Surreality

Carrie sat in the backseat of her mother's car, staring silently at the dark passing scenery and ignoring the worried looks from her mother and best-friend. Her mind kept replaying the events of the past day and a half, trying to rationalize what had happened. Yes, she'd been attacked, but by the town's local boogeyman? A man who was supposed to be dead? None of it made any logical sense.

Carrie stirred from her silent musings and looked up as they pulled into the driveway of her home at 1426 Elm Street, which she now realized was almost directly across from the infamous 'Nightmare House'; a home rumoured to have once been occupied by Freddy Krueger, himself. Only a few years earlier, 1428 had been nothing more than a rundown wreck of a house. Now, it was the home of the Springer family. Did they know what dark secrets were hidden in their home? Did they know of it's bloody past?

Carrie was shaken from her thoughts and ushered out of the car. She silently followed her mother into the house with Allison close behind. Leading her friend up the stairs to her room, Allison sat her down on the bed.

“Carrie...” she paused, “...Are you sure... that this Freddy guy is for real? ...that he attacked you in that boiler room at the power plant?”

Carrie looked at her friend, saw the fear etched on her face, and felt almost elated at Allison's readiness to believe her, despite the far-fetched nature of the truth. Carrie opened her mouth to speak... and paused, “I... I think so. Who else could it have been? I don't really remember much from yesterday...” She was lying, of course; she remembered quite a bit... and more, especially after the horrible nightmare at the hospital earlier tonight, “But... I do remember that he seemed... like he couldn't kill me.” She looked at Allison and tried to smile, “Maybe it's just the stress of moving and starting at a new school in a new town... and all those stories about Freddy Krueger putting nightmares in my head. Or maybe I'm just going a lil' bit PSYCHO!” she laughed, making crazy twirly motions around her head with her fingers and making goofy faces. Allison laughed too, more relieved than amused, and gave Carrie a tight hug.

“I'm glad you're at least feeling better.” she said, giving her one last tight hug; a little too tight this time.

Carrie winced and pushed Allison back a bit, “Oof, not so tight, there. Bruised ribs, remember?”

“Ooh, yeah. Sorry about that.” Allison gave an apologetic grin.

“S'alright, I'm a tough girl,” she teased and flexed her noodley arms. Allison giggled and threw a pillow at the so-called 'tough girl'. The two sixteen-year-old girls giggled at the short pillowfight before silence reclaimed the room.

“So... do you wanna stay up tonight?” Allison inquired.

Carrie thought about it for a moment; she was actually starting to believe the nightmares were just that; bad dreams brought on by stress and the idea of an undead serial killer stalking the dreams of the children of Springwood. Freddy hadn't actually really hurt her, had he? It was hard to explain how she could've gotten her injuries any other way, but it was also difficult to believe some dead guy from her dreams had done it.

“Actually, I could really use a good night's sleep after all that weird stuff yesterday.” Carrie smiled and grabbed her friend's arm, “Hey, wanna sleep over tonight?”

Allison grinned back, “Sure! I'll just call my mom and have her bring some things over, okay?” Carrie nodded in reply as Allison disappeared out the bedroom door.

A few hours later, Carrie lay staring at her dark bedroom ceiling. She could hear Allison's soft breathing from where her friend lay on the bedroom floor.

Carrie had awoken suddenly a short while ago from a very pleasant dream involving a field of lollipops and red-furred kittens; a rather odd combination, admittedly, but such were dreams and it was a welcome change from her earlier nightmares. Nevertheless, she was wide awake now, and stuck staring at her ceiling.

In sleepless irritation, she sat up and walked across her room to the door, carefully avoiding the peacefully-sleeping Allison... but something in her full-length bedroom mirror caught her attention. She walked over to the mirror and stared at her reflection for a moment, then placed her hand against it's smooth surface; it felt warm... and soft. She pushed against it and was surprised when her hand passed through its glassy surface like water. Carrie pulled her arm back and watched the mirror's surface ripple gently.

