A Nightmare Reborn: FVJ 02

Sean didn't feel all that confidant suddenly.

"They'll be here," she said, gripping his arm firmly, "They may not be trained as cops, but they've all done this before."

"Yeah," Sean took a deep breath and then stopped, his eyes wide as he looked behind Tessa.

"What's wrong?"

"Jason just woke up."

Tessa spun around on her heel and was terrified to find that Jason was no longer to be seen anywhere, around the truck or in it. His machete was gone as well.

"Fuck."

***

Not more than a minute after Sean and Tessa went into the plant, the police cruiser carrying Loomis, Alice and Lori came barreling down the road and chased by another police car. The pursuing car was flashing its lights, though the man driving the vehicle had no interest in making his intentions known the rest of the world. He simply could not find the mechanism to turn them off. His single-minded pursuit of the prey in the car ahead was all consuming and un-accepting of failure.

"Listen," Loomis shouted as they drove along the west side of the complex doing fifty miles an hour, "I'm going to stop at the main entrance. Both of you get out and make for the offices."

"What about you?" Lori grasped the door handle, readying herself. Her heart was thundering in her ears as she grasped her gun with her free hand. The three magazine clips Sean had entrusted her with sat firmly in her jean pockets, hard and cold.

"Just do it!" Loomis said and then slammed on the brakes. The cruiser swerved to one side and skidded down the broken road before stopping with the passenger side of the vehicle facing the double-doored entry to the power plant. Lori opened her door and jumped out into a huge puddle, soaking her shoes and pants as she opened the back door for Alice. The two women clutched their guns and then began running. Lori turned back just in time to see Dr. Loomis try to pull away when the second police cruiser crashed into him, flipping his car over onto one side. Mud and sparks showered everywhere as the body of the car wailed, metal screeching against metal and glass rebounding off the wet ground. Lori saw Loomis inside briefly as the car flipped, scared and surprised.

"Dr. Loomis!" Lori screamed and made to go back for him when Alice grabbed her by the arm and jerked her back hard.

"No!" Alice yelled at her, "We have to go!"

The police car spun on its roof as the vehicle commandeered by Michael Myers sped past and screeched to a halt. Red and blue plastic showered the road as Loomis' car skidded to a rest on the shoulder of the access road. Sparks erupted from the grinding metal as it squealed along, smashing rocks and destroying the roof. The remaining cruiser only sat motionlessly as Michael kept his foot on the brakes, turning the smoky air into a red fog.

In the overturned car, Loomis could feel fresh blood trickling up to his forehead as he hung upside down, his seatbelt keeping him from falling. Through the blown out windshield, he could see the door of the other car open and Michael Myers stepping out. Loomis fought against the belt desperately, trying to free himself. He hammered the belt release button mercilessly but found it was jammed.

"Shit," he hissed as blood ran into his left eye and stung there. He could hear Michael getting closer and closer, his boots crunching and popping in the wet gravel. The smell of fresh rain wafted to his nose through the aroma of gasoline and burnt metal and wood smoke. Rain began to fall again as Michael moved in for the kill. He reached for his shotgun but found it was out of his reach, half way out the broken window on the passenger side. Like a drowning swimmer trying to reach the shore against the tide he realized he was no closer to being safe than he had been five minutes ago.

"Shit!" Loomis tried pulling on the shoulder belt again.

Michael Myers stood beside the overturned car on the driver's side as rain pelted him above. His lifeless eyes looked down at the cruiser, his ears hearing the sounds of his prey trapped and ready for the kill. Michael felt a certain sadistic satisfaction at the prospect of killing the cursed doctor. It was a completion of a circle, one that Michael wanted to be finished and done with. He remembered the dreams he had seen of the doctor and the things he did to mock him.

Michael knelt down on one knee and looked into the wide eyes of Matthew Loomis.

"So," Loomis said, "This is where it ends."

Michael raised his blade and struck.

CHAPTER 11

ENDGAME

Tuesday, May 17th 2005

Lori and Alice ran through the generator basin housing. The overhead lights dimmed and flickered playing shadows on their eyes, the danger of falling into the deep pits becoming more and more likely. The walkways were narrow and meant for slow traffic, not emergencies. As she ran, Lori looked down into one of the massive chasms, the paltry measurements of fifteen feet deep by twenty feet wide now seeming understated to her. The holes were open mouths, hungry and waiting for something to eat. She could hear her footfalls echoing through the deep pits as they ran, creating a bizarre double echo through the huge housing.

