Author's Note: Sorry it took longer than expected to post this chapter. I was away for a week on my holidays / vacation.
Please note that some sayings /terms may be different as I am from the UK.
Thanks for the reviews, favourites etc so far. And thanks BuffyKrueger for the suggestions for this chapter. I hope you all enjoy!
Chapter 9: Freddy 101
Maggie's eyes flew opened as she jolted forward in her seat as she was thrust back into the waking world. Her eyes darted to the left towards the door as three more hard thumps bounced off the wood on the other side.
"Maggie!"
Her lips trembled as she lowered her gaze to her long black coat and a disgusted snarl crossed her face. Several pieces of black fabric were ripped apart, now strewn on the carpet along with various strips of material of her shirt and tank top. She ignored them for the moment and shakily rose to her feet and hurried towards the door, flinging it open.
Doc's eyes scanned her flushed face and saw her eyes jerk down towards the right side of her body. Following her gaze, he frowned at the sight of the portions of her clothes that were torn away. "What the hell happened?"
She frantically gestured him in and slammed the door shut in a fit of rage. With a muffled curse she discarded her ruined coat onto the double bed and then with a curt nod of her head, Doc turned his gaze to the carpet where the ripped clothes were spread about. "I fell asleep. That thing was there again waiting for me!"
Doc raised his left hand to touch her waist. But she jerked away.
"Did it hurt you?"
"No" Maggie shook her head. Her right hand lightly trailed in between the flaps of her torn shirt and tank top, touching her bare skin around her waist where the bandage was once. It too was thrown on the carpet. Her skin felt smooth, warm to touch. "That thing healed me…" she parted the fabric with her fingers and twisted around for him to see. "Look!"
"How?" his eyebrows arched in surprise.
"It pressed its palm over the wound. I couldn't do anything" Maggie lightly rubbed her temple, "It has this power to make you immobile" Her eyes scooted to her decimated coat, and she pointed at it with her right hand. "Look at my coat, my favourite fucking coat! That cost me $200! That son of a bitch ruined it!"
Doc rolled his eyes and stepped towards her. "Maggie, it's only a coat. At least you are okay!" he took a fleeting glance at her suitcase. "Are you ready to go?"
She hastily took the tattered coat off, and she threw it in the bin. Then with a aggravated huff she took a long uneasy breath and shook her head, "I'm not going"
"What?" he spun around to her, a glimmer of surprise flashed in his deep brown eyes. "What has changed your mind?"
"That bastard made me change my mind. He threatened to go after you if I left Springwood" Her hands shook as she grabbed the handle of her case and dragged it to the other side of the room, "He knew your name! How the fuck did it know your name?"
Doc approached the tattered fabric on the ground and bent to pick them up. "I'm not sure Maggie"
"Give me five minutes. I'll get changed. Then we can go to Westin Hills. I have some questions for Dr Gordon" Maggie hurriedly unzipped her case and rummaged through the folded clothes and took out a long-sleeved red top. "Alan, I need to stay off the Valium. I took a tablet when I came back here. It's making me drowsy, that's how I drifted off to sleep. I need to keep alert"
"Just keep taking coffee. Some energy drinks" he recommended.
"Alan, please you must tell me if you start to have strange dreams of a power plant or even that guy. I can describe him to you. He's burnt, with a fedora hat, red and green sweater and you saw the glove he has-"
"Maggie! I will tell you" He tightly clutched her shoulders and smiled, "I promise"
She coerced her lips to curve upwards in a smile. He lightly patted her shoulders and watched as she rushed into the bathroom and closed the door. As she busied herself with getting changed, he disposed the shredded pieces of her shirt, the tank top and bloodied bandage into the bin. It had alarmed him that this apparition would heal her. Was it some sort of subterfuge? He knew that Maggie would be on her guard, she was always very suspicious of people. It was one aspect of her personality that despite its disadvantages, he knew that in this situation it would help her.
"I'm ready"
He looked up as she exited the bathroom with her decimated clothes bundled together in her arms. Again, she began to scour through her suitcase and pulled out a waist length brown leather coat with a thick fur collar. She nervously cleared her throat and looked over to him. "Doc"
He looked at her intently. "Yes?"
Her teeth nibbled nervously on her bottom lip. "The apparition said that it is a real person. That he lived in Springwood before he died"
"A real person?" Doc's eyes widened in disbelief. He always had some interest supernatural. But the idea of someone existing in dreams after their death was something he had never contemplated. He had researched dreams since leaving Cleveland University in the mid-1960s. There were some mythologies regarding spirits that could control or manipulate dreams. But the existence of a human living in dreams was something that intrigued him. It could be time to dig out some of his old mythology books. "Why would Dr Gordon still lie to us about it?"
"I'm not sure" She shrugged her shoulders. Her eyes dropped to her suitcase briefly. "I'll unpack later. Can we stop somewhere to get some coffee?"
He rolled up the sleeve of his brown leather jacket to glimpse at his silver watch. Noticing the time was fast approaching mid-night. There may not be many places open at this time. "We can get some coffee at the hospital. Come on, let's go"
She marched after him as he exited her motel room with her handbag draped over her shoulder. Inside was her notebook and a packet of cigarettes. She needed her smokes. Something to help her calm her anxieties, especially now that Valium was no longer an option for her. As Doc drove through the darkened streets, he glanced over to her and asked, "What else happened in your dream?"
"I'd rather wait to we get to Westin Hills. I want to tell you all at the same time" she glimpsed quickly at him and then averted her gaze towards the spits of rain that plummeted onto the window. Her right hand lightly tapped and drummed on her right knee. Dr Gordon was still lying to them. Why could he not just give them the full story? Why all the secrecy? She would also question him about that woman, Nancy. The way that the apparition spoke of her, it appeared that she was important. But to who? Was she someone that Dr Gordon knew? Did the apparition, this Freddy guy know her too? Her right hand clasped her left one and she agitatedly twiddled her fingers. It unnerved her the way he was changing his behaviour towards her. The subtle ways he had stroked her cheek, played with her hair…
It was almost gentle to a certain degree.
Though, he had slammed her onto the carpet. His hand was tightly wrapped around her throat and for the briefest moment, she felt that he was going to choke her to death. His grip was that fierce. Despite healing her, she knew that he was still a threat to her. He tried to kill her once and she had no doubt if she let her guard down, the fucker would try again.
And as for those cute names he called her. Wildcat. Sweetheart. His girl. How dare the bastard say that? She was no-one's girl. Was it a twisted game he was playing with her? She frowned and reached for the silver roller handle of the window and rolled the glass pane down a few inches, allowing a blast of cool air to flow into the car. It made her alert as she sat up a little and again her mind began to ponder her dream. Specifically, why this guy was so persistent in wanting her to stay in Springwood? What was so important about her that he deemed it necessary for her to stay? And why did it show itself to her by possessing that girl, Rebecca? Did it know already about her psychosis?
Her gaze darted towards Doc as he flicked on the window wipers of the car. The spits of rain had turned heavier, crashing hard onto the window as it distorted his view in the darkened road. She sighed softly, confusion again clouding her mind. The same question racing through her mind. Why was this apparition insistent on her remaining in the town? She wasn't that important; she was a nobody.
"Are you okay Mags?" Doc's voice cut through her thoughts.
