The Last Nightmare On Elm Street
By evolution-500
Genre: Horror/Tragedy
Disclaimer: "A Nightmare On Elm Street" is a property owned by Wes Craven and Warner Bros. I do not own this character.
WARNING: This story contains references to violence, coarse language, disturbing themes and imagery. Reader discretion is advised.
"They've promised that dreams can come true - but forgot to mention that nightmares are dreams, too."
- Oscar Wilde
Night had begun to fall over the sleepy town of Springwood, Ohio, as the residents started to prepare for rest.
While the populace all slowly drifted off to sleep one individual at a time, a lone figure within his corner of the Dream Realm remained deathly still, biding his time, watching and waiting.
Eight-inch steel talons flexed in anticipation as its wearer impatiently tested his modified bladed glove, watching from within the perfect recreation of the infamous Elm Street boiler room that he had died in ages ago, his features kept hidden in a veil of shadow beneath the black fedora that he wore.
Crouching low, the figure stared downward at the town that lied in wait, his faded red and green sweater and dark pants all faded, stained and badly burned, his face a patchwork of severe third-degree burns, keloid scars and exposed muscle.
Letting out a dark chuckle, Freddy Krueger slowly rose to his feet like a lion on the prowl, his smile the only thing visible on his shadowy and horrifically scarred visage beneath his black fedora.
"Ready or not, boys and girls," he spoke, his voice low, nasally yet deep with a foxlike cadence, "here comes Freddy!"
While the residents all dreamed, blissfully unaware of the danger that lurked, Freddy sifted through the minds of those that slept, taking in all of their thoughts and desires.
Closing his eyes, the dream demon smiled, chuckling in amusement.
Oh yes, there were plenty of potential victims to torment, plenty of souls ripe for the taking!
So many thoughts, so many memories, so many secrets, so much potential - an endless playground of limitless possibilities!
The only issue that Freddy had was deciding who would die first.
Hm. Decisions, decisions.
Stepping through a wall into the bedroom of one potential victim - a girl probably no older than sixteen with dark skin - Freddy studied the girl with a sick grin.
"Weelll," he purred, "aren't you a pretty one." Knitting his brows together, he concentrated, his grin faltering slightly.
That's odd, he couldn't get a proper read on this girl.
Blinking in confusion, the dream demon gave her a puzzled look.
'...Why can't I sense you?' he wondered.
She was definitely a flesh and blood person, and yet...she seemed...off, somehow.
Staring at the girl for a long time, Freddy merely shrugged it off.
No matter. He'd figure it out once he was finished.
Tilting his head, Freddy inspected her, taking in her features.
"Heavy sleeper, aren't you? So quiet. So peaceful." Humming thoughtfully to himself, Freddy's smile returned as he flexed his knife-bedecked fingers, drawing menacingly closer to the sleeping girl as raised his blades. "Why don't we start things off and have a peek inside, shall we? Then, we can move on from there and have some fun."
As his hand started to slowly make its way over the girl's face, the girl suddenly let out a deep laugh, the sound causing the dream demon to falter.
"Huh?" Freddy's smile fell as her eyes suddenly opened, revealing a cold pair of orbs of pure whiteness that stared expectantly at him.
"My thoughts exactly," the girl spoke, her voice unnervingly and unnaturally calm. "Hello, Frederick. I have been expecting you."
Blinking in surprise, Freddy reared his head back, looking around in all directions. "...What is this?"
Had he stumbled into some sort of trap without even realizing?
The girl merely smiled as she spoke, "There is no reason to feel afraid, Frederick. I have been waiting a very long time for this meeting."
Clenching his jaw, Freddy smirked, barking out a laugh, "Me? Afraid?" Shaking his head with disbelief, he cackled. "That's funny. The only one who should be afraid is you, little girl." He took a threatening step forward, his bladed glove raised. "Come to Freddy."
But the girl was unmoved, her features showing no reaction whatsoever.
Furrowing his brows, Freddy hesitated, staring down at her in confusion.
Something was wrong.
For many years, Freddy was used to the sight of children screaming, used to feeling the fear emanating from his victims.