The smell of must and decay was overpowering as they passed the fifth and then the sixth basin. The wind was kicking up outside and howling through the empty pipes, vents and channels above them, the once powerful arteries and veins of the plant rotted and filled with a powerful air of the dead. Rain was drumming on the tin roof of the generator housing, sounding more like gunfire than anything else.

"There!" Alice shouted and pointed at the far end of the massive chamber. A metal stairwell and platform assembly led up to the manager's office one floor up. They hurried past the seventh basin and then ran up the rickety structure as it leaned and groaned under their weight. Alice feared the old bolts might pop right out from the wall under the pressure as they ran. Dust fell from the shaking stairs as the two women reached the door and kicked it open.

Alice slammed it shut and then wiped away a clean spot in the dust-caked window, "I don't see anything."

Lori wiped away a similar hole in the dirty glass and looked out, "Jesus, I hope Loomis is okay..."

Alice bit her lip, "He's tough Lori."

"We should go back for him," Lori put a hand to her forehead, her eyes wide.

"No," Alice said, feeling both justified and guilty as she forced herself to remain focused, "We have a job to do. All right?"

Lori was ready to cry over Loomis. She had lost Will already and that had killed her inside, but losing Loomis might just as well finish the job Freddy had set out to do.

"Stay with me, Lori."

Lori took a deep breath and nodded, "Okay."

"We don't have any time," Alice said and then pulled out a plastic bottle of pills from her jeans pocket. She held up the orange, transparent container and popped the lid off, dropping four white pills into Lori's hand and then four into her own.

"Ready?" Lori asked her, her blue eyes wide with fear and adrenaline.

"Ready," Alice dry swallowed the pills and added, "Dream Master."

They sat down against the wall facing the door and huddled together, closing their eyes. Lori felt the effects of the drug immediately as her eye lids became heavy and felt dry. She felt her breathing slowing down as she leaned against Alice. Her body felt distant from her as a drowsy calm overtook her. Alice said something she couldn't quite make out as she slipped out of the world and into the place beyond.

"Don't forget," she whispered as her mind fell into the ether, "...to wake... up."

And then, Lori and Alice were gone.

***

Loomis ducked back from Michael's third attempt to stab him and knew he didn't have much time left. Michael had already sliced open his cheek, creating a new cut to compliment the one from yesterday. This one was wicked though, running in a long gash from his left temple to his jaw. Michael had stabbed his left shoulder on the second try, forcing the doctor to cry out. The third slashed past his head and missed his eyes by an inch, the blade hissing through the air.

"Help!" Loomis shouted as he vainly fought against his seatbelt, the blood rushing to his head as he hung upside down.

And then Michael was jerked back suddenly. Loomis saw the heavy, mud spattered black boots of Jason Voorhees behind Michael and began frantically pulling on the belt. He heard several hard punches and saw Michael's knife clatter to the wet cement. The killer's legs were twisting in the air as Jason held him in a death grip.

"Doctor!" came a voice from the passenger side of the car. In the dim light he saw the face of Tessa Alexander coming towards him, "Need a hand?"

"God bless you," Loomis breathed and tried to smile as the belt compressed his ribs, "Cut the damn thing."

Tessa pulled her pocketknife out and began cutting the fabric of the belt as Jason and Michael fought.

From where Sean was standing, covering Tessa and keeping his gun aimed at the two killers, it looked like a clear-cut fight. Jason was winning, his massive hands clasped around Michael's head and squeezing. Jason's powerful fingers were digging into Michael's eyes and blood was draining from the black sockets like crimson tears. He could hear the sounds of bone cracking as he writhed in Jason's grip and Sean thought for sure Myers head was going to explode like an overly ripe melon. But then Michael twisted his body to the right and punched towards Jason, catching him in the chest and driving one of the tranquillizer darts they had used to sedate him earlier deep into his flesh like a dagger.

