Fear

:: Okay folks, here's another chapter. I know it's been a LONG time, and I apologize...but you know how the real world can be. Hopefully, I can get the next one up sooner. Anyway, same disclaimer applies: Freddy, Jason, Lori, and Will aren't mine and I'm not making any money from them. The typos and spelling errors are mine though, so I'll take full credit for them! ;-) Feel free to respond folks, compliments or criticism. Hope you enjoy! ::
Chapter 6

Nikki’s POV
At 1708, Nikki stepped into the smalficefice that looked directly into the laboratory holding Subject 6: Jason Voorhees, Lori in tow.
“Sherriden, how is it you are *always* late? How can one person be late for *everything*?” Michael Grayson’s sneering voice was enough to start her usual headache every time she had to deal with him. Snide little prick still had some childhood fantasy of growing up to be Captain America or some shit.
.oO(Tough shit, Grayson, Cap has morals!) “I’m not late for everything, Grayson, just those things where you’re involved. The least amount of time I have to see you, the better, as far as I’m concerned. So just give report and for god’s sake, keep it short.”
“You need to get laid, Sherriden…maybe then you’d be just a tad more…socially inclined.”
Nikki looked over at the new speaker in the conversation. “Oh, I’m not so worried about that, Perez…you fuck enough people for the both of us. Hell for the whole damned crew, for that matter. Now, one of you leptics wanna give report?” She glanced over at her security partner, Daniel Clarke, who was currently sitting back, snickering at the regular banter.
Maria Perez, glanced over to the other girl who had come in with Sherriden, while Mike gave his report of really nothing to report. “Who’s this, Sherriden? Don’t tell me, they’re letting *you* train the newbies? Really, the world can’t handle another bitch of your like.”
“The world needs more bitches of my like, and I think I make a pretty damn good mold for them. As for this one, this is Laura Miller. She hopes to become every bit the bitch I am. Personally, I think she probably has me beat already, so I’d steer clear.” With that, she turned her back on the other two guards and stepped over to where Lori was standing, staring into the cell that held Jason Voorhees. She could hear her partner making idle conversation with Grayson and Perez, but didn’t bother listening in. Usually wasn’t worth it with that crowd, though Clarke wasn’t all that bad all the time. He had his moments where he used that half of his brain that wasn’t focused on things less professional. She leaned over and whispered softly to Lori. “See…safe and sound…told ya…”

Lori’s POV
“Sure…safe and sound…” The images from her nightmare still flashed in her mind’s eye before her. She new for certain that Jason was neither safe nor sound. She kept watching his massive form, so still on that gurney while Nikki went back over and sat at the desk with her partner. She vaguely heard questions aimed at her but kept her answers limited to head nods or just agreeing with whatever Nikki threw out there.
“Guess he is pretty interesting that first time you see him. It’s almost time for his next dose, I’m sure Sherriden here would be more than happy to show you where we keep the stuff. Usually the lab creeps take care of anything medical like, but the facility is keeping him pretty secure…only 6 of them total ever get to do anything with him, so we’re the one’s who keep him sedated. Makes sense, sorta, I guess…it being a security measure and all that…” He blathered on a bit more about the job and how the really interesting stuff happened only about once, or if they were lucky, twice a year before Nikki steered her in through the locking mechanisms on the cell and led her inside. The smaller girl showed her where they kept the tranqs in a cabinet on one side of the room and hung the bag on the IV pole, and hooked up the lines, so a steady dose was delivered to Jason.
“Where’s his mask?”
Nikki stopped mid-sentence with a slightly puzzled look. “His mask? Oh! You mean the old hockey mask thing he wore when we brought him in…Yeah, I guess that was a staple of his…though you know in the earliest reports I read of him, the survivor described him as wearing some sort of burlap sack thing over his face…guess the boy in him deciding the old hockey mask looked cooler or something…anyway, I’m not sure where it is…the docs took it off him when they first started working on him. I guess it’s around here somewhere….”
There task being done, the two girls left the cell, locking everything securely as they went and moved back to the desk. Clarke was sitting back with his feet propped up reading the latest edition of Guns and Ammo or something like that, glancing occasionally at Lori who sat in her chair, just staring at Jason’s form in the cell. She wondered how they were going to get him out of there, past all these guards. She just couldn’t think of any way that she and Nikki could manage to do that alone. He couldn’t stay here…he’d saved her life…she never could have taken on Freddy without him. She couldn’t just leave him here now, to be experimented on by these people like some lab rats…not to mention what he must be going through at Freddy’s hands. The rest of the 14 hour shift passed much like that. A lot of sitting and hanging a new back of tranquilizer every 4 hours to ensure that Jason didn’t awaken more than a little. Nikki informed her that when they first started this some days ago that he only needed it every 6 hours before he’d show signs of waking.
At the end of the shift, Clarke gave the report to the two guards coming on duty. Several people in lab coats were coming in with various bits of equipment to run more tests on him. .oO(It’ll be alright Jason…we’re gonna get you out of here somehow…don’t you worry…we’ll get you out.) She walked with Nikki back to the small quarters, moving quickly and dodging any questions asked. Once safe behind the steel door she sat in the chair looking at Nikki. “So what’s the plan?”

