I take it you guys weren't too happy about last one... *dodges empty tissueboxes and tomatoes thrown at me* but, hey! I'm hoping this will make it better at least? I'm not going to talk much, just let you read.
Chapter 18
Little Robby opened his eyes slowly to see sunlight streaming through the curtains of his room back at Kayle's house.
"Am I dead?" he thought right as stomach rumbled, "Nope…can't be if I'm hungry…"
He took a deep breath, smelling someone making breakfast…more specifically his mother's pancakes and bacon. The boy got out of bed, nearly running down the stairs and coming to a dead halt as he saw who was cooking.
"Well, look who finally decided to get up!" Mike smiled, brushing the apron off before turning back to the stove, "Good morning, sleepy head,"
"…Mama?" little Robby breathed.
"I hope your head is feeling better…that was a nasty fall you took the other day," Mike muttered, "Doctor said you'll be feeling a little woozy, but other than that, fine,"
"Mama…" he blinked, making Mike turn around again.
"Are you ok?" she asked.
You could have sworn the boy teleported to his mother's side. Little Robby hugged his mother, getting a surprised 'oh!' from her as he buried his head in her chest.
"I take it we're feeling a lot better then," the copper haired woman chuckled, "I love you too, lil' Capt'n,"
Little Robby smiled, breathing in her perfume…and that's when he heard it.
He heard his mother's heart beating. Strong, loud, and most definitely not dead.
"You're…alive…" he blinked, pulling back and looking over his mother's form.
He noticed that she didn't have a scar over her left eye anymore…but she looked rather concerned at him.
"Well…yeah I'm alive…" Mike blinked before sighing, "Robby, did you have that nasty nightmare again? The one where I died and you had to live with Jeremy, Ashe and Kayle?"
"It was a dream?" he asked softly, "But…but it felt so real…"
Mike opened her mouth to answer…but a knock at the door cut her off.
"Oh, that'll be our guests!" she grinned, walking over to the door and opening it, "Hey!"
"Glad to see you didn't burn the house down," Older Robby chuckled, walking in with a blonde haired, grey-eyed woman beside him.
"Robby, you know I'm better than that," Mike growled, "Emily, I don't see why you let him get away with it,"
"I try to make him stop," Emily sighed before looking at little Robby…who was staring, shell-shocked, at his Uncle, "Ah! There's my favorite nephew!"
"Wha?" little Robby blinked as the woman hugged him, "Nephew!? Um…who…"
"Come on," Emily smiled, "You don't remember your favorite aunt Emily? Married to your Uncle Robby for nearly twenty years?"
She turned to Mike.
"Wow…he really did hit his head hard," she hissed sympathetically.
"Which is surprising…since he does have a hard head," the older Robby smirked.
"Just like his namesake!" Mike backhanded her brother.
"Where's Dad?" little Robby asked, "Where's Jeremy?"
"Your father's on a business trip," Mike reminded him, "He'll be home in a few days. Jeremy had some errands to run before he and Tami are coming over,"
"I met up with Matt," her brother added, "he said that he, Risa, Sam, Amanda, the triplets and Amelia are coming soon too,"
"And Ashe and Kayle are getting the last of the party stuff before getting Robby's friends,"
"Will someone explain to me what the heck is going on?!" little Robby yelled.
Mike gave him a sympathetic look before putting a hand on his shoulder.
"C'mon, let's go back up to your room…then we'll talk ok?"
"Ok, so explain what the heck is going on," the boy demanded as he sat on the bed while his mother sighed.
"Fine," she told him, "According to your nightmares, there were a series of accidents that happened at Freddy's in the '80s. Emily had been 'killed' the year I was born, your grandfather was abusive to your Uncle Robby and I while your uncle, Matt, Sam, and Amanda were brutally murdered in '87 while Jeremy was bitten by Foxy…being somehow possessed by your uncle. In the '90s, their killer was killed by hopping into a dysfunctional suit. Anyway, flash forwards to 2008/2009…you say that I ended up getting killed and possessing the other spring suit while you lived with Jeremy,"
She shook her head.
"None of that is true," she said, "Emily was nearly killed, but thanks to Goldie, was saved and her attempted murderer was locked behind bars for a long, long time. I think he died already though…anyway. Emily and Jeremy started hanging around our family and eventually she and your uncle started dating…ending up getting married with a son and a daughter in college back east. I met your father, Charlie, not too long after and eventually we got married…having you. Matt and Risa became good friends and had triplet boys: Larry, Joe…who Matt calls Curly as a joke…and Mo. Sam and Amanda got married and had a daughter who's a little older than you named Amelia. We're only here at Kayle's because our house is getting remodeled. Does any of this sound familiar?"
