Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/8032747.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Major_Character_Death, Rape/Non-Con,
      Underage
  Category:
      F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Other
  Fandom:
      A_Nightmare_on_Elm_Street_(1984), NOES, Freddy_Krueger_-_Fandom
  Character:
      Freddy_Krueger, Original_Characters, Nancy_Thompson, Charlie_Maple,
      Charlie_Maple_(OC)
  Additional Tags:
      NOES_-_Freeform
  Series:
      Part 1 of The_Charlie_Maple_Series
  Stats:
      Published: 2016-09-14 Updated: 2016-09-23 Chapters: 10/? Words: 16743
****** A Nightmare On My Street ******
by EveryDayIsHalloweenForMe
Summary
     Charlie Maple is a relatively normal rebellious teen stuck in the
     foster care system, being bumped from house to house, until now. Sure
     this new place isn't so great, but there's something strangely
     familiar about it; you know? Springwood was somehow charming and her
     new family seemed kind enough, now if she could just shake these
     weird nightmares she's been having anymore.
***** It's been 10 years... *****
"Ten years ago...it was ten years ago that I took my last breath. Ten years ago
I vowed my revenge. My children... from the very beginning, it was the children
who gave me my power. The Springwood Slasher, that's what they called me. My
reign of terror was legendary. Dozens of children would fall by my blades. Then
the parents of Springwood came for me, taking justice into their own hands.
When I was alive, I might have been a little naughty, but after they killed me,
I became something much, much worse. The stuff nightmares are made of. The
children still feared me, and their fear gave me the power to invade their
dreams, and that's when the fun really began. I had laughs, they had tears. No
matter what they did, I'd come back, after all I always do. It was a fun game
of chase that I would always win. And now...oh now it's time for another round
of chase. A game that's been long overdue, one that's lasted for ten years and
must finally come to an end. I've been watching and waiting for you, and now
finally here you are. I'm coming for you, and it ain't gonna be pretty - it
never is. It's time to sleep, perchance to dream ... of Freddy!"
                                      ~*~

"Yeah get the fuck out of my house!" a large woman screamed while trying to
follow the teen age girl in front of her.

"I don't wanna live in your fuck hole of a house you fat ass bitch! Leave me
the fuck alone!" the teen yelled back at the woman. The girl had one duffle bag
in her hand and knife in her other.

"You get back here you little bitch and say that to my face!" the woman yelled.
The girl turned around and held her knife up, "Listen here fuck face, if you
don't back the fuck down-!" the large woman took out a small black revolver
from her dress' pocket and aimed for the teens head.
"Or what?" the woman threatened back.
Both females turned their heads at the sound of a car door slamming shut.
"Charlie get in the car." Mrs. Devon demanded.
The teen girl glared to the large woman before her but finally obeyed her case
worker and turned from the woman. Making her way to the car she tossed her bag
in. While she climbed in after the bag Mrs. Devon, the teen's case worker,
walked up to the large woman who was now trying to hide her gun back within her
pocket.
Mrs. Devon shook her head, "I'm going to pretend I didn't see you threaten
another human's life with a gun, especially a minor's. And don't think I'm
being nice about it, I'm just too damned tired filing these charges only for
the court date to never come about until eight years down the line. I will
however be taking you off our lists for foster homes. Now hand over the gun."
Mrs. Devon held out her hand for the gun.
The large woman gave a pissed off look to Mrs. Devon but handing over the gun.
"If I ain't on record as a foster home how'm I gonna collect my fuckin'
checks?" The grossly overweight woman scowled, money the only thing ever
fueling her small dim mind.
"You'll get your last check from the foster system at the end of the month,
then you're out of luck." Mrs. Devon exhaustedly explained before turning
around and climbing into the driver's seat of the black car. Emptying the gun
of all it's bullets she then hid the gun in her glove box and bullets in her
coin bag within her purse. All the while thinking to herself what the hell
these people were even doing with a gun.
The teen girl looked out the window still glaring at the large bitter woman who
was still shooting dagger eyes at her.
"Get the fuck out off my street!" the fat woman, a true coward at heart, yelled
just as the car began driving away.
Mrs. Devon glanced to the girl in the back seat through the mirror.
"Charlie, Charlie, Charlie." she began.
"What? That shit bag of a human was horrible to live with! You should be happy
that you don't have a murder case on your hands! I swear she was contemplating
on killing me!" the teen aged Charlie ranted.
"Charlie you can't keep doing this! In the past two months you've been bumped
to a different foster home every single week. I can't keep moving you."
"Well as soon as you give me a decent place to live, I can stop making it so
you have to move me." Charlie explained crossing her arms.
Silence followed for a few minutes.
Mrs.Devon, though worn down by her hard gritty job working the foster care
system, really did have good intentions for these kids. She didn't want Charlie
in a slum like where they just left, she wanted better for her and the others.
It was just impossible to find anywhere decent anymore. That is until she got a
new family's file on her desk one day.
Finally Mrs. Devon broke the silence, "I've found a new foster family for you.
They're brand new to the foster family life but they seem pretty nice. They
have a two story suburbian home in a small neighborhood."
Charlie sat motionless with her arms still crossed starring out her dark window
at the night time sky. "Uh huh." She thought it over in silent skeptisism.
She finally spoke, "Where do these new-bies live?" she asked turning from her
window to Mrs. Devon.
"Springwood."
"Springwood? Well that's a gay ass name." Charlie frowned while leaning back.
"Hey! The trailer park you just left might not have a problem with you swearing
but I do!" Mrs. Devon snapped while driving on the nearly dead highway.
"Yeah, sorry." Charlie sighed out, hiding her sincerity. It had been a while
since she actually interacted with anyone who wasn't verbally or physically
attacking her in some way, she had almost forgotten that she could actually
behave like a normal human around her case worker.
Mrs. Devon sighed tiredly and handed Charlie a small file holding only a couple
of papers, Charlie took them and began looking through them.
"Let's see, they're caucasian - a cute couple. Don't have any kids, don't even
have any pets...live at 1431 Elm Street, Springwood..."
Nothing seemed of any dramatic interest to Charlie so she slapped the papers
down on her lap, while leaning back. She looked back out the window.
"Good, now I won't have to worry about cat hair on my clothes." she smirked.
Mrs. Devon rolled her eyes but gave a half smile, amused slightly by the girl's
humor. They had been through a lot together over the years. Mrs. Devon knew
Charlie better than probably anyone else, especially Charlie's hardships. She
wanted what was best for the girl, but was aware enough not to get overly
attached. It was a fine line she walked and walked it she did well.
It didn't take long before, now in the safe heated plush car, Charlie fell
asleep. Glancing to her through the rear view mirror every now and again Mrs.
Devon checked on the silent sleeper. Poor thing had been through a hell of a
lot over the years, which is why Mrs. Devon did consider Charlie a special
case. She was willing to bend the rules, not only to ensure that she herself
would have a break from having to bump her from home to home for at least a
good while, but so that Charlie could be in nicer safer care. This family, The
Sterling's, were a charming couple who always wanted children of their own but
couldn't conceive. They wanted to try the foster care system to see if having
children was really best for them, with the intent to adopt further on down the
road. To Mrs. Devon this was a perfect opportunity for Charlie to have a secure
family setting for herself and who knows maybe even get adopted by the
Sterling's. Stranger things have happened. The only problem with the perfect
foster family was the stipulation on Charlie's confidential files, ones Charlie
didn't even know existed. She was to never return to Springwood, OH under any
circumstances - but that was ten years ago and those stipulations were put in
place before....
Well before problems were handled and the town became safe again. Every time
Mrs. Devon heard about Springwood anymore it seemed like it always had before;
normal, charming, and a nice all American town. She knew no one would ever look
into Charlie's files again except for herself, and that no one even cared what
happened to the poor kid. Everything would be fine, perhaps better than fine.
As she looked back once more to Charlie, sleeping in the back with rain drops
running down the window she used as a pillow, Mrs. Devon felt committed to her
plan.
For the greater good of the child, she'd bend the rules and get her to a good
family - even if that family was on Elm Street.
 
***** 1431 Elm Street, Springwood *****
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

After about a two hour drive from Manchester Mrs. Devon finally found herself
in Sprigwood with Charlie still snoozing in the back seat of the rain soaked
car. It had stopped raining now but the window was still sprinkled with rain
drops. Pulling off the highway and into the sleepy town of Springwood after
dark, Mrs. Devon glanced back to Charlie.
"Charlie. Charlie, wake up. Come on it's time to get up now." She gently yelled
back.
Charlie's eyes squinted shut tighter as she pulled her jacket around her more
for warmth, trying to ignore the wake up calls.
"Charlie, wakey wakey Charlie!" Mrs. Devon annoyingly sing songed back loudly.
Suddenly Charlie jumped briskly, sitting up straight in her seat, eyes wide and
alert. She gasped for air as her eyes darted about.
Mrs. Devon turned to Charlie in surprise, "What's wrong? Are you alright?" She
asked her brows frowning downward.
Charlie took a second to regain herself in her present situation. Blinking she
relaxed.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry. I - I just suddenly had this weird dream like I was
falling or something." Charlie explained.
Mrs.Devon turned back to fully focus on the road, as she should have been.
"That's a common dream to have, but none the less scary when it happens." Mrs.
Devon chuckled, trying to make light of what just happened.
Charlie however frowned, "No. No it wasn't that I was falling, more like I was
being pulled. Like someone grabbed me and was pulling me down a long way." She
thought out loud.
"Whatever, it was a stupid dream. Where are we?" Charlie shook it off and
refocused on something of actual importance quickly.
"Springwood." Mrs.Devon proudly smirked.
"No way, that was shorter than I thought it would have been." Charlie expressed
looking out the windows to take in her latest town while crossing her arms.
"You sure old fatty won't just hunt me down and shoot me here?" Charlie teased
with a dark chuckle.
"Don't worry about her, we'll never see her again that's for sure." Mrs. Devon
reassured.
Charlie accepted it reluctantly and with a sassy raise of her eye brows she
turned back to her window to take in the town as they drove through. It was
such a classic northern american town, rather boring yet quaint. This would be
her latest home. Though she would never admit it, she secretly deep inside
hoped that maybe it would be her final home - a real home and not just a house
she's living in. A real home.