Nikki’s POV
“Plan? Plan for what?” Nikki looked up at Lori from where she sat, taking off her boots. She took one look at Lori’s face and new exacthat hat kind of plan the other girl had in mind. “No way…absolutely no way.” Lori opened her mouth to speak but was cut off before she could even begin to form any words. “Hey, I said I’d try and get you in to see him. You’ve seen him. That’s all I promised. Now…we’re gonna get a bit of sleep this morning, then I’ve gotta find a way to get you off the facility grounds.”
“But Freddy…we can’t just leave him here like this for Freddy! Without being able to fight back in the real world, Jason can’t defend himself.”
“Hey, I feel you there…but we don’t know that Freddy is even bothering with Jason. Seems to me, you’d be the next target…so maybe we need to be looking for how to help you out, rather than Jason. I mean, come on…you seem to be forgetting that Jason’s not just some tormented kid, he’s a mass murderer.”
“But he is being tormented. Freddy has him…I saw it…I saw it in the dream…I *told* you I saw it!!”
“You told me you saw him in one little dream. One little dream that could very well be brought on by all this research and thought we’ve been putting into him. You’re on edge. Hell we’re both a bit on edge. It’s understandable…but I don’t think that Jason’s in that much danger here. I mean, surely our lab creeps would’ve noticed something going on if he were being hurt. Earlier, when your boy got…what I mean is, if Jason were being attacked like that, we’d see wounds. Right?”
“Yeah…but you said yourself he’s got some kind of regenerative power…how would you know he was being hurt, if the wounds heal up as quickly as you think they heal? Unless you watched them occur. Will told me, that when they were driving him out to the lake, while Jason was still under, he started drowning or something. Like water just started coming up out of his mouth and stuff. What if something like that were happening now and just no one’s noticing?”
Nikki pinched the bridge of her nose at the oncoming headache she could feel. “Look…let’s just sleep on this a bit…okay? I just…I need some rest…and we’ll go from there.” .oO(Oh my god, Nicole, you are not thinking about it! We are not taking that guy out of this facility! We’re not doing it!) She lay back on the bed, closing her eyes. As Lori began to voice a protest, she cut her off. “Later! We’ll talk about it some more later…”

Lori’s POV
Lori leaned back in the chair, looking over at Nikki’s small frame lying back on the bed. She knew the other girl didn’t really believe her. Hell, she didn’t believe herself half the time. How could she? Things like this just didn’t happen…they just didn’t happen. With those thoughts, the exhaustion of the past couple days overtook her, and she drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

Freddy’s POV
Freddy sat crouched in front of his barely responsive boy, chuckling to himself. Yes…his boy hardly made a sound most of the time…but when he did, rouse, the screams that tumbled out of him were delicious. His boy was certainly a treat to make these times of forgetfulness almost bearable. Almost. He was instantly aware of the presence of another. Oh what fun to be had…his children were coming back to him! He moved himself to look out and survey his domain and there she was, just as pretty as he remembered.
Lori stood in the street, looking around fearfully. He could taste that fear and it was divine. He cast himself to the shadows watching her from all sides as she made her way down the dark streets. And just as he was about to show himself and revel in her greater terror of him, another presence was made known to him. One he had never felt before. He cast himself towards that presence and found her standing there in his foyer, right in front of his boy. She was a frail looking thing with pale skin, dark hair, and big blue eyes. Such a lovely little thing to be torn all apart. She wasn’t one of his children, but it didn’t really matter. She would be one of his now. He formed himself far beyond her, making the room seem longer than normal and began a slow walk towards, raking his long razored claws along the wall as he went. At the sound, the girl turned her head sharply and watched him come toward her. But something was a bit…strange. Something wasn’t right with her. At her narrow eyed gaze, he realized what that something was. She didn’t fear him. Well…that could be changed…it only took a little time after all. He chuckled softly and blinked away, only to have Lori come walking into the foyer. Lori would spread the fear for him. Such a sweet, sweet girl…it was going to be such a joy when he felt her flesh part beneath him.
Lori looked over at Nikki with wide eyes. “He’s gotten to you too, somehow…oh shit…this is my fault…never should’ve told you, never should’ve told you…oh Nikki, I’m so sorry…”
“Hey…hey, this isn’t real, Lori…none of this is real. I’m not talking to Lori, I’m talking to an image of Lori in my mind. And this isn’t little Jason…just my mind’s portrait of him in this chair here…none of it’s real…”
Freddy chuckled softly, forming himself in the room not far from the other three. Lori gasped and put herself between himself and his boy. What a futile act. Nikki, for her part, just stood right where she’d been standing all along, looking at him with a quirked brow. Still no fear from her. “Oh but it is real, my dear Nikki…it is. He approached her slowly, looking her over with a lewd expression. “But you’ll find that out soon enough…” The girl tilted her head to one side and as quick as the blink of an eye, pulled a gun from a holster tucked in the back of her pants and fired three rounds rapidly into his forehead. She had moved so quickly he hadn’t even had time to alter her own actions to suit his ends, he just dropped to the floor with a shocked expression. She was turned back to Lori already with a shrug before he could recover and jump back to his feet. “Precocious brat!!” How dare she! The girl turned back to him with a surprised look and pointed the weapon back to fire again. This time he was better prepared and just laughed as the water from the toy splashed his face just where the wounds from the previous shots should have been. “Oh you think you are in control here, girl? This is my realm, you’re in. I am the lord and master here.” Nikki looked down at the useless toy and dropped it, opting instead for a quick side kick to the gut. Lori was shaking Jason, telling him he had to wake up. He had to push past all those drugs and wake up. The burned guy she’d already shot just grunted with the kick and swiped out with the razor gloved hand. She blocked that move easily enough, but still was left with four symmetrical cuts on her left arm. The sharp pain of it brought her wide awake in an instant and she blinked out of Freddy’s sight.
He snarled and looked over sharply at Lori and looked back at him terrified, still putting herself between him and his boy. He was about to run his claws down the front of her neat white shirt when she, too, blinked out right in front of him, leaving him alone with Jason, who for his part sat in the chair still, rocking silently back and forth as though the girls had never even been there.