She blinked and noticed that they were now parked in the carpark. Her right hand stretched out towards the door handle, "I'm okay. I just need some coffee. I'm going to have a quick smoke before I go in"
He followed her out of the car towards the entrance of the foyer. She stopped in the doorway, lingering outside as she quickly lit up one of her cigarettes. Doc stood at her side as she frantically tapped her right boot on the ground. "Maggie, I know that apparition said it would go after me. But you don't have to stay-"
"Doc, I'm not going to let anything happen to you. You've done so much for me. You know that" Maggie replied quickly. "You know for a second, I saw a flicker of rage in his eyes when I warned him not to go near you"
"Rage?" Doc scoffed, "Why would be it angry?"
"I'm not sure" Her index finger flicked down on the end of the cigarette and a drop of ash flicked onto the ground. "We need to find out exactly what it is. Or who it is!"
"I have a few questions I'd like to ask Dr Gordon myself" Doc mused out loud.
She threw the cigarette onto the stony ground and squashed it under her boot, "Let's go"
Neil's head jerked up from his paperwork at the sound of three hard raps to the door of his office. Paul was sat on the sofa, engrossed in his own notes from the incident from earlier. He heard Neil clearing his throat, "Come in"
As the door opened, his lips curled into a frown of confusion. Why was she still doing here? "Dr Burroughs, I thought you were leaving Springwood"
Maggie followed Doc into the office and shrugged, "That fucker changed my mind"
"You had another dream"
"Yes" Maggie strode towards his desk. "Dr Gordon, who is Nancy?"
His jaw dropped opened in shock, "How did you know that name?"
"Freddy told me to ask you about her" She crossed her arms, "It also said that he's a real person. Is that true? Did he really live in Springwood?"
Neil eyes broadened and he then nodded, "Yes" he turned towards Paul. "Would you get Max? He should be here when we tell them everything"
Maggie and Doc slid into the two chairs facing the desk, waiting patiently for Paul to return with Max. She reached into her bag and took out her notebook and pen, hoping to take some notes. After tidying away his paperwork and making coffee for them all, Neil crossed the room to a small cabinet and pulled out the first drawer. He pulled out a small brown file that had written in bold black letters on the front.
FK.
Maggie glanced to her right as Max and Paul settled into their seats. She then heard Neil nervously clear his throat, then held out the file towards her. "There are a few old, faded newspaper articles about him in there. About his crimes"
Maggie wriggled her fingers anxiously and flicked opened the brown file. Inside were four pieces of paper, the pigment starting to fade and the words barely readable. The dates related to the months of May 1962, August 1962, October 1962, then January 1963. As she silently scanned the headlines and the first few sentences of each article, she felt the blood in her veins freeze. A sudden chill shot up her spine. Each article was in relation to missing children, two girls and two boys. The two girls were aged 6 and 7. While the two boys were aged 6 and 8.
"His name is Freddy Krueger. He lived in Springwood. From May 1962 to the autumn of 1967, he kidnapped and murdered at least twenty children in the town. Some of their bodies were never found. The bodies that were found were horribly disfigured. Their bodies were marred with stab wounds, either four parallel stab wounds or various slash marks across their chest, stomach, backs. They were mutilated beyond recognition" Neil began quietly.
Maggie gulped hard. A shiver of disgust zipped along her spine, and she shakily handed the articles to Doc who studied them.
"It was around the autumn of 1967 that the police finally found that it was Krueger who was kidnapping and killing the children" Neil loosened his tie. "Though, that wasn't the end of it. A few months later at the start of his court case in February 1968, he was released"
Doc and Maggie exchanged horrified looks.
"Why?" Maggie gripped her mug of coffee tightly. Visibly alarmed by this.
"A legal technicality. A basic administrative error" Neil slumped backwards into his seat. "The search and arrest warrants were not signed correctly. Also, from what I found out Krueger wasn't read his Miranda rights when he was arrested. His arrest was rather rushed. So, when the court case began, his defence lawyer had copies of the warrants and showed them to the Judge. Who in a matter of minutes dismissed the charges against him and he was immediately released"
"Fucking hell…" Maggie whispered softly.
"Who was his lawyer?" Doc asked.
"Robert Deeks" Neil reached for his lukewarm cup of coffee and took a sip. "From what I heard, there was enough evidence to put him away"
"What kind of evidence?" Maggie felt her stomach twist into a knot. Her right leg lightly bounced up and down as she took a trembling deep breath.
"The police found his gloves" Neil muttered.
"He had more than one glove?"
"Yes, there were at least a dozen of them that were found. All various types, hooked, bladed gloves, spiked gloves. There were also newspaper articles of the missing kids. A few mementos he had taken from them. Teddy bears, dolls. And there was this journal he had created"
Maggie shakily wrote this down. How could the police be so incompetent? Allowing such a dangerous predator like this to walk free? She shivered and hurriedly took a sip of her coffee and looked over at Doc as he asked a question as he gave the file back over to Neil.
"What happened after he was released?"
She swallowed hard. Oh, she knew what happened, judging by the way he was horribly burnt. But who burned him alive?
"The town was outraged. That night a group of parents tracked Krueger down to the old power plant on the edge of town where he had taken his victims. He was taking refuge in one of the rooms at the back of the power plant. They tossed several Molotov bottles through one of the windows into the room and set him alight"
"That's why he's horribly burned…" Maggie whispered. "How did you know this?"
"Because of Nancy. She told me who Krueger was after finding out what happened to him from her parents. Her father was the Sheriff at the time of Krueger's arrest. He was one of the officers who was present at the time of his arrest. The other officers at the time where Lt Blocker and Officer James Garcia. There were a few other officers who had helped to search Krueger's home"
"Does she live in the town…" Maggie's voice faltered off as she discerned the forlorn expression on Neils' face. Something must have happened to the girl.
"She did" Neil took another long gulp of his beverage. "After Krueger's death, everything went back to normal in the town. They forgot all about Krueger and what he did. For the town, they believed he was gone. It wasn't until early Spring 1980 when the dreams began and the deaths. Nancy was only fifteen at the time. Her and her friends were having nightmares about Freddy. But they didn't know who he was. Her friend Tina was murdered. The suspect at the time was Tina's boyfriend. Rod Lane. But after he was arrested, he supposedly committed suicide in the jail cell he was being held in. Then a few days later Nancy's own boyfriend was murdered. Nancy fought back against Krueger. But she couldn't save her mother"
"What happened after the deaths? What happened to Nancy?" Doc asked.
"She was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in another town by her father. Nancy told me she was there for a few months after the death of her mother and friends. It was in that hospital that she began to take hypnocil. To stop the dreams. She stayed with relatives in another town and came back to Springwood after graduating from Columbus University"
Maggie shifted nervously in her seat, tapping her pen on the page of her book. "Were there any other deaths in Springwood? Did Krueger come back?"
"After the Thompson's moved out of their home, the Walsh family moved in about five years later in April 1985. Within a few months the family moved out again after the death of their son Jesse and his two friends"
"It was Krueger, wasn't it?" Maggie asked.
"Yes. At that time there were rumours going about from what I heard that Jesse claimed that Krueger tried to possess him" he replied. "But people just assumed he was crazy. He was in a bus accident and was in a coma for a week until he had a massive heart attack and died. His two friends were killed instantly in the accident"
Maggie scoffed. "It wasn't a heart attack. It was Freddy"
Neil nodded grimly.
"How did you know Nancy?" Maggie asked, intrigued to know more about this girl.