The rain covered black car pulled into Elm Street, Charlie took in each house
as it passed. Taking in their appearance all the while counting the numbers to
find which one she'd be heading to. Finally they parked in front of house 1431.
Charlie yawned, still tired as she looked to the car's clock noticing that is
was now three in the morning. Grabbing her duffle she opened her door and
climbed out to a very cold breeze bursting at her. Charlie looked around her
newest neighborhood and then to her new family's home. She had to admit to
herself, it was like the Ritz Carlton compared to all her past homes. It was
just a simple suburban yellow two story house, new England style.
The couple came out of the house in their pajamas and robes and the woman
greeted Charlie with a hug, Charlie froze in shock at the woman's instant joy.
The man walked over to Mrs. Devon as she climbed from the vehicle.
"Do you always drop the children off at three in the morning?" he asked while
rubbing his eye.
Mrs. Devon smiled, "No sir, we almost never do. However with Charlie we needed
to make an exception. Her last house was a dangerous environment for her and
there was no other places she could stay for the night."
"Dangerous environment?" he questioned.
"That's confidential, I'm afraid. Any who, as you know you're paper work is all
checked out and seeing as it's three in the morning, I take it you're all as
tired as I am."
"Yes we've got everything under control." Mr. Sterling assured Mrs. Devon.
"I'll stop by tomorrow to ensure everything's going smoothly, but I have
confidence in you two." Mrs. Devon smiled warmly as she looked over to Mrs.
Sterling and Charlie greeting each other.
Charlie watched alone as Mrs. Devon drove off from her new bedroom window. It
was on the second floor and larger than any of her past rooms. Mr. and Mrs.
Sterling had made sure to show her around a bit before taking her to her own
room. She hadn't had a room to herself since she couldn't remember when. They
even left her alone to calm down, settle in, and go to bed. She was shocked by
her new family's hospitality. It was a welcomed change, though intensely
skeptical she may be of their seemingly warm attitude towards her, she couldn't
deny that their kindness could grow on her.
However she detested how her room was decorated in an ugly green shade. It made
it seem old and out dated, not in an antique way but in a dusty way. Like a
'did someone's grandmother die in here?' kind of old. It made it seem somehow
foreboding and like the walls were judging her and watching her as if she were
destined to break something or soil it's heritage with her presence. She shook
it off and tried to ignore it.
Not bothering to unpack or even change out of her clothes she moved to her
door, making sure it was closed. She tried to lock it but there was no lock,
they weren't stupid she supposed. It was completely common place for foster
kids to sneak out or run away and a locked door could help to ensure you
wouldn't be walked in on as you crawled out the window.
Shrugging she moved to her window and looked out at the street again. It was
dark and dimly lit though she could see that the neighborhood was quiet and not
a creature was stirring. Drawing the ugly green curtains she turned to the bed
and climbed up onto it, the thing was a god damn full size bed! Like an actual
bed and not a twin cot. Folding her arms behind her head she smiled in secrecy,
she really could get used to this. After a short moment she pulled the ugly
though warm covers over herself, it had been a year since she slept in a bed
with bedding that had no holes in it she mused to herself in excitement.This
place really was the an american dream. Clicking off the nightstand's lamp the
room was enveloped in darkness and silence. Cuddling into the blankets and
getting herself just perfectly comfortable she let out a sigh of relief after
an awful day and couldn't help but smile as she nodded off to sleep...
 
Chapter End Notes
     I know it's a slow start but it's going to get rockin' very soon.
     Just stick around and you'll see :)
***** One, Two... *****
Chapter Notes
     Get ready, for Freddy! Time for our first nightmare...
Darkness surrounded Charlie as sleep gently cascaded over her. She was fast
asleep, a more peaceful and serine sleep than she had enjoyed in years thanks
to the comfort of her bed the security of the quiet neighborhood.
Opening her eyes slowly to see Charlie found herself in what seemed to be a red
illuminated room. Bringing her hand to shield her eyes from the bright crimson
light she blinked in misery. She would never get a peaceful nights sleep, would
she? What was going on now? Was it cop car lights? This place seemed so nice.
She sat up to realize she was no longer laying in that comfortable though ugly
green bed.
"What the fuck?" She murmured in true confusion and disorientation. Whatever
she was sitting on was hard, like metal, and very uncomfortable. As her eyes
adjusted she looked to find she was on the ground, a hard cement floor. No
blankets. No pillows. No bedroom, actually.
Looking around Charlie quickly found she wasn't in any sort of bedroom at all.
Cocking a brow as she grew fearful her wide eyes flickered about. Her mind
raced of horror stories told by the other foster kids back at that one house
last year, some foster kid was taken in by a family as a cover for them to sell
him off to the black market for organs.
Jumping to her feet she found she was still in her clothes from before, not a
medical gown or anything. Feeling her torso and looking over herself in concern
she made sure she still had everything. Pulling her shirt up to check her
stomach she examined herself to find no stitches. With a breath of relief she
let her shirt fall back down and brought her hand up to rub her still tired
eye.
They hadn't taken any organs or anything yet. What in the hell is this place
then? Horrible theories of human trafficking crawled about within her skull but
she seemed to be alone in this hell hole.
Looking around better she tried to make sense of where she even was. The only
lighting was red or orange from some light source she couldn't even see. There
were all sorts of industrial mechanics around her as well as pipes and steam.
It almost looked like something from a movie with how eerie it appeared.
"A boiler room?" Charlie whispered aloud while squinting her eyes to see
through some of the steam.
How in the hell did she get to a boiler room? She thought.
Just then her wide darting eyes found a shape moving, it was far enough away
from her out on some metal bridge or cat walk or something, but it was
approaching slowly. Focusing intently she took a debated with herself
internally of whether or not she should step forward. It could be someone who
could help her, or it could be someone who wanted nothing more than to hurt
her. From her life as a foster kid she learned all too well to always question
everyone's motives, even a shadow of someone.
Soon the shadow took a complete shape of a silhouette of a man. He was decently
tall and seemed to be wearing a hat of some sort, but she couldn't really make
much out.
BAM!
Jumping a mile at the sudden ground shaking sound of pipes crashing to the
ground Charlie whipped toward the sound. She only now realized that she wasn't
on the ground at all. She was on some sort of concrete platform that led off
into metal catwalks over looking the over sized boiler room. Off to the other
side of the platfrom was a small metal staircase leading down to another
platform, that one made of metal. Looking hard she couldn't find what made the
startling noise, her eyes scanned hard trying to find what could have caused it
as she felt her heart race. It almost sounded like a bullet shot. Trying to
catch her breath from the scare she turned back to look to the man.
Her eyes widened.
He was gone.
Furrowing her brows she decided quickly, she didn't feel safe here at all and
wouldn't feel the least bit better until she had some sort of weapon in her
hands to defend herself from whatever the hell was going on.
Looking about her immediate area she found a broken down machine of some
unknown type to her. It didn't matter what it was, it had a heavy metal pipe
sticking out of it that looked like she might be able to break it off. Grabbing
a tight hold on the pipe she pulled and twisted it with all her might, it
needed some serious muscle but it broke off with a small whine. Charlie held
tight to the pipe like a baseball bat as she continued to try and catch her
breath. Big frightened eyes dashed about as her pipe was at the ready to defend
her.
Suddenly she jumped again and released one hand from her pipe to cover her ear
with. The pipe still in her other hand shielded her other ear from the ungodly
sound.
Screech.
"Ugh!" She let out in disgust of the high pitched hideous sound.
She looked back to the catwalk where the shadow was before. Still no man, but
this time she could make out some sort of light. Like sparks from metal
scratching against metal. It clicked and she figured out quickly that whatever
made those sparks must have made the noise.
Pushing past the unpleasant sound she lowered her hands from her ears and held
tight to her pipe again, preparing herself for a fight. Her face scrunched at
the sour sound as it continued and sure enough a few small sparks were seen
again.
Taking her first step out onto the metal cat walk she first tested it to make
sure it would hold her weight. The thing looked ancient and therefor
potentially dangerous. Slowly making her way onto the catwalk Charlie
approached the red smoking machines that worked as a wall between her sight and
whatever was behind them.
Now beside the large tank of a machine where the sound was heard, everything
suddenly fell silent. No screech. No sound at all except those of the machines.
Shaking off any odd feelings, Charlie held her pipe in her fist and jumped out
from behind the corner ready for a brawl.
Nothing.
No one was there.
"What the hell?" She hissed in confusion, lowering her pipe defeatedly.
Pursing her lips as her brows frowned downward she moved to the metal machine
that the sparks came from. Looking it over her eyes narrowed at the bizarre
sight of scratch marks in the metal. A shiver ran up her spine at her inner
thought, they looked like claw marks. Like a monster's. Shaking the childish
thoughts out of her mind she turned to look back down the hallway of a catwalk
she was on.
It almost looked like a labyrinth, how it twisted, turned, and there were paths
to take all over. Clenching the pipe in one fist she figured the only way to
get out of where ever she was, would be to press on and find an exit.
"Charlie..." An ominous voice spoke.
Charlie jumped and looked around, startled.
"Who said that?!" She yelled out, her voice too feminine and not as
intimidating as she would have liked.
Turning completely around and looking all about she couldn't spot any one or
thing that could have called out her name.
"Charlie....!" The voice called again.
This time she had had enough, gathering her bravery and stubbornness she took a
strong step forward.
"Who are you?!" She roared, demanding the games to stop.
A echoing chuckle moved through the boiler room. She couldn't figure out which
direction the grim laugh was coming from but she knew it definitly sounded
male. It seemed somehow omnipresent, as if the devil himself was laughing at
her distress.
Swallowing hard, her bravery had begun to recede. Taking a step backward her
eyes still searched for where the chuckling came from.
Suddenly Charlie found herself bumping up against something behind her back.
With wide eyes she all but froze, paralyzed in fear. Two arms slid under her
own as a hand wrapped around her throat pulling her further against whoever was
behind her.
"Charlie, Charlie, Charlie..." The dark voice spoke into her ear.
The other arm raised from under her own to reveal it was wearing some sort of
monstrosity of a glove. The thing had knives for fingers and looked unnaturally
sharp as the warm lighting reflected off of the blades before her face.
"I've missed you!" The voice spoke threateningly.