But this girl...he couldn't feel anything from her.
Nothing whatsoever.
Everything about her seemed...wrong..
He had trouble pinpointing how, but some part of him was starting to feel a little on edge and wary.
"...Why aren't you afraid?" he asked slowly, perplexed by the complete utter lack of emotion.
The girl kept smiling, chuckling to herself, like one that had been told a private joke. "Your story up to this point has been entertaining, Frederick, but your pastimes are not anything that I haven't seen before. My family is far more fearsome than you could ever imagine."
The way she spoke really bothered Freddy, for it had reminded him of an old principal addressing a student at school.
"...Who are you?" Freddy questioned. "Why can't I read you like the others?"
Sitting right up, she calmly watched him, her expression unreadable.
"I am Nyarlathotep," she answered, "the Black Pharaoh." She then pointed directly at Freddy, continuing, "And you, Frederick, have been chosen."
Freddy's eyes widened, put off by both the girl's demeanor and her words.
"'Chosen'?" he repeated. "Chosen for what?"
And what did she mean by "the Black Pharaoh"?
"All will become clear once you have arrived at your destination."
Straightening herself up, the girl held out an arm to the bedroom window, gesturing toward the sleeping moonlit street. "Come."
Freddy watched in mystified awe as she approached the window. As she drew closer to it, the girl's appearance shimmered and faded like sand, startling the dream demon as her form was replaced with that of another.
In the girl's place was a tall man man covered from head to foot in a purple shroud, his neck adorned with a rich gold Egyptian pharaoh's broad collar with a thick ruby, his face concealed by a porcelain mask with a long cloth veil concealing his lower features, while the top of his head was adorned with an Egyptian crown.
Turning in his direction, Freddy was unprepared for the seemingly black eyes of his host, catching him completely off-guard.
"Come, Frederick," the being spoke, his voice mellifluous and layered, tinged with an otherworldly and hauntingly echoing quality. "Destiny awaits."
Staring wide-eyed at the enigmatic figure, Freddy's first inclination was to cuss out at it, if not attack it, but something about the figure's presence warned him against doing either. Instead, Freddy ended up giving a stiff nod as he obeyed, even though every fiber of his being was vehemently trying to reject and rebel.
The dream demon was powerless as he followed, unable to protest, unable to resist the Black Pharaoh's command.
Stopping by the window, the cloaked figure raised a gloved hand. With a single gesture, everything around him seemed to bend to his will.
Freddy was no stranger to such sights; after all, he had done so many times over the years.
...But that was in the Dream Realm; never in his life had Freddy actually encountered a being that was able to affect reality itself.
Freddy watched as his perspective twisted and warped, the mere sight of it causing him to have a headache.
Foreground merged seamlessly with the background, while strange particles, lights and shapes that he knew no name for appeared.
Solid, liquid and gas blurred together, shifting and rippling with unnameable patterns and geometric designs, the mere sight of which caused Freddy's head to hurt.
Finally, everything disappeared and folded inward like pages in a pop-up book, revealing an empty, gaping black void.
Freddy's eyes widened, the dream demon looking back at the purple-clad being with growing apprehension and awe.
"Follow me."
He watched as the Black Pharoah stepped forward, disappearing into the void.
Looking around him in uncertainty, Freddy turned his attention back to the abyss, a lump forming in the pit of his stomach.
He didn't know what exactly compelled him to move toward it; if anything, Freddy was certain that he wasn't even consciously aware of himself doing so.
He felt as if he were a passenger within his own body, watching him doing something that he knew that he shouldn't.
Freddy was no stranger to evil, but this...there were alarms blaring in his head, warning him against following.
And yet, he heard the Black Pharoah's voice beckoning him onward, urging him more and more.
Finally, Freddy found himself standing mere inches from the black void, its form rippling and humming with power.
Like one finding himself on the ledge of steep cliff looking down, Freddy found himself teetering back and forth, his mind a warring battleground.
'Don't go in,' some part of him warned. 'Something's wrong. Whatever you do, don't go inside-'
Letting out a sharp gasp, Freddy sat up in alert, his eyes bulging open in fright.