"I met her when I was working in Westin Hills in 1986. She had graduated from college and was had been studying dreams. From the autumn of 1985 to the summer of 1986 there was a spate of suicides of teenagers. There were about twenty-five deaths. At the time I was working in Westin Hills, and she was the new member of staff that was assigned to the ward. There were seven teenagers that were admitted to the ward. All of them were suicide attempts. When Nancy arrived, she knew that was happening, what was going on in their dreams. It was only after the deaths of Philip and Jennifer that she told me everything. About whom Freddy was, his crimes, his death and how her parents played a part in burning him alive"
"What were their names? Her parents?" Maggie felt a need to know. Something was impelling her to ask.
"Marge and Donald Thompson"
Maggie quickly puckered brow, slightly bewildered. Why were these names familiar to her? Shaking her head, she jerked her head up as Neil continued. "Nancy explained that the kids who had committed suicide in the town and the kids in the hospital were the children of the parents who murdered Krueger in 1968. He was avenging his death, by murdering their children. They were paying for their parents' sins. Some of the kids were not even born when Krueger had died, most of them were born from 1969 to 1971"
Maggie scribbled this piece of information down.
"Nancy believed that one of the girls in the group was key in defeating Krueger. Her name was Kristen Parker. She had this gift to pull people into her dreams. We decided to try a dream test where Kristen pulled all of us into her dream. But unfortunately, Krueger had tricked Joey and pulled him into a coma. After that Nancy and I were sacked because of what happened to Joey. Though, we did have some help. I was having visions of a nun, who told me how to defeat Freddy. We had to find his remains and lay his spirt to rest"
The tip of Maggie's pen drew to a stop as she pondered this. Visions of a nun? Should she ask who this nun was? Her eyes darted up to Neil, but before she could open her mouth to question him. He continued again.
"We formulated a plan to meet with Nancy's father as he knew where the remains were hidden. But Nancy had to go back to the hospital, as Kristen was sedated and was put in one of the quiet rooms. She was in danger from Krueger. So, I set off with her father to find the remains…"
Maggie listened intently as Neil explained how he and Donald Thompson began to bury Krueger's bones in the junkyard at the edge of town. But they were attacked by the skeletal remains after Krueger returned from the grave to possess them. Donald had suffered a horrific death, by being impaled, and Neil had endured various injuries to his body. But he had managed to sprinkle holy water over the bones and had succeeded in laying his spirit to rest. But there were casualties other than Donald Thompson. He had found out that Taryn, Will and Nancy had perished. Their bodies were found by Max who was on duty that fateful night.
Maggie glared down at the last sentence she had taken.
Nancy was deceived by Krueger. Who killed her after taking form of her father, Donald Thompson.
"He can take forms of other people" Maggie whispered in horror.
"Yes, he can"
Maggie took a quick deep breath. She had to be on her guard. It was becoming more difficult for her to distinguish if she was dreaming or not. So, that fucker could fabricate himself into anyone and talk to her and she would be none the wiser.
Her gaze scooted towards Doc as he finished his coffee and placed it on Neil's desk. "What happened after that?"
"I left Springwood a few weeks after Nancy's death. I was in love with her" Neil pulled out his wallet and slid out a small, coloured photo. He held it out and Maggie eagerly took it. Her eyes softened as they stared at a beautiful young woman, with curly brunette hair and bright blue eyes. Along the right side of her hair was a thin grey strand of hair. Maggie smiled and gave it back to Neil. "I kept in contact with Kristen, Joey and Kincaid. They had left Westin Hills and were settling back into school. They were making new friends. Kristen would tell me about her new friend Alice and Alice's twin brother Rick. I was so happy for them all. As the months went on, we lost touch. When I arrived back in Springwood two years ago, Max had informed me what had happened to them"
Maggie and Doc turned their attentive gazes towards Max as he shifted forward on the sofa. His hands clasped tightly together as he cleared his throat. "It was in September 1988 when in the space of two nights, Kristen, Joey and Kincaid were found dead. Then several days later a few of Kristen's friends died. Shelia Kopecky, Rick Johnson and Debbie Stevens. Rumours were flying about town that Alice Johnson claimed that her friends were killed by Krueger"
"So, he came back?"
"Yes" Neil sighed grimly. "But he kept on killing. He had new targets. The other teenagers in town. His revenge should have been complete after he killed Kristen. From what Max told me, there were no more deaths until May 1989. Then there were three more strange deaths occurred. In September 1989 things start to change for the worse. It was when the kids and teenagers began to find out who Krueger was and then they began to have dreams of him" Neil lifted out another piece of paper and handed it over to Doc. "This is the total number of deaths and disappearances since the 19th of September 1989 to the 7th of February 1994"
Maggie craned her body to the right and peered down at the figure.
3224
Maggie stifled a nervous laugh. "Uh, this must be a mistake, right?"
"Unfortunately, no, that is the correct figure. We didn't want to tell you…" he saw the colour on her face turn an ashen white. "I can see you are distressed by this. You see, in September 1989 none of the teenagers or children in the town knew about Freddy or his crimes. Everything was kept hidden. Any public records or newspaper articles were sealed away. Or some of them were destroyed. But there was an incident in the town"
"What sort of incident?" Maggie asked timidly.
"A man named Dennis Johnson was found hung outside the high school on the 5th of September. Inside the halls of the High-school and the Elementary School Freddy's name was painted everywhere. And that jump rope song"
"Jump rope song?" Doc cast Neil a confused look.
"I think I might know it; I think I heard it in one of my dreams…" Maggie looked up from her lap. "One, two, Freddy's' coming for you"
Neil gave a bleak smile. "Yes, that's it"
"It appeared that Dennis Johnson may have also painted several slogans of the jump rope song and Freddy's name around Central Park too. The only explanation that we can think of is that Krueger had possessed him" Neil turned his gaze to Max who concluded.
"It was discovered that Dennis Johnson's daughter Alice was found dead in their home. She was several months pregnant"
"Alice?" Maggie shot Neil a disturbed look, "That was the girl who was Kristen's friend, right?"
"Yes. Krueger killed her and her unborn child. Her friend Yvonne was also found dead in the local Swimming Centre in one of the sauna rooms. She was burnt to death"
"This is unbelievable" Maggie muttered. She craned her shaking face towards Doc. He held her gaze, they were not prepared for these answers. What had they got themselves into?
"Would you like some more coffee?" Neil pushed his chair back and rose to his feet.
Maggie fervently nodded, "Yes, please"
Neil took their empty mugs and silently began to prepare a fresh brew. It had crossed his mind to discuss the house on Elm Street, Nancy's house. The history of that house was rather vague. From what Nancy told him, her and her mother moved into 1428 Elm Street when she was about eight years old in 1973 from their house on the other side of Elm Street. It had caused many arguments between her mother and father from what Nancy could remember. Though, she had told Neil that she was unsure why their home on Elm Street would cause so many quarrels. Would Maggie and Alan enquire more about the house? As the house was a link between Nancy and Jesse Walsh. They both lived in 1428 Elm Street. And despite Jesse not being from Springwood, he began to have dreams. Now, the house was derelict. People in the town knew to avoid going near it.
"I'm a little confused"
Neil spun around to Maggie. Her dark brown eyes were roving over her notes. He stepped closer to her and handed out two fresh mugs of coffee for her and Alan. She smiled as she took the white ceramic mug in her left hand. "You had said that the kids of the parents who burned him to death were his targets. Why did he go after Jesse Walsh and why after Kristen's death, did he decide to go after her friends? Then the other kids in the town?"