Nikki’s POV
Nikki sat upright in the bed, looking down at the bright red blood dripping down her arm onto the covers. She looked over sharply at Lori still asleep and jumped up grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking hard, pulling her up out of the chair. Lori awoke with a gasp and the two girls stood there a moment blinking at each other.
“Okay, Lori, so you were right, you’re not crazy, and that Freddy guy’s a real menace…so…I guess we need a plan now...I still don’t think it should involve letting Jason roam free again.”
“So we just leave him there to be tortured by Freddy for however long either of them might exist? That’s just not acceptable!! You saw him! He’s just a kid! Inside, he’s just a kid!”
“Maybe…a kid that’s killed more people than Ted Bundy! Look, we just can’t let him go and that’s that. But maybe there’s another way. You said you had to bring Freddy into this world to kill him right?”
“That’s right…”
“So you took him out of the dream world and into the real world…”
“What are you getting at?” Lori blinked at the smaller girl a moment, confused.
“I say we bring him here and well…keep him here. Don’t kill him this time…just…keep him here in the real world, so he can’t hurt anyone.”
“What do you mean, can’t hurt anyone…there was a reason why he was killed in the first place! He’s dangerous wherever he is! We just have to find another way of killing him so he doesn’t come back!!”
“I’m not saying he *can’t* be dangerous here…I’m saying he’s less dangerous here and therefore more easily contained here…he bring him here…lock him up somewhere and keep his freakish ass alive and out of wherever it is that he resides in peoples minds. I’m sure the facility can handle him.”
“Like you’re handling Jason…as if he’s some lab rat.”
“Hey I don’t like that either…but liking it has nothing to do with the fact that there really aren’t any alternatives.”
“How would you know? Have you looked? Two days ago you didn’t know anything about him at all. How could you possibly know if there are alternatives? How could you know??”
Nikki’s bravado that seemed to have been with her all along seemed to deflate with that. “Why are we are arguing with each other. We’re on the same side here. We can’t fight each other right now.”
Lori sighed softly looking at her, “yeah…I know…it’s just…it’s just too much, you know…we were only just starting to get past it all…I’m starting to think that getting past this is never going to happen.” She sat down hard as she tried to bite back a sob. Nikki crouched down quickly in front f her and grabbed her by the arms shaking her again. “Hey! None of that now! You can’t break on me right here! We’ve gotta take care of this. I can’t do it alone, and I sure as hell can’t trust any of these people with this. So stay with me, here.” Lori looked up at her and nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes.
Nikki sighed again and thought a moment. “I’m gonna go crash the med lab, see if I can’t find some of the super speed crap they give us when they send us on long ass missions with no sleep. Should keep us awake plenty long enough to come up with whatever plan we’re gonna come up with. Just stay put.” With that she got up and headed out of her quarters down the hall leaving Lori to her own thoughts.
“Sure thing, Nikki…I’ll help you out…but we are not leaving Jason in this place…” The words were muttered to herself in the empty Spartan room.

Jason’s POV
She was here again…he saw her. That girl. He remembered from before…trying to pull him from the lake. He’d thought at first she was going to be like all the others and just let him drown. He’d thought she was bad. But she’d reached in and tried to help him. She’d tried to pull him out of the cold water. And just now she’d done it again. She’d tried to keep the burned demon-man away from him. It was with these thoughts that Jason tried to keep himself locked away. Tried not to be with this horrible creature who kept him here in this room. But he always managed to get to him. Always bringing up terrible sights. Again and again, he saw Mommy falling, her head separated from her body. He saw the other children laughing and throwing things at him. The water was the worst. He would drag him down into the water and hold him there in the suffocating silence. Then he couldn’t help it. He would scream, with the demon’s chuckling echoing around the room they never seemed to really leave. Occasionally he would leave, be back in that cold white room, lying down, feeling the disgusting presences of those bad ones around him. He knew they were to blame somehow. He would kill them all. Well…perhaps not all. She could live. Because she was good.