Jason staggered back and released Michael, who fell to the ground and flipped over on his back. The pain of having the tip of the dart poke through his ribs stunned Jason momentarily, giving Michael a chance to recover and find his blade. Michael was up on his feet again as lightning flashed overhead and the impending dawn was hidden by the storm front. Jason raised his machete high and bore down on Michael. The Halloween killer deflected the blow with his long carving knife. The machete bent the knife and rendered it useless in a fury of sparks.

"Guys," Sean whispered as he looked down at Tessa's ass, "Hurry the fuck up!"

There was a muted thump as Loomis came free of the safety belt followed by Tessa shouting, "I got him!"

She backed her way out of the car, her front side covered with mud and her tank top soaked by rainwater. Loomis followed behind her and stood up, covered in blood. The doctor took off his trench coat and tossed it aside as he stretched his back and then looked at Sean, "Thank you both."

"You okay?" Sean cringed at the nasty wound on his face.

"A mere flesh wound," Loomis reassured him and then was shoved forward into the police officer as the car began spinning slowly. Michael had Jason pressed up against the car and was ramming his face into the right rear tire. The hubcap split and broke as Jason's mask cracked against the steel of the lug nuts and wheel assembly.

"Okay," Sean raised his Uzi, "Time to fish or cut bait."

He fired several rounds into Michael's shoulder, a precision hit that rocked Michael backwards. Blood sprayed into the drizzling air as he looked up from his work, his eyes crimson from the hemorrhaging. The expressionless Halloween mask seemed to calmly tell Sean that he was next as Michael gave one final, mighty push that rammed Jason into the tire. Michael released him and grabbed Jason's machete, looking to Loomis, Sean and Tessa with bloody eyes that left no room for mercy.

"Inside now," Loomis quickly grabbed his shotgun from its resting place in the mud and ushered them into the plant, "Find Lori and Alice. Guard them!"

Sean and Tessa ran towards the office while Loomis ducked away into the shadows to his right. Michael followed them inside and briefly considered who to go after first. He looked after Sean and Tessa and then after the doctor. He cocked his head and cracked his knuckles over the rubber grip of Jason's machete. He turned and followed Loomis into the darkness.

***

There was no cathedral or chapel or church this time.

Alice and Lori fell into a place that was devoid of human context or understanding. It was hellish representation of the world that Freddy Krueger had created. They tumbled down a long, fleshy slide that left them sticky with some kind of viscous substance that smelled like saliva before emerging from the tunnel into open space. As she fell, Lori realized they had fallen from a huge face carved into an ancient, sheer rock formation. The face was leering and laughing at them like some kind of funhouse mirror image. The countenance of Freddy Krueger was frightening and ridiculous at the same time as burning eyes from the stone relief glared down at them.

Lori could hear laughing as she flipped over and saw the ground rushing up to meet them. She could see flames and water splashing around together amidst dozens of large flagstones. And then, before she could register the sensation or the thought she smacked into the surface of the water in a brutal belly flop. The water was warm and sickly as she submerged and her body screamed out from the pain, her stomach stinging and her breasts aching from the impact. A hand grasped her wrist and she was pulled upwards back to the air of the dream world.

"You okay?" Alice asked, completely soaked. Her sea green eyes darted around the cavernous lair, her red hair hanging in her face in long stringy strands.

Lori gasped for air, "I'm all right..."

Alice looked around as water dripped from her chin, "I've never seen this place before."

A pillar of fire plumed from behind them as Lori pushed out of the water and sat on a weathered flagstone. All around her were aged quasi-Romanesque pillars, as though Freddy had set up shop in an abandoned temple from some long extinct society. The entire place harbored a bizarre atmosphere and quality to it. The aura of the environment made Lori feel like she was off balance. It reminded her of when she would reach the top of the roller coaster at the amusement park and there would be that one disorienting moment where her insides were still going up while her body was going down. It was a horrific giddy feeling that stole her sense of reality.

"Like what I've done with the place?" came a deep, chuckling voice from the shadows of the temple.

Alice and Lori stood up and faced their hidden host.

"Show yourself," Alice spoke loudly, her voice echoing through the shadowy expanse of Freddy's lair.

"You're too late," Freddy's demonic voice casually taunted her, "All the children in Springwood are dead."

"I don't believe that," Lori shouted out in the cavernous chamber.

"You're right," he said and then added, "They live forever... in me."

"I don't believe in you!" Lori screamed as Alice looked on.