Charlie shut her eyes tight in fear and did the only thing she could think to
do, stomped on the stranger's foot. The voice let out a small sound of pain as
she broke free from it's grasp and began running away. Stopping to look back
she instantly regretted ever stopping.
There before her stood that shadowed man, however now completely illuminated.
He was tall, wearing a striped sweater and a fedora hat. Her eyes widened as
she took in his horribly burnt flesh, he was deformed from burns all over his
body rendering him hairless as far as she could tell. On one of his hands he
wore that disgusting knife glove that he seemed all too comfortable to use as a
lethal weapon.
Charlie found herself once again frozen in fear, this couldn't be real. It was
too weird, it was like she was literally in hell and here before her stood the
devil.
Her eyes widened as she soon realized the man's sounds of pain were not from
pain. They were from amusement. She didn't know which was more terrifying; that
she had now gave him a reason to hold a grudge against her, or that he found it
funny?
Standing up straighter he looked to her with the most intense dark eyes she had
ever seen. His very eyes threatened death wishes to her as they glinted in the
firey light of the dim boiler room.
"Aww, come on Charlie. You must remember me. You know you can't hurt me!" He
yelled, his voice almost demonic in nature. Then he threw his head back in
laughter.
Charlie just stood there confused, terrified, and completely unsure of what to
do. Should she run, fight, ...talk? Nothing made any sense.
"Hey, Charlie!" He barked to grab her full attention, which she gave out of
fear.
"Remember this one?" He grinned perversely as he lifted his red and green
stripped sweater to reveal his utterly burnt chest. Her face showed disgust and
terror as he swipped his glove's blades into his flesh, yellow blood like
liquid oozing out. He let out a ghastly moan of sorts, as he actually enjoyed
the pain it gave him.
Charlie was now not only horrified and disgusted but now embarrassed and
disturbed at the sexual pleasure the man seemed to experience while cutting
himself and looking directly into her eyes. Anger took over her as fight or
flight kicked in, and fight she would.
"Who the fuck are you!?" She screamed at the man furiously.
He smiled a twisted grin, "You know who I am, Charlie. Just like I know who you
are..."
"I don't know you!" She shouted, still trying to stand her ground though her
bravery was growing timid.
The man began stepping forward, towards her. Her brows raised a she realized he
was approaching. She stepped backward, grabbing her pipe with two fists and
holding it as if it were a baseball bat again.
"Stay the fuck away from me!" She threatened.
He laughed and continued to approach, his evil eyes locked on her own.
"I mean it, stay the fuck back!" She shouted as he grew closer.
Not taking her warnings he was soon right in front of her. Mustering up all her
strength she swung the pipe at him as hard as she could but without flinching
he simply caught it with his hand and ripped it out of her hands.
Now weaponless she stepped backward again. Flinging the pipe behind them the
man reached out with his gloved hand.
"Get away from me!" She screamed as she turned and ran.
Laughter filled the room again as Charlie dashed down catwalks and turned
corners as fast as she could. Tears began pulling from the sides of her eyes as
she hunted for a place to hide or get away.
Turning a promising looking corner she however found herself at a dead end. Any
hope she had was quickly diminishing each passing second. Snapping around to
continue on her search she stopped short to find her pathway blocked by none
other than the burnt man.
Her heart racing, her lungs throbbing for air from running, and her eyes huge
in fear she looked upon him as he smiled. Stepping back he pursued until she
found herself backed against a wall.
"What do you want? Huh? What the fuck do you want?!" She asked, her words
growing into a threatening though frantic scream.
Stepping closer to her, only inches from her face he chuckled once more.
"I want to be your every waking nightmare!" He finally answered loudly, a dark
intent clear from his tone.
Before Charlie could respond, he had grabbed her by her throat again and this
time threw her head back, then brought his gloved hand up to their faces.
Charlie's eyes were fixed on the razor sharp fingers that were held infront of
her. The burnt man snickered as he slowly grazed his razor fingers down the
side of her face.
Letting out a scream of pure terror Charlie shut her eyes hard when...
***** It was only a dream. *****
Jumping up, Charlie kicked her blanket off of her, and let out a loud gasp. In
a cold sweat and breathing heavily, her fists flew as she opened her eyes to
find herself back in that ugly green bedroom. That beautiful, wonderful, ugly
green bedroom. She had never been so happy to see that awful shade of green in
her whole life, even if she was partially blinded by the sun's light as it
pushed through the windows illuminating the entire room with a warm glow.
Taking a few breaths and allowing reality to comfort her as she calmed down,
she accepted that she was safe and in fact had just woken up from a very bad
dream. Letting out a soft breathy laugh she brought her hand to her forehead.
"Oh my god..." she scoffed to herself.
She was fine. It was all a dream. A stupid, really weird and scary dream.
"Charlie?" chirped a voice from the other side of Charlie's white bedroom door,
causing Charlie to jump a mile and shoot her attention to the door in fear of
the burnt man.
"Charlie? Are you alright?" chirped the voice again. This time Charlie snapped
back into reality and let out a breath. It was Mrs. Sterling, her latest foster
parent.
Damn it, did she hear me dreaming? Charlie thought defensively.
"Wha-? Oh... yeah I'm fine Mrs. Sterling." Charlie replied sitting up in the
bed.
"I told you Charlie, call me Rose." the woman giggled, "Oh and breakfast is
ready downstairs. Be sure to get some while it's hot!" The cheerful woman left
Charlie's door and headed down the stairs.
Charlie's shoulders slumped as she allowed herself to finally relax.
"God Charlie, it was just a nightmare. Calm yourself down, girl." She whispered
to herself as she climbed out of the bed. She stepped over to the small arm
chair in the corner that held her duffle bag. She opened it and pulled out a
fresh change of clothes, she couldn't live in one outfit around here - this
place was classier than any of her past homes.
She changed quickly, still trying to shake images of the creepy burnt man from
her mind. Turning to the dresser she spotted a hairbrush, it looked new so
maybe it was intentionally put there for her. Regardless she brushed her hair
and pulled off a scrunchy from her wrist to put her hair up in a ponytail.
Catching herself in the mirror above the dresser she smiled to herself as she
put her hair up until her eyes narrowed on a surprising sight.
Her stomach sank as she noticed four cuts slowly leaking blood on her cheek.
 
Mrs. Sterling poured her husband a cup of coffee and placed it before him on
the kitchen table. He was reading the morning paper, the sports section of
course.
"So what were you doing up stairs?" he asked his wife.
"Oh, I went up there to get my bracelet but over heard Charlie in her sleep.
The poor dear must have had a nightmare." Rose explained making herself a cup
of coffee.
"Too bad, but that is to be expected by a foster child I'm afraid, my dear.
After all the torment they've gone through." he replied before taking a sip of
his coffee.
The woman nodded as she heard foot steps coming down the stairs. Charlie turned
off the last step, walked across the hallway and into the kitchen.
"Morning." Charlie said with a half smile on.
"Good morning, Charlie" replied with a grin while still reading his newspaper.
"Charlie I've made waffles for breakfast this morning. I hope you like them."
Rose smiled while placing a plate of waffles on the kitchen table, before an
empty chair. Charlie smiled and blushed at this unusual pamperment. She hadn't
eaten anything she hadn't cooked herself in a long time, besides fast food.
"Thank you, Mrs. Sterl-. Oh I-I mean Rose." Charlie smiled as she took her
seat.
Charlie began eating her waffles when Mr. Sterling put down his paper onto the
table.
"So Charlie, did you sleep well last night?" he asked.
"Oh yeah, I was comfortable." Charlie replied before taking a bite of her
waffle. Sure she had a nightmare, and Mrs.Sterling might even know she did, but
Charlie chose to look on the bright side. That bed was truly the most
comfortable bed she'd ever slept on.
"That's good." replied Mr.Sterling masking his defeat with a smile, his attempt
to have her feel comfortable talking about anything that could be bothering her
clearly failing.
Suddenly his eyes caught it, narrowing in he noticed her cuts on her face.
"Charlie what's that on your cheek?" He asked, pointing to her face.
Tilting her head down in a sad attempt to hide the cuts she raised her hand to
cover her cheek.
"It's nothing." She aswered quickly.
"What's on her cheek?" Mrs. Sterling inquired, moving from the kitchen counter
to Charlie to examine her face.
"I'm fine, it's nothing. Seriously." Charlie insisted, feeling more embarrassed
now than before.
Mrs. Sterling took Charlie's hand from her cheek and raised her head by her
chin. With wide eyes she took in Charlie's cuts.
"What happened?" Mrs. Sterling was clearly upset.
Pulling away from Mrs. Sterling Charlie looked to her waffle and pursed her
lips.
"I had a nightmare and I guess I scratched myself in my sleep. There, happy?"
She hissed, cheeks red from admitting that she wasn't super girl and was
actually scared by a dumb dream.
Mr. and Mrs. Sterling backed off but wanted very much to sympathize for her,
but due to her current attitude they knew now would be a bad time.
"I'm sorry that happened to you, sweety." Mrs. Sterling comforted verbally
while turning back to the kitchen counter to cook.
Charlie's brows met in a confused scowl. Sweety? What she gets a pet name now?
"It's fine. She's fine, honey." Mr. Sterling interjected seeing Charlie not
taking well to coddling. "Maybe cut your nails, it was probably a weird one
time thing, but it can't hurt." He added.
Charlie calmed down a bit, they only wanted to help her it seemed. With a soft
exhale she turned back to her waffle and began cutting it.
"Yeah it was just a weird one time blip or something, it's never happened
before." She found herself defending herself mindlessly.
"So hey, there's something I have to let you know." Mr. Sterling struck up
conversation.
Charlie looked to him, while still cutting her waffle.
"Yesterday I was called for a business meeting in Manhattan for the weekend.
I'll be leaving tonight. I'm sorry but it'll just be you and Rose here for a
bit." he explained.
Charlie nodded, "Okay, I hope your business meeting goes well?" she replied,
not caring in the least that he was leaving, and completely confused by why he
would take the time to tell her about it. She was often alone and always
without any adult supervision so why did he inform her about this, like it was
something she'd be concerned with or something.