“...guess I didn't wake up, after all...” she mused softly to herself. She'd had very few 'dreams-within-a-dream', and most of them tended to be nightmares. “...wait... if I'm dreaming, aren't I supposed to wake up now that I know it's a dream?” she asked aloud and looked around the room. Nothing seemed to change, though. “Wow... I've never been lucid in a dream before.” It was then that she realized she was talking out loud to herself.

“Allison,” she called out to her 'sleeping' friend, “Allison. Hey, Allie! Yoo-hoo! Wake-up!” Carrie walked over to the girl and nudged her with her foot. “Allie!” The girl stirred and stared up at her.

“What are you doing in my room?” Allie asked groggily.

“Allie, you're in my room. You're sleeping over, remember?” Carrie reminded the drowsy-eyed dreamer.

“...I am?” Allison rubbed her bleary eyes.

“Yeah, and you're still sleeping... Or I am, at least.” Carrie answered. This was kinda starting to weird her out a bit.

“Wait... If I'm sleeping, why are you in my dream?” Allie sat up and looked around the room. She then stood up and gasped, “Oh, no! I forgot to walk the dog!” She rummaged around the room looking for a leash. “My mom's gonna kill me if I don't walk Pookie!”

“Allie... you don't have a dog.” Carrie stared at her friend, who now completely ignored her as though she wasn't even there. It seemed apparent from her friend's odd behavior that this wasn't the real Allison; just a mere dream-replica, complete with all the crazy, weird, don't-make-sense dream-crap. So, Carrie just let her leave to go walk her precious 'Pookie'. Instead, she returned her attention to the mirror-portal, intending to make the most of her lucid dream-state. Stepping through the mirror, she found herself in a completely different world. This place was dark and frightening, looking very much like an endless, steaming-pipe-filled montrosity that was very similar to the old boiler room at the abandoned power plant where she'd spent half the night not too long ago. From her perch on a high-hanging catwalk, she could see just how vast the place was, seeming to stretch on forever. But it seemed different from the old power plant; it had a darker, creepier atmosphere and was bathed in a deep-red glow. It also appeared more like an industrial hedge-maze.

A terrified masculine scream rang out suddenly from somewhere below and Carrie looked down to see the dark shadowed form of a teenage boy running through the maze-like corridors like a rat; he seemed to be running from something... Suddenly the catwalk began to creak and shake, one edge breaking away. Carrie grabbed tightly to the railing as the catwalk tipped over and dangled dangerously over the boiler-room floor. She held on as tight as she could, but her fingers were slipping; she was losing her grip and she couldn't hold on any longer. Her fingers finally slipped from the railing and she started falling towards the floor below. Closing her eyes, she braced herself for the impact, screaming as the air whipped past her. But then it stopped, and she opened her eyes to find herself sitting safely on the floor, unharmed.

Carrie stood up carefully, a little shaken, and found that her clothes had suddenly changed; she was now wearing the outfit she had picked out for her first day of school. She pulled at the sweater, confused, and looked herself over, but eventually brushed it off as another oddity of dreaming; dreams were like that, after all. ...Right?

After dusting the dirt off, Carrie cautiously started walking down the corridor. But, suddenly, and seemingly out of nowhere, a hard moving body collided with hers, knocking them both to the floor. It was the boy. Actually, it was Joey from her English class.

Joey screamed when he spotted the sweater-clad girl he'd crashed into, the red-and-green stripes immediately reminding him of the knife-wielding maniac he'd been running from; a man with razor-tipped fingers and a red-and-green sweater just like the one this girl was wearing. Even the hat was the same.

“Leave me alone!” he screamed at her, backing away frantically as he struggled to his feet. Once fully upright, he was finally able to get a good look at the girl. “Hey... I know you. You're the new girl... Karen or something...”

“It's Carrie,” she answered, standing up and dusting off her rump, “What were you running from?”