Neil shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure" He felt his mind beginning to drift. Thinking back to one of his previous confrontations with Krueger. It was the first time seeing the fucker in his burnt form in the dream. Those words that Freddy had leered with rancour echoed in his mind…
I want every fucker in this town to pay! And they will!
I'll never stop until every brat in this town is dead, with their blood on my blades! That will be my revenge for what this town did to me!
"I did ask him…" Neil mumbled.
"Ask him? You had a dream of him?" Maggie's eyebrows arched sharply.
"Yes, I have had a few. I asked him why he was continuing to kill the kids. He said he wanted the whole town to pay for what they did to him. There must be something else that we don't know" He gave a half-hearted shrug.
Maggie gnawed at her lips. "This is a lot to take in"
"What else do you know about him?" Doc interjected.
"Just what Nancy has told me. Then some information from the odd newspaper article that I have come across. But that's it" Neil replied.
Doc leaned forward in his seat. "What about the other police officers in town? You said that Lt Blocker was there when he arrested Krueger. Does he still live in the town?"
"I'm not sure. The only officer who was around at the time of Krueger's arrest and that still lives in the town is James Garcia. After Thompson's death in 1986 he was promoted to Sheriff" Neil turned towards Maggie.
The next question startled him as Maggie asked, "Did Krueger rape any of his victims when he was alive? I uh, saw in my dream a little girl. She was about twelve years old. There was evidence that she that she had been sexually assaulted. Was he a rapist too?"
Neil inhaled sharply, then nodded despondently. "Yes, he was a child molester too. A few of the girls' bodies had evidence of sexual assault" He saw her bottom lip quiver and her eyes dart nervously towards Doc. Neil sighed and pushed his coffee to the side. Now was the time for him to ask her some questions. He was curious as to why Dr Burroughs had changed her mind about leaving the town. "Dr Burroughs, what happened for you to change your mind? You were very insistent on leaving Springwood"
Maggie shifted apprehensively on her seat. She knew that he would start to ask her questions about her dream. The thought of explaining what happened to her with that asshole made her skin crawl. "Uh, that fucker threatened to go after Alan if I left the town"
Neil scoffed. "Why would he want you to stay?"
"How the fuck would I know?" Maggie grumbled, "All I care about is making sure that Alan is safe, so I said I would stay. And he, um…" she uneasily diverted her gaze from Neil towards Alan. Then back again to Neil. "He seemed to be pleased"
Neil threw a perplexed glance over towards Paul and Max. Both seemed to be equally confused by Krueger's change in attitude.
"He also did something to me" Maggie whispered and bit hard on the corner of her right lip as she rose to her feet. Her right hand quivered as she reached down to the rim of her red top and pulled up the fabric around her waist. Her flesh was smooth, unblemished. "He healed me"
"He what?" Neil's voice was shrill with shock as he jolted up from his seat and rounded the desk towards her. His eyes widened as they roamed over her flawless skin. As he reached up to touch her bare skin Maggie took a tentative step back. "I'm sorry" he smiled, "I just wanted to check"
"It's okay" she smiled meekly. "I asked him why. And he said he wanted to apologise!"
"Apologise?" Neil laughed incredulously and sat back in his chair, shaking his head in disbelief. "That is unlike him. That isn't Krueger's character"
Maggie yanked down her top and slumped drearily back into her seat, rolling her eyes. "Well, you would know more than me! I think he has mood swings. I mean, look one minute he's trying to kill me, then the next he's apologising, saying we should act civil towards each other! It's like he's trying to fuck with my mind! And he…" she gave a fleeting looked at Doc, "knew Alan's name. How could he know his name? I never told him!"
"Krueger can read your mind, your thoughts. He can access your memories. That is one way that he can have an advantage over you in the dream. He has access to your whole subconscious. Every secret, every desire or fear you ever had. He finds it out and uses it against you. He's not just a physical threat to you, he's a psychological threat to you. He psychologically torments his victims before he finally kills them" Neil explained with a grim expression.
Maggie felt the colour drain from her cheeks. He had access to your subconscious. Your memories. Fuck. If he accessed her mind, he could easily find out about her memories from her times in the hospital, find out about her psychosis, her therapy sessions with Doc. Would he even be interested in her relationship with her adoptive parents? He did appear interested in where she was from. What if he discovered out secrets about her that she didn't even know herself? And what if he dug into her past when she was in the care homes? Hell, it was difficult for her to remember everything that happened when she was a little girl. It was just vague recollections. Snippets of information. Doc couldn't even retrieve memories from her childhood during their sessions when he tried hypnosis with her. He said her mind was like a jigsaw with numerous pieces of her memories missing. Maybe this Krueger guy would be incapable of finding out about her past. But the thought of him invading her subconscious terrified her. It was her mind. Her own private memories.
"Did he do anything else to you?"
Maggie blinked out of her thoughts and veered her head to the right where Paul's voice resounded from. She licked her dry lips, "Uh, he stroked my hair and my face. Like um, I guess you could call it in an affectionate way? It creeped me out"
Neil caught Paul's disturbed gaze and he held his colleagues' same thoughts. What was Krueger up to? Why the sudden change in stance towards Dr Burroughs? Was it a trick he was playing on her? "Dr Burroughs. I strongly advise you to stay awake"
"Pfft" she scoffed, "You don't need to tell me that. All I'll be drinking from now on is coffee!"
"I'll arrange for some stimulants to be given to you both" Neil glanced at Doc with a thinly lipped smile. "It should help you keep alert"
"What kind of stimulants?" Maggie quickly asked. She tossed a glance at Doc. Hoping he would sense her uneasiness at the prospect of taking the stimulants. She didn't want them to interfere with her clozapine.
"There are several types. We can discuss them later" Neil glanced at his watch. "Are there any other questions that you would like me to answer for you?"
"We'd like to speak to the kids" Doc asked, "Ask them a few questions about how they began to dream of Krueger. Then I can get Maggie to record some meditation tapes and we can try and start preparing them to enter each other's dreams. I can go in with them, teach them a few tricks-"
"What? Today?"
"As soon as possible" Doc affirmed.
Maggie twisted around towards Doc. "Doc, I think we should wait a day or so. I understand that you want to help the kids, I do too. But as I said to you before this is not a normal nightmare. I lost control in the last few dreams. This guy, he's powerful. I don't want anything to happen to you" she glanced wearily at Neil, then Paul and Max. "Look, we can wait a few more days. We can do some night shifts in the hospital, and if the kids fall asleep, I can enter their dreams and help them. Seeing as the fucker won't harm me now"
Doc sighed and gave a curt nod in reply. "Okay, I'll wait a few more days. But be careful if you do enter the kids dreams"
"I will"
A sharp knock to the door interrupted them and Neil cleared his throat. "Come in"
All eyes landed on the coroner Lawrence Evans as he stood in the doorway. A small brown clipboard was tucked under his left arm. "Dr Gordon, I am going to start the autopsy on Rebecca's body if you and Dr Coleman wish to attend"
Neil rose slowly to his feet. "Dr Reynolds. Dr Burroughs. Would you like to be in attendance?"
Maggie glanced over at Doc with a fretful look, but he smiled encouragingly at her and mouthed over silently.
You'll be okay.
She then curtly nodded.
