you just get home and try to get some rest." When Christine looked at me with wild eyes, I knew I misspoke. Whoops…

"I mean, well. Actually. I don't know. I don't know what to tell you. Take care of yourself, Chrissy."

Feeling her sag against my side as I all but dragged her along, Christine sighed and looked at the cracks in the sidewalk with mild interest. Maybe all of the stress that came along with senior year was the cause of all of this.

Yep, it's gotta be.

Leaving her in front of the 62 bus, I pushed her towards the open doors with what I hoped was a cheerful smile. "I'll talk to you later online, okay Christine? Get home safely."

Christine was obviously still shaken from the encounter because she merely nodded and wished me the same, climbing into the bus that was slowly filling up with students.

Utterly friggin' strange.

Shaking my head at the crazy events of the past hour, I headed towards my car. A sense of pride washed over me as the statement reverberated in my head. My car. I worked my ass off for countless hours in our local grocery store for the old thing, and I was proud of it.

Admittedly, it wasn't the snazziest thing you ever laid eyes on, but it did its duty. Finally opening the amethyst colored car door and haphazardly throwing in my belongings onto the back seat, I settled myself onto the comfortable cottony cherry cloth of my chair.

Revving up the vehicle, I manually opened the window to let the breeze tousle my hair after pushing the power button to the radio, turning it on. Hearing a boring commercial, I rolled my eyes and reached over to the CDs in the glove compartment, randomly choosing one. Nearly all of them were CDs that I made myself, so I knew that I wouldn't be disappointed.

Jumping a bit as I heard the powerful shredding of guitar, I laughed my skittishness off as I recognized the song. Surprisingly, I was introduced to it by Christine herself. It was by the band Mindless Self Indulgence - Shut Me Up.

I took care to make sure that the road was clear before pushing on the gas. No sense in killing myself on the road. Feeling myself lurch forward with the car, I grinned happily as I remembered it was Friday. Thank the heavens above! I do believe it is cause for celebration. I survived another week in this hellhole!

Resting my left arm on the window, I felt compelled to sing along with the familiar lyrics even though I knew I was awfully tone-deaf. I gave into the urge, belting along with the lead male singer, not caring in the slightest if anyone was watching. Drumming my hands along the old steering wheel to the beat, I noticed the red light ahead and slowed down.

Since I was in the right lane, I automatically looked over to see who was driving next to me. Noticing a relatively striking man in what I guessed were his thirties (I was terrible at guessing such things) driving in a used but polished silver Chevrolet Corvette convertible conveniently with its top down due to the nice weather, I winningly smiled at him, willing him to look over. As if feeling my eyes on him, he looked over after a beat. An elegant eyebrow quirked up in part amusement and interest and I giggled despite myself.

Turning down the track just as a whip cracked, I brazenly took up a husky voice as I greeted him. To my immense satisfaction, a small blush courted his cheeks as he muttered the same in return.

"Nice car you have there. I can tell what model it is, but what year is it?" I licked my lips as I waited for his answer, noting that his eyes flickered from my eyes down to my lips and back up again ever so briefly. I felt a wonderful thrill tingle down my spine and I continued smiling at him.

"2004."

"It's a sweet ride." The emphasis I put on the last word wasn't lost on him, and he gaped slightly at me. Noticing the car in front of me lurch forward, I stepped on the gas without so much as a wave goodbye. Feeling satisfied and accomplished laughter bubbling up from inside of me, I allowed myself to giggle uncontrollably as I drove past the line of pretty little cookie-cutter houses that meant I was still close to the school.

Cranking up the music again, I nodded my head along to the fast-paced beat of the music that seemed to pulse within me. It was moments like these that I lived for – no worries, blaring music and the anticipation of a date tonight. Smiling at that thought, I almost failed to notice that the car in front of me suddenly stopped and I hurriedly pressed on the brakes as hard as I could, trying to avoid a collision. I even pulled the emergency handbrake just in case.

Holding in a breath and almost scared to look, I let out the breath and sagged against my seat when I realized that I was about an inch away from their car. That was certainly close. Perhaps I better take off the music for now.

The rest of the drive was uneventful and I pulled up to my familiar rusty red apartment complex in no time. Getting out of the Honda, I stretched myself out and heard some satisfying pops from various parts of my body. Going to the other side of the car, when I opened the passenger door to get my books and purse, I heard the familiar thrum of my mother parking her station wagon in the spot next to me. Admittedly, at one point I wanted her well-kept car. Then I realized that having it would probably mean I would have to do the shopping for the household – something I really didn't want to have to do, even if it was just Mom and I. Cooking and cleaning occasionally was enough for me.