Mr. Sterling nodded, again defeated. Glancing to his wife with a look on his
features he wondered silently if not only were they cut out to act as parents
to a teenager but if they could handle an emotionally damaged foster child. Not
that he blamed Charlie or anything like that, but were they doing what was best
for the child by taking her in. Would this be a constructive environment for
her or would they screw things up more for her? He wasn't sure, but one thing
he was sure of was that he and his wife really did have the best intentions for
her.
***** Jade *****
Charlie pulled on her coat as she opened the front door. Mr.Sterling had gone
to work and Mrs. Sterling busied herself with cleaning when she told Charlie to
go get acquinted with her new home. Charlie had seen enough of the inside for a
bit and was more interested with the outside. At all her past homes the foster
parents always wanted the kids outside and as far from the actual house as
possible until nightfall, so she was used to and more comfortable with being
outside. Plus she wanted to explore the town and see if she could find any
interesting places.
She stepped outside and began investigating her newest neighborhood. It was
small and quiet, aside from a few kids playing around in the autumn's dead
leaves.
"God this place looks like a damn magazine..."she murmured to herself.
Every house was perfectly painted, the plants perfectly trimmed, and the people
perfectly groomed and dressed. Everyone had not only a car but a decently nice
car, and some houses even had two nice cars. Birds fluttered about and
squirrels collected acorns for the coming winter. It was almost sickening how
sweet everything was to the hardened girl, though she did rather like it.
"Hey!" chirped a voice from behind.
Charlie turned around normally, now almost forgetting about the burnt man
though he still lingered in the back of her mind. She saw a girl her who looked
her age walking up the sidewalk. Charlie glanced around then pointed to herself
as if asking if the girl was talking to her.
"Yeah, you!" the girl replied running up to Charlie.
Charlie raised a brow at the curious girl before her, "Hello?".
"Hi! I'm Jade." the girl smiled while catching her breath. Jade held out her
hand, and Charlie shook it.
"I'm Charlie."
"Are you new here? It's weird, I thought I knew everyone around this small
town, they're all so plain and boring. I noticed your Quiet Riot shirt and I
just had to say hi." Jade said while a smile.
Charlie looked at herself thinking out loud, "My shirt?"
"Yeah Quiet Riot, right? I'm a total fan of them. You are too right?" Jade
asked her eyes big in question.
Charlie nodded reluctantly, "Well yeah, I like their music but I didn't buy
this shirt."
"Oh my god, did you nab it? How rebellious!" Jade grinned wide, clearly
enthused by the possibilities of theft.
Charlie began to shake her head no but was too busy making a face at the girl's
bizarre behavior when Jade cut in.
"Did you know you have a scratch on your cheek?" Jade questioned, her eyes
narrowing to Charlie's cuts.
Turning her face away from Jade, Charlie blushed.
"Yeah I know."
"It's not too noticeable, don't worry. It looks like it hurts, though."
"It's actually surprisingly numb." Charlie answered coldly. She wasn't going to
go into anymore about her cheek and her silence made that clear to Jade.
"So are you new here?" Jade asked, trying to lighten the conversation.
"Yeah, I'm living with the Sterlings." This was the first answer Charlie felt
comfortable giving the girl.
"What are they, your cousins or...?"
"Foster home." Charlie answered honestly, standing her ground and preparing for
the coming response.
"Oh! Your a foster child?"
"Yeah, what's it matter?" Charlie responded half threateningly.
Jade's eyes grew wide, "Oh no, it doesn't matter to me. I was just asking. I'm
actually adopted myself." Jade explained.
Charlie backed down and crossed her arms. "You were adopted?" Skepticism lacing
her words.
"Yeah, I don't remember my family at all. Well except for my family now." Jade
added.
There was a short moment of silence as Charlie accepted that Jade was telling
the truth. There was a certain look in people's eyes when they really were
telling an uncomfortable truth, no matter how hard they tried to sugar coat it.
Though a part of Charlie's pain pinged, this girl was lucky enough to be
adopted. Charlie didn't know if Jade had been in the foster care system or an
orphanage but by her behavior and appearance she figured she couldn't have been
anywhere unfriendly for long. Probably spent nearly her whole life with her
adoptive family. Lucky kid.
"Hey since your new here, why don't I show you around? There are some cute guys
down at the arcade!" Jade giggled.
Charlie softly smiled as she realized she had just made her first friend in
Springwood. This was truly uncharacteristic of her, she moved around so much
she tended to make a habit out of not making friends with locals but she craved
some time with her own age group for a change. She was always with younger
foster kids anymore or with controlling adults or alone. She liked being alone
but this was an uncharacteristic change in her by accepting a possible
friendship.
She shook off any tiny feelings inside her that rolled her eyes at herself for
being to stupid as to try to anchor herself to this town. Even if she'd never
admit it, so far from what she'd seen of the place she didn't really have any
urge to leave. For the first time ever, she felt okay with a neighborhood and
foster family. Maybe this was it, her fresh start at a life she'd only dreamed
of. A white picket fenced house with a pleasant family in a friendly
neighborhood in a charming little town. Charlie would normally scoff at the
idea even though that's exactly what she secretly craved for her whole life.
A normal life.
Charlie felt as if she was cursed to never get a chance at one but something
about Springwood, so far, seemed to make that dream a possibility. Even if she
didn't want to believe that it was, out of preserving herself from not getting
hurt if it didn't work out. It wasn't like these foster parents had any
experience, what was she delusional thinking they might change their minds at
any moment and kick her out? And how did she know that this town was so nice?
What if it ended up being the same as any other town with all sorts of fucked
up things going on?
Nodding to hide her sudden skepticism from her internal thoughts, Charlie began
walking side by side with Jade as to two chatted. Turned out they actually did
have some pretty cool things in common and the more they talked the more
Charlie actually did like Jade.
"So are you going to Springwood High or...?" Jade asked, looking to the dead
leaves littered about the sidewalk.
"Um, I guess. That's public, right?" Charlie's voice showing she was unsure of
her ability to answer that question.
"Yeah, it's a public school. It's where I go. I mean pretty much everyone goes
to Springwood High. It's not so great, but I was wondering if we'd have any
classes together. I mean if we're in the same grade, that is." Jade explained,
her boot crunching a leaf.
"To be honest, I just got here last night. I don't really know anything about
this place or what school I'm going to or anything." Charlie answered honestly.
"Wow, you really are brand spankin' new around here, huh?" Jade smiled. "What
are you doing wandering the neighborhood then? Shouldn't you be like settling
in or something?"
"Probably, but I needed some fresh air. I don't want to get settled only to get
kicked out later tonight." Charlie blurted out, her eyes widening at her own
unexpected honesty.
Jade looked down at Charlie's words, the reality of her new friend's past
sinking into her. She realized she had never actually dealt with anyone who
wasn't from a normal family. Even Jade herself had been adopted from a
surrogate mother and had always grown up in a simple but caring family of her
own. She didn't know much about the foster care system or the life that came
with it but she had an idea based on what she'd heard from the news and her
parents.
"It must be hard...to not know what's going to happen even in the coarse of a
day." Jade tried sympathizing.
Charlie shrugged, trying to brush off any emotions about the topic.
"I get by."
"I feel sorry for you, it must be scary-" Jade tried to continue but was
inturrupted by Charlie grabbing her arm with a dark look in her eyes.
"Don't! I don't want your sympathy and I don't want your pity. I'm fine. It's
fine. Just leave it alone." Charlie barked as Jade froze. Looking Jade over
with a dirty look Charlie let go of the girl and turned around. Marching back
to her latest foster house, the stupid place.
"See you around, Jade." Charlie hissed.
***** Not out to the best start... *****
Turning the corner Charlie slipped around the house and into the backyard. Her
mind fueled by embarrassment and anger. She couldn't even talk to someone her
own age without getting the pity treatment. Judged for something she had no
control of.
"Fuck..." she whimpered to herself in the cold autumn air.
Maybe if her parents gave a shit she wouldn't be in this shit pile of a foster
system, being tossed around like a can of piss nobody wanted. Her mind juggled
these thoughts while trying desperately to fight off any and all emotions but
anger.
Thunder threatened from the overcast grey sky above. Great, now it can rain on
her too. Perfect, just peachy.
And rain it did. A shower of small raindrops began slowly falling to the ground
from the clouds, dancing in the cold wind.
Scowling Charlie stepped up to the back porch and threw herself up against the
wall of the house under the back porch's shelter. Sliding down the wall to her
bottom she sat looking out to the rain.
She didn't want to go inside. Not in there, the cute little new england home
all fluffed and clean and warm with Mrs. Sterling cooking and cleaning. She
didn't belong here, Charlie figured. Nothing about Springwood was fit for
someone as fucked up as she was. It was stupid for her to ever give into any
thoughts otherwise. Stupid waffles, and neighborhood kids.
"What did you think this place would be different, Charlie? Did you think you
ever had a fucking chance?" She bitterly whispered to herself in anger.
Looking over to a puddle forming on the wooden steps of the back porch she
watched as raindrops made ripples in it's reflective surface. It was strangely
calming to her as she forced back tears of self pity. It was bad enough when
someone else pitied her, she didn't need to pity herself now too - she thought,
holding back crying.
A red and green stripped arm suddenly swung over the railing of the steps up to
the back porch. Jumping, her eyes snapping wide in terror, Charlie braced
herself. It was the burnt man, the one from her dream, coming back to try and
kill her.
It wasn't an arm. It was a piece of fabric. Realizing it wasn't anything more
than a torn piece of fabric Charlie let out a calm sigh of relief. Blinking she
tried to calm herself from her fright. Looking to the piece of fabric draped
over the railing by the wind she shot it a filthy look.
It all came back to her now, her dream. Her nightmare. That burnt man. Normally
Charlie didn't give into silly things like dreams or superstitions but she
couldn't help now but have a slight fear that maybe that stupid dream meant
something, a bad omen about this town. Maybe things wouldn't work out for her.
Maybe she would just get bumped to another place in a day or so. Maybe things
weren't as they seemed.
Getting up from her spot on the porch she stepped over to the wooden steps and
took the fabric from the railing. Holding it in her hands she examined it. It
felt weird, the fabric. One thing was for sure, wasn't sweater material.
Her mind wandered back to that horrible burnt man. That nightmare had more of
an effect on her than she thought. She hoped she'd never have a dream of him
again.
"Hey!" a voice yelled, making Charlie jolt startled.