It was only a matter of twenty minutes when they were congregated in the mortuary. The coldness of the room didn't help the never-ending shivers of trepidation that tore through Maggie's body. This would be her first time attending an autopsy. Both herself and Doc were adorned in bright white lab coats over their own clothes. They stood along the cabinets facing a thick metal table. To the left and right of the table craned over the cold, lifeless body Rebecca, Dr Evans and his assistant loomed. The latter was carefully cutting and sawing away the crunched, cracked ribs of her cadaver and leaving the remains in a small silver surgical bowl on a tall silver table. The skin flapped and hung around the sides of her chest. Dr Evans spoke quietly as he described her fatal wounds into a small black tape recorder.
"Victim is Rebecca McCarthy, aged fifteen years old. Date of death – 9th February 9.15pm. Witnesses in attendance were Dr Neil Gordon, Dr Paul Coleman…" he paused and looked over towards Maggie and Doc as he pressed the pause button on the recorder. "Your names please"
"Dr Maggie Burroughs and Dr Alan Reynolds" Alan replied. He took a glimpse to his left seeing Maggie's eyes glossed over as she stared dourly at the corpse in front of her. Raising his left hand, he gently touched her shoulder and squeezed it.
Maggie's eyes darted to his for a moment and then back to the body as the coroner restarted the recording and clearly stated their names. "Dr Maggie Burroughs and Dr Alan Reynolds were also in attendance. Rebecca's chest and lower ribcage has been protruded from the inside out. The part of her thoracic wall, with two costal cartridges on either side of the sternum have been punctured out. Four ribs, two on either side have been cracked and splintered outwards. Thick tendons and muscle tissue surrounding her right and left lungs have been sliced away. Her left lung and right lungs have been punctured. Two stabs' wounds on each lung. Massive internal bleeding in her heart. Death was instantaneous"
Maggie reached behind her to grip the edge of the counter. Her legs trembled violently as she watched the assistant carefully use a pair of medical tweezers to pull the thin bloodied skin over the cavity in her chest. He then pinched the edge of the other shredded flap of flesh and pulled it over the gaping hole to meet the other sliced piece of skin. She took a shaky deep breath as he delicately began to stitch the two folds of skin together. This was her first time attending an autopsy and she was hoping it would be her last. It was bad enough seeing dead corpses during her psychotic episodes, but to see two corpses in the space of one day disturbed her. But for some strange reason it seemed to captivate her too. She just couldn't take her gaze away from the girl's decimated body. Ever since she as was little girl, perhaps eight or nine, she had a strange fascination with morbid things. Death and decay. Whenever she saw a dead animal or saw the sight of blood when one of the kids in the care homes had accidentally cut themselves or broken their leg or arm, she would become enthralled. Staring entranced at their cracked, bent limbs or bloodied wounds. The other kids in the homes would call her strange, a freak…
"Rebecca's body will be able to be formally identified by her parents in the morning"
She blinked quickly and shook her head, breaking free of her trance as the coroners' words lingered in her ears. The thought of the poor girl's family coming to identify her sent a blast of rage soar through her. Fifteen, she was only fifteen and that bastard had taken away her life in such a monstrous fashion. Maggie curled her right hand into a fist of fury.
"I'll arrange for the kids to be brought to the therapy room" Neil quickly signed the clipboard handed to him by Dr Evans. "Would you both like some more coffee? Some energy drinks?"
"Are there any red bull energy drinks?" Maggie asked.
"Yes, I'll get Max to bring a tray of drinks to the room"
She smiled and walked at Doc's side as they followed Neil and Paul to the first floor. Her voice was lowered as she whispered. "Alan, these stimulants. Can I take them?"
"Yes, they should be okay. But if you start to feel agitated or nauseated, then let me know. There could be some subtle changes to your mood"
"Yes, I'll let you know straight away" She nodded.
It took a matter of minutes to gather everyone in the large therapy room. A large circular table was in the middle of room with all the seats occupied with the kids and the doctors. Maggie sat to the left of Doc, with the young girl Tracy to her left. Next to Tracy in a clockwise direction sat – Nicole, Karen, Megan, Carlos, Shaun, Spencer, Aaron and then Lee. Next was Dr Coleman and Dr Gordon. Each of them eagerly gripped hot mugs of coffee or cold cans of coke or red bull. The kid's demeanour was on edge, jittery from the news of Rebecca's sadistic death. Their bodies slumped drearily in their seats. Despite being given their nightly dose of stimulants, the effects were starting to wane already.
"Did you tell them everything?" Tracy looked over towards Dr Gordon eagerly.
"Yes, they know everything" He replied. "They know about Krueger"
The teenagers veered their gazes towards Doc as he softly cleared his throat to speak. "We just want to ask you a few questions about when you first heard of him. When you started to have dreams. Maggie will be taking some notes"
Maggie perched a black pen between her fingers, the tip pressed against her notebook on the next free blank page. She slowly weaved her gaze along each teenager. "We would then like to speak to you all on your own about your own dreams in more detail. About your personal lives. Anything that you would prefer to share with us in a more private setting instead of within the group"
"Tracy" Neil smiled at her. "Would you like to start?"
She nodded sheepishly. "It was back in late November when I began to dream of Krueger. One of my friends Kelly had been having these weird dreams. She told me on the 4th of November about her dreams. She was terrified. But I thought nothing of it. I mean, everyone had bad dreams, right? Then she began to have these scars on her arms. She was staying awake for days on end. Then on the 18th of November she died in front of me and my other friend Paula. We tried to wake her up. You see we were having this sleep over. She asked us to help her stay awake. But she was so exhausted that she drifted off…." Her voice trailed off, choking back a sob.
"It's okay" Doc whispered.
Maggie stopped her incessant writing and glanced towards Tracy, seeing the girl's face streaming with tears. She raised her left hand and gently rubbed the girl's back soothingly.
The next person to speak was Nicole who quickly explained when the dreams began for her. It was around the end of December when she came across an old newspaper article of Krueger's court date and his crimes. She had shown the newspaper article to one of her friends, unaware of the danger she was putting her friend in. Then a few days later was when the dreams began for them both. Her friend had died a week before Nicole was admitted to Westin Hills. As the other teenagers began to disclose their own stories. Maggie and Doc slowly understood that the kids were starting to dream of Krueger by finding out about him either through their friends who were also having dreams or either through discovering the odd newspaper article of Krueger's court case and his subsequent release. As the teenagers began to discuss their dreams with each other, it only fuelled the fire. Fuelled the nightmares. It was and endless cycle. It was not going to end.
"The press had a name for him" Shaun scoffed.
Maggie looked up from her notes. "What was it?"
"The Springwood Slasher"
Maggie swallowed thickly and slowly wrote this down.
"Dr Burroughs"
Her head shot up towards Neil as he grimly smiled at her. "Would you like to tell the kids what has been having with you?"
There were a few quiet hushed murmurs from the teenagers as Maggie straightened up and dropped her pen on the notebook. She nodded once then turned her attention to the group of curious teenagers. "I've been having dream so of him too"
"What?"
"How?"
Several more confused whispers passed amongst the kids.
"We never told you anything!" Spencer scoffed in disbelief.
"I heard his name" Maggie explained. "But you are right not from any of you. I heard his name being mentioned when Doc and I were on our way here to the hospital. It was the first day we arrived. We were in this diner, and I heard two young girls talking about him. But…" There was a pause as she swung around in her seat towards Neil. "I only heard his first name Dr Gordon"
Neil gave her a confused stare.
"I never heard his surname. All the kids here have heard his full name or found out about his full name from the newspaper articles. Or they have heard various descriptions of him, his burns, his sweater. That glove he has" Maggie shook her head slowly. "But I didn't know any of that. Only his first name. Freddy"
"Perhaps all it takes is to hear his first name now. He has killed so many throughout the years. You know how many he has killed. He has amassed so much power now"
"How does he get his power?" Doc asked.
