I saw the new Nightmare on Elm Street. It felt…odd. Like watching an entirely new movie. Oh, and I put a violin cover of the Nightmare on Elm Street theme music on my YouTube channel. The link is on my profile here. :]

Chapter 18: Vendetta

Opening my eyes and trying to steady my shaking body, I found myself in an infinitely long, immaculately sterile white hallway, akin to the one I was in while searching for Alyssa. The memory of my fallen friend wrenched my heart. This time I'm not looking for a friend.

In fact, quite the opposite.

There was a multitude of doors on each side, and I limped to the nearest one, gnashing my teeth in pain as I turned the cool metal of the silver doorknob with my fresh wound. My mind faintly noted that I left a trail of blood behind.

I wasn't quite prepared to see the sight before me.

A little girl, no older than six years old, was sitting on a tiny red plastic chair reading a small chapter book. Her auburn hair was put up in two pigtails, and she was wearing a vibrant blue dress that was sprinkled with tiny little flowers. She was also wearing white sandals and matching white ankle socks with ruffles.

It was me.

I must have been in preschool or kindergarten then, because there was a multitude of other little kids that were playing house and kitchen in the various other stations in the room. I vaguely remembered the cheery pink classroom.

I also remember the need for camaraderie that wasn't as forthcoming as I wanted it to be. Whenever that was the case, I remembered all too vividly burying myself in reading…

The little girl, I, was swinging my legs, caught up in whatever I was reading.

Glaring at the scene before me, I tried to find out if Freddy was hiding anywhere inside the room. Sure enough, I made out his figure by the group of children listening intently to the story he was telling them as he gestured wildly to his narrative. Just as soon as he felt my angry gaze, he got up from the floor and slowly but surely made his way towards my younger self. Although anger was boiling inside of me, curiosity reigned and I stood there, waiting to see what he would do.

My eyes trailed his strange yet graceful stalk, and I marveled at how my younger self was totally oblivious to Freddy's presence due to being engrossed in the book. I wondered whether to open my mouth or not, worrying my lip at the thought that if Freddy hurt her, there was a chance that he might hurt me through her.

Freddy stopped directly in back of her, his claw ever so delicately playing with the strands of hair on my younger self's right ponytail with a trace of amusement. I narrowed my eyes even further, silently bidding my younger counterpart to acknowledge his presence.

Freddy crouched forward to position himself next to her ear, whispering something that I couldn't quite hear from where I was positioned. I quirked my head to the side, trying to read his lips. Something about looking pretty in that dress…oh, ew!

Seeing Freddy's tongue snake out was the last straw – I ran up to the creep, fully intent on punching his face in, only to find that he disappeared just as soon as I swung my fist.

Bastard!

My younger self calmly continued to read the story as if nothing had occurred. Shaking my head at the sight, I relaxed my hands as I ran out the room, realizing that putting pressure on the gaping wounds in my hands was certainly not beneficial.

Slamming the door behind me, I crossed the hallway to the door opposite the one I just left. Irritably opening it with a flourish, I got the urge to immediately close it. I didn't need to be reminded of this.

Yet again, a memory from the past – this time I was a little older. I was getting bullied by fellow classmates, and there I was, sitting at my desk and taking their insults with not a word said in my defense.

Freddy was languidly sitting at the teacher's desk, laughter bubbling out of him as he leisurely took in my reaction.

Seething as I felt the anger overtake me once more, I stormed up to the desk as Freddy moved to sit upright in his seat. Narrowing my eyes at him, I hissed, "What is your problem?" before snatching the material of his ridiculously colored sweater.

Freddy said nothing, choosing rather to further the smirk that was seemingly plastered onto his face. Before I could open my mouth and launch into a tirade, Freddy changed our surroundings, his eyes never once leaving my face. It was unsettling to say the least, and I clutched onto his sweater a bit more tightly as my surroundings blurred.

My grip on his sweater slackened as I turned myself around to see what other memory Freddy found it humorous to dig up from my head.

It was Alyssa…and she was looking awfully brazen, as if she had a plan up her sleeve. I had a feeling that I knew which memory Freddy specifically chose to torture me with.

A shudder travelled down the length of my spine as Freddy pulled me to his chest, heat radiating from him in waves and warming my frigid body. I half-heartedly resisted the urge to melt onto him, feeling weak in the knees, but I didn't want to show my feeble state. I'm sure Freddy picked it up regardless, considering he nudged his wrinkled nose against my ear before whispering, "Keep watching, Chrisssstine," sounding almost like a snake as he held the 's' sound.

Feeling another shudder pass through me, I forced myself to look at the events that were about to unfold.

Alyssa smirked, paying attention to her well-kept nails as Daniel, my crush ever since I first laid eyes on him years ago, leisurely strolled into the room.

Oh, I knew exactly which memory he chose.

Daniel took the seat next to Alyssa with a long sigh, crossing his legs in a distracted manner as Alyssa inched closer furtively. She started unconsciously playing with some loose strands of hair as she asked Dan what the matter was.

Daniel acknowledged her question with a small upturn of his lips. Moving so that he was facing Alyssa, Dan buried his head in his hands for a moment before letting them drop to his lap. Alyssa started rubbing his right arm reassuringly, trying to coax what was irking him out of his lips.

"Dan, what's wrong?" Alyssa's tone was distinctly sympathetic, and it caused Daniel to break from his particular train of thought.