"Hey honey! Did you have a nice day at school?" her chirping voice inquired.

"Did you, Mom?" I retorted. My mom was a third grade teacher, hence the annoyingly happy disposition. Just my luck, wasn't it, to have a teacher for a Mom. I'm just glad that I never had her as a teacher.

"Why yes, I did. I always do. You know that." By that point, Mom was trying to balance all of her bags in her hand and was locking the vehicle.

I rolled my eyes as I did the same to my car.

"Oh, I just remembered, don't forget that your doctor's appointment is on Saturday." With that one sentence, a wave of fear hit me like a ton of bricks. I really hated going to the doctor.

Sensing that I didn't follow her, Mom turned around to see what was wrong. After a split second she remembered.

"Come on Alyssa. You're how old now? Eighteen? And you're still scared of the doctor?"

Through sheer willpower, I forced myself to move from the spot I was seemingly rooted to. "Mom, it's not the doctor I'm scared of. It's…well, the needles."

Mom smiled comfortingly at me as she opened the doors for us both to come in. We were lucky enough to have a ground floor apartment, so all it took was a few steps for us to reach our door. After the brief fumbling of keys and lights, we were inside the moderately sized complex.

It truly was a nice apartment, thanks to Mom's and my own combined effort. It was painted a beige color throughout, and had a homey feel to it. The combined living room and kitchen was big enough to have a comfortable leather couch and a moderately big size television along with a sit-down counter for meals. Mom and I each had our separate bedrooms; each decorated and tailored to our own tastes as well as a small pink bathroom. It was really all we needed.

Picking up where we left off in our conversation, Mom continued with, "I doubt that he will administer anything in the form of needles. You already have all your vaccinations done. Besides, it's just a routine checkup."

I was a tad bit mollified after hearing that. The corner of my lip twitched upward, eventually forming into a smile. "Hey Mom, is it okay if I go out tonight? I've got a date with Raymond."

"I don't see why not, as long as you're back by 11 the latest. And he better not try anything funny with my daughter!"

"Moooom," I groaned, hiding my face in my hands in mock shame. Shrugging my shoulders, I added, "I guess I could live with the eleven o'clock curfew."

"Good. I'm going to whip up something for dinner. Want anything in particular?" Mom already started rummaging in our refrigerator, on a quest to find something easy to prepare.

"Not really. Mom, I'm gonna take a nap actually. Not exactly hungry at the moment. If you make anything, just leave it on a plate or something. I need to rest up for tonight."

"Sure thing, honey. Getting some beauty sleep, hmm?" A teasing glint was in her eyes. It was easy to see where I got my looks from; even though she was breaching her forties, Mom still held her shapely figure. My raven colored hair was almost an exact replica of hers (though obviously not the same style, eww) and I had her expressive eyes.

Laughing as I left the room, I shook my head at her. "See ya in a bit, Mom."

"Sweet dreams, sweetheart."

Closing the door behind me softly and leaving my purse and books on my cluttered table next to my laptop, I fell face-forward into my sweet-smelling cerulean covers with a big sigh. Ahhh, I was awaiting this moment ever since I got out of bed this morning.

Grudgingly getting up in order to peel off my coat, jeans, shoes and clingy blouse, I was soon left in my underwear. Taking a quick glance at my full mirror, I smiled at my reflection, proud of how skinny I was. Working out and eating sparingly really made me look great in my clothes. Snapping myself out of appraising my body, I quickly grabbed the plain white t-shirt and shorts I used as my pajamas and climbed into bed. As I nestled myself into the comfortable bed, it didn't take long for me to drift off.

Fuzzily opening my eyes again, I found myself sitting on an uncomfortable fabric chair in a peach office of sorts. Quirking my eyebrows, I wondered how I got here. I definitely was just lying in my bed a moment ago.

Ah, a dream. I looked to my left and noticed Mom leisurely leafing through a Newsweek magazine. That is certainly what she would do in real life, I passively mused.

"Alyssa Lyman?" a voice called. Eyes darting to find the source, I took in the site of a stout and bubbly female nurse. Smiling as my body stood of its own volition, she dragged a loose lock of blonde hair behind her ear before motioning for me to follow her into the room that was conveniently right next to her.

