A Nightmare Reborn Ch. 05

"It was a bold plan, I grant you," Loomis said, "But flawed. You can't suppress the subconscious mind of one person and be sure you're safe, let alone an entire population. The human element is unpredictable right down to the individual."

"I know that now," Campbell nodded gravely and then looked at them all, "I knew it then too... but I was weak. God help me, I was weak. I wanted to simple easy solution... You've come to me for answers. I have none. Be smart and leave town. Let the fire burn."

"I can't accept that doctor," Sean told him, "I just watched almost every cop in this town get sliced up by those two maniacs. We can't just walk away."

"All the more reason for you to leave," Campbell said, "Let Springwood burn and return to the earth."

"Fuck that shit," Tessa laughed incredulously, "If we can trap Jason and Michael Myers, then maybe we can lure Freddy out into the open."

"In hopes of what?" Campbell looked at her, his desperate anger and guilt seething from his lips, "Of Lori pulling him out into the real world again? Letting Jason take care of him again? Please..."

"It's better than nothing," Loomis said.

"It's a fools errand."

"Maybe," Sean nodded, "But it's all we got."

"If you can't help us, then you must know of someone who can," Lori wouldn't look at him.

Campbell was silent, stewing in his guilt and despair.

"Doctor Campbell, please," Tessa said.

"There was one man who came to advise us when Sheriff Williams and I began this project," the old man sighed, "Neil Gordon worked at Westin Hills in the early eighties and survived one of Krueger's more colorful killing sprees. He claimed that Freddy was defeated through the consecration of his remains here in the real world and the combined efforts of several children on the ward. No one believed him, of course. He was expelled from the institute and publicly denounced as unreliable and possible insane. Of course Sheriff Williams, then a deputy, knew he was telling the truth, which was why the governor tracked him down and paid him enough to come back. Neil wanted to let Springwood die. He believed that if the body and soul of the town were to die, then Krueger would die with it."

"Consecrate and bury a whole town?" Loomis cocked an eyebrow, "Why wasn't that option considered?"

"The powers that be wouldn't accept it from a monetary point of view," Campbell said, "Once the town was dead, Neil suggested that it be left to nature. No one could rebuild or settle here again. The men in charge couldn't accept that. It's all about money... money, money, money... So they went with my recommendation: the fiscally sound choice."

"My God," Loomis said.

"In retrospect I can see now he was right. Krueger may be comparable to fire, but he equates to a disease," Campbell said and then walked over to one of the boxes in his living room. He removed the lid and pulled out a folder filled to capacity with reports. He held the folder up, "This is but one profile. It details the life and death of one of Freddy's victims. I have hundreds of these."

Tessa looked around the room. There had to be forty boxes of files in the living room alone if not more. She shook her head, "That's impossible."

"It's not, I assure you," Campbell said.

"How did you keep this from the national media?" Loomis asked, "I've read very carefully worded reports on what's happened here, but it's always dismissed as mass hysteria or group psychosis or even copycats."

"People don't want to know," the doctor said flatly, "And think of what people will believe just because they're told?"

"And the government knows what you know," Sean added, "They'll never let this get out."

Loomis nodded, "As long as they can avoid it going public..."

"Roland Kincaid," Campbell tossed a sealed file to Tessa and then reached into the box. He pulled out file after file, reading off the names like some role call of the past, "Kirsten Parker...Joseph Crusel... Taryn White... Phillip Anderson... Jennifer Caulfield..."

"Where did these come from?" Loomis asked as Sean handed him one of the file folders, "I recognize the names, but the files I saw were limited. I've researched the Springwood killings inside and out and never saw these documents once."

"You wouldn't have," Campbell agreed, looking more and more fatigued, "They've been here in my home. Everything taken in the cover-up regarding Freddy Krueger is here in this house, including Westin Hills documentation, police reports and uncensored news paper articles."

Loomis looked at the folder in his hands and read the name printed on it, "Alice Johnson."

"What you hold now are the names of the few children who stood against Freddy Krueger and won," Campbell said, "These children were special. They were the Dream Warriors, as Dr. Gordon referred to them and they were the people who defeated Freddy Krueger in '87. In '88, it was a young woman named Alice Johnson who stopped him."