Before him, the Black Pharoah pitilessly stared down at him, his black eyes reflecting the dream being's frightened visage back to him.
Turning away from its frightful gaze, Freddy froze as he studied his new surroundings.
He was in a black star-filled chamber with transparent walls and floors, all of which revealed shining nebulas and galaxies, the floor made of some dark unearthly reflective material.
Pushing himself off the ground, Freddy stared out in awe of the cosmos, the dream killer feeling helpless and small in the midst of something so unfathomably colossal.
"W-What is this place?" he uncharacteristically stammered.
"Do you not remember?" Nyarlathotep queried, staring out at the stars.
"Remember? Remember what?"
"This is where you were born," the Black Pharaoh enigmatically spoke.
Hesitating, Freddy gave him a perplexed look. "The hell are you talking about?"
Nyarlathotep then raised a gloved hand, pointing out to the starry expanse. "Tell me, Frederick...did you know that all of a star's components can be found within the human body?"
Staring blankly at the masked figure, Freddy said nothing, uncertain how to even respond to such a question, uncertain if he was being rhetorical or not. Taking his silence as answer enough, the Black Pharaoh continued to elaborate.
"Oh yes," Nyarlathotep nodded. "It has taken fourteen billion years in order to make your world, much of it created from the harvested corpses of innumerable dead stars. All of those elements and atoms have been used to make your kind, and they continue exist within your being, down to the molecular level, all of it having been passed down by your ancestors throughout the centuries with each successive generation.
'But what created the stars? What power created the so-called "Big Bang"? Had there...ever been such a thing?"
Turning to face Freddy, the Black Pharaoh then pointed to his left. "Look."
Puzzled, the Freddy glanced over in the indicated direction, only to instantly regret doing so.
Words failed to describe the thing that he saw. The only way to describe it was a giant mass of glowing orbs, an entire constantly shifting constellation of eyes or stars, all of it bound together by a greenish, veiny semi-translucent film.
Staring aghast, Freddy took two steps backward, feeling incredibly small and vulnerable.
"What..." Freddy swallowed, "...what is that?"
Nyarlathotep slowly held out his arm, gesturing to the strange entity or phenomena with an eerie calm, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Behold, Yog-Sothoth. The Lurker at the Threshold. The Key and the guardian of the Gate. Past, present, and future are all one in him. It is He who will provide the way. Come, Frederick. Your destiny lies ahead."
Approaching the being, the Black Pharaoh slipped into its amorphous mass, vanishing within.
Looking uneasily at its massive form, Freddy tentatively stepped forward, giving its various "eyes" an anxious glance before following, feeling his own form burn from making contact with its strange flesh.
The pain barely lasted a second.
When Freddy opened his eyes again, he found himself in what appeared to be a grand temple or throne room of enormous size, a hall so vast and imposing that the dream demon felt more like a mere ant in its presence.
None of the throne room's shapes nor configurations made any sort of sense to him; but it was the Black Pharaoh that drew Freddy's interest. At the far end of the hall ahead, Nyarlathotep was standing alone by a constantly shifting door with his sleeved arms pressed together.
Moving toward him, Freddy eyed their surroundings with wonder, wordlessly taking it all in.
As he opened his mouth to speak, he felt it.
It was like a dull, throbbing hum or pulse, like a steady heartbeat, and every time Freddy moved closer to the Black Pharaoh, the more he could feel it.
Turning his attention to the door, Freddy stilled himself as he focused on it, feeling the dull ebb and flow passing over him like crashing ocean waves.
There was power emanating from that door - that much was certain. Power the likes of which he could scarcely even imagine, so palpable that it felt almost suffocating.
"What...is...this?" Freddy spoke in a soft voice, feeling overwhelmed.
"The origin of everything, Frederick," Nyarlathotep answered. "Including you."
Freddy gave him a confused look. "Me?"
"Yes," the Black Pharaoh nodded slowly. "Did you believe it chance that you were able to survive your death, let alone ascend and traverse the Dream Realm so freely? Did you never question how it was that you were able to do so in the first place?"