"He feeds off your fear. And when he kills you, he consumes your soul. That's how he gets his power" Shaun muttered bleakly, "I've seen it in my dream. He killed my friend Dylan in front of them then I saw him devour his soul. The fucker was grinning at me while he did it. He was taunting me!"
Maggie gulped hard. "I think I saw it happen in my dream too. There was this little girl, I found her body. Then her corpse began to fade. It was melting into this white mist, and it soared around the corner of the room I was in to wherever he was waiting for me. I heard him moaning. It was like the fucker was getting pleasure from it!"
"Has he hurt you?"
Maggie veered her gaze towards Megan. The girl stared intently at her, waiting for an answer. Maggie glanced over towards Neil. They shared a knowing look. She would tell them that Krueger did her but would keep hidden the fact that Krueger had also healed her. She would find out the real reason why he did that to her. It was more than his explanation of apologising to her. Pulling her face back towards the young girl Maggie nodded quickly. "Yes, he has hurt me. He stabbed me with my own knife. I've had six dreams of him so far. He then possessed that girl Rebecca before he killed her to try and to get to me"
The teenagers muttered and whispered amongst themselves.
"I was going to leave Springwood. But Freddy threatened me" Maggie continued. "Well, he actually threatened to go after Alan if I were to leave the town"
"What? Why would he threaten Dr Reynolds?" Tracy questioned.
"I'm not sure why" Maggie shrugged her shoulders. "He was very insistent that I had to stay in the town. So, here I am. But we will try our best to help you all"
"Be careful" Tracy turned to face her, holding her gaze. "Freddy is very good at finding out what hurts you. He can get into your memories, find out what you are afraid of"
Maggie nodded once and then careened her brown eyes over the other kids. Each of them shifted uneasily in their seats. All of them murmuring in agreement. Just what had happened in their dreams? What had Krueger used against them? "Neil told us that Krueger can transform himself into other people in the dream. Has he done that in any of you dreams? To fool you?"
There was a chorus of agreement from the group and a few of them despondently nodded their weary heads.
Maggie lifted her pen and noted this down.
Doc leaned forward and smiled reassuringly at the kids. "Hopefully, we can help you to discern when you are sleeping and show you a few tricks of how you can wake yourself up. Most people can successfully learn how to control their dreams"
The group of traumatised teenagers eagerly shared a hopeful glance with each other. A little energised by his words. But their encouragement was soon dashed as he stated. "But it will take time to fully control your dream or even to have some portion of control over your dream. You need to have a clear and calm mind"
"I doubt that will happen with Krueger is in your dream" Carlos muttered bitterly.
Maggie looked over towards the young man, feeling sympathy for him. For all of them. Whatever had happened in their dreams had knocked their confidence, they were petrified. It seemed to her, that the kids believed that Freddy had the upper hand on them all.
"Did you tell them how many have died so far?" Karen asked looking over at Neil.
"Yes, I've told them the number so far. Though, I would need to check with my contacts in the Hospital and with Sheriff Garcia for any disappearances. The number may have increased" Neil shifted in his seat towards Maggie and Doc. "Each morning we are faxed through the number of deaths in the community from the hospital and Sheriff Garcia would confirm the number of any disappearances. On occasion some teenagers or children would disappear from their homes"
Maggie grabbed her pen and again wrote this piece of information down.
Neil glimpsed at his watch. The time reading past 2am. "Guys, I'll let you go back to your rooms-"
"I'm not going back to my room. Not after what happened to Rebecca. Can I move in with the girls?" Karen spoke up. Her face trembled with fear.
"Yes, of course"
"We'll help you move" Megan smiled.
"Thanks" Karen smiled back.
As the teenagers began to file out of the room, Maggie scanned quickly through her notes. At the top was the list of the teenagers' names.
Carols, Spencer, Shaun, Lee, Aaron, Tracy, Nicole, Megan, Karen.
Dates when they first heard of Krueger – ranging from 4th November to the 12th of December 1993. Heard of him through word of mouth through their friends, classmates who were suffering from nightmares. Some of them showing their injuries.
Most of their friends during this time began to die. A few of the teenagers found out about Krueger from old newspaper articles of his court case. A few old snippets of his crimes.
From 18th November to 15th December when they began to experience their first dreams of Krueger.
Within a matter of days, no more than a week when they began to suffer their first injuries from their dreams.
Most of them had managed to stay awake for at least eight to nine days on caffeine tablets, coffee, energy drinks. Most of their friends or people they have known through school have died. Not many of their friends remain.
Shaun provided a name that the press had for Krueger – known as the Springwood Slasher.
Maggie looked up from her notebook. A swell of curiosity rose in her as she thought back to the brief description Neil had given them of Krueger's crimes. Was there more information that he could share that would prove useful? "Dr Gordon, may I ask if you know anything more about his crimes? Or can point me in the right direction-"
He quickly interrupted. "Dr Burroughs, I understand that you may be curious about Krueger. But believe me the less you know about him the better. What he did to those children when he was alive was atrocious. He is pure evil. If he finds out you are curious about him, it will just play into his hands"
"I know, but-"she began.
"Maggie, just leave it!" Doc admonished her with a stern glare in her direction. "We both know enough about him"
She gave a reluctant nod and closed her notebook and pen. "I'm just going to leave this in my office. Then I'm going to go for a smoke"
"We'll be in my office" Neil rose to his feet along with Paul and Doc. "We can discuss some of the case files of the recent deaths"
"I'll take some notes for you" Doc glanced at Maggie as she strolled out of the room.
She smiled back, "I'll be back as soon as I can"
After leaving her book and pen in her office and gathering her cigarette packet, Maggie hurried down towards the foyer of the hospital. But as she approached the tall glass doors of the entrance she halted. The rain pelted hard against the glass. Large puddles of rain were starting to form on the concrete ground outside. Flashes of crackling yellow light shattered the dark skies, which was followed by loud thunder. A furrow of disbelief crossed her face. There was no way she was standing outside in that thunderstorm. To the far right a crack of lightening hit a large oak tree beyond the wall of the car park. Sparks cascaded down onto the ground.
"Fuck this!" she groaned. She needed a smoke. But where could she go? Spinning around, Maggie trotted towards the corridor to her right. Could there be a room that she could sneak into? Even for five minutes? Her eyes narrowed peering down the dimly lit corridor. The outline of several doors on each side of the corridor greeted her. Prudently she marched forward and tried the handles of the doors. Each of them was locked. She growled in frustration and was about to turn back towards the main foyer when a sign to her right at the far end of the corridor caught her eye.
It was a neon red sign that read – Maintenance Room. Restricted Access.
She took a cautious glance to her left. There was no one about. If she could just sneak down to this room, just for a few minutes…
Her right foot swivelled on the ground, and she half ran towards the large double doors beneath the sign. A set of concrete steps faced her as she pushed opened the heavy wooden doors. At the bottom was a left turn around a large thick wall to another set of stairs. Her feet thudded on the ground as she descended quickly. After leaving the last step she slowly surveyed the room.