"Where's Gram?" little Robby challenged.
"Your grandmother died a year before you were born. Something that didn't change in your dreams apparently. The doctor said that you'd be kinda out of it for a while…start believing your dreams were real," Mike told him, "Robby, feel my heart. It's beating right? I can't be dead,"
She ruffled his hair, before kissing his forehead.
"You get ready…I'll be downstairs if you need me,"
As soon as she left, the boy went towards the dresser. He pulled out some nice clothes and got dressed. When he was finished, he looked up into the mirror…just to see a tired looking woman with silver-streaked red hair and golden eyes standing behind him.
He whipped around, facing her as she gave him a tired smile.
"It's time to wake up, Robby," she told him, "Don't let her win,"
And she disappeared.
"ROBBY!" Mike's voice yelled.
The boy ran down the stairs, facing a crowd of people.
"Happy Birthday, Robby," Mike smiled, holding out a cake.
Little Robby looked at his mother's face painfully before closing his eyes and shaking his head.
"You're dead," he whispered, tears streaming, "You're dead, Uncle Robby's dead, Emily's dead, Matt's dead, Sam's dead, Amanda's dead…this isn't real. It's a dream…a…a…"
His eyes flashed open as cold fear gripped his heart.
"It's just a Nightmare,"
Suddenly the happy room full of people became empty and a slow clapping sound came from behind him.
"Well, well, well," a smooth, dark gold voice purred.
Little Robby turned around just to face a dark-grey skinned version of his mother with black hair and scarlet eyes dressed completely in sable except for the golden bow, top-hat and the underside of her coat. Two black bear ears poked out of the dark mess of black hair.
"Seems you saw through that," she snorted, taking off her hat and twirling it around her finger.
"Nightmare…" little Robby blinked.
"Ah, very good…you remember me!" Nightmare grinned, "Such a sweet illusion, do you not think? Where everyone was alive and happy…why on earth would you not want to stay there?"
"It's not the truth," he replied.
"Correction: it is a truth," Nightmare told him, "One of many instances that could have been,"
"Why are you doing this?" little Robby asked.
"Because it is fun!" Nightmare hummed, hopping up on the back of a chair and sitting there just as easily as his mother used to do, "Dreams, Nightmares...they are all the same. I just happen to love the dark. It is so much more intriguing being bad...do you not agree?"
"No,"
"Hmm…pity," Nightmare sighed, "Ah, well…you seemed to have passed that test…let us see how you fare in another?"
She snapped her fingers and little Robby found himself in complete darkness. Suddenly, a light turned on…revealing James' prone form lying on the ground.
"James?!" little Robby yelled, running towards him, just to get rebounded off of some sort of glass container.
He watched as James groggily got up, rubbing his eyes just to start screaming as the ground he lay on become carpeted with spiders of all shapes and sizes…just like his uncle, James was deathly terrified of spiders. The young rockstar screamed louder and louder while little Robby pounded on the glass frantically, trying to get in…right as another scream, this one female shot through the area.
Little Robby's head snapped around just to see Mandy screaming bloody murder as she desperately tried to climb up the rapidly dwindling footholes to escape the pit of snakes right beneath her feet.
"MANDY! HANG ON!" little Robby yelled, running towards her…just for another scream, raspy, strangled and terrified, to catch his attention.
He whirled around to see Matty trying his best to keep his head above rapidly rising water. Matty…Matty couldn't swim and he was terrified of water to boot. But when little Robby ran to save him, an agonizingly familiar scream made him freeze.
Max was in a fourth container, trying desperately to stop walls from closing in on her. The boy gave a strangled cry as he raced to her, tears streaming as he tried to break the glass.
"Tick tock, tick toooock!" Nightmare sang in singsong, "Who will you save, widdle Wobby? The rock star who always was jealous of you for having a father figure who cared? The chef who always pitied you for losing your mother? The mute who envied you for being able to sing while he could not? Or the girlfriend…who shares a past just as troubling as your own? Choose,"
"Why?" little Robby whispered as the red-headed woman appeared in the darkness, motioning for him to come to her.
"CHOOSE!"
Little Robby covered his head, getting to his feet and mentally begging forgiveness as he ran into the darkness…
And was met with the broken strains of a music box.
"Swan Lake…I remember Mama playing some of it when I was a kid," little Robby thought as he walked forwards, determined to find the source of the music.
As he walked, the darkness came alive with flashes of light and color, forming into images. He saw a young Andrew kneeling in front of him while another man stood to the side.