"Seeing is believing, bitch," the dream killer growled as he walked out from the overly elaborate temple in the center of the lair, only it was a Freddy Krueger Alice had never seen before. He looked more evil, if that was even possible. His eyes were a cold light gray and his burned face seemed to be more streamlined, more purposeful. He looked like some kind of demon from Hell, still dressed in his green and red striped sweater but now wearing a long black trench coat over it that was made from sack cloth. His fedora was resting easily on his bald head as he walked towards them, his heavy boots echoing over the flames of the fiery lake.

"That's a new look," Alice commented dryly.

"I thought Loomis had the right idea with the coat," he leered at her, "What do you think?"

"I think you're going to be sorry you ever started this shit," Alice stared at him.

"Look around you," Freddy opened his arms wide, his bladed fingers stretched out and commanding of the sulfurous air as burning embers swirled and danced about his feet, "See the agony of the damned."

Lori and Alice looked up towards the ceiling of the cave and saw hundreds of people there, suspended in the air. They were all bloody and crying out, wounded and tortured. They floated like debris on water, listlessly being carried by currents they could neither see nor touch. Lori recognized the face of the boy she had seen in the jail cell at the Springwood Police station earlier. He was crying and screaming for help as countless arms and legs twisted and caressed his body.

"My God," Lori whispered, her heart actually beating through her voice. Tears streamed down her dirt and sweat smudged face.

"All the people," Alice said.

"All the children," Freddy corrected her and laughed, resting his hands on his hips, "It's beautiful."

"You sick fuck!" Lori bellowed at him, "Let them go!"

Freddy smirked and looked at her like a father would look at his precocious little child and shook his head, "I don't think you understand, Princess. There are over two hundred souls up there and they're mine now. I have grown more powerful than you can possibly imagine."

"Big words," Alice said, completely unimpressed as her wet, red hair whipped in the winds of Freddy's perdition, "Been watching too many horror movies, Fred?"

Freddy sneered.

"It ends tonight,"

"Of course it does," the dream killer agreed, "For you. But for me, this is just the beginning..."

Lori steadied herself.

"The beginning of my new nightmare," the dream killer smiled broadly.

Freddy dramatically whipped off his bladed glove and tossed it into the burning water. Lori watched as all five of his fingers rippled and then birthed five gleaming razor sharp knives, from pinky to thumb. Freddy turned his right hand around and admired it as bony protrusions ripped from his flesh and sealed over his knuckles, creating a new, more biologically secure glove. The glove had always been an extension of Krueger and now, it truly was a part of him.

"Old dog," he winked at Alice and Lori, "New tricks."

He lunged at them, running full speed with his clawed hand drawn back, screaming. Alice remained still and Lori followed her lead as Krueger charged them. Alice reached out with her hand and grasped at the pool of water where Freddy's glove had been discarded. The water bubbled and steamed for a few seconds. Lori resisted the urge to duck out of the way and stood by Alice.

Alice grunted and then the glove shot out at her as though fired from a cannon. It clipped Freddy's overcoat and tore the shoulder open as it sailed to Alice's hand. She stretched as the glove slipped over her fingers and the Dream Master flexed her new weapon defiantly before Krueger. Freddy paused, seized by a moment of retched uncertainty. She smiled and held up her gloved right hand defiantly, extending the middle finger out to Freddy.

Lori smiled and saw a shadow of doubt cross Freddy's face.

"Now," Alice smiled. She felt a rush of familiar energy surge through her. She could remember what it felt like to be in control, and even though she had never been comfortable or needful of this gift, she now thoroughly relished in it. Harsh smoke swirled around her and Lori as the flames of this world rose into the air and licked the ceiling of the cavern angrily. Her body steeled inside her clothes and every muscle pulled tight, ready for what was to come. Alice encouraged Freddy to come to her with a simple motion of her outstretched hand, "Let's dance, motherfucker."

***

Loomis could hardly see as he ducked in and out of the pipes lining the housing, taking care to not give away his position as he evaded Michael Myers. He could hear him coming, slowly and methodically working his way towards the kill. Loomis winced as his wounded shoulder hit one of the old steel pipes and the stab wound sang out. He bit his lip and continued on until he reached the first basin.

'To Hell with this,' Loomis grimaced, 'No more hiding.'