Another sigh. "Just…I ended it with Brittany." There went his wonderful sapphire eyes, boring into Alyssa's prying gaze. I felt a familiar pain within my chest at the stirring of old memories that have since been swept under the rug for the sake of what was once our friendship.

Alyssa's soothing massage to Daniel's arm suddenly stopped and turned into a mildly harsh grip. Her tone switched to a pitiable shocked one, when gasping, "No! I'm so sorry!"

Daniel immediately shook his head emphatically. "Don't be. We mutually ended it. Things were just…boring between us. It hasn't been working out."

Alyssa remarked, "It doesn't make it any easier, though." Daniel merely nodded in affirmation, and Alyssa's attention was drawn to the way his Adam's apple bobbed when he gulped.

I can't look at this! Hearing the tale from Alyssa was enough. I don't need our discussion becoming a skit for me to fully see! I turned my head away, closing my eyes at the sights before me.

Of course, Freddy had different plans. As soon as he felt my head move away from what he so graciously wrought before me, his gloved hand found its way to my face, whipping my face forward once more.

"Watch." Freddy hissed, the blades on his fingers itching to dig into my pale skin. I felt the anger and resentment rise once more within me like bile, and I let the knives cut into my face as I wrenched myself away from him.

With an angry glower, I responded with, "I don't have to do anything, Freddy." Before he could fashion a response, I unfortunately caught a glimpse of Alyssa with her tongue down Daniel's throat as I raced out the door. Feeling dismay, betrayal and anger, I yanked open the door, paying no heed to my once more freely bleeding wound.

I started running down the hall, peeking behind me to see if Freddy was still advancing, which he most definitely was. He didn't look too happy, either. There were a multitude of doors to my left and right, so I planned to quickly enter one and hopefully lose Freddy in the process. Sneaking another glance, Freddy started laughing at me as he somehow conjured up a scooter and was absurdly leaning forward to try and make it go fast. It almost threw me off balance, but I grabbed onto a door handle with my left hand, hurriedly getting inside of the room and closing the door behind me, resting my back against the white wood and closing my eyes.

I took a moment to regain my breath and strength, as I slowly opened my eyes and took in my new surroundings. It was a white cushioned room, brightly lit with fluorescent bulbs. I felt a tug at my clothes.

"Boo." One of the three little girls that I had previously met nearly scared the daylights out of me and prompted a slew of unsightly curses from my lips as I fought to keep my heartbeat off the charts.

Not smart, Christine! Now Freddy heard where you are! But then again, he reigns over this dream world. He probably knew you were here in the first place.

The hopelessness of my situation wore at me and I felt a little dejected.

"Oh Christiiiiiiine! Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Freddy's voice was muffled yet echoed by some bizarre feat in the cushioned room.

God, I wish I had something to protect myself with in here! The sinister little brat was looking at me a tad bit strangely, and I bet she's got an ominous plan cooked up already. I narrowed my eyes at the blonde girl, fervently trying to conjure up, at the very least, a baseball bat. To my immense satisfaction, the beige bat materialized in front of my eyes and precisely into the palm of my right hand. Positioning it by letting it hover in front of my right shoulder, I saw the girl pouting prettily at me.

"That's not nice, Christine," the little voice snottily remarked. Opening my mouth to respond, my jaw dropped when I realized she was changing form. Being literally against the wall (or door, as my case was), I had nowhere to go and waited for her to finish. She was still wearing her white party dress, but I let out a squeal when I realized she morphed into me!

"Okay, that is just freaky, little girl." I nervously held on to the bat, adjusting its weight in my hands.

"Little girl? Why, I'm Christine! Or perhaps I should play the part completely…" The girl's voice trailed off as she focused for a split second, and was bound by a straight jacket the next. "Now I'm you!" The little girl, now a mirror copy of myself, was laughing hysterically as she inched forward towards me.

With a yelp, I swung blindly at her before opening the door and running outside, almost right into Freddy.

Taken by surprise, I fell flat on my rear end as I tried to avoid running smack into Freddy. Freddy's beam just widened as he used his left hand to tip his fedora forward, the brim almost covering his eyes from my gaze.

"My, wasn't that a fun little chase!" The little girl who was still pretending to be me traipsed over to Freddy, a crazed grin marring her (my?) features. "Too bad it's over…" Freddy started moving forward, and I tried to surreptitiously yet quickly move away. The first part was failing horribly.

"…for now."

I let out a scream as darkness enveloped me, and I kicked and flailed my arms about, hoping for some purchase.

It came when I was jostled back into reality, and found myself held down by someone.

"GET OFF ME! RIGHT NOW!" I screamed into the oxygen mask, sincerely freaking out as I tried to distinguish what was going on.

"Christine! Christine! It's just me, Dad!" As soon as I heard those words, I visibly relaxed, sagging into the bed.

Bed?

I opened my eyes fully, trying to make out where I was. I was currently in an ambulance that was racing, sirens on, towards the hospital. Ah, I get it – I fainted, met Freddy in that state of unconsciousness, and during that horrible time, they got me here.

I looked over to a very worried Dad, positioned next to the EMT who took off the oxygen mask cautiously. "Dad?" I croaked, before coughing and swallowing some spit. "Are you okay?"

Dad laughed with a tinge of hysteria. "You're asking if I'm okay? Honey, are you okay?"

I slowly picked up my arms which felt like dead weights to see the wounds that were freshly wrapped up in gauze, yet still visibly crimson. Looking back towards Dad, I replied, "Yeah…I'm okay."

Dad knew better than to believe that, but said nothing as we finally arrived to the hospital.