The walls consisted of hard grey concrete. Three lightbulbs hung along the ceiling. One of them was broken, while one of them was flickering on and off. To the far right she could make out the outline of four large cylinder generators that rumbled quietly. Numerous thick pipes protruded from the back of each generator into the high ceiling. Across from her was a row of tall white electrical boxes with several yellow, red and blue lights glowed across the top of each box. Pipes and electrical wires spurted from the top of the boxes into the ceiling. Feeding the electricity to the various rooms in the hospital. To her immediate left was a row of dark blue lockers. All but one of them was locked. The one that was hung opened revealed a long brown trench coat hung on a metal hook. In the middle of the room were two large metal work benches. Scattered on each table were a variety of red and black toolboxes filled with hammers, screwdrivers, metal plates. Spanners, nuts and bolts were strewn along the metal desks. She could also discern a few oily rags, a silver ashtray that had a few crushed cigarette butts. Her concentration began to drift and after a moment she turned around towards the stairs.
Reaching into her back jean pocket she pulled out her Marlborough packet and slowly pulled up the lid.
"You shouldn't be down here"
Maggie held back a shriek as her head jolted up towards the owner of the voice. A man stood before her beside the opened locker. His face was hidden in the dim lighting. She shakily exhaled. Where the fuck did he come from?
Her eyes flicked behind him. There was a doorway tucked in the corner of the room that she had missed. Pulling her brown eyes back to the man, she quickly gave him a once over. He stood around 5'10 with a lean frame, a dark red baseball cap adorned his head. Despite the dim lighting he looked to be around in his late teens. His slim body wore work jeans, dirty stained white sneakers were on his feet, and he adorned a charcoal grey t-shirt that had a word printed across the chest. Her eyes squinted sharply, trying to determine the letters. But it was partially covered by the mustard shirt that had red lines running through parts of the shirt.
Taking a deep breath she closed the top of the cigarette packet, mumbling as she turned to leave. "I'll be on my way"
The stranger took a step forward. "Oh, I didn't mean for you to go"
Maggie paused mid-step. The sound of his voice sparked a vague recollection. Why was it familiar to her? It sounded soft and rich, but there was a hint of danger to his tone. She slowly turned to face him as he slowly took two steps forward. He stopped at the second last locker and his penetrating gaze roamed over her body ever so slowly. What was his fucking deal? She shook away the feeling of discomfort. "I'll just have a quick smoke and be on my way"
Her head dipped forward as she quickly opened her packet of smokes and pulled one out. She perched it between her lips quickly flicked on her red lighter, the flame sizzling the end of the smoke and she took a quick inhale. Then she heard him speak again.
"Mind if I join you?"
Maggie glanced warily in his direction. She held back a groan of annoyance. All she wanted was a few minutes by herself. With a sharp shake of her head, she half-heartedly agreed.
The man flashed a cunning smirk and reached into his pockets, rummaging for a few seconds and then muttered, "I must have none left" His eyes darted to hers and quickly to the packet in her hand.
She moved uneasily on her feet then withdrew another cigarette from her pack, then handed over the cigarette that was in her mouth. He took another step forward and at that moment the light that was flickering on and off, sparked out. Dimming the light in the room even more. The soft lightening that remained revealed the faint outline of his full face beneath the rim of the cap. His jaw was sharp and rounded. She could barely distinguish the faint curls of his hair tucked under the rim of his baseball cap. The colour vaguely looked like a light blonde marred with faint tints of red. His light blue twinkled astutely as his lips curled into a pleased smirk. Maggie swallowed hard. The way he was looking at her really alarmed her. It was rapacious in a way. And the quick glance she got of his blue eyes startled her. Why was he looking at her like that?
Maggie's eyes darted from his face to his right hand as it slowly withdrew the lit cigarette from her fingers. For a moment she felt his ring finger and pinkie finger quickly and gently stroke the soft skin of the back of her hand. She clenched her teeth and swiftly jerked her hand away and glanced up at his face. She swore that his lips had curled into a malicious smile.
Taking a few steps back she nervously took out another cigarette out of her packet and lit it up. She could still feel his eyes on her, watching her assiduously. Like he was devouring every part of her body.
"What's your name? Are you one of the new doctors I have heard about?" the stranger asked.
Maggie flicked a little pinch of ash onto the ground and eyed him quietly. How could he know that? She had never seen him before in the hospital. To be honest she never knew that someone was working in the basement. If she did, she wouldn't have bothered coming down here. She noticed the intense stare he gave her as he waited her reply. Slowly, her head bobbed up and down, "Yes, that's right. My name is Dr Maggie Burroughs"
The young man quickly took his cigarette in his left hand, then extended his right palm out to her to shake her hand as he gave her a flirtatious smile. "I'm Charles Barton"
She stared charily at his hand and muttered. "Nice to meet you" then she turned away.
The fingers on Charles right hand curled inwards and he took a deep breath, pacifying his anger and the urge to snarl in rage at her response. Was she normally like this around people? It was hard to know. Perhaps she was distrustful of people. Wary and dismissive of them. He would hopefully find out more when he finally penetrated her mind and memories.
Maggie took another long inhale of her cigarette. Hoping to finish it soon. This young man was making her skin crawl with apprehension.
Charles lightly skimmed his tongue over the edge of his top teeth. He noticed she was half turned away from him, her shoulders were slumped forward as she lazily stared at the ground. She seemed nervous and to see her this way thrilled him to a certain extent. But he desired for her to be relaxed around him. Lower her guard a little. His lips curled into a congenial smile as he asked, "So, you're a doctor of…?"
She took another quick drag of her smoke and lifted her gaze towards his. "Child psychology"
"Mmm" he mused, "How long have you been a doctor?"
Maggie aggravatingly flicked another dash of cigarette ash onto the ground and the fingers on her free hand snapped inwards to her palm, the fingernails digging into her flesh. She took a shaky deep breath and pushed her infuriation to the side. She hated being asked questions by strangers. And especially within five fucking minutes of meeting them. "Nearly two years" her reply was quick and sharp.
He slowly nodded.
"I was a counsellor before that since I was twenty-two" Maggie quickly blurted out, surprising herself. She saw his lips coil upwards into a pleased smile. Like he was delighted that she was starting to chat more freely. Her eyes darted about the dimly lit basement. "I didn't know that anyone was working down here. If I did, I wouldn't have disturbed you. I would have gone outside for a smoke."
"In that thunderstorm?" He scoffed and she saw his lips twist into an enticing smile, "It's not a problem if you want to come down here. it's nice to get a bit of company during the night. Especially with someone as pretty as you"
Maggie titled her head to the side, her mouth dropping open disbelief. Was this guy flirting with her? Her brown eyes flicked to her cigarette in her hand, and she took another quick puff, noticing that it was nearly done.
"Did you always wanted to be a doctor?"
It was her turn to scoff and flash a smile, "No, I wanted to be a roadie when I was teenager. You know, help set up the band equipment for festivals and concerts"
He lightly chuckled at this, and his penetrative eyes veered towards her cigarette in her hand as she stubbed it out against a nearby wall to her right. A frown of displeasure quickly flashed across his face as she turned to leave. "I have to get back to work"
"I hope to see you again soon" Charles said hopefully. He watched as she slightly twisted around towards him. Her gaze was blank, impassive and she gave a half-hearted shrug. Then without uttering goodbye she marched up the concrete steps…
Maggie's legs pumped hard as she hurried away from the basement and as she turned to her right to ascend the other flight of stairs she grounded to a stop. Her head craned to the right, and she peered down the steps into the basement. Expecting to see the man Charles still there. But he was nowhere in sight. A volley of shivers tore through her spine, a feeling of concern taking hold as she ran up the stairs.
….