Looking up from the fabric she turned to where the voice had come from,
secretly fearing the possibility of it being the burnt man.
A boy, a few years older than her, looked from over the tall wooden fence of
the backyard from another house's backyard. Hiding her relief that it wasn't
the burnt man she also internally beat herself up for being so ridiculous about
that stupid dream.
Because scary people from dreams are totally real and can get you in real life,
yeah right Charlie. Grow up. She thought to herself.
"Who are you?" She asked cynically, crossing her arm while holding the fabric
out.
"Adam. You're new, are The Sterling's your Aunt and Uncle or something?" He
asked in a friendly tone.
"No, they aren't my Aunt and Uncle."
"Why are you here then?"
"That's none of your business, is it Adam?" Charlie snarked.
Adam raised his hands surrenderingly.
"Okay, crossed a line I didn't see. I get it. Sorry." He apologized, but
Charlie simply rolled her eyes.
"I'm only bothering you because, see I kinda had a mix up with my old umbrella
and a piece ripped off and flew into your yard. And I see you've got it right
there in your hand, and I really need that back. Please?" He grinned nervously.
Cocking a brow Charlie smirked. "What'd you get in a fight with an umbrella and
lose?"
Laughing nervously he turned red. "You could say that, yeah. Look it's this old
thing that belonged to my grandmother so it's way old and my mom will kill me
if she finds out I broke it. I'm gonna try to fix it but I need that piece to
do it."
Charlie looked up at the rain as a sadist smirk pulled her lips in a curl.
"It's raining, I don't know if I can get it to you without getting soaked. Too
bad, looks like you'll just have to tell your mother what you did." She smiled
darkly.
"Oh come on!" He insisted, his voice bitterly defeated.
Getting a sick amusement from ruining his day for a moment, Charlie then turned
and looked about the porch. Spotting an umbrella on this back porch too she
snatched it up and opened it over her, the thing was a boring light brown color
but it would do. Shielding herself from the rain she stepped down the stairs
and across the green yard to the fence.
Holding out the fabric to the boy she smirked, "Good thing I didn't loose the
fight with my umbrella." He took the fabric from her with a smile, rain
dripping down his face from his soaked hair.
"Thank you, thank you so much." He held to the fabric tightly. "My grandmother
has been dead for a few years now and my mom cherishes everything that used to
belong to her. Thank you, more from my mom than from me."
"Don't sweat it." Charlie coldly spoke as she began turning from the Adam.
"Ow, what happened there?" Adam asked reacting to Charlie's scratches on her
face.
Quickly she brought her hand up to her cheek to cover the cuts and shot him a
look. Turning away from him again she began to march off from him.
"Wait!" He shouted, making her look back to him. "I never got your name."
"It's Charlie." She answered, giving him a quick look up and down while
lowering her hand back to her pocket before turning on her heal and continuing
to the back porch. Feeling his eyes still on her she closed the umbrella and
set it back where it belonged before opening the back door and going inside to
escape from being watched.
Closing the door her ears perked at sounds coming from the kitchen. Walking
down the hall, she turned the corner and peeked into the kitchen. Mrs. Sterling
was cooking dinner. Spotting Charlie, Mrs. Sterling grinned, "Charlie! Where
have you been? How have you liked the neighborhood? I'm making dinner, want to
help?" She invited warmly.
After everything that had happened to her that day, something about Mrs.
Sterling's cheer made her slip slightly from her miserable attitude. Nodding
slowly Charlie stepped into the kitchen, "What would you like me to help with?"
She asked, unsure of what to expect.
"Want to open those cans of green beans, while I was these pealed potatoes?"
Mrs. Sterling smiled.
Moving over beside Mrs. Sterling, Charlie stood before the vegetable cans as
Mrs. Sterling handed her a can opener. "Is that all?" Charlie asked,
astonished. She was used to having to be the one to actually cook dinner.
"Well, if you want to help more you can set the table I suppose." Mrs. Sterling
answered, clearly trying to find something for Charlie to do. She was used to
doing all cooking and cleaning herself, and for Charlie to even help out by
uncanning things was a nice gesture on the girl's part.
"Yeah, I'd like to help out in any ways I can." Charlie explained, beginning to
open a can.
"Tonight at dinner, we'll be going over things better. Like chores, and school.
We'll keep you busy, don't worry." Mrs. Sterling smiled, still tending to the
potatoes.
Charlie smiled too actually. Something about staying somewhere and not cleaning
or cooking or doing much of anything wasn't leaving the best feeling in her
stomach. She needed to earn her way, it's what she was used to. It was nice to
go outside but guilt did plague her watching Mrs. Sterling scrubbing the floor
as Charlie left to go walk around aimlessly outside.
"Cool." She replied, her tone now warmer than before as she picked up another
can to open.
"This is all new for us too, but we'll get all of this figured out. I'm sure of
it. You have faith in us, right?" Mrs. Sterling looked to Charlie, her eyes
asking the teen for hope.
Charlie wasn't used to this, Mrs. Sterling was too nice, she didn't know how to
deal with adults who were this sweet. However as she looked to Mrs. Sterling,
seeing that she really was trying here, Charlie couldn't help but give a small
soft smile.
"We'll figure it out." Charlie answered, internally praying that it was all
true.
***** Green beans *****
After a cooking a delicious meatloaf dinner Mrs. Sterling and Charlie made, Mr.
Sterling arrived home after a day of work at his office. While cooking Mrs.
Sterling and Charlie had chatted and began breaking the ice between them, dare
I say even bonding a bit. The two laughed as Mrs. Sterling dropped corn all
over the floor and roared even harder when Charlie slipped on it while cleaning
it up and landed on her bottom. It hurt but it was even funnier than the pain
burned. While Charlie set the table Mrs. Sterling turned on the radio and
Charlie jammed to Michael Jackson while setting the utensils beside the plates.
Even Mr.Sterling joined in by impersonating the famous moon walk Michael
Jackson danced. The three of them enjoyed dinner, now growing surprisingly more
comfortable with each other. Smiles filled the room as they ate and discussed
Charlie's chores, which they were surprised to find she was happy to be given.

Mowing the lawn every Tuesday, vacuuming the upstairs every other day, bringing
in the laundry from outside and finally washing the dishes every other night
starting tonight.
Next they talked about Charlie's schooling. She'd be attending Springwood High,
Mr. Sterling had stopped by after work to get things in order at the school.
She'd be starting Monday morning, coming in mid-semester but she insisted she'd
be fine with it. Mr. and Mrs. Sterling were pleasantly surprised with how much
Charlie wanted to work with them and make things work. They never even pressed
her for anything about how she used to do things at her past homes, as if they
never even existed. It seemed like maybe this could be a fresh start for her.
After dinner as Charlie happily washed the dishes, her guilt of not helping out
around the house diminishing each passing second, Mrs. Sterling brought down a
suitcase she packed for her husband. He prepared to leave for his work trip, as
the couple talked in the living room, discussing many things but also their
good byes. Kissing her husband before he left, Mrs. Sterling watched as Mr.
Sterling walked out the front door and to his car. She stood out on the front
porch watching him leave, very much in love with her husband and sad to see him
go even if it was just for a short time.
Inside Charlie finished up washing the dishes and began drying them, the radio
still on but much lower than before. Music softly moved through the kitchen as
Charlie swayed to the beat while cleaning. Soon Mrs. Sterling came into the
kitchen, a sad smile on her features.
"Wow, you did really good, Charlie." She smiled motioning to the clean dishes.
"Thanks, Rose. I just don't really know yet where they go." Charlie admitted
looking around at all the different cabinets.
"Oh, of course." Mrs. Sterling realized she had forgotten to show Charlie where
to put them. Moving over to the dishes cabinet she opened them to reveal the
rest of the matching dishes already in there. "They go in here, dear." She
grinned.
Charlie nodded and began putting the dishes away. "Thank you." She smiled
softly.
In no time Charlie was finished and put the dish rag away. "No thank you, you
did very nicely." Mrs. Sterling insisted.
"Well now, it's just us two girls. What are we gonna do now?" Mrs. Sterling
smiled crossing her arms.
Charlie was shocked. Was she alluding to spending time with Charlie? Like as in
hanging out?
"What do you mean?" She asked, confused.
"Well we could watch some tv or read some magazines, something calm though
because we'll have to go to bed soon." Mrs. Sterling explained sweetly.
Wow, she actually did mean spending time with Charlie as a person. This was
something Charlie was very unused to.
"I haven't watched tv in like forever." Charlie blurted out thoughtlessly. It
was true, she hadn't been able to watch tv since three homes ago. Her last home
wouldn't allow the kids to watch the tv which was hidden away in the foster
mom's bedroom, and the one before that sold their television before she even
got there.
"Great, let's put something fun on." Mrs. Sterling began towards the den.
Charlie uneasily followed, skeptical of the seemingly unreal situation. Not
only was she inviting Charlie to watch television with her, she seemed
enthusiastic about it.
Mrs. Sterling sat down on the couch and welcomed Charlie to take a seat as
well. Charlie moved over to the arm chair nearby and took a seat as Mrs.
Sterling flicked on the television.
The two watched in amusement a funny re-run of the I Love Lucy show until Love
Boat came on next. Two shows, it was an amazing treat for the girl. After Love
Boat ended Charlie laughed at a cheesy line before turning to Mrs. Sterling
opening her mouth to speak. But upon noticing Mrs. Sterling had fallen asleep
watching the show, Charlie quietly giggled to herself before turning to the
television again.
Suddenly she snapped back to herself. Mrs. Sterling was asleep and she was in
front of a television, something she hadn't been allowed near in a long while.
Shifting her eyes about she slowly rose from her seat and crept towards the
remote sitting on the coffee table. Licking her lips she kept a steady sight on
Mrs. Sterling, making sure not to wake her. Slowly and silently she took the
remote and moved back to her seat. Succeeding Charlie relaxed as she brought
the remote closer to her face to see the buttons better. Clicking a button to
change the channel, the television changed from credits from The Love Boat to a
dental commercial. Clicking through the channels more Charlie finally stopped
on the channel she was after.
The news.
Springwood local news channel, she wanted to know more about this town. A
cartoonish looking Anchor man read the news in an announcer type tone.