Joey stiffened, suddenly reminded that he had indeed been running from something, or rather... someone. He swallowed thickly and moved toward her, glancing around anxiously.

“You... you wouldn't believe me if I told you. But trust me, you don't wanna be around when he shows up. I suggest you run.” And run he did, as fast as he could. Carrie watched him, stunned, and opened her mouth to speak... but he was already racing off down the corridor.

“WAIT!!” she called out and chased after him, but she'd already lost him. “Joey! Where are you?!” She kept running, kept looking, but she couldn't find him. Carrie felt that she needed to find him, before something or someone else did. She wasn't sure why she felt that way, but she was sure that this dream was quickly turning into a nightmare; one she did not want to be a part of. She only hoped that if she could find him, she could turn it around, save him and end the dream on a happy note.

Just then, Carrie heard a scream from somewhere up ahead. It sounded like Joey. She ran towards the sound, but another voice stopped her in her tracks. It was a deep male voice laughing throatily at Joey's cries for help. Carrie recognized the voice immediately, and for a moment was too afraid to even move, but Joey's frightened screams snapped her out of her terror and she ran to help him.

She skidded to a halt when she came upon the scene and just stared, wide-eyed; there, in the middle of the floor, was a huge, gaping hole... and clinging desperately to the edge was Joey! And then she spotted him; standing cockily across the hole from her was Freddy Krueger, looking absolutely pleased with himself. Carrie edged closer to the hole to help pull Joey out, all the while keeping a watchful eye on Krueger, who cackled maniacally at the poor boy's predicament.

Carrie knelt down and grabbed ahold of Joey's arms to pull him out, and it was then that she saw the huge spinning fan at the bottom of the hole. Joey kicked and screamed, grasping at Carrie in terror.

“Pull me up!” he screamed at her.

Carrie tightened her grip on his arms and pulled, shifting her weight to lift him out of the hole. But, something knocked her back and she lost her grip on him. She saw Joey slip further into the pit, screaming as the fan blades nicked at the tips of his sneakers.

“Uh-uh-uh,” she heard Krueger 'tsk' and he waved a sharp, bladed finger in disapproval, “This one's mine.”

“No! Leave him alone!” Carrie screamed at him. She crawled back to the hole and grabbed Joey's sleeve. He screamed again as he slipped further down into the hole's gaping maw and she reached out to grab his hand.

“Hold on!” she shouted, but she could already feel him slipping through her fingers.

“Help me!” The fan blades nicked at his shoe-tips, their sharp edges beginning to slice through the material. A blast of hot air suddenly erupted from beneath the fan and flames leapt up between the spinning blades. The hot air hit her face like a slap, causing her to shut her eyes and turn her head away from the opening. Her hands started to sweat and she gasped as she felt Joey slipping.

“Say 'good-bye' to your little friend, Joey! And say 'hello' to my... biggest fan.” Freddy laughed mockingly.

“No! Carrie, please! Help me!” Joey screamed, but it was too late. She felt his hand slip from her sweat-slick fingers, and watched in stunned horror as his body hit the fan. The sharp, steel blades cut through him like a blender, his warm blood splattering the blades as they chopped him into a fine, red paste. Warm, sticky blood splattered up across Carrie's face and she scrambled back from the hole with a shriek as more gore splashed up from the fan. She stared in shock, shuddering at the horrific scene she'd just witnessed.

Freddy chuckled darkly as the pit quickly sealed itself and a whispy, white essence rose from the ground. Carrie watched silently as it swirled through the air, before flowing into his body. He shuddered, breathing in a pleased breath and wrapping his arms around himself.

“Mmm, “ he purred softly, “Nothing like a good soul to refresh ya after a long night's work,” he sighed, then turned his sights on her, clicking his blades together as he approached, “Now, it's time to finish what we started last night, don't you agree?” He smiled cruelly, walking casually towards her with that devilishly confident swagger, “You may have escaped me the last time, “ he growled, “But I'll make sure your death is swift... and EXTRA painful!”