For the next few hours Maggie kept herself occupied by discussing a few case files of the most recent deaths in the ward with Neil, Paul and Doc. She took a few mugs of coffee and even indulged in a few cans of red bull to keep her energy levels up. She was hopeful to head back to the apartment to change into fresh clothes and perhaps have a quick shower. But due to the thunderstorm still ravaging the town, several trees had fallen down a few hundred yards from the entrance to the hospital on the main road. So, they would have to wait until the road was cleared before they would be able to leave.
Thankfully, the kids where managing to keep awake. Most of them had gathered in the games room. Partaking in a few games on the game consoles, chatting amongst themselves. Anything that they could think of to keep themselves alert.
It was closing in on 6am when she decided to sneak away for another smoke. Here she was descending the steps to the maintenance room again. Her eyes slowly roved over the room, trying to distinguish if the man Charles was about. She then lowered her eyes to her cigarette packet and as she slid open the paper his voice shattered through the silence.
"Back again, huh?"
Her head whipped up towards him as he lingered a few feet from her at the lockers. How did he approach her so quietly? Who was he fucking Houdini? Exhaling softly she began to regulate her breathing.
"You know that you could get into trouble, if someone finds you down here" Charles remarked.
"Don't worry about that" Maggie replied brusquely.
"Oh" his eyebrows arched upwards in surprise. "Have you been in trouble before?"
Maggie gave a coy smirk in his direction "Who hasn't?"
He chortled quietly. And for a minute Maggie thought it sounded malevolent.
"Oh, you've been a bad girl before?"
"A few times, when I was younger" Maggie admitted. As she glanced in his direction, she swore she seen a malicious smile flash across his lips as though her admission captivated him. Then in a blink of an eye his smile vanished. Another tingle of anxiety soared through her body. Why did that smile remind her of something or someone? Could it be…?
No, she was awake. She knew that she was awake.
Tearing her gaze away from his she began to slide out her cigarette, then she heard him ask.
"May I have another cigarette?"
She glimpsed into the box. "This is my last one"
He flashed a coy smile. "I don't mind sharing, if you don't"
Maggie was taken back by how forward he was. She shifted agitatedly on her feet and then with an indifferent nod lit up her cigarette. She inhaled quickly and then held it out for him. He smiled cordially at her and closed the gap to a few feet. The fingers on his right hand brushed hers as he took the cigarette from her. But like before his ring finger and pinkie stroked delicately over her skin on the back of her hand. Her teeth snapped hard onto a thin layer of her bottom lip as she held back a snarl of disapproval and extracted down to her side. Why was he so touchy feely? To her this was too much contact. She hated the way he was acting towards her and felt like scolding him. But she had to purge the urge to do that. It was kind of him to allow her to come down here and smoke.
Her eyes scooted down towards the t-shirt underneath the chequered shirt he wore, and her eyes widened, lighting up in amazement. He was wearing the exact same Led Zepplin t-shirt she had. Dark charcoal polyester material with the words Led Zepplin in large red letters.
Charles saw her staring at the garment, and he chuckled, "What is it?"
"I have the exact same t-shirt. The Led Zepplin t-shirt. They were my favourite band when I was a teenager"
His lips grew into a crafty smile. Oh, he knew it was a band she was interested in. When he had the opportunity to investigate her memories over the past few weeks, he had seen on one night a few weeks back, her parading around in the same t-shirt and dark jogging bottoms. Several CDS and tapes of Led Zepplin were scattered on the coffee table in her living room. By wearing the same item of clothing, it was a subtle way of getting her to become more relaxed around him. And he was optimistic it would help him draw a conversation out of her. He noticed her stiff shoulders slacken slightly as he handed the cigarette back to her. It was working.
"You mentioned that you were a little bit of a troublemaker when you were younger. How?" Charles asked with a sly smirk.
Her demeanour shifted from relaxed to being instantly on edge. "It's something I'd rather not talk about. It's private"
He grumbled a low growl. Inaudible to her. Fuck, he had messed up his opportunity. She was back on guard again. The line of questioning changed as he then questioned. "What do you think is happening with the kids on the ward?"
Maggie took a swift puff of the cigarette then gave it back to him, studying him closely. He looked about eight-teen, nine-teen. Had he been having dreams? "Have you not been experiencing any nightmares? I mean, you look rather young. How old are you?"
"I'm nine-teen. But I'm not having any nightmares" A vindictive smirk flashed across his face.
He was the one creating them.
"You must be one of the lucky ones" Maggie muttered.
"What do you hope to achieve while you are here?" Charles probed.
"To stop the kids dreams"
He held back a scoff and bit hard on his tongue. Refraining from laughing. He saw her start to turn away and as he took a drag of the smoke he whispered. "Oh, you've no chance of that sweetheart"
Maggie spun back to him, eyes narrowing slightly in doubt. Did she really hear him say that? She cleared her throat and began to change the subject. "So, have you worked here long?"
"Oh, quiet a while. I mainly work the nightshift" He stretched out his right hand to her and she eagerly took the cigarette from him. "I'm rather busy during the night"
She lightly scratched her cheek with her fingers and scanned the room, then back to him. "I'm sure"
"You have beautiful eyes"
Maggie froze and swallowed hard. A little taken back by this.
Charles broke out into a knowing grin. "They remind me of a girl I used to know"
Her body remained locked in place. There was something surreal about this man and she couldn't understand why. The way he smirked and smiled, the tone of his laugh. Despite not seeing the full features of his face in more precise detail she felt like she had been in his presence before tonight. And the possessive stare he kept giving her…
It was a bit like…
She shook herself and took one last puff of her smoke and crushed it under her boot. "Thanks for letting me smoke down here" Her lips pulled up into a forced smile, and she swirled away up the staircase.
Charles eyes flashed a bright red and he growled quietly in anger as she disappeared up the steps.
Maggie shoved opened the double doors of the basement and trotted down the corridor. Her head was hung low as she muttered quietly to herself. "What the fuck is going on?"
The top of her head crashed into the side of a strong arm, and she jolted backwards to see Max standing before her. He apologised with a warm smile, "Hey, sorry!"
She glanced to her right seeing a storeroom from where he came from. "It's okay. It's my fault, I should be looking where I am going"
"Are you okay?" Max's eyes narrowed slightly, sensing her uneasiness.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Yeah, fire away" he gesticulated for her to follow her back towards the foyer.
"Down in the maintenance room, where the generators boxes are. Does anyone work there?"
"Work there?"
Maggie sighed, "Like a janitor"
Max slowly shook his head. "No, we have contractors who come out once every three months to service the generators"
She felt her blood freeze in her veins. "So, no-one works down there?"
"No, why?"
"I just went down for a quick smoke. I know I shouldn't' have. But with the storm going on outside I didn't want to head out there" she glanced wearily at the car park. The rain continued to smash onto the concrete. "I just thought I saw someone down there. Must by my mind playing tricks on me"
"Don't worry. Look, we would normally head to one of the old storerooms on the second floor for our smoke breaks. You are more than welcome to join us" Max offered with a smile.
She smiled back. "I will, thanks!"
He spun on his heel and head back down to the storeroom leaving her staring worryingly out into the storm. More booms of thunder rumbled above the building and a scatter of yellow streaks of lightening flashed across the black sky. Her mind was clouded by disturbing thoughts. What did Neil say to her? That Krueger had the power to manifest himself into other people? So, what if she was daydreaming and the bastard was showing himself to her that way by pretending to be that guy, Charles?
She shuddered and bit hard on her bottom lip.
That had to be it.
He was now invading her daydreams…