"Springwood zoners hear scrapyard dispute. The Springwood Zoning Board on
Wednesday unanimously agreed that a newer junkyard business on North Keyser
Avenue renting property from a longtime scrap yard is “grandfathered” under the
older company’s license."
The camera zoomed from the man to reveal a female anchor beside him, her hair
way too big and hairsprayed into submission.
"Wow, talk about junk news." She laughed.
"What have you got for us, Barbara?" The man tossed the ball to her corner.
"Oh I've got some delicious news, for you David. Lebanese Heritage Festival
offers taste of culture with Tabouli recipe handed down. The Mediterranean diet
made a splash on the food scene in the 1970s, and remains popular for suggested
heart-healthy eating to this day..."
The most interesting thing on this news program to Charlie was that the anchors
seemed to dislike eachother. Turning off the television, Charlie returned the
remote to the coffee table. Looking to Mrs. Sterling, who was still asleep,
Charlie figured she might as well wake her and get her to bed.
"Rose?" She asked aloud to wake her.
With one try Mrs. Sterling woke up, though still half asleep.
"Huh? What? Charlie?" She confusingly questioned, while sitting up.
"You fell asleep during Love Boat. It's ten o'clock now. You should be sleeping
in your bed." Charlie explained quietly as she helped Mrs. Sterling to her
feet.
The two made their way upstairs as Charlie turned off the downstairs lights on
their way.
"Thank you so much, Charlie." Mrs. Sterling yawned.
"It's nothing, you didn't look very comfortable on the couch." Charlie lied. It
wasn't that Mrs. Sterling didn't look comfortable on the couch, Charlie had
slept on many couches and they were severely under rated for comfort but she
couldn't help but feel guilt that Mrs. Sterling perhaps purposely stayed up
later than she meant to so Charlie could watch another show.
Mrs. Sterling smiled to the girl as she turned down the hallway to her bedroom.
Leaving Charlie alone in the hallway to head to the room she slept in last
night.
Charlie had to admit, after the bad sleep she had last night and the day she
had, sleep sounded pretty good to her. She turned off the hallway light as she
opened the door and walked inside the ugly green bedroom, then closed the door
behind her. Going back over to dresser she pulled the scrunchie from her hair,
letting it fall over her shoulders again. Catching her cheek in the mirror, see
looked at her cuts with a bitter face. They were healing well and might even be
gone in a day or two. She even figured they were small enough to lie and blame
on a cat scratch now. It was still insulting to have wounds branding her face
from her nightmare.
Turning her attention to her duffle still on the nearby arm chair she figured
she'd allow herself to relax a bit, tonight being her second night in the room
and all. Moving to the duffle she pulled out an old over sized grey t-shirt. It
had tears in it and a stain on one side but it was comfortable to sleep in as a
nightgown. She changed into the shirt and climbed into the bed.
Before crawling all the way into the blankets, Charlie leaned over to the
nightstand and turned off the lamp. The room was instantly saturated in
darkness, aside from the streetlight creeping in through the closed drapes.
Sinking into the mattress she pulled the covers over her and rested her head
onto the pillows. Heaving a sigh her eyelids already began feeling heavy.
Laying there in this comfortable bed, in this comfortable home, she thought to
herself. Maybe it wasn't so crazy to think that this could potentially work
out. She wouldn't bet money on it but something inside her hoped this would
work out well. She would pull her end with chores and work hard in school, and
maybe she'd be able to stay here for a while.
And with those thoughts comforting her, Charlie drifted off to sleep.
***** Broken Dreams *****
Blinding light suddenly struck against Charlie's eyelids. Squeezing her eyes
shut as tight as she could she fought off the disruptance from her sleep.
Giving an irritated sleepy grunt she rolled over in bed, pulling the blankets
up over her head.
It did little difference.
Charlie sighed bitterly and sat up straight in the bed. Her brows piercingly
angry she looked out from the bed.
It was still night. Darkness lingered past the bedroom windows. Raising a
confused brow, Charlie followed the light to find it was coming from the lamp
on the nightstand beside her.
Again giving another annoyed though exasperated sigh, she relaxed. She still
had plenty of time to sleep after her long day. Still confused as to how or why
the lamp had turned on she shrugged it off, too tired to give it any thought.
With a click the lamp was back off and the room returned to it's warm darkened
state.
Smiling ever so to herself, now having conquered her disturbance, Charlie laid
back down and rested her head on the soft pillow. Charlie relaxed now wrapped
in the blankets again with calm silence reassuring her all was well, her
eyelids closed gently as sleep began to set in again.
Blinding light suddenly struck against Charlie's eyelids once more.
This time her eyes snapped wide open as she furiously sat up and turned to the
damned nightstand.
The lamp was on again, sure enough.
Giving a death glare to the wretched light source she know realized that she
couldn't ignore this. She was skeptical by nature but Charlie couldn't in all
honesty brush this off as some electrical mishap. She had turned it off. Twice
now. How had it turned itself back on?
She pushed the blankets from her and climbed from the bed onto her feet. Taking
a step over to the nightstand she peered behind the small side table to see
where the lamp was plugged into the wall.
Now with a devilish grin she reached back behind the nightstand and grabbed
hold of the lamp's wire, then pulled it viciously from the wall. The room was
back to darkness.
"Got'cha now." She whispered to herself smugly.
Putting the plug up on the nightstand she turned back to the bed and began to
climb in again.
God, sleep sounded so good right now. Relaxing again she slithered under the
comfy blankets, her eyelids shutting for good as her head hit the pillow.
Blinding light suddenly struck against Charlie's eyelids again, pulling Charlie
from the pillows as her head spun to the lamp for a third time.
Horror struck her features as the lamp shined it's light, while it's plug swung
from off the nightstand. It wasn't even plugged in, how could it be lighting
up?
No, no that isn't possible. It couldn't be true, Charlie thought. She must have
unplugged the wrong cord.
Rushing out of the bed Charlie marched over to the nightstand again and peered
behind it, furious that she had made a mistake with the cords. Looking to the
electrical outlet her heart sank. There were no other cords.
Nothing was plugged in.
Swallowing, she denied this could be true. Turning back to the lit lamp she
picked it up from it's base and began gathering it's cord starting from the
base of the lamp. Once she had gathered the whole cord in her hand she made her
way to the plug that sure enough was only exposed to the air. Her eyes widened
in terror.
Out of shock she dropped the lamp and cord. After the lamp and cord hit the
ground, it's light still shined unnaturally.
Grabbing her head she fought off a panic attack, "No. No, this isn't real. This
isn't real, it can't be."
She felt like her mind was unhinging, nothing could explain how a lamp had
turned itself on while unplugged. Charlie didn't believe in ghosts or goblins,
they were a waste of time to her, and yet she had never felt the fear of the
truly unexplainable until now.
Her face dropped from panic to silent fear as a sudden sound met her ears. A
high pitched broken squeak of sorts was heard coming from behind her.
She licked her lips and built up her courage to turn around, to find it was the
door to the bedroom - wide open.
Looking out the doorway into the hallway she could see nothing but blackness.
Her heart in her chest pounded at the fear of potential dangers.
Brrrrring!
Charlie jumped out of her skin at the sudden loud shrieking of a telephone's
ring.
Brrrring!
Brrrring!
The phone's ringing was coming from outside the room, out in the darkness
beyond the open door.
Stepping over to the door she looked out into the darkness. She couldn't see
anything, not even enough to make out shapes or how far the blackness stretched
on for. Nothing but pure black could be seen.
Turning around to face the lamp on the floor she walked over and picked it up.
She felt almost afraid to touch the lamp but not as afraid as she was of the
dark hallway. Bringing it with her as a light source she began to the doorway
again, this time the lamp illuminating the hallway as she knew it during the
day. Stepping out into the hall she held the lamp out for now in this darkness
it's light didn't seem nearly as bright as before, it had now grown extremely
dim. There was only enough light to illuminate her features and anything
directly in front of her.
Continuing on down the hallway something seemed off. There were no other doors.
Just wall. Turning back to look to the bedroom she had just left she found
there was only wall in the door's place. A chill ran down her spine at the
realization she had no where to go, all the while the phone continued to loudly
cry. Turning back on her path to the phone she walked on for what seemed like a
while before reaching the top of a flight of steps. Down the steps she could
see red light coming from seemingly nowhere.
Taking her first step down the stairs Charlie's eyes began darting about,
trying to locate another better lightsource, the phone, something useful.
Nothing was about.
Now at the bottom of the steps she spotted the phone on the wall. It didn't
look familiar at all, it seemed almost outdated a little, but it screamed for
someone to pick up the line. Slowly she reached for the phone and finally ended
it's painful ringing, bringing it to her ear.
"...Hello?" Charlie asked.
"Where were you yesterday at 7:30 pm?" An unknown voice asked seriously from
the phone.
Confusion would be putting it mildly for Charlie at this point.
"Who is this?" Charlie asked, her tone showing her confusion.
"Did you just confess to murder?" The voice questioned.
Charlie's eyes widened, confusion pulling her brows down. Was this some sort of
sick prank?
"No! Who the hell is this?" She insisted.
A long pause followed until the voice spoke again, "This is Detective Thompson
of the Springwood police department. I'm going to be asking you a series of
questions, I'd appreciate you answering to the best of your abilities."
"What the hell kind of sick joke is this?" Charlie shouted into the phone.
Silence fell again. No response came. It was as if the phone died.
Suddenly sound came from behind Charlie. No wait, the sound...it was coming
from all around Charlie.
Turning from the phone while still holding it to her ear she found she was no
longer in the Sterlings' home but in the middle of a police department.
Uniformed men and women scattered about, phones rang and papers traded,
meanwhile the smell of coffee and cigarette's littered the air. Charlie was in
such shock she dropped the lamp in her arm and the old porcelain light source
shattered across the floor at her feet.
"What...the...fuck?" Charlie let out in a hushed tone to herself, in awe of her
change of surroundings.
"Tell me about Charlotte." The phone spoke to her again, pulling her back to
the phone call.
"What?"
"What did you do to her?" The voice pressed, now seemingly echoing.
Her eyes widened, the buzz of fear upsetting her stomach as she turned back to
the phone on the wall.
"Leave me alone! Okay? Just leave me alone!" Charlie screamed into the phone
frantically.
