Freddy vs. Ash

by A. Eggleston

  He also noticed...that Freddy was only about eight feet away from him. The only thing Cooper could think of was...

  "Oh, fuck this!" he turned away from Freddy and bolted, not caring where he went, just as long as it was away from Krueger. He could hear Freddy's deep, cackling laugh fading from his ears as he ran away. "Ha ha ha ha ha..."

  His intent was to run as far away as he could, out of the darkness and into the light, however little light there was. Even though it was against his own rules, he headed towards the woods. As he ran, he felt a metal gate slam against his body. "Come on!" He was trapped inside the confines of the video game world. He panted heavily as he turned, and ran back inside the shack.

  Finally, he could see how many places there were to hide. There were small, dark corners and large cabinets to hide in. Slowly and cautiously, Cooper walked further. His eyes searched everywhere, hoping he wouldn't spot Freddy. But there were shadows at every corner, he knew that know matter careful he was, Freddy could still be lurking somewhere. He could have been right next to him the entire time.

  By now, Cooper felt lost. He had turned every corner that he came across, not knowing where it would take him. It wasn't long before he spotted the large break in the wall he had just entered before. He had been going in circles. "Please, wake up..." he muttered. He was about to turn another corner.

  Directly behind him, there was a slight movement in the water. A body had risen from below. It didn't just come to the surface, it continued to slowly incline upward until it stood up straight.

  He heard the sound of dripping water. It sounded like it came from right behind him. His heart dropped as he turned around. Drenched in mucky water, was Freddy. He smiled creepily as he looked down at him. Cooper gasped. His eyes widened like a deer caught in the headlights. He took a huge step backward and turned in the opposite direction and ran away.

  As soon as he ran back outside, Cooper ran into something. He couldn't see what it was at first, he just knew that it wasn't the wall...and it felt wooly and itchy. He looked up and saw Freddy staring at him. How did he even do that? Before Cooper could scream, Freddy reached out and grabbed Cooper's throat.

  Freddy laughed as Cooper gasped for air. "Haaa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

  He grabbed Freddy's arm and managed to break away and run like he had planned. "That's not funny!" he shouted. He looked behind him and saw Freddy chasing after him. Cooper didn't know what to do. He needed to slow him down somehow. Out of panic, the only thing he could think of was to throw his controller at him. His voice cracked. "Fuck you!"

  Evelyn stood by the kitchen counter, facing away from the living room. She tilted her head up, knocking back the last sip of the soda she had been drinking. She wiped her lips with her thumb and threw the bottle in the trash.

  "Mhmmm...mhmmm..."

  She heard a faint moaning coming from the living room. Evelyn turned around and saw Cooper with his eyes closed, twitching his fingers, and softly mumbling. She shouted as she ran over to him. "No!" She jumped onto the sofa and hovered over Cooper. She tried everything she could to wake him up. "Cooper?" she said as she repetitively smacked the side of his face. Then, she shook him. "Cooper?!" she shouted louder. "Wake up! Come on, wake up!" But, it was no use. Evelyn could feel her eyes start to water. She couldn't just sit there and do nothing. She was determined to do everything she could until Cooper woke up.

  At that moment, she remembered what Ash had told her earlier that day. Frantically, she grabbed her phone from the table and reached for Ash's phone number from her front pocket. She dialed the number and whispered to herself. "Answer the phone, Ash. Come on." While she waited for him to answer, Evelyn held Cooper's hand. "Cooper, wake up! Please!"

  Cooper had now escaped Freddy, and entered another dark room in the shack. It was small, eerie...and also a dead end. There was nowhere else to run. He couldn't turn back, because Freddy could be right behind him. Cooper was frantic, and at his wit's end.

  Cooper, wake up! Please! his girlfriend's voice echoed throughout the room.

  "Evelyn?" he called aloud. For a brief second, the corners of his mouth twitched up into a smile. Her voice had given him a small sense of hope. Hope that maybe he can escape Freddy and survive. Cooper found a large cabinet in front of the wall, and hid inside it. He darted his eyes in every direction.

  From the same entrance he had just come from, Cooper could hear a tapping noise against the rotting wood.

  Tap...Tap...Tap...Tap...

  Tap...Tap...Tap...Tap...

  And then, that awful screeching again, against the glass window.

  Scrreeeechhhh!