The uncomfortable silence that followed made Freddy anxiously shift, his gloved claws fidgeting. He had admittedly wondered how it was that he was able to do so for many years, but over time, he had just come to accept it as one of those freak occurrences.
Freddy felt the cold black eyes of Nyarlathotep regard him, his inability to read the latter unnerving.
"You are a cog in a grand design, Frederick," the Black Pharaoh continued. "One set up from the very beginning for one very specific purpose. All that you see and feel around you - before, and after your upliftment - is naught but a dream. Everything that you have ever known, everything that has ever happened to you, every choice that you have ever made and will make, it has all been determined, and it has led to this moment."
Clenching his jaw, Freddy's hand tightened into a fist.
"And what is this...'moment', exactly?" Freddy muttered. "If everything had been rigged from the get-go, why tell me now?"
"You already know the answer, Frederick." The words echoed hollowly through the throne room, stretching on to infinity, almost tauntingly, as if reminding him that which he desperately wanted to suppress. "For many years, you have haunted many a nightmare. But the dream must end."
Stretching out a cloaked arm, Nyarlathotep gestured to the strange door, saying, "The Blind Idiot God lies on the other side of that door. Once you go through it, it will be all over. All that remains now is for you to accomplish what you were meant to do. Now go - Azathoth awaits."
The dream demon pursed his lips as pondered what was said, clicking his tongue distractedly along with the blades on his glove.
"Hm. So you want me to kill your boss, eh? Interesting." Resting his chin on one of his knuckles, Freddy hummed thoughtfully. "There is just one. Little. Problem." Teleporting, he stabbed straight into the Black Pharaoh's form, sneering directly into its veiled face as he spoke, "I don't take orders for no-one, especially not from you!"
But the cloaked figure didn't react at all, nor did it utter a single noise or cry.
Instead, it gave a low chuckle, as if enjoying the antics of a mere child.
Enraged, Freddy withdrew his clawed glove from its torso and slashed wildly, only to find himself slashing at nothing but air.
No matter where he slashed, no matter the angle, no matter how fast he was, his knives swished around, not making any impact at all.
Letting out an angry roar, Freddy lunged forward, feeling his glove make contact with something.
Grinning in satisfaction, he cackled in delight, his laughter growing loudly before coming to an abrupt halt as he found his gloved hand embedded straight into the door.
Pulling himself free, Freddy watched as a bright light started to escape from it along with a gas and a high-pitched whine.
Moments later, everything around him started to shake, while a slow, almost mocking clap sounded somewhere behind the dream demon.
"Well done, Frederick," Nyarlathotep spoke into his ear. "The door has been breached. It will only be matter of time before Azathoth finally awakens. Savor this moment while you can, for once he does, everything ceases."
Upon hearing that, Freddy's eyes widened in alarm as panic seeped into his being, the implications of Nyarlathotep's words hanging over him like the heavy blade of a guillotine.
No. No! It was not time! He needed to get out of here! He needed get out as fast as he could!
Turning around to flee, Freddy dashed through the labyrinthine halls in desperation as he sought to escape, the hunter of dreams turned prey to the greatest threat of all.
I must get out of here! It's not my time! I need to get out! I will find a way out of this - I always do! Nobody can kill me! I can-
Author's Note: And that concludes my story. So, bit of a confession here, I'm not much of a fan of the "Nightmare on Elm Street" movies, let alone Freddy Krueger. I really liked the first "Nightmare On Elm Street" and the "Freddy vs Jason vs Ash" comic, but aside from that, I could never really get into the character. That being said, however, I did like certain aspects of said-character. For this story, I was sort of intrigued with the idea of what would happen if Freddy encountered something within the Cthulhu mythos, or was somehow a part of it. I was actually somewhat surprised (and a little disappointed) that nobody thought to do a crossover with the Cthulhu mythos, just because it seems like a good fit with "Dreams In The Witch House", "Dream-Quest Of Unknown Kadath" and other works by H.P. Lovecraft. So, I thought why not give this fic a try.
I hope you guys like it. Stay safe and healthy, everyone! :)