She slammed the phone back on it's receiver, hanging up on the caller when she
suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. Jumping she spun around to see a police
officer.
"I need to use the phone." He demanded simply, Charlie stepped back to let him
to the phone.
Turning to look again she was still in the police department. Shivers went up
her spine again.
She didn't know where she was, how she got there, and which way to go to get
back to The Sterlings'.
However, truthfully behind these simple concerns was one she wouldn't allow
herself to give into. The strange sense of deja vu she had of this place.
Charlie began walking around, trying to find an exit or a way out. Passing by
desk after desk, cop after cop, she couldn't find anywhere to go. Then it
caught her eye.
A hallway.
***** Broken Dreams Pt 2 *****
A hallway.

A hallway that led off of the main room of the police department. Where it led
she didn't know but she hoped it perhaps led to an exit.
Charlie decided to follow it, into the hallway she went. It was short and dark
and soon she saw the light from a window illuminating onto the wall. Moving
towards the window she came to learn it wasn't a window to the outside, it was
a window into another room.
With a defeated sigh she feared she'd never get out of this place.
Then her ears pricked up at a familiar voice coming from inside the room past
the window. Stepping up to the window she realized it was a two way mirror into
a police interrogation room where a police officer was interogating a man.
"This is Detective Thompson of the Springwood police department. I'm going to
be asking you a series of questions, I'd appreciate you answering to the best
of your abilities." The policeman said.
It was the same guy from the phone, Charlie realized.
"Just so you know, this conversation's being recorded." The detective added,
while turning on some old tape recorder set.
"Do you understand why you are here?" The detective questioned, now getting to
business.
"No idea." The man answered. He was shadowed, nothing but a dark silhoutte of a
man was all Charlie could make of the interviewee.
"You're here because you've been arrested for evading the police and for
carrying a concealed weapon-"
"Can't a man defend himself in this dark cruel world?" The man asked, a sick
humor to his words.
"Defend yourself? From what, a sabertooth tiger? I mean all concealed weapons
are against the law but I've never seen something quite like this..." The
detective pulled out an evidence bag and within it was a glove. But not any
glove. A glove with knives for fingers. He placed the evidence bag on the table
before the shadowed figure. "I mean, what even is this thing?"
"It's a glove."
"What, did you make it or something?"
"As a matter of fact, I did. Call it a hobby." The shadowed man answered.
"Hobby isn't the word that comes to mind. Now I think it's clear that
this...thing...is something that would be considered highly illegal and yet you
keep it on your person in public?" The detective raised a brow.
"No Detective, I keep it on me at all times. You never know...when you might
need it."
"Why did you run?"
"Excuse me?"
"When the police attempted to approach you, you ran from them. Why? Did you
have something to hide?"
"Oh, I think all men have something to hide, Detective. All women for that
matter too."
"Why did you flee?" The detective dominated the conversation.
"Since when is it a crime to walk away from people? They hadn't spoken to me.
How was I supposed to know they were even pursuing me?"
"They chased you for ten minutes straight and then warned you before pulling
the stun gun on you."
"...I'm still sore from that by the way." The shadowed figure chuckled.
"Oh you're sore are you? Well you know who's a lot more sore?"
"Do tell me." The silhouette spoke smugly.
"Kevin Marks." The detective bluntly raised his voice.
"Kevin Marks? I don't know any Kevin Marks, Detective."
"We have a witness that puts you as the last person to have seen Kevin Marks
before he disappeared."
"Why aren't you looking for him then?" Scoffed the silhouette.
"Because we already found him. Dead." The detective answered sharply.
"Well....these charges just keep getting more beefed up, don't they?"
"Where were you yesterday at 7:30 pm?"
Charlie watched intently through the glass as the shadowed stranger thought
before answering.
"I suppose I was having dinner."
"At home?" The detective asked skeptically.
"I don't have a home, Detective." The shadow answered.
"What do you mean you don't have a home?"
"Just as I said."
"So where do you sleep?"
"Around....you know I don't think I should answer that anymore with you
throwing more and more charges on me, now." The shadow chuckled.
"Where did you have dinner?" The detective went to re-establish the original
line of questioning.
"A diner. The Springwood Diner, to be exact. I had spagetti and meatballs. It
was good."
"Is there anyone who can place you at the diner at that time?"
"The same witness who said she saw me with Kevin Marks." The silhouetted man
answered.
The police detective looked to the man, trying to figure him out.
"Miss Walker? She was there?" The detective questioned.
"Yes. Who do you think I had dinner with?" The stranger finished his words then
laughed darkly.
"What happened next?" The detective pressed.
The stranger sighed, no longer amused, but continued.
"After dinner we left and that's when I spotted the boy. He was the last one
out after baseball practice, and the field lights had already turned off on
him. No one else was around so I asked him where his parents were."
"And?"
"Remember how I said I was homeless? When you've got no where to go, you start
finding places to stay. Places no one cares to go looking, places to call your
own. Well I have one. Where I work, you could say I get a lot of alone time.
Working in the boiler rooms of a power plant is hardly considered a sought
after job, and damn if the company wasn't cheap. Hell anything was better than
waiting in line at the homeless shelter, now I had money to spend on food and
drinks and...hobbies..."
"You were living under the power plant? Which one?"
"Don't rush me, Detective. Yes I had found the boiler rooms very solitary and
perfect for my purposes. That's where I sleep at night and it's better than out
in the rain. I brought the kid back to my place."
"You brought Kevin Marks to the boiler room under a power plant?"
"That is correct. If you don't know by now from autopsies, the kid was
hammered. I had let him have some booze, didn't think he'd down the whole thing
by himself. Little brat. Anyway, he fell asleep. She fell asleep. I fell
asleep."
"Wait, Miss Walker was with you through all of this?"
"She was, yes."
"What happened next?"
"Well I woke up first. She wanted to go but I had other plans. Kevin Marks was
still strung out on the floor but I managed to wake him. Then the fun began,
and I killed the little son of a bitch."
The detective stopped and looked to the figure, "Did you just confess to
murder?"
"Nothing gets past you, Detective. I sure did." The figure sarcastically spoke.
"When I was done with him, he was in pieces - as you know considering you found
him. I dumped his body then came back for her. We were supposed to head to the
movies, a town over, but she ran from me. I was out looking for her when your
officers spotted me and I ran. That should catch you up to speed now." The
figure explained.
The detective's face read his shock.
"You confess to the kidnapping and murder of Kevin Marks?"
"Yes."
"Do you understand the seriousness of your confession?"
"Yes."
"So, you are the Springwood Slasher?"
"That's what the headlines call me, anyway."
The detective took a breath to calm himself and reassess what he would ask
next. Charlie lifted her hand and brought her fingertips to the glass,
intensely watching the two men in the other room.
"Let's go back for a minute now." The detective finally spoke.
"Alright, I'm game." The shadow sounded like he had a smile to his words.
The detective looked deep into the silhouette's eyes, eyes Charlie couldn't see
but she supposed the detective could. His gaze was severe and calculated on the
silhouette.
"Tell me about Charlotte." The detective pressed.
"Charlotte?"
"Yes, Charlotte Walker."
"Well...first of all, her name's Charlie. Everyone who knows her knows she goes
only by her nickname. The spunky kid." The silhouette explained, seemingly
amused and smug.
Charlie's heart sank. Was...was he talking about her?
No. She shook her thoughts away, her last name wasn't Walker. Her last name was
Maple. It had to be someone else.
"How did she wind up in your care?" The detective asked.
"Those are funny words, there. My care. I never looked at it that way. I
suppose you're right. I mean, considering she was in no one else's care."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
The silhouette leaned back a bit, his tone changing to a more serious bitter
one.
"Her home life is shit. Her mother's a whore. No, I mean that. She's a literal
whore. A prostitute."
"How would you know that?"
"Are you implying I slept with that shit faced ape? No. I know her pimp."
"Mrs. Walker has a pimp?"
"Had. She got out of it through having Charlie. Now she works at the strip club
outside town. She's never home and 'Mr.Walker' is a drugged up truck driver
who's never around either...I mean I don't even know if the guys still kickin'
or not. Could be dead for all anyone knows."
"Would you know anything about that?" The detective asked, taking notes.
"I didn't kill him if that's what you mean. Never met him, actually. Seemed
like a real dick though. Kim always had a black eye after he had come home."
"Kim?"
"Kim Walker. Charlie's mother."
"And how do you know this?"
"Why Charlie, of course. Charlie would tell me. She'd tell me everything."
"You knew her regularly?"
"Yes. We've known eachother for quite some time now....quite well."
"What did you do to her?"
The silhouette simply chuckled darkly in reply.
The detective froze and looked up from his pen and paper, scowling to the
silhouette. Charlie watched in pure confusion and terror.
"Have you ever touched her?"
"Define touch, detective." The silhouette chuckled.
Standing from his chair like a bolt of lighting, Charlie flinched as she
watched the furious detective slam his fists on the table between himself and
the silhouette.
"Damn it! Did you abuse that child?"
The silhouette began cackling until suddenly he stood up too, his chair falling
to the floor with a crash. Now the light could illuminate him and Charlie could
see it was the burnt man. Her eyes widened as her breath ran short.
On his hand now was the knifed glove, appearing like magic. He stabbed the
detective through the chest with his claws and laughed loudly.
"You know, I think I'm sick of answering all your questions tough guy! It's my
turn to ask some questions! It's my turn!" The burnt man screamed before
pushing the now dead detective off his glove, the body collapsing into a pool
of blood on the floor.
The burnt man slowly turned to the mirror, as if he could see right through it
he made direct eye contact with Charlie. She froze in fear.
"So then, Charlie. Why don't you mind your own business! Get your own
memories!" He screamed and began running right at her.
She jumped and turned, hiding her face in her palms and bracing for the sharp
impact.
None came.
Raising her face from her hands she found she wasn't in another room at the
police department.
"Okay, now we need you to think really hard. Which number is the man who took
you?" A voice asked.
Charlie turned to find it was a woman police officer speaking to a small child.
A little girl.
There was a line up, behind another two way mirror. However this time Charlie
saw nothing in the room past the glass but blackness.
"Number 4. That's him." The little girl spoke.
"Are you sure?" Another detective asked.
Charlie stepped over to the child, something about her looking strange to
Charlie. Bending down beside the child, she examined her. No one noticed. It
was as if no one could see Charlie. As if she was a ghost to them.