  Just then, Freddy emerged from the black shadows. The sound of his laugh made Cooper freeze. "Ha ha ha ha ha..." It sent a chill down his spine. Freddy had gotten closer to him. He could tell. He could hear Freddy's knives tap against the cabinet door.

  Tap...Tap...Tap...Tap...

  There was a moment of silence.

  Freddy then ripped the doors off the hinges and grabbed Cooper by the ankle. He pulled him out and dragged him through the thick water.

  Cooper choked as the water filled his lungs. His head shook in and out of the water, giving him only a fraction of a second to breathe again. The mucky water blinded him. He relied only on his hearing. What he heard was the sound of sloshing water and Freddy wriggling his knives.

  Cooper forced himself to be strong. He flailed his legs and kicked Freddy in the arm, forcing him to let go. He stood back up and put on a brave face, trying to convince Freddy that he wasn't afraid of him anymore. He gestured to him, telling to come forward. "Come at me, bro!" he taunted.

  Freddy smirked, partially showing his fanged teeth, and raised his bladed glove above his head, and launched his four razor fingers at Cooper's face.

  Cooper's eyes widened and his nostrils flared in fear. In just the nick of time, Cooper jolted his body to his right, barely missing Freddy's knives. Instead, they landed on the wall, knocking against wall with a loud snap! noise. Cooper's voice cracked again. "No!" he shouted. "Don't come at me!"

  Freddy, now angered at Cooper's escape, looked at the direction he moved to see him running away, and grabbing one of the rusted metal pipes on the wall.

  The cold pipe creaked as Cooper broke it off at its curving point. He put his weight into it to break the pipe, so when it finally gave, the force caused him to fall on the floor, splashing in the water.

  He quickly got back on his feet and held the three-foot long pipe like a sword. With wild-eyes, he stared at Freddy, who, by that time, had already reached slicing distance to Cooper. He swung the pipe at his knees, hoping to knock Freddy down, but he merely jumped over it, with agility and virility. Cooper backed off a few steps further, stretching the distance between him and Freddy. "Yeah, that's right." he said with false confidence. "I'll fuck you up Freddy! You ugly motherfucker!" he swung the pipe like a baseball bat to intimidate him.

  "Oh, how scary!" Freddy said sarcastically. He got in his face and pointed his knives at him, causing Cooper to whimper like a child.

  Cooper attempted to sound threatening, but his face wasn't showing it. "I'm serious, man!" he warned. "I'll knock your head right off!"

  Freddy chuckled. It sounded like a low, animalistic growl. "Like I haven't had that done to me before!"

  Cooper swung the pipe as hard as he possibly could, aiming it straight as Freddy's head. It made impact. He actually hit Freddy, knocking his head clean off of his shoulders. It flew and landed in the far left corner of the shack, splashing in the water. His seemingly lifeless head floated to the top. Cooper watched and waited for something to happen. He grinned wide and laughed crazily, but looked over and saw that the rest of Freddy's body was still standing, breathing, and moving.

  Freddy's headless body jerked his leg up, and kicked Cooper hard in the chest, knocking him to the ground. It knocked the wind out of him. Cooper coughed and gasped for air, as he watched Freddy stride to the corner where his head rested, and pi
ck it up.

  He put his head back on his shoulders, setting it in place with a simple crack! of his neck. Next was his dirty brown hat, which he bent over to pick up, and return it to its rightful spot on the top of his head. "You think you have what it takes to kill me?" he said as he strode, confidently and arrogantly, back to Cooper, who managed to stand up straight again. "I am immortal. And you are a weak, little, fuck."

  He gripped the pipe tightly in his right hand, and held it up again. "We'll see about that." Cooper swung the pipe again, this time aiming for his ribcage, on his left side.

  Just before the pipe could make contact with him, Freddy blocked the pipe away with both hands. He gripped it and pulled Cooper in. Freddy held up the pipe and hit Cooper sharply in the stomach.

  Cooper let go of it. The pain was so severe that he bent over, wrapping his arms around his stomach, and let out a small scream. "Aaah!"

  But, it wasn't enough for Freddy, he wanted Cooper to suffer more. He kicked him again, knocking him into the water. He saw the boy twitching and stumbling to try to pick himself back up, so Freddy swatted the pipe on his back.