"Where are they now?" Tessa asked as she flipped through the file on the boy named Kincaid and then found the answer to her question. The photos of Kincaid's death were sobering for her. The boy's round black face looked bruised, his eyes wide open and mouth parted in a bloody gape of surprise. He had died on his bed, killed by four stab wounds to the gut in his own bed.

"They're all dead," Campbell told them, "Each one of them picked off by Krueger."

"Jesus," Sean muttered as he flipped through the reports.

"It says here that Alice Johnson disappeared," Loomis said, "She's listed as missing."

"What I'm going to tell you has not been talked about in years, and even then only discussed amongst those who knew," Campbell told them, "The story of Freddy Krueger goes beyond what you think you all know. Doctor, are you familiar with the concept of ying and yang?"

Loomis nodded, "Yes. It's a universal expression of perfect balance."

"Yes," Campbell said, his hands visibly trembling, "Exactly. Balance. Existence as we know it is dependent on the universal law that for every possible action there is an equal and opposite reaction. For every positive there is a negative. Freddy Krueger is the extreme end of a balanced equation relative to a science we don't quite understand. Spiritually speaking he is the shadows and darkness against the light."

"In English, Dr. Campbell?" Tessa asked.

"Think about it," the doctor told them, "There are so many things science cannot explain, things that even modern physics and metaphysics can't even begin to understand. Since spirituality can't be quantified, many people regard it as myth and religious fantasy. But, the existence of a creature like Freddy Krueger is proof that what lies beyond our reality is vaster than anything that lies within. Dr. Burroughs, the woman who claimed to be the living daughter of the man Fred Krueger once was, believed her father was not only a deeply disturbed man, but also a vessel for some greater evil."

"You've gotta be shitting me," Sean said.

"During her encounter, Krueger told her that he had been "picked" for the job, that spirits had imbued him with the power to carry out his work," Campbell shook his head, "At first, I didn't believe her. But now I can see the truth. We were so blind."

"You're saying that these kids were the ying to his yang?" Lori asked.

"Partially," her father said, "Alice Johnson was the full counterpart to Freddy Krueger. Neil Gordon interviewed her just before her disappearance in 1988, and while the general population chose to ignore her story, Neil listened. Alice fought Krueger twice and defeated him. She was the Dream Master."

"Dream Master?" Tessa smiled a little, "Sounds like a soft-core porno."

"Man is losing his damn mind," Sean muttered and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Balance," Campbell ignored them, "It's all about balance. I didn't believe it at first either, but I swear to you it's true. If Krueger truly is the vessel for a sentient evil, then there must be an equally powerful vessel for good to bring balance. Alice was the vessel for that opposite power."

"Some power," Sean tossed his file folder on the table, "Krueger came back anyway."

"Only because after Alice Johnson there was no Dream Master to keep him check," Campbell yelled, startling them.

"Like a wild animal in a zoo," Loomis thought out loud, "With no keeper to cage him, Krueger was able to run free."

"Or a disease with no vaccine to keep it at bay," Lori suggested.

"Which is why Springwood fell to Krueger in the late nineties," Lori nodded, "Because no one was there who could stop him. No one to keep the balance."

Campbell sighed and looked at them all with weary bloodshot eyes, "He is growing stronger. I see him in my dreams now. He no longer hunts just the children. His anger and vengeance is too strong now. He can't stop. It's our fault, Lori. We thought we were protecting you, but we only made him stronger. And now he's loose again."

The doctor shook his head, trying to form the jumbled thoughts in his head. He waved his hands and then, "Think of it like this, okay? We protect forests from fires, yes? We go to great extremes to make sure that a fire doesn't burn out of control. But nature... a forest fire by itself, naturally caused in a natural event. It's part of life. Who knows why it happens? But it happened long before man could intervene and it happens now despite out best efforts. The longer man staves off the fire, the greater the risks... there is no balance..." The doctor trailed off, frustrated.

"Where do we find Alice Johnson?" Lori asked, feeling both sorry for and angry with her father. The decrepit shell of a man before her wasn't the man she had known growing up, or even the questionably ethical doctor she had left a few years back. He was broken and driven by his guilt, another victim of Freddy Krueger. She had to remind herself to think of him that way. If she considered him anything other than that, he would be a monster. And she couldn't handle that.

"It's too late, baby," he covered his face in his hand, "Burn the town and go."