"Yeah, I'm sure. That's him." The girl smiled, as if she was playing a game.
She turned to the police officer woman who was behind Charlie, and looked
through Charlie to the police officer.
To Charlie it looked almost as if she was looking right into Charlie's eyes,
the two nearly face to face.
Suddenly a wisp of air bolted against Charlie, blowing her hair into her face.
Standing up and fighting her hair from her face, she opened her eyes to find
she wasn't in the police department anymore.
She was sitting in the backseat of a car, Mrs. Devon was driving.
"Mrs. Devon?" Charlie questioned, disoriented.
"I promise where your going will be lots of fun and they'll take really good
care of you. You'll be safe now, Charlie." Mrs. Devon spoke to the back seat.
"Where am I going, Mrs. Devon?" Charlie panicked.
"Ch-arlie...May...Meh-" a child's voice spoke.
"Maple. Charlie Maple. Good job." Mrs. Devon smiled.
Charlie turned to the child's voice to find sitting in the seat beside her was
the little girl from the police station. She was writing the name Charlie Maple
over and over again in some coloring workbook.
"Who are you?" Charlie asked the little girl, alarmed.
"Now, what's your name again?" Mrs. Devon asked with a grin.
"Charlie Maple. My new name is Charlie Maple." The little girl smiled.
Charlie's face dropped as her fears suddenly hit realization.
"This girl is me..." She whispered aloud.
"Why does my new name have to sound like syrup though, Mrs. Devon?" The girl
questioned, beginning to color in a cartoon lion.
"You're lucky I got them to let you keep your first name, Charlie. It's because
we all want you to be safe." Mrs. Devon answered.
"I don't want to leave..." The child spoke.
"Now Charlie, we talked about this. You know it isn't safe for you in
Springwood. Too much has happened and too much is still going on. We just want
you to be happy and safe. Now what's your name again?"
"Charlie Maple." The child answered.
"Good job, Charlie!" Mrs. Devon smiled.
Charlie slowly came back to herself after the initial shock and the intense
feeling of fight or flight came over her. Usually Charlie was a fighter, she
had to be, but this was different. This was all too much. Turning to the car
door she opened it and flung herself out, onto the street.
It hurt but it was better than staying in that car a second longer. Charlie
laid on the street in pain, as she watched the car drive off into the night.
Gathering her strength Charlie pushed herself up from the asphalt and to her
feet. Brushing herself off she looked up to again be shocked.
***** Broken Dreams Pt 3 *****
Brushing herself off she looked up to again be shocked.
In font of her stood The Sterlings' home.
"Oh Charlie...!" A dark voice chimed from behind.
Slowly turning around Charlie knew who it was.
It was the burnt man.
He stood in the middle of the street just a little bit away from her.
"What the fuck do you want!?" She screamed in a fit.
He just chuckled back into the night air.
She looked to his eyes and he looked to her's, both locked on their targets.
"Did you see what they wrote about us?" He spoke with a smirk.
Suddenly a newspaper fell from the sky and landed directly at Charlie's bare
feet, making her flinch.
Glancing down to it but back to the man Charlie began slowly bending down to
pick it up, never leaving her gaze from the burnt man as he watched entertained
by her.
Taking the newspaper she stood up again and skeptical of him tried to read it
while keeping an eye on him.
The newspaper read:
     PROTESTERS GATHER AT SPRINGWOOD COURT HOUSE FOR KRUEGER'S RELEASE
     Springwood Slasher acquitted; Citizens outraged.
     Krueger freed on technicality as Springwood watched in shock. Krueger
     was caught earlier this month and confessed to the heinous killings
     of over twenty children in the Springwood area. Citizens of
     Springwood eagerly awaited the killer's trial only to find that
     because Krueger's arrest warrant was signed in the wrong place the
     springwood slasher was released. Protestors cry that Judge O'Colins
     had been drunk at the time of the proceeding, however O'Colins denies
     the claims and explains his hands were tied that he had no choice but
     to obey the laws of the American court system. Concerned parents of
     victims weren't the only outraged as protestors gathered with picket
     signs and threats of vigilante violence against Krueger.
Looking up from the newspaper to the burnt man Charlie shook the newspaper in
her hands.
"Is this you? You're Krueger?" She questioned, her tone almost crazed.
"Oh now Charlie, you know you can call me Freddy..." He smiled devilishly,
making Charlie take a step back.
Something crunched under her foot pulling her to look down to find another
newspaper. Shooting back to look to him he took a step closer to her.
"Go on, at least read the title." He teased.
Licking her lips trying to stay brave she bent down and swipped the newspaper,
as quick as a snake bite this time.
Holding the newspaper over top of the other her eyes moved over the title as it
read:
     WITNESS TO SPRINGWOOD SLASHER UNDER STATE PROTECTION
     Charlotte Walker was the sole witness police had for the Springwood
     Slasher trials. Finding her parents negligent the enforcement took in
     six year old Charlotte as a ward of the state. She was placed in
     protective custody as her testimony was called upon during the court
     case of the child murders that plagued Springwood. After Krueger was
     released on technicality on Tuesday, Charlotte was placed in
     protective custody and transferred out of state to an undisclosed
     location. Charlotte's case worker Sheryl Devon stated, "Out of the
     peculiarity of the trial, we have opted to keep Charlotte's best
     interests in mind and relocate her to a safe location until such a
     time this has all been properly settled." When pressed if Devon
     agreed with Judge O'Colins' ruling on the Krueger case she answered,
     "To put it bluntly, no. In my opinion this whole thing is a mess."
     When asked where little Charlotte Walker will be moved to the press
     found no answers leading many to suspect she may in fact be in a
     witness protection program.

"I'm in the system because of you..." Charlie murmured aloud as she read.
"No! I didn't put you there, they did." Freddy shouted from behind her making
her jump out of her skin and spin around to face him.
Charlie trembled as she backed up away from the dangerous man.
"Get away from me!" She attempted to threaten.
"I took you out of that rat infested hell hole! I took care of you! You had no
one but me!" He screamed in anger, flames shooting up from the asphalt
surrounded them seeming to react to his growing infuriation.
"Then they took you, and turned you against me! It's because of them that we're
both here, in this hell!" He concluded in a fit of rage. The flames now grown
to a total fire surrounding them, locking her in this space with him.
"I don't know you!" She screatched as tears began forming in her eyes, her own
mind arguing with her that her words were lies.
"Yes, Charlie. Yes, you do!" He insisted threateningly
"I don't remember!" She belted out, falling to her knees on the rough street
asphalt. Tears running down her cheeks.
"You have to! You have to remember, Charlie! Remember me!" He screamed to her
now towering over her, his claw glove at the ready to strike.
Her eyes, huge in terror, flickered between his burnt face, the glove, and his
legs. They were parted in a strong stance and she decided in that moment to
take her chance. She darted, crawling on her hands and knees, under neath him
through his legs and quickly pulled herself back up to her feet. Turning around
she raised her foot in one move and kicked his bottom as hard as she could
before making a run for it.
In a mad dash towards the flames she leaped through the hot fire and made it
out to the other side of the flames, now on the sidewalk in front of the
Sterlings' house. Not daring to turn back to look she continued running to the
front porch and grabbed a tight hold of the front door. She yanked the door
wide open and ran inside only to find...
There was no floor.
Letting out a scream, Charlie fell down into a black abyss. Her body flipped in
the air and after a moment she couldn't even tell which way was up or down.
Squishing her eyes shut she held her hands out to try and grab hold of
something, anything. With a final scream she was suddenly interrupted by a
sudden sharp pain against her bottom.
Opening her eyes in shock she found she had landed on her bottom on some hard
surface.
Looking around she found she was back inside that red boiler room. She gulped
in fear as her eyes scanned quickly, she appeared to be alone.
Turning around she found a little boy, on the floor against the wall behind
her. She quickly pulled away from the child in fear he was dead. Watching him
for a moment to see if it was true, she noticed him breathing. He was alive. A
weight had been lifted off of her, he wasn't dead, thank god.
Crawling over to him she noticed an empty bottle in his hands. He stunk of
alchohol, a smell she knew too well from past foster homes. The stench of the
drink was so strong she had to cover her nose as she shoot him in an attempt to
wake him up.
He was out cold.
To Charlie's surprise she heard footsteps behind her. She spun around, ready to
fight when she saw the little girl from earlier. Her younger self.
"His name is Freddy Krueger and he loves children. Especially little girls."
Younger Charlie spoke as if in a trance.
Charlie's upper lip trembled in a disgusted sneer at the unspoken implication.
In a cloud of smoke younger Charlie disappeared and behind her stood him. The
burnt man.
"Found you..." He taunted in a low hushed growl.
Crawling back Charlie thought of the only thing she could do to defend herself.
She grabbed the empty bottle from the boy and smashed it against the wall,
using the broken glass bottle as a weapon of defense.
"Get away from me!" She shouted.
Freddy pointed to her with a razor and smiled, "I don't think so!"
With that Charlie was grabbed by an unseen force by her ankles. She was pulled
over to the burnt man to her own horror as the broken bottle slipped from her
grasp, now out of reach. The burnt man bent down over her, climbing ontop of
her like a tiger holding down it's prey, he chuckled.
"Remember, Charlie. Remember!" He threatened.
"I don't!"
"What's my name?" He demanded.
She fought to get free as he pinned her down by her wrists, his knives on his
glove scratching her arm.
"What's my name, Charlie? What's my god damn name!?" He screamed, spitting his
words on her face.
"Freddy Krueger!" She replied in a terrified shriek.
"What's my fucking name!?" He demanded again, this time even louder as she
still tried to fight back.
"Freddy Krueger!" She screamed out again, her eyes as wide as a cattle about to
be slaughtered as she looked into his eyes - they were truly the devil's eyes.
She fought hard against his grasp and kicked and punched with all her might
until-
Blinking she couldn't see anything. She could only feel the tight confines of
not being able to move properly when the bed sheet fell off her head and she
could see she was back in that ugly green bedroom as the sun shined in through
the windows.
Catching her breath she froze, trying to understand where she was now. She
wasn't dreaming anymore.
She was awake and tangled in the bed sheets.
"....Mother fucker..." She panted in a whisper to herself.
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