  THWACK!

  Cooper's screams gurgled from below the water. "AAAH!"

  He hit him again, this time on his shoulder. THWACK!

  His screams were mixed with crying. "AAAH!"

  Freddy reveled in his pain. "Haaa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

  By then, Evelyn had already called Ash. She told him that Cooper had fallen asleep. She told him he needed to "get here now!" and was waiting for him to show up. Still hovering over Cooper, Evelyn knew there was nothing else she could do, but she refused to stand idly by while her boyfriend was in danger for his life.

  She stared at his face with her tear-stained eyes, and saw him convulsing, and moaning loudly. He was in pain, and Freddy was the cause of it. He was killing him.

  Just then, she saw blood dripping from the corners of his mouth, and felt his body shaking violently.

  "No...No!" said Evelyn. "Cooper! COOPER! COOPER, COME BACK TO ME!" she kept trying.

  Freddy watched as Cooper tried to drag himself away, whimpering in pain. This was what Freddy loved: the chase, the torture, playing with his prey, and watching them beg for mercy. He smiled, evilly.

  Cooper laid on the ground and looked at Freddy. "Please." he said weakly. "Please, just no more."

  "What's the matter?" he asked him. Freddy stepped closer and grabbed Cooper by the collar of his wet shirt. He lifted Cooper up until he was on his knees. "Sniveling, little, pussy." he growled.

  COOPER, COME BACK TO ME!

  Freddy heard Evelyn's voice coming through to his world, echoing in the boiler room. He decided to use it against the boy. He nodded his head. "Oh..." he said, slyly. He slowly walked a circle around Cooper. "Sweet, little Evelyn..." he said contemptuously. He knelt down next to Cooper close enough to whisper in his ear. His voice was low and demonic. "Did you see the love letter I wrote to her?" he said, referring to the cut on her leg. Freddy licked his lips, revealing long, slimy pointed tongue, like that of a snake's. Freddy whispered in his ear. "...I fucked her!"

  Tears streamed down Cooper's face. He knew it wasn't true, that he was just trying to mess with his mind. He knew Freddy was a sick bastard. "NO!" he shouted, refusing to fall for it. Nonetheless, the torture Freddy put Evelyn, and himself, through made him cry. "Goddamn you!" he yelled.

  Swiftly, Freddy got in his face. "OH?!" he shouted, challenging Cooper's threat to him.

  Her heart raced, and her hope that Cooper could be saved was eventually fleeting with every bruise that appeared on his body out of thin air. Her eyes never left his face. In just a matter of minutes, the look on his face went from slight distress, to crippling fear and agony. His eyebrows would move up and down. His eyes would move rapidly under his lids. His lips would twitch, as if he was trying to communicate to Evelyn from inside the dream realm.

  She inched closer to him, brushing his hair back, and cupping his face. "Can you hear me?" she asked him. "Come on, say something!" She waited until it seemed like Cooper was actually responding.

  He squeezed her hand tightly. His voice was strained. When he spoke, he sounded like he had the life beaten out of him. He almost couldn't breathe. "Evelyn..." he didn't sound awake. From his tone of voice, it sounded like he was saying goodbye to her. "I love you."

  Freddy tilted his head to the side. "You know what, lover boy?" he sneered, cocking his elbow back and raising his infamous glove. "You talk too much!" Before Cooper could react, Freddy launched his knives into Cooper's skull and out of the back of his head.

  The long knives on Freddy's index finger and pinky shot through both of Cooper's eyes, dissecting his brain, and cracking through the back of his skull. Like a waterfall, blood poured through Cooper's eye sockets, racing down his neck, and soaking his clothes.

  The blades on his middle finger and ring finger stabbed through the inside of Cooper's mouth. He slid them down further until they poked through the back of his neck. Freddy could faintly hear Cooper gagging and choking on Freddy's knives, including his own blood. He shook his body until for a moment, until he was completely still. Finally, he was dead. I thought that little brat would never shut up.

  Evelyn remained close to Cooper's face. She kept waiting for him to say something else, to give him a sign that he was still alive. For a split second, she saw his eyes and mouth open. He's awake! she hoped. He came back!

  But her hope was washed away when, instantly, her face was sprayed with her boyfriend's blood. It was like she was hit with a water balloon. Evelyn screamed bloody murder. "Aaaaaaaaaaah!!!" She jumped back as far away from him as he could. She tripped over the table in front of the couch and fell on the floor.