As we walked into the bright sterile-white room with nothing on the walls but a small drawing of flowers and medical tools, the nurse patted the doctor's chair that I was to sit on. Feeling a bit anxious, I settled myself on the black leather chair and hid my hands underneath my thighs, trying to get them to stop shaking.

After checking my temperature, pulse, blood pressure and asking a few questions about my habits, the nurse told me that the doctor would be arriving shortly before leaving in a flurry and leaving the door open. My nerves came back full throttle.

Looking for something to distract myself with, I noticed a cute little girl standing by the door with a melancholy smile. My heart wrenched and I felt pity for the poor thing, definitely effectively distracted. Before I could compliment her on her beautiful attire consisting of a little frilly knee-length white dress coupled with the cutest black pigtails with crimson ribbons, she opened her mouth and sang eerily, "One, two, Freddy's coming for you…" before retreating slowly from the door, calmly sitting next to my mother in the patient waiting room and swinging her little feet as if she hadn't a care in the world.

Goosebumps flared up on my body when I heard her singing and I was effectively weirded out.

What the fuck was that? A shiver racked my body before I could stop it and I tore my eyes from her. Creepy little girl.

"Hello, Alyssa." A middle-aged attractive doctor entered the room I was in with a bright smile, which I hesitantly returned. My eyes roved over his body, appraising his fit figure in the bright light of the room before looking at the name on his tailored Doctor's lab coat. My mind noted his silly tie – it had Christmas colors, red and green. Strange during this time year. Then again, I am dreaming.

My eyebrows furrowed together as I tried to figure out how to say his last name. "Hi, Dr. Re –"

"Dr. Regeurk." The man chuckled as he ran a hand through his russet short hair. "Trust me, you're not the first one to not know how to pronounce my name. Now. I've looked at your records, and have both good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"

I considered it for a moment. "Bad news, first."

I'm not sure if it was just me, but the smile fleetingly had a hint of something sinister in it.

"I looked at your records, and I saw that you need to have some vaccines done for college. Plus, your mother requested that you get the HPV vaccine. She said you've been fucking around and need it." Dr. Regeurk's smile just grew wider.

My jaw and stomach dropped at his words. No. No.

"The good news is – I'll be the one to jar each precious needle into your arm!" With that, he waved his right arm in the air, showing me a leather glove with needles on the tip of each finger.

Suddenly it all clicked. Regeurk – it was Krueger, backwards. As a look of horrified recognition washed on my face, Freddy's sinister laughter filled the room followed by buckled restraints winding themselves around me.

Christine's fucking story got to me – now I was dreaming about him! Fuck. My. Life. Well, at least I knew this was just a dream.

As if on que, Freddy's handsome face dissolved into the horrifically burnt one Christine described to me with great detail and he took a few more steps to invade my personal space. He was too close, too close with those needles. I felt the panic grow within me as I struggled against the tight bonds of the brown leather belts. "Oh no, little piggy. This is no dream. Too bad you didn't listen to your friend. It's no matter if you don't believe though, your Mom will see her little slutbag dead. Then your friends will follow! Now. This isn't gonna hurt. Me, that is." Wasting no time, Freddy plunged the chunky needles into my arms, immediately causing a flood of blood to gush out of the wounds as he gleefully laughed at his bad joke.

The excruciating pain and hysteria I felt meant this was no dream. But how could this be? I was definitely asleep. My thoughts were momentarily silenced as Freddy sliced through more of my skin by dragging the thick needles down my arms. Intensely screaming, I struggled against the bonds, trying to break free from his torment.

Freddy's eyes were alight with amusement and sick satisfaction when I met them and I almost felt like throwing up at the disgusting sight.

"Poor baby Alyssa. Scared of needles. Well, not anymore she isn't!" With a flick of his hands, the needles changed into his signature claws. With a sinking sensation, I knew that I was going to die.

"Please. Don't." Tears streaming from my eyes, I begged him to leave me alone. That only served to spur him on further.

"Ahh, music to my ears." Freddy leaned down until his acrid breath was tickling my ear. "Let Freddy hear you scream," he whispered. I could almost see the sick smile he had plastered on his face just from that voice.

Freddy plunged the knives deep into my stomach and I coughed up a sizeable amount of blood along with my shrieks, effectively staining almost entirely the white t-shirt I was wearing. It was only a matter of moments now, considering he was ripping my insides by moving them every which way.

My last comprehensible thought before I surrendered to the darkness was, "Man, I never got to go on that date."