"Alright, let's see if you work…" Andrew started before closing his eyes and praying, "Please…please work…"
He flipped a switch of some sort and a faint whirring sound came to life.
"…Hello!" a soft, female voice beamed as the view shifted and Andrew suddenly was shorter than him...then the view jerked and little Robby realized that he had fallen, "Whoops! Well, that didn't go as expected…"
The images faded and little Robby kept walking, this time seeing a repaired Spring who looked nervous as he held his guitar.
"Don't worry, Spring, everything is going to be just fine," the female voice said as a golden paw reached out for Spring's.
"O-Ok, Goldie, whatever you say," Spring stammered as he took the paw.
The scenes faded and new ones took their place…each one darker than the last. He saw a little blonde girl with grey eyes being dragged away from the door and murdered right in front of him. He saw a group of four teenagers grabbing a crying, little brown haired boy and sticking him into the mouth of the viewer…blood spraying everywhere as people started screaming. He saw darkness as Andrew sadly flipped a switch…and then light as someone turned her back on. It was fine…until little Robby saw five children following the person to the back…where four of them were brutally murdered.
Little Robby kept going, stopping when he heard deep, heart-wrenching sobs. The boy turned around just to see a figure, covered with sticky black tendrils that cemented her to the floor, kneeling with her head in her hands.
"Help her," the red-headed woman whispered, appearing behind the kneeling woman, "You're the only one who can,"
And she disappeared again.
"Hello?" little Robby asked, coming forwards and gently laying a hand on the figure.
"Leave us be," the woman croaked out hoarsely, "Leave us to suffer,"
"Why?"
The woman gave a groan, shuddering as the tendrils thickened, biting into her skin.
"We deserve it," she rasped, "All our fault…"
"What is?"
"That thing…" the woman gasped, "Our anger, our hatred…we let it fester and grow…didn't tell anyone…left it bottled up so that no one would know. We did this…it's all our fault. They hate us…hate us for what we've done…what we are…"
"Oh, not everyone!" Nightmare's chipper voice smiled as she took form before the kneeling woman.
The woman started to shake violently, her sobs growing in volume.
"I do not hate you…" Nightmare purred, "After all…without you two, there is no me!"
Little Robby's throat locked up as he realized who it was in front of him. He turned towards the kneeling woman and embraced her, ignoring the biting of the shadowy tendrils as they dug into his skin.
"I don't hate you," he whispered, tears streaming as he hugged the woman tighter, "How could I ever hate you?"
The woman tried to lean away from him, but the boy drew her closer.
"I love you, Mama!" he cried.
And the world exploded with brilliant white light.
"What?!" Nightmare gasped, screaming as the holy white light started biting through her frame, "NO!"
Little Robby's eyes snapped open and he saw Nightmare stumbling back, the black bear shrieking as she held her head. He cast his head towards the clock just to see that it was long, long after six a.m. He looked back at Nightmare as the bear collapsed to her knees.
Nightmare shrieked in pain, thrashing and twitching on the ground as her fur started lightening. The boy winced and finally covered his ears as horrific snaps and crunches came from the steadily brightening demon. He watched as her form turned more and more solid, fur turning back to gold. Nightmare gave a strangled scream, and suddenly, there was a great snap…like a broken neck or spine or something of that like…and the tortured creature went still.
Little Robby looked at the panting, golden creature kneeling on her hands and knees. She looked up, her golden eyes soft as she gave a slight smile.
"Thank you, Robby, for saving us," Gold whispered.
Little Robby smiled and came closer to the shaking bear before hugging her.
"I'm glad you're back, Aunt Gold," he smiled.
The red-haired woman watched as the boy embraced the golden bear and smiled. Soon…soon it would be over…
And their children would come back home.
"How much longer do we have to wait?" A blond man with violet eyes asked.
"However long it has to, Garret," a black haired man with grey eyes replied.
"Soon, Chris," the red-haired woman replied, "Very soon,"
Anna Schmidt looked back towards the silver light of their home.
She couldn't wait.
So Anna helps her grandson defeat Nightmare in her own way...and Gold's back! But why didn't Mike greet little Robby when Nightmare was vanquished? What about the others? Are they going to be ok? Who's going to be our final casualties in this awful war? Guess you'll have to see next time!
I hope you guys liked it, if you did send in the reviews! (Along with ideas because I will need them eventually!) :)
Qui vállë tóquetë, ván tecë (If no review comes from y'all; no story comes from me)
Máriessë ar mára tecië
Farewell and fair writing
Elhini Prime signing off.