  Freddy wasn't done with him. Not just yet. "It's time for the grand finale!" he cackled. His glove still stuck inside the front Cooper's lifeless skull, Freddy turned him around until Cooper faced away from him. Like pulling the tab on a soda can, he used his muscle power to pull his arm up, splitting Cooper's head horizontally in half.

  The skin on the corners of his mouth ripped open, his jaw ripped out of its hinges, his neck cracked, snapped, and broke off. The insides of Cooper's head were now open and visible. His tongue rested just over his bottom teeth. It was long, red, and slimy. Freddy was able to see down the hole in his, now exposed, neck, and the top of his mouth, which now faced upward.

  Freddy grinned in satisfaction. With his newly-acquired strength, it felt as easy as snapping a thin tree branch. He yanked his glove out of Cooper's skull and raised it to view. It was drenched in blood, muscle tissue, and a few tiny pieces of bone.

  It's been far too long since I've seen this. Freddy thought. With his left hand, he reached down into the hole in Cooper's neck, grabbed his spine, and ripped it out of his body. He held it up in the air like a trophy.

  With nothing to support him anymore, Cooper's mutilated body fell down, his back floating above the water.

  "Oh..." said Freddy as he looked down at his dead body in fake sympathy. "I always knew you were spineless!"

  As Freddy cackled maniacally, his eyes had changed, but for only a second. They changed from the regular blue color they had always been, to a pale, pupil-less, white. Freddy was absorbing Cooper's soul.

  After a while, Evelyn had wiped off the blood from her face with her, now dirty, purple shirt. She had brought Cooper's lifeless body down to the middle of the floor with her. Sitting with her legs crossed on the floor, she had laid his body on her lap. She held him, tighter than she ever had before, rocking back and forth on the floor.

  She sobbed quietly, refusing to accept his death. Even though it was obvious, with his bloody body and punctured eye sockets, that Cooper was gone and never coming back, Evelyn didn't want to let him go. He was the first person that came into her life and made her feel truly safe. And now, Freddy took him away from her...forever.

  Her voice was soft. "Give him back to me." she begged. She hiccupped from her cries. "P
lease don‘t leave me!" She continued to cry.

  As Evelyn slowly rocked back and forth, keeping her eyes closed, refusing to look at Cooper's mutilated body, she was blind as to what was happening right in front of her.

  Cooper's eyelids raised all the way up, showing his empty, black, sockets. He lifted his arm, and grabbed Evelyn's neck, wringing it tightly.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Cooper gripped his once-beloved Evelyn's neck tighter and tighter. The sound of her gasping for breath gave him a great, sinister, pleasure. Cooper's soul had been taken from his body, and had now been absorbed by the Springwood Slasher himself, Freddy Krueger. His pure, innocent soul served as fuel to make Freddy stronger. Not only was he back from the dead and ready kill again, but now, his dark powers were growing. Kill by kill, soul by soul, Freddy was that much closer to being able to cross from the dream realm, to the realm of the living. And with each empty vessel he left behind after the bloody fun was over, the Deadites took their place to spread even more fear. The Deadites, the dark spirits that inhabited the Necronomicon, now followed under his command. His rule. Freddy Krueger was now their king.

  Evelyn felt Cooper's hand ringing around her neck. His once smooth hands had now become coarse and jagged. His fingernails, now long, sharp, and rotted black, pricked against her skin. When she felt like she was about to blackout, Evelyn felt herself being thrown onto the floor. The possessed Cooper laid on top of her, pushing her, keeping her down to the ground.

  His face was only a few inches away from hers. She could see just how much his face had changed in the short time from when she mourned his dead body, to when he opened his eyes to strangle her. His skin had gone from a healthy tan to a gray color that was almost inhuman. His eyes were gone, there were only deep, black holes in the sockets, with wide lacerations tracing from the hole in his socket to his forehead. His jaw had been dislocated, and it constantly hung open. At the same time, it seemed as if his jaw line had been grossly elongated, like that of a crocodile. His teeth had rotted to a dark yellow, and his gums were black. He swung his long, thin tongue out to swipe the corner of his mouth. Cooper roared with the chorus of multiple deep, and demonic, voices.