"Where is she?"

"Let it die."

"I don't accept that!" Lori roared and gave him a look that divorced her from his authority once and for all, "I don't have time for your bullshit, Daddy! You fucked up and that's it! You can't change it! You either help me now or you'll have all of our deaths on you conscience!"

Dr. Richard Campbell moaned pathetically and looked to his daughter, his eyes flooding tears as his mouth worked open, "I am so sorry."

"Where is she?" Lori whispered and touched his cheek. It was the only act of tenderness she had inside her at the moment. The death of her husband had hardened her heart and calloused her soul to a rough lump that sat heavily inside her chest.

"Help us now," Loomis spoke up, "Make a difference now."

Campbell looked to him and then back at his daughter, "He can't be killed."

"I don't intend to kill him. I intend to balance the equation."

Campbell nodded gravely and looked down at his feet.

Lori closed her eyes, "You said there was no Dream Master after Alice left. Where did she go?"

"Alice Johnson left Springwood shortly after the birth of her son," he said finally, "If there is anyone who can help you, it's her. But you mustn't expect much, Lori... don't make the mistake I did."

"Where is she now?" Loomis asked. A fire truck went roaring down the street, horns and sirens blaring.

"Her life has been lived in secret," Campbell looked at Loomis, "In that file folder you're holding is the address."

"I'm sorry," Sean spoke up, "But why do we need this Johnson girl?"

"Because," Loomis said, "When a fatal disease is running loose in your body, you go and find a doctor with the medicines to cure you."

"Surviving Jason and Michael Myers won't be worth shit unless we can take care of Krueger," Lori said evenly, "He's the cause of all this."

Tessa nodded, "Jason and Michael are the symptoms, Freddy is the disease."

"And if we can't kill the disease, then we can at least find a way to vaccinate against it," Lori added.

"Balance," Campbell muttered, "It's all about balance... you don't understand..."

***

Sean and Tessa sat outside on the front porch of 1428 Elm Street.

The idea of there being three supernatural killers on the loose in Springwood had become a casual idea to Sean. He was amazed at how quickly he had accepted the crazy notion of a man killing people in their dreams. The notion that a man in a hockey mask could be killed over and over and then rise again might have made him laugh at one time. It was all urban legend. But Michael Myers and his ghostly mask made it all much more than a simple urban legend to him.

These fuckers were real.

"I feel so bad," Tessa lit her cigarette and inhaled.

"About what?"

"Dr. Loomis ex-wife," she looked at her smoke, "That poor woman. She never had a chance."

"That shit was fucked up," Sean shook his head as recalled the horrible death of Mary Stilfreeze back at the police station, "This whole situation is fucked up. You think anyone is still out there?"

"Well," Tessa shrugged, "I know Malone and Daniels were out in the north end of town. They're probably at the station now helping put out the fire."

"I feel so fucking useless," Sean said, "We should be there too."

"Sean," she put a hand on his shoulder, "We're needed here. It's our job."

"This is bullshit," he muttered and rubbed his eyes.

"We'll carve all their names into those fucker's foreheads, okay? I promise," Tessa smiled and touched his face, "You know, if it wasn't for you we'd all probably be dead."

"No," he corrected her, "If hadn't been for Will we'd all be dead."

"Stop it," she said, "Don't you dare carry the dead with you."

"I just keep seeing him closing that door," Sean said, "I keep seeing him fall from view."

"He did his part," she reminded him, "And now it's our turn to do ours."

Sean shifted his weight to one leg and looked at his boots. The shine was gone, replaced by dull scrapes and scuffs. His pants were spattered with dark stains that he knew was blood belonging to someone else. Sean held his hand out to Tessa. Her delicate fingers, so strong and beautiful slipped into his gentle grip. He looked at her and said, "Theresa there's something I need to tell you."

"Uh oh," she rolled her eyes, "Anytime you call me Theresa I know something big is about to go down."

Sean smiled as best he could, "At the risk of sounding, you know, over dramatic and sappy..."

He paused, trying to find the right words to express how he felt about her. He looked at her face, taking in her exotic features and trying to communicate his thoughts to her by gazing into her eyes. Sean had never been very good expressing himself to anyone, let alone Tessa. His emotions usually had to be dragged from him with a winch and truck. But as he considered that his fate may very well be the same as Don Ford's or Sheriff Williams or any of the others back at the police station he realized the time for stumbling over uncertainty had passed.

"I... you see, I just wanted to tell you..." he could not find the words.

"Sean," Tessa kissed him on the lips gently, "That may be the romantic thing a man has never said to me."

Sean smiled.

"I love you too," Tessa said.

"Officer Renaud?"

Sean turned to see Lori and Loomis standing in the doorway. They each held a large box of files and both looked deadly serious. He helped Tessa stand up and he said, "What's up, Lori?"

"Feel like taking a trip to Elm Grove?"

"We're seriously going to do this?"

"We need Alice Johnson," Loomis told him and patted the box he held under one arm, "She is the key to catching Freddy Krueger."

"Even if we catch Krueger," Tessa tossed her cigarette away, "What then? You've said it yourself we can't kill him."

"Alice put him away before," Lori said quietly, "She can show us how to do it again. Balance. It's all about balance."

"Okay then," Sean looked at her for a moment and shrugged, adding, "Let's go get killed."

***

Watching the police car pull away with his daughter inside was second hardest thing Richard Campbell had ever done. Letting go of his wife was the first. He knew that Lori loved him, but that didn't change the fact she hated him as well. Her rage had been pure and for all his wishing to the contrary, it had been righteous. He wanted to make her truly understand that his work here in Springwood was for the good of everyone, not just for one town but for a whole world. If only she could see the sacrifices he had made and could be brought to understand them.

"Stop wishing you old fool," he muttered.

Every night he woke up screaming, sometimes having wet his bed and sometimes having fallen completely off the mattress to the floor. Sometimes both. He could see all the children he and the others had condemned to comatose death in the wards of Westin Hills. Oh how they urged him to find another way, any other way to help the children the safe doses of hypnocil were not reaching. Even Dr. Parker, with his kind and always generously friendly disposition had turned away from him and Sheriff Williams in the end.

He hadn't told Lori or her friends that. It only served to intensify his guilt and make him look even worse. Parker and sided with Gordon in the end, and even when Maggie Burroughs had warned against crossing that line in the name of protection he hadn't listened. Maggie had left the day Parker did, and it saddened Campbell to no end. He felt alone and solitary in his fight to save Springwood. He couldn't make them see there were sacrifices that had to be made for the greater good.

"A dying patient," Neil Gordon had said just before the cab pulled away from the Westin Hills main driveway, "This town has a cancer that can go airborne, Richard. As a doctor, can you justify letting this terminally contagious patient live?"

Campbell had only looked at him with a detached kindness, "Absolutely."

"You took an oath," Neil shook his head, "We all did. We promised to do no harm. This is harm, Richard. For God Sakes, your wife has been murdered and an innocent boy is in the mental ward!"

"Sacrifices have to be made, Neil. I ask no more of you or them than I do myself."

Neil shook his head, his eyes heavy and sad.

"Go," Campbell said, "Run away."

And Neil did.

"Maybe he was the smart one," Campbell laughed to himself as he let the curtains Lori had opened fall back into place. He walked into the kitchen and opened the cabinet over the stove. Inside was a single bottle of Scotch, holding 18 fluid ounces of pure satisfaction. He grabbed in and opened it.

Of all the warnings he got, the one from Maggie Burroughs rang true now more than ever. He had listened to her account of the fight with Freddy Krueger in Elm Grove and how she had defeated him. It was frightening, the description of this man from beyond life and death who simply hunted for the sake of the masochistic and sadistically pure thrill of the kill. Campbell remembered how beautiful Maggie had been, just as beautiful as his own wife before Krueger had somehow invaded her dreams and killed her. He still wondered now as he did then how Krueger had been able to leap the boundaries of his abilities. How had he gotten into her dreams?

"The mistake we all made was assuming we knew what he was capable of," Maggie told them one night shortly before she and Dr. Parker left to return to Elm Grove, "We all assumed my father had limits. Even the Dream Master did. That's why she left. She believed he had been contained. She was wrong."

"Some one will always have to keep watch," Parker mussed to himself, "Unless we destroy the host."

"Destroy the host?" Sheriff Williams had scoffed, "The governor is not willing to burn a whole town to the ground and then leave it